Michael Clayton (2007)

Why do the writers take away the drama by giving away the story in the beginning? I'm not sure about the strategy of the writers in doing this, but overall, it brings down the intensity level of the movie several notches. Perhaps they test marketed the normal non-flashback version of the movie, and people liked it better this way. Sure, we wouldn't believe that Clayton's story would end in a certain way -- hollywood movies stubbornly refuse to be tragic --, but somehow this ending was lacking in punch. Clooney plays the cool as a cucumber, never a misstep fixer well. But is that acting?

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I've seen Sydney Pollack, who just died today, in many films. Here he's quite good with just touch of the corrupt boss.

Lust, Caution (2007) / The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Neither of these was very good, but neither were they bad. There is a strange sort of linkage between these two. There are 'criminals' in both who someone wants to kill. Both criminals are charming in some way. And obviously the viewer should care what happens in the end of these, will the killings be successful and how will they be accomplished.

-- Spoilers --
The Lust, Caution criminal does not seem at all charming to me, but perhaps to a woman he would be. What was his big attraction? He seems to know a lot of sexual positions. Big whoop. But more importantly, he has money and power. I don't know exactly why the woman decides to save him, but perhaps he seems to truly love her and trust her. As a spy for the resistance, her facade is so solid, perhaps it's become truth. She does love him. She doesn't immediately realize perhaps that she is causing her own death by warning him off. Of course, for me, the guy is definitely not worth it -- he's completely unattractive --, though the diamond is certainly an expensive bauble, it wouldn't sway me. But in the end, what good would killing the guy have done anyway? Just someone else would have taken the guy's place. This whole assassination mission of the Chinese resistance to the Japanese wasn't worth the trouble.

As for Jesse James, I did start rooting for the brothers trying to kill him, and in a way, he perhaps wished to be killed by 'a friend' rather than by law enforcement. But really this Jesse James seems unworthy of admiration, unless one hailed from the defeated South.

The Kingdom (2007)

Intriguing movie drew me in despite the seemingly controversial subject matter. Action keeps moving. Acting is good enough. I wondered that one of the actors playing an officer in the Saudi army might have been played by an Israeli though, by his Israeli sounding English accent. ( And in fact, looking at imdb, the dude was born in Israel! Wow, I could be a CIA operative. A low level one maybe. Alright maybe not. )

Anyway, the movie is well done, and I wonder if Arabs will appreciate the seemingly even handed portrayal.

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A NYT article about young Saudis. An interesting snippet: '“If you want to know what your wife looks like, look at her brother,” Nader said in defending the practice of marrying someone he had seen only once, briefly, as a child.' Also, I didn't realize that Saudi men can marry more than one woman. But, man, this idea of marrying without even seeing your wife sucks.

High School Musical 2 (2007)

This is a super cheesy movie, but still strangely watchable. Man, Zac Efron and his fancy moves. Such eye candy cannot be denied. Without him, the movie is complete sugary and superfluous confection. With him, it is also, but just slightly worth watching.

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Back in 2007, a hilarious review at Advocate.

Iron Man (2008)

Yet another Marvel comics based film. It doesn't feel too original with the wealthy unattached bachelor superhero who's so smart he can design superhero armor and weapons. It's Batman, but just slightly different. Not sure why it earned so much money, probably just a dearth of mildly acceptable movies out there. Needs a hotter actor, and maybe even a hotter babe.

NIN: The slip

Nine inch nails is building social capital with their free download of their recent album: the slip. It's unusual in that you can get better than CD quality and lossless downloads. Strangely, it encourages you to use BitTorrent software. I liked the songs: discipline and echoplex.

Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

Anchoring, false choice marketing, how getting something for free skews your purchasing choices, social context versus market context, attachment to unowned auction items as highest bidder, and how one reasons differently while aroused. Also fascinating how people will pay in order to keep options open, even if they've proven to be lower quality options (supposedly this is in order to avoid a sense of regret or loss later). In a way, it explains how corporate marketers and used car salesmen mess with your thought process. Another of those books where I say to myself, I think I've read about this before, but really I haven't. Probably because it sounds like a lot of common sense, but I've never really thought these particular issues through.