New York, New York

After a delayed flight (due to snow - can't be helped), 10 hours in the air, a sprint - literally running, hilarious (though, not at the time) -  through Inchon airport to make my connecting flight, 12 hours in the air, a particularly interesting interview with US Customs and a cab ride in the rain...I made it.  And I'd do it all again tomorrow.

New York, New York.  Bliss.

Central Park after the rain.  Still lovely.

The award for first photograph goes to Central Park.  It had been raining, but don't you just love how shiny and cinematic the road is in this photo?  This is near where I am staying, on West 74th street.

Seriously tired from the flight, all I could manage was a few movies and a cheap bite to eat on my first day.  Have stocked up on food from Trader Joe's and I'm set.

MOVIE UPDATE

Celeste & Jesse Forever (dir. Lee Toland Krieger, 2012) - ***

Not bad.  Some entertaining moments and nice performances.  Rashida Jones delivers nice work - she's very engaging - but jeez her character is annoying.  Screenplay tries to be different, but ends up hitting most of the same-old-rom-com notes.

Paranorman (dir. Chris Butler & Sam Fell, 2012) - ***

Somewhat charming, but overly-sentimental family film.  Love the B-Grade premise and look of some of the characters but, ultimately, the film ends up being a series of missed opportunities.  Lots of chances to be very funny and, unfortunately, the jokes land way too soft and far too predictably. The truly awful final scene doesn't quite ruin a fairly average, reasonably sweet picture, but this one is for the kiddies.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (dir. Stephen Chbosky, 2012) - ***1/2

I'm genuinely surprised to see this film being mentioned in end-of-year awards circles and appearing on Top 10 lists for 2012...if you can explain this to me, I'd appreciate it.  A premise that is a bit too self-conscious and unoriginal for my liking - although, it is a coming-of-age story and these tend to be quite sweet anyway.  I give it that.  (Recently, Scherfig's An Education is a better example of how to do the sophisticated 'coming of age' drama.)  Logan Lerman is good here but Ezra Miller and Emma Watson don't really work for me.  Miller's performance is too big, overwritten perhaps, and Watson doesn't really convince.  I think her performance is disappointing, actually.  I imagine she's very wealthy, so she'll be fine.  Despite all of this, it actually did win me over.  Good soundtrack, too.

A Late Quartet (dir, Yaron Zilberman, 2012) - ***1/2

A glimpse into the lives of four string players rehearsing Beethoven's notoriously challenging String Quartet No. 14 in C# minor.  When they're not talking about the music (the best parts of the film), it's pretty melodramatic stuff, but Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener and especially Philip Seymour Hoffman bring such passion to their roles, it's easy to get swept away in the dramas of it all.  The film is worth seeing just to see these guys do their thing.  I have to say this, though:  It's a shame they are clearly not playing their instruments - this is a major pet peeve of mine.  For good examples of actors playing instruments please see Road to Perdition, The Talented Mr Ripley and, of course,  The Pianist.  It can be done.

Flight (dir. Robert Zemeckis, 2012) - ****

I get a bit sick of seeing Denzel Washington playing Denzel Washington, so it's great to see him here, putting himself into a role that is a lot more, I imagine, challenging.  He gets to play boozy and high, so that's always fun to watch...JK.  Seriously though, it's excellent, compelling work.  He hasn't been this good since probably The Hurricane in 1999.  Actually, he was really terrific in American Gangster and Inside Man (under-rated).  Maybe I'm being a bit harsh...

Anyway, Zemeckis' film, Flight, has a lot to say about losing control in your life and then regaining it all in a really interesting way, I think.  It's also good to see a Hollywood film that is primarily a drama, and not just an action-packed sequel - just sayin'.  Maybe Flight isn't as edgy as it could have been (is this because Zemeckis has been doing a lot of motion-capture family stuff lately?  Has he lost a bit of his bite?), but when it's hot, it's hot.  The plane crash sequence at the beginning of the film is breathtaking (probably not a good idea to watch this while I'm on an overseas holiday...) and there is a moment towards the end of the film that is profoundly moving.  Some of the supporting performances are a bit patchy (Kelly Reilly isn't terrific, Tamara Tunie is excellent) but  John Goodman is excellent - he's had a great year with this and Argo on his plate.  Some speculate that he could land an Oscar nomination for Flight, but I'm not sure.  He's good enough, I think.  Denzel is also worthy but I wonder if, like American Gangster and Inside Man, this film will be overlooked come the morning of Oscar nominations.

Screen Actors Guild nominations tomorrow morning.  Getting excited and hoping for a 'Notebook-esque'-free morning.