Sunday, February 15, 2009

Monkey Movie Reviews

Here's two quick reviews of two films we watched recently here at Monkey Central:
Brick Lane is the story of a Bengali woman's life after she is sent to London to live with the man her father picked out to marry her. The man she marries is quite a bit older than her and he's not the best at adapting to the England of his hopes and dreams.

The film is a poignant take on the old adage 'Home is where the heart is.' It's a fine piece of movie making with some great performances, especially the three leads. Tannishtha Chatterjee shines as the women in what we think is a loveless marriage and she's easy on the eyes, she's very 'hubba hubba' worthy. Satish Kaushik is wonderful as her husband who only reluctantly recognizes that it's not his intelligence or lack thereof that is holding him back, it's the racism of the white folks in London. And finally as the young Muslim firebrand who in his heart of hearts loves the west with all it's moral decay, Christopher Simpson gives a great performance.

I recommend this movie because you'll get a take on the immigrant experience that you'd never otherwise see if you miss this film. And seriously, watching Bengali babe Ms. Chatterjee for an hour and a half is well worth the price of a DVD rental. The extras on the DVD are pretty pedestrian though so don't expect much there.


I'll admit I was prepared to hate Into The Wild. And I almost did. After all movies about dudes who hate civilization and cities and who pine unceasingly about living off the land and being true to and respectful of nature, even though they benefited from living in the same civilization they claim to hate, really don't interest me. I'm sorry folks, I never was into camping and while I love and appreciate nature, I have no desire to live off the land like they did in the olden days of yore.
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But even though I thought the main character was a selfish inconsiderate Thoreau wanna be dolt, I got sucked into the film and ultimately I liked it. I've known for sometime that I am 'wired' differently than other people and some people, like the main character in this film, love living on the edge and off the land. It's fine by me that those people are out there and I can coexist with them as long as they don't get in my face and tell me what a horrid person I am for living in the city and not in some bum fuck wilderness somewhere. Basically this film is about a guy who loved living in bum fuck wilderness and he was so into it that he refused to let his family know where he lived or what he was doing. They only found out what he'd been up to after a couple of moose hunters in Alaska found his body after he had starved to death out in his precious wilderness.
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Emile Hirsch is very good in the lead role. His transformation into the scared starving emaciated wilderness junkie is startling to behold. Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt are good as his repressed parents who he rebels against. As usual Catherine Keener turns in a good performance too. Vince Vaughn is good in a small role as well. And finally Hal Holbrook will break your heart in his small role as the lonely old man who reaches out to the doomed young nature lover right before he leaves for Alaska.
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The film is told out of sequence which is annoying at times but overall I recommend this film. Sean Penn did a fine job with the screenplay and with the direction of the movie.

13 comments:

Bon Don said...

Thanks for the reviews, I must check them out!

ReRe said...

i hear into the wild is good. it has "bella" aka Kristen Stewart in it, so i may check it out just for that!

thanks sir!

Dale said...

I thought I'd hate Into The Wild too but was sucked in big time and ended up really loving it.

King of New York Hacks said...

Into the wild was good , the book better.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

I've been wanting to see Brick Lane for some time. Glad to hear that it lives up.

I never really considered Into the Wild, but Emile Hirsch was so appealing in Milk that now I think I'll check it out.

Thanks.

Ubermilf said...

I know EXACTLY what you mean about the "Into the Wild" mentality. And isn't it more than a little selfish to let your family worry about you like that?

I felt the same way about "Into Thin Air" or whatever that story about the guys who died climbing Everest was called.

Should you widow/orphan your children just for the thrill of climbing a big mountain? Not for scientific or exploratory reasons, but just because you want personal glory? But yet, I got sucked into that story, too.

kenju said...

I agree with you about Into the Wild. I read the book and was parepared to hate the movie, but it was very well done.

John said...

Thanks for the reviews. You made Brick Lane sound good, so I'll have to rent it. I enjoyed Into The Wild and would recommend it too. I hate endings like that, but what can you do? I mean it was a true story afterall.

Gifted Typist said...

Thanks Monkey, loved Brick Lane the book.

Blueberry said...

I really liked Into the Wild too, not because I approved or disapproved of what the guy did or why - but because the film let me decide what to think and we had discussions afterwards.

Utah Savage said...

Thanks for the recommendations. I avoided Into the Wild because I thought it was a glorification of the stupid. But when I can see it for free, I will no doubt watch it. Brick Lane sounds good. I'll look for it.

Missy said...

I appreciate your review of Into the Wild very much. I like your input and how you showed the value in the film despite the story it is based on.

I read "Into the Wild" (while I was camping) and I loved and HATED the book. I thought the book was well researched and written, but I thought the main character in the true story was totally selfish and immature and I wanted to smack him upside the head. His poor family, I mean we all have problems of one level or another with our relatives, but totally disappearing on your mother is just unacceptable. Seriously- even if your mother lost parental rights and you were raised by wonderful other people, if she wants to know of you I think she she still deserves a postcard once a year to know you are alive because she made you (I know it can be more complicated than that, I don't know how else to say it right now.) And his sister- who he was supposedly close to, she has to live wondering why and what she could have done forever.

Clearly I am not ready to let go and enjoy the film yet, but I hope to get there.

Joe said...

Into The Wild has been on my list for a while, so thanks for reminding me. Have you read Krakauer's "Under the Banner of Heaven" about fundamentalist Mormons, or "Into Thin Air" about a disastrous expedition on Everest? Great reads.

The protagonist in Into the Wild reminds me a little of the late Timothy Treadwell, who loved bears and being in the wilderness, and who was ultimately killed and eaten by grizzly bears.

Personally, I love the wilderness, and I'm looking forward to living in a more rural setting, but I generally steer clear of situations where I'm likely to

a) fall off a mountain
b) freeze to death on a mountain
c) starve to death
d) be eaten by a bear