Mark Goes to the Movies

The Island (dir. Michael Bay) A Michael Bay movie that doesn't suck? I know, I didn't believe it either. But though it's too long and the storyline disintegrates half an hour before the (happy!) ending, this one is the real deal: an almost perfect summer movie. Because it's Michael Bay, the action sequences move along at a nicely breakneck clip, and lots of cool machinery gets destroyed very colorfully. Myself, I think it's at least as good as Batman Begins or War of the Worlds. neither of which had stars anywhere near as adorable as Ewan MacGregor and Scarlett Johansen. Markie's score (stupid points): ????

Last Days (dir. Gus van Sant) I'll admit I haven't paid as close attention to Gus van Sant recently as I have to other directors (though I did like Elephant, and was bothered by the way it aesthetized all the killing). Maybe that allows me to view this film on its own merits instead of as part of an trilogy or whatever. In any event, this is minimalist film that's also pretty rich: lovely ambient sounds of birds and insects in place of dialogue, long static shots of mountain streams and woods. The people story is pretty sad and uninvolving. The Cobain-like main character wanders around mumbling incomprehensibly, dressing up, playing with a shotgun, and nodding out. He makes every effort to isolate himself from every person in his life (his wife, child, band, manager, housematers). So there's not a lot to hang onto--it's watching a car crash in very slow motion, with zero catharsis. But a beautiful crash anyway. Markie's score: ***