Wages Of Fear 9/10
Assassination (Shinoda) 6/10
A samurai film that’s more concerned with lengthy exposition and legal technicalities than engaging the viewer. On one hand, it’s a good thing that the film isn’t manipulative — it never gives the viewer a reason to favor either the shogunate or the empire, or preaches about the problems of the system in general. On the other hand, the film doesn’t give any emotional grip to the viewer at all. We don’t care what happens to the characters, we’re never emotionally engaged in either the outcome or the philosophical implications of the plot. It all comes off as dry exposition about a place and time in history.
Okay Jirin,
Long time ago, KJ requested I watch William Friedkin’s 1977 remake of Wages Of Fear called Sorcerer.
Now I will challenge you to watch Sorcerer and report your findings.
Added to my Netflix queue.
It might take me a while to get around to it.
Okay, you have accepted the challenge – we await your findings.
Alice in Wonderland – 2010 – 2/10
Well, I guess it is some kind of accomplishment when EVERY creative choice involved in making a movie is completely wrong.
Angela’s Ashes 1999
DIR Alan Parker
SCR Laura Jones
DP Michael Seresin
CAST Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Michael Legge, Ciaran Owens, Joe Breen
MUSIC John Williams
145 Min
This was pretty bad, probably why I waited 12 years before watching it.
Not as bad as I expected though – it only gets bad when he gets lucky, which is accentuated with the VO saying: “I got lucky.”
I think that aspect of the story should have been subverted in the screenwriting.
5/10
Biutiful – 10/10
Vampires (Director: Vincent Lannoo)
2/5
Quite possibly the most broad portrayal of vampires since “Dracula: Dead and Loving It”, “Vampires” is essentiay “We are What We are” done as a borderline ridiculous mockumentary about a family of vampires. The film’s only saving grace is ironically the teenage daughter character named Grace. She’s good, the movie isn’t. Way too silly for me.
I also saw a good portion of the Liam Neeson movie Unknown. Decent though not really for me, either.
Sunday’s Children (writer, Ingmar Bergman; director, Daniel Bergman) 4.5/5
First time I’ve seen this since its original theatre release, and I definitely appreciate it more now. It’s basically two days based on Ingmar Bergman’s childhood, with flash forwards to some 40 years later.
While Best Intentions focused on his parents, this one is on his relationship with his father. The usual Bergman themes are all here, but the pace and mood are far less dramatic than usual, which I found interesting.
Again the feeling of time and place are very strong.
Get Low 7.5/10
Patented, solid Duvall performance, with Lucas Black and Sissy Spacek hitting the right notes—but of course the real treat is Bill Murray as the undertaker, with a Franklin Pangborn mustache and a heart of almost-gold. Having him with this cast must do wonders for Six Degrees of KB.
I saw the devil rating:4.95/5
I would go a little higher on Get Low. The “funeral” scene was a bit heavy handed for me, but most of it was well done, and, as noted, Murray was fantastic
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
DIR Sofia Coppola
PROD Francis Ford Coppola, Julie Costanzo, Dan Halsted, Chris Hanley
SCR Sofia Coppola, Jeffrey Eugenides
DP Edward Lachman
CAST James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Danny DeVito, Josh Hartnett, Scott Glenn, Paré, A.J. Cook, Hanna Hall, Leslie Hayman, Chelse Swain, Giovanni Ribisi, Jonathan Tucker, Hayden Christensen
MUSIC Air
97 Min
An anonymous first-person-plural detective narration searching coming-of-age rituals for meaning. In a material sense the searched-for-meaning can never be found. Found only is a folding over of perception by memory, for both the viewer and the narrator – a feeling of apperception. The film is about how rituals enhance the participatory notion of spectatorship. Trip becomes a spectator to his own experience, made ‘weird’ by the its ritualistic enhancement. Adult Trip Fontaine:
I walked home alone that night. I didn’t care how she got home. It was weird.
I mean, I liked her, I liked her a lot, but out there on the field…it was just different then.
That was the last time I saw her. You know, most people will never taste that kind of love. But at least I tasted it once, right?
I wanted to give this a 10, but I had to take a point off for the priest-at-home-scene that said: “institutional rituals can’t work here”.
9/10
On the other hand, the film doesn’t give any emotional grip to the viewer at all. We don’t care what happens to the characters, we’re never emotionally engaged in either the outcome or the philosophical implications of the plot. It all comes off as dry exposition about a place and time in history.
Uhhhh… Shinoda’s film is about nihilism…
Where does a filmmaker place the emotional center in a film that posits there aren’t emotions in the first place?
Point. Missed.
“The film is about how rituals enhance the participatory notion of spectatorship.”
Overly long and “decorative” analysis on a simplistic film like The Virgin Suicides is.
The Tree of Life – 9.5
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Dir. Michael Bay
34/100
Another one of many action films that proves that big explosions, action sequence and effects are boring without a good story. The only positive I could say about the film is that it was intentionally made for pre-teens. Then again, that’s really not a good excuse for the poor story/script. One last thing: I didn’t think the direction was that problem (as in the use of camera, editing, sound, etc.). It might be interesting to see Bay direct a film with a good story/script.
Boogie Nights, 9/10
Boogie Nights, 9/10
@Archie
If that was the point of the film, it wasn’t a very good point. It came off as a lot of action for action’s sake and dull exposition of the pedantic nuances of samurai culture. The only character who seemed like he had no emotions was the main character. The one thing I appreciated most about the film was how everybody was trying to figure out his motives when really he was just a sociopath finding reasons to kill.
Way to foster constructive discussion about the film tho!
The Speed of Thought (Director: Evan Oppenheimer)
4.5/5
a neat but strange sci-fi flick that is pretty much a cross between “Logan’s Run”, “The Adjustment Bureau” and “Blade Runner” and it’s a fun flick with good performances but I wonder if maybe it’s so complex and complicated that it could possibly be better suited as a weekly tv series. Nevertheless, I dug it.
A film all sci-fi loving Mubians should check out!
Woman In The Dunes 10/10
Ulysses’ Gaze 1995
DIR Theodoros Angelopoulos
SCR Giorgio Silvagni, Theodoros Angelopoulos
DP Giorgos Arvanitis, Andreas Sinanos
CAST Harvey Keitel, Erland Josephson, Maia Morgenstern, Thanasis Vengos, Giorgos Mihalakopoulos, Costas Santas, Dora Volanaki
MUSIC Eleni Karaindrou
176 Min
9/10
“If that was the point of the film, it wasn’t a very good point. It came off as a lot of action for action’s sake and dull exposition of the pedantic nuances of samurai culture.”
So, the constant addition of nihilist meaninglessness was meaningless to you?
Uhhh… Point. Made.
“The only character who seemed like he had no emotions was the main character.”
So, the only character that exhibited a style of nihilism that was accepted by you was the main character?
Uhhh… Point. Made.
“The one thing I appreciated most about the film was how everybody was trying to figure out his motives when really he was just a sociopath finding reasons to kill.”
The thing you appreciated was a violent murderer trying to justify his violence and murder in a world of meaningless, nihilist, violent death and murder?
Uhhh… Point. Made.
The film is nihilist in inception. Your rejection of that nihilism is proof of the films’ success, not its failure…
+Robert’s awesomeness about Ulysses’ Gaze!!! One of the most moving films I’ve ever seen.
You’re 16, right? I can’t imagine somebody older than that using exclamatory periods and ‘Uhh…’ that way.
Since when did the killer try to justify his violence? He just kind of murdered people at any excuse and walked away. Most of the characters in the film were grasping for power, title and respect, which is pretty typical for samurai films. And even if all your points. are. made. It doesn’t make the film any less dull, expository, and unfocused. I’ll even agree with you that the film was about nihilism. It was executed blandly and uninterestingly.
In Vanda’s Room 8/10
There are a lot of awesome points about the film. The realistic view of poverty in a miserable area, the resignation, the deprivation, the constant drug use and sickness, and oh, the camera angles. The problem which keeps it from being a 9 or a 10 is that it’s too uneventful to be three hours long.
MEEK’S CUTOFF! 10/10!!!!
MEEK’S CUTOFF! 10/10!!!!
^ Yes. Love to discuss that film with you.
Please don’t stare at my DP. It’s just like you.
Michael F.
“Whereas that film treats the opera as a reflection of divine inspiration, this one depicts the nitty-gritty of human effort that forms the backbone of the creative process.”
True, but of course one film is about the world of Mozart, the other Gilbert and Sullivan, so I imagine their inspirations did come from different places. Great film.