Monthly Archives: April 2008

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Nim’s Island

Date: April 18, 2008
Location: Muvico Boynton Beach

First, I must comment on the very sad fact that Muvico has switched to Pepsi. I can’t imagine such a fine establishment serving such swill. It’s like the Four Seasons giving you a wine list populated entirely with Ripple. This will pose a problem for Alex and me, because a nice cold Coke is an important part of any moviegoing experience. I see much smuggling in our future.

On to the movie. I went with Sophia, which is always special. She sat on my lap, we shared a box of Milk Duds and she whispered observations in my ear throughout. Good times.

The movie itself is rather odd — a blend of slapstick humor, melodrama and genuine emotion. I had trouble with the basic premise right off the bat, though. Nim is a girl (maybe 12 years old) who lives (and has lived for as long as she remembers) on a remote island in the South Pacific with her marine biologist father and a bunch of animals. This immediately struck me as a borderline case of child abuse. How cruel to raise a child without the company of other children (or anybody else, for that matter)! And how long will this go on? Will she remain there through her teens? Her twenties? At one point, Nim runs into a child of her age (when a cruise ship happens upon the island) and it’s as if she’s had an alien encounter. Very strange.

Apart from that, though, it’s a sweet film. Jodie Foster takes on a very light-hearted role for a change and does some great physical comedy as the agoraphobic adventure novelist. She also delivers in a very touching scene toward the end of the film. Abigail Breslin brings the same real-girl charm she was lauded for in Little Miss Sunshine. Gerard Butler is a long way from 300 as the stranded dad, and I was touched by his determination to get back to Nim.

Sophia seemed to enjoy it, though she was full of questions like “Where does she get her clothes?” Her first reaction after the lights came up: “I liked the seal.”

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Upcoming album releases

It’s been a good year for music so far, with three great albums already released (see list on the right side of the page). As for the rest of the year… the current issue of Rolling Stone lists a bunch of releases due over the next few months. Most of them I have no interest in, but these stood out:

May 6:
Elvis Costello – Momofuku

June 10:
Jakob Dylan – Seeing Things

June 17:
Coldplay – Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

July 15:
John Mellencamp – Life, Death, Love and Freedom

August:
Ben Folds – Title TBA

The last one, obviously, has me the most excited. Folds has yet to let me down. I’m also very curious to see what the surprise Elvis Costello CD is all about. He’s done everything from punk to chamber music, big band to ballet… no telling what Momofuku promises.

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I Am Legend

Date: April 15, 2008
Location: Clifton Living Room

Lots to say about this one, most of it positive. For starters, I don’t think there is another actor in Hollywood who could have played this role as effectively. The film is similar to Cast Away in that most of its running time features a single actor (a dog stands in for the volleyball), and Will Smith pulls off all the ‘lonely man slowly going mad’ stuff with aplomb. But it’s also a tense action thriller, and he brings a physicality and tactical intelligence to the role that sells its most heart-pounding moments. There’s a reason Smith is the biggest movie star in the world right now.

Legend is a blend of creepy, cerebral sci-fi and edge-of-your-seat horror film, and it does both very well. I prefer the former, and it is those parts that elevate the film for me. The creepazoid killer zombies are most frightening when you hear but don’t see them… I watched about 15 minutes of this thing through my hand. Once they crash the party, they’re still creepy but also cliché.

I would have loved for the movie to be about 20 minutes longer and focus more on Smith’s life as the planet’s sole normal occupant and his efforts to save what’s left of humanity. I found the ending abrupt and not entirely satisfying. But overall I was impressed.

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R.E.M. in order

Not much going on to blog about… it’s April 10 and I’ve yet to see a 2008 movie. That has to be some kind of record. And it’s by choice, as nothing has opened that I’m really excited to see.

So, in the interest of new content, here is a list of all of R.E.M.’s full-length studio albums, in order of my preference:
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R.E.M. – Accelerate

AccelerateIt’s a difficult challenge for a great, established band (or solo artist) to put out new material. When you have a dozen albums behind you, filled with classic songs, how can you avoid the let-down of comparisons to your storied history?

Accelerate is R.E.M.’s 15th studio album and viewed in that light it is something of a disappointment. There is no ‘Half a World Away’ here. No ‘Nightswimming.’ No ‘Driver 8,’ ‘Can’t Get There From Here’ or ‘Fall On Me.’ No ‘So. Central Rain’ or ‘Rockville.’ How could there be, really? Those songs, and many others, are among the all-time greats, written and recorded over a decade in one of those creative bursts that has to have a beginning and an end.

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