My Neighbor Kevin is King of Easy A's, or: Giving Thanks: Summer Movies Edition

Bonsoir,

I'm enjoying a week at where-I-grew-up home and therefore have some tiny bits of precious down time.  This means I finally have the opportunity to review some of the movies I've seen over the past six months!  I will start with a mini revue of the movies I watched this summer.

Since, happily, I watched way too many movies during the summer months to reasonably discuss in one post, I figured I'd select one from each month to write my impressions about and otherwise share the list of the movies viewed June through August.

Here goes!

During June, I watched:
24. The Dictator (2)
25. Prometheus (3)
26. Alien vs. Predator (3)
27. My Neighbor Totoro (4)
28. Age of Innocence (4)
29. Between the Folds (2)
30. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2)

Devoted readers likely remember my post comparing "Prometheus" (2012) and "Alien vs. Predator" (2004), so obviously those two are out of the discussion running.

I'm tempted to immediately violate my own parameters for this post by talking about both "My Neighbor Totoro" (1988) and "We Need to Talk About Kevin" (2011)...

What the hell.

My Neighbor Totoro (4)

Hayao Miyazaki is without question one of the most special, visionary, and thoughtful directors currently making movies.  Though I'm used to the sweeping scope of his more epic projects, this much quieter film is no less remarkable than his others.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, I really admire and appreciate children's movies that (a) don't talk down to kids and (b) address serious topics in ways that are appropriate for children.  This movie bravely, respectfully, and gently contemplates challenges and fears confronted by many children, like the serious illness of a loved one and the increasing responsibility of growing up or being an oldest child.  Plus there are, as always, wonderful magical creatures.  You just can't go wrong with that.

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2)

Lionel Shriver's "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is the most chilling book I've read in a long time.  It's so deeply terrifying because the psychological forces at work in the novel are profoundly, cruelly plausible.  No supernatural influences or bizarre genetic mutations necessary--this is a horror story that feels like it could, and does, actually happen to families.  It's the scariest shit I've read in years,  forcing me to take breathers as I approached the horrible conclusion and reducing me to tears when I finished it.  This book is so goddamned good, and I could not recommend it more highly for the immense skill of its story-telling.

...Which is why the movie based on the book is so stupidly disappointing.  It appears that the director simply decided, in spite of perfectly casting Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller as the main characters, that because it would be too challenging to portray the cerebral drama of the narrative on screen, the best strategy would be to just skip most of that shit and film what basically amounts to one big montage.  I figure if you're going to make a crappy movie about a really great book, you might as well make a crappy movie that's just un-crappy enough to make people want to read the book upon which it's based.  I'm not even sure this movie is that good, which pisses me off.

Read the book.  Please.

Moving on!  In July, I watched:
31. Deliver Us From Evil (4)
32. King of Devil's Island (4.5)
33. The Amazing Spider-Man (3)
34. Submarine (4)
35. Inglourious Basterds (5)
36. The Dark Knight Rises (5)

King of Devil's Island (4.5)

I swear this isn't just my Scandinavian pride talking: "King of Devil's Island" (2010) is a really wonderful movie.  (Rotten Tomatoes wouldn't lie!)  It's based upon the true story of an uprising at a boys' prison on a remote, frigid island in Norway.  The gorgeous yet austere imagery is supplemented by a haunting refrain of Sigur Ros.  The narrative of tragic courage, hard-won and fragile victories, and desperation-forged but enduring friendships instills an beautiful ache that stays with you.  Lucky you: it's currently available on Netflix watch instantly!

Finally, in August I watched:
37. Following Sean (3)
38. I Am (4)
39. Easy A (4)
40. Brick (3??)

I was thinking I'd write about "Brick" (2005), because as you might have surmised I really don't know exactly what I think of that movie.  A dear friend gave it to me and a colleague whose movie recommendations I trust thought highly of it, and I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and I do think it's clever that the dialogue is all slang from the 1940s (?), but I couldn't understand a goddamned thing the characters were saying.  If I need to put subtitles on a movie that's in English because the dialogue is impossible to follow, I'm annoyed.

But in spite of the preceding paragraph, I'm not going to write about "Brick."  Instead:

Easy A (4)

THAT'S RIGHT.  I'm going to write about "Easy A" (2010), the perfectly delightful if not somewhat stupid comedy starring Emma Stone.  I love her, not in small part because she reminds me very strongly of one of my favorite friends in the whole world.  I also thought it was quite clever and fresh, and I laughed out loud on several occasions in spite of watching it in sub-optimal conditions (on my laptop as Boyfriend slept beside me).  Also Malcolm McDowell is totally in it so you know it's at least somewhat legit.

So that about covers us for summer!  (Hopefully) more updates to come very shortly.  If I don't get to write a bit more before the big day, Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hope you enjoyed!  As always, thanks (so much) for reading.

{Heart}