I been thinking about movies....
My review of Dan in Real Life was--well, it wasn't much of a review. The movie just didn't do a thing for me, I didn't think; it seemed so--unremarkable. (The anonymous comment on that post is pretty good, though; thanks, Anonymous!)
But I've been thinking about it lately, and I realized that, despite the fact that I was completely underwhelmed by Dan in Real Life, seeing it marks the first time that I ever took note of Steve Carell, whom I'm now a fan of. And, I recently realized, the reason I'm such a fan of him is because I've been extremely impressed by his performance in two movies that I thought were otherwise fairly forgettable: Dan in Real Life and Anchorman. See, Dan in Real Life offered Steve virtually nothing to work with, yet he was absolutely amazing in it. And the blasé plot and pitiful supporting actors merely made a spectacular backdrop of gray for him to shine out from. He was so good! And then seeing him give a particularly notable rendition of dum-as-dirt in Anchorman convinced me that the man can do anything, and I am so excited for Get Smart to come out because I trust Mr. Carell to not screw it up (which would frankly be pretty easy to do with something like Get Smart).
(Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, no, I've never seen The Office, though it is much more appealing now that I know who Steve Carell is.)
Next, I saw Cloverfield again a couple nights ago. That movie is remarkably lacking in rewatchability, as it turns out: I enjoyed it about as much the second time as I expected to the first time. Still, because I did like it so much the first time, I think my recommendation still stands to anyone who hasn't seen it; you should definitely give it a try. But don't, like, run out and buy it or anything like that; I don't think that wise (I'm pretty relieved I didn't do that; I was considering it).
Last thought on movies for this post, I watched Stranger than Fiction last night. I love that movie. It and Big Fish are my two favorites right now, which boggles my mind because they are both far from any of my proclaimed ideals for fiction. I mean, Big Fish is blatantly ridiculous, and Stranger than Fiction is just as blatantly an exercise in deus ex machina. But I still love them. Don't know why, but I do.
I wouldn't go so far as to say Big Fish is blatantly ridiculous. But it's Tim Burton at his finest, in my opinion, and I love the blurring of the lines between imagination/story and reality.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think I've already mentioned that before, but you brought it up again. Which is practically begging for a second mention, right?
You know... one of these days I need to watch Big Fish. I didn't hear anything good when it came out, but if both of you like it, I'll have to give it a look.
ReplyDeleteCool that you found an actor you like Schmetter. ^.^
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ReplyDeleteI can't think of anyone else I could accept in Get Smart. I will miss Don Adams, but I hope they update this character in a way that is both good and doesn't make me hate them.
Get Smart is looking like it's going to be awesome. I can't believe I didn't find out about it until I met Jon's mom.
ReplyDeleteHe was also in Evan Almighty that spoof off the Noah story. He also used to be on the Daily Show a lot, on a bit called Even Stephven. That one was all about Colbert and Carell arguing the most ridiculous political topics ever.
I saw the one where the two of them were arguing about Halloween--so, SO funny! I love Colbert, too; he's a funny man.
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten that he was in Evan Almighty. I had written that off as a probably terrible sequel to a fairly mediocre movie, but Steve Carell--Steve Carell can do anything, so maybe it wasn't so bad.
Frightening I put so much faith in a screen actor!