Paul's Day Out

A day at the movies (or my mini film festival)

Seriously, Syriana: I have no idea what this movie was about. That's not entirely true but I did ask myself several times during the movie, "What?!?" I thought I would really like this film because the director is the guy who wrote the screenplay for the film Traffic. I thought Traffic was a terrific film.The film, Syriana, is a nicely directed political thriller with the topical and timely oil world as the backdrop. It's an ensemble movie and tells many stories that span the globe; from Washington, DC to Iran to Maryland to the Persian Gulf. The "star" of the film is George Clooney who plays a CIA operative who learns that he's been sold out and decides to take action. Other stories include Matt Damon as an oil broker who becomes partners with the Gulf Prince and Jeffrey Wright as a lawyer trying to uncover corruption in an oil company. Maybe it was just too cerebral for me but the movie didn't answer all my questions and the first hour is confusing and one can easily become impatient. Or maybe it was just me. The movie wasn't all bad; I'm predicting an Oscar nod for Jeffrey Wright and George Clooney. In fact, as far as Clooney movies go, it's the best thing I've seen him do. And speaking of Clooney he gained 35lbs for the role and also suffered a spinal injury due to one of the fight sequences. By the way, why do mediocre actors suddenly get really good once they've gained weight for a role? Look at Woody Harrelson in The People Vs. Larry Flynt. He even got nominated for an Oscar. And speaking of Woody Harrelson......

Congrats, you've just won: Another movie I saw was The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, a film about a housewife with 10 kids who continuously enters contests and wins. The film is adapted from Terry Ryan's book The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less. Julianne Moore plays Evelyn Ryan, a mother trying to keep food on the table and the bills paid. She wins everything from ice crushers to rain boots to cash. Woody Harrelson plays Kelly Ryan, Evelyn's husband, who struggles with the humiliation of not being the main breadwinner and squanders his money on booze. Throughout the film I couldn't tell if Harrelson's character had some sort mental illness or if he was just a creep. And he must be storing for winter because he had quite a paunch in the movie. I don't remember Harrelson being that chunky. The film is touching and Moore's character Evelyn is perpetually happy. In fact she kept reminding me of Jim, my spouse, in that she always had a positive spin. Terry Ryan, who wrote the book, is actually one of the daughters and a bonus of the movie is that at the end we get to see the real Ryan children and see where they are today. I do have to say though that it got a little creepy during the film when Moore's and Harrelson's characters kept calling each other father and mother. I felt like I was watching some sort of twisted fantasy.

Lions, witches, and wardrobes, OH MY!!!!: This movie is what I like to call "The Lord Of The Rings of 2005." The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe is the adaptation of C.S. Lewis's book which tells the story of four children who discover a magical world inside of a wardrobe. First of all, why don't they just call it a closet? Why do they have to be so hoity toity about it? And second of all, I've never seen anyone so amazed at seeing a sheet draped over a piece of furniture in an otherwise empty room. That's the look that Lucy Pevensie, the youngest sibling gets when she first discovers the wardrobe. One other thing, if I were to discover another world inside of a closet I would be running away from it, not toward it, looking over my shoulder to see if Rod Serling was chasing me. Seriously, though, the film is truly superb. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. This is not the kind of film I usually enjoy and I enjoyed it more than all three Lord Of The Rings films combined. I read the book a couple of years ago, literally right before the movie was announced but I wish I had reread it for the detail. The movie is very very faithful to the book and now that I've enjoyed the movie so much, it's made me want to read the rest of the series. The casting of the kids is impeccable and Tilda Swinton, as the White Witch, is truly evil and gives new meaning to the term ice queen. However, I really really want an ice crown like the one she wears in the movie. In the movie the four siblings must fight the White Witch, with the help of Aslan and his army, to bring peace back to Narnia. The movie also has a line in it that contains a name I can use if and when I ever perform on stage in drag: Dolly Daydream. One other plus of the movie is that it is about an hour less than one Lord Of The Rings movie. I'm certain this film will be Oscar nominated for Best Pic and Best Director.

I think I'll start rating movies in terms of rainbow flags. How appropriate, huh? For Syriana I give 3 flags. For Prize I give 6.5 flags and for Narnia I give 9 flags.

paul