ODD

Occasionally I have moments in which I wonder if L.A. has corrupted my artistic sensibilities in some mortal way.  Last night, for no real reason except I was bored and tired, I watched The A-Team on Cinemax.  That's the one with Liam "Paycheck" Neeson and Bradley "Smarm" Cooper and the guy from District 9, Sharlto Copley, who was so good in that movie.  The trailers for The A-Team looked embarrassing.  I never had any desire to see it.  And, delightfully, I kind of loved it.  It's cartoonish and ridiculous, but the performances are all completely charming, irreverent, endearing.  Random remarks that feel improvised ("And you're covered in gasoline, which I find interesting"..."B.A. looks like a huge banana") proliferate, and there are lots of clever, pleasing one-off moments, like when two ex-lovers, now agents on opposite sides, get in a fight in a photo booth which snaps pictures of them as they beat each other up.  Yeah, I probably would've enjoyed this before I came to Hollywood.