Blog-aversary!

Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the Amblog's launch (with a review of The Trip). Time marches on, and there are many movies to see, so I won't spend a lot of time reflecting. Instead, I'd just like to point out a few highlights from Year One:

- I'm pretty proud of my 2011 Year in Review, probably my best long-form piece to date. I'm also quite fond of the Studio Ghibli edition of Jump Cuts, though I didn't know that I would also be seeing the superlative Grave of the Fireflies just a few weeks later.

- Drive remains my only "perfect" 5-star review. I wanted to see it again immediately after it was finished, and I don't have that reaction very often. The ratings, by the way, are more art than science. I'll usually go with whatever my gut says as I start to write a review. The words are far more important than the numbers, obviously. The Interrupters and Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie are a couple more of my better raves.

- The only enjoyment I derived from The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence was in panning it last October; it's still my favorite takedown. Two more of the worst that brought out my best: The Vow and Margaret.

- It's easy to forget that I did not initially intend for this blog to focus on movie reviews. For the first month, my Wide Angle posts covered topics from music to patriotism to travel. Weird stuff, but very indicative of my various preoccupations (and loads of free time!) before I started to spend my weekends at the multiplex.

- My relentless posting got me noticed by the founders of Screen Invasion, where I've cross-posted my reviews and contributed some original content. Though I enjoy being a hermit in my little corner of cyberspace, I'm also very proud to contribute to such a dynamic and diverse site with writers voracious love of pop culture matches my own.


I've been blogging (or writing an "online journal," if you remember that term) in some capacity for almost 10 years, toiling away in front of a monitor for hundreds and hundreds of unpaid hours. I'm amazed that I keep doing it! But I'm even more amazed - and humbled - to know that there are people who enjoy reading what I write. Thanks to all of you who visit this space and keep on coming back. You've made this more rewarding than I could've hoped.

Happy Blog-aversary, Ambler Amblog!

Margaret (2011)

Margaret (2011)
Dir. Kenneth Lonergan

2 out of 5

A epic of sweeping mediocrity, Margaret is the cinematic version of the annoying prankster who pushes every button in the elevator before getting out at the top floor. Despite a promising beginning with Anna Paquin as a jejune New York high school student who inadvertantly causes a fatal bus crash, the film's meandering script follows far too many blind alleys in her struggle to make sense out of a truly senseless tragedy (and I mean "senseless" as in "dumb," as in a cowboy hat plays a critical role in a pedestrian's death). Some of these wanderings I can understand. Margaret was shot in 2006 and shelved until last year due to a lengthy post-production lawsuit that prevented writer-director Kenneth Lonergan from finishing his movie. Hollywood heavyweights like Scott Rudin and Sydney Pollack rushed to Lonergan's aid, and final cut was handled by some guy named Martin Scorsese and his longtime editor, Thelma Schoonmaker. With this much creative heat, how could Margaret be anything less than a masterpiece?

Well, there's an old saying about a horse designed by committee. There's also plenty of evidence, however, to suggest that Margaret was quite a homely creature to begin with. Paquin's guilt brushes up against enough adolescent angst to fill multiple movies. She bickers with her insecure mother (J. Smith-Cameron), plays Lolita to her handsome math teacher (a defiantly placid Matt Damon), loses her virginity to the class cad (Kieran Culkin), and on and on. Margaret feels like a entirely different film once the bus crash comes back into play, as Paquin and the victim's best friend (Jeannie Berlin) sue the MTA to fire the driver (Mark Ruffalo). Even at two and a half hours it's clearly too much plot for one movie, a fatal flaw that's extremely evident as seemingly important characters disappear completely and carefully crafted subplots are resolved in jarring bursts of tossed-off dialogue.

To be fair, Lonergan is a skilled writer. He's an emotional polyglot who maintains a high standard of authenticity as he shuttles between the minds of mewling lawyers, brassy old ladies, and sophomoric high school know-it-alls. But a little restraint might have been nice. It's as if Lonergan had three (somewhat clichéd) movies in mind, and decided to make them all. The result is a hot mess with many ideas that probably sounded good on the page (Lonergan casting himself as Paquin's hero-intellectual father; English teacher Matthew Broderick conveniently popping up whenever the film needs a forced literary allusion) but come across as phony and indulgent onscreen. Margaret is genuinely intriguing when it posits our need to grieve as a construct of our underdeveloped consciousness and our rejection of a cruel, random universe. It's just a shame that every other second is dedicated to the patently false notion that Margaret is a great work of art, waiting expectantly for us to pledge our respect and admiration for such a contrived, over-the-top display of shaky judgment and terrible self-editing.