A new month, another posting forum for all your recent watches.
Meanwhile, I'm going to try and continue this film-capsule-a-day pace that I've got going, but also try to mix in some other topics for discussion (I'd like to get back to having a "Top 7" post each month for one) and I will eventually just start posting random questions I find on the RT messageboards for our debate over here. For now, here's the forum... tomorrow comes the "Must See Movie of the Month."
6 comments:
Lars and the Real Girl: Okay, I know Brain and Chachi had this discussion back in Feb but I just now got around to seeing it and thought I'd weigh in.
I see where they were going with this. And I give them a lot of credit for coming up with a pretty original idea.
But I'm going to go with Chachi on this one. I just couldn't get past how unrealistic it was that the entire town embraced Lars' delusion. I probably would have bought it had there been a little more of a fantasy quality in the film such as if Bianca came to life at all (even if for no one but Lars)...but since she didn't I couldn't get on board.
It was kinda cute, and kinda sweet, and kinda sad and kinda boring. Thank goodness for the great acting cause otherwise I think it would have kinda sucked.
It's very coincidental that you saw this recently because we made Brian's sister watch it last night if not just for the hilarious scene when he throws the flowers as soon as he sees the girl. hahaha. Had to be the best laugh from Brian this year to date!! Other than though, nothing exciting. It's definately unique though...I'm not sure what grade it deserves?
Jeez, between this and our Anonymous contributors the past couple days, people are showing up all over the site to disagree and/or argue with me… I’m starting to feel just like a real critic here. Hey, at least nobody’s turned hostile thus far, right?
F*** you guys!
Hahahaha. Just kidding. I really want "The Film Script" to be a place where everyone feels able to express differing opinions on a film without being attacked for it. So, so far so good.
Anyways, with Lars I recall saying that it’s a film where you either go with its premise or you get submarined by it. Myself, I found the acting of Gosling, Clarkson, Schneider and Mortimer enough to keep it grounded in reality… even if the rest of the town is batshit bonkers. I saw real sympathy from Clarkson, Schneider and Mortimer and total commitment from Gosling. And by focusing the film around this family, by keeping the majority of the scenes about their interaction, I was able to overlook whatever extraneous characters you and Ty felt kept drawing you out of the film.
Not to say I don’t understand the reaction. Just it’s not how I felt about it.
Oh and Rebecca I enjoyed the "kinda" set-up and putdown, but don’t call me Brain dammit.
Haha sorry BrIan.
Chungking Express: One of the things Wong Kar Wai is noted for is his unique style of shooting a movie without writing the story first and letting the characters and story line develop as he films. Admittedly, this is a risky technique that, in my current experience with him, he's managed to pull off brilliantly. Til now.
**Note: I'm sure Brian will jump in here and clear up any technicalities I've overlooked with that (and forthcoming) statement(s) so I'm not worried about accuracy for now haha.
In the other two films I've seen of his (In The Mood For Love and My Blueberry Nights) I felt that while still allowing the plot to meander, he was meandering towards a finish line. Here, I felt that his lack of an end point was apparent.
The story follows 2 unrelated broken hearted cops who fall in love with people they've just met. The first guy's storyline was pretty exciting and I got really invested into how he and the mysterious woman in the wig were going to cross paths and interact (especially since they are on opposite sides of the law) but after they finally do, it just simply skips on to the next guy. Throughout the rest of the film I half expected it to cut back to him and continue with that story.
I really liked how the first guy's story focused on love's "expiration date" and how his lost love did in fact expire on his planned expiration date.
The second storyline felt a little more developed. I was ultimately a little confused by the characters' behavior though...it seemed erratic and not very realistic. I liked that the girl's changes to his apartment helped him get over the stewardess but I would think that as a cop, he'd be intelligent enough to realize someone had been in his apartment and might show a little concern.
I liked how he personified his apartment and the objects in it as a way to cope with his feelings.
I liked the shots where the main character is drinking a cup of coffee or putting a quarter into the jukebox in slow motion while the world around him whizzes by. Very cool visually.
Perhaps this was a movie about finding love when you least expect it and in someone you least expect (polar opposite even)...but while I have generally picked up on some resonant themes in his films, I didn't really come away with anything solid from this one.
I'm going to have to say that this, out of the 3 I've seen, has been my least favorite of Wong Kar Wai's. Perhaps you all can shed some insight on something that I may have missed? (Cause I feel like I might have missed something...?)
Walk the Line: I just watched the version that was on FX last night but I enjoyed it nonetheless (as I'm certain there were scenes that were cut to fit the time slot). Witherspoon and Phoenix deserve all the praise they received for their performances. They were spectacular. I've always liked these two actors but after seeing this I'm convinced of their range and talent.
The story itself was compelling too. Granted it's based on a true story but I had no previous insight into Johnny Cash's life and man, who knew he was that self loathing/pitying? Tortured artist indeed. Also didn't know June Carter wrote "Ring of Fire"...
Oh! One more thing about Chungking Express....I loved the Cantonese remake of The Cranberries 'Dreams' done by Faye Wong herself! Haha...awesome. Whatever happened to The Cranberries?
Okay Rebecca, so it’s been a while since you posted on having seen Chungking Express and I’ve been slacking on the response, I know. I would have really liked to go back and re-watch the film to make a more informed reply since I’ve only seen it one time (and that was 6 Wong Kar-Wai films ago), but I’m gonna go without it for now. I remember enough of it to know that my opinion would not change on a second viewing; it would only give me a stronger defense if I was able to cite more examples as to exactly why I felt it’s a great film.
Really, Chungking Express is the film that sent me off on my Wong Kar-Wai explorations. I had just finished up In the Mood for Love and if Chungking had been a dud, I don’t think I would have continued on as fervently as I have.
Looking back on it, I’m surprised at your reaction simply because I think My Blueberry Nights has many similarities to it, namely the same sort of abstract look at relationships. We get only pieces of these tales without ever really having a solid start-to-finish storyline, but Kar-Wai imbues them with fleeting moments of beauty and loneliness, hopefulness and sadness and his melancholy romanticism that I love so much. If anything, I think Chungking is a more optimistic film. Both cops depicted in the film, having recently lost the person they loved, find in someone else the strength to move on, to put their sorrow behind them. It’s all about their personal connections. One moves on, one finds a new love. Life goes on.
David Straithairn’s cop in My Blueberry Nights is precisely what happens when you can’t move on. You tailspin. You crash. The only real difference is that My Blueberry Nights has a bookended character, Norah Jones’, who travels throughout the other stories observing them, without actively partaking in the other storylines too much. It gives the story a more concrete beginning and end than Chungking does, but I think there IS a resolution to both stories here as well… the first relationship can not continue, the second one does. Sometimes it's as simple as that.
I agree with you about the lovely moments in the film and how cop #1 has an ‘expiration date’ on his love and cop #2 personifies his apartment. These are the type of things that draw me back to Kar-Wai time and time again. And sure it’s visually stylish and draws attention to itself in the way a lot of Kar-Wai’s films do, but I think that’s always been an extension of the mood he’s trying to set for his stories. Love is a kind of warped, mind-spinning reality anyway.
And the film is a sum of those moments which, to me, are captured perfectly.
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