I really would like to review the movie. Really. But after watching the first ten minutes, well, Everquest 2 seemed so much more interesting...
So I mostly absorbed it by osmosis. The premise has a lot of potential; unfortunately, Mr. Spielberg got to direct it, in his full populist mode- the same one mode that fucked up the otherwise excellent AI (think the last 10 minutes). What could have been Kafka-esque, or at least surrealist comedy, becomes an extremely predictable, uninteresting mess of half baked contrivances and scenes genetically engineered to warm the hearts of the lowest common denominator.
Let me illustrate. As I said, I pretty much tuned out pretty close to the beginning. This scene was the culprit: In what has to be one of the clumsiest exposition setpieces in recent memory, the bad guy callously eats his lunch while delivering terrible news, while our foreigner hero misunderstands comically and good-naturedly, and the news themselves are broken down so that anyone who might be able to enjoy this movie understands them... as they say around here, Bollocks! This scene alone is incitation enough to drive a nine iron straight into Spielbergs balls. Insulting, smug and unnecessary. And what the hell did women do to him? His denunciation of them all as backstabbing bitches is not a first in his work, but is disturbingly psychotic in a movie that is all rounded edges and tidy resolutions.
Anyhow, this movie doesn't deserve even these few words. It's a mercenary piece of shit with no redeeming qualities and no value whatsoever. Fuck you, Spielberg. Blow shit up good, or stay the hell away from me.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Thursday, April 21, 2005
The Machinist
It begins promisingly enough- the movie hits its stride immediately, mixing just the right amount of mystery with a black sense of humor… The bad news is, that’s the best it’s going to get (at least till the very end). Christian Bale plays the titular Machinist, a skeleton of a man who hasn't been able to sleep for a year. He's always been a good actor, but his thespian skills take a back seat here to his morbidly fascinating physical transformation into a stick drawing of a man- he looks in turns pathetic, craven, sympathetic, and just plain fucking scary. Anyhow, strange, increasingly unnatural things start happening to him, until he comes to realize that - gasp! - something is seriously fucked up with his existence.
Nothing new here. While the action is engaging, it's quite clear that there isn't a whole lot of sense to what's going on. The symbolisms are a bit obvious, and at points it just seems the director is taking elements from movies of this type and trying them out together without any thematic thread to keep it together. He keeps his tongue firmly in cheek throughout, however, and to be fair doesn't try to hide that something strange is going on in the background the way a lesser movie would.
On a higher note, watching Bale is riveting, and living proof that reality can still top CGI. And the ending is brilliant as well, even if it feels a bit of a cop out. It doesn't justify or make all the meandering that's been going on before it any more forgivable, but it's still satisfying and intelligent. While that’s not enough to recommend this over Fight Club, 6th sense, Jacob’s ladder or even Identity, it’s still a welcome diversion. And miles above crap like Rear Window.
Nothing new here. While the action is engaging, it's quite clear that there isn't a whole lot of sense to what's going on. The symbolisms are a bit obvious, and at points it just seems the director is taking elements from movies of this type and trying them out together without any thematic thread to keep it together. He keeps his tongue firmly in cheek throughout, however, and to be fair doesn't try to hide that something strange is going on in the background the way a lesser movie would.
On a higher note, watching Bale is riveting, and living proof that reality can still top CGI. And the ending is brilliant as well, even if it feels a bit of a cop out. It doesn't justify or make all the meandering that's been going on before it any more forgivable, but it's still satisfying and intelligent. While that’s not enough to recommend this over Fight Club, 6th sense, Jacob’s ladder or even Identity, it’s still a welcome diversion. And miles above crap like Rear Window.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
The Missing
The premise is as simple as can be- a mother bands up with her estranged father (who's gone indian decades ago) to rescue her daughter from a band of evil indians who are rounding up women to sell to the mexicans. That's not a bad thing; in fact, in a western, it's an asset.
So by now I'm sure you're thinking how I'm going to comment on the racist depiction of indians and mexicans in the movie... and you'd have a point (the indians turn out to be US army deserters, which I'm sure is established to salvage the image of the natives- the mexicans get no such nicety). But here we run into one of the most heartwarming and loveable (and unexpected) traits of this movie- a mile-wide sadistic streak. There are a lot of assholes in the movie, and even the heroes are not as heroic as they'd be in a lesser film.
The sparse story is rounded out nicely by the beautiful cinematography and by a propensity for taking oddball detours that make the movie feel much more than the sum of its parts. And, oh, the sadism... I lost count of the times I thought to myself- Fuck! Ron Howard directed this? Girls get beaten mercilessly, bystanders are killed without second thought, and well, let's just say there's a scene so gloriously ruthless, it left me smiling for the rest of the film. I'll leave you to guess which.
The performances are fine across the board. Kate Blanchett is a joy to watch, as always, and Tommy Lee Jones does justice to his flawed (and sadly underwritten) character. One thing I didn't mention before- Kate Blanchett's youngest daughter (10 -ish years old) tags along for the ride, and is present during the whole mission. Not once after the first ten seconds did I find this implausible, and not once did I wish her a messy, painful death. Which is a testament to both her acting and to the scriptwriter's prowess.
All in all, an enjoyable movie.
So by now I'm sure you're thinking how I'm going to comment on the racist depiction of indians and mexicans in the movie... and you'd have a point (the indians turn out to be US army deserters, which I'm sure is established to salvage the image of the natives- the mexicans get no such nicety). But here we run into one of the most heartwarming and loveable (and unexpected) traits of this movie- a mile-wide sadistic streak. There are a lot of assholes in the movie, and even the heroes are not as heroic as they'd be in a lesser film.
The sparse story is rounded out nicely by the beautiful cinematography and by a propensity for taking oddball detours that make the movie feel much more than the sum of its parts. And, oh, the sadism... I lost count of the times I thought to myself- Fuck! Ron Howard directed this? Girls get beaten mercilessly, bystanders are killed without second thought, and well, let's just say there's a scene so gloriously ruthless, it left me smiling for the rest of the film. I'll leave you to guess which.
The performances are fine across the board. Kate Blanchett is a joy to watch, as always, and Tommy Lee Jones does justice to his flawed (and sadly underwritten) character. One thing I didn't mention before- Kate Blanchett's youngest daughter (10 -ish years old) tags along for the ride, and is present during the whole mission. Not once after the first ten seconds did I find this implausible, and not once did I wish her a messy, painful death. Which is a testament to both her acting and to the scriptwriter's prowess.
All in all, an enjoyable movie.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Capturing the Friedmans
It's impressive how many times Andrew Jarecki's documentary manages to change completely in the course of less than two hours.
It starts out as a rote expose of the rotten reality beneath the placid veneer of upper-class suburban life: a postal worker detects paedophilic materials being trafficked by Arnold Friedman, esteemed citizen and father of three. After making the bust and raiding the house, evidence is discovered that the case may be much more far reaching than it seemed. Soon, however, the accusations become more and more ludicrous, and the movie starts veering towards 'Paradise lost I & II' territory; And then things start getting more complex.
The pacing is near perfect, and the structure of the movie manages to hold back revelations in such a way that when dispersed, they shock and add depth to the whole without coming off as cheap. One of the most impressive things in the movie, though, is how effectively it captures what was going on. You see, running in the family there was a Blair Witch Project-like filming fetishism, and much of their footage is liberally (and expertly) used to give insights into the situation. Best of all, Jarecki wisely stays away from the proceedings and lets the facts and the interviews speak for themselves; his bias may or may not be betrayed by some of the editing, but his work remains gloriously ambiguous- a rare treat these days.
The end result is in turns touching, sickening, infuriating and confusing, but always fascinating and, above all, thought provoking. Excellent, excellent stuff.
As an aside, I got a blue screen when finishing this review for the first time, and lost it. Guess I'm not supposed to write good reviews in here...
It starts out as a rote expose of the rotten reality beneath the placid veneer of upper-class suburban life: a postal worker detects paedophilic materials being trafficked by Arnold Friedman, esteemed citizen and father of three. After making the bust and raiding the house, evidence is discovered that the case may be much more far reaching than it seemed. Soon, however, the accusations become more and more ludicrous, and the movie starts veering towards 'Paradise lost I & II' territory; And then things start getting more complex.
The pacing is near perfect, and the structure of the movie manages to hold back revelations in such a way that when dispersed, they shock and add depth to the whole without coming off as cheap. One of the most impressive things in the movie, though, is how effectively it captures what was going on. You see, running in the family there was a Blair Witch Project-like filming fetishism, and much of their footage is liberally (and expertly) used to give insights into the situation. Best of all, Jarecki wisely stays away from the proceedings and lets the facts and the interviews speak for themselves; his bias may or may not be betrayed by some of the editing, but his work remains gloriously ambiguous- a rare treat these days.
The end result is in turns touching, sickening, infuriating and confusing, but always fascinating and, above all, thought provoking. Excellent, excellent stuff.
As an aside, I got a blue screen when finishing this review for the first time, and lost it. Guess I'm not supposed to write good reviews in here...
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