film revu draft: film review medley

21.vii.MCDXXX

game for skewering:


(star system: no stars for suckers, or some for hook interestingness and/or prodction qlty)

**** In the valley of Elah

thoughtful casting places a whole line up of very talented actors in the best roles i've seen them in in a long time. The actors and their parts fit together very well. Tommy lee jones in particular delivered a carefully crafted performance that was very thoughtful, telling and touching.
haggis. he's got it. he write the good stuff paul haggis.
he'd caught my attention in Crash to be sure - which was more heartfelt, tighter and more real than emotional orgasms of paul thomas anderson's magnolia.
Indeed this movie represents a few steps up the quality ladder since Crash.
Haggis' filmography reveals a slinger and a heavy hitter.
His writing credits include the two latest outings of the new Bond, three Clint Eastwood movies.

although i avoided them when they were released , now recognized as eastwood haggis collaborations they are at least worth checking out.

already million dollar baby stands out as one of the best boxing movies in its proximity to the sport itself + the strong melodrama that burdens and drives its characters.

Team America (2004)

I'd skipped that one too . There ws no way i was going to watch self-indulgences on the war from the South park angle. But of the post 03 war movie wave, this was one of the earliest.
For all its ambivalence (or complacency) and idiosyncracies it's a solid comedy. it's south park; so it's also over the top: there are enough times you hear the name of jesus invoked in exclamation associated with wanton acts of intercourse.

# passion of the christ

incomplete - b/c i skipped a lotta scenes
i never liked cazievel anyway - jus lk @ the name
belucci does some repenting
listening the very arabic-like aramaic is v. interesing
nad quite puts the lie to the ajami foreign alien exoontologic turkic/hungar language of khebkhew

# family plot (Hitchcock 1976)

lol his name is hitchcock.
anyway
finally finished this plodding un-funny though it thinks it is flick
full of cliches from its period (mid/late 60s - what? late 70s?
crime, suspense, thriller flicks
where directors and actors who for some unknown reason think they're cute
and are droll
are actually anything but
if anything it points to the atrocious state of humour among at least that clique
in their day.
most brit - like hitchy here -
i recall those endless ensemble suspense/thriller/murder/whodunit/whatrwecalledherefor dramas
with the likes of peter sellers, david niven, assorted harlots and sidekicks (lol like i bet
robter wagner and the likes)
lol, eg,
cat and the canary
also the period goes with my current disco phase

indi jones & crystal skull

is v. effing dull

** Strange days (1995)

Can hardly believe this cyberpunk flick was made in 1995 !!!!
so visionary
their foretelling of the millenium parties is remarkable - tho
it is rather str8fwd if u think abou it
the memory transcription thing is one of the more interesting themes in sci-fi
see greg egan s/w copy or something , paprika anime, etc.

Chemical wedding (2008)

another cyberpunk movie
quantum interference, squids,
crazy quantum-related computer-controlled transmigration of souls, reincarnation
astral projection AND time travel
to say nothing
of masonic rites and references, philological devices, occult galore,
and satanic sex orgies
gotta be the cyberpunk flick of the decade so far !
naturally none of the critics understood it
nor did i of course - but it takes some background knowlege on
crowley and his AA-OTO-GD crowd , his thoughts etc
smoe of the references make more sense when familiar with his works
like the 7777777,... message eg.

# **** Mongol (2007)

good treatment -
much appreciate the mongol (monguk) dialogues
the interesting costumes of the turko-monguk settings on the outskirts of the xixin kingdom
and the interpretations were good as well
another plus is the story tallies with every other work i've perused on
the Khagan's life - which all obviously derive from the same legend and source
the secret history of the mongol people

the vistas of the open steppes, the well thought-out sets
give off historical reality and gravity
with the right mood it allowed me to wander into the very human condition itself
and this primordial tale which must have been replicated throughout ostasia and transpacific
for millenia.

then of course the story of this man, clearly guided and protected by fate / destiny,
amounting to making an unstoppable agent, close to that of major prophets.
The morality cliches , the dedication fo the wife, the monk, the trials and deprivations
of the khagan are - as is the habit with chinese / ostasian productions - touching.

# Street Fighter: The legend of Chun Li (2009)

not bad , has some interesting hooks
still not sold on that genre AND it is a game adaptation
a genre of which i have still seen nothing impressive
but a novel and interesting environment and context and set of
cliches / tropes for me to watch since i'm so unfamiliar
with this tacky brainless bullshit

i guess one attractive (literally) elemnt in this genre of movies
(kickboxing,street fighting vigilante type shit)
which could be seen in this flick and i often saw it
in the random tv replays of van damme and lambert flicks
is how its protags exude this goodness and good faith
and the story is so simplistically morally clearcut
to watch it is like a massage to viewers' ethical subsystems

but it is particularly a good natured quality about the protag
that appeals to the "masses" which also includes me every now
and a blue moon, with a trough in my intellectual biorhythm,
and nothing better to watch :)

# ** Starship Troopers 3 (2008)

it's pretty close to the original flick
reprises much of the same art direction, and character of the first one.
quite unlike the very shazh/outcast, the 2nd sequel

# starship troopers 2 (200x)

disparate from the other two in the series
+ sucks ass basically
it's like Alien on a shoestring budget by
performing arts wannabes - yep it's squarely on the low-end
of the "hack movie" category
must've gotten it today after ST3 wetted my appetite for more

# Resident Evil: degeneration (2008)

not bad not bad for a 3D anime
some nice details
noted the work on the textures like textiles, >= two layers of hair
the facial playacting
and facial features
tho still people do not move like that -

* Duplicity (2009)

not bad not bad
w/ the inside man guy the one with always good parts - clive owen
better than the rest in its type of plot
i recall the one with clooney -
and another with the stupid euro company selling bad weapons to some
arab country - and their relation with russian mafia and the protag.
the three fit together.
this one was perhaps better.

Dead space downfall (2008)

cartoon - cel animation
art approaches that ugly art of the guy who made the aeon flux cartoon series
but the art is thankfully much better than that - particularly the humans are much better
tho still leaving much to be desired.
otoh, the craft and tech designs were nice. particularly the space tether
was well conceived - and an upgrade on the legendary spelevator.

Eagle eye (2008)

OMG it's soooooo imbecilic

outlander

OMG it's soooooooo baaaaad
and imbecilic
also score's almost the same as previous entry
but great creature design

Gin-iro no Kami no Agito

(=Agito the Silver-Haired)(2006, Keiichi Sugiyama) aka (origin - spirits of the past)
studio Gonzo
def'ly NOT studio ghibli
for every studio ghibli there is a studio gonzo
to fool the less discerning

changeling (2008)

i hear oscar nominations
which isn't saying much - it's already done w/ we're in june's end
but what a harrowing story
and the history seems to be told well, 'least for a hllywd picsher
but utterly unmemorable. the story is so small compared
to the steppes of Ghengiz khan the alien infestations in far away galaxies.
no actually some key elements were missing from this work.
and angelina jolie won't convince me of motherhood emotions if they paid me.

confessions of a shopaholic

incomplete
she so cute & funny
ok and also vomit inducing but cute
she has that reese witherspoon air about her.

**** oss 117: rio ne répond + (2009)

Manages to tackle a culturally sensitive area with frankness and subtlety, tho characteristically it doesn't take itself too seriously - or at least presents itself this way. understandably - for it juggles heavy baggage: as an exploitation spoof, as an exploitation movie itself, as intercultural readings through (faux-)satire, and so on.
isn't Hubert, among other things, sarkozian france in today's confusing state of the world? so are his co-star chars also personifications of the different locales he stumbles into.
all reasons to look fwd to the next installement in the series - maybe in 2010.

*** king arthur (2004)

2nd time watch
fresh take - a demystified look at the legend, attempting to place it in an historical
context - that or reproducing the novel that originally did that.
good despite melodramatic flourishes and score
good cast too - and clive owens very distinguishing in the roles he chooses- something that viewers appreciate in actors.

hardware (1990)

piece of garbage
lowest tech movie ever
tech takes a nosedive in this foresaken flick
a cyberpunk wannabe that fails so badly - never even tries
stupid
ages badly because it wasn't up to its own time
would appear more impressive if it were made in 1969 not 1990
incomplete - couldn't finish it

notorious (2008)

so lame
gives "black" or "hood" movies a bad name
do all biopics suck?
it sucks ass - no cool, no pace, no charisma, nothing
couldn't finish it
and seriously if notorious biggs is anything like that actor (was he him?!)
he so lame man. i hung out with people who hung out with puff daddy read p-diddy,
and this film here is laaaayme bro its laaaame.

entre les murs (2008)

excellent classroom drama
best one i've seen so far?
2nd time lucky -

Columbo 5x02 A Case Of Immunity Ac3 Dvdrip Xvid

reel arabs episode - nominated for emmy
goldblum carrying Saurians sign
the fictional arab dictatorship is sauria - either a play on saudia or syria
incomplete

friday 13th 2009

incomplete
nothing new
michael bay shud be kept away frm teen movies

Push (2008)

incomplete
great story - terrible film
and what the hell is with this silly idea of sniffers
it's disgusting to start with

highway to hell (1991)

nostalgia for one of those random old rentals from the time i watched it - obviously
past the late 80s /90s cusp viewing wave
so 2nd time or so since 91/92 maybe even 93/94 !
discovered
it has early parts for buddies ben stiller his dad and his sister even!
stiller again cast / casting himself as the idiot - so it's a loooong running
gag with him. but u can nearly always tell he's no idiot - nearly because - well
watch zoolander + dodgeball
incomplete

Martyrs (2008)

french hoghogh
compelling thought if only for a second - though a second later the gaping hole in the premise becomes evident. despite anything compelling it remains a gratuitous/exploit. film and i didn't like that.

beowulf and grendel (2005)

demystified look at the legend
demystified and boooooring.
but w/ whatchmacallem, King Arthur (2004) *** , and the more engaging Beowulf (2007) *** ,
they form the kernel of a good Gothic (the historical culture not the literary genre) Film fest.

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film revu draft: medley

27.Iv.1430

Elizabeth' piracy is ok w/ Hollywood while Werner Herzog is let down on neutrinos. Not to mention Handel's conundrum.


Encounters at the end of the world (Werner Herzog, 2007)



Herzog gets invited to film in Antarctica. He offers us a delightful visit. He thankfully calls things as he sees them (and I appreciate how he sees things) - often very insightful though also often with those cognitive idiosyncracies (eg, a mixture of good intuition poetic idealism and naivety or ignorance) familiar from a certain caliber of stage and film directors (the masters).

(I have to admit , no matter how accomplished a stage or cinema auteur like Herzog are at the science of their own craft, sometimes when I read or hear them certain dissociations from reality appear, either as ignorance or naive or overly poetic idealism or just plain idiocy - a perspective different from what one gets when hearing scientists or mathematicians relfect on reality.)

Though often revealing and insightful, the discussion on neutrinos was a bit of a let down, because some important questions were not asked - though the director can hardly be faulted for that - it was the physicist who was weird.

This oeuvre combines some of the best of "nature" documentaries, and human subject ones offering a rare and coalescent mixture of both in one dose.

* * * * *

Farinelli (1994)

Here's a film that would have been popular in the culture club and duran duran scene, though over a decade late.

I'd be interesting in reading what Dr. David Yearsley (articles) would say about it.

There is no escaping that the music and is sublime (particularly the Handel piece), the costumes exquisite, and the direction and acting talent not wanting.

I guess this film is to castrati sopranos (shouldn't that be soprani instead?) what Amadeus was to composers.

* * * * *

Nixon/Frost (Ron Howard, 2008)

Despite any due misgivings about Ron Howard, in this mockumentary Frank Langella turns in a very engaging persona (all the more as I actually relate a bit - though unlike said Nixon, I never ordered any bugging or disgraced a high office).

I don't know whether his co-star, Michael Sheen delivers a believable David Frost , but at times parallels come up with people like Tony Blair - and generally, despite (or because of) being produced through american eyes , a distinctly british persona streams out with all its collusion with , dependence on and patronization of its transatlantic beast.

Actually, imagining for a moment that Watergate never happened, that Nixon never existed and that I knew nothing of it but what is recounted in this film, the scenario does make a fantastic drama which is very cleverly told.

And assuming Langella was interpreting a character from his own imagination, it would one of the deepest characters I have seen on film for a while - well since Il Castrato and Handel anyway :)

And in the end the step from normalcy into the abyss of evil is so close so easy that one can cross the line unaware and never be able to step back.

* * * * *

Just like the past decade has seen a franchise of Marvel (and DCComics) adaptations, there is another subgenre that recasts historical queens in modern feminist personas (read 90s/00s but also 30s hollywood cultural gender biases).

Thus we have the usual culprits

Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: the golden age (2007)

Marie Antoinette (2006)

The affair of the necklace (2001)

The other Boleyn girl (2008) starring both the bipedal cow and the cross-eyed monster, in matching dresses to boot.

The tragedy is in all the presumptions about how the characters behaved , particularly in which circumstances they would formal or informal in their demeanour; removing any historical value - not even the costumes are reliable. In fact, they often seem over dressed for the occasion , as though the costumes are erroneously lifted out of portraits ignoring more mundane outfits - such as on hunt scenes.

juxtaposed with similar films from Europe or from other decades,

they differ from

Marie Antoinette (1938)

Fire over England (1937)

Anne of the 1000 days (1969)

Mary, Queen of Scots (1971)

though the trends of Hollywood-style feminism still exist.

They also differ from the more multilayered and more history-friendly renditions in

La Reine Margot (1994) of cors is a classic, with almost Manara- or Caligula-style dirtiness in both the sense of grit and eroticism. (on any given day, it seems a Medici film series would make for interesting softporn viewing).

Juana la loca (2006), which deserves to be another classic - if only for the rarity of films treating the spanish-Dutch connection via the common Habsberg dynasty.

The order of colonization was Spain/portugal, then Nederlands due to the Spanish/port. habsberg connection, then the covetous copycat Britain in the 17th++ cent., then France 18th+, then Italy Belgium Germany and Terroristan in the 19th/20th cent. Austria and Prussia had their outre-mer adventures too in the 19th century - though rather timidly shortlived.

Meanwhile Hollywood treatments of the 15th century queen of England (Fire over England, Elizabeth: Golden Age) have no problem with her knighted pirates plundering and looting Spanish fleets (however ill-gained in 1st place) like (sirs) Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake - the former put to death after her demise. (At least Black Adder II made fun of them).

Yet it may not be long (maybe) before Hollywood expresses how much it gets its knickers tied in a knot over the modern day hoax of somalien piraten.

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film revu draft + stills gallery: art de profundis

09.IV.1430

De profundis (2006) which is a taciturn tale features great art , a very good classical score and great sound - eg, the sounds of water in the deep. The music by Nani García, is the story teller alongside the image. And so it is very lyrical, and arranged versatiley by the composer - affording an opportunity to appreciate the art of score composition.


































There is a great similarity wrt water inundation between this movie and hayao Myazaki's and Studio Ghibli's 2008 production Gake no ue no Ponyo , despite their different stories. But the similarity extends to some imagery:



The house on the water in de Profundis,


House on water in Ponyo.

UPDATE:
The Spanish/portuguese film won the Goya award in 2007 for best animated picture.
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film rvu draft: The Call of Cthulhu (2005)

30.III.1430

is produced by the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society (HPLHS).

It is a film that replicates many aspects of the silent era film format. It also embraces idioms and dialects like german expressionism.

The format is uniquely suited for an adaptation of Lovecraft's "celebrated" story.

Thus the film is silent and black and white, featuring the stylized acting and makeup of Lovecraft's era,



and of course the score.

Thus also we see a reproduction of german expressionist cinematic imagery of the cabinet of dr. caligari, to match H. P. Lovecraft's "impossible angles" of the structures on the island of the old ones,




(i expected to see glimpses of eisenstein, fritz lang, but i'm not that observant cinematically).

To add a tad more perfectionism, this also comes complete with not only the old nearly square aspect-ratio , but also with dirty film reel effects like crackling dots and lines and the odd hairs , simulating watching an old film reel.

Yet, cinematographically it is not as consistent, sometimes it looks like a 50s movie or like it shot with a TV camera.

A nod to the Rose Croix paralleling Lovecraft's frequent nods to other occult institutions dotting every town throughout New England.



I always loved the police badge of New Orleans.



note also the archaic French-influenced shape of the cap. The star and crescent's configuration are similar to that of the tools of the AAONMS, the Shrine, but adopted at 1855 predates the latter which was founded ca. 15 years later at the Knickerbocker cottage on Manhattan's west side, near or in Hell's Kitchen.

Great sets throughout - real theater on film a rarified art.

also interesting props and monster designs.

The movie closes with a quote offers a reread of that Lovecraft passage that is very relevant.

The HPLHS is said to be preparing another production that emulates fifties B-movies.

I look forward to that.

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film rvu draft: The remains of the day (1993)

24.III.1430

or how england started WWII wrapped around a story of unrequited love.

The remains of the day was written for the screen by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala adapting an azuo Ishiguro novel. It is produced by, among others, Ismail Merchant long-time collaborator with director by James Ivory (giving us a dozen films including A Room with a View ('85) and Howards End (1992), the only two i knew before this one.) It was Howards End that led me to hold a film series going through their filmography. So far in the film series, The remains of the day is not very encouraging.

The players include Emma Thompson (the housekeeper), James Fox (lord darlington) , Anthony Hopkins (head butler Stevens), an up and about Christorpher Reed (terroristani congressman), Michael Lonsdale (as the French D'ivry) and Hugh Grant (Darlington's anti German Godson); all darlings of the combined English and Hollywood cinema mainstreams.


The film's pivotal events take place in the thirties, in the lead-up to WWII, at a lord's house where the central character Stevens, played by Hopkins, is the head butler.

The film treats the character of Stevens and the housekeeper's failed love or infatuation for him.

Through his and others' scope we see glimpses of the dialogues that went on by British terroristani french and german governments on the question of forging a pact with Germany; with Germany asserting goodwill toward France and England and the English and Americans portraying varying positions on the matter. The americans and the good English are shown as opposed to any such pact with fascism on principle - a doubtful proposition. Most positions are moved to favoring war after the invasion of Czechoslovakia.


The conscientious in the movie were represented with strong moralistic positions envers the nemesis in germany. They were represented by the reporter/godson played by Hugh grant, Thompson's house keeper , and Reed playing a Terroristani congressman who attends lord Darlington's conference.

The lord Darlington who had turned away two jewish applicants to join his house staff - with the possibility of them having to return to germany - suffers retribution that one can only hope satisfies the jewish sensitivities of those most touched by that story (in the larger context of deciding to reject and defeat that unnamed german monster).
His sin of turning the girls away for being jewish was hotly contested by emma thompson's Kenton, and was denounced by his otherwise trusty and discrete head butler.

At some earlier point the lord had come to regret that sin and tried in vain to locate the two jewish girls he had turned away - that along with his interceding on behalf of germany leading to his utter detriment.

In a late lunch scene b/t stevens tells ms. kenton how the lord's "name was destroyed forever" by a newspaper's campaign to disgrace him. "his heart was broken." he spends his days in "deep thought" "talking to himself" , as if arguing with someone; "no one came to see him anymore you see."

I've always wondered why England became so hostile to Germany despite its elite's support and alliance with other fascist regimes, and in spite of the fact that the English royal house is intimately connected with royal houses in Hanover and Sax-Gota in Germany.

Likewise i wonder how with such an eclectic mix (japanese novel, indian filmmakers, british director) that film is told with the distinct and characteristic tone of jewish anger at the nazis and the holocaust. Is it due to its Terroistani as well as jewish producers?

The film was nominated for best picture and other awards by BAFTA, AMPAS and the Golden globe but won none. But it is suggestive that the film it lost to was Schindler's List.

The remains of the day as it were was heavily outjewed by spielberg's winner.


A good follow-up to the WWII story can be found in Adam Curtis- The Living Dead 3/3: The Attic (1995) , which talks mainly about Thatcher, in the last quarter of it, in its brief references to Churchill's demise at and after the end of the war - when he must have realized his war mongering was fed only by a fantasy with no basis in reality.



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film rvu draft: Revolutionary Road (2008)

05.III.1430

Revolutionary Road was a surprise. But this review has spoilers.

i started out judging it superficial (the opening fight scene)
b/c their acting isn't that great let's face it. and the fight was
w/out proper buildup or establishmnt.
it made me feel as though all the exposition was left
to be covered by HBO's Mad men;
that the filmmakers actually presumed to assume that series as a prereq viewing.


but as it went on, came some good lines - unexpected from prior movies of that
caliber (caliber as measured by the niche of the two top billing stars winslet and dicaprio).

it seems told much more or totally (tho that would be hard) from a man's perspective.
this is because winslet's character is orbited by several men at different times, whereas each of the men sees nothing or nobody but his own self. But more importantly, as a male I was still as blind to her final motivations as i would be in a real relationship. The script didn't enlighten me at all about winslet's thinking
toward the end of the movie.

although others have argued that the movie works equally well when seen from either perspectives. see LaSalle, Mick. "Movie Review: 'Revolutionary Road' Year's Best." San Francisco Chronicle. January 2, 2009. but i wouldn't take his word on it.

there is an interesting article on Richard Yates the author of the novel, who sounds like a disaster - another familiar note. Reading this Independent article was what recommended the movie to me in the first place, so I watched it rather than another when I got the chance to watch a movie.

Sam mendes is not really up my alley. His american beauty (1999) had an appearance of striking introspection, unmitigated realism in depicting emptiness of suburban life, but to me it never really went far enough , and took silly and gratuitous turns that did not ring "real" for me.

didn't like road to perdition w/ hanks. then his involvement in the colonial kite runner , unfavors him further.

His outlook was thus stunted, and joined the line of "slice of life" realist movies that pop up every few years like grand canyon, magnolia that never quite make it to where they set out to go.

This film maybe goes a step further, but still belongs in the same fare. Not to mention that its retrospections were thoroughly co-opted by HBO's Mad Men, whose third season many are waiting for.

One of the factors that helped the film for me was that I watched it without knowing hardly anything about it. Any details i'd read in the Independent article were gone, and only some vague notion that it was up for oscar nominations or something - meaning nothing. ie, I was without any expectations other than the typical fare from its two top billers.


it was intense at times. hit familiar relationship notes sometimes.

it was like a collage of stories and situations from different relationships.

bUT IN the end, the whole still rang hollowWw.

And just like in 'American beauty', the tragedy itself is gratuitous. But that was what the drama was building up to all along, that was the story of the movie, right?
But Then the tragic end defeats the points the film was making does it not?

And there is no redemption. In this Mendes et al. remind me of that other claustrophobe, aronovsky. Why no redemption dude? Why so glum glummy?

The nihilism is literally dehumanizing.

Won't be watching it again any time soon.

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