Author: john

Favorite shots

I thought I’d try something different, though hardly unprecedented. Other film blogs take full advantage of image and video hosting capabilities. Ours, though rich in humor and ideas, is pretty stale visually. So here goes. What are some of your favorite shots? (no, Michael, Hackler is not what I had in mind). Dig around online and see if you can images of your faves! Continue reading Favorite shots

Caterina in the Big City

I recommend this film, co-written and directed by Paolo Virzi. It’s a believable, and often moving story–albeit a familiar (and maybe for some, tiresome) one. A doll-faced hick moves to the big city with her family. As she struggle to fit in, to make friends and adjust, there are big disappointments and small triumphs, blah blah blah. Such a familiar tale is bound to be tedious unless we truly care about the characters. And in this film, we do–or I did, anyway. I cared not only about Caterina, but her father. And, in a way, the film could also be titled Caterina’s Father in the Big City, or Giancarlo in the Big City. Continue reading Caterina in the Big City

Gomorra

I (sort of) enjoyed this film, directed by Matteo Garrone and based upon the book by Roberto Saviano–the much talked about exposé of organized crime in Naples. The film adopts the multi-plot structure. The story of a war between two factions within the Camorra (hence the title–in Italian, the C is soft like a G) is told from five perspectives. One is of a grocery delivery boy named Totò. He manages to work his way into one of the factions by returning a gun and some cocaine that was dropped by a gangster during a police chase. Another is of Pasquale, a tailor who makes high fashion knock-offs (one of the big sources of cash for the Camorra) who then sells his talent to a rival, a Chinese-Italian who runs a factory making even cheaper high fashion knock-offs. Continue reading Gomorra

Blindness, or: afraid of the dark

In one scene from the latest film by Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardender), the lead character (played wonderfully–did you expect anything else?–by Julianne Moore) descends into darkness in search of the most basic of human needs: food. The darkness is actually the basement storage of a grocery store. The power has been out in the city for weeks, and everyone has been forced to fend for themselves. Why? Because everyone is blind, that’s why. No one knows how it happened, but thousands (if not hundreds of thousands worldwide) have lost their sight and are wandering the streets, directionless and without hope. Except our unnamed heroine. Continue reading Blindness, or: afraid of the dark

Ensemble, C’est Tout

This is directed by Claude Berri who, at 74 years old, remains a powerful figure in French Cinema, having produced almost 60 films including a few Asterix et Obelix live action films, and more recently, Yvan Attal’s Happily Ever After. Berri has also directed some 20 odd films–although they’re not odd at all. They are bourgeois, domestic. But also somewhat satirical. He is known for what some call his “Bobo” style (bourgeois-bohemian). I don’t think Germinal (1993) or Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources (1986) qualify as Bobo. But Ensemble, C’est Tout certainly does. And it is, more or less, an enjoyable film. Continue reading Ensemble, C’est Tout

Tropic Thunder

This was good giddy fun. Kicking off nicely even before it starts with four faux movie trailers that introduce each character, the latest Ben Stiller film is as good a movie about movies I’ve seen in a while (in fact, the faux movie trailers seemed uncannily at home with trailers for College and Righteous Kill). In brief, here’s the story and my take: Continue reading Tropic Thunder

WALL-E

This is not my favorite Pixar feature. I’d put it a notch above Cars. WALL-E (or Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth class) is the last remaining moving thing on the planet (apart form a dedicated and unnamed roach). The year, we learn later, is roughly 2815, and for approximately 700 years, the WALL-E units have been cleaning up the Earth in order to make it, once again, life sustainable. All of the other WALL-E units have fizzled out and stopped working, but our one little WALL-E happily goes about his business compacting units of waste and piling them into tall, sky scraper-like formations. If one of his parts breaks or malfunctions, there are plenty of other dead Wall-E units lying around to pilfer from. In fact, WALL-E keeps a large supply of spare parts (and other curiosities, ranging from rubber duckies to zippo lighters) in his little home, which is something of a shrine to the mindless consumerism that destroyed the planet. This is one of the few interesting ideas of the story: WALL-E is pretty much like us. He’s a pack rat. But the idea isn’t really developed into something one can wrap one’s head around. Anyway, while at work, WALL-E finds a small plant growing in an old refrigerator. He takes it back to his home and puts it with all the other stuff he’s accumulated. Continue reading WALL-E

Oscar predictions?

Not much Oscar chatter here (or anywhere, for that matter). Is anyone interested in watching the ceremony? More than likely I will be switching back and forth between the Oscars and the NBA game, all the while grading papers. I do like the films up for nomination this year–they’re all very strong. But I just don’t have that much enthusiasm. Continue reading Oscar predictions?