But It's a Dry Heat

Archive for the ‘Worth Watching’ Category

The King’s Speech

Years ago my husband dragged me to see Master and Commander. I sulked in the uncomfortable seat and grumbled, “Stupid, period drama. Ships, bleh.” And then … I loved it. It’s one of my favorite movies.

So, even though the premise held no promise, I tried to watch The King’s Speech with an open mind.

The King’s Speech is no Master and Commander.  It’s a well made movie. The acting, particularly by Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, is excellent. But like many Oscar-winning movies that are dripping with critics’ slobber, I really don’t see the allure.

Prince, soon-to-be King George VI, “Bertie” (Colin Firth) has a problem. He stutters. Since his primary job as royalty, besides consuming enormous financial resources, is to cut ribbons and give speeches at the opening of the newest Wal-Mart, he struggles with his vocation. Yeah, I’m being facetious–Wal-Mart–but it does seem that all he is expected to do is give speeches. And make heirs, which, despite his speech problems, he’s managed handily, producing with his wife, two little princesses. Nothin’ wrong with that part of His Majesty.

Most of Bertie’s time, when not mucking up speeches, is spent moping about mucking up speeches. Seriously. He doesn’t do much else. Unlike other royalty, hopping on a horse and galloping across the countryside after a pack of hounds, to eventually sate royal bloodlust with the rending limb-from-limb of a fox, isn’t on Bertie’s agenda. Maybe it was, but he doesn’t do that in this movie.

His wife, Queen Elizabeth (Carter) gets tired of the angst and hires Lionel Logue (Rush), an eccentric speech therapist. Eccentric because his crazy ideas actually work. At the time, conventional therapy involved having the stutterer hold several marbles in his mouth and speak. “Speak clearly. Enunciate!” berates one doctor. (One of the few times I really pitied Bertie.) Lionel’s irreverent attitude clashes with the stick-up-his-arse prince/king, but of course, eventually the two become fast friends.

Yep. This is buddy movie, sans Seth Rogin, a road trip, or humor involving farts and body parts.  (Fuck is dropped with repeatedly with great glee as part of Bertie’s therapy.  Fuck is an awesome word; it even cures stuttering.)  Instead, Bertie and Lionel work toward their ultimate triumph … a speech.

If your taste runs to period character studies or tales where terribly rich people overcome adversity, then this is a fabulous movie. Me, I’ll stick with something a bit more lowbrow.

But It’s a Dry Heat

Thor

Contains mild spoilers. Also, when it comes to spoilers and salsa (hot sauce), my definition of mild is probably an understatement.

Regarding Thor…I much preferred Loki. Whaaaat? Is that bad?

Thor, the movie, doesn’t burden itself with anything more than a paint by numbers plot. This is a good thing, since the type of scriptwriters (and possibly directors) who gravitate toward superhero flicks are usually all thumbs, unable to tie even the simplest plot threads. Thor zips along from point A to point B with no pesky speed bumps like character development to get in the way.

Thor and Loki are sons of Odin, king of the mythical realm of Asgard. When the (more…)

Tangled

My loathing for the “old school” Disney princess (Cinderella, Snow White, et al.) is no secret.  She’s dumber than a bag of hammers and utterly useless as a protagonist. Her only strength is sweetness that can put you in diabetic coma in five seconds flat. And she’s pretty.   Cute, little forest animals love her (which probably means she has fleas), but never mind that, she’s pretty.  Sometimes she hides out with seven little hairy men and cleans their house and washes their skidmarked undies. She waits for her prince to come because good girls never orgasm first.  And they certainly never do anything to save themselves.

Fortunately, Disney heroines have come a long way, baby.  Some more than others.  While I liked Tangled–it’s hard not to–I think Rapunzel is one of modern Disney’s weaker heroines. Weaker is too strong a word, since Rapunzel is smart, inquisitive, artistic and sometimes, driven.

As romances go, however, The Princess and the Frog is a much stronger story. (It’s a stronger story, period.) Especially when (more…)

In Praise of Dragons and Beta Heroes

How to Train Your Dragon is one of my favorite movies. I love this movie for two reasons: Hiccup and Astrid.

First, Hiccup is what some in Romanceland calls a beta hero and I lurves the betas. Second, Astrid is a terrific, strong female character.

Regarding betas ….  The definition varies, but a beta hero is the opposite of an alpha hero.  Alpha heroes are the kind of men who get stuff done with brute force. They are usually endowed with … a corresponding amount of muscle, and often (annoyingly) characterized as emotionally  constipated.  Honestly? That’s not my idea of a romantic hero.  Yeah, the muscles are nice, but as I’ve noted elsewhere, it wouldn’t be long before I got bored and cheated on Mr. Manly with the geeky astrophysicist  across the hall.

The beta hero is more a thinking man/woman’s hero.  He won’t or can’t (more…)

The Last Starfighter

“You haven’t seen The Last Starfighter?” says my husband, incredulous.  “I’ll add it to the Netflix queue.”

I can’t remember why I never saw The Last Starfighter. Given that it features a cute boy, aliens, spaceships, space battles and a romance, it would have made my teenage self go “Squee!”

The Last Starfighter swaps out the planet Tatooine for a trailer park, and takes the whine out of the young hero, but trades on the same basic theme as Star Wars.  A young man, Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), longs for a life beyond the confines of the trailer park that he calls home.

Luke Skywalker had Aunt Beru and (more…)

Red

We watched Red again, last night. A big part of the movie’s charm is the cast–the notably older cast.  It trades on the same idea as The Expendables.  That older doesn’t mean useless, not even with action heros.

Watching it for a second time, I realized that Red has a lot in common with the uninspired Knight and Day.

Both movies utilize the same premise.  An ordinary woman gets drugged and kidnapped by a super spy/rogue CIA agent who is (more…)