Why have I taken so long to post this forum? A better question, how can I forget about a topic that I post every... single... month?
Friday, June 6, 2008
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2 comments:
Okay my friend, I hate to embarrass you again, but here is everything I've compiled since my last Recent Watched post.
Soylent Green-I can't believe how great this film was. I expected something hokey, but it takes itself seriously and has a really interesting concept on dystopia. Heston is flat out perfect here and perhaps gives a actual performance I would say. Edward G. Robinson steals the show though as the bbok who discovers the true origins of Soylent Green. Really great surprise.
Logan's Run- very cheesy, and the FX are even bad for there time, but I had fun. I think it is ripe for a remake and could really be cool. Carousel was cool for sure. Still better than Silent Running in my opinion.
Man Who Fell To Earth- my fav of the Filmspotting marathon. A total trip and what a fantastic concept. Really great look at America and the vices we all have. Some absolutely amazing imagery that are forever burned into my retinas.
Diary of the Dead- I love Romero and kinda wish he stuck to the same Zombie story he started with back in the 60s with Night of the Living Dead instead of starting a new one with Diary. That said, this was a blast. Yes the actors aren't great, and yes the scares aren't necessarily the best, but Romero has such a great way of incorporating commentary into these films. Here he comments on our voyeuristic society and our desire to always be plugged in be it TV, radio, or the InterWeb. It was a Romero flick thru and thru and he has done it successfully for the last 50 years. Why can't these stupid tween horror flicks take a note or two.
Narnia: Prince Caspian- didn't really care for the first one, didn't really care for this one. Same Shit Different Day. If you like the first, you'll like this one. I'm not one of those people.
Indy 4- yes it has problems, yes the alien story isn't good, but dammit if it isn't a Indy film. There was certainly enough here forit not to have ruined the franchise and maybe enough to get a better send off in the future. Harrison still has it. The monkey scene was simply abhorrent.
Strangers- simple horror film that worked for me. Nothing more than that. Creepy stuff at time, but didn't break any molds certainly.
Fish Called Wanda- absolutely hysterical. The dog scenes are some of the best stuff ever. The whole cast is spot on and the story is actually good to boot. It's just really flipping funny that only a Python could have written it.
Kung Fu Panda- I challenge you to find a film in theaters that will entertain people of all ages, sizes, genders, religions...This film was a hell of a lot of fun. Gorgeous visual with some inventive fights, doesn't rely on constant pop culture humor, fun voice work, and a some great nods to old martial arts films. One fo the best times anyone will have int the theater this year, until Wall-E that is.
Someone to Eat Cheese With- very simple film with simple pleasures. I like Jeff Garlin. I liked this movies, but nothing more than that.
Gosford Park-revisited this on a Altman kick we've been on Mulligan and I liked it even more. Much like his other films, its character rather than plot. This film is about a murder mystery, but really it is a commentary on class structures between the aristocracy and the help,..or rather the upstairs and the downstairs. Great ensemble cast with some wonderful stuff from maggie Smith in particular. She is a riot.
Prairie Home Companion- don't know the radio show, but I imagine this was a good homage to it. It was a nice fun movie that gave me a good idea what the show is like, and I now think Garrison Keillor is just fantastic to listen to. What a compelling voice he has, so damn soothing. Nothing really eye-opening, but I certainly liked it. Harrelson and Reilly are great together and should have their own sitcom.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller- the more I thought about this film Mulligan, the more I think it is a masterpiece. Such a sobering finale in the snow with wonderful music and fantastic imagery. Keith Carradine's exit was among the most gut-wrenching things I've seen on film. And Beatty and Christie are among my favorite pairings now. She was such a spitfire. He was such a coward. Together they made a great business team,..nothing more than that I'm afraid.
Winter Light- second in Ingmar Bergman's Trilogy of Faith. Here we discover Gunnar Bjonstrand as a priest who questions his faith since his wife's death. Max von Sydow plays a troubled man who sees the horrors of a possible nuclear war as proof there is no God. This is exactly what I expected a Bergman film to be, before I started this venture of mine. Dark, existential, not entertaining in the slightest, but certainly touches issues we all probably feel at times.
The Silence- final film in his Trilogy of Faith, here Bergman explores two sisters and there vastly different personalities. One is intelligent yet on her deathbed, the other is a single mother who is quite promiscuous. Gotta say that this one never quite grabbed my attention. I didn't really want to spend time with these ladies and the young boy, but still I found enough worthwhile to recommend it. Great titillating imagery from Sven Nykvist as usual.
Autumn Sonata- Ingmar Bergman with Ingrid Bergman together at last. Here he explores the issue of forgiveness as Liv Ullman plays a neglected daughter confronting her visiting mother played by Ingrid. Bares bones plot with a pair of fantastic performances. It was great just seeing the two battle each other. Ingrid won if you must know, but Liv Ullman is still my Bergman crush ever since I saw her eyes in "Shame." Could have been a play it was so minimalistic.
Fanny and Alexander- I can't believe I was able to sit through a 3 hr long Swedish film and be compelled ever step of the way. A master class on the use of color and imagery as we explore the Ekdahl family as they go through a tragedy only to fall into another. We see reality and spirituality merge blurring the lines between real and surreal. I would say that clearly you can tell this is a trimmed down version of the TV miniseries (characters that don't offer anything, awkward pacing at times, Where the hell is Fanny), but still there is so much to chew on here. Bergman touches on everything he has ever wanted to say in film, and here is his magnum opus. We don't see much of Fanny, but we get a wonderful perspective of life for Alexander. He is the key for us into this film that allows us to feel as if we are experiencing something much grander than a film. Haunting, lyrical, poetic,..simply put, a masterpiece on how you tell a story. I must see the full version now. At an extended 2 more hours, it will probably fill in the slight holes that I felt it was missing. Definitely in Bergman's top 3 with Wild Strawberries and Seventh Seal.
That's all for now....
Well, having seen 6 out of 17 isn’t good… but it sure beats the 0-for from last time.
Obviously you’re continuing to distance yourself from me in the Bergman-watching, which means Winter Light, Fanny and Alexander, Autumn Sonata and The Silence are out. Bergman is a filmmaker I really need to spend some more time with, but I haven’t invited him over yet.
I’ve yet to keep up with (or even try) any Filmspotting Marathon so Logan’s Run and The Man Who Fell to Earth I’m behind on as well. More interested in the David Bowie-led latter, although I had heard mention of a Matt Damon-led remake of Logan’s Run at one point which had me on the brink of watching it. When those rumors passed, so did my interest.
George A. is another one I’m painfully behind on (hell, the horror genre as a whole really). So missing Diary isn’t a surprise, but considering I still haven’t seen Night, Dawn or Day, I’m ashamed.
I liked the first Narnia film mostly because it brought back memories of my childhood. I didn’t think the actors were particularly good (or bad) or the film was all that memorable, but for a children’s adventure story, I enjoyed it. Still… I’m not rushing out to see Prince Caspian any time soon.
Absolutely no interest in The Strangers, and outside the satisfaction of watching Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman get tortured for two hours it isn’t offering much.
Kung Fu Panda I thought I’d never see… but its reviews were so good, I’ll have to catch up with it on DVD down the road. Since my expectations were so low, maybe I’ll even enjoy it.
Gosford Park made my "Movies I Should Have Seen (2000s)" List back almost a year to the day on June 20th, 2007. It's one of only two films remaining on that list that I have not caught up with (and the higher ranked of the two, at #4). I've been catching up with my Altman films recently, but Gosford still needs to work its way into my DVD player. It's either that or The Long Goobye next from Altman. Either way, I think I'll be satisfied.
Now, for the ones I’ve actually seen.
Soylent Green is a really good Chuck Heston film. Has a lot of the 'living in a new world' brand of science fiction in common with Heston's own Planet of the Apes, which is probably why I mistakenly thought they were done by the same person (Franklin J. Schaffner vs. Richard Fleischer). I agree with your thoughts on both Heston and Edward G. Robinson, although that one scene where Heston orders the girl to get into bed with him I found a helluva lot funnier than I expect the intention was.
Glad you sided with me on Someone to Eat Cheese With. It's nothing special and I don't have much more to add about it but, largely because of the likability of Garlin and some of his simple observations, I ended up giving it a pass.
Indiana Jones IV we've already discussed in some depth. I had a lot of problems with the film (more and more the further away from it I get), but that doesn't take away the pure joy of some of its better moments. I was always entertained, even when it felt like the storyline wasn't working. But Spielberg is such a master craftsman and visual artist, that it's impossible to turn your head away. Solid film and addition to the series.
A Fish Called Wanda is a very good film that immediately after I’d watched it, I remember thinking I’d probably like it better on a repeat viewing. It is definitely written by a Python, because I feel like the jokes resonate better than they come off the first time (the same feeling I have with most of Monty Python). The film does boast a hilarious (and somewhat shockingly) Oscar-winning performance from Kevin Kline. It’s rare that a straight-up comedic performance gets the little golden guy but it was warranted. Although, I have to say, I think a bit of his slapdash performance here has trickled into pretty much everything he’s done since.
Including… A Prairie Home Companion, otherwise known as the best thing that Lindsay Lohan will ever have her name attached to. Does anyone else feel like Lohan has somehow skipped right past the years that supposedly warrant making her famous and has already reached a Demi Moore-in-Bobby type of ostentatious, hideous spectacle? I still laugh at Dina’s (if that’s her mom’s real name, I am honestly ashamed for knowing it) insistence that Lindsay would win an Oscar “within 5 years.” Since then, she’s been in rehab a half-dozen times, had a half-dozen bombs and has become almost totally irrelevant. So, where’s Emilio when you need him? Oh wait, she already WAS in Bobby (I had honestly forgotten up until a moment ago).
Yeah, Prairie Home deserves another non-Lindsay paragraph. I love it’s dealing with fate and… death incarnate (Virginia Madsen), it’s Altman-esque extraneous characters (the aforementioned Kline), it’s beautiful moments (Reilly/Harrelson and Streep/Lily Tomlin) and I honestly think you’re selling the film short by saying it’s “nothing really eye-opening” (and yes, I realize Rebecca pasted the film). It’s a grand meditation on things coming to an end, and a beautiful encapsulation of what made Robert Altman so unique, so special and so incredibly missed.
And, finally, McCabe & Mrs. Miller. Immediately after watching this film, I proclaimed it to be my favorite Altman picture. I’m right there with you on it being a masterpiece Ty. It’s that rare picture that can immediately make me rethink my feelings on Warren Beatty being overrated, and consider Julie Christie as possibly one of the finest actresses I’ve ever seen (and this, having only seen two of her performances, but having her knock me on my ass each time). I knew it had to be a sort of fatalistic, downer of an ending… it had to be. It only amplified the naivete of Beatty’s character. The tragedy of their almost-love. The end of the John Wayne “cowboy” era (Beatty shoots more people in the back than he does otherwise). And Altman’s attempt to turn the Western on its head. It’s stubbornness to get to the final gunfight reminds me of a Kevin Costner quote tha I heard and I'll paraphrase when he was advertising Open Range… “Just stick with me and I’ll get you to the gunfight.” With Altman, the gunfight hardly even seems necessary. I’d rather have stuck it out with McCabe & Mrs. Miller.
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