Any good movie fan instantly associates insane asylums with “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” Milos Forman’s classic that is one of only three films ever to score Oscar’s Big Five (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay). It’s a ridiculously unfair standard for any movie to be measured against, so naturally, when a movie like “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” comes along that treads similar waters, it can’t help but disappoint coming straight out of the gate. The dramedy just exacerbates the disparity by dealing with the thin line between sanity and insanity in a noticeably more juvenile manner.
The movie piddles around in the messed-up mind of narrator Craig Gilner (Keir Gilchrist), a suicidal teenager who checks himself into a psychiatric hospital after failing to execute a plan to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. As we find out, he’s just a little misunderstood, buckling under the pressure of being a teenager in the modern world. And since I’m eighteen and heading off to college, I should totally understand and relate, right? Wrong. Craig is hardly a sympathetic character, and Gilchrist portrays him so awkwardly that it’s really hard to care about anything that happens to him.
Thankfully, directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden – who have fallen far from their 2006 debut feature “Half Nelson” – don’t saddle us with only watching Craig deal with his demons for the whole movie. They stock the nuthouse with other mildly amusing characters, primarily Zach Galifianakis as fellow patient Bobby. He brings a few laughs but mainly makes you wonder whether Alan from “The Hangover” belongs in an institution since he’s not all that different from his character here. There’s also some corny, schmaltzy romance between Craig and Noelle, played by Emma Roberts, which doesn’t work at all since the two have zero chemistry. It’s hard to believe this movie came from an esteemed novel, so do yourself a favor and watch the aforementioned acclaimed movie based on an acclaimed novel. C /
In less than two weeks, we are headed into October. More quality fall entertainment, more Oscar contenders. But really, “The Social Network” leads off the month and it’s all downhill from there. Sorry, every other movie coming out in my month of birth. AND PLEASE TAKE THE POLL AT THE END … I blanked and left it off for a few days, but please vote!
October 1
I’ve stated twice that I’m dying to see “The Social Network,” and I’ve predicted it twice now to win Best Picture. I’m counting on a great movie, and I’m planning on catching the first showing after school on Friday.
“Let Me In” reminds us of a time when vampires were still scary, not sexy. Chloe Moretz (best known as Hit Girl) plays the blood-sucking child in question in this remake of the 2008 foreign horror flick “Let the Right One In.” I think subtitles make anything creepier, but Hollywood sees English-language versions as a way to make things more accessible.
I love the book “Freakonomics,” and I think the documentary montage without any particular focus is a perfect complement to the bestseller. If it’s anything like the book, it will be fascinating and incredibly thought-provoking. It’s an interesting tactic to put it on iTunes before releasing it in theaters, and I’ve been asking myself whether or not I should wait for the big screen.
And on another note, poor Renee Zellweger has dropped so low as to start doing low-brow horror like “Case 39.” To think she won an Oscar just 7 years ago…
October 8
Ugh, “Secretariat.” Inspirational sports movies now give me an averse reaction. And there’s also more gross horror in 3D with “My Soul to Take.” Way to sell your soul, Wes Craven. With the only other wide release being a corny Josh Duhamel-Katherine Heigl romantic comedy, “Life as We Know It,” it looks like I may be seeing “The Social Network” for a second time.
On the indie side of things, I’ll be happy to see some of the offerings. For example, I’m sure “Inside Job” will be an illuminating (and probably slanted) view of what really went down with the economic meltdown in 2008.
“Stone” looks intense, much like “Brothers” appealed to me this time last year. With an impressive cast of Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton (Milla Jovovich to a lesser degree as well), it could be a pretty good under-the-radar movie.
“Tamara Drewe” has been playing at a lot of film festivals this year to mixed/positive reviews, most of the praise going not to director Stephen Frears but to leading lady Gemma Arterton. “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” has also been playing film festivals recently albeit to much less success. Despite the widespread acclaim the filmmakers’ past two movies, “Half Nelson” and “Sugar,” have received, this just hasn’t caught on. “Nowhere Boy,” the story of John Lennon, premiered at Toronto this week, but I didn’t hear anything about it. No news is NOT good news at a festival.
Weird to think that the circle is complete and I’m back doing my second September preview post! All strangeness aside, we have emerged from a summer that many people loathed. Now it’s up to fall, which begins in September, to redeem the year. With the big film festivals beginning, it’s time for the Oscar hopefuls to hit the stage and make it or break it.
September 1/3
Getting a head start on the weekend is Anton Corbjin’s “The American,” starring George Clooney. The director has only one other film under his belt, “Control,” which received enough raves that it’s sitting comfortably on my DVR. Nevertheless, it’s George Clooney’s only movie of awards season 2010, so that makes it worth seeing. Added bonus is the trailer gives very little of the plot away.
Apparently Robert Rodriguez didn’t get the memo that more is more when it comes to having old people in action movies, as August’s “The Expendables” bloated cast translated into cash. But “Machete,” with Danny Trejo as the titular swordslinger along with Steven Seagal (tragically overlooked by Sly), Cheech Marin, and Robert DeNiro, still looks pretty fun. Plus, there’s Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, and America’s favorite jail bait, Lindsay Lohan!
“Going the Distance” finds a home in September for Labor Day weekend after August just seemed a little too crowded.
Americans remake foreign movies all the time, but “A Woman A Gun and A Noodle Shop” switches it up on us and remakes an American movie. The source: The Coen Brothers’ “Blood Simple.” Should be interesting…
September 10
Haven’t we seen enough “Resident Evil” in the last 8 years? In case we haven’t, “Resident Evil: Afterlife” is here. I will give the marketing executives credit for the trailer: they get that people can tell phony 3D from real 3D, and they are selling the fact that this is real 3D.
The prospects don’t look much better off the beaten path, either. “The Virginity Hit” just looks like “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” for the YouTube era.
September 15/17
Emma Stone’s “Easy A” looks to make “The Scarlet Letter” much more enjoyable for the juniors at my school who have to read it (I was not among those). Hopefully this can make a star out of Stone, best known as Jules from “Superbad.”
I have absolutely no idea what to make of the trailer for “The Town” or “Never Let Me Go.” But with a cast including the likes of Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, and Ben Affleck for the former, which opens in wide release this weekend, I’m definitely in. Ditto for the latter which opens in limited release on Wednesday and stars Oscar nominees Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley.
“Devil” looks kind of freaky … but I’m wondering how many viewers Universal lost for this movie after “The Last Airbender” was so poorly received. Maybe selling the movie based on M. Night Shyamalan wasn’t the best idea…
The weekend also brings Philip Seymour Hoffman’s directorial debut, “Jack Goes Boating,” starring he and Oscar nominee Amy Ryan. It’s a very quirky, melancholy-looking romance. Hoffman would.
Hey, look, another talking animal movie! I’ll give “Alpha and Omega” the fact that it has the slight distinction of being Dennis Hopper’s last movie. Don’t cry; he wouldn’t want us to.
September 22/24
I’m interested in “You Again” because it’s a different kind of high school movie – one where all the students are out of school. Forced to be around each other, old high school rivals duke it out. And Betty White watches. What could be better?
Is “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” a zeitgeist-tapping look at our economy? Or just Oliver Stone trying to reclaim his glory days? Carey Mulligan is in it … good reason for me to see it.
Ryan Reynolds inside a coffin for an entire movie? Will it work? I want to see “Buried” if for no other reason than to see how they pull it off.
Wednesday sees the latest film from prolific director Woody Allen, “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.” It has a great ensemble cast, but it didn’t get the greatest reviews at Cannes. We’ll see how this goes.
I lost so much respect for “Legend of the Guardians” when the filmmakers attempted to convince me that their movie about talking owls was comparable to “The Lord of the Rings.” Talk about a stretch…
What are YOU looking forward to in September? Planning on going to the movies at all? Or just clearing out your DVR…
Any good movie fan instantly associates insane asylums with “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” Milos Forman’s classic that is one of only three films ever to score Oscar’s Big Five (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay). It’s a ridiculously unfair standard for any movie to be measured against, so naturally, when a movie like “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” comes along that treads similar waters, it can’t help but disappoint coming straight out of the gate. The dramedy just exacerbates the disparity by dealing with the thin line between sanity and insanity in a noticeably more juvenile manner.
Marshall and the Movies 
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