Two-fer

Feeling guilty for blogging so little of late (I know – as compared to the voluminous blogging I normally do – I know, I know), I decided to treat both me and I (the only readers of this blog besides myself) to a two-fer.

My latest foray to the video store was quirky, to say the least.  The first movie we watched was Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.  Somehow, I tricked myself into remembering that somebody had claimed this was an underrated movie.  Whoever that person was, is, or never was, they were wrong.  This movie could not possibly be underrated enough. 

If you think to yourself, as I sometimes do, “Hey, this movie has some people I’ve heard of in it.  Paltrow.  Law.  Jolie.  How bad can it be?”  please quit thinking such thoughts prior to renting this movie – and perhaps you’ll avoid renting it.  I won’t belabor the point any further.  It was a monumentally awful movie.  If you’re a fan of poorly acted and directed movies hearkening back to the poorly acted and directed sci-fi movies of the 50’s, you *might* find some redeeming value in this movie.  Otherwise, yer just throwin’ your $4 in the trash.

My second choice was totally one of those whim things.  Wife likes movies about people, so I decided that Confessions of a Superhero might be right up her alley.  Bingo – it was a definite strike.  In the positive, bowling sense of the word which maintains the metaphor of ‘alley’ in the previous sentence.  Wife like.  Me happy.

Quirky is probably too vague a word for this simple but poetic look at the lives of four people who dress up like superheros and accept tips for having their pictures taken with tourists in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.  They each have aspirations to work in film.  Their reasons for taking up this line of work vary.  They are devestatingly real and authentic, in the touching, embarrassing, and painful ways that people doing strange things can be.  The film simply rolls, capturing them in their best and worst moments, both privately and in their persona as ‘characters’, unofficial (and not universally appreciated) ambassadors of goodwill to the tourists of Hollywood.  As the Wonder Woman actress states, “this is a train wreck, but you can’t look away”.  And you can’t. 

Or perhaps shouldn’t.  

A deceptively unadorned movie about painfully uncomplicated people doing unlikely things for uncertain reasons.  If you’re an observer of the human nature, you’ll love this movie.  If you’re a dreamer, it’s a bold encouragement and a cold glass of water in the face all at the same time.  You want these people to succeed, even though you know the odds are stacked impossibly against them. 

And there’s a funny trailer for a film called Chalk that looks like it would be a good watch as well.

I strongly encourage watching the deleted scenes that are included on the DVD bonus section.  Particularly the long but funny clip about how Bonnie and Chris (Superman) met.