Feel Good March

So I saw a whole bunch of movies in March, trying to squeeze them in before my China trip, and I didn't really have time to write them up. So here they are, grouped according to random themes. Let's start off with the inspirational, feel-good ones.

Rather surprisingly, there were four of those in March alone. I dunno, are people so depressed around that time they need major cheering up?

After years and years of crap, Sylvester Stallone attempts a comeback of sorts with Rocky Balboa, picking up years after the original series left off. And you know what, I liked it, which surprised even me. Perhaps it's the years of shit he's had to go through, but Stallone really throws heart and soul into the inspirational pep talks and soul-baring moments, of which there were probably too many. If you think you're way too cynical from the crap that daily life throws at you, this might be a good choice to try and get some of that original drive you had back. The movie wears its heart on its sleeve, but sometimes that's not a bad thing if it's sincere about it.

If Rocky Balboa is comfort food meant to pick you up in your time of need, then Music and Lyrics is like cotton candy - light, fluffy, and ultimately amounting to nothing much at all. Hugh Grant does his usual glib Englishman shtick which he's really very good at, and that's enough to entertain most of the time. And you also have to admit, celebrity has-beens are funny in and of themselves. Drew Barrymore plays, well, the typical Drew Barrymore spacey chick with her head in the clouds. Her character was rather annoying in the sense that her quirks were totally unnecessary for the character and seemed to have been thrown in in a failed bid to make a flat character interesting. There are rather hilarious send-ups of the music industry as well, and as far as popcorn entertainment goes, you could do much worse. Good songs, by the way, but I wasn't expecting anything less from the frontman of Fountains of Wayne.

Many people have said good things about The Pursuit of Happyness, but I'm not going to be one of them. Yes, Chris Gardner's story is great, mind-over-matter kind of stuff, but I'm not sure the slick Hollywoodization of it is all that fantastic. Everything has a glossy veneer over it, and it's all just too neat and pat and calculated to really hit me at my vulnerable spots. It's like watching a sports movie - you know the team of ragtag losers will win at the end, it's just watching them get there. And no matter how cute Will Smith and son are together, it's not enough to make me believe in the human element of it (yes, I do know it's a true story, just that there isn't enough grit and flaws for me to really believe).

Freedom Writers does nothing new, but it does it with heart. And hey, it's about writing, which I like. So even though the old story of a white teacher going into a crappy school and teaching all the kids that there's something of value in their lives and writing is nothing to cry home about, it's still an OK enough time at the movies. It isn't really good, but neither is it bad, which in the end amounts to a big bucket of mediocrity.