Saturday, January 14, 2012
The Muppets
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Amberly, Jordan, Michael
While I have some problems with the ending I think overall this was a pretty great film and a welcome addition to the Muppet canon. It feels like much more of a musical than their other films, despite the abundance of singing. There is also a great deal of time spent with humans than the actual muppets. Overall it feels like a nice set up for more.
James Bobin does a fine job and his direction coupled with Bret McKenzie's songs does make it feel very Flight of the Conchords, but still most of the songs are catchier than a lot of the Muppets' previous output.
Once again, it's filled with bad puns and silly humour, a few songs and a lot of celebrity cameos. And a few nice references to past films and how much the world has changed since their last outings. It was great to watch the originals again before seeing this.
I didn't really care much about the human storylines but they all did a fine job.
Oh and added bonus, you get the next Toy Story short before the feature. Neat.
The Great Muppet Caper
Taxi Driver
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Amberly, Jordan
So what to do after coming home from Hugo? Well put on the shiny new bluray of Taxi Driver of course. It's a logical step. And it looks great too.
It's been quite a while since I last watched this title. It was one of the few early Scorsese films that really appealed to me. I've never been able to engage in mob crime dramas or boxing so this was always my favourite. That and I just love love love Bernard Herrmann scores and the was his last. And it's a masterpiece too.
Fascinating character, an understatement I'm sure. Harvey Keitel is sleazy as hell in this and Jodie Foster is so natural. But the scene I always come back to is when Martin Scorsese is in the back seat. He's awesome.
New York in the 70's looks like a real shithole. It's great.
Hugo
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Amberly, Jordan
More propaganda from Martin Scorsese for his film preservation society.
I enjoyed the movie however perhaps not as much as I was hoping too. I found it perfectly sweet and all and of course absolutely loved everything to do with Georges Méliès, which was really the main reason I wanted to see the film. The other was to see Martin Scorsese in 3D land and boy it's something to behold. Even in the crappy Dolby Digital 3D cinema I saw it in. And to see those silent shorts cleaned up and some subtly put into 3D is rather a treat as well.
Where I have problems with the film is the kids and their story. I've never liked Asa Butterfield and while I've loved Chloë Grace Moretz before I didn't find the two of them at all interesting. Nor did I appreciate the side stories around the station that didn't seem to serve any purpose other than get some famous actors in the film and pad the running time. Oh and perhaps give the kids something to find amusing. I mean really, for a film that's advertised as a kids adventure I don't know how many would be able to sit through all the dialogue and a film history lecture, fascinating though it may be.
But I loved everything with Ben Kingsley and Helen McCrory. I loved all the recreations of those shorts and seeing excerpts from A Trip to the Moon on the big screen, an added bonus.
On the technical side of things the film is just immaculate. The production design is gorgeous, the lighting beautiful. I've mentioned the 3D and it's worth mentioning again. Awesome. The FX work is really great, the score by Howard Shore is really nice and I love the colour palette they went for which is rather reminiscent of a Technicolor two strip from the period.
There's a lot to enjoy here and while some things never clicked for me I'd still like to give it another look, if only to see the 3D again.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Mimic
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself
Quick write up.
Finally got around to listening to that commentary and it is awesome. One of the best film lectures I've ever heard. I'd love to have heard some opposing arguments from "unnamed producers" but Guillermo del Toro seems fairly on the level.
He also explains his intentions much better and you can see shadows of them in the film but ultimately they don't come across. I love that he also references the release of The Relic.
This is a really great commentary and essential listening to any aspiring filmmakers in my opinion.
Cure
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler
Write Up.
I don't like police procedurals that much but this is right up there with Seven and Silence of the Lambs for me. It's so unsettling. I've said it before and I shall continue to sing this film's praise. Find a copy and watch it. It's ok, I'll wait.
Done? How friggin' cool was that?!?! Told ya.
Captain America: The First Avenger
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself
First post.
Was listening to the commentary while I worked today. These guys all talk about the film like it's just another job for them. I know a lot of them have been in the biz for such a long time it probably is but hell, even Ridley Scott talking about Legend seemed more enthused. I hope I never get complacent like that, I just love movie too much.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
The Descendants
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself
It was alright, I expected something more from Alexander Payne though.
Legend
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself
Write Up.
I just got the Ultimate Edition bluray from the U.S. and can confirm I've been listening to Tangerine Dream's score my entire life. The Jerry Goldsmith score in the European/director's cut it far superior. Although what little I heard was interrupted by Ridley Scott's commentary, which has some nice info on it.
Such an otherworldly film.
Melancholia
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler, Josh, Jordan, Amberly, Cicely, Warren, John
Previous Post.
Watching this with a more intimate crowd, the first half really played for laughs this time. You know what, it is pretty damn funny. The Wagner gets a little dreary though. I want Alexander Skarsgård to buy me an apple grove.
Antichrist
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler
Previous Post.
I can really see now why people would label this as anti-feminist, watching it this time from the women are nature and nature is evil perspective. But I see it more as a horror film and this is very conceit it's playing with. Not really an issue for me. I still umm and ahh throughout though.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Fountain
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler
My number 1 film from 2007. Again, perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but I absolutely adore it. It's also the last time Darren Aronofsky was so formal with is visuals and my lord they are rather staggering here. There is a very specific colour palette and many repeated visual motifs that link the three stories together.
As intrigued as I am to have seen what the massive $70 million blockbuster version of the story starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in 2002 would have looked like, I really love the performances of Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz and can't really imagine anyone else in the roles now. I find Hugh Jackman suitably devastating.
Someone described this as a love letter to death and while that sounds rather morbid it does fit in a way. It's certainly the most beautiful film about death I've ever seen. Watch it and see what you make of it.
Waking Life
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Amberly, Jordan, Tyler
Richard Linklater's highly experimental musings on dreams realised with an awesomely trippy rotoscoped animation technique that was later refined for when he made A Scanner Darkly. I saw the twice at the cinema on it's release and remember walking out into the street after and everything was still slowly undulating about like the animation.
It's a series of interviews and conversations or speeches on a lot of big ideas, especially at the beginning. The beauty of it is you don't have to grasp exactly what these people are talking about, you can let it wash over you or just enjoy the animation. Eventually something resembling a narrative thread begins to manifest that links these ideas together. For some people, that's not needed, they are happy just to watch intellectual conversations, but for me I cling to that narrative, however much I'm self-constructing it. And it works either way. This is a film made for multiple interpretations.
I know the animation style puts a lot of people off, but I really like it. I also LOVE the soundtrack done by Glover Gill and the Tosca Tango Orchestra. This was also exciting for me when it came out in 2001 because it was probably the first film I saw in a cinema that I knew was cut and edited on a computer with software exactly the same specs as my own at the time. Makes the dream seem that much more reachable.
It's a hard film to categorise and certainly not for everyone but if you are in the mood for some existential thinking then I highly recommend you give it a try. It's extremely rewarding for some. And as a bonus you get a conversation between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy which I like to believe is just a deleted scene from Before Sunrise. I hear Linklater is contemplating a third in that series and I hope they make it so.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Black Snake Moan
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Amberly, Jordan, Tyler, Josh
This is a film a lot of people passed over when it came out but I really liked. It's such a delightfully exploitative set up and yet it has some real drama and genuine heart. Christina Ricci, Samuel L. Jackson and even Justin Timberlake give great performances.
Craig Brewer, who's last three films are all threatening to take one more step and become a full blown musical (hell, Footloose even was suppsoed to be one...) makes some fairly large characters and blatant imagery work for me. His love of the south and music is prevalent here again too.
What seems to be a sleazy grindhouse premise actually turns out to be sincere and sweet. It's a beautiful little film and if you missed it, you should check it out.
North by Northwest
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Amberly, Jordan
Oh man Cary Grant is such a dick but very funny. I'll admit I never really cared for Jimmy Stuart, so I'm glad he's not in this. But of course, the best is James Mason who just makes everything he does the epitome of cool.
A classic Hitchcock mistaken identity thriller, and while it's not one of my favourites it's certainly one I'm quite fond of. The crop duster in the corn field scene has been parodied more times than I care to remember and it is rather iconic. Oh and a climax on the Washington Monument that's pretty awesome too. And in between that we get some of the most hilarious banter infused with so much sexual innuendo between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint that it almost makes you believe people would find Cary Grant's fake tan so appealing. Or that she was 26.
OK, I'm sure that's just the makeup they used at the time but the technicolor film really hilights the reds which doesn't do him any favours. The newly restored bluray looks great and is filled with awesome extras. I've had it for a while now but never actually got around to watching the feature. You can really see the rear projection now in scenes that I might not have noticed it before. Sure you expect it in cars but they also use it just walking down the street or train station, or airport.
When I watch Panic Room I always think of their title sequence as a modern update of the titles the great Saul Bass did from this. And once again Bernard Herrmann provides an awesome score. All around, this one is a lot of fun and great to catch up on again. I hope they start releasing more of the master of suspense's work on bluray soon!
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