Monday, May 9, 2011

Reel Insight Episode 45: Ryan Gosling

Rachel's the greatest editor ever.  She did this episode on vacation!  It was a pretty good week catching up with Ryan Gosling's career, but we concluded that if Hollywood is right, Gosling should never go bald or have a beard.  But most importantly, he's gotta quick the creepy side.

Also discussed some new TV - go see Community immediately!, plus for the LAMMYs - last day to vote, nominate REEL INSIGHT PODCAST!






New movies I saw with Gosling this week:

Half-Nelson - I don't see the appeal of this movie.  Gosling was nominated for an Oscar for his performance, which was really good, but the movie wasn't all that interesting.  Gosling's a drug-addicted high school teacher and basketball coach.  But is it just me, or did he actually make it seem like it's possible to be both? Odd.

Stay - Creepy psychological thriller (though not fast-paced) starring Ewan McGregor as a psychiatrist treating  Gosling, and dating Naomi Watt's (a former patient).  He's trying to keep Gosling from committing suicide (like we said, lighten up!) but things aren't quite what they seem.  Good flick.

The Slaughter Rule - Awful.  Doesn't commit to being anything.  I wanted David Morse' presence to lead to a good movie, but it was creepy and mostly dull.

Fracture - This one I really liked.  I missed it for Anthony Hopkins week, but it's a fairly masterful legal drama since we know who did it, why he did it, and heard his confession, and yet he's crazy smart enough to get away with it, despite Gosling's efforts.  There were no spoilers in the previous sentence, I swear.  Good movie.

All Good Things - This was one of the options at the local art theater when I was on vacation a few weeks ago.  Thankfully I did not pay nor waste a vacation afternoon watching it.  It's dull, and won't commit to being a fictionalization of actual events, but obviously it is.  Dunst is good, Gosling is scary, and both are boring. Sad.

1 comment:

Fletch said...

And your post shall get the feedback today...

I probably saw Gosling first in Remember the Titans, but I don't remember him in it at all and that movie's a piece of shit, so let's just move on...

I really got on board with him after seeing Fracture. He held his own against Hopkins, and that's saying something. That's an underrated thriller; not a tremendous movie or anything, but tight, taut, and fun. Better than The Lincoln Lawyer, which has gotten a lot more fanfare.

Believe it or not, I feel most like Rachel when it comes to Lars. It's not a bad movie per se, but the Hallmark-y feeling of THE WHOLE DAMN TOWN being all lovey-dovey towards the situation was just way too sappy. Pretty sure that Gosling will look back on that one in 15 years and wonder "WTF was I thinking?"

Never even heard of many of those others, like Stay and The Slaughter Rule.