I see a lot of movies every year. A
ton. But this year I’ve decided I don’t see enough movies, so one of my
New Year Resolutions was to simply see more. And to write about them.
See, that’s the other half of the equation: I see a ton of movies, but
I write about comparatively few of them. There are a lot of reasons,
but they mainly boil down to the fact that I feel the need to do long
form reviews, and sometimes – like in the midst of Sundance – I just
don’t have the time.
And
so was born this new blog! I aim to make an entry for every single
movie I see in 2010. Some entries may be very short, some may be
lengthy. Entries may take a couple of days to be posted. Let’s see how
long this lasts.
One
last thing: one of my main objectives this year is to rewatch more
movies. I know this sounds like a strange goal, but there are films I
haven’t seen since high school, which means it’s been almost a lifetime
since I saw them. Recently I rewatched Black Christmas for
the first time since the 1980s, and I might as well have been seeing
the movie for the first time. I’m interested in getting a look at some
movies I loved or hated twenty or even ten years ago and seeing how I
feel about them now.
Let’s begin…
#2: Crazy Heart
2009
d. Scott Cooper
I’ll be actually reviewing this film for the site so I don’t want to write too much here, but I will say it’s a very nice, very little film. And I liked that about it – the movie doesn’t need to go crazy dramatic to tell a wonderful story.
Jeff Bridges has a pretty good singing voice, and Robert Duvall is a delightful presence in the second half. Bridges is pretty much guaranteed the Oscar at this point, and I’d say that he really deserves it. I like it when actors get across a range of emotions without dipping into histrionics.
In a lot of ways this is 2009’s The Wrestler, but not quite as nihilistic.