Has anyone seen The Aviator yet? Comments? Reviews? Opinions?
I thoroughly enjoyed it. The photography was spectacular, and the the exquisite planes, so clean, so art deco, so beautiful, were giving all my engineering genes orgasms. And all that incredible swing era music -- gasp -- just to die for. And the acting performances were just pristine -- Cate Blanchett as Kate Hepburn was dead on center, and Alan Alda -- you couldn't have asked for a more villainous corrupt senator (Dorian Grey should take lessons). It was a pure "boy movie" -- that fearless, joyous spirit that boys have that motivates a couple of toddlers to dig their way straight through the center of the earth all the way to China, spirited little beings who cannot comprehend the meaning of the word, "can't."
However, I can see why it didn't not get the best picture prize against Million Dollar Baby. The script was very weak. The character study was masterful, magnificent. But it lacked thematic focus. What was the essential metaphor of Howard Hughes' life? Mad genius? Tormented nobility? Rugged Individualist pitted against The Collective? Hard to tell. If it was a tragedy, what the the HH's virtue that brought him down? Plot was essentially bound by the facts of Hughes' life, so one can't really criticize that.
Nevertheless, I still liked it immensely, and would recommend it to anybody. It's well worth the price to go see it (and worth missing a night of dancing).
There is a dance scene (short).
Renee
I thoroughly enjoyed it. The photography was spectacular, and the the exquisite planes, so clean, so art deco, so beautiful, were giving all my engineering genes orgasms. And all that incredible swing era music -- gasp -- just to die for. And the acting performances were just pristine -- Cate Blanchett as Kate Hepburn was dead on center, and Alan Alda -- you couldn't have asked for a more villainous corrupt senator (Dorian Grey should take lessons). It was a pure "boy movie" -- that fearless, joyous spirit that boys have that motivates a couple of toddlers to dig their way straight through the center of the earth all the way to China, spirited little beings who cannot comprehend the meaning of the word, "can't."
However, I can see why it didn't not get the best picture prize against Million Dollar Baby. The script was very weak. The character study was masterful, magnificent. But it lacked thematic focus. What was the essential metaphor of Howard Hughes' life? Mad genius? Tormented nobility? Rugged Individualist pitted against The Collective? Hard to tell. If it was a tragedy, what the the HH's virtue that brought him down? Plot was essentially bound by the facts of Hughes' life, so one can't really criticize that.
Nevertheless, I still liked it immensely, and would recommend it to anybody. It's well worth the price to go see it (and worth missing a night of dancing).
There is a dance scene (short).
Renee
