Cinephile
I can only write the following after watching There Will Be Blood:
DANIEL. DAY. LEWIS.
DANIEL. DAY. LEWIS.
DANIEL. DAY. LEWIS.
DANIEL. DAY. LEWIS.
DANIEL. DAY. LEWIS.
permalink | Comment | film | 01/25/2008
The predictability of stupidity
It’s my personal belief that there are no good movies released between the months of January and April. You wouldn’t find me inside of a theater at that time unless the movie is up for best picture at the Oscars. So, it comes at no surprise that Epic Movie took over the box office this weekend. Honestly, these four months are the cinematic wasteland that is used for mafia’s money laundering and for alimony checks.
However, it’s the best time to watch movies that were released in bigger cities in December. Sure, I have to travel an hour to see them, but most of the time it’s worth the trip. This was the case when I watched Pan’s Labyrinth last Thursday. It’s so engaging (especially for someone like me who is greatly interested in Franco Spain), and it’s a cleverly disguised war movie. Sure, there was the fairy tale aspect of it, but the family/revolution story was the most fascinating.
permalink | Comment | film | 01/29/2007
Critically acclaimed
I don’t know why I put my life into the hands of movie critics. In the last two weeks, I watch six films that averaged two stars among critics. There are only four critics/sources that I trust: Christian Science Monitor, The Associated Press, Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly and the AV Club at The Onion. Sometimes, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone has it dead on, but it’s rare.
Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School: This is such a cute film to watch. It’s like Fight Club but with dancing and melancholy. Some of the Scripps Howard critics were a bit unfair to this gem. It’s worth renting.
Junebug: This was very overrated. Granted, I went to college in Winston-Salem and have known the area in which it was filmed for eight years. However, I was disappointed that a Salem native would portray the area in such an ugly matter. Outside critics can see how this is a portrait of a region and get lost in it, but I can’t see things the way they’re presented.
Aeon Flux: I should have just stayed with the fond memories I had to the cartoon series. This adaptation had it all wrong.
The Matador: Severely overrated as well. Peter Rainer of CSM was right about this being a lame buddy flick.
Snakes on a Plane: Given that it is a bad movie, it’s a great popcorn, afternoon-getaway-from-the-heat flick. I was glad to have something to do while it is so hot.
Cache: This one sticks to the bone. I was haunted by the plot and by the characters. If you do see this, forget the literary format of American storytelling and embrace a new way of seeing.
permalink | Comment | film | 08/30/2006
This title is here to generate buzz
I haven’t been excited about summer blockbusters this year. Other than the fact that I’m going to see Superman Returns on Thursday, there is nothing this summer that I wouldn’t wait for it to be on DVD. Even the snappy “Snakes on a Plane” flick that all the kids are crazy about.
No, I would rather wait for the fall, as I usually do, to catch what is worthy of my time. However, like Samuel L. Jackson, I am sucked in by the movie titles. After catching this story by the Associated Press, I see that I’m not the only one. Cool trailers don’t hurt either:
Running with Scissors: I know that the title is based on Augusten Burroughs’ memoir, but the image and the sense of naughtiness alone is enough to drag me into the theater.
The Science of Sleep: Granted, I would watch anything that Michel Gondry directs or anything that Gael Garcia Bernal would star in, but the title suggests exploration and substance. It could also be classified as being too arrogant.
Mini’s First Time: This title is only here to titillate. If I were to buy a ticket, I’d feel a little bit dirty. It’s like, “Hey, I’m watching someone lose her virginity.”
I can’t think of any more films. Do you have any suggestions?
permalink | Comment [1] | film | 07/26/2006
On location
In the last three weeks, I have checked out seven films, including one in the theater. While five of them were not entertaining, the other two had one thing in common: they were shot in places I know very well. Here is a comparison of the films’ use of the locations (Don’t worry; there are no spoilers).
Thank You for Smoking: Locations mentioned include Washington, D.C., and Winston-Salem, N.C. While this was a fine movie, all the references to Winston-Salem as “Winston-Salem†agitated me. Any North Carolinian or Big Tobacco executive would refer to it as simply “Winston.” As for the D.C. shots, I really didn’t see the capital in them.
Wedding Crashers: Locations included Washington, D.C. This film is great in both use of location and in content. I wasn’t a fan of The 40 Year Old Virgin, but this similar comedy was better. Throughout the movie, I really got a sense of D.C. (at least the parts I’ve seen of it) as a central part of the film rather than a drop in dialogue.
I also watched Elizabethtown and only like the locations, not the overall story and acting.
permalink | Comment | film | 05/17/2006
Waiting for something better
As a personal rule, I do not watch movies that are released before May. Typically, the movie studios releases pieces of junk that I believe fund the mafia or pornographers. Theaters never see me. I even don’t rent the movies once they’re released on DVD.
This year, my little cinematic desire wants to break that rule. I really want to watch The Inside Man. The movie poster is awesome, the cast is great and I haven’t seen a Spike Lee movie in eight years. However, here’s the tagline from the movie:
It looked like the perfect bank robbery. But you can’t judge a crime by its cover.
Doesn’t this scream out, “Don’t watch this cliché of a movie!â€? It looks like 16 Blocks falls in the same category. It’s great to see designers being used to make great posters, but it’s a shame if they’re being used to disguise bad content.
permalink | Comment | film | 02/28/2006
Polie
It all started last night when Sara had links to Katie Holmes’ photos from “W” magazine’s August issue. Of course it triggered my memory of the Brad & Angelina spread in this month’s issue. I finally got around to downloading the photos late last night and decided that my desktop needed a “W” inspired makeover.
Then this morning, after hitting a fruit stand, collecting groceries, taking photos and retrieving and entering art for a show, I went to my local book retailer to find a copy of the magazine. I liked what was available online and was content with what I had. Next, I went to see Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It was fine except I wished that I could grab one of those guns and scare the bratty kids with a combined IQ of 12 that were talking throughout the film.
Sometimes, good PR and curiousity get the best of me. Call me a sucker.
permalink | Comment | film | 07/09/2005
Viddy
For its cinematic importance, I rented A Clockwock Orange last night along with four others. I knew about the sex and violence and I thought that I was prepared for it. I was not, and worst of all I decided to watch it at midnight. I’m not saying that I didn’t like the film. I think it was brillant commentary on society and how thoughts and actions are either utlraprojected or ultrasuppressed.
Of course everyone refers to the violent rape scenes, but what I take from this movie is the prison yard scene. Seeing all those prisoners walking in a circle in business suits reminds me of Wall Street. But my favorite exchange is from the Minister in this scene when he says:
Excellent. He’s enterprising, aggressive, outgoing, young, bold, vicious. He’ll do.
Images of yuppies, Gordon Gekko and Alex Keaton immediately began to pop up. Was Kubrick saying that capitalism would become our own prison? Did he foresee that the ‘80s would be consumed by yuppy scum?
And what about the whole milk thing? Did he know about mad cow? Yeah, that’s not in milk, I know, but that would have been a fun thing to mess with.
permalink | Comment | film | 06/25/2005
Forgiveness
I spent most of yesterday making up for a six-day workweek. Instead of sleeping, which I have had far less of than usual, I went shopping for groceries and clothes. The basic necessities. I walked away without the clothes, but I did something that I hadn’t done in months. I rented three movies. No, I haven’t forgiven Blockbuster for the terrible service and identity theft they committed six months ago. I got a new membership with Movie Gallery. Yeah, two minutes of membership, and I still had problems. I did check out Bad Education (disturbing but great), The Sea Inside (have yet to watch it) and I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (by far the slowest and most boring film I have ever seen). There were times when I thought that I accidentally had the movie on pause.
permalink | | film | 06/20/2005
Weep
I finally got the chance to watch Hotel Rwanda last night. The video’s return date to the library was Saturday, but I kept leaving it at work. For once, I actually have to pay a late fee. Anyway, I cried for 90 minutes. I just couldn’t take how real Terry George presented those events in 1994. Then I watched it again with George and Paul Rusesabagina’s commentary, and it made it more difficult. I remember being in my middle school French class back then and having the teacher instruct us about the African francophones. Rwanda was one of them. Around the same time, the news about the genocides was announced. I wondered if the French would do anything to stop the fighting, but then I saw that they would not.
Six years later, I attended the second of the 2000 Presidential debates at Wake, the one the experts credited George W. Bush for winning. Jim Lehr asked Al Gore and Bush if they had been president during certain military expeditions, would they go for it. One was Rwanda. They both said no. The answer I remember the most was from Bush. He said yes to intervention in Bosnia but no in Rwanda. His answers summed up that he would most likely intervene in violence that occurs in Europe and the Middle East than in Africa and the Caribbean. I knew our country was doomed that night. And people wonder why we haven’t intervened in Sudan.