Am I blogging...or am I pitching my existence?
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| High Concept Am I blogging...or am I pitching my existence? |
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Monday, August 30, 2004 The Pitch: It's like Garden State meets Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas! I do not want to be here. I want to be back in my bed, asleep. It's one of those days where everyone at work doesn't look awake, and there aren't that many people on the streets or in the building yet. It's the type of day where everyone shows up late, and doesn't even try to offer any explanation.Edi and I saw Garden State yesterday. I'd wanted to see it for some time and been trying to drag Edi to it for a while and then yesterday it all came together and we were there. I was one of those suckers who'd watched that very well edited teaser trailer and decided it was worth a peek. And Garden State is indeed very much worth that, although how much more, I'm not sure. It's opening third is arguably excellent: well-observed, funny and directed with a strong visual eye. The second third is strong, thanks to the introduction of Natalie Portman's character. And the final third barely adds up at all. I walked out of the movie with the warm glow from the first third trying to put the best spin on it: "Wow. Wasn't it great how the the movie promises a father-son confrontation that it can barely make itself deliver? I liked how you didn't get a chance to see the protagonist's transition from emotionally dead and overmedicated to wise and self-connected--it just sort of happened! And how the romance really swamps and overtakes the other plotlines? I wouldn't like that in another movie, but..." It's kind of interesting to figure out which parts didn't work because of insufficient subtle acting on the part of star Zach Braff, or because of a timidity in the screenplay by writer Zach Braff, or an inability on the part of director Zach Braff to pull a better performance from his lead actor or revise the script with his screenwriter, but it does make it easier to point the finger at one guy in particular. A shame since the guy has real talent in all three fields (with his direction being the strongest) and a willingness to craft really good scenes for his co-actors rather than hog it all for himself: both Natalie Portman and Peter Sarsgaard (resembling early Keifer Sutherland to a creepy amount) have great roles and really get the chance to tear into them. It's certainly a better movie than, say, Bright Lights, Big City (with which it has more than a little in common, I'm sorry to say) but it's the sort of movie you go to see if you like to see and support talent with a lot of potential, rather than talent that's fully emerged. As for other bits of eyecandy on the web designed to part you from your samoleans, I'm sure you're aware there's a trailer for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas out already. I've already subjected Edi to it countless times, but I had a quiet moment the other day at work and so loaded up the largest of the three trailers to ogle it again from the comfort of a DSL line on Saturday when nobody was hitting the Rockstar site (and, sad to say, I think the lousy little putt-putt computers at work can handle the size of the file easier than my computer at home, which stammered continually when I tried to play it). For whatever reason, the Rockstar site was troubled and it took forever for the trailer to load. So I got bored and started using what had loaded as a slideshow, scrolling up to a particular image and then stopping. It's been two years since I GTA: Vice City and I've really missed that eye for detail the GTA games have. Here, we've got basketball jerseys for the gangsta types to where except one jersey reads "dribbler" and another, "rimmer." In a pool hall, there's an ornate mural painted on brick next to a sign that reads "Beware of Pickpockets and Loose Women." A barber salon has framed pictures of haircuts for men on the walls. The emerald lights flashing on Ten Green Bottles Liquor Store. Interestingly, the website doesn't offer any of the screenshots I saw in the latest Game Informer: white guys in cowboy hats and baseball caps, monster trucks and dirt bikes peeling down the side of a rural highway. How heavily, and with how much humor, will the Rockstar guys push the collision of cultures? [A paragraph tying this idea, and expectation, to the ideas, and expectations, raised by Garden State should probably be inserted here. Sadly, I'm afraid workat the moment precludes it.] posted by Jeff Lester | 10:04 AM | |
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