Category: (by verdict)

‘The Last Mimzy’ is not worth a topic of its own, but we can use this for other movies for kids. ‘The Last Mimzy’ has a somewhat over-complicated plot about humanity in the future dying out because of the legacy of pollution. They send Mimzy’s (a stuffed rabbit made by Intel with assorted tools for time travel) back in time in the hope that children in the past will be able to figure out the message send unpolluted genes into the future. I have not made this sound particularly good, but it really is a sweet movie. It avoids the portrayal of overly stupid or evil adults — in fact all the characters are sympathetic — and the kids are especially good. There is a sense of wonder and possibility that makes this a classic children’s film. And Timothy Hutton… whatever happened to him? He used to be at the top of the second tier of male actors (Q&A, for example), but then disappeared. He enjoys himself in this. Oh, and Rainn Wilson (Dwight in the Office) is really good as a grade school science teacher.

I watched this DVD last night: compelling enough, even exciting, but overlong in the standard fashion now (where every film must skirt at least 2 1/2 hrs) and unnecessarily unclear about the politics of the area, Sierra Leone, in which it was set. The interesting fact is that (spoilers) the film follows the same narrative route as Children of Men and The Constant Gardner : a cynical, amoral or at least disengaged, white men sacrifices his life for a ‘racial other’–thereby presumably redeeming himself, establishing his credentials as part of humanity and making it possible for a black man/woman to escape from the horrifying conditions of his/her current environment. What gives with this move–white guilt which can nevertheless not find the strength to step out of the limelight, the economic necessity for major films to have major (mainly white) stars, a condescending attitude toward Africa and Africans or a persistent religious impulse in which it is necessary to achieve salvation by good works? do you regard this narrative standby cynically–a kind of artistic condescending post colonialism–or more generously as the persistence of a moral viewpoint, evident in so many stories, emphasizing the need to transform the individual “from within”–something no doubt that many white westerners could use? by the way here’s a useful article on the history and current issue of the “conflict diamond”

So, I don’t want to rain on Anthony Lane’s parade, but I’m not sure I get all the love flowing toward Bong Joon-ho and The Host. It’s an entertaining genre movie, for the most part, and it does stretch generic conventions in unique ways, but I’m not entirely sure it adds up to a coherently good film (and it could have benefited from a few more judicious cuts). If you want a good monster movie, this ain’t it (I’d recommend Carpenter’s The Thing, Spielberg’s Jaws, and Dante’s–with caveats to John Sayles–Piranha). If you are interested in a film about a histrionic dysfunctional family who band together over the loss of a loved one while traveling in a van, well . . . insert your own Little Miss Sunshine plug here. If you like your foreign films to couple wall-to-wall action with an incisive critique of post-industrial, post-Cold War national identity, I’d say Beckmambetov’s Night Watch is the better, more entertaining, more culturally engaging genre flick (as Reynolds’ enthusiasm seems to suggest when he pointed us to the trailer for part two of that trilogy). If you like narratives about the ironies of miscommunication in a digital world, I’d say pop The Departed (or even Infernal Affairs) back in the DVD player. I guess I’m saying I’m not the fan I thought I would be and that’s too bad . . . I’ve been tracking this film with great enthusiasm for well over a year. It’s a solid film but nothing I want to see again with any zeal (though there is a lovely moment over dinner where a missing character’s presence is so deeply felt, she finds her way into the mise-en-scene . . . I wanted more of that and less of everything else). I also think the film has some gender issues worth examining, particularly in the way a “changeling” appears to make everything a bit more ok in the film’s final moments.

Monster movie number two? Continue reading A Couple of Monster Movies (with subtitles)

Who knew Cleveland had an international film festival? I picked up the listing of films and there is a bewildering variety. There is a new Andrew Lau film, ‘Daisy,’ that I’ll try to check out, but beyond that, I have heard of none of these, and I could use some help. The listing is here: http://clevelandfilm.org If anyone has heard anything good about one or more of these films, I’d appreciate the heads up.