Frasier
Merry Christmas and 27 Dresses
04/10/09 22:54 Filed in: Film
I'm in something of a writing short circuit right
now, with no energy for the task. Phillip Gold hovers
mid-trial and Abigail Massey is stuck in a rut.
So I'm watching TV shows and films instead. The other night, we watched a whole series of Mad About You episodes, and we've just enjoyed 11 episodes of Frasier in the last 24 hours. Tonight I watched the opening episode of CBC's wacky new reality show, Battle of the Blades, a live competition involving a retired male professional hockey players figure-skating with retired female figure skaters. The show's a bit stiff but the skating is fun to watch and these hockey players make their skating partners look absolutely tiny. I may just watch more.
What is it about the CBC anyway? Suddenly, they're offering a bunch of shows worth watching: Being Erica, Little Mosque, The Tudors, Heartland, Ron James and now this skating thing. If they're not careful, CBC may actually start selling some ads!
But I digress. I was planning to write about a couple of films we've seen recently: Merry Christmas and 27 Dresses.
Merry Christmas is a joint French, German and British production telling the fictionalised tale of soldiers from both sides of the battle in World War One putting down their weapons for Christmas in 1914 and meeting up in no-man's-land between the trenches for a brief break. It's a very effective, often frightening film that deals, among other things, with the idea that nations must train their citizens to see the enemy as something less than human in order to make them willing to kill in a war. The "fraternisation" that takes place among the foot soldiers undermines that effort and must, in the eyes of the commanders on both sides, be punished. It's an uplifting but chilling film, starring a series of European actors I don't recognise and directed by Christian Carion, that is very much worth your time to find and watch. And, if you get the two-disc version, be sure to watch the extra features. They're great too.
27 Dresses is not such a great film but it does showcase Katherine Heigl, of Grey's Anatomy and, I think, Knocked Up fame. Heigl is a revelation in this film and she truly lifts it out of the muck and mire of a bad script, poor direction and a mediocre supporting cast. Her performance in this uninspired version of the modern romantic comedy deserves better.
So I'm watching TV shows and films instead. The other night, we watched a whole series of Mad About You episodes, and we've just enjoyed 11 episodes of Frasier in the last 24 hours. Tonight I watched the opening episode of CBC's wacky new reality show, Battle of the Blades, a live competition involving a retired male professional hockey players figure-skating with retired female figure skaters. The show's a bit stiff but the skating is fun to watch and these hockey players make their skating partners look absolutely tiny. I may just watch more.
What is it about the CBC anyway? Suddenly, they're offering a bunch of shows worth watching: Being Erica, Little Mosque, The Tudors, Heartland, Ron James and now this skating thing. If they're not careful, CBC may actually start selling some ads!
But I digress. I was planning to write about a couple of films we've seen recently: Merry Christmas and 27 Dresses.
Merry Christmas is a joint French, German and British production telling the fictionalised tale of soldiers from both sides of the battle in World War One putting down their weapons for Christmas in 1914 and meeting up in no-man's-land between the trenches for a brief break. It's a very effective, often frightening film that deals, among other things, with the idea that nations must train their citizens to see the enemy as something less than human in order to make them willing to kill in a war. The "fraternisation" that takes place among the foot soldiers undermines that effort and must, in the eyes of the commanders on both sides, be punished. It's an uplifting but chilling film, starring a series of European actors I don't recognise and directed by Christian Carion, that is very much worth your time to find and watch. And, if you get the two-disc version, be sure to watch the extra features. They're great too.
27 Dresses is not such a great film but it does showcase Katherine Heigl, of Grey's Anatomy and, I think, Knocked Up fame. Heigl is a revelation in this film and she truly lifts it out of the muck and mire of a bad script, poor direction and a mediocre supporting cast. Her performance in this uninspired version of the modern romantic comedy deserves better.