Tags
derek blasberg, emily watson, everest, fashionably late, jake gyllenhaal, jason clarke, jessica alba, keira knightley, lake bell, london, man up, rachel zoe, romantic comedy, shymalan, simon pegg, the visit, what did I watch this week?
After some busy weeks, this week has been slightly lighter and I’ve been able to catch up with movies and TV shows a bit. This is something rare, so I’ve watched plenty.
On Tuesday, I saw Everest directed by Baltasar Kormákur and with Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh Brolin leading the cast. Now this is a movie you know the end beforehand because it’s based in a true story, a climbing expedition on Mt. Everest that wreaks havoc due to a severe snow storm.
You know you’ll cry but you still want to watch it. Why? The cast has big names in it, so that draws people to the movies, but this is not an Oscarworthy movie for their acting, it is for its technical features like sound effects, visual effects and cinematography. Still, I must point out the great Kiwi accent of Keira Knightley, who plays Rob Hall’s pregnant wife, Jan Arnold and Emily Watson, always a great (underrated) supporting actress who plays Helen Wilton, base camp coordination and who, in my humble opinion, serves as a great pace mediator of the movie. Soothing and supportive at times and bold and direct in others.
You must think, is this movie any different from Vertical Limit? Well, this one is based in K2 and although people die, the final outcome is very different. Everest doesn’t sugarcoat the story and despite some funny moments coming from Gyllenhaal’s character, this movie really shows the mysticism of climbing, the rituals done, the dark side of climbers when underestimate the mountain (it really should be considered as a person in some ways: I’m having a good day, you can climb me; I’m having a bad day and you look down on me, you’re gonna suffer) and the understanding of death when the mountain beats you. Rating: **
I don’t want to talk much about The Visit because I didn’t like the movie at all. I think Michael Night Shyamalan has been cursed since the awesome The Sixth Sense. Any of his other horror movies impressed me. It is the first time that Shymalan uses the documentary style as seen in The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity. Nothing new. There are moments that are meant to be funny (most coming from Ed Oxenbould) and make you cringe instead. I’m a big horror fan, I wanted to be scary, I don’t want to be grossed out by bad acting and unnecessary feces, diapers and vomits. Can someone please tell me why Kathryn Hahn thought this movie was a good idea? Rating: *
And the very last movie I’ve seen is British rom-com called Man Up, starring Simon Pegg and Lake Bell. The plot is really easy: A single woman in her mid-thirties (how cliché!) played by Bell is mistaken by a man’s (Pegg) blind date. While the movie falls into all the conventions of the genre and you can hint the end since the beginning, it’s incredibly fresh and funny. I like that it doesn’t exclusively focus on the beauty of romance. We have always seen the prespective of a woman after a break-up, here we see the man’s perspective, how he feels, what he’s looking for, which is really refreshing. Both leading actors have an incredible chemistry and are hilarious. Who would have thought that nerdy Simon Pegg could be a good leading romantic actor? I liked him a lot. Kudos to Lake Bell for her flawless Brit accent and Rory Kinnear for making me laugh out loud. It’s a feel good movie for Friday evening. Rating: ***
Just a couple of lines about a new show I’ve seen: the return of Rachel Zoe to TV with Fashionably Late with Rachel Zoe. I was really looking forward to this because I was a big fan of The Rachel Zoe Project, which was a reality show about her life and her business, but this new talk show… boy, it was painful to watch and it’s only 20 minutes long. It needs a whole makeover to make it work (as Tim Gunn would say), I know it’s the first episode but Zoe is not a TV newbie. Forced, way too much scripted sections, canned repetitive laughter that make you cringe because what she’s said is not funny, with guest best friends (this week, Jessica Alba) that barely talk and when they do, they just praise Zoe, and Rodger Berman in the sidelines. Can’t say I love or hate Zoe because I think she has a good fashion vision but she needs more spontaneity, being less focused on her and give more opportunities to her co-host Derek Blasberg and guests to shine and not just serve as sidekickers. I want the fierce, naturally funny and eloquent Zoe I saw during five seasons in her reality show.
See you next week!