Two movies, one good, one bad, no spoilers.

[jlh]

I forgot to mention that I saw two movies over the holiday weekend: Art School Confidential and Friends with Money. Art School Confidential is getting a lot of very mixed reviews, probably because it's two half-realized movies smudged together in 100 minutes of film, which doesn't work. No one likes the plot about the strangler, and neither do I. The art school part of the plot was fine, though the whole "boy falls for unattainable beauty" trope always leaves me cold; YMMV. Unlike Ghost World, which was adapted by Daniel Clowes and director Terry Zwigoff from Clowes's graphic novel, Art School Confidential is based on a four-page comic, and the expansion really strains the seams. Other than some relatively facile shots at art school and the art world, I didn't find anything to like about this film. Very disappointing.

Friends with Money, on the other hand, was deeply satisfying in a way I can't quite put my finger on. The movie follows four friends—three married, one single (Jennifer Anniston); two with superlucrative, creative jobs (Frances McDormand is a fashion designer and Catherine Keener a screenwriter), one with significant inherited wealth (Jane Cusack), and one a school teacher-turned-maid. I can't even begin to talk about it without giving away things best discovered in the movie. It's character, not plot driven, looking in on these women's lives during a moment of crisis and change for three of them (which is resolved by the end) and well framed by the friends and their SO's gathering for a birthday dinner at the start and a charity dinner at the end. I saw it on my own and would be very interested to hear what others thought of it; spoilers welcome in the comments.

Comments

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

I was curious about both of those. Sounds like "Art School..." is a netflixer.

Do you have the stomach flu that is going around? I hope not!

[jlh.livejournal.com]

I don't know that it's even a netflixer. It could be a just skipper.

No, I just have been really stuffy and sneezy. Maybe allergies, though I never used to get them!

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

It is so damp that there is mold and fungus on everything! And this has been one of the worst pollen seasons in for forever. Many people who normally don't suffer from allergies are this year.

I am one of the people who always suffer. And this year has been very bad.

Did you take anything? A benadryl at bedtime?

[locumtenens.livejournal.com]

Okay, this is going to seem like a very odd question, but did this movie show a person covered in paint and throwing his(?) body against a canvas to make 'art'? And then the canvas falls over on him?

The reason why I ask is that I saw that scene in a preview for something, and I have yet to see it again to figure out which movie it was.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Yep, it totally was that preview that you saw!

[locumtenens.livejournal.com]

Ha! Fabulous!

Okay, I have another question then. *g* My dad is an artist and also teaches full time at a college here. He loves to show his students snarky/satirical clips of films making fun of artists, just for shock value or so they don't take themselves too seriously, or whatnot.

I know you didn't think much of this movie as a whole, but do you think a few scenes would fit this scenario? I had told him about the part of the preview that I saw, and he seemed interested, but I wasn't sure if that was the best the movie had to offer.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

It's worth his watching it to see what he might want. There is a LOT more than just that moment; in fact, it's a primary plot element. But according to the friend I went to the movie with, who went to art school, the crit and some other elements weren't all that realistic. Your dad's MMV, though. But if you're going to see it, then I will quote Rope of Silicon (http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/review.php?id=2169):

I'm going to do something I rarely do in reviews which is give away a specific scene. I'm doing this because I want you to leave once the scene is over, it's truly the last moment of the flick that is enjoyable and you'll be a much happier and fulfilled person for taking the last hour of Art School Confidential off. Don't thank me, it's my job. Once Jerome tends bar at an art gallery you can leave the film. He'll be dressed in a red jacket and he'll look forlorn. Leave then and don't look back no matter what.

Seriously. Leave then and don't look back; all the good satire is over by then anyway.

[locumtenens.livejournal.com]

Great, that is exactly what I wanted to know! Thanks, I'll pass this along to him. And, the realism (or the lack thereof) isn't really an issue. It's more something to entertain his students with.