itislynda Reviews

Australia (2008)

It'll Win "Best Picture"

[29 November 2008]

I saw "Australia" this afternoon, and I loved it. It has the sweep, the larger-than-life characters, and the intensity of movies (not films!) of the past. I personally don't like Kidman, but she's very good in this movie, and Hugh Jackman is luscious--as usual. Yes, you can carp about too many references to "The Wizard of Oz," and the historical inaccuracy of having the Japanese land on the island near Darwin, but this movie reminds me a little of "The Big Country." (If you haven't seen this WONDERFUL western, you are in for a treat!) I can't remember as suspenseful a cattle drive--all my fingernails are bitten down to the quick! If you are not an intellectual snob, you'll like this very intense, fun movie.

The House Bunny (2008)

Totally Unfunny Movie! Stay home!

[1/10 · 27 August 2008]

You know a comedy is truly awful when: 1. you don't laugh 2. you're in actual pain. Somebody in Hollywood must have thought, "Well, all I have to do is combine mostly 'Legally Blond' with some 'Animal House' thrown in, with a nod to 'Forest Gump,' and I'll make millions." The difference is that the characters in all these comedies were actually likable and we rooted for them. Because the heroine is so stupid--and not in a good way--and the other characters are so forgettable, I didn't care about anyone. Everything in this movie is undeveloped, except the bra size of the "house bunny."

In "House Bunny," the repeated comic attempts (which never succeed as comic reality) include having the heroine lower her voice when she repeats the name of somebody's she's just met, having a woman attempt to pick up guys by repeatedly taking about her bowel movements, plus unfunny and constant references to S&M and oral sex. The basic premise of the movie is that in order to be successful, to have a boy friend, you should mask your intelligence and make sure you are attractive (AKA, slutty). Yeah, yeah, "House Bunny" has a veneer of "what really matters is your personality," but nobody really believes this dogma.

This movie is sexist and stupid and insulting to the audience. If it were the last movie on earth, I'd still say burn it.

Capote (2005)

Fabulous, nuanced movie

[10/10 · 6 November 2005]

In "Capote," by a combination of name dropping, charm, sensitivity, empathy, as well as ruthlessness, we see Truman Capote delicately gather information for his book, "In Cold Blood." We witness the complexity of his character who celebrates Harper Lee's publication of "To Kill a Mockingbird," and, a little later, sniff at its movie's debut that he "didn't see what all the fuss was about." "In Cold Blood" describes the Clutter murders, the execution of the killers, and Capote's manipulation of everyone for the good of his book. "Capote" implicitly questions whether Capote was justified in his deadly (perhaps literally, in his deliberate failure to obtain a better lawyer for Perry) deception and callousness, in the face of the creation of a book whose influence is still strong today, a tradition carried on by Anne Rule and others. We are shocked at Perry's sister's warning to Capote about her brother's capacity for violence, in the face of his apparent self-awareness, regret, and perhaps guilt, yet ultimately witness the aptness of her assessment. "Capote" does not give easy answers about the nature of evil, deception, envy, charm, or talent.