1 - Since late last night / early this morning, I've been meaning to put some thoughts into a New Years blog. I had some things I wanted to touch on, and I still do, but those thoughts have been hijacked by the movie I watched tonight.
An hour ago I finished the The Time Traveler's Wife, I still don't know what to think of it and that's bugging the shit out of me.
From Wiki:
Based on the premise of The Time Traveler's Wife, a Chicago librarian (Bana) has a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel randomly. Though he often disappears from her life for long periods of time, he tries to build a romantic relationship with Clare Abshire, an artist (McAdams).
Henry, the librarian, meets his future wife Clare when she is only six years old. Chronologically, however, he meets her for the first time when Clare is an adult but Henry is only twenty-eight. At that point Clare has known Henry all of her adult life.
When it was over I jumped onto Rotten Tomatoes to see what the consensus was (critics didn't like it). I read a few reviews from the big names and publications. They seemed to think the romantic leads, played by Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, lacked chemistry and spark. They thought that the romance never really materialized for the viewer and it didn't allow people to truly care for the characters.
Whatever, that wasn't really the issue I have with TTTW. For the majority of the time I actually liked the flick. The major issue I have is how completely fucking illogical the characters act in key moments and it has to do with the idea of time travel.
After I read the reviews I googled the title and 'Logic'. I figured at least someone must have taken exception with what I thought were instances where nothing the characters did made sense.
Nope. Sure, there are reviews and blogs that poke holes into the fundamental principals of time travel in this movie, but that was mostly of the scientific variety. I'm thinking along the lines of basic human behavior.
I don't think I'm gonna give away anything Earth shattering in the following paragraphs, but...
**STOP NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED**
So you've got this girl who's known a time traveler nearly her whole life. She falls in love, and though he keeps jumping around in and out of her life, they try and make it work.
That's the dumbed down version and for the most part I liked the movie. Hell, for a while I thought I was going to be able to say TTTW was one of the best flicks I'd seen this year.
Unfortunately, the last 15 minutes completely rob the viewer (and any logical thinker) of what could have been a good film.
First, Henry finds out from his daughter (also a time traveler but one that can control where she travels to) that he's gonna die when she's five.
Then, a short while later, Henry finds out the exact time and date he dies and that it's from a gunshot wound. Not only that, but there's a strong indication that he's going to be extremely cold when he's shot.
Now, at this point, don't you think a logical move would be to prepare for this occasion? Maybe use his daughter to warn everyone of the circumstances surrounding his untimely death?
I'll simply say that Henry doesn't. When the date does come he lets his friend and wife in on what he knows and rather than saying, "Hey, there's a good chance I'm gonna get shot in the next hour, so call some paramedics so they're ready to assist". No, he just tells his wife and pal that that it's been nice knowing them.
Then he time travels and finds himself in the middle of the woods, and he's next to a massive fucking deer. Now, were I in his position and knowing that I'm going to get shot today, I think a massive fucking alarm would have gone off in my head. As soon as they showed him and the buck in the same frame my inner-deer hunter thought, "GET DOWN JACKASS!".
Nope. He just stayed there looking at the 12 pointer while a hunter put a bullet through his lung. Bleeding out he travels back to the present time where his wife and family are and he dies in his wife's arms.
The flick ends shortly thereafter.
So. Instead of taking and appreciating the enjoyable flick I'd just finished watching, I've spent the last hour and a half analyzing why the ending completely sucked.
1b- I've never minded (and by "never minded" I mean "thoroughly enjoyed") most chick flicks i've sat down to check out. Romantic comedies, tearjerkers, adaptations of chick-lit, etc…there's a good number of them I like.
I guess you could say TTTW is one of them. Barely.
1c - I'll probably read the book this was adapted from, though. Interesting story and concept and from the sound of it the movie leaves out a ton.
1d - If you're interested in catching an adapatation of chick-lit done right, check out Atonement. Now that was a good flick.
2 - Speaking of the best films of 2009, I give you mine:
5 - Halloween 2
4 - Zombieland
3 - Inglorious Basterds
2 - Star Trek
1 - 500 Days of Summer
Honorable Mention:
Drag me to Hell
The Hurt Locker
He's Just Not That Into You
The Uninvited
I loved Halloween 2. I thought it would be awful but it was the most interesting horror flick I've seen since Silent Hill or High Tension. Zombieland was just fun. Brad Pitt is the reason why I loved Inglorious Basterds. Stole every scene. Star Trek was the perfect blockbuster. 500 Days of Summer was just awesome all around.
3 - Last night was pretty fun. Saw my main dudes for the first time in a couple months and it was like we were all still living in the same town and hanging out regularly. It was like no one had ever quit Eastbay. We drank and fell into the routine of talking about friends, TV, sports, and women like it was natural.
It's easily the best thing about these guys. With other friends that have come and gone the reunions can be awkward. Not so much with my boys from Wausau.
3b - I positively love that when I described one of our mutual friends having "out-kicked his coverage" they both knew exactly what I was talking about and I didn't have to explain it to them.
3c - My only quibble was a couple girls that seemed good natured and fun at the beginning of the night turned into drunken messes of piss and vinegar once the clock rolled around to 2010.
I'm not entirely sure why. I've got a good idea, but it's not 100%. Maybe a topic for another day.
3d - The only good thing that came from us leaving the bar early at the request of our wasted female acquaintances was I didn't stay out late enough to get hammered. I woke up this morning a little wrecked but my memory was solid and I didn't have an epic hangover today.
So cheers to that.
4 - 4:00 am. Been a long day.
Happy New Years, folks. I hope you have a safe and wonderful 2010.
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