John Cusack Should Remake "Singing in the Rain"

I always manage to see WAY more movies while on break at home than while actually at film school. This Thanksgiving was a strange one since my sister wasn't around. My Thanksgiving itself only consisted of four people: myself, my parents, and my grandpa. It was calm, peaceful, mature, and boring as heck. Anyway...here are my Thanksgiving weekend reviews:

John Cusack loves his dramatic rain scenes. He's had them in "Identity" and "High Fidelity" for a start, and I'm sure many other movies I can't think of at the moment.
So I actually laughed out loud when I started "1408" and the movie OPENS with John Cusack driving in the rain. The guy can't get enough of himself looking drippy and wet. As it turns out, in "1408" John Cusack gets to wade through just about every element imaginable...rain, snow, fog, seawater, fire...you name it. But it wasn't a bad movie, either. Sure, it would have been nice to have a bit more development between Cusack and his daughter, the ending is a bit unsatisfying, and we never really find out WHY hotel room #1408 is haunted as fuck. But it's still a very well-made creepy movie with moments that sent chills up my spine, and the early scenes with Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson are especially solid. If you ever REALLY want to get scared shitless, I recommend seeing this movie in a cold hotel room by yourself on a business trip sometime. Instead of ordering that second-rate hotel porn.

I also saw, "Hairspray" for free in Norris last week and loved it. I'm always wary of musicals, because they can often come off as smarmy and saccharine, but this one was really good. It's refreshing to see a musical where they DON'T over-edit and rely on fast-cutting to get the beats of the music across (as was done in "Chicago," "Moulin Rouge," and others). Here, we actually get to see the kids dance, and boy, can they dance! The movie felt much more like an old-school "West Side Story," with its brilliant choreography and smart camera compositions. I'll admit that for the first twenty minutes or so I was wondering what the HELL John Travolta was doing humiliating himself so much, but after a certain point I actually bought his performance wholesale as a large overweight Mom. And who can resist a duet between Christopher Walken and John Travolta in drag? My only disappointment is that even though Amanda Bynes may be absolutely gorgeous and spunky (not to mention a bigger name than the rest of her co-stars around her age), it's fairly clear that she can't dance to save her life, since they always manage to cut around her during the musical numbers. No biggie though...I liked this movie a lot.

"The Lookout" is an solid thriller with some great performances and a very interesting and unique protagonist, played by the kid from "Third Rock From the Sun," who has now matured into someone who reminds me a bit of a young Heath Ledger--which is a good thing. I do think that some plot threads were left open that should have been drawn to a close (what happened to Isla Fischer?), and I think the climax could have gone on longer and still maintained its tension and suspense, but I still recommend it to those who like to see a movie that has a protagonist who is more complicated than usual. I did feel really bad for the poor "Deputy Donut" guy though...he had a kid on the way! Tough break.

"My Left Foot" The old 1989 movie with Daniel Day-Lewis was on TV. Danny won the Oscar for his portrayal as a brilliant man with cerebral palsy. Movies where actors play people with handicaps are interesting--they will often get the actor an acting nomination, but sometimes I find them to be done in poor taste--with an ulterior motive. This is certianly the case with Sean Penn's awful, egocentric "I Am Sam" which was a terrible-slapped together cheesy story made only so the guy could get a nomination and boost his already exploding ego. But in other cases, such as "Rain Man" and, to an even greater degree "Forrest Gump," the actors really seem to embody and become their characters. This is also the case with "My Left Foot," although it's in some ways a different case, since Christy (the character Daniel Day-Lewis plays) is afflicted with a physical handicap, not a mental one. It's also an interesting movie because the story doesn't flow very well and the direction isn't very interesting, but Day-Lewis' stellar performance still manages to make it a very good movie.

And finally my last review this Thanksgiving weekend is the new Disney film "Enchanted" which, despite my ever-confident masculinity, I LOVED. Similar to the "Shrek" movies, its a send-up of old Disney fairy tales. Unlike the over-rated Shrek movies though, there is far less sarcasm and cynicism. The Shrek movies were made by people who were fed up with Disney, but "Enchanted" is made by people who love and embrace the Disney classics. And I think the latter are in the right. Sure, those old "Happily Ever After" stories may be a bit cheesy, but there is something sweet and wonderful in their innocence and simplicity. While the idea that things don't always go "happily ever after" is discussed in "Enchanted," it made ME happy to see that the good sweet will of the fantasy world wins out in the end.
The film also has some great performances by James Marsden as the Prince, and especially Susan Sarandon as the evil queen, although I think she was underused, and I wish we had a bit more time with her at the end, both in human form and in (SPOILER!) dragon form. Speaking of which, this movie must have been DAMN HARD to make, with 2-D animation, 3-D animation special effects, and finally loads of live action.
However the real star of the movie (rightfully so) is Amy Adams as the would-be princess, whom I absolutely fell in love with. Playing a Disney princess trapped in New York could have easily come off and unfunny and stupid, and could have killed the movie, but instead Amy makes your heart melt. I hope this movie does well, because it's nice to see Disney returning to their roots ("Snow White," "Cinderella," and especially "Sleeping Beauty" are all referenced here). And while Disney has in the past ripped themselves off shamelessly, its nice to see HERE that they do so with a knowing wink. Well done!