Movie #214 - The Fountain

The Fountain
2006 - Rated R - 1 hr 36 min
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Sean Patrick Thomas, Ellen Burstyn, Ethan Suplee

I really want to love this movie.  I really do.  Hugh and Rachel make me want to love their story, with its interwoven threads to the past and future.  And all those references to trees, the Tree of Life, etc.  I want to love this movie, Darren Aronofsky, but every time I watch it, I just can't.

This is artsy and complicated. To the untrained viewer, it's confusing.  In the main story line, Rachel Weisz is dying from a brain tumor and Hugh Jackman is experimenting on monkeys to find the cure.  He's too late, and this huge loss causes a ripple through time into his future life... in a bubble...? With a tree, that/who is Rachel Weisz. Spiritually speaking.  And in the past, he's a Spanish explorer and she is Queen. Also, he becomes a plant.

The Fountain relies heavily on its metaphors and if you suspend reality and just absorb the powerful statement it's trying to make, you'll like it.  The nonsequential plot is fine, if you are watching it to understand Hugh Jackman's character's journey.  Love is a powerful thing that makes us do crazy things. Like tai chi in a bubble.

Just sayin'.

Movie #189 - Evolution

Evolution
2001 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 41 min
Director: Ivan Reitman
Starring: David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Julianne Moore, Seann William Scott, Dan Aykroyd, Ethan Supplee, Michael Bower, Ted Levine

Another movie I love! The letter E has been very good to me thus far, possibly my favorite letter yet!  Although the G's look promising :)

So aliens come to Earth via a meteorite which crashes and creates a little habitat underground.  Has-been scientist David Duchovny and hack scientist Orlando Jones are first on the scene, then get tangled up in some government red tape (via Julianne Moore and Ted Levine.) But when aliens escape and attack the mall, all hell breaks loose.  Sides will be switched, shampoo will be purchased, and aliens will (eventually) be vanquished.

How can you not love this movie?

Movie #33 - Art School Confidential

Art School Confidential

Sony Pictures Classics

2006 - Rated R - 1 hr 42 min

Director: Terry Zwigoff

Starring: Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Ethan Suplee, Anjelica Huston

Here's a weird one for you. This movie takes a satirical look at just how far art students will go to please their teachers, sound really smart, and be the next big thing. John Malkovich is great as the over-the-top, triangle-painting art teacher. Max Minghella is the perfect suburbanite turned ambitious art student. And Jim Broadbent is just a crazy, depressed, has been. There's even the official art groupie girl who gets passed around by artists like an old, rusty paintbrush.

If you've ever made fun of modern art, you'll take some comfort (and get some laughs) from this flick. But don't let the lighthearted approach fool you. This movie takes some dark turns that might surprise you. I love this one - it's a fun watch.