Monday, January 9, 2012

Queue Tips: 50/50

Fifty divided by fifty equals one.  As in, one great movie.  Well, I guess it depends on your expectations.  A friend of mine thought it was too slow, but I think he had the impression that this would be one of those hilarious, laugh out loud Seth Rogen movies.

That's why I don't like to watch trailers and commercials.  I knew I would check it out because Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in it, and he gave an excellent performance, by the way.  Seeing Anjelica Huston as his mother was also a nice surprise.  I have to say, I think she's pretty awesome.  In addition, it was pleasant to see Matt Frewer (Bob Moody from "Shaky Ground") and Philip Baker Hall (Lt. Bookman from from "Seinfeld").

I think the reason why I really liked this is that it was apparently based on a real-life experience by the screenwriter Will Reiser.  The rest of his work doesn't seem in line with this type of drama.  I think it reinforces the old saying that you should write about what you know.

I also didn't know who directed it, but it turned out to be Jonathan Levine, who was behind "The Wackness", which I don't recommend at all.  Or maybe I just had different expectations from it because it was a Ben Kingsley movie or something.  But anyways, definitely put "50/50" on your queue.  There's an equal chance you might like it.

Oh, and one last thing, I like the fact that they have an Asian doctor and and Indian nurse in one of the hospital scenes.

Oh yeah, and one other last thing.  Am I just me, or did anybody else find the musical choices of Radiohead's "High and Dry" and Pearl Jam's "Yellow Ledbetter" kind of strange?  I don't know.  I guess I've just listened to those songs so much that finding them in any other context seems out of place.

More queue tips:

The Beaver
Blue Valentine
Despicable Me
The Fighter
Hesher
I Am Number Four
The King's Speech
Limitless
The Limits of Control
127 Hours
Rabbit Hole
True Grit
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Win Win


No comments:

Post a Comment