S.G. Browne

Creepy Owl Movies and a New Man Crush

I’ve always found owls to be a little spooky and disconcerting. Never mind that they can go all Linda Blair with the head spinning around (minus the projectile vomiting of pea soup), but they’re kind of creepy, sitting there and staring, asking their incessant question, looking like a creature from another planet.

It didn’t help when I saw the previews for the alien abduction film The Fourth Kind, which I never saw but which is enough to convince me that owls are plotting their next human anal probe.

Now there’s the animated film Legend of the Guardians, which I find completely disturbing on an entirely new level, since these owls are actually talking and plotting and thinking. I don’t want owls to be thinking. I already know what they’re thinking. And it’s not in my best interests. I mean, look at these three. Do they look like they’re up to any good?

Oh, and we can’t forget about Bubo, the golden, mechanical owl from the original Clash of the Titans. I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t look like a mentally stable robot owl to me.

So when it comes to mechanical, animated, anthropomorphic, alien abducting owls, count me out.

But if you’re talking about crime films set in Boston, MA, and starring a talented actor, writer, and director, then count me in. Yes, there’s a new man crush in town (sorry Bradley Cooper) and his name is Ben Affleck.

Okay, I realize Ben’s been around a while. I first saw him in Chasing Amy and later in Dazed and Confused (even though Dazed had come out a few years earlier). And then came Good Will Hunting and Dogma, which I absolutely loved – both the films and his roles in them.

But beginning in 1999, there came a run of films that I found, well, less than memorable:

Reindeer Games. Bounce. Pearl Harbor.
Jersey Girl. Paycheck. Daredevil.

Gigli.

But then came his portrayal of George Reeves in Hollywoodland (2006) and everything he’s been in since then has been man-crush worthy – if not the films themselves, most definitely his parts in them.

Supporting roles in Smokin’ Aces, Extract, and He’s Just Not That Into You were solid, along with a leading role in State of Play. In 2007, he made his directorial debut with (and co-wrote) the excellent Gone Baby Gone. And now, not only the leading role in The Town, but also co-writer for the adapted screenplay as well as director.

From the acting to the writing to the story to the directing, The Town was one of the best films I’ve seen this year. And more than that, you can now count Ben Affleck as one of the handful of directors whose films I will go see simply because he’s the one behind the camera.

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Filed under: Movies and Books — S.G. Browne @ 8:51 am

7 Comments »

  1. Nice reflections about owls, lol!

    I’ve always loved Ben Affleck too! (And I actually liked Reindeer Games, hee hee!) I think I’m one of the few people on earth who owns Dazed and Confused — which is NOT a great movie — because it features not only Ben but my perennial heartthrob Sam Rockwell. I also own Daredevil and think it was way underrated. You forgot Forces of Nature, another totally panned film, which I enjoyed for some of its hilarious moments. And, of course, DOGMA will always and forever be one of my favorites.

    Thanks for the recommendations about the recent films!

    Comment by Zuzana — September 27, 2010 @ 9:43 am

  2. “Dazed and Confused” is an excellent movie!

    Comment by Aaron — September 27, 2010 @ 9:56 am

  3. Ah, it’s nice to have dissenting opinions. D&C is not a great movie, yet it’s an excellent movie. I’ll have to re-watch as it’s been too many years. But thanks for the comments. And yes, THE TOWN is worth the price of admission.

    Comment by admin — September 27, 2010 @ 3:52 pm

  4. Zuzanna, whatchoo talkin’ about? Dazed and Confused is a wonderful film from start to finish. Sam Rockwell is in it?

    Gone, Baby, Gone is my favorite book in Lehane’s series, and I was surprised to see Ben direct it so well. The scene where Ed Harris is talking to Casey Affleck about how you have to bend the rules to protect children is magnificent, and so is the last scene when Casey goes to visit the mother’s apartment.

    I’m glad the years have split up the Affleck/Damon duo because I cannot stand Matt Damon.

    Comment by Tressa — September 30, 2010 @ 4:32 am

  5. I thought the last scene in Gone Baby Gone was absolutely brutal, in a good way. Your heart just sank.

    And although I haven’t seen Invictus or The Green Zone and didn’t care for Ocean’s Twelve and Thirteen, I’m a fan of Matt Damon. I thought he was great in The Informant! and The Departed, as well as in Syriana and The Bourne series. And going way back, I loved him in Dogma and Good Will Hunting and thought he was exceptionally creepy in The Talented Mr. Ripley.

    But I respect that you can’t stand him. Just offering up a contrary perspective. Thanks for playing!

    Comment by admin — September 30, 2010 @ 6:32 am

  6. Dude, owls are cool. Harry Potter has an owl and he’s a WIZARD for godssake. I am against the talking owl however. Owls should hoot or hoo or whatever the hell it is, but they should not talk like the ones in that Legends of the Owls movie. That’s just stupid.

    Comment by Gretchen — October 2, 2010 @ 2:59 pm

  7. Majestic, yes. But any creature that regurgitates the fur, bones, and feathers of its meals in a pellet is a little creepy. Plus there’s the whole Linda Blair spinning head thing.

    Comment by admin — October 2, 2010 @ 9:40 pm

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