Movie Thoughts

Last weekend Mrs. Bart and I saw 'Pirate Radio'. I thought it was going to be Captain Jack Sparrow from 'Pirates of the Caribbean' taking a turn as a conservative AM talk show host, but no such luck. Instead it was an amusing, but largely forgettable, story about rock-n-roll in the UK in the 1960s.

If 'Pirate Radio' is to serve as my guide, here are the historical lessons I have learned about Britain in the '60s:

-DJs got really excited about listening to rock-n-roll music. So much so that they would occasionally yell "Rock-n-roll!", dance, and generally behave oddly.
-Women couldn't control their vaginas.
-The government is purposelessly evil. And old. And white.
-Everyone loves lesbians.

It's from the creators of 'Love Actually', which is a movie that I actually love. Maybe others are as ambivalent about that movie as I am about 'Pirate Radio'.

One thing 'Pirate Radio' does have going for it is a kick-ass soundtrack. No Beatles songs, but an amazing assemblage of music. It must have cost the movie-makers a fortune. Afterwards, Mrs. Bart said, "The Kinks have all that great music, and the only CD you have of theirs is 'The Village Green Preservation Society'?" Clearly I'm not as cool as these guys.

I do want to send a shout-out to the folks who cut the theatrical trailer for 'Brothers', with Jake Gyllenhaal, Toby Maguire, and Natalie Portman: Too Long. The trailer goes too far. There's little point to me seeing the movie now. You should have stopped the narrative with Toby saying "I want to talk to my wife," then done the actor-summary segment of each headliner looking sad / worried / anxious / confused etc., and that would have summed everything up nicely. Instead you show Toby going zombie-like berserk. It's like a nice movie turns into a horror thriller. I'm willing to bet that that's not actually how the movie goes, but due to your crappy trailer editing, that's what I think. And now I'm not going to see it. Unless Natalie Portman gets nekkid. I'll wait for the reviews on that one.

My "to-see" list of movies already out is getting lengthy: The Informant!, Whip It, Zombieland, and Skin. Coming up before the end of the year are Up in the Air, Invictus, The Lovely Bones, Avatar, and Sherlock Holmes. Not sure where I'll find the time to see all these, but I can probably work something out.

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