Friday 2 March 2012
Monday 9 January 2012
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
8/10 | IMDb | Steven Spielberg
"Tintin" builds from modest joys to top tier Spielberg, then goes on for another twenty minutes. Those with their wits about them won't let a disappointing finale spoil their appreciation of the rest. Spielberg might be too tethered to his experience in live action to validate the form, but it doesn't matter in the face of the kineticism and heart that have become his hallmark.
"Tintin" builds from modest joys to top tier Spielberg, then goes on for another twenty minutes. Those with their wits about them won't let a disappointing finale spoil their appreciation of the rest. Spielberg might be too tethered to his experience in live action to validate the form, but it doesn't matter in the face of the kineticism and heart that have become his hallmark.
Auto Focus (2002)
1/10 | IMDb | Paul Schrader
I think in future I won't bother to watch bad movies all the way through. I've had the same idea before but I've not been able to follow through on it because it's hard. I want to see every movie to the end no matter how bad it is. It's a sickness. I should have stopped "Auto Focus" as soon as I realised what I was in for but I didn't. I'll regret it for at least a week.
I think in future I won't bother to watch bad movies all the way through. I've had the same idea before but I've not been able to follow through on it because it's hard. I want to see every movie to the end no matter how bad it is. It's a sickness. I should have stopped "Auto Focus" as soon as I realised what I was in for but I didn't. I'll regret it for at least a week.
Sunday 8 January 2012
The Incredibles 2: Hot Blonde with Bangs - The Movie (2011)
6/10 | IMDb | Brad Bird
Doug Benson said on his most recent podcast that Brad Bird did a pretty good job for his first live action movie and I more or less agree. There were some cool cartoonish moments but it's too similar to previous entries in the series to stand out.
I learned from "Ghost Protocol" (though I should have known it already) that I shouldn't expect great actors to do anything of interest in blockbusters like these. I like Jeremy Renner and will continue to as long as he can balance roles worthy of his talent with easy money but those who don't know of his previous work won't find anything of note about him here. I wish Tom Wilkinson would do something other than appear in big budget movies for five minutes or so because he's capable of so much more. I love Michael Blomkvist but there's no reason for his inclusion in the cast outside of to lure in fans of the "Girl..." movies.
I might have liked this better if Brad Bird's name wasn't on it. I liked it alright but I was disappointed.
Doug Benson said on his most recent podcast that Brad Bird did a pretty good job for his first live action movie and I more or less agree. There were some cool cartoonish moments but it's too similar to previous entries in the series to stand out.
I learned from "Ghost Protocol" (though I should have known it already) that I shouldn't expect great actors to do anything of interest in blockbusters like these. I like Jeremy Renner and will continue to as long as he can balance roles worthy of his talent with easy money but those who don't know of his previous work won't find anything of note about him here. I wish Tom Wilkinson would do something other than appear in big budget movies for five minutes or so because he's capable of so much more. I love Michael Blomkvist but there's no reason for his inclusion in the cast outside of to lure in fans of the "Girl..." movies.
I might have liked this better if Brad Bird's name wasn't on it. I liked it alright but I was disappointed.
Saturday 7 January 2012
SECRET REVIEW - Half Nelson (2006)
8/10 | IMDb | Ryan Fleck
Ryan Gosling delivers one of his better performances in a movie so good I can't believe it's from Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, writers and directors of "It's Kind of a Funny Story." I didn't relate to the race stuff here because I don't live in the States, but as a study of addiction it's as honest as middlebrow indie films get.
Gosling's ever escalating cocaine habit doesn't make a monster of him, but instead makes chaos of his emotions. Anyone who's ever drank alcohol or coffee should know that recreational drugs alter not personality but mood yet time and time again the makers of movies on the subject make the same mistake and inadvertently reveal their own delusions and prejudices. It's unfortunate that this in itself qualifies "Half Nelson" as essential viewing. Gosling is written as a good person afflicted by a self destructive streak of which his habit is a consequence (if it wasn't coke it would be something else) and in doing so Fleck/Boden avert the great fallacy of drugs in themselves ruining people's lives, as opposed to people ruining their own lives with drugs.
How did Fleck/Boden go from writing and directing this to more or less reimagining "Girl, Interrupted" with Galifianakis filling Whoopi Goldberg's shoes? They've abandoned humanism in favor of Hollywood convention and in doing so have disqualified themselves from artistic credibility.
Ryan Gosling delivers one of his better performances in a movie so good I can't believe it's from Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, writers and directors of "It's Kind of a Funny Story." I didn't relate to the race stuff here because I don't live in the States, but as a study of addiction it's as honest as middlebrow indie films get.
Gosling's ever escalating cocaine habit doesn't make a monster of him, but instead makes chaos of his emotions. Anyone who's ever drank alcohol or coffee should know that recreational drugs alter not personality but mood yet time and time again the makers of movies on the subject make the same mistake and inadvertently reveal their own delusions and prejudices. It's unfortunate that this in itself qualifies "Half Nelson" as essential viewing. Gosling is written as a good person afflicted by a self destructive streak of which his habit is a consequence (if it wasn't coke it would be something else) and in doing so Fleck/Boden avert the great fallacy of drugs in themselves ruining people's lives, as opposed to people ruining their own lives with drugs.
How did Fleck/Boden go from writing and directing this to more or less reimagining "Girl, Interrupted" with Galifianakis filling Whoopi Goldberg's shoes? They've abandoned humanism in favor of Hollywood convention and in doing so have disqualified themselves from artistic credibility.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
6/10 | IMDb | Steven Spielberg
The third "Indiana Jones" is nowhere near as nerve wracking as the second which I think stems from a misguided desire to pander to fans of the first. "The Last Crusade" corrects the most grating missteps of "Temple of Doom" but it doesn't matter when you consider that treading water shouldn't be held in the same esteem as innovation.
The third "Indiana Jones" is nowhere near as nerve wracking as the second which I think stems from a misguided desire to pander to fans of the first. "The Last Crusade" corrects the most grating missteps of "Temple of Doom" but it doesn't matter when you consider that treading water shouldn't be held in the same esteem as innovation.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
8/10 | IMDb | Steven Spielberg
Discussions of Spielberg's unapologetic sentimentalism often prompt apologists to point to "Jaws." Why don't they ever mention the superior "Raiders of the Lost Ark"? After the failure of "1941," I suspect Spielberg became a little bitter and a lot less preoccupied what the audience would think, if only because I can't think of any better way to explain "Raiders," a movie so lacking in polish and focus that it wouldn't be released by a major studio today without first being ruined in post. There's a great feeling to it that we should attribute to Spielberg's recklessness and freedom, an attitude which happens to manifest itself in a diminished interest on his part in obscuring his own sleight of hand, revealing the clearest window into his mind to date and the great extent of his fluency in the language of cinema better than ever before or since. The degree to which this offsets his lack of real insight into human behavior/emotion is a discussion for another time.
"Temple of Doom" never had a chance of matching its predecessor. Not even someone as talented as Spielberg can recreate the kind of wild inspiration that made "Radiers" so great. Instead of xeroxing its template as would a lesser director, he abandons its realtive genre reverie for sustained white knuckle tension I won't compare to anything else for fear of understating or overstating the case.
Discussions of Spielberg's unapologetic sentimentalism often prompt apologists to point to "Jaws." Why don't they ever mention the superior "Raiders of the Lost Ark"? After the failure of "1941," I suspect Spielberg became a little bitter and a lot less preoccupied what the audience would think, if only because I can't think of any better way to explain "Raiders," a movie so lacking in polish and focus that it wouldn't be released by a major studio today without first being ruined in post. There's a great feeling to it that we should attribute to Spielberg's recklessness and freedom, an attitude which happens to manifest itself in a diminished interest on his part in obscuring his own sleight of hand, revealing the clearest window into his mind to date and the great extent of his fluency in the language of cinema better than ever before or since. The degree to which this offsets his lack of real insight into human behavior/emotion is a discussion for another time.
"Temple of Doom" never had a chance of matching its predecessor. Not even someone as talented as Spielberg can recreate the kind of wild inspiration that made "Radiers" so great. Instead of xeroxing its template as would a lesser director, he abandons its realtive genre reverie for sustained white knuckle tension I won't compare to anything else for fear of understating or overstating the case.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)