Vengeance is Mine
We see an arrest, then we go back through time and see what for, and then we begin by asking why, even though with a character like this murderer there is no real way to know. From there, the real substance of the film begins to take shape. You are given pieces from all over Enokizu's life, sometimes unclear to where the pieces fall, but all the while adding to what we see in this murderer and making what possible motives he could have more complex. The centerpiece of this film is Ken Ogata's amazing performance, he manages to switch from seemingly warm and friendly to absolutely cold and emotionless in a moments notice, as we try to figure out what in this complex plot shaped him into what he is. One move he makes in the film seems to bring out what a creepy sort of enigma he is: when he has returned from jail earlier in his life, at one point he slowly rotates his body from a sitting position, up the wall and upside down, back to a sitting position. Just after that, his actions, along with the superb direction of Imamura has him popping in and out of the scenery in the backyard. Imamura incorporates the unique features of the Japanese setting into the visuals through his direction, the way characters are framed in the architecture creates unique effects. The visuals are also a high point of the film, the movie makes wonderful use of color, and great use of the camera. Though a somewhat disturbing film, it impressed me very much, and was a refreshing look at Japanese film for me, as I only have experience of Ozu and Kurosawa in live action Japanese movies.
Silence of the Lambs
A good psychological detective thriller, mainly for the amazing performance of Anthony Hopkins, who just by talking can put more fear into you than almost any character I can think of. The direction emphasises and heightens Hopkins' performance, and is great throughout the movie. My only real problem with the movie was that I found it predictable in the later parts, which in a way made Lecter's actions diminish his effect on me. I was made far more uneasy by him just standing in the cell at the beginning than by his obvious escape from his cage.
Ikiru
A touching story of someone pushing through hardship and fighting for a purpuse, and a harsh commentary on an opressive bureaucracy, directed by the great Akira Kurosawa. Though one can go on about the movie and its good points, I will simply discuss the second half, even though the first half is just as good, I feel it is an interesting move by Kurosawa and brings even more power to its messages. Through the sequence of his mourning, we are able to see how oppressive the bureaucracy is(the deputy mayor and other departments taking credit), and at the same time show his unflinching devotion and the love that resulted, ending in the most beautiful image of the film, the scene on the swing. However, in the end we are given the depressing but effective image of the man sinking under his pile of papers, and then looking over the park, the achievement is that much more impressive. As a side note, I find it an interesting point that the main character Watanabe, someone who was trapped for so long in that office which almost seemed to be made from stacks of paper, has the first name Kanji, which are characters used in Japanese writing.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Reviews
Barry Lyndon
Its hard to praise a movie that seems to try to provoke you to dislike it, something so visually extravagant yet at the same time something so cold and empty. After a while it started to seem like an 18th century Scarface, we see Barry going up in the world by anything and everything but honest work, and in the end the same means which brought him up lead to his fall. The difference is instead of taking his wife from his mob boss, the threat is in her oedipal son (Whose relationship actually is similar to that of Tony and his sister.) The last shot gave me sudden insight into the film's meaning. With the giant picture in the background of the shot, perfectly framed, with nearly the same proportions in height and width, I began to think of all of the paintings from this period and my reaction to them when I have seen them. I have always felt that those paintings, while beautiful and masterfully crafted, seemed cold and empty, merely someone attempting to duplicate what they see, lacking in any sort of meaning. I realized that this was exactly the feeling the film was giving me, and realized that much of what was distancing me from the movie was obviously intentional and very effective. Though the film was not very enjoyable, I respect its vision and execution highly, for capturing this feeling (or lack of) in those images, something beautiful that lacks feeling.
Predator
Mostly a typical boring 80's action flick. The suspense in the middle is a bit of an improvement, but you can't really feel nervous for a bunch of guys that just bulldozed their enemies without getting hurt at all. Alien did this before and did it far better, and aged much more gracefully as well.
Its hard to praise a movie that seems to try to provoke you to dislike it, something so visually extravagant yet at the same time something so cold and empty. After a while it started to seem like an 18th century Scarface, we see Barry going up in the world by anything and everything but honest work, and in the end the same means which brought him up lead to his fall. The difference is instead of taking his wife from his mob boss, the threat is in her oedipal son (Whose relationship actually is similar to that of Tony and his sister.) The last shot gave me sudden insight into the film's meaning. With the giant picture in the background of the shot, perfectly framed, with nearly the same proportions in height and width, I began to think of all of the paintings from this period and my reaction to them when I have seen them. I have always felt that those paintings, while beautiful and masterfully crafted, seemed cold and empty, merely someone attempting to duplicate what they see, lacking in any sort of meaning. I realized that this was exactly the feeling the film was giving me, and realized that much of what was distancing me from the movie was obviously intentional and very effective. Though the film was not very enjoyable, I respect its vision and execution highly, for capturing this feeling (or lack of) in those images, something beautiful that lacks feeling.
Predator
Mostly a typical boring 80's action flick. The suspense in the middle is a bit of an improvement, but you can't really feel nervous for a bunch of guys that just bulldozed their enemies without getting hurt at all. Alien did this before and did it far better, and aged much more gracefully as well.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Some new reviews, and revisiting some films
Scarface
Equal parts cheezy 80s action movie, cheezy 80's horror movie, depressing tale of self destruction, and a portrait of 80s culture. The ending sequence (which is the majority of the action) seemed exactly like the one from Commando(even though Commando came out after, I dislike it for the exact same reasons, its just a long stupid scene of someone magically taking out waves of generic bad guys; he certainly isn't aiming) , the horror(Except for the chainsaw scene, which was done well) was standard shock horror with loud noises and things suddenly popping into view, and I pretty much despise the 80s. The performances were great, which just made the content even more depressing, though there were some great moments (say goodbye to the badguy) and it was actually funny at some points, the performances just made the content even more disgusting. With a content range from annoying to depressing, I wasn't able to enjoy it much at all.
Army of Shadows
Melville proves once again, if not more than in any of his other films, that he is an amazing filmmaker. A very different type of war/espionage movie. It is not romanticized, the resistance does not infiltrate Berlin and assassinate Hitler, but rather participate in conflicts most people probably don't even know about. Most of the time, the active enemy is Vichy France. The French police and agents capturing the members of the resistance and turninf them over to the Germans, or holding them in French Prison camps takes up just as much of the movie as the time inside or trying to get out of German Prisons. There is no story I can think of that has more shades of grey between good and bad. Most of the film is spent escaping capture and protecting the identities of the members of the resistance. This alone is a full time job for the characters, and provides the majority of the tension and the moral choices in the film. All of this is brought together with the beautiful visuals and the great score. I must spend the time to better organize my thoughts, because this movie was truly great and deserves a better writeup.
Contempt
A very different film than I was expecting, but a very interesting film. Visually impressive, another movie that truly makes use of color. What is most interesting is how layered it is and how mysterious its meaning is at times. The plotline in the real world reflects the philosophical debate the characters participate in, which in turn relates to the film being produced. Interesting to discuss with others, but hard to come up with a concrete idea on what the film truly is. Still I would reccomend it highly as a unique film experience, though it definitely is not for everyone. I enjoyed it however.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Not much really positive or negative to say really. The narrator was somewhat annoying and probably unnecessary. The film got better when the ex-wife came back into the scene, but in the end I felt it didn't really go anywhere.
Stand By Me
I finally saw the whole movie through recently, and it lived up to what my small glimpse hinted at a long time ago, it is a good film. While it is a good coming of age story, what it truly expresses is the value of friends in an utherwise unsupportive environment. All of the characters have a difficult situation at home or in public. The body represents the friendless in the hostile world: hit by a train, while the protagonists save each other from that fate many times, literally and metaphorically. The bullys embody this opressive world even so far that they play chicken with the equivalent of the train for their situation (the truck) and win. This opressive force destroys names and breaks contact between people (the mailbox scene,) as the real world eventually does to the writer, but it does not destroy his memories. In them we see he had already stood up to that world with his friends and won.
Reservoir Dogs
Watching this for the second time, my opinion of it has changed. I did not think too much of it the first time, but it truly is amazing how Tarantino creates his genres through dialogue, at the very least in his first three major films. Reservior Dogs is his suspense/thriller, and it absolutely shines. There is so much tension and fear created and it is almost completely through characters talking. I'm not trying to say that is all there is to the film either, because in the end I found myself impressed with the visual style and the sound design. Not quite as good as Pulp Fiction, but I now place it alongside Jackie Brown tied for Tarantino's second best.
The Graduate
The Graduate's biggest achievement is making the camera personal. It brings you into the characters, almost like it were first person, even though the character is usually on film. You feel his claustrophobia in the crowds of the party, his attempts to not focus on Mrs Robinson with flashes of her body emulating his inability to look away, How lost he feels in the hotel lobby at the first meeting, and much more. The movie contains so many unique shots and transitions that it just shines as an amazing visual achievement. There are so many visual metaphors as well. One particular set of scenes that interested me is the comparison between the driving scenes in the end of the movie to the affair sequence in the beginning, with the black to blue/white transitions. I also had a brief thought about 2001's spacewalk sequence when he goes into the pool in the scuba gear, not realizing at the time I viewed it that it came before 2001.
Equal parts cheezy 80s action movie, cheezy 80's horror movie, depressing tale of self destruction, and a portrait of 80s culture. The ending sequence (which is the majority of the action) seemed exactly like the one from Commando(even though Commando came out after, I dislike it for the exact same reasons, its just a long stupid scene of someone magically taking out waves of generic bad guys; he certainly isn't aiming) , the horror(Except for the chainsaw scene, which was done well) was standard shock horror with loud noises and things suddenly popping into view, and I pretty much despise the 80s. The performances were great, which just made the content even more depressing, though there were some great moments (say goodbye to the badguy) and it was actually funny at some points, the performances just made the content even more disgusting. With a content range from annoying to depressing, I wasn't able to enjoy it much at all.
Army of Shadows
Melville proves once again, if not more than in any of his other films, that he is an amazing filmmaker. A very different type of war/espionage movie. It is not romanticized, the resistance does not infiltrate Berlin and assassinate Hitler, but rather participate in conflicts most people probably don't even know about. Most of the time, the active enemy is Vichy France. The French police and agents capturing the members of the resistance and turninf them over to the Germans, or holding them in French Prison camps takes up just as much of the movie as the time inside or trying to get out of German Prisons. There is no story I can think of that has more shades of grey between good and bad. Most of the film is spent escaping capture and protecting the identities of the members of the resistance. This alone is a full time job for the characters, and provides the majority of the tension and the moral choices in the film. All of this is brought together with the beautiful visuals and the great score. I must spend the time to better organize my thoughts, because this movie was truly great and deserves a better writeup.
Contempt
A very different film than I was expecting, but a very interesting film. Visually impressive, another movie that truly makes use of color. What is most interesting is how layered it is and how mysterious its meaning is at times. The plotline in the real world reflects the philosophical debate the characters participate in, which in turn relates to the film being produced. Interesting to discuss with others, but hard to come up with a concrete idea on what the film truly is. Still I would reccomend it highly as a unique film experience, though it definitely is not for everyone. I enjoyed it however.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Not much really positive or negative to say really. The narrator was somewhat annoying and probably unnecessary. The film got better when the ex-wife came back into the scene, but in the end I felt it didn't really go anywhere.
Stand By Me
I finally saw the whole movie through recently, and it lived up to what my small glimpse hinted at a long time ago, it is a good film. While it is a good coming of age story, what it truly expresses is the value of friends in an utherwise unsupportive environment. All of the characters have a difficult situation at home or in public. The body represents the friendless in the hostile world: hit by a train, while the protagonists save each other from that fate many times, literally and metaphorically. The bullys embody this opressive world even so far that they play chicken with the equivalent of the train for their situation (the truck) and win. This opressive force destroys names and breaks contact between people (the mailbox scene,) as the real world eventually does to the writer, but it does not destroy his memories. In them we see he had already stood up to that world with his friends and won.
Reservoir Dogs
Watching this for the second time, my opinion of it has changed. I did not think too much of it the first time, but it truly is amazing how Tarantino creates his genres through dialogue, at the very least in his first three major films. Reservior Dogs is his suspense/thriller, and it absolutely shines. There is so much tension and fear created and it is almost completely through characters talking. I'm not trying to say that is all there is to the film either, because in the end I found myself impressed with the visual style and the sound design. Not quite as good as Pulp Fiction, but I now place it alongside Jackie Brown tied for Tarantino's second best.
The Graduate
The Graduate's biggest achievement is making the camera personal. It brings you into the characters, almost like it were first person, even though the character is usually on film. You feel his claustrophobia in the crowds of the party, his attempts to not focus on Mrs Robinson with flashes of her body emulating his inability to look away, How lost he feels in the hotel lobby at the first meeting, and much more. The movie contains so many unique shots and transitions that it just shines as an amazing visual achievement. There are so many visual metaphors as well. One particular set of scenes that interested me is the comparison between the driving scenes in the end of the movie to the affair sequence in the beginning, with the black to blue/white transitions. I also had a brief thought about 2001's spacewalk sequence when he goes into the pool in the scuba gear, not realizing at the time I viewed it that it came before 2001.
Monday, August 18, 2008
More Reviews
Rififi
The definitive heist movie. The heist scene is genius, and one of the most tense scenes on film. But there is much more that the film deserves credit for. The opening of the movie sets the protagonist as an ex con who doesn't quite have as much power over his world than he may have once had, with many supporting roles helping to show this transformation. The third act is great as well, a different and more meaningful ending than most movies of its type; a revenge film, a look into the crime underworld in a much less romanticized way, and a look into the morals of the different characters. A visually interesting film visually as well, especially in the final car sequence, among other scenes.
Bob le Flambeur
A great counterpoint to Rififi. Not quite as good, but also a great movie. Mellville's sense of style and of 'cool' is perfect; the film is a visual treat. The none of the characters besides Bob are very fleshed out, but the focus is Bob so it works out fine. Also one of the most interesting endings for a heist movie I have seen. While Rififi obviously inspired the actual robberies in other films, its Bob le Flambeur's influence can be seen in the preparation and ending stages, especially for Ocean's 11. (The backer, the large group, the man on the inside, the plan laid out in full scale, and much more.) So it is really both of these films, released near the same time period, that defined the future of the film heist for good.
Rosemary's Baby
Roman Polanski's style has something in it that bugs me, which I still haven't figured out, but he still makes great movies. I put this at about the same level as Chinatown. Well acted and written, its a haunting and disturbing horror movie, with none of the boring shock horror so many movies depend on. Its also interesting that the type of horror that the film uses depends on whether Rosemary is awake or asleep. Awake, it is a paranoid suspense thriller, asleep and the focus has shifted to highly visual and supernatural horror.
Tropic Thunder
While not the funniest movie I've seen this summer (I preferred Pineapple Express,) it was pretty entertaining. What I found most interesting was how layered its parodies were: starting with movie trailers, effectively parodying the movie watching experience, down through film production, hollywood, war film, war, actors, with its overall theme being the search for self identity. Downey's performance was another highlight, and while I have never really liked Stiller's on screen persona, I didn't mind him as much as usual.
The definitive heist movie. The heist scene is genius, and one of the most tense scenes on film. But there is much more that the film deserves credit for. The opening of the movie sets the protagonist as an ex con who doesn't quite have as much power over his world than he may have once had, with many supporting roles helping to show this transformation. The third act is great as well, a different and more meaningful ending than most movies of its type; a revenge film, a look into the crime underworld in a much less romanticized way, and a look into the morals of the different characters. A visually interesting film visually as well, especially in the final car sequence, among other scenes.
Bob le Flambeur
A great counterpoint to Rififi. Not quite as good, but also a great movie. Mellville's sense of style and of 'cool' is perfect; the film is a visual treat. The none of the characters besides Bob are very fleshed out, but the focus is Bob so it works out fine. Also one of the most interesting endings for a heist movie I have seen. While Rififi obviously inspired the actual robberies in other films, its Bob le Flambeur's influence can be seen in the preparation and ending stages, especially for Ocean's 11. (The backer, the large group, the man on the inside, the plan laid out in full scale, and much more.) So it is really both of these films, released near the same time period, that defined the future of the film heist for good.
Rosemary's Baby
Roman Polanski's style has something in it that bugs me, which I still haven't figured out, but he still makes great movies. I put this at about the same level as Chinatown. Well acted and written, its a haunting and disturbing horror movie, with none of the boring shock horror so many movies depend on. Its also interesting that the type of horror that the film uses depends on whether Rosemary is awake or asleep. Awake, it is a paranoid suspense thriller, asleep and the focus has shifted to highly visual and supernatural horror.
Tropic Thunder
While not the funniest movie I've seen this summer (I preferred Pineapple Express,) it was pretty entertaining. What I found most interesting was how layered its parodies were: starting with movie trailers, effectively parodying the movie watching experience, down through film production, hollywood, war film, war, actors, with its overall theme being the search for self identity. Downey's performance was another highlight, and while I have never really liked Stiller's on screen persona, I didn't mind him as much as usual.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Breathless
The first thing that hit me was the jump cuts. The dialogue rolls through the cuts like they aren't there , yet the cuts make the scenes seem like they are constantly flickering through different places and times. At first the style kind of bothered me, but it grew on me as the film went on, and I admire how unique it is. The love story is sweet as well, simple but effective. Some scenes really seemed awkward at times though (usually due to the characters' actions, not the style of the film), and it bothered me sometimes to the point where it pulled me out of the experience. A very important and influential film, with many unique and admirable qualities, though I don't think I would rate it as highly as some do.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Another review set
12 Angry Men
The use of real time is especially useful to this movie, you can get impatient with the characters in some of the same ways, as with the old man holding up the start of the session, in the same sense he holds us up from getting to the real meat of the movie. But in the end, you get the feeling that the hour and a half they spent was not too much to ask for a decision on somebody's life.
La Dolce Vita
The one scene that struck me more than anything in the movie was the police scene. After seeing the paparazzi throughout the film, visually connecting them with the police photographers was an almost surreal connection. The comparison makes the amount of detail the paparazzi sees of the stars' lives and their resultant lack of privacy more unsettling.
Children of Paradise
As a tragedy and a story of conflicting lovers, it stands its own ground, yet it has so much more to offer. The parts performed on stage are a show within the movie, a different type of entertainment, on a different level. Baptiste's pantomime is amazing, and Frederick's shows entertain. However, the way both layers of the film wind together is so intricate that the film becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
The Dark Knight
It says something about a movie when you can completely forget everything in its trailers and other promotional material and simply be sucked in. Seeing just one trailer, the viewer has so many opportunities to not be taken in by the plot's twists and turns, but the movie is just so well put together that what you have seen before does not affect the experience. Of all the things I admire in good films, the thing that impressed me above all else was the pacing.
Annie Hall
A very unique film, it goes through so many ways to present a scene and narrate or discuss its contents yet none of them seems out of place. Great writing, and funny throughout.
Cool Hand Luke
A story about breaking a man, especially one that supposedly cannot break, really can't be a happy film, but it is definitely a good one.
The Thin Red Line
A view of a battle in the war, acted out by man's conscience, but narrated by his unconscious which isn't giving it any more attention than the rest of the world. The fighting is intense as a good war film. The feel however is completely different, and I think it's a very unique one for a war film, and I thought it was very good. The only problem I had was how nearly all the characters sounded southern, it seemed very odd.
Step Brothers
Very bad. Laughed very little, most of the movie was cruel, stupidly childish, or boring.
The Graduate
An amazing display of camera technique and cinematography considering it seems a comedy on the surface, but it goes very deep into it's themes and pulls everything off well. A great film.
On the Waterfront
Strong performances and a good story, a pretty good movie overall. Interesting to see the view of organized crime from those hurt the most by it instead of the criminals.
Witness for the Prosecution
A very entertaining court drama with a great plot full of twists. Great characters and writing keep you interested throughout, and it has great pacing.
Badlands
A disturbing, but interesting view of a chain of murders and the murderer. Malick's beautiful visuals aren't quite there yet, and I prefer his later works.
Gone With The Wind
While it was a good movie overall, the first half seemed mostly like a setup for the much more powerful second half.
Wild Strawberries
Really liked it. Good use of color, which is an odd thing to say about a black and white film but I think it is valid in this case. Its not simply interesting contrast or lighting. It is the use of whites and blacks in the characters' costumes, in the background of the shot, in the set, in the lighting and in the composition. Another particularly striking element of the movie are the unsettling and sometimes frightening but well realized dream sequences.
Pineapple Express
Fun movie, goes beyond a typical stoner movie even though it seems like thats all it is at first. Some interesting cinematography as well. I'm starting to detect a formula in this production team's movies though.
Ugetsu
A very unsettling film, depressing and eerie, but pretty good. Like Wild Strawberries, it portrays the abnormal very well.
Terminator 2
A great action movie and an intriguing view of time travel and its consequences. Great pacing, alternating between action and suspense. One of the few movies that I support the special effects in as well.
Double Indemnity
A good film, but I think it pales in comparison to Wilder's better films. Don't have much to say really.
Grand Illusion
An intriguing view into a gentleman's war, a unique expansion of Renoir's views on class struggles into the realm of war, a surprisingly entertaining, but also touching story of prisoners of war, and an amazing film overall.
The use of real time is especially useful to this movie, you can get impatient with the characters in some of the same ways, as with the old man holding up the start of the session, in the same sense he holds us up from getting to the real meat of the movie. But in the end, you get the feeling that the hour and a half they spent was not too much to ask for a decision on somebody's life.
La Dolce Vita
The one scene that struck me more than anything in the movie was the police scene. After seeing the paparazzi throughout the film, visually connecting them with the police photographers was an almost surreal connection. The comparison makes the amount of detail the paparazzi sees of the stars' lives and their resultant lack of privacy more unsettling.
Children of Paradise
As a tragedy and a story of conflicting lovers, it stands its own ground, yet it has so much more to offer. The parts performed on stage are a show within the movie, a different type of entertainment, on a different level. Baptiste's pantomime is amazing, and Frederick's shows entertain. However, the way both layers of the film wind together is so intricate that the film becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
The Dark Knight
It says something about a movie when you can completely forget everything in its trailers and other promotional material and simply be sucked in. Seeing just one trailer, the viewer has so many opportunities to not be taken in by the plot's twists and turns, but the movie is just so well put together that what you have seen before does not affect the experience. Of all the things I admire in good films, the thing that impressed me above all else was the pacing.
Annie Hall
A very unique film, it goes through so many ways to present a scene and narrate or discuss its contents yet none of them seems out of place. Great writing, and funny throughout.
Cool Hand Luke
A story about breaking a man, especially one that supposedly cannot break, really can't be a happy film, but it is definitely a good one.
The Thin Red Line
A view of a battle in the war, acted out by man's conscience, but narrated by his unconscious which isn't giving it any more attention than the rest of the world. The fighting is intense as a good war film. The feel however is completely different, and I think it's a very unique one for a war film, and I thought it was very good. The only problem I had was how nearly all the characters sounded southern, it seemed very odd.
Step Brothers
Very bad. Laughed very little, most of the movie was cruel, stupidly childish, or boring.
The Graduate
An amazing display of camera technique and cinematography considering it seems a comedy on the surface, but it goes very deep into it's themes and pulls everything off well. A great film.
On the Waterfront
Strong performances and a good story, a pretty good movie overall. Interesting to see the view of organized crime from those hurt the most by it instead of the criminals.
Witness for the Prosecution
A very entertaining court drama with a great plot full of twists. Great characters and writing keep you interested throughout, and it has great pacing.
Badlands
A disturbing, but interesting view of a chain of murders and the murderer. Malick's beautiful visuals aren't quite there yet, and I prefer his later works.
Gone With The Wind
While it was a good movie overall, the first half seemed mostly like a setup for the much more powerful second half.
Wild Strawberries
Really liked it. Good use of color, which is an odd thing to say about a black and white film but I think it is valid in this case. Its not simply interesting contrast or lighting. It is the use of whites and blacks in the characters' costumes, in the background of the shot, in the set, in the lighting and in the composition. Another particularly striking element of the movie are the unsettling and sometimes frightening but well realized dream sequences.
Pineapple Express
Fun movie, goes beyond a typical stoner movie even though it seems like thats all it is at first. Some interesting cinematography as well. I'm starting to detect a formula in this production team's movies though.
Ugetsu
A very unsettling film, depressing and eerie, but pretty good. Like Wild Strawberries, it portrays the abnormal very well.
Terminator 2
A great action movie and an intriguing view of time travel and its consequences. Great pacing, alternating between action and suspense. One of the few movies that I support the special effects in as well.
Double Indemnity
A good film, but I think it pales in comparison to Wilder's better films. Don't have much to say really.
Grand Illusion
An intriguing view into a gentleman's war, a unique expansion of Renoir's views on class struggles into the realm of war, a surprisingly entertaining, but also touching story of prisoners of war, and an amazing film overall.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
City Lights and another batch of mini reviews
City Lights
Easily one of the best movies I've seen in my life, if not the best. I can't believe I took so long to see it. An interesting move for Chaplin to make a silent movie ("pantomime") even after sound was established, but he shows that he had perfected that craft after so many years working in it. Just as hilarious as his other movies, yet when the themes are more serious, it still comes off perfectly. A touching and beautiful story, perfectly portrayed simply through expression and gesture. One of the few silent movies that stands the test of time with no problems. Who needs speech, when a film like this can be achieved without it?
The Conformist
A technically good film, well filmed, acted, etc. But its just one of those films where in the end you aren't really sure you needed to hear this story. Troubling themes, yet no reason or desire to connect with the characters.
The Double Life of Veronique
Kieslowski is definitely one of the more unique filmmakers. His use of color in filtering the camera gives his films a very interesting and unique feel, and it definitely shows in this film. A very odd story, but Kieslowski knows how to make important scenes have the right impact, and though his films can be somewhat difficult, this one is good.
Get Smart
Don't take it seriously and its a fun and entertaining movie, but theres not much to it.
The Battle of Algiers
A difficult story, possibly because of how much its themes are still valid in relation to current events. An interesting look at history, but it keeps its distance, so its a bit hard to relate to the characters but still pretty good.
Hancock
The last 30 or so minutes are the only thing not shown in the trailers, pretty good, but I felt like I already knew everything.
Lawrence of Arabia
Peter O'Toole is full of himself, but that might have been the point. Ridiculously long as well. Otherwise, beautiful cinematography and a good movie overall. Just couldn't take the length and O'Toole.
The 400 Blows
A good coming of age movie. I loved the music, and everything else was good. I can't think of much to criticize.
Shaun of the Dead
A bit more serious than Hot Fuzz was, but still great. Hilarious at times, but at the same time does deal with the serious issues that its scenario imply, and does it well.
The Wages of Fear
A very interesting movie, not only a premise I didn't expect, but unique visually and full of different languages and cultures. Overall a good movie.
Memento
Like City Lights, this also wowed me. Again, one of the best movies I've seen all year. Was impressive visually, and acted well. Of course the real standout was the plot and the approach to time and ordering the scenes. The plot seems to twist everywhere, but it doesn't work in the traditional sense. During each scene you change your previous assumptions because you have more information. Its never that a character's actions lead to an unexpected event, but rather that you gain a more complete understanding of the events with each situation, and the realization of certain facts is a true shock. One of the most effective and necessary uses of a non-linear plot in film.
Easily one of the best movies I've seen in my life, if not the best. I can't believe I took so long to see it. An interesting move for Chaplin to make a silent movie ("pantomime") even after sound was established, but he shows that he had perfected that craft after so many years working in it. Just as hilarious as his other movies, yet when the themes are more serious, it still comes off perfectly. A touching and beautiful story, perfectly portrayed simply through expression and gesture. One of the few silent movies that stands the test of time with no problems. Who needs speech, when a film like this can be achieved without it?
The Conformist
A technically good film, well filmed, acted, etc. But its just one of those films where in the end you aren't really sure you needed to hear this story. Troubling themes, yet no reason or desire to connect with the characters.
The Double Life of Veronique
Kieslowski is definitely one of the more unique filmmakers. His use of color in filtering the camera gives his films a very interesting and unique feel, and it definitely shows in this film. A very odd story, but Kieslowski knows how to make important scenes have the right impact, and though his films can be somewhat difficult, this one is good.
Get Smart
Don't take it seriously and its a fun and entertaining movie, but theres not much to it.
The Battle of Algiers
A difficult story, possibly because of how much its themes are still valid in relation to current events. An interesting look at history, but it keeps its distance, so its a bit hard to relate to the characters but still pretty good.
Hancock
The last 30 or so minutes are the only thing not shown in the trailers, pretty good, but I felt like I already knew everything.
Lawrence of Arabia
Peter O'Toole is full of himself, but that might have been the point. Ridiculously long as well. Otherwise, beautiful cinematography and a good movie overall. Just couldn't take the length and O'Toole.
The 400 Blows
A good coming of age movie. I loved the music, and everything else was good. I can't think of much to criticize.
Shaun of the Dead
A bit more serious than Hot Fuzz was, but still great. Hilarious at times, but at the same time does deal with the serious issues that its scenario imply, and does it well.
The Wages of Fear
A very interesting movie, not only a premise I didn't expect, but unique visually and full of different languages and cultures. Overall a good movie.
Memento
Like City Lights, this also wowed me. Again, one of the best movies I've seen all year. Was impressive visually, and acted well. Of course the real standout was the plot and the approach to time and ordering the scenes. The plot seems to twist everywhere, but it doesn't work in the traditional sense. During each scene you change your previous assumptions because you have more information. Its never that a character's actions lead to an unexpected event, but rather that you gain a more complete understanding of the events with each situation, and the realization of certain facts is a true shock. One of the most effective and necessary uses of a non-linear plot in film.
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