Rainy Sunday

Today the rain is keeping me from my favorite week-end activity which is riding my motorcycle briskly through the North Georgia Mountains. In honor of the rain, I'm going to comment on a couple of movies I saw this week-end while lying on my most comfortable sofa. The two movies couldn't be more different but do hold a common distinction of being nominated as best pictures of the year by the Academy of Motion Pictures something or other... The Oscar dudes.

I'll start with the good which is The Life of Pi. I had a little advantage going into this one in that I had read the book earlier this year. My daughter gave me a copy as a Christmas present. I enjoyed the book and I really liked the movie. In some ways, I think the movie was better due to the abbreviated coverage of Pi's religious epiphanies as a developing young person. While not totally glossing over the subject, it was less crucial to the story than presented in the book and it allowed more time for the adventure story to unfold.

What was good about the movie? It was visually stunning from start to finish. The story was very interesting with a cast of colorful characters (even if some were CGI). There were zero F-bombs or any other profanity. There were no Hollywood cliches to irritate or infuriate. The story was profound and engrossing in it's ability to take the viewer along on the emotional ride associated with the ordeal in which the protagonist found himself. As a bonus, there was a happy ending. It essentially was a very good adaptation of an entertaining and thought provoking story with no axes to grind. What's not to like?

The second movie I watched in the cozy confines of my den was Argo. I have to admit I was a little suspicious of this film given the subject matter and Ben Affleck's involvement, but I persevered and gave it every opportunity to change my pre-conceived notions. I'm sorry to report this movie is one of the most repugnant aggregation of bits I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing. From start to finish it was vulgar, predictable, implausible, visually ugly, politically biased, insulting, and last but not least, BORING.

There's so much wrong with the movie, it's hard to pin-point a singular glaring deficiency. As a whole, it is a composite flop made worse by the adulation and accolades heaped on this steaming pile of manure by our cultural overlords in Tinsel Town. What's with the trend that the movie winning the Oscar for best picture has to be an overly self-indulgent load of doody? I suppose if you tell some people long enough that something is great, they are too embarrassed to admit otherwise. For my tastes, only Hurt Locker can match Argo in the over-hyped garbage department.

I could write a lengthy blathering on what is wrong with this movie, but I'll refrain and just make a couple of points that have less to do with movie making and more to do with culture.

I'm curious if the Carter administration is happy with their portrayal in this hyper keeping-it-real drama. Are we to believe that everybody in the Carter White House used the F-word so eloquently in almost every sentence? My personal  guess is that they did not but in our devolved coarse culture of today, they accept the portrayal and are compliantly OK with it. After all, who wants to appear prudish these days? Why else would Carter add his personal message at the end of the movie if he wasn't pleased or at least accepting of the portrayal? Let's be honest, the catch-phrase of the movie "Argo f*** yourself", is not something most of us would like to be associated with. I guess Carter feels differently.

I'm glad George (Clooney) and Ben refrained from any derogatory dialogue or comments about President Carter or his administration in the movie. I don't think there was ever any chance of that given the political affiliation of Carter, but it was nice to not have to listen to the self-righteous back-biting so typical of political dramas. I also suppose it could have been interpreted as bad form to elaborate on how the whole hostage thing ended given the political component, so I'm OK with that omission as well.

I do feel the Canadians got short-changed in this drama. If indeed they were risking their lives by harboring the exiled six, it would have been nice to make that case a bit more obvious. I'm suspicious the people who made the movie thought they did a bang-up job at that, but their lack of skill at developing characters and story lines betrayed them in the end. Who knows, maybe the Canadians originally were given a bigger role in the movie but were uncomfortable with their portrayal. Better to have a minimized role than be represented as potty-mouthed guttersnipes I suppose.

And finally, police cars chasing a 747 down the runway? Really? Is that the best the writers could come up with? For all the movie's attempt at keeping-it-real, we are treated to an ending of Arnold Schwarzenegger proportions. Now that's entertainment.

I do hope it's not raining next week-end.