Review: 20th Century Women - a rare piece of subtle art [9/10 A.S.]

1. 20th Century Women was a delightful surprise for me. I didn’t really want to go see it. The title didn’t appeal to me - who wants to watch a movie titled whatever- women? After the horror of "The Women" and the much, much better but still not very enjoyable Certain Women, I felt like I had it with whatever-women movies. Plus the description: "a single mom parents her teenage son along with two young women who help her " made me worry even more. And then I saw the name Greta Gerwig. Miss Gerwig usually makes me feel really irritated with movies she is in, since I find her performance insufferable. Not for a lack of talent, she certainly is a very talented lady, but something about her usual manners rubs me to wrong way. And its hard to say why. Maybe it is because more often than not she is cast as somewhat neurotic (and to me one-dimensional, therefore uninteresting) basket case. And I was afraid it was going to be the same this time around.

2. Well I couldn’t have been more wrong. On everything. The movie broke the spell of whatever-women flicks being bad. The description of the plot, while accurate, cannot communicate the beauty of the film and the depth of the characters portrayed in it. So: don’t be put off by it, there is no need. And no, you do not need to be a woman or a feminist, to enjoy the movie.  It’s a "normal" coming of age film. While the movie does mention the word “feminism“ quite often, it is not a "feminist" movie (certainly not in the misused scary way), and what’s more important - it can make fun of itself, its female protagonists and even feminism. A quality that, I find, the real-life examples of feminists often seem to lack. 

Suicide Squad: Ben Affleck's chin double tells all [4,5/10 A.S.]

1. I was hired to be Ben Affleck’s chin double. You know, in his new movie.  When he is in the Batman costume and all you can see from him is his chin. Thats me! It makes sense, because why would the producer pay a famous actor big bucks to be there, if he can get the same shot for much cheaper. I mean I don’t work for scale, but you know, compared to Big Ben, I take pocket money. And I get it. After all, the one thing I have going for me is the Ben Affleck look-alike chin. I never really did well in school or achieved anything worth mentioning, but when I was discovered, it kinda changed my life. Now I have a 3 year contract to stand-in for Ben's chin whenever needed! And life is sweet.

2. So there I am, on the set of Suicide Squad. David Ayer, the director, is talking to that lady from The Help and Doubt. Later I learn her name is Viola Davis. What a nice and kind woman! She noticed my chin right away, and called me Chinfleck. And it stuck. I found it endearing. But there she is, being told by the director to call Robocop a pussy! And a bitch! You don’t call the Robocop a bitch!  Joel Kinnaman,  the actor who plays Rick Flag, is a nice guy and all, but I tell you: he did not like it one bit, that Viola called him a bitch. You know what I say? I say: time are a changin', buddy! Her character, Ammanda Waller, is one strict boss in the movie! A bit too one dimensional, for my taste, but hey, she was commited to it!

Criminal - a criminally bad movie [3/10 A.S.]

1. Criminal is one pretty awful movie. What else do you need to know? Originally the lead role was supposed to go to Nicolas Cage. Who turned it down. Do I really need to say more? How bad does a movie have to be for Cage to turn it down? Well bad enough to beat his last five awful movies, apparently. And it is.

2. The story goes something like this: an elite CIA operative who suffers fatal injury during his pursuit of an anarchistic terrorist who is -(wait for it) threatening the world peace - has his mind transferred into the brain of the world’s most dangerous and psychopathic criminal. Enter Kevin Costner, doing his best impression of Michal Richards on steroids. Why does the CIA need the memories of the agent in the psycho's brain? Because apparently that’s the only way to extract the mightily important information about the whereabouts of a sought-after hacker and a wormhole program that allows for bypassing "any and all" safeguards around the use of any nuclear weapons (wait for it again) in the world. Gee. Why aim so low? 

3. As the inconsistent and shallow "story" unravels, you may wonder: how come a talented director + talented cast doesn’t equal a good or at least enjoyable movie?  You may stuff your face with more popcorn or make out with the pretty girl next to you, but it still won't make the Criminal experience much better, I am afraid. Unless the girl next to you is really hot and willing to do some filthy stuff. In which case why waste the time you have together on watching Kevin Costner struggle as the uninterestingly portrayed and criminally insane Jericho Stewart? Beats me.