Ryan's Journal

Went away. Watched movies, amongst other things. More stale reviews. The Prestige, Brian's recommendation, is precisely the kind of movie I can enjoy watching repeatedly. There are some wonderful things about how the movie is made - repeated foreshadowing of the underlying plot, nice use of light and dark, interesting structure and characters, and a slow, continual build to the eventual and full completion of the story arc - and some slightly confusing points (a trick padlock on Julia's tank means no smashing is required; she didn't slip the knot on her hands, so it should be plainly obvious, to Cutter, at least, which knot Borden tied). Great film overall.

Walk the Line, at Michael's suggestion. Unlike Ray, it's fairly tightly told, staying with the twin plots of Cash's clash with his father and the choice between the mother of his children and the woman of his dreams, but at the expense of any real development of the antagonists. I question any love story Hollywood tells, and while I appreciate the resolution comes when Cash finally grows some character, I think the general point had to do with some nebulous and shady ideas about achieving true love. Worth watching at least once.

Miss Potter was playing as an in-flight movie. The plot is unexpected, but the shift it takes from that point is uneven and doesn't make for a very cogent story. Just because it's a biography trying to be close to history doesn't mean it can be devoid of sensible character development. I was bored.

Casino Royale has hands down the best opening credits sequence I've seen in recent years. The only other credits sequence I can even picture in my head immediately is Panic Room, which isn't so much good as it is distinctive. I can also remember the Spider-man opening credits, for being boring and bland. Casino's card suit motif is creatively applied in a continually changing form that's beautiful and a lot of fun to watch on its own. The rest of the movie is mostly forgettable, except maybe as a poor poker tutorial.

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