Miles Messervy 007
Posts: 6870
Joined: 11/2/2009
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Second and last update for August (with three films from early September). Another Paul, Miles, and a haiku.
8. Gladiator (2000, R. Scott)
It's been a while for me, but IMO, this (to be specific, the super-duper extended edition) is probably the greatest epic of the past decade, a decade which, at its best, probably exceeded the genre's former glory (think LOTR, Hero, and a film that will be (sort of) reviewed below). Not only is it gorgeously shot (with CGI which pretty much single-handedly justifies the use of computers in films), and brilliantly acted (by Crowe, Phoenix, Reed and Harris in particular), and has fantastically entertaining battle scenes ("Are you not entertained?" indeed), and a great score (even though it sounds like a combination of Holst and Zimmer's score for "The Rock", and of course it was later recycled for "Pirates") but it also has great writing, and something most blockbusters seem to lack - a brain. Also, historical inaccuracies be damned (and they're a dime a dozen here), Roman Empire is a fantastic setting for a big budget film. Definitely a favourite of mine.
82. Il gattopardo [The Leopard] (1963, Visconti)
First of all, breathtakingly gorgeous, especially the cinema print I watched. Perhaps in the top 20 widescreen movies I've ever seen in terms of cinematography. The music is also wonderful and the cast is very impressive (though the 3 leads have all been better elsewhere (SSoS, LS, OUATITW), their performances didn't disappoint (and also, Cardinale and Delon are two of the most beautiful people ever)).
However, it doesn't quite live up to the promise of its first hour, never fully justifying its extensive running length. The influences on Coppola are obvious, but The Godfather (which has a similar running time) never feels like a slog whereas this had me checking my watch towards the end. It's not that it's ever totally uninteresting - the screenplay is frequently just as great as the visuals and performances, but films with extensive run-times benefit from changes of scenery in my experience. Perhaps retaining the latter parts of the novel (which I haven't read yet) would make it more tolerable. As it stands, I certainly want to see more Visconti, it's just I wish this had a heart behind the beautiful skin.
95. Once (2006, Carney)
Great music, but slightly one-note (I know it's not story oriented, but the way for example it sets up a conflict with the studio guy ("bunch of fucking oddballs") and then just has him amazed by the music is too twee for my taste). The ending is gorgeous though.
98. Zabriskie Point (1970, Antonioni)
Weird and wonderful (and beautiful with a brilliant soundtrack), but the weakest Antonioni I've seen so far. Very messy compared to his trilogy, probably because of the language and studio conflicts. Maybe a re-watch will improve things, not that it's remotely bad, of course.
117. Inception (2010, Nolan)
It's alright.
125. Kingdom of Heaven (2005, R. Scott)
The film I mentioned in the Gladiator review. Unfortunately, I watched the shorter cut which is noticeably clunky, but I never got the vitriol against Bloom and the supporting cast is brilliant, the battles exciting, and again, while it's bullshit historically, it's interesting and intelligent.
159. Crank: High Voltage (2009, Neveldine/Taylor)
utterly fucked up
agressive stupidity
super inventive
161. Primer (2004, Carruth)
Not sure about this one. It's admirable that Carruth made it for just $7000 and did a shitload of work for it (though until I checked later, I thought he played the other main character), but that doesn't really affect the quality of the film. What does is the technobabble, which in my opinion is pointless since time travel isn't possible anyway, and only aims to make the film so confusing that you don't really get what's going on until a re-watch, and the thing is, I'm not sure I care enough to re-watch it. Ethical considerations of time travel are fine, I guess, but give me Calvin and his time travel cardboard box any day. The film certainly has a right to exist, but I don't get the admiration, let's put it that way.
165. The Wrestler (2008, Aronofsky)
I wanted to see Pi from Aronofsky first, but a friend had this and wanted to watch it. It's pretty good, but a bit nondescript. The performances are good (though I'm not sure about Wood's), but the story feels recycled, and I really don't care about wrestling (I mean, if the matches are fixed beforehand, how can you become obscure as long as you're popular?). I'd rather watch Sin City for a "new Rourke", though this is occasionally moving (like when he peps himself up for the deli stand by imagining cheers) and has a good ending (I think he dies). Definitely looking forward to his less orthodox stuff now.
173. Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972, Allen)
The vignettes are of varying quality and only moderately funny, but I guess you gotta admire the level of invention here - the last segment in particular is a beauty (with Burt Reynolds as a brain cell and Woody as a sperm), and I liked the Italian one and the game show and the doctor's castle. The Wilder segment in particular though is too long and WTF-ish, but the whole thing is definitely worth it after all.
181. Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008, Allen)
Slightly better on the re-watch - a sort of Rohmer-esque series of conversations about love, but Rohmer's films that I've seen have neither the super-annoying voiceovers nor the occasionally hyper-clunky dialogue (I mean, "Let's not get into one of those turgid categorical imperative arguments", WTF?). Barcelona is shot beautifully though, the performances are all good (and it doesn't hurt having two of the hottest modern actresses in it), but I can't get past the thought that this is just another shrink-appointment-film for Allen, and it's nowhere near as funny or interesting as his classic ones.
186. The Last King of Scotland (2006, Macdonald)
Ridiculous story (which claims to be true which adds to the insult), boring, badly directed. The acting is solid but nothing Oscar-worthy there. Yeah, no, thanks, see White Material instead. Still want to see Touching the Void though.
< Message edited by Miles Messervy 007 -- 3/9/2010 2:20:44 PM >
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Miles is clearly the finest film theorist of his generation
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if it isn't ham, I'll eat a living pig.
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