Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
I love Alan Parker’s films. Maybe not every single one of them, but on the whole, he’s done more good than bad in this world, and I adore BIRDY, THE COMMITMENTS, PINK FLOYD’S THE WALL, SHOOT THE MOON, MISSISSIPPI BURNING, EVITA, and even the wacked out ANGEL HEART. I think he’s one of the few filmmakers working who is impossible to pin down.
So is this his DEAD MAN WALKING? Man, I hope so. Sure would be a nice Christmas gift. Let’s see what this new spy has to say on the subject:
Harry,
Well, I just recently started reading the website, and living in L.A. I get to see many early screenings so from here on out, I will share what I see with you. In the past I have kept to my friends and myself about the movies we see, but now I can let the world know. I guess.
So tonight, I caught The Life of David Gale, starring Kate Winslet, Kevin Spacey, and Laura Linney. Taken from the flyer:
“David Gale (Spacey) is a man who has tried living by his principals. But in a bizarre twist of fate, this devoted father, popular professor and respected death penalty opponent finds himself on death row for the rape and murder of fellow activist (Linney). With only three days before his scheduled execution, Gale agrees to give the Pulitzer-hungry reporter (Winslet), the exclusive interview she’d been chasing. But the reporter soon realizes that this assignment is more than she bargained for, and that a man’s life is in her hands. Putting her own safety in jeopardy, she frantically races to piece together the shocking events surrounding the killing, before it is too late.”
Basically, that is the movie, but much, much more. The acting is superb, most notably Laura Linney. She is just one of the most amazing actress’s working today. Spacey was also very good, and that means a lot coming from someone who thinks he is a terrible actor. I think he portrays no emotion in his acting, and the facial expressions he is able to put out, are annoying, but in this film they aren’t. He is great as David Gale. I really felt his innocence. Then there is Kate Winslet, who is always good. Especially good here. And the directing by Alan Parker was just great, though I did have some problems with some of the camera angles/ transitions from flashback to reality, though I am sure that it will be fixed later on, because it was honestly horrible ( the transitions).
Through the movie, I was really, in my heart rooting for Bitsy to solve this. And I was hoping that Gale got out of jail. I really wanted everything to go right. The film just pulls you in and doesn’t let go. Now I am not going to say if she solves the case. I am not going to say if she gets Gale off death row. You will just have to watch the film when it is released. You will not regret paying you nine bucks and two hours.
Just a quick note. This is definitely an Academy film. Watch out for it later on in December when it is theatrically released. For now, I really, really want Linney to win supporting actress. She was great in You Can Count On Me, Primal Fear, and numerous other works, and really deserves an Oscar. This should be the role to give it to her.
Harry and the rest of the gang, keep up the awesome work.
Parlgamads
Thanks, man. I’m definitely going to see this one at the earliest possible moment.
"Moriarty" out.
