2/21/08

An Evening With a Greed-Obsessed Megalomaniac or….. Date Night?!



Rose and I don’t get to many movies anymore. That’s the nature of the game. We’re looking forward to when the boys are into movies so we can catch up once again, even if it’s to go see the 25th Anniversary Director’s Cut of Follow that Bird.

So when the rare opportunity presents itself that we can have a date night and get to both eat dinner and see a movie, we think long and hard about what full-length feature to spend 2+ hours viewing.

Last time we did this, we selected:

All The King’s Men – Remake of an older film that was based on a dense novel of the same name. Centered around a power-obsessed Southern politician who will stop at nothing to raise his political stature. Starring Oscar stalwart Sean Penn.

We liked it but felt totally drained by the end. Too much concentration for date night. Too heady.
So when our latest opportunity rolled around, we had a bunch of films to choose from. Juno? Definitely Maybe? Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins?

Nope.

The Winner was There Will Be Blood. Based on a dense novel by Upton Sinclair, centered around a greed-obsessed California man who will stop at nothing to make money in the fledgling oil business at the turn of the century. Starring Oscar stalwart Daniel Day-Lewis. We figured it would be the best one to see “on the big screen.”

WHY DO WE DO THIS TO OURSELVES? I won’t bore you with a review of the film but we both found it engaging if a bit depressing. The acting was obviously pretty darn good although, am I alone in thinking Day-Lewis is an over-actor? He only seems to choose characters like this. His Gangs of New York character was like the same dude. It was beautifully shot and all but man, we left feeling like we just got finished working.

So next time, if you’re babysitting for us and we’re discussing movies to see, please remember to tell us this: “Go see Roscoe Jenkins. You’ll thank me later.”

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