This is Javier Bardem’s movie – He was chillingly effective in No Country For Old Men, and is just crazy effective again here. He’s mastered the art of trying to stifle the maniacal laugh, the single most oft messed up villain trait. He is by far the gold standard of movie bad asses and yes that includes Darth Vader, the Predator, Dr. Lechter et al.
This in spite of the fact that a singular flaw in trying to make Bond movies more believable is that the concept of the ‘super villain’ of old, ie. Blofeld, Dr. No, etc., works against him or any future Bond villain from coming up with a respectable performance. These older, spectacular villains parodied wonderfully by Mike Myers as Dr. Evil, work because they’re so out of this world, amazingly, ridiculously powerful.
So it’s hard for me to write about a Tintin movie with complete objectivity. In fact I considered skipping the movie altogether, so afraid am I of watching anything that wouldn’t live up to expectation, the only thing convincing me otherwise being the Spielberg name.
Annie (Kristen Wiig) is a 30-something bachelorette struggling with a battered sense of self after the combination of a failed relationship and a failed bakery business. As a result she allows herself to be used by Ted (John Hamm) as a convenient and easily dismissed fuck buddy, and goes about life directionless in a job she clearly hates. To add to this, her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) announces she is getting married, promising to make her life even more miserable by forcing her to have to go it alone.
If there’s any type of movie I’d say that best reflects my idea of Hollywood, it’s the big grand musical. Now I’m fairly aware that saying that sounds very gay, which I’m sure makes my homophobic girlfriend cringe. But hey, I’m not gonna lie. Big grand musicals are the epitome, to me, of what a ‘spectacular performance’ is. There’s great music, terrific melodies, and basically actors interpreting what they feel through feats of song and dance. Any story of great romance, deep despair, hate, fear, or anything for that matter, is made more meaningful and dramatic via moving performances filled with music and dancing.