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Movies all weekend
I saw Chicago on Saturday with Tim at the United Artists theater at Union Square. Afterward we went to the Coffee Shoppe.
Chicago is fantastic. Very well edited and just pops on every level--visually, aurally, performance-wise. Catherine Zeta Jones in particular is excellent--there's not one false step (unavoidable pun) in her entire performance. I must admit, I was shocked that Richard Gere didn't get a nomination for Best Actor. The man learned to tap dance for the damn role. And his acting was great too, a nice combination of smoothness and passion. And I am surprised that John C. Reilly got a nomination--he did a fine job but the role wasn't that difficult. Haven't decided yet about Queen Latifah's performance, although she looked damn fine in her number "When You're Good to Mama." Why is it when a black woman is overweight like that, we don't judge her the same way as if a white woman is overweight? I don't think it's as simple as "black standards of beauty are different" because I'm not black and I feel the same way. I wonder if skin tone has something to do with it--i.e., I wonder if there's a purely aesthetic element to it. A white woman is just going to look bigger than a black woman of the same size, because her skin will reflect the light more. It's the same idea as wearing black makes you look thinner, and don't wear sequined outfits if you're fat. But there's also a confidence element--any woman who walks around confidently, dressed well, looks good, looks sexy, no matter what she weighs. Which sums QL up in Chicago.
Anyway. Renee Zellweger was good in the role although her singing/dancing didn't blow me away. She looked fantastic in her showgirl costumes--girlfriend has some muscle tone on her arms. Loved the Cell-Block Tango although it was much darker in tone than the OBCR. These Murderesses were not so merry. There was only one laugh in the theater during that number, on the line "He ran into my knife ten times." But no laughs on "Irving," "He saw himself as alive..." or "...uh-uh--not geelty!"
But just a beautiful movie. I wanted to lose myself in that glittery, deceptive, transcendent world, and never emerge. Of course all live performers feel this way which is ultimately a big reason why we do it--no matter how dysfunctional that world is, it's seductive.
I also saw Catch Me If You Can--more on that later.
Chicago is fantastic. Very well edited and just pops on every level--visually, aurally, performance-wise. Catherine Zeta Jones in particular is excellent--there's not one false step (unavoidable pun) in her entire performance. I must admit, I was shocked that Richard Gere didn't get a nomination for Best Actor. The man learned to tap dance for the damn role. And his acting was great too, a nice combination of smoothness and passion. And I am surprised that John C. Reilly got a nomination--he did a fine job but the role wasn't that difficult. Haven't decided yet about Queen Latifah's performance, although she looked damn fine in her number "When You're Good to Mama." Why is it when a black woman is overweight like that, we don't judge her the same way as if a white woman is overweight? I don't think it's as simple as "black standards of beauty are different" because I'm not black and I feel the same way. I wonder if skin tone has something to do with it--i.e., I wonder if there's a purely aesthetic element to it. A white woman is just going to look bigger than a black woman of the same size, because her skin will reflect the light more. It's the same idea as wearing black makes you look thinner, and don't wear sequined outfits if you're fat. But there's also a confidence element--any woman who walks around confidently, dressed well, looks good, looks sexy, no matter what she weighs. Which sums QL up in Chicago.
Anyway. Renee Zellweger was good in the role although her singing/dancing didn't blow me away. She looked fantastic in her showgirl costumes--girlfriend has some muscle tone on her arms. Loved the Cell-Block Tango although it was much darker in tone than the OBCR. These Murderesses were not so merry. There was only one laugh in the theater during that number, on the line "He ran into my knife ten times." But no laughs on "Irving," "He saw himself as alive..." or "...uh-uh--not geelty!"
But just a beautiful movie. I wanted to lose myself in that glittery, deceptive, transcendent world, and never emerge. Of course all live performers feel this way which is ultimately a big reason why we do it--no matter how dysfunctional that world is, it's seductive.
I also saw Catch Me If You Can--more on that later.