Change Your Image
spinaned
Reviews
Azorian: The Raising of the K-129 (2010)
outstanding documentary
I suppose this documentary aired on PBS in the last year but apparently it is not well known as this is the first review here on IMDb. I thought it was outstanding and should be of interest to any cold war history fan, submarine fans and especially to any engineering project geeks. It reminds me most of films about the building of things like the Hoover Dam or the Brooklyn Bridge. The story is about the attempted recovery of a Russian submarine that went down in 1969 in the center of the Pacific by the Americans. The Americans knew the location but the Russians didn't so there was the secrecy issue but mostly the incredible engineering involved makes for a very compelling story.
The Dead Girl (2006)
Discovering Karen Moncrieff
It takes watching a lot of independent films to find greatness on the level of Karen Moncrieff. When I saw 'Blue Car', I thought this filmmaker has great potential to be one of the best. Her writing especially was so deep that as a viewer you would of been happy to be led away on any number of tangents(the little sister, the teacher's family/background, etc). Also the bold and fairly original story she was telling came through clearly and efficiently. With 'The Dead Girl', I was blown away. The writing is still awesome but now it is secondary to the imagery and the structure she has used to tell these stories. The composition in this film is extraordinary. The cinematographer deserves much praise for this as well. And again as with 'Blue Car', the stories are so original(for a movie) but not original for humanity. The world is filled with prostitutes but we don't ever actually show them as real people in film. There are a lot of movies about serial killers but not many about their wives. The story of the depressed and trapped daughter who is sexually repressed is very common in real life but not in Hollywood scripts. This is film-making at its' best.
Baby It's You (1983)
A Great Film or Just Another Lesson
A big thanks to Mr Sayles for not letting the studio ruin this movie and shame on me for taking 25 years to see it. This is a wonderful and unique look at growing up, particularly that two year period where one is a senior in high school and then the year after they graduate. For many it is probably the most important two year period of their life. Sayles takes his time examining both the before and after periods with new friends, experiences, college, first jobs, first love, sex, etc. It is all here and unless things have changed more than I know, these are all universal issues that are still relevant. The fact that the story takes place in a very specific time and place doesn't matter much although the music, cars and other props are as carefully chosen as any movie I've seen.
It's sad that Hollywood rarely examines this most defining period in our lives. I was stumped trying to think of other movies that showed this transition. The closest I thought of was Bagdonovich's 'The Last Picture Show' and perhaps Crowe's 'Say Anything' but in both cases it was over a shorter period(just a summer in the latter). I finally hit upon the reason for this; and that is although it is a great game-plan for making a quality movie it is a poor one for making a popular movie. Unfortunately the studios have learned this lesson all too well.