Review: Zero Dark Thirty

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

My Rating:  It was a good, solid experience.  I'd recommend it as a matinee.

Initial thoughts:  I knew this was a Kathryn Bigelow movie and I am a fan of her work (my favorite of her films being Strange Days).  Of course I also knew this was the story of how Osama Bin Laden finally got got and I was excited to see it.

Nutshell:  This is the story of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.  It basically follows the CIA tactics and trail they used to locate him and then follows the military operation to get him.

What I dig:  The story had a lot of information on how the CIA was getting their intelligence, which I found fascinating for the most part.  The action sequence at the end was solid, but since I think it was trying to stick to reality it wasn't as exciting as some other military operation films.  The characters of Joel Edgerton and Chris Pratt brought some much needed levity and warmth to the film towards the end.

What I don't dig:  While I did like how it was illustrated how the CIA got their intelligence I did feel those parts were a bit long and there were a lot of them.  The middle with all of this information was kind of getting tedious and it probably could have used a good editor.  I also feel this movie was kind of light on character development, but I can also understand that the main character (Maya) was obsessed with finding Bin Laden and maybe she just didn't actually have a life outside of the CIA.

Final thoughts:  If you are interested in military and intelligence procedural type films then I would recommend it.  If that isn't your thing, and/or you don't have interest in seeing how the manhunt for Bin Laden played out then skip it.

Any comments are appreciated! 

Rant: my problem with Ruby Sparks

So, I have been having this thought run through my head about this movie I recently saw called "Ruby Sparks".  Oh, and there is profanity in here.  Yay!

For those who have not seen the movie, it concerns a writer who, after a big initial success, is in the midst of a 10 year writer's block with fears of a sophomore slump. He then has a dream about a woman and begins to write about her on his typewriter (yes, a professional author in his 20s is using a typewriter, already straying too close to knocking that suspension of disbelief right out of me). Anyway, this writer, played by Paul Dano, writes about this woman and realizes she has come to life. He figures out that whatever he writes about her becomes real. Throughout the story he learns lessons about his selfishness, what loves is, etc. and by the end all is wrapped up.

That is all well and good, but I find this premise difficult to deal with. To elaborate, I find that Paul Dano's character is incredibly unimaginative when given, essentially, an enormously powerful genie (or d'jinni if you prefer). All he has to do is write what he wants this woman to do, and she does it. Holy shit, am I the only one that finds this magical ability amazing?





First off, I would have to change her name from Ruby to something more fitting, so Jeannie it is. Now, I wouldn't go full on Barbara Eden with her, but I would at least drop that clue to see which of my friends would pick up on it when I started to reveal what this magic creature is capable of.

Then, I would get the altruistic stuff out of the way since caring for humanity is considered noble and all that. Paul Dano's character was way too caught up on pussy since he never realized that he could make Ruby do something like, "Ruby creates a clean, earth friendly, low cost, near limitless energy source that can be delivered to the entire world and writes down in detail how this can be accomplished so that even an author with little imagination can transmit this idea to the people in a clear, concise way." Or maybe he could go, "Ruby finds the cures for all the diseases plaguing mankind and writes them down in a book. Ruby pays special attention to curing STDs and STIs, because, obviously, those diseases are the shittiest ones to get since all you were doing was having some fun and it came back to haunt you, which is bullshit." Or maybe, "Ruby writes some poem or song that changes the hearts and minds of the world under the pseudonym 'Wyld Stallyns' and stops all wars, greed, and general dickishness forever. She makes waterslides available to everybody over the entire planet and gives them free passes for life." Still too big in scope? Okay, "Ruby writes a bill to her congressman to allow marijuana to become legal on a federal level and it passes. Ruby can now smoke all she likes because she's awesome and so is weed." If the passages seem to be childish or poorly written, just keep in mind that I am trying to write in the Paul Dano character's voice, and it has nothing to do with my own inability to be mature and/or make sense.

Then, I would totally go the selfish route and rock out, "Ruby brings Paul Dano's character a giant stack of legal cash that is untraceable and will never be missed. Ruby doesn't explain how she gets it, only that it be used for whatever purpose Paul Dano's character decides and a new one will be delivered every week with no strings attached. Zero strings. Including none of the fucked up, creepy genie/Monkey's Paw strings that always go poorly for the person receiving said giant stack of cash." Shit, yeah. Next? "Ruby is totally cool with me hanging out with my friends and doesn't give me shit about it." That about sum that one up, even if that one a little too close to reality? Moving on, "Ruby is really, really good at sex. She doesn't fulfill the Paul Dano character's every desire every time, because that would get boring, and some uncertainty must exist for the experience to still be interesting and exciting, but she is really fantastic otherwise. And she has great boobs."

C'mon, Paul Dano, you totally could have expanded your mind and created something amazing and changed the world. Instead you just acted all weird and creepy (read: like Paul Dano), making it hard for the audience to see you in a likeable way.

I dunno, this was just something I had on my mind.