Sunday, June 12, 2011

ON MOVIES ~ Somebody Better Do Some Splainin'...

Feature Presentation...
MONDAY MOVIE MEME

Molly looked around for a weekly meme about movies and did not have any luck. So therefore she decided to start her own! Andy will play along as well - hopefully you will too. Go to your blog and create your own post on the topic, linking back to us in your post, then come back and leave a link to your post here in our Comments section. If you don’t have a blog, just share your response in the Comments section.

This week's movie topic is all about Confusing Plots...

June is Sandy's month here at the Monday Movie Meme. Our beloved blogger over at You've GOTTA Read This is on vacation in Poland visiting family but didn't want to miss out on the movie posts she loves so much. So she offered to set the themes for the remainder of this month so she could create her posts in advance before she left and schedule them while she is gone. Plus, she finally gets first dibs on movie selections! Her first theme is all about confusing movie plots. Now, I don't mind a plot that makes you pay attention and think. But what I do mind are plots that leave you more confused at the end than when you started. We watched one such doozy this weekend, highlighted below. Hop on over to Sandy's blog to read the full theme explanation, share on your blog movies that make you go hmmmmmmm, and link back here so that others can find you. And don't forget to visit your fellow participants!
  • The Good Shepherd (2006) - I knew nothing about this plot going in. I only knew that Matt Damon played the starring role. The cast was All-Star and it was directed by De Niro. Sign me up! It appears that I would have been better served knowing more about the history of the CIA going in. From what I have read on message boards since viewing the movie, those that are fans of and familiar with the history of the CIA evolution and involvement in the Bay of Pigs enjoy this film tremendously. The rest of us, not so much. There are lots of intricate plot threads, unanswered questions with lots of shadowy implications, and after almost three hours I still couldn't put it all together. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be commentary on Damon's character and the path his life takes or a history of the CIA through his eyes or just an espionage tale. Maybe all three. Problem was, I couldn't follow any of those pieces clearly enough to appreciate any of them.

    I thought Damon's acting was rather blase because his character was so rigid throughout. De Niro was not a big presence. William Hurt was good as always, but off screen too much. Angelina Jolie was on screen a bit much, but her transformation from vibrant to worn down was nicely done. Alec Baldwin hammed things up a bit per usual, meaning I couldn't take him completely seriously. Joe Pesci's brief scene was well done but also nothing entirely new for his typical roles. I didn't even realize Timothy Hutton was in this film until the credits rolled. John Turturro was good with the few lines that he was given - most of his role was standing around or beating up a Russian. Michael Gambon was quite good in his screen time - too bad there wasn't more of it. I most enjoyed Tammy Blanchard who is new to me, in the love interest role of Laura. She lit up the screen. Seriously - this cast was mammoth. The plots never ending. Read up on a brief history of the CIA and then watch this film. Otherwise, you'll likely be as confused as I was. Andy fell asleep before De Niro hit the screen - then woke up for the very end. I wouldn't recommend that approach either.

 Do you have a topic to suggest to the Monday Movie Meme? Or would you like to guest host? Let us know in the Comments section or send us an e-mail.

12 comments:

The Gal Herself said...

I never saw The Good Shepherd because I have a "no Jolie" policy. But I would have disappointed because I love Matt Damon and that is one helluva cast!

My choice is almost 20 years old, and still completely incomprehensible to me.

sdk_2010 said...

Here are my choices this week, I found this harder than last weeks subject matter. - CLICK FOR MY CHOICES

Kristi said...

Believe it or not, I actually thought Wall E was confusing. But my kids had no problem with it :)

Anonymous said...

I made it through about 30 minutes of The Good Shephard before I started reading a book. Jason liked it. My list is up.
http://stacybuckeye.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/monday-movie-meme-confusion/

Unknown said...

Good Shepherd is a good pick...I watched the movie, lost focus and don't remember much about it! It's too bad since it had so much potential.

My movie picks, at least 2, are pretty good movies but they were confusing. Like Sandy's list which has some movies I really enjoyed!
Amy's Confusing Movie List!

Unknown said...

The Good Shepherd was okay, and I actually thought the plot was understandable, but I can see how others wouldn't. My choices are HERE.

kayerj said...

I like Matt Damon and actually The Bourne identity was one that when I first watched I was always asking Mr. J, "what's going on?". It took a couple of times before I figured it out. I read the Bourne series and actually liked it much better than the movies. It's set back in the Vietnam era and actually had a much more believable plot for an elite team of assasins.

I'm playing today. Kaye—the road goes ever ever on

Kwizgiver said...

A couple I've had to explain and a couple no one could explain to me!

monday movie meme

Julie said...

I don't understand Inception. Not one bit.

Nicole said...

You know, one or some of the trailers for this movie were a little confusing too. It's no fun that the actual movie was confusing to, if it is like you say. While I do like Matt Damon, I never got around to checking out "The Good Shepherd" when it came out but I may still watch it one of these days.

He'll (Damon) get me to watch a film, anytime!

The Madlab Post

Heather G. said...

I haven't seen that one. I'll have to check it out. Two that were really confusing were Memento and Fight Club. Was out of town so couldn't participate today. Great one, though!

Lee said...

After much thought, decided to go with the film that gave me the most WTF moments.

drum roll please...click here