Movie Review: Inside Man
In this blog, I have decided that I am going to begin writing entries with a common theme that will show up occasionally. That theme could be a movie review, as this one is, a music review, an analysis of something in the news, as I did with the Bush thing, or something I haven't thought of yet. They will not take the place of the usual crap I have on here, but rather be additional entries that I will make when called for, for instance, after I've seen a movie. I love movies and I love music, so it'll be fun for me, and hopefully you can get some information out of them. Anyways, they'll be showing up.
Last night, I saw Inside Man. Directed by Spike Lee, and starring Clive Owen, Denzel Washington, and Jodie Foster. It is a heist movie, if you didn't know, in which the "perfect bank robbery" is allegedly to be pulled off. The movie was well done in my opinion. It was a Spike Lee joint, and it's really a crapshoot with that guy, but it was good, his best in a long time if you ask me. He's a great director when he focuses on directing and not preaching. I think the determining factor in whether a Spike Lee movie is good or not, aside from whether or not it's the gospel according to Spike, is based on Denzel Washington, Lee's go to guy. Much as Johnny Depp's acting is to Tim Burton and John Williams' music is to Steven Spielberg, Lee seems to go to Denzel with his big roles. It was shot well, which always pulls weight in my book, with a variety of shots and angles, and just looked good. The narrative was exciting to follow, and left enough information to the audience's discretion to leave you wondering just how everything worked out in the end, as all good heist movies do. It had a very intelligent plot, and the performances were very sharp. We know how well Denzel acts in these "character under pressure" roles, and he definitely didn't disappoint. Clive Owen is a badass in everything he does, regardless of the character, but he fit extremely well into a criminal mastermind role. Jodie Foster played a very unique character that she has never really done before, and very believably pulled it off. Go see it.
2 comments:
I have to disagree with you about Brokeback Mountain, while it was the favorite to win, Crash, also an incredibly controversial movie centered around racism, left me whoo-hooing for the win. I give it a lot of credit since its the only movie to ever make me cry. Nothing against Brokeback Mountain, it's an incredible movie, but Crash deserves its credit also.
Well, if we're talking controversial topics, I think anyone will agree that homosexuality is far more controversial right now than racism is. Racism is a very big issue, but Hollywood has taken steps to honor movies like Crash in the past. While it may have been the only movie to make you cry, that's no basis for an Oscar. Evoking a tear is not what makes a movie great. It may be a sign of great acting, screenwriting, directing, or whatever, but it far from defines a movie. Alas, as my arguments all run into this obvious point, Crash did win. I understand that, and everyone is going to say that. But Crash winning is not the reason why Crash should have won. I have yet to hear a valid reason why Crash should have won, and I've presented reasons why Brokeback Mountain should have won, thus I stay with my opinion that Brokeback got snubbed.
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