Jun 28, 2009
Jun 14, 2009
#221: Delta (2008)
If I were to summarize this movie, it'd be that it's a movie about a guy who comes back home from an unknown place and starts to build a house on a river. His sister helps him. She has a pet turtle. For the most part, they build the house by themselves but eventually finish it with a little help from a few other town folks.
That's pretty much it.
Well, here's the problem. It has an ending that, while not a total surprise, completely conflicts with the movie's serene and understated tone. In fact, it felt abrupt, rendering the movie to pretty much, well, the above summary. So the movie makes no sense whatsoever. And I'm willing to ignore the turtle that is possibly being symbolic of ... a lot of things.
It's too bad because I really enjoyed the cinematography and the serene pacing.
Jun 11, 2009
#215: The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人)(1958)
In the Nobody's-Perfect department, this is the first Akira Kurosawa movie that I felt very underwhelmed and was quite bored for most of the movie. According to the trivia page on IMDB, this movie was made as a way for Kurosawa to repay Toho for letting him make movies like Rashomon and The Seven Samaurai. There, I guess I feel better. Still, it was disheartening and made me doubt my judgement. I wasn't a big fan of Throne of Blood (aka. Spiderweb Castle) but was fascinated by its story and the parallel to MacBeth. Every other Kurosawa are just about excellent.
Instead of dwelling on my irritation with the two clowning peasants in the movie, I'll just mention the parts I like. There's the typical Kurosawa bleak outlook on humanity sprinkled throughout -- particularly right around the border checkpoint. The fire festival scenes were pretty amazing, with Toshiro Mifune dancing! And finally, I was thrilled by the horseback combat scenes that is as good any battle scene from The Seven Samurai.
Jun 10, 2009
Jun 8, 2009
#213: Rebel without a Cause (1955)
This movie must have been some kind of breakthrough in theme and stereotypes back in the 50s, with a rebellious kid, a wimpy dad, a pill mom, a nerdy kid, etc. I can't help but feel it's like a movie from the 80s, and after forcing myself watching an hour, I pretty much fast-forwarded through the remaining 40 minutes. Sorry Nick Ray, and Jimmy Dean, but this movie is quite dated.
#212: This Gun for Hire (1941)
The viewing suffered because I've heard such great things about this movie, so expectations were through the roof. Also, since it stars Veronica Lake, my brain automatically shifted to Sullivan's Travels mode. Ah... anyway, this noir is merely above average, with the initial plot setup feeling very draggy. Movie finally picks up when Alan Ladd was paired up with Lake and both were on the run from the police. Ladd's character was lauded as one infamous psychotic killer, but it just didn't cut it for me. Adding to the problem, his character explained how he had become who he was. Meh. Still, the chase through the streets and a factory was very nicely done. Not nearly enough to make this a great film noir, however.
Jun 7, 2009
#209: Hotel (2004)
This movie is, in a nutshell, a very long short film based on the above image, even at 70 minutes. It successfully creates a great sense of dread and mystery, but never goes anywhere with it. One might argue that it leaves to one's imagination, to which I say then the above image -- which is also used in the poster -- is just as sufficient.
I don't quite remember why I decided to watch this. Somehow Jessica Hausner, the director, was mentioned along side with Michael Haneke, Ulrich Seidl, and Götz Spielmann while I was reading about Austrian cinema. She definitely doesn't belong to the same list. While I'm not a big fan of Haneke, his movies are often fascinating in ideas and construction.
#207: Japanese Girls at the Harbor (港の日本娘)(1933)
This is one very confusing movie for what is really a simple story of a classic love triangle involving two Japanese girls and Japanese man. In the first act, where it depicts the friendship between the girls and the man's character, the movie relies on a lot of artsy editing and adds many side characters. This was very confusing due to a million title cards being shown (it's a silent movie) without identifying characters. Finally, the movie gets interesting when the dilemma and struggles of the relationship between the two once-best friends and the man are laid out. Still nothing truly breakthrough here either. It's here that I should add that I've had great expectation over this movie. Its director, Hiroshi Shimizu, was a great director -- a quote from Kenji Mizoguchi proclaims that he and Yasujiro Ozu worked hard for their movies while Shimizu made masterpieces with greatest of ease. I will have to try another Shimizu later on.
Jun 3, 2009
#205: Joshua (2007)
How is it possible to make a bad remake of The Bad Seed when movies are no longer under the scrutiny of Joe Breen? I suppose the problems may lay in overemphasis in style and atmosphere instead of storytelling. This movie is very pretty to look at, and for the most part creates an atmosphere of creepiness and dread. That's pretty much it however. It doesn't attempt to stir up anything until nearing the end, about 100 minutes after we the audience have been waiting to happen. The kid was so obviously evil that while the parents in the movie can't do a thing about the matter, we didn't have to suffer just like them. It was just a frustrating movie-watching experience.
Jun 2, 2009
Jun 1, 2009
#202: Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)
This is a bittersweet movie of an attempt to comeback by the Canadian band Anvil in 2006. Comments have been made that it's a documentary version of This is Spinal Tap, and indeed there are references to "11" and the Stonehenge. Also, one of the dude's name is Robb Reiner. However if you expect it to just hilarious or satiric, it isn't -- not unless you are a cruel sense of humor and thinking that lives going nowhere at 50 is funny. This is an enjoyable and heartfelt doc on the band's latest less-than-successful European tour and its attempt to release the 13th album that culminated in a Tokyo concert. We also get to see the lives of and relationships between the two life-long friends/members Reiner and Steve "Lips" Kudlow, but this is a simple doc that doesn't try to dig into any sordid topic and stick to telling a good story. And that's just fine.
#200: Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008)
The title refers to the two primary gang groups in Los Angeles. However, this movie is less about the two gangs, but rather more on the history and the role of African Americans in LA/Southern California. Or to quote Helen Lovejoy: Would somebody please think of the Children??!The movie does bring up the fascinating aspect of African Americans in southern California. It's a history of post-World War II migration, economic boom, and social decline after the heavy industries closed shops gradually. They were well-to-do, but are susceptible to economic downturns due to "having jobs instead of careers," quipped one neighborhood volunteer. Both the Watts (South Central) and the Rodney King riots were discussed in great details. The fact that the youth had nothing to cling to, both career and ideology wise, was attributed as a cause. It's at this point that the movie lost me. It switched from an exploration of historic role of African Americans to exclusively a humanist story. I understand the reason, and why make a movie about gangs without trying to uproot the causes? Still, I would have preferred a more subtle approach, and a little less Helen-Lovejoyness.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)