Month: September 2005

A History of Violence

This isn’t a great film. The dialogue is stilted, the tone of certain scenes feels forced (particularly in the first half hour), many of the performances are excrutiatingly one-dimensional, and the film is visually flat (lacking the strong compositions and use of shadow and light in Spider and Crash, for example). What exactly did I expect from another graphic novel adaptation? But as a particular kind of American allegory, A History of Violence makes for an extremely potent piece of cinema (and there are scenes and moments that are just about as good as it gets). I can see why this was such a hit at Cannes. As I was watching, however, I wondered what David Lynch could have done with this material, and I guess that’s not such a great endorsement of Cronenberg’s work.

The Upside of Anger

Another one of Joan Allen’s flurry of good and overlooked films this year. This is more melodramatic than I am usually willing to sit through, but it’s well done. Nothing “stupid” happens in the plot, which I appreciate on one hand. However, I wonder how realistic it is that a mother and four daughters get abandoned by the father and none of them strike out at Kevin Costner, or do anything less than act like a grown-up. The mother is the least stable of the bunch, and that seems unlikely, though certainly possible; and even she deals with the obstacles thrown into her life in a mostly grown-up way (She does drink a lot, but so do I. Who am I to cast stones?) Continue reading The Upside of Anger

seen any good previews lately?

i mean for films that seem interesting*? something i watched last week had a preview of linklater’s philip k. dick adaptation. it uses the same technology/style he used in “waking life”. it may fit well with the mood of dick (quite apart from the ways in which it presumably frees him up from the laws of physics). but i can’t think of anything else. oh yes, the “narnia” trailer makes me want to read those books–then again unlike you cynics i am a fan of tolkien.

i continue to wait for someone to pick up my idea of a screen in a multiplex that only shows previews. i tell you, people would be willing to pay for that. i’d be willing to watch a whole series of previews like this one.

*though i suppose we could talk about the preview as genre as well, if we’re really bored, as we probably are.

about the comment editing thing

i have found a plugin that i can install which allows people to edit their own comments for a fixed period of time after they make it. sounds good? the problem is this: it works by ip address, not by login cookie. for those of you who might make comments from a university lab or on some other shared network this means a possibility that someone else who logs on to the network after you log off and gets assigned the same ip could potentially edit your comment within that time window. does this make sense? and if so, does it matter to you lot? it is a somewhat unlikely scenario i suspect, and we could make it more unlikely by setting the window to something as short as 15 minutes. this might be a good idea anyway, since it would be enough time to catch typos but would probably prevent the temptation to substantially alter a comment after the fact (and mess up the flow of the conversation).

let me know if you want me to install. i’ll wait to hear from those who complain about this the most: mauer, john, jeff and mike and then delete this topic so as to not give our external readership of 3 any ideas.

The Corpse Bride

When I wrote up something about Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I said that I would have loved it if I saw it at 13. Well, if I had seen The Corpse Bride at 9, it would have opened up whole new realms to me. Not only would I have loved it, it would have been one of my favorite films ever. Yet, while Hitchhiker’s Guide disappointed me as a 35 year-old, Corpse Bride still amazed me, and was a load of fun. (The fact that it opened with a Bugs Bunny Cartoon only helped.)

This film had the mix of humor, gorgeous animated beauty, eroticism, fear, songs and gothic horrors that enraptured and terrified me watching Disney’s Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty and – especially – Snow White. Continue reading The Corpse Bride

Curb Your Enthusiasm/Extras

I’m wondering what people with HBO thought of the first episodes last night. I have always enjoyed CYE, primarily because it has this ur-Seinfeld quality of being downright painful to watch. Pairing it with Ricky Gervais ought to be inspired because that was the main quality of ‘The Office,” along with offering serious satire of what passes for employee relations and management-speak today. On the basis of the first episodes, I thought CYE was the weaker of the two. Perhaps familiarity is the problem. Larry David seemed to be going through the motions, with the storylines of scalping tickets for the synagogue and the squabble over the sandwich being a bit more contrived than usual. He may be setting something up for the rest of the season. The running gag about ‘The Producers’ climaxed perfectly at the end of the last season, so maybe the adoption storyline is heading in the same direction.

‘Extras’ was pitch-perfect. Gervais’s ability to alternate between being the life of the party and being an embarrassed git is as strong as ever. The material on religion was hysterical, and Kate Winslett nailed all her lines. It is interesting that, despite the fact that Gervais and the BBC must have known that ‘Extras’ would be shown in the US, a number of the references ought to be bewildering to any but a British audience. Who, outside of England, knows who Jeremy Clarkson is, or cares, for that matter? I sort of like that parochialism. It is early days, but the series is low-key enough that it should be able to survive on the limited premise of sitting around a film studio every week and commenting sarcastically on the star.

alexander, director’s cut, even

watched this in two instalments at the end of the week. this is appallingly bad. so bad that it isn’t even fun to watch in order to make fun of its badness. whatever his faults as a filmmaker, you could always say of stone that he made compelling films. not anymore. or maybe this is what happens to compelling filmmakers when they get to make their pet projects (see also scorcese and the aviator). interesting and familiar political rhetoric: alexander is out to conquer the world because he wants to unify it, dissolve differences and make everyone free; unlike his generals and soldiers he alone has respect for the asian people (though curiously this does not get in the way of considering their practices and rulers barbaric). everybody deserves to be made free by force so that they can be more like us. the look of the film is equally tired. he seems to have taken many courses of orientalism 101–not the critique of it, but “how to”.

the actors are all staggeringly bad. rosario dawson got good reviews for her performance–i presume this is because she showed her breasts. not even a passing glimpse at his penis redeems farrell. jolie may be under the impression that she is chewing scenery in a fun way–she is not. the only one who is is val kilmer, and he may be the only one who emerges with his dignity intact. anthony hopkins plays anthony hopkins. someone should make a film with him and morgan freeman.

3-iron

Around the television series which clog up our account but which Kris and I both like watching (“Lost” and the upcoming “Battlestar Galactica,” if Netflix ever releases it to us), I seem to have all these small films in the queue. (And I never get to the theater at all.) I’m not sure if I should post on any of these–I’ve liked the majority of them, but they also don’t open up whole new cinematic vistas for me… they’re just good. So, if you’re interested: The aforementioned Assisted Living is recommended, a capsule review tacked onto my incoherent post regarding good and evil.

Here’s another: Kim Ki-Duk’s 3-iron is about a guy somewhat adrift in his life, sneaking into vacationers’ homes to live for a few days while they’re gone, before moving on. One house he happens into isn’t empty; a woman is there, and emerges bruised and beaten after he’d settled in. What follows lacks grandiose conflict, although there is a brief, brutal, and powerful collision with her husband, but it is a film that manages–with little dialogue, and without too much plotting–to convey a real sense of the inner lives of its characters. It feels like a poem more than a narrative, and it looks like one, too. I’m not sure what that means, but it’d look good on the poster. It’s rare to see a film so enamored of how its characters bathe, dress, eat, just silently circle around one another in small spaces… (but, don’t worry, it’s not Bresson–there is narrative to hang our identifications on).

I liked it.

the battle between good and evil

i watched constantine last evening. anyone seen it? keanu reeves as an exorcist/occult ins officer trying to do his bit to maintain the balance between the forces of heaven and hell on earth. not a bad way to pass two hours. actually the first half of the movie is pretty good: you’re mostly kept in the dark about what’s happening, the film doesn’t seem to be going anywhere–just enjoying being atmospheric. it does get very silly towards the end but peter stormare as satan is a hoot, as is tilda swinton as mick hucknall, i mean gabriel. but i don’t really want to say much about the film. if like michael and me you watched all the “prophecy” movies you’ll probably like this one. if not, not. (why is gabriel so often an asshole in these movies?)

i am interested though in movies about this general theme of balance between good and evil/light and dark that don’t rely entirely on catholic mythology/iconography. i remember reading recently about a russian movie called “nightwatch” which seems like it might be one (it apparently outgrossed both “lord of the rings 3” and “spiderman 2” in russia–which may or may not be a big deal; i’m guessing many indian movies outgrossed both of these in india as well). these catholic movies are all so deeply religious they become a little boring. and the world of vampires and werewolves (underworld etc.) are mostly superhero movies masquerading as something else. okay, i’m rambling.