![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
2012 reviews: movies + miscellaneous, 4
Mar. 8th, 2012 03:48 amNewest to oldest per usual.
All the Pretty Horses. For every minute of storyline, there's 3 minutes of scenery porn. Now, I love scenery porn, but not when it does a disservice to plot and character development. The lack of focus on story makes the characters appear static and flat and the plotline jumpy. Not to mention, the editing is too obvious. The story takes place after World War 2 and it's about one man's journey into Mexico and back. All I remember though is how this movie dragged, like it was sneaking around it's own storyline. It could have been good, but it's a misfire.
Doubt. Just when you think the film is going to be either/or, it surprises you with grey. Although the characters threaten to be archetypes, the actors manage to invest layers in them. Oh, and forget Miranda Priestley! Sister Beauvier is scary!!! The plot concerns two nuns who believe the priest may be having an inproper relationship with a younger boy. This film was really compelling and quite powerful. It also felt like a modern response to Joan of Arc: that not everything is clear-cut even if one is innocent or guilty of a crime. Also quite striking was the sereneness of the sets and costumes despite the darkness and uncertainty of the character. It was like watching a Vermeer clash with a Goya.
L'Atalante. I never heard of Jean Vigo until I found this Criterion movie on hulu and now I want to see everything he's done. Which isn't much, because he died of TB after only making 4 films. In fact, he directed this from his sick bed. It managed to be both gritty and golden, ethereal and realist It's about a newly wed couple--and their servant and a boy--on a boat. While I couldn't completely get behind the film (the hubby is obsessive, controlling and too easily jealous: the hornet sting on an otherwise enchanting afternoon), the rest of it works. It gets its realism from the dialogue (people arguing, getting to know each other, or just making small talk) and its dreaminess from the silent sequences of people looking out to sea, dancing or watches other dance, an erotic dream sequence and an unusual underwater swim.
Dick. I couldn't take anymore highbrow masterpieces. I needed to watch a mainstream, most likely shitty, film and turn my brain off. However, while I can report that while this is irrelevant fluff that doesn't take itself or history seriously, it wasn't a bad film. I laughed several times throughout. The plot: 2 high school girls find themselves entangled in the Watergate crisis. Just a drippy, sugary, cotton candy confection. It is a delight as well to watch Michelle Williams and Kirstin Dunst together. Amended to add: I think it could be seen as a meta on fangirlling: on surface, stupid and nonsensical, but beneath, the fangirl is aware of the seriousness of the world and using her interests to help change the world. So not a complete fluff film. And worth seeing.
La Règle du jeu (The Rules of the Game). Servants and aristocracy intermingle on a weekend at a rich estate. I know this is a masterpiece, but I only admired it rather than liked it. Although it shared much in common with El Angel Exterminador, this film felt more calculated. While I don't feel the characters were used as plot devices, the coldness, cynicism and hypocrisy that was so apparent made it hard for me to enjoy the film.
Monsieur Verdoux. Oh, Charlie. Ohhh, Charlie. You've always been dapper, but I had no idea the oddball held a sexy-as-fuck gentlemen with a liquid voice. I was completely swooning over you this entire film (and you were old enough t be my grandfather when you made this!). MV is about a con-man who swindles and murders rich women to keep his family afloat during hard times. It sounds like a drama, but it's a dark comedy (with several very hysterical moments) with dramatic, philosophical undertones. This is the type of film that David Gale was trying to be, but failed: commenting on the larger scope of society, but showing how the threads exist within our individual lives that lead to failure.
Little Voice.So Jane Horrocks plays an extremely repressed, very socially repressed singer who can excellently mine. A role where when she is not singing, she has to communicate by the smallest of looks, the tiniest of movements, the smallest of sounds...and who gets nominated for an Academy Award? Brenda Blethyn in an over-the-top well-treaded stage mother role. Injustice! This is a flawed film but it's good. Its flaws stem from not translating the stage elements: it's too literal. For stage, literalness works, but for screen, the obviousness makes it seem lazy. However, whatever its flaws, this was a rather original coming of age and rising performer story. Very untypical from any other star-is-born storyline I've seen. Even if its flights of fancy go too far, it's well acted and its a rarity to have a movie that celebrates the quietest among us.
Playtime. Jacques Tati is like the Marcel Duchamp of cinema: underneath the irrelevant, cold, hard exteriors, there's warmth and whimsy. Also, he's an acquired taste, but once you leave your comfort zone, you'll find its a taste you don't want to be without. I read reviews that this is a film about nothing, but I feel there were many messages to be mined from it: how we are all interconnected despite the space we put between ourselves and ourselves, how chaos and randomness will still exist despite our attempts at perfection and sterilization, how technology can help and hinder us. I really enjoyed this movie and it's one I'll have to rewatch, as every screenshot is like an painting: you can't take it all in one sitting, because it's so detailed.
Häxan (Witchcraft through the Ages) Another Swedish silent, a "documentary" on witchcraft in the medieval times. Even back in the pre-Code era, this film was considered controversial enough to be cut and censored with its sexual imagery, torture porn, and devil imagery. While it certainly gave me a new perspective on silents, I can't say I liked it. It was interesting, but aside from the ending and the score (which was based on the one played a the film's premiere) it reminded me too much of those cheesy teen horror flicks with their gratuitous nudity/sex and cheap special effects. After watching the flawless PoJoA, it especially felt rather tawdry and disgusting. It left a bad taste in my mouth.
La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc). Harrowing and completely unforgettable. I think this film is one of those that improves on viewing though. Why? Because it is shown without sound (there is "soundtrack" version, but apparently it's meant to be seen without any accompaniment). It forces you to really throw yourself into the drama and make it real for yourself. (You create the voices, the tonality, the music.) Which is a lot to ask of viewers in our age of distraction and noise everywhere but it can be done. (I tried to cheat and watch the "soundtrack" version on youtube when the completely silent version got to be too much, but the music just seemed barbaric and overbearing.) This film is also a discomfort in its many expressive close-ups (particularly of Maria Falconetti) but the discomfort is worth it. I do rec it.
Körkarlen (The Phantom Carriage). Wow. This was gripping, enchanting, melancholic, and entrancing. This film was a first for me: a foreign language silent. Can I just say too--I'm impressed this Swedish film from 1921 has better and more believable special effects than the CGI-laced films of the last 5 years. The story like that of a Dickens' Christmas story: an unreformed man undergoes a night of spiritual enchantment and comes out of it a new man. (Tragically Chuck Bass has ruined me once and for all, in that I know take these stories with a grain of salt and then some BUT the actor here is really good. So I'm wiling to embrace the fairytale aspect of it.) Oh, and the cinematography! The film is shot in such lovely golden sepia and icy blue tones! The lack of colour just enhances its otherworldly setting. A nearly flawless film. Everybody needs to see it.
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. A strip club owner finds himself having to make due on a debt. My first John Cassavetes film. (Yeah, I know. These reviews unfortunately reveal what a lazy film nerd I am.) I know he's considered a great director, but I just couldn't get into this film. It felt like amateur work. That plus the ugly realism + slow-going storyline = me being so bored. I think I would have enjoyed the film better if the visual imagery had been more poetic. I know realism is about grittiness and mundane, but this film did have several lovely moments where light and movement was breathtaking (how silhouettes were framed or dancers shown). I do plan to watch more Cassavetes films but I don't rec this one.
All the Pretty Horses. For every minute of storyline, there's 3 minutes of scenery porn. Now, I love scenery porn, but not when it does a disservice to plot and character development. The lack of focus on story makes the characters appear static and flat and the plotline jumpy. Not to mention, the editing is too obvious. The story takes place after World War 2 and it's about one man's journey into Mexico and back. All I remember though is how this movie dragged, like it was sneaking around it's own storyline. It could have been good, but it's a misfire.
Doubt. Just when you think the film is going to be either/or, it surprises you with grey. Although the characters threaten to be archetypes, the actors manage to invest layers in them. Oh, and forget Miranda Priestley! Sister Beauvier is scary!!! The plot concerns two nuns who believe the priest may be having an inproper relationship with a younger boy. This film was really compelling and quite powerful. It also felt like a modern response to Joan of Arc: that not everything is clear-cut even if one is innocent or guilty of a crime. Also quite striking was the sereneness of the sets and costumes despite the darkness and uncertainty of the character. It was like watching a Vermeer clash with a Goya.
L'Atalante. I never heard of Jean Vigo until I found this Criterion movie on hulu and now I want to see everything he's done. Which isn't much, because he died of TB after only making 4 films. In fact, he directed this from his sick bed. It managed to be both gritty and golden, ethereal and realist It's about a newly wed couple--and their servant and a boy--on a boat. While I couldn't completely get behind the film (the hubby is obsessive, controlling and too easily jealous: the hornet sting on an otherwise enchanting afternoon), the rest of it works. It gets its realism from the dialogue (people arguing, getting to know each other, or just making small talk) and its dreaminess from the silent sequences of people looking out to sea, dancing or watches other dance, an erotic dream sequence and an unusual underwater swim.
Dick. I couldn't take anymore highbrow masterpieces. I needed to watch a mainstream, most likely shitty, film and turn my brain off. However, while I can report that while this is irrelevant fluff that doesn't take itself or history seriously, it wasn't a bad film. I laughed several times throughout. The plot: 2 high school girls find themselves entangled in the Watergate crisis. Just a drippy, sugary, cotton candy confection. It is a delight as well to watch Michelle Williams and Kirstin Dunst together. Amended to add: I think it could be seen as a meta on fangirlling: on surface, stupid and nonsensical, but beneath, the fangirl is aware of the seriousness of the world and using her interests to help change the world. So not a complete fluff film. And worth seeing.
La Règle du jeu (The Rules of the Game). Servants and aristocracy intermingle on a weekend at a rich estate. I know this is a masterpiece, but I only admired it rather than liked it. Although it shared much in common with El Angel Exterminador, this film felt more calculated. While I don't feel the characters were used as plot devices, the coldness, cynicism and hypocrisy that was so apparent made it hard for me to enjoy the film.
Monsieur Verdoux. Oh, Charlie. Ohhh, Charlie. You've always been dapper, but I had no idea the oddball held a sexy-as-fuck gentlemen with a liquid voice. I was completely swooning over you this entire film (and you were old enough t be my grandfather when you made this!). MV is about a con-man who swindles and murders rich women to keep his family afloat during hard times. It sounds like a drama, but it's a dark comedy (with several very hysterical moments) with dramatic, philosophical undertones. This is the type of film that David Gale was trying to be, but failed: commenting on the larger scope of society, but showing how the threads exist within our individual lives that lead to failure.
Little Voice.So Jane Horrocks plays an extremely repressed, very socially repressed singer who can excellently mine. A role where when she is not singing, she has to communicate by the smallest of looks, the tiniest of movements, the smallest of sounds...and who gets nominated for an Academy Award? Brenda Blethyn in an over-the-top well-treaded stage mother role. Injustice! This is a flawed film but it's good. Its flaws stem from not translating the stage elements: it's too literal. For stage, literalness works, but for screen, the obviousness makes it seem lazy. However, whatever its flaws, this was a rather original coming of age and rising performer story. Very untypical from any other star-is-born storyline I've seen. Even if its flights of fancy go too far, it's well acted and its a rarity to have a movie that celebrates the quietest among us.
Playtime. Jacques Tati is like the Marcel Duchamp of cinema: underneath the irrelevant, cold, hard exteriors, there's warmth and whimsy. Also, he's an acquired taste, but once you leave your comfort zone, you'll find its a taste you don't want to be without. I read reviews that this is a film about nothing, but I feel there were many messages to be mined from it: how we are all interconnected despite the space we put between ourselves and ourselves, how chaos and randomness will still exist despite our attempts at perfection and sterilization, how technology can help and hinder us. I really enjoyed this movie and it's one I'll have to rewatch, as every screenshot is like an painting: you can't take it all in one sitting, because it's so detailed.
Häxan (Witchcraft through the Ages) Another Swedish silent, a "documentary" on witchcraft in the medieval times. Even back in the pre-Code era, this film was considered controversial enough to be cut and censored with its sexual imagery, torture porn, and devil imagery. While it certainly gave me a new perspective on silents, I can't say I liked it. It was interesting, but aside from the ending and the score (which was based on the one played a the film's premiere) it reminded me too much of those cheesy teen horror flicks with their gratuitous nudity/sex and cheap special effects. After watching the flawless PoJoA, it especially felt rather tawdry and disgusting. It left a bad taste in my mouth.
La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc). Harrowing and completely unforgettable. I think this film is one of those that improves on viewing though. Why? Because it is shown without sound (there is "soundtrack" version, but apparently it's meant to be seen without any accompaniment). It forces you to really throw yourself into the drama and make it real for yourself. (You create the voices, the tonality, the music.) Which is a lot to ask of viewers in our age of distraction and noise everywhere but it can be done. (I tried to cheat and watch the "soundtrack" version on youtube when the completely silent version got to be too much, but the music just seemed barbaric and overbearing.) This film is also a discomfort in its many expressive close-ups (particularly of Maria Falconetti) but the discomfort is worth it. I do rec it.
Körkarlen (The Phantom Carriage). Wow. This was gripping, enchanting, melancholic, and entrancing. This film was a first for me: a foreign language silent. Can I just say too--I'm impressed this Swedish film from 1921 has better and more believable special effects than the CGI-laced films of the last 5 years. The story like that of a Dickens' Christmas story: an unreformed man undergoes a night of spiritual enchantment and comes out of it a new man. (Tragically Chuck Bass has ruined me once and for all, in that I know take these stories with a grain of salt and then some BUT the actor here is really good. So I'm wiling to embrace the fairytale aspect of it.) Oh, and the cinematography! The film is shot in such lovely golden sepia and icy blue tones! The lack of colour just enhances its otherworldly setting. A nearly flawless film. Everybody needs to see it.
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. A strip club owner finds himself having to make due on a debt. My first John Cassavetes film. (Yeah, I know. These reviews unfortunately reveal what a lazy film nerd I am.) I know he's considered a great director, but I just couldn't get into this film. It felt like amateur work. That plus the ugly realism + slow-going storyline = me being so bored. I think I would have enjoyed the film better if the visual imagery had been more poetic. I know realism is about grittiness and mundane, but this film did have several lovely moments where light and movement was breathtaking (how silhouettes were framed or dancers shown). I do plan to watch more Cassavetes films but I don't rec this one.
