So I saw The Book of Eli

[cleolinda]

So Mom's birthday was Thursday, and they had lunch for her at work (she makes whatever dessert someone wants when it's someone else's birthday), so she took today off instead of yesterday--had a pedicure, got her hair did, and then we tried--and failed--to find something for my aunt's birthday (the same day as Mom's, although they're five years apart), so then we went to a movie. I have been agitating for The Wolfman, but I also really want to see Shutter Island, either of which she said she'd see, so we saw... The Book of Eli. (Hey, it's her birthday.) Apparently someone at work told her, "It's action-packed and has a lot of character development!" Okay... no. I mean, I'd give it a solid three stars, but she picked it on that one recommendation, having no idea what else it was about, except that she likes Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman (okay, point). I knew, but I couldn't really think how to explain it without giving too much away. So we get there, and it's artily-photographed, color-desaturated ("Is it gonna look like this the whole time?" "Oh yeah"), post-apocalyptic walking. A lot of walking. A lot. And people robbing and raping and killing and eating people, as you do after the apocalypse. I did laugh my ass off at (SPOILER) >> Disco Cannibal Dumbledore << (/SPOILER), just... because, but it's not really the kind of movie you enjoy for the most part. It's like... Children of Men without the shellshock, or The Road without the scarring of your soul, or Mad Max without the Thunderdome. So it's simultaneously grimmer than the kind of thing I usually go for, but also not as grim as your really top-shelf grimdark cinema. And God bless Gary Oldman, but he was kind of phoning it in, or either he was giving it everything and the script was phoning it in--it had one of those scenes where the villain asks for something and the hero refuses and the villain laughs and cries out to his henchmen, "I love this guy!" In fact, it had two scenes with two different antagonists saying that.

On the plus side, Mila Kunis is in it and is unrecognizably decent. Like, I kept going, "That girl is the spitting image of Mila Kunis, but it just doesn't sound like her at all. She's kind of good, for one. And not on TV." That, and her character gets hardcore after a certain point in the movie--she's kind of tossed around and attacked and taken hostage for much of it, and then >>UNEXPECTED GARROTE IS UNEXPECTED<< and I really started to like the character. I also didn't recognize Jennifer Beals as her mother, which kept itching at me the whole time. I immediately pegged Ray Stevenson, though, and was pleased to see him. Oh, and Tom Waits! That was nice. I won't even tell you who randomly shows up at the end, because it was a pleasant surprise. And again, there's the aforementioned spoiler cameo in the middle of the movie, as mentioned--it's totally That Scene with the Murderous Farmhouse Weirdos you get in this kind of movie (just off the top of my head, see also: Tim Robbins in War of the Worlds; Betty Buckley in The Happening--actually, wasn't she the second of two sets of Murderous Farmhouse Weirdos in that movie?), except that it's AWESOME. So this is what I mean about the script phoning it in a couple of times--when you sit there and go, "Oh, we're at That Part now." On the other hand, there were some really nice touches here and there, and the visuals are really striking, in that greyed-out apocalyptic way. You know. Mom really liked it, though, so: mission accomplished.

Now then! I just got back from seeing Shutter Island--by myself, thnx much, and I'm fully prepared to see The Wolfman solo as well, if I can get a time that works out--but I want to discuss that in a separate entry. So give me--eh, knowing me, probably an hour to write that up. ETA: Okay, here we are. SPOILERS.

Comments

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Do you have the IMDB app for your phone?

[deadwoodmt.livejournal.com]

I still totally want to see it. I just don't get to see movies v. often. I totes love those post-apocalyptic movies because I have very little taste. Ah well.

[viorica8957.livejournal.com]

So, wait . . . Pullo, Jackie, Bette, and Crazy Gary Oldman all in the same movie? I might actually be induced to see this!

[suppi-the-great.livejournal.com]

I saw Shutter Island last night without knowing much about it (which is silly since I'm a psych major) and I really enjoyed it. Although I'm still annoyed at Scorsese over the whole Polanski thing. >:(

[kuzujuk.livejournal.com]

Vinni puh! :D I love your icon.

[emerybored.livejournal.com]

I'm totally aware that neither Mom nor Sis are inclined to see Shutter Island or Wolfman so I'm also going to be my own date to the movies. At least no one will hog the popcorn or argue over where to sit.

[colleenpowell.livejournal.com]

So I need to cuddle your icon right now. Even though he wouldn't appreciate it.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Hee. That's my "I am intrigued" Pallas Cat.

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

The Wolfman is AWESOME. But there's a lot of guts.

[lost-garnet.livejournal.com]

I was sitting there slack-jawed with my drink straw hanging out the corner of my mouth for about a solid 45 minutes just boggling at all the ENTRAILS. I can't handle the squick level in your average episode of Grey's Anatomy when they stop banging long enough to perform actual medical procedures; and yet Wolfman just went almost comically beyond squick into...viscera-trance. My yellow-bellied-self barely blinked while my death-metal-loving Gothic friend was scrunched down in her seat with her arms over her head.

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

I ended up going "Okay, the wookie on meth thing works, and is all very Universal Studios traditional, but without the long jaw of a wolf, that makes the rending and the tearing with the teeth kinda difficult, yeah?"

Of course, being a law student, when Hugo Weaving went into his "Well we can't go busting in Talbot Hall without a warrant, pesky things that" I laughed a good deal more than the line deserved.

[lost-garnet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, visually it seemed to bring Coppola's Dracula to mind in several parts, for me, including the wolfman's appearance, to say nothing of the slo-mo-mystical-midnight-trek-into-the-formal-gardens-to-encounter-the-beast. I don't know if that was on purpose or what.

[trampchic.livejournal.com]

At least you didn't go see Valentine's Day. /is traumatised

Ummm, yahoo said you have a new post but I can't seem to access it (404 and all that jazz)?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know--I accidentally hit post mid-draft and had to go delete the post ASAP and finish writing it.

[rina2o6.livejournal.com]

I saw Shutter Island last night and walked out feeling ambivalent. It definitely had its moments, but I just couldn't get into it for some reason. I'll be interested in hearing your take on it, since everyone I saw it with had really different reactions.

The Wolfman, though - people keep asking me what I thought and all I can say is 'ridiculous'. Then they ask me if that's good or bad, but I honestly can't say. It was...cracktastic, to say the least. Go by yourself or with people who can laugh at a hand getting ripped off and still firing a gun. Yeah, that happens. This (http://acbatz.blogspot.com/2010/02/men-becoming-wolves.html) was funny: it really did feel like they were just trying to make this classic horror movie all over again.

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

My sister, who is terrified of horror movies, is going to see Shutter Island tonight because she thinks it's a drama.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Honestly, it's not really a horror movie. It's more of a psychological suspense thing, although there are a couple of gory images, but not all that much.

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

Jesus, I just realized I commented in the wrong entry. Sorry about that!

I will be excited to see if she ends up texting me at midnight freaking out or not. :D

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heh. Honestly, it was a while between the two entries, so I do have a couple of Shutter Island comments on this one. Since they all come to the same email folder, I don't really notice which comment's on what.

[dietcokeofevil5.livejournal.com]

I just don't know if I bought the ending of Eli.

*SPOILERS*
I mean, are we supposed to believe that he was completely blind the *whole time*? I don't buy it. I'd have to go back and watch it again (which I'm not rushing to do), but I could swear that Eli was looking at things and people (and seeing them) the whole time. He didn't act "blind." Maybe we're just supposed to think that he was just partially sighted and only saw shapes and light. I'd buy that.
*/SPOILERS*

Overall, though, it was enjoyable popcorn fare. As a guy, I'm genetically predisposed to like the "guy kicks ass of 10 attackers simultaneously" sequences.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

See, I had heard that twist (as well as the Shutter Island one), so I was able to watch the movie and look for it on the first viewing. There are a number of times where he doesn't react to dead bodies until he's close enough to smell them, and he pokes around with a rifle at one point kind of like it's a cane. In fact, he pokes at a lot of things with a stick or whatever, whereas most people would just look, or maybe push things aside with one hand (which you wouldn't want to do if you didn't know what you were touching). So it did seem to me like Denzel Washington was consistently playing Eli as a blind man. That said, the character is able to do things that a blind man obviously could not do, so that's not entirely consistent. I tend to think that he had some kind of divine power on loan, like in fight sequences, so that he was able to "see" in a way that was not actually with his eyes. Like, able to know without seeing. (As far as divine protection/power goes, I swear there's a moment where it looks like a bullet actually bounces off his shoulder, when Ray Stevenson is first shooting at him in the street.) There's a huge debate about that whole element, though, from what I hear--like, was he blind before The Flash? If he wasn't, how did he know Braille? How could he learn it afterward? Was that also Divine Power? It's just vague enough a twist that you can think of a number of ways to try to explain it, I guess.

I'm genetically predisposed to like the "guy kicks ass of 10 attackers simultaneously" sequences.

I ended up ducking out to the bathroom right when Eli was getting his canteen refilled at the bar. Bad call on my part--by the time I got back, everyone was on the floor and I had obviously missed a huge action scene. FNARR.

[elbales]

she makes whatever dessert someone wants when it's someone else's birthday

I am torn between wishing I worked with your mom and being glad I don't, because I have gained enough weight already. Either way, she obviously rules.

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

I have to say I have pretty much no interest in this film, but I really want to see Shutter Island. Which means I can't read your next entry yet, heh. Ah well. :)

[mogumogu.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Book of Eli, but the thing that gets me about the plot is that I can't see why you'd need the one last Bible on earth to create religious domination. I'd think it would be so much easier to just create your own revealed religion and then it would be tailor made to suit your needs... or forge an ancient holy book, at least. There's a whole generation of people born after the apocalypse, so who's going to notice?

Is there any explanation for that?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was kind of baffled by that as well. What I finally decided was that it wasn't really about the fact that anyone could achieve domination with a Bible; it was that Carnegie thought he could, whether he was right or not. In other words, the point was that Carnegie was going to take the Bible away from Eli and prevent him from taking it to a safe place instead, rather than what Carnegie actually intended to do with it or whether he could succeed.

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