All Good Things Must End…

I caught Arsenic and Old Lace for the first time last night. It came in from Netflix andI was ready for a comedy. The cast was perfect as was the writing. I am amazed that I had missed this film for so long.It truly is a work of art.

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On Vacation, we tend to go to the movies during the hot part of the day and use the morning and late afternoons for the beach. So our first trip to the metroplex featured the blockbuster Spiderman 3. What a waste of money.

I have a hate relationship with most movies. It was not always that way, but I have come to the conclusion that most filmmakers believe their audience is comprised of idiots and morons. Their work shows a constant contempt for the thinkers amongst us. I have never seen such crap on the screen that the media is fawning over as if it was the second coming. The waste of money that was used for this film could have gone to make at least 80 decent films. Spiderman is no longer the dejected loser from the first two films. Instead, he is a narcissistic creep that is dealing with the fans and pressures of being a superhero with a hot chick to date! This film not only was stupid, not bothering to even explain the villains, but it was boring to boot-a far worse crime in my book.

It is movies like this that are killing Hollywood. A blockbuster dumb movie sells more, but it provides no pleasure or entertainment-only a time waster for feeble minds. The special effects were a waste of money-looking cartoonish. All in all, this was not the way to begin a summer of movies

In Her Shoes is not your everyday chick flick, it is something much more. It is a great piece of movie making that allows you to view the destruction of several generations of a family due to mental illness and family secrets.

The cast was top notch, Shirley McClaine and the community of retired women steal many scenes from Cameron Diaz. Toni Collette turns in another fantastic performance, showing once again that she is one of the premiere actors of her generation with as much range as can be had in Hollywood. Ken Howard plays their loving father who has secrets of his own. All in all great actors with a fantastic screenplay, it shows that Hollywood NEVER knows just what they have and as such this movie was incorrectly marketed and did horrible at the box office. It deserved better.

I know the movie has been out for a while, but I did not see it till this past weekend. I heard the awful reviews it got (Joel Siegal walked out of it) and, although I never trust most corporate reviews) I thought why waste time with a sequel to a movie that did not need one. I think that sequels and remakes are the lazy and cynical way to make a movie. No new creative thought is there and it is just an easy buck for the studio-and it shows. Most movies today are not worth the time to see them. I am not entertained by a depressed superhero. Special effects do nothing for me, same with CGI. I like dialogue and a story. That is why I like Kevin Smith and his films.

Rebounding from the ass-kicking he got (unfairly I might add) from Jersey Girl, this is a great movie. It is Kevin Smith true to form, a racy dialogue and in-joke filled fest that is enjoyable. Even the Donkey scene is funny for those without a closed mind. Rosario Dawson is excellent-as is the rest of the cast. There is a kindness that exists in Kevin Smith’s films that is hard to explain. People care for each other- even the drug dealers Jay and Silent Bob. There are few hateful characters, but those tend to get lost amongst the bonds of true kindness. It is a rare gift to be able to show this on screen and it is refreshing to see.