I paid for one movie and snuck into another two. All of them were very good, surprisingly. The first was "Gran Torino" starring, and direct by, Clint Eastwood. He did a stellar job at both acting and directing. Unlike many directors his age, he's become better with age. The movie was rife with politically incorrect racial rants. It reminded me a lot of Archie Bunker - a bigoted, curmudgeon with a heart - but I did laugh. I wasn't trilled with the movie's ending, but it was acceptable.
The second movie, I saw as "Milk". It was directed by Gus Van Sant and staring Sean Penn. It was about, Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person elected to public office. Sean Penn played Milk and he was amazing. I'm not a huge Sean Penn fan, but his acting in this movie was spot on. In my opinion, he stole his previous Oscar for his work in "Mystic River" from Bill Murray, who should have won it for "Lost in Translation", but I wouldn't be surprised if Penn won another Oscar for "Milk".
The last movie, was "Slumdog Millionaire". It was about an orphan, who was raised in the slums of India, and then became a contestant on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". The movie is right for the economic times - India's poor struggling with life's challenges and opportunities. The movie had the most contemporary cinematography and editing, of the three I watched today. The director, Danny Boyle, also directed one of my favorite films of all times "Trainspotting".
What I most enjoyed about watching all three movies back to back was the difference in directing styles. Clint Eastwood, who is now in his late 70's, was very old school. Gus Van Sant repeated many of his visual techniques from "My Own Private Idaho". And Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" reminded me a lot of the "Borne" films, very quick camera movement and editing. I'm not sure, I really like this style, but it has become very prevalent in contemporary movies. Maybe I'm just getting old.
I would recommend all three movies.
No comments:
Post a Comment