In a moment weakness, last night I attempted to see either The Last Samurai or Paycheck. Since I arrived at the theater too late (each began at 7:00 but I got there at 7:30) and since it is still early, I very well could experience that same said weakness within the hour. I'm hoping I won't. For one, I have a macro prelim in ten days. Two, I read several reviews of Paycheck and all of them, including Ebert's (the only reviewer, other than A.O. Scott, of whose opinion I truly value) said it was flawed, despite the cool premise.
Incidentally, what is wrong with John Woo? Since he's come to America, he's sucked. If he was going to go to the trouble of making Hollywood movies, you'd think he'd at least make ones at least as cool as Hardboiled or The Killer. The only real connection between the movies he now makes and the movies he made in Hong Kong is (a) they're "action" films and (b) they're nicely choreographed. But the movies don't have the depth nor the sensibility of those earlier films. Still, I'm holding out for him. I think he's just drunk off having a hundred million dollar budgets and so can't get his bearings straight. Maybe soon, he'll have a religious experience, return to his Christian roots, and make decent movies again.
But back to my countdown, thirdly, I can't afford it. Rather, we can't afford it. I'm gradually coming to accept the fact that family requires certain sacrifices of me. If I can't say no to a movie, when my wife says no to everything, then I deserve to be punched in the face. So, tonight, I'll just hit the books instead.
Scott, you really must start reading Anthony Lane in the New Yorker, along with your typical Friday doses of Ebert and Scott. They are the holy trinity of film critics.
Posted by: mesh at December 29, 2003 12:20 PMMy wife and I went to see Paycheck this afternoon and we both came away with very positive impressions of the movie.
Posted by: Nathan at December 31, 2003 11:09 PM