May 9th, 2008

Atonement:  Saw this movie last night.  I had no sympathy for the young girl whatsoever, and thought her simply to be a precocious bitch who thought she knew more than the rest of them.  Without any sympathy (and frankly I didn’t like her at all, and would rather give her a spanking than anything else) this movie falls apart in the end.  Yes, you can understand where it goes, but you’re not really satisfied with the result.   This movie jumps around a lot as well.   I really had no idea what buddy was doing in WWII, where he was (yes he was in France, but what was this pull out?)   I might have my dates wrong and he was there at the beginning of the war when the Germans took over without firing a shot, as opposed to DDay and the return.  Even so, how did he get injured?  Was there NO medical attention?    To me, there was no atoning for what was done, in the least, and simply writing about it isn’t nearly enough.   I would like it if movie directors would get back to telling stories in a linear fashion rather than bouncing around between times and places.   This movie with all the other nominated films again showed me that this was indeed a weak year.   A movie like Saving Private Ryan or Chinatown that lost out on an Oscar for Best Picture would have won this year in a landslide.