Melancholia

I liked Kirsten Dunst in Jumanji.

You know how some movies are described as "rip roaring romps," or "action-packed," or "awakens the senses" or even "thought provoking?"  Melancholia is none of those.  The title perfectly describes it and while melancholy is a mood/emotion that certainly has a place in movies, two hours of it? Seriously... based on the trailer for this one, it should be called Dullancholia.

I'm being a bit harsh.  While watching the trailer I laughed when, during the typical dysfunctional family dynamics of the wedding, we learn that a planet is heading straight for earth and there is a chance that all life will end.  So, why is this funny?  It's a Simpson’s episode.

In the Simpsons episode, Homer predicts that the meteor about to hit Springfield will dissolve once it enters the earth's atmosphere.  To everyone's surprise, he's right. 

Nothing in the trailer for Melancholia indicates that the characters, all suffering from melancholy, by the way, embrace life and try to make the best of their remaining days.  There's nothing to show that their melancholy changes in any way in the face of imminent death.  On the contrary, the melancholy seems to be the mood from beginning to end.  So, what's the point of that?  The writers could have placed any scenario after the wedding.  How about a terrorist attack or maybe a tidal wave or impending ice age or zombie plague?  The only thing missing from Melancholia is a soundtrack by The Smiths.  I know there's more of a point to Melancholia. The planet is called Melancholia and the mood is reflected in the film.  Wow.  Clever. The trailer, however, says nothing to make me want to care.

The other thing about the trailer is that there is nudity - albeit a long shot of it - naked, melancholy from Kirsten Dunst. 

I think I'll pass on this one and dust off some Smiths records.  Louder Than Bombs should give me a more meaningful melancholy than Melancholia, and I could clean out the shed and not lose the 2 hours I'll never get back.