Ratings Doubt

Do you ever wonder about the movie ratings? Iron Man, with violence, sex and complicated themes on geopolitics and Afghanistan, was rated a G for General Patronage while Speed Racer, starring kids and monkey and where a kiss between two characters was held until the last frame, was rated a PG for Parental Guidance. Iron Man, a movie targeted to young adults, versus Speed Racer, a family film. What's their basis? What particular standard was used to give these two movies their ratings?

In the US, Iron Man rated PG-13 or "Parents Strongly Cautioned: Some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence and brief suggestive content." while Speed Racer got a less restrictive PG or "Parental Guidance Suggeested."

I suspect a conspiracy. A G rated movie has a better box office potential than PG obviously because of a G movie means anybody can watch. I doubt that the movie review board had a totally uninfluenced judgment. Maybe the local distributors gave some gifts, money or treated the board to some sumptuous five-star hotel buffet. If I had young kids, I would not have made them watch Iron Man but would have had a good time with them at Speed Racer. So, be wary, very wary of the local ratings. Suggest following the US ratings where there are advocacy groups that watch over the ratings body.

Movies That Made You Love

It's Valentine's once again. I'm thinking of the movies that made me fall in love. I mean, the movies that made you feel romance or made you giddy with love. Never mind if you watched the movie alone or with family members. It's that whole feeling of ahwwww. These movies are not the classics like Annie Hall or Casablanca. Certainly these two movies rank up there on so many lists, including the romantic lists. Though there are many things to do on Valentine's day, nothing beats a light romantic comedy to make a Valentine's moment while one is unattached.

While You Were Sleeping and Notting Hill just do it for me. I so identified with Sandra Bullock's character (a simple train station ticket agent with a big crush on one of the regular passengers) that I fell in love with Sandra and looked forward to whatever movie she was in. No matter how bad or corny a movie she made after that, it never just seems so bad with Sandra in it. Imagine being mistaken as your crush's girlfriend and actually living out your fantasy even for just a moment, but in the end reality sets in and still you find love. The same thing with Hugh Grant falling for a famous movie star. Actually, it was the movie star that fell for him. Another fantasy come true perhaps. I'm okay with it. I'm unattached at the moment and still very hopeful. I will have my Hollywood ending.

On Heath

Last weekend, the Velvet Channel showed Brokeback Mountain. Coincidence or planned? So close to the timing of Heath Ledger's passing. I didn't quite get that movie the first time it screened in theaters. With so much hype from the critics and the potential Oscar nominations (at that time), expectations were high. I thought the critics saw something that I didn't see. I just shrugged.

But seeing it again on TV last week, I now get it. The lyrical way Director Ang Lee moves the story and draws out emotion with style really got to me. Those close ups of Heath. What a great actor, I told myself. The pain, sorrow and loneliness were so real and then mean something else knowing that we will never get to see anything more from this gifted actor. I hate myself for not seeing and feeling it then when I first watched the movie. Maybe its the idea of watching it alone at home and without inhibition allowing myself to be taken in. I couldn't stop crying just watching Heath.

What happens now The Joker? News reports have it that Heath started having his insomnia when he was shooting Dark Knight and I'm Not There. How deep and personal did he go to get into character? Perhaps a dark life with a truly very dark ending, or just one of cinema's brightest gems. Thanks for those movies. We won't miss you, Heath.

On Lists

You will never find yourself short on the best or greatest movies of all time. I mean if you Google it, you'll most likely be bombarded a million websites. I haven't tried it. Edward Copeland's blog published a list based on a survey that he conducted among critics. I haven't read his entire blog but wonder about the absence of English-language movies. This was probably a reaction to American Film Institute's (AFI) 100 Years, 100 Films list. Personally, I have used as a guide the list published by Time Magazine's resident critics list of 100 Greatest Movies of All Time that was published in 2005.

Lists change over time as more movies come out but it's more because movies get a newer perspective as years pass. In AFI's list, for example, I noticed how The Wizard of Oz is now number ten. Newer films have taken its place. Some movies influence other filmmakers more and more and thus gain a higher preference among critics.

But in the end, it's what you really enjoy and what has stayed with you that matters. Rushmore has affected me in many ways. The humurous, heartbreaking and uplifting story about a competitive outsider in a prep school and finding love and its painful truth in a painful way has affected me deeply and personally. "Brilliant" is what I was screaming at the screen as the end credits rolled. With a wry and witty sense of humor, Rushmore is the film for me. If you had just to pick one movie, just one movie as your favorite movie, one that you could watch over and over again, what would it be?

Movie Musicals

For those who once thought that movie musicals were a fad when Chicago was released and won Oscar best picture, then you're wrong. Well, I was. I didn't think the trend would last as even the trademark Disney animated musical revival that began with The Little Mermaid and followed by to-be-loved-by-many-generations Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Alladin and so on, have ceased. But now, there's at least a movie musical a year. This year 2007, we will have three: Dreamgirls, Hairspray and Sweeney Todd. I think this may be also due too to the desire of today's actors to show, Hey! I can sing too!

With direction by master bizaare visionary Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd is the movie version of the Broadway musical written by Stephen Sondheim. First, Tim is not new to movie musicals. Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride have shown that he likes musicals. Even Beetlejuice had its share with his very funny, dark and ultimately memorable musical numbers to Harry Belafonte classics. Second, with a story about a blood thirsty barber at the turn of the century with songs, this movie is already tailor made to a Tim Burton vision. Adding to the excitement are Johnny Depp (already in countless Tim movies), Helena Bonham Carter (Tim's latest squeeze), and Sacha Baron Coen singing. This is one movie I'm certainly looking forward to.

Despite all the blood and skullduggery, Sweeney Todd has a touching moment with the song Not While I'm Around, a love song we can relate to.

Chinatown

On Cinemax the other day, I got to watch Chinatown, Roman Polanski's stylish and smart take on film noir. Brilliant is my first reaction. The production values are high style and What I like about this movie are the performances of leads Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. I think this two have no other better work. And the figures these two cut on their silhoutte are really a tribute to the film noir of past. This time, the genre is in full color but noir nevertheless.

Chinatown was part, I think, of Hollywood's Golden Age of Cinema in the early seventies. What a great time that would have been to see all these would be classics such as The Godfather, Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy, etc. They happen to also be hit movies, so movie going baby boomers sure got to have a great time at the box office. We instead have cable TV!

James!

I saw Hairspray on Broadway was excited at the prospect of a movie version. A nothing but fun, showstopping stage musical, Hairspray the movie has now been added to my deserted island DVD list.

Hairspray's big revelation for me is a singing and DANCING James Marsden. I only knew him as the dork from Superman and Cyclops from X-Men. I youtubed him and got shocked the he sang on Ally McBeal. I loved that show and don't recall if I even missed an episode of the first two seasons. I think James came out (and sang!) in the last season. But the added thrill of Hairspray is a dancing James Marsden. He dances so smoothly and sexy that he can give fellow X-Men Hugh Jackman a run for his money. I didn't see Hugh on Broadway but audiences didn't watch anything else but the singing and dancing Aussie as the show, The Boy from OZ, closed when Hugh left. Is there anyone working on a movie musical of X-Men? Can Halle Berry sing?

The video clip of Marsden on The View doing a sample of the various dance moves he did on Hairspray has been pulled from youtube for copyright reasons, it says. I was able to catch the video before they pulled it out. He did the twist and another sample before he did that Corny Collins move, a combination of the twist and other dances. Oh my! Barbara Walters was laglag panty! She asked how old he was, hoping for a possibility of them hooking up. James readily said he's 32.