Blackout chill out double feature Coyote Review

[cyrano]

So, as previously revealed, we lost power in a blowthrough last night. After our dogsleds braved the snowy drifts to get us to Big Boy for dinner, we decided to send the menfolk off to the local Tool Time to procure a new generator while we went somewhere with heat. This turned out to be the local cinema. Looking at the options presented us, I was not terribly optimistic, but I hadn't brought a book and part of a group outing is the 'group' bit, so I gambled. And really, I came off far better than I had any right to.

INTERRUPT: Holy carp. Julie Taymor has apparently done a film version of The Tempest, with Alan Cumming and Helen Mirren. After Titus, I feel a strong need to see this.

We saw The Tourist first, then found out there was still no power and saw Love and Other Drugs. I shall present the last first, because that way the really big spoilers for The Tourist get lodged at the very end of the article where it's harder to stumble across them. So considerate!


Love and Other Drugs
It's a romcom, but there's a lot more going on here. It's a romcom about a guy who's a slick drug rep (why does Pfizer not sue?) and has no self esteem who falls for a girl with early-onset Parkinsons. As far as light hearted romantic comedies go, this one walks a pretty dark path. And for the most part (barring the last five minutes) I bought it. It was occasionally painful, occasionally heartwarming, and pretty amusing. Plus, Jake Gyllenhall is smoking hot and spends a lot of time naked, in a t-shirt, or otherwise looking extremely toothsome.
Coyote says three wags.



The Tourist
I've seen Angelina Jolie in a few things, but she's never really made that much of an impression on me. I can't say that I now find her attractive, but at least I remember her in something besides "Tomb Raider". This is a charming spy farce, and it's supposed to have twists and turns but there's nothing that surprising here. It's fun, it's funny, and I liked it. I think this is another project Johnny Depp chose because he wouldn't have to work too hard, but I still enjoyed watching him.
Coyote says three wags.



SPOILERS FOR THE TOURIST PROCEED NO FURTHER HEER THERE BEE DRAGYNS







So I *loved* the casting of Rufus Sewell. It was the one thing that kept the film from being completely predictable. I saw Johnny Depp, and I said "Aha, face change, she left him. He's Pierce." And then I saw Rufus Sewell and I said "Wait. Rufus Sewell! They wouldn't bring him on unless he was going to be Pierce! Or, you know, do *something*." And so I spent... probably half the film being uncertain about that last twist. Kudos, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

Comments

[tersa.livejournal.com]

None that I know of. There maybe a string of self-loathing there, but not "no self esteem", because the one characteristic I find prevalent in good ('slick') sales people is their unassailable belief that they can sell stuff. It's part of how they can do it.

There may be a semantics disconnect going on here. :)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

This is entirely possible--I may have misstated.

[tersa.livejournal.com]

My kneejerk reactions, let me show them to you. :)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

You like words to mean what they mean.
I have no problem with that.