Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Oh, never mind
So Amanda Bynes is "unretired." Disregard the previous post and shame on me - should have realized publicity hounds come in all packages. Onto more interesting things...
Monday, June 21, 2010
Say it ain't so, Amanda
I never intended for this blog to be perezhiltonesque but some happenings in the world of celluloid do affect me and I want to comment on today's news.
Apparently actress Amanda Bynes at the age of 24 has announced her retirement from acting on Twitter. Right now, the news appears to be legitimate but it's entirely possible that a prank or something is at play.
If true, it is my duty as a film buff and defender of the cinematic medium to say it's a loss that I will feel along with many others I'm sure.
I agree that she isn't old enough to have made a significant impact on us. But I have also always believed that this woman possesses a certain something that will take her far.
I don't usually pay attention to Nickelodeon actresses but Bynes drew me in the first time I saw her on The Amanda Show. I thought then, 'this girl should do movies'. Many Nick actresses do some super softie flicks and fade away but Bynes was different.
She stole the show teaming with Frankie Muniz in Big Fat Liar and I knew she was on her way. It was when I saw What A Girl Wants that I saw glimpses of a young Anne Hathaway in the making. I filed it away under my favorite family movies and hoped Bynes would move on to bigger and better things.
Then for a while it seemed she had lost her way courtesy lackluster films like She's the Man and Sydney White. On the other hand, she did play against type in Hairspray and that was refreshing.
I was also looking forward to more from her in Easy A, possibly her last film. Bynes is one of those naturally charismatic and talented actors that connects instinctively with an audience.
It is my wish that she realizes she has much more to offer the silver screen. If not, I hope she finds a niche on the small screen at least.
In the end, it is her decision and I hope she does what makes her happy. If this is goodbye, I wish her well - Amanda, it has been a treat watching you on screen and I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that way. Adieu!
This photograph is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Apparently actress Amanda Bynes at the age of 24 has announced her retirement from acting on Twitter. Right now, the news appears to be legitimate but it's entirely possible that a prank or something is at play.
I agree that she isn't old enough to have made a significant impact on us. But I have also always believed that this woman possesses a certain something that will take her far.
I don't usually pay attention to Nickelodeon actresses but Bynes drew me in the first time I saw her on The Amanda Show. I thought then, 'this girl should do movies'. Many Nick actresses do some super softie flicks and fade away but Bynes was different.
She stole the show teaming with Frankie Muniz in Big Fat Liar and I knew she was on her way. It was when I saw What A Girl Wants that I saw glimpses of a young Anne Hathaway in the making. I filed it away under my favorite family movies and hoped Bynes would move on to bigger and better things.
Then for a while it seemed she had lost her way courtesy lackluster films like She's the Man and Sydney White. On the other hand, she did play against type in Hairspray and that was refreshing.
I was also looking forward to more from her in Easy A, possibly her last film. Bynes is one of those naturally charismatic and talented actors that connects instinctively with an audience.
It is my wish that she realizes she has much more to offer the silver screen. If not, I hope she finds a niche on the small screen at least.
In the end, it is her decision and I hope she does what makes her happy. If this is goodbye, I wish her well - Amanda, it has been a treat watching you on screen and I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that way. Adieu!
This photograph is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Movie lover diary: To like or not to like
My mom tells me I loved movies even as a baby. Long before I could talk, I used to sit entranced in her arms at the cinema. Thinking about that makes me believe I was meant to love films long before I knew that I did.
I bring it up now because I've been doing a lot of thinking about taste. Like or dislike for flicks is very subjective and critics cannot really agree on what makes a movie likable. So does a refined taste come from practice and a discriminating palate like fine wine? A movie critic recently told me that the quality of films has plummeted in recent years and she hates most of what she sees at the cinema.
I can see where that critic is coming from but I guess I'm just different. I always go in with an open mind and hope to have a positive experience. It's not because I think I need to promote movie-going or be an advocate for the cinema. It's just that I tend to enjoy the good parts of most movies that I watch. Sure there are some that are just plain awful with zero redeeming qualities but I don't need Oscar-level quality to satisfy me.
I just need a motion picture to make me feel something and make me see what the filmmaker was seeing when he was creating it. I'll still notice the negatives but I also make sure I don't disregard the positives because of them.
I guess for movies in particular, taste really is not simply what the Academy Awards tell us it should be. I think being on the positive side of the enjoyment fence is just as legitimate as many of the critics that enter screenings thinking of them as shooting ranges.
Let me illustrate. Two critics pick a 100 random films from a bin and watch them. Critic A enjoys 30 of them and hates the others. Critic B enjoys 82 of them. Does that mean Critic A has better taste than B? No. It just means Critic B has a different way of looking at movies than A and his perspective is just as valid.
Just some food for thought.
I bring it up now because I've been doing a lot of thinking about taste. Like or dislike for flicks is very subjective and critics cannot really agree on what makes a movie likable. So does a refined taste come from practice and a discriminating palate like fine wine? A movie critic recently told me that the quality of films has plummeted in recent years and she hates most of what she sees at the cinema.
I can see where that critic is coming from but I guess I'm just different. I always go in with an open mind and hope to have a positive experience. It's not because I think I need to promote movie-going or be an advocate for the cinema. It's just that I tend to enjoy the good parts of most movies that I watch. Sure there are some that are just plain awful with zero redeeming qualities but I don't need Oscar-level quality to satisfy me.
I just need a motion picture to make me feel something and make me see what the filmmaker was seeing when he was creating it. I'll still notice the negatives but I also make sure I don't disregard the positives because of them.
I guess for movies in particular, taste really is not simply what the Academy Awards tell us it should be. I think being on the positive side of the enjoyment fence is just as legitimate as many of the critics that enter screenings thinking of them as shooting ranges.
Let me illustrate. Two critics pick a 100 random films from a bin and watch them. Critic A enjoys 30 of them and hates the others. Critic B enjoys 82 of them. Does that mean Critic A has better taste than B? No. It just means Critic B has a different way of looking at movies than A and his perspective is just as valid.
Just some food for thought.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The right movie diet for 2010: Part XII
December
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader takes Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and their cousin on an ocean voyage with King Caspian (Ben Barnes) to find the seven lost Lords of Narnia. With the returning cast under Michael Apted’s direction, this flick has a good chance of being the best of the series so far.
Tron Legacy is the sequel to TRON, the 1982 film set in a digital world full of fierce programs and gladiatorial games. With today’s special effects, an Imax 3-D experience should be something special. These two definitely seem like the best bet.
This list should leave you pretty cinematically satiated by the end of the year. Plenty to look forward to – should be a good year, fingers crossed. Bon appétit!
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader takes Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and their cousin on an ocean voyage with King Caspian (Ben Barnes) to find the seven lost Lords of Narnia. With the returning cast under Michael Apted’s direction, this flick has a good chance of being the best of the series so far.
Tron Legacy is the sequel to TRON, the 1982 film set in a digital world full of fierce programs and gladiatorial games. With today’s special effects, an Imax 3-D experience should be something special. These two definitely seem like the best bet.
This list should leave you pretty cinematically satiated by the end of the year. Plenty to look forward to – should be a good year, fingers crossed. Bon appétit!
The right movie diet for 2010: Part XI
November
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I is the penultimate movie in the series and the beginning of the end. Since the last book is arguably the best one and director David Yates has consistently created quality material, the story of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s quest to save the world should be an awesome spectacle.
The other notable release is Unstoppable. As a Tony Scott fan since the 1980s, I'll watch anything he makes. This one is about rail company employees fighting to prevent an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train carrying combustible liquids and poisonous gas from wiping out a city. Seems to bring back memories of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, which I found more than a little underwhelming. Still, the Scott-Denzel Washington combo is usually special and I'm hoping he will do better this time. Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson seal the deal.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I is the penultimate movie in the series and the beginning of the end. Since the last book is arguably the best one and director David Yates has consistently created quality material, the story of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s quest to save the world should be an awesome spectacle.
The other notable release is Unstoppable. As a Tony Scott fan since the 1980s, I'll watch anything he makes. This one is about rail company employees fighting to prevent an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train carrying combustible liquids and poisonous gas from wiping out a city. Seems to bring back memories of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, which I found more than a little underwhelming. Still, the Scott-Denzel Washington combo is usually special and I'm hoping he will do better this time. Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson seal the deal.
The right movie diet for 2010: Part X
October
From director David Fincher comes The Social Network, a story about the founders of Facebook – Mark Zuckerberg, Sean Parker and Eduardo Saverin. Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing, penned the script for this flick starring Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake and Andrew Garfield.
Based on a DC Comics graphic novel, Red is about a former black-ops CIA agent (Bruce Willis), whose quiet life is threatened by an assassin. He reassembles his old team (Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren) in a last ditch effort to survive. Karl Urban, Mary-Louise Parker, Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss, Ernest Borgnine and Julian McMahon join the ensemble.
From director David Fincher comes The Social Network, a story about the founders of Facebook – Mark Zuckerberg, Sean Parker and Eduardo Saverin. Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing, penned the script for this flick starring Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake and Andrew Garfield.
Based on a DC Comics graphic novel, Red is about a former black-ops CIA agent (Bruce Willis), whose quiet life is threatened by an assassin. He reassembles his old team (Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren) in a last ditch effort to survive. Karl Urban, Mary-Louise Parker, Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss, Ernest Borgnine and Julian McMahon join the ensemble.
The right movie diet for 2010: Part IX
September
Director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) tries his hand at animation with Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole based on the series of children's books by Kathryn Lasky. It features the voices of Hugo Weaving, Emilie de Ravin, Helen Mirren and Geoffrey Rush in a story about a war between owls.
Director Ben Affleck returns with The Town, which is about a longtime thief trying to balance his feelings for a bank manager while dealing with the FBI agent looking to bring him down. Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner and Chris Cooper come together for this film.
If either of these is not your thing, try Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
Director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) tries his hand at animation with Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole based on the series of children's books by Kathryn Lasky. It features the voices of Hugo Weaving, Emilie de Ravin, Helen Mirren and Geoffrey Rush in a story about a war between owls.
Director Ben Affleck returns with The Town, which is about a longtime thief trying to balance his feelings for a bank manager while dealing with the FBI agent looking to bring him down. Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner and Chris Cooper come together for this film.
If either of these is not your thing, try Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.