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Yodelling Llama
Reviews
The Aviator (2004)
Hughes life does not lend itself to film.
Three biopics were nominated for the Best Picture of 2005: Finding Neverland, Ray, and The Aviator. After seeing both Finding Neverland and Ray--which were well made films with an appropriate story arc--I expected similar quality in The Aviator. Boy, was I disappointed.
Howard Hughes certainly led an interesting life. But by failing to focus upon a particular area of his life, this film was ultimately a meandering, bloated mess. Screenwriter Logan attempted to piece together several stories from the middle third of Hughes life into a coherent story. He failed. There was no discernible theme in this overlong, frequently dull movie. And whatever talents Scorsese may have as a director, they do not lie in storytelling.
On the upside, the acting was superb across the board. The film looks glorious, especially during the in-flight shots. And several of the narratives worked well enough as stand-alones--especially the Pan Am vs. TWA battle.
But ultimately, this movie simply does not work. There is too much material for the time (even at 2 hours and 40 minutes). And it lacked the grand unifying theme or story arc it needed. Rent if you must, but don't get your hopes up.
Anachronox (2001)
Fight scenes.
As a film, Anachronox leaves much to be desired. While I can forgive the animation being so pixelated because of its pedigree (see machinima.com for more information on this subject), I cannot forgive the cheesy plot, the cartoonish subplots, the poorly conceived and unwieldy band of characters and, most importantly, the god-awful fight scenes. Some of the characters (e.g. PAL and Detta) are virtually unintelligible. Others (e.g. Fatima) have elaborate backstories for absolutely no purpose. If Anachronox were tightened to a lean hour or so, I might be more forgiving. But at almost two and a half hours, it is long and at times quite dull. Sometimes "everything" is a bit too much. Avoid this early experiment and check out newer machinima for better writing and better platforms.
I Was a Male War Bride (1949)
20 Minutes of Funny, 80 Minutes of Nothing
As a lover of Hawks' comedies (like Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday) and war pictures (like Air Force), I expected something pretty exceptional. Even with Cary Grant being woefully miscast as a Frenchman, I expected witty repartee and screwball antics. Well, I was sort of right. There were a few good verbal scenes (e.g. the scene where Grant is filling out the "expectant mother" form with the bureaucrat) and a few good physical scenes (e.g. the scenes where Grant is trying to comfortably fit his hands somewhere), but only enough to make a moderately funny short film. Most of the movie was failed jokes and sad filler. It almost seemed like the writers were trying to write a trials-and-tribulations-of-a-male-war-bride that somehow got peppered with leftover battle-of-the-sexes jokes on the second re-write (because of course cross-dressing is funny). Avoid this film, even if you like Hawks and like Grant.
Before Sunrise (1995)
Greatest Love Story
Why on Earth didn't someone tell me Linklater created what may possibly be the greatest love story ever filmed?
I started seeing rave reviews of Before Sunset. So I thought it might be prudent to see Before Sunrise. Having just watched it, I'm uncertain how it is that the vast majority of reviewers believe Before Sunset tops Before Sunrise. I hope that when I venture into a theatre in the next few days, I'll be pleasantly surprised.
Before Sunrise is, as I'm sure the "plot summary" tells you, the story of a Parisian and an American wandering around Vienna. Of course, the backdrop is wonderful. Vienna is a beautiful city. I loved it in The Third Man, and I love it here. Including what appears to be the very same ferris wheel.
But what is fascinating about Before Sunrise is the riveting dialogue. Rather than the typical one-liners or silence, Linklater follows the lead of his earlier self (see, e.g., Slacker) and comes up with some very listenable words. While Waking Life tops Sunrise on philosophical depth by a slim margin, Sunrise follows our leads closely, which makes for somehow more impactful audio. These characters are more real than most I've seen in most films. Especially romances, which tend strongly toward cliches and other assorted love songs, already documented. Before Sunrise develops our leads into humans. Not an unheard of feat, but unusual. But then it develops our leads into humans with insight. Very unusual.
Magical, beautiful, insightful into the human condition, and entertaining. 10/10. On par with Amelie. Rent it now. [Update on Before Sunset soon.]
Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
Accidental Parody
There is a certain level of self-parody and campiness that comes with much film noir (including everything from "The Maltese Falcon" to "Kiss Me Deadly") that I've always taken with a grain of salt and an air of pleasure. But "Farewell, My Lovely" takes it too far, and not in a controlled manner. It is all over the place, too drenched in the over-colorized 70s, silly, stupid, ham-acted, and ultimately not that enjoyable. Think Roger Moore starring in a straight remake of "Johnny Dangerously" in 1981 and you've got a feel for this movie. It just doesn't work. For a much better example of how good neo-noir can be, see Chinatown. In fact, see Chinatown in any case. But skip this. It isn't worth the price of a rental.
Play It Again, Sam (1972)
For anyone that loves film.
While it is a bit light on the story, it does provide some extremely funny lines and some hilarious pratfalls. And, more importantly for me, it is clearly an homage to film in general, and Bogart in particular. How could anyone not love this?
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Subpar Mockumentary
As a huge fan of the mockumentary genre (e.g. Zelig, Bob Roberts, Best in Show), I was heartily looking forward to This Is Spinal Tap. Unfortunately, the film did not live up to my expectations. While there are a few good gags (although most have already been heavily sampled by sketch comedy shows and repeated ad naseum by too-young-for-Python-quoters), it is on the whole a dull and lackluster affair. While I applaud Reiner, Guest, McKean and Shearer for attempting something truly great, I cannot join others in heralding its execution. The songs are at the same time lacking in believability and too close to the source material. The strife between the band members is overly predicable, with an irritating and chuckle-free Yoko character parading around in `Australian nightmare outfits' and a series of thinly veiled nasty cracks at the late great Keith Moon. And though it obviously is the model of virtually all of VH1's original programming (e.g. Behind the Music), it does come to a trite and cloying faux-happy ending that puts the Air `thank God Kurt Cobain shot himself' Supply story to shame. I was pleased to see a youthful Dana Carvey as a mime waiter, and Bruno Kirby gushing over Sinatra, but even an endless supply of pleasant cameos does not a movie make (a lesson Loaded Weapon 1 taught us so well). On the whole, while I might recommend This Is Spinal Tap as an important piece of cinema history, I would not have placed it anywhere near the top 100 comedies of all time.
Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Uncareful SF Yields Oddly Shallow & Incoherent Film
Note: if you have not seen the film, skip this review. It does contain spoilers.
I must admit that I have never actually read Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and thus I'm not sure whether the film is faithful, or if Truffaut brought his own brand of incoherence to the table.
It struck me as I was watching the tail of the film that more could have been said about the hypocrisy of the book people. That they would also burn books didn't sit well with me. Their "self preservation" argument, that the government doesn't bother them because of their impeccable lawfulness, doesn't hold water. If the book burning government is indeed attempting to, as the film implies, rid the world of history, it would be likely that they would also "burn" the book people as well. Why should they let them be? Out of sight, out of mind? If so, why not keep the paper copies (well hidden, if necessary)? Would the firemen actually trek into the "wilderness" to destroy books?
Also, I was rather bothered by the reading ability of Montag (and others). From where would they have learned it? Had only the captain been able to read, I would have played it off as due to his age. But Montag didn't strike me as having grown up with reading material about...
I can only hope a remake is on the way that handles the subject with a bit more care.
Company Man (2000)
Style of Bananas, Quality of Hollywood Ending
In terms of the "quirky" feeling, intentionally haphazard plot, and amusing-yet-one-dimensional characters, I was reminded of some of Woody Allen's earlier work. And I love early Allen. In terms of the production value, the editing, and the strength of the direction, I was reminded of later Allen. I like later Allen, but it is not the pinnacle of filmmaking by any measure. Nevertheless, I fail to see how anyone would place Company Man on the lower end of scale. It is a very funny movie. It trips over itself at times, but there are some great ideas here, and I was pretty consistently laughing throughout. Perhaps people were turned off by the loose craft and high level of script/actor dependence--apart from the over-abundance of locations, this film might have worked better as a play--but I really enjoyed myself. 8/10.
The Score (2001)
Angela Bassett Wasted
Marlon Brando presumably did The Score because it gave him a few good scenes, financed his peculiar lifestyle for a few more years, and allowed him to be seen on the silver screen in something a bit more satisfying than Free Money or Don Juan DeMarco. Did they need to name his character Max Baron? No. But I understand Brando's presence.
Angela Bassett on the other hand... Does the roll of the disappointed/doting girlfriend really add *anything* to the story? And even if her character fills some sort of necessary Hollywood quota, did they really need to waste the great Angela Bassett on this role? Her agent and the casting director should be lynched.
Pay It Forward (2000)
Decent Schmultz
Mimi Leder made a nice piece here, even if it ended up being a bit more lightweight that she likely had intended. This is to be expected, of course. After all, there is little about Deep Impact or E.R. that actually ends up making much of a difference in the viewers' worldview. This is decent schmultz, unlike many of its recent cousins.
The actors put in fine performances, especially the supporting turns of Angie Dickinson and Jim Caviezel. The story line, though overly weepy at times, holds up (with the exception of the over-the-top heart string tugging epilogue) and doesn't fail to make sense of itself. The only major complaint I had was the we-know-how-to-make-you-cry attitude of the production team, primarily because they didn't know how to make me cry.
Pay It Forward is an interesting, if somewhat light, emotionally-filled film. Worth seeing.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Don't Think
I enjoyed watching this Disney offering. I only grew angry at some of the subtleties after *thinking* about it afterward (e.g. our young linguist somehow learned to *speak* Atlantean from *text*). So don't make the same mistake: remember that Atlantis is a *summer* movie; it isn't designed to withstand much thought.
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Dogme 95 Interferes With Bizarre Film's Impact
Björk, the singing and dancing blue-collar immigrant with the eyesight of a deranged fruit bat, has a certain something that, were it not for Lars von Trier's ridiculous affinity with the handheld camera and overly natural lighting, would enable this bizarre murder musical to truly soar. Highlights of the film occur when Blair-Witch-quality camerawork is minimized, such as the spectacular "Did What I Had To Do" post-murder number and the courtroom duet with Joel Grey. The film's finale is moving, but given the disorienting effect and excessive length of the film's front, it is too little to have the saving effect it aspires to.
The Crossing (2000)
accurate, dull A&E original
A&E's original historical movies tend to be extremely accurate (A&E, after all, owns the History Channel and has something of a reputation to uphold), but also tend to be a bit slow. The Crossing is no exception. Jeff Daniels & Co. are, in general, fine in their roles, but far too little plot and conflict occurs for this "war" film for it to be particularly entertaining.
Carrie (1976)
horror? or social commentary...
The fact that Carrie has been pegged as a horror film is typical of numerous instances of Stephen King novels turned films. And, like many of those films, Carrie is not strictly a member of the horror genre. Although it does have many elements that one might associate with the typical seventies/eighties horror flicks, Carrie does much more. The fact that Carrie herself has telekinetic powers is almost irrelevant, except as a method by which one can disassociate the instances from "real life." The real purpose of Carrie is to illustrate the far-reaching effects that child abuse can have on a society in general. Far be it merely an issue that affects the child's life alone (although one might hesitate to describe this as "merely"), the perhaps exaggerated documentation of the events surrounding Carrie's prom are horrific because they are distinct possibilities when a given parent raises their child in an atmosphere such as existed in the White household. Extreme instances of religious overtones aside, the fact that Carrie's mother referred to her (essentially) as a mistake in the end is the final cause of the destruction of so many lives. Also, DePalma saw it fit to criticize most severely the mild abuse of peers, as well as the isolated humiliatory incidents. On the whole, Carrie is a horror picture because it is not that far from our own high schools and towns. Excellent usage of King's novel, despite his misgivings about its less-than-dogmatic interpretation.
The Cotton Club (1984)
amazing, in theory
Although I do think the film was not up to ffc's standards, I do believe it to be an accurate portrayal of the era, and, moreover, an entertaining film. The acting was excellent, and, despite script flaws, the plot flowed nicely. Kudos to the follow-up in Harlem (where Fishburn plays the same role....)