Shutter Island

Talk about a movie that lives and dies by its ending. I need to rewatch it one of these days just to make sure it still works as a whole and everything preceding the finale isn't just marking time before the big reveal. But Jesus Christ, the ending kind of kills me. I don't think it's necessarily DiCarpio that does it for me. It's more the idea and the way Scorsese handles the "event." DiCarpio's wailing is just part of the soundtrack for a haunting set of shots. The couple of times I've seen the ending, I thought Ruffalo was fighting back tears just from the way his muscles fluctuate in his face, but I'm not so sure if that's true. But isn't that what acting is? Seeing something that's not really there.

The Kids Are All Right

People have compared this to sitcoms to death so let me partake. While watching this, I thought, 'this could easily be a very special episode of "Full House",' and then I thought, 'I wish this was a very special episode of "Full House."' I'll save the preaching about how "Full House" is a wonderful slice of familial fantasy and boneheadedness for another occasion, but really, this thing has a tendency to come off as pat bullshit quite often. It's interesting to note that according to Annette Benning she told the director that she didn't want it to come across as too earnest, which is an honorable position, but what other than its lesbian leads differentiates this from a myriad of other dysfunctional family dramas(that might actually be the point; a family with two mothers and no fathers can be just as bland as any other)? Well, good acting for one, but not from the two actresses portraying those said lesbian leads. Benning and Moore just seem to cry a lot. Mark Ruffalo, however, is great just for the sheer gusto he displays when he gets the opportunity to say, "Shut the front door." Mia Wasikowska is also quite good at being pissy and angsty as the teenaged daughter. The biggest fault with the film is its reluctance to dive in when things get messy. It seemed as if the screenwriters didn't want to tread that water just because they'd be afraid of possibly drowning in it and instead, conclude on a rather dry and boring note. Despite its simplistic nature, the hint at messiness has still made the film stick with me for some reason.

2010 in games

1. Team Fortress 2 Mann-conomy Update(dev. Valve)**
2. Limbo(dev. Playdead)
3. Battlefield: Bad Company 2(dev. DICE)
4. Heavy Rain(dev. Quantam Dream)
5. Final Fantasy XIII(dev. Square Enix)
6. Bloody Good Time(dev. Outerlight)
7. Pirates, Vikings, and Knights II 2.3(dev. PVKII Team)**
8. Mega Man 8-Bit Deathmatch(dev. Cutman Team?)
9. Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker(dev. Bioware)
10. Alpha Protocol(dev. Obsidian)*
11. Mega Man 10(dev. Capcom)*
12. Red Dead Redemption(dev. Rockstar San Diego)
13. Mass Effect 2(dev. Bioware)
14. Super Mario Galaxy 2(dev. Nintendo)
15. Alien Swarm(dev. Valve)
*Have not completed.
**Not a full release.

Need to play: Bayonetta, Bioshock 2, Dead Rising 2, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Dragon Quest IX, Etrian Odyssey III, Fallout: New Vegas, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mega Man Zero Collection, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, Pac Man Championship Edition DX, Professor Layton, Scott Pilgrim, Starcraft II, Super Meat Boy, Super Street Fighter IV, Vanquish, Yakuza 3

The Social Network

Two shots stick out in my mind ever since I saw this. It was of the Winklevoss twins before and after visiting the Harvard president. It was a rather scant amount of time that both these shots were on screen. The shots basically decapitated the twins with the frame and focused solely on their suits and ties while still providing limited information of the background. It was an unusual shot in a film full of usual shots. That's not to say that the film looked bland or wasn't shot impeccably. If anything, Fincher should probably direct everything and anything just on the basis on his ability to make uncinematic material cinematic. These shots are also perhaps the pinnacle of Fincher's visual wit within the film. These shots provoked more thought in me than anything else in the movie. Really. It got me thinking about the simple differences between Mark Zuckerberg's fashion and the Winklevoss'. How the Winklevoss twins seem to be perpetually in suits and ties, while Zuckerberg always dresses casually, even at his own deposition. It also speaks volumes of the way capitalism in the modern digital era is. These shot cut off probably the most defining feature of any human, the face, and all you get are a pair of suits. Anybody could fill those suits. The Winklessvoss twins' idea wasn't revolutionary. That's why Facebook is still afloat. And I believe I read somewhere that the real Zuckerberg said if he didn't make Facebook, someone else would have. Its this ability to replace that is a chief characteristic of the Internet age and the anonymity that is a result of that. What makes your Facebook photo album of you and your friends getting drunk special from the myriads of others? Someone defriended you? You can always find someone else to fill that spot in order to get your friend count back up to what it once was. These two shots show how powerful mise-en-scene can be and why we need more directors with eyes like Fincher's.

Note: I plan to write more on this film in relation to Fincher's previous two offerings.