Three movies today....

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Seeing three movies today -- John Dahl's You Kill Me at 11 am, a high-expectation fall release drama at 2 pm, and Danny Boyle's Sunshine at 7:30 pm -- so I'll be out of commission for a while. I'll try and post some stuff in the late afternoon.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 19, 2007 at 10:21 AM

comment #1

BurmaShave says ...

I hear SUNSHINE has the biggest third act meltdown since ADAPTATION., except it's not on purpose. As for YOU KILL ME, I hope Bensley continues to deliver. Danny Baldwin is really giving him a run for his money.

Posted by BurmaShave at June 19, 2007 10:42 AM

comment #2

Noah says ...

It's true BurmaShave. I saw Sunshine overseas a few months back and I thought it was the best sci-fi space flick I'd seen in years and I was totally digging it and then the ending just makes you leave the theater in a foul mood. Bad endings to bad movies are acceptable, but bad endings to potentially great films hurt too much. Alex Garland just doesn't know how to write an ending (see also: 28 Days Later or read the novel The Beach).

Posted by Noah at June 19, 2007 10:50 AM

comment #3

Craig Kennedy says ...

I think Kingsley and You Kill Me deliver, but they're both very dry. Wells will probably come back with a complete pan and I'll look like a dope once again.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at June 19, 2007 11:05 AM

comment #4

jeffmcm says ...

I blame Boyle for destroying the third acts of his movies, not Garland.

I strongly doubt, based on the current layout of the HE page, that Wells will pan You Kill Me.

Posted by jeffmcm at June 19, 2007 11:13 AM

comment #5

Craig Kennedy says ...

Surely Jeffmcm you're not suggesting some kind of quid pro quo...?

Did my fake shock and outrage come through at all just then?

Posted by Craig Kennedy at June 19, 2007 11:27 AM

comment #6

le corbeau says ...

"I blame Boyle for destroying the third acts of his movies, not Garland."

There might be some validity to that, he does seem to take the easy way out a lot (Trainspotting sure ends happily for a heroin and criminals movie), but again, Millions had no third act problem.

Posted by le corbeau at June 19, 2007 11:29 AM

comment #7

Noah says ...

I thought Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, and Millions all had good endings. But, isn't the writer responsible for the structure of the film and what happens plot-wise? I'm sure Boyle worked closely with his writers, but I had a problem with the ending of Garland's books The Beach and The Tesseract and then also with the movies he wrote 28 Days Later and Sunshine. So, for me, the evidence points towards Garland being the source of the problem. But, perhaps I'm wrong.

Posted by Noah at June 19, 2007 11:34 AM

comment #8

jeffmcm says ...

Maybe my thoughts are muddled. I hated Shallow Grave's ending, but then I also hated Shallow Grave's beginning and middle.

Posted by jeffmcm at June 19, 2007 11:37 AM

comment #9

Breedlove says ...

'The Beach' is one of my all-time favorite novels. I'm extremely disappointed that the most promising novelist of his generation has apparently switched over to being a mediocre screenwriter. I thought the ending was pretty cool. The last two sentences kick ass and have always stuck with me:

I have a lot of scars.
I have a LOT of scars.

OK, maybe that doesn't quite do it justice. You gotta read the whole paragraph. Anyway, great fucking novel.

Posted by Breedlove at June 19, 2007 1:00 PM

comment #10

DavidF says ...

"I hear SUNSHINE has the biggest third act meltdown since ADAPTATION."

Adaptation had third act meltdown? Coulda fooled me.
Clearly you prefer Charlie's writing to Donald's. Chacun son gout. Donald still gets to keep his Oscar nom.

And I haven't seen it in a while but I remember digging Shallow Grave. (Correct me: Was the ending Eccleston leaving with a suitcase while MacGregor is stuck to the floor by a knife with a pan down to the money underneath? It was something like that...)

As for You Kill Me, hadn't heard of it until today - when I noticed it streaking down the side of my screen alongside this article.

Posted by DavidF at June 19, 2007 1:03 PM

comment #11

Breedlove says ...

Sorry, this is completely unrelated, but...is there a wierder sounding project in the works right now than David Mamet doing a kung fu movie starring Tim Allen? WTF?

Posted by Breedlove at June 19, 2007 1:17 PM

comment #12

Joshua Mooney says ...

Oh, you better believe there is, Breedlove, and its title is---ARRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!

[Sorry, this is completely unrelated, but...is there a wierder sounding project in the works right now than David Mamet doing a kung fu movie starring Tim Allen? WTF?

Posted by: Breedlove at June 19, 2007 01:17 PM]

Posted by Joshua Mooney at June 19, 2007 1:54 PM

comment #13

Mike Schaefer says ...

Breedlove: according to this LA Times article

http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-et-goldstein19jun19,0,2814623.story?coll=cl-movies

it's not a "kung-fu movie" per se, it's about Ultimate Fighting. It actually sounds pretty interesting -- and Chiwetel Ejiofor is the star; sounds like Allen is a supporting player. I'm there for anything that involves Mamet.

Posted by Mike Schaefer at June 19, 2007 1:55 PM

comment #14

DarthCorleone says ...

I wouldn't deem Trainspotting's ending a happy one. He screws over his mates, and that final monologue indicates a very tongue-in-cheek victory in becoming one of us, with our cars, compact disc players, etc.

Anyway, it was the same ending as Welsh's original novel, which is as much of a masterpiece as its film adaptation.

As for Garland, I loved the novel The Beach, but that movie was a disaster. I dug the novel The Tesseract as well, and though I never saw it I heard that film adaptation was even more of a disaster.

Posted by DarthCorleone at June 19, 2007 2:11 PM

comment #15

christian says ...

when's the last time mamet wrote a good movie? he's better at essays attacking greed in hollywood...uh, ultimate fighting? heh...

Posted by christian at June 19, 2007 2:14 PM

comment #16

christian says ...

boyle and i got off to a bad start as i hated SHALLOW GRAVE. i was ready to leave at that oh so cute and quirky interviewing roommates scene. then by the end one of the roomates was crawling around up in the rafters or somethin'...

Posted by christian at June 19, 2007 2:16 PM

comment #17

Monument says ...

"it's not a "kung-fu movie" per se, it's about Ultimate Fighting."

Minor point, but Ultimate Fighting is a brand. The UFC is the biggest name in the business, so it's a common mistake. The sport is called Mixed Martial Arts.

Posted by Monument at June 19, 2007 2:16 PM

comment #18

Breedlove says ...

Thanks for the link Mike. Agreed - if it has Mamet's name on it consider me sold.

Posted by Breedlove at June 19, 2007 2:56 PM

comment #19

Mark says ...

Why is no one trying to guess the hush hushh high-expectation fall release that Wells is seeing today? My guess is Things We Lost in the Fire.

Posted by Mark at June 19, 2007 3:02 PM

comment #20

christian says ...

or perhaps HALLOWEEN...

Posted by christian at June 19, 2007 3:47 PM

comment #21

William Goss says ...

Damn. Well, since Christian nabbed my first pick and just given the recent news, I'm gonna suppose aloud that it might be Marc Forster's The Kite Runner.

Posted by William Goss at June 19, 2007 3:54 PM

comment #22

Breedlove says ...

Marc Forster just signed up for the next Bond movie. Not being a big Bond guy, it seems beneath him to me. I'd rather he spent his time doing something more original.

The movie Jeff's seeing could be anything..I mean, really, what's the point of guessing? It could be anything.

Posted by Breedlove at June 19, 2007 4:04 PM

comment #23

Craig Kennedy says ...

Does that mean we can expect yet more Stranger Than Fiction bashing from Wells? Swell. That never gets tiresome.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at June 19, 2007 4:30 PM

comment #24

OddDuck says ...

Could the hush hush high expectation movie might be The Kingdom? The recent NY Times story indicates that it's been screening a lot, so who knows.

Posted by OddDuck at June 19, 2007 4:57 PM

comment #25

Filipe says ...

But, isn't the writer responsible for the structure of the film and what happens plot-wise?

Not always. There's plenty of stuff that happens in a film plot that wa suggested by a director or a producer. In this specfic case (which is curious as it's both an obvious attempt at pretentious simbolism and something that certainly pleased Fox) my money would indeed being on Garland as it's the sort of thing that would far easier to pull in a novel.

Posted by Filipe at June 19, 2007 5:33 PM

comment #26