The Tourist

OK, This movie is very mainstream. But it got very mixed reviews. I think it deserves better than that.

It's called The Tourist (2010).

I had no expectations going in. Maybe that's the key. It is a bit cliche: bad guys are bad, Interpol doesn't have a clue to what's going on....

This is not the most suspenseful movie ever, nor the most original or least predictable.

But I don't think it's trying to be.

I think it's more of a light-hearted, easy-to-watch-after-a-really-bad-day-of-work romp of international intrigue - not many brain cells required.

It does have enough of a good story to keep your interest.

I found myself totally engrossed in Johnny Depp's character for 2 reasons. He is the common man - a tourist on vacation: not overly smart, witty, good with his fists, or a knack for getting out of trouble. And Depp plays him perfectly.

Angelina Jolie is pretty good too. She could be better. I think she kinda relies on her looks too much. But hey, they are good looks.

I guess I would classify this under the bad/great movie category. I'd probably be upset if I paid top dollar to see it in the theatre. But now that it's out on DVD. Rent. Relax. Don't think too much. Just enjoy.

Goya's Ghosts

I am recommending Goya's Ghosts, a 2006 drama set around the life of artist Francisco Goya.

Here's what I knew going in: Goya was a Spanish painter. That's it. I was totally unfamiliar with his works, his historical relevance or even time period.

What I liked most about this movie was that it has a very engrossing story and that I learned some stuff too - stuff that I later confirmed to be true.

In Goya's Ghosts Stellan Skarsgard (Pirates of the Caribbean) plays Francisco Goya, chiefly commissioned by the royal family and The Church near the end of the Spanish Inquisition, was skating on thin ice. Goya, it's rumored, was using common whores as models (as ANGELS??!!). Even More alarming to The Church were his drawings of the suffering.

The actual main story in the movie is of the upheaval of Spain: end of the Inquisition, conquest by Napoleon, injustice, civil strife, etc. Goya happens to be caught in the middle and depicts it in his art. Goya had such a remarkable eye for capturing images as is - no bias nor romanticism. And as such he almost becomes the AP photographer of this period.

The best part of the movie is Goya's actual artwork as it's interjected. He was amazing, but I found his drawings of mobs particularly unsettling and oddly beautiful, despite the simplistically.

The acting in this movie is top notch! Natalie Portman (Star Wars Ep I, II & III), Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), Skarsgard and even Randy Quaid are all great! (Quaid actually playes the violin! For real!)

Goya's Ghosts was directed and co-written by Milos Forman, director of Amadeus (a movie he didn't help write). And similarities abound. The music is good in each (better in Amadeus - go figure!). Both are historical fiction. The main -as well as some supporting - characters of both were actual real people of the same time period. Their interaction with each other is where things get fuzzy. And whether or not the things portrayed in the movie actually happened to these real people....even fuzzier.

Watch this! The story, acting and artwork will keep you enthralled.