Category: Cinematically Speaking…

The Last King of Scotland (2006): “The seduction of power bears an scary resemblance to the comfort we feel as children with our parents.”

An Unreasonable Man (2006): “A man’s life’s work should be weighed in balance, not on his last mistake.”

Notes: Documentary about Ralph Nader and his legacy. I’ve admired both their work but both Eric Alterman and Todd Gitlin come off as whiny dipshits.

Knocked Up (2007): “I owe Seth Rogan my sacred existence for making the pot belly and Jewfro leading man material.”

Happy Feet (2006): “Regarding the state of our world, the penguins are trying to tell us something”

Notes: Seen in New York while my feet ached after a weekend at BEA. I spent much of the movie saying, out loud and to nobody, “I have very sad feet.”

Waitress (2007): “Perhaps the best tribute we can pay to someone’s life is recognizing the beauty and joy of the things they create.”

I’m not sure I could ever be this obsessive but this video has 100 quotes from 100 movies counting backwards with the numbers 100-1 embedded within the quotes. Remarkable (via Kottke.org)

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966): “It is possible to succeed, beautifully, at being stone serious, beautifully silly and knowing it, all at once.”

Spider-Man 3 (2007): “Does forgiveness extend to a shambling mess of a sequel?”

Notes: A disaster. Even lovely special effects can’t make up for a plot too thick by half, three villians with a personality of one, and a score so intrusive that Danny Elfman may as well be just out of frame poking the actors with a stick. I love first two Spider-Man movies. This one vandalizes their good name.

Shrek The Third (2007): “Third time’s the charm only if you’re as hard-assed about quality as the first two.”

Notes: I think Shrek is losing his bellow. It’s got all the elements that made the first two movies so wonderful but the screenplay is clunky and feels a bit unneccessary. Tight plotting made the first two more than just clever fables. Here Shrek is barely the main character, the story forcing itself on King Arthur, (voiced by Justin Timberlake) and shoving Donkey and Puss n Boots off the edges. We didn’t ask for that.