I'm procrastinating so here's a quick update:
Here are three of the best trailers I've seen in the past few months.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo : One of the best trailers I have seen in a long time. It's eye catching- the cutting and the music (I cannot wait to listen to the full version of that song- it sounds amazing) are really well done. Although watching the trailer again after watching the original Swedish version of the film, if you know the story, I feel like you can place the scenes you get quick glimpses of really quickly. I thought the original film was fine. It was a solid movie with an interesting mystery, but it was definitely one of those movies that relied more on plot than characters. There are various reasons why I'd rewatch a movie, but I can't imagine myself wanting to go out of my way to rewatch this one (not that it was a bad movie, it was interesting and solid) since I already know what happens.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: There's a newer trailer for this one floating around online but I far prefer the first one. It really uses the music well to establish this great, taut, tense mood. I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie.
Take Shelter: this looks intriguing.
Also a kudos for the Muppets for their parody trailers.
Here's to hoping there're good movies as well.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Art
I work in a pretty technical field so I don't think about art, in the general sense often. I still remember in one of my literature classes as an undergraduate, one of the most striking things I learned was the power of art. My professor gave a simple example: in World War II, after both of the atomic bombs had been dropped, there were the devastating statistics, of course, of just how many people died and how many people would continue to die much later from radiation poisoning. But it really wasn't until she and many other people saw this picture, a school girl's tin lunch box where the peas in her lunch had carbonized that they really connected to something human and emotional about the bombings. (see here)
In light of a recent decade anniversary, here is a youtube video from Story Corps. I've seen a few of Story Corps videos and they are fantastic. They are a national project to record people's stories and memories. There's some really moving stuff of the site.
In light of a recent decade anniversary, here is a youtube video from Story Corps. I've seen a few of Story Corps videos and they are fantastic. They are a national project to record people's stories and memories. There's some really moving stuff of the site.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Oldies
They don't make em like they used to. I've been getting into older stuff lately. I've been watching black and white films and episodes of the The Twilight Zone that I hadn't seen yet. I watched Sunset Blvd and The Apartment recently (aka my Billy Wilder kick) and they really made me miss how much more dialoguecentric films used to be. Of course I think it's awesome that film-making technology has advanced so much, but in a lot of ways, that has also made films a lot more visual, which is fine but I do miss smart, sharp, banter. On that note, one youtube movie reviewer I've enjoyed watching is The Blind Film Critic, who really provides a pretty fresh perspective on movies. The explosions in the old movies really had to come from the words and the characters and not the special effects. I was pleasantly surprised that I could take bathroom breaks while watching the movie and not miss out on too much when I came back and that if I wasn't looking at the screen the whole time, I could still get a general sense of what was going on.
Sunset Blvd
Sunset Blvd is a film noir about young Hollywood screenwriter, Joseph Gills (William Holden) and his relationship with aging, former silent film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Gills is struggling financially when he first encounters Desmond and ends up becoming employed by Desmond. You've probably heard one of the many famous quotes from this movie or seen clips of this film at some point. It's dark and Desmond is one of the most ambiguous characters on film ever. I can't remember deciding whether or not I wanted to hate, pity, or like a character so much since watching Gollum in Lord of the Rings. There are also so many little things in the movie, little details (the funeral, the story of that movie Desmond plans to star in, the unlocked doors) that make the whole movie intensely creepy- and that what we get to see in the movie is only just the surface. All in all, it's a classic and definitely worth seeing if you're a fan of movies.
The Apartment
The Apartment is about CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon), a businessman who tries to get ahead in his company by letting executives at his company use his apartment for their own private affairs. It's humorous in the first half or so but then suddenly turns quite serious when we learn more about the elevator girl that Baxter likes, Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine).
A little bit of trivia: The Apartment (1960) was the last black and white film until the mostly black and white Schindler's List (1994) to win the best picture Oscar.
Sunset Blvd
Sunset Blvd is a film noir about young Hollywood screenwriter, Joseph Gills (William Holden) and his relationship with aging, former silent film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Gills is struggling financially when he first encounters Desmond and ends up becoming employed by Desmond. You've probably heard one of the many famous quotes from this movie or seen clips of this film at some point. It's dark and Desmond is one of the most ambiguous characters on film ever. I can't remember deciding whether or not I wanted to hate, pity, or like a character so much since watching Gollum in Lord of the Rings. There are also so many little things in the movie, little details (the funeral, the story of that movie Desmond plans to star in, the unlocked doors) that make the whole movie intensely creepy- and that what we get to see in the movie is only just the surface. All in all, it's a classic and definitely worth seeing if you're a fan of movies.
The Apartment
The Apartment is about CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon), a businessman who tries to get ahead in his company by letting executives at his company use his apartment for their own private affairs. It's humorous in the first half or so but then suddenly turns quite serious when we learn more about the elevator girl that Baxter likes, Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine).
A little bit of trivia: The Apartment (1960) was the last black and white film until the mostly black and white Schindler's List (1994) to win the best picture Oscar.
It's been a while since I've watched a movie where I found myself wondering and genuinely caring if everything was going to be all right for everyone in the end. You're really not sure how things are going to turn out in the last act. While the movie got more serious in the second half, I did appreciate the levity they incorporated. I'm still a bit torn about the ending and I wonder where the director, Billy Wilder, would have chosen to end the film if there really weren't any rules. Also features one of my favorite creative uses of a tennis racket. (see video above)
Twilight Zone
What's there not to like? It has one of the creepiest opening sequences ever, great acting, fantastic writing, and stories that are relevant regardless of the time. It's like reading really great short stories.
I wanted to highlight a few of my favorites.
Twilight Zone
What's there not to like? It has one of the creepiest opening sequences ever, great acting, fantastic writing, and stories that are relevant regardless of the time. It's like reading really great short stories.
I wanted to highlight a few of my favorites.
- The After Hours- This was the first twilight zone episode I'd ever seen. I saw it during one of the Sci-fi channel's yearly marathons and even though I was reluctant to watch something in black and white, the story really drew me. The After Hours is about a woman who is looking for a special thimble in a department store. She ends up on a strange, non-existent floor in the store. The suspense and atmosphere in this one is really fantastic.
- Lonely - This one breaks my heart, and it really makes you think about how people define what constitutes life. Lonely is about a prisoner who is imprisoned on an asteroid. His only company are the guards who deliver supplies to him four times a year. After a disappointingly short visit, one of the guards gives him a female robot to keep him company. The space suits are goofy but don't let it distract you from the rest of the story.
- The Shelter- I'm surprised that fewer people cite this one on the notable twilight zone episodes. It doesn't have any sci-fi elements, it's about a suburban neighborhoods that has just received a potential nuclear bomb threat and only one family on the street has a proper nuclear shelter. The episode really hits at the core theme of many twilight zone episodes-fear bringing out the worst in people. Definitely more believable and better executed than the more famous, The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.
- Other notable episodes:
- The Eye of the Beholder and Number 12 Looks Just Like You: The Eye of the Beholder is the quintessential Twilight Zone episode and if you haven't seen it, it's a really great place to start. It does what Twilight Zone does best: twists your perception of things. Both are about beauty and the importance that our society places on it. Number 12 is thematically quite similar to Eye of the Beholder about a girl who refuses to go through an operation that will make her "pretty" and look like everyone else around her. It really hits hard when she realizes that no one understands her desire to keep her looks so that she can preserve her identity.
- A Stop at Willoughby and Walking Distance: Some of the two more "realistic" twilight zone episodes. Both are well told and highly relatable. I'm sure that everyone at some point has just wanted to escape into their fantasy land as the overworked, stressed businessman in A Stop at Willoughby wishes to do or wanted to go back to the past, where another businessman actually gets to do in Walking Distance.
- Perchance to Dream and Twenty Three: Two really great, haunting episodes about dreams. Both are taut and suspenseful.
- One for the Angels: I initially thought this one was a bit on the cheesy side, but the characters really grow on you. It also gives you a nice, warm and fuzzy feeling at the end which is rather rare for the series. Death comes to tell a salesman that he is going to die at midnight but the salesman opposes- he still has a lot he wants to do! Namely he wants to make a fantastic sales pitch. Death makes him a proposition: he will not collect the man's soul until he's completed the pitch.
- The Silence: I keep thinking about this one, because it gets under my skin and reminds me of "The Gift of the Magi", that frustrating short story you probably read at some point in grade school , about the couple that buy each other presents by sacrificing something extremely precious to each other to get those presents. The Silence, I think, is the polar opposite of that. In The Silence, an older member of a country club gets annoyed at an extremely talkative young member of the club and makes a bet with him: if he can go for a whole year without talking, he will receive a large sum of money.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Summer 2011 Movies: Super 8 and Harry Potter 7.2
Most of the movies I write about in this blog tend to be a bit older, but in the past month, I've had a chance to watch two good films currently in theaters.
Super 8
Super 8 is about a group of friends who witness a mysterious train crash as they are filming a movie. Super 8 refers to 8 mm film, which is the film that people used to use to film movies. It really plays up the nostalgia factor, which it does effectively some of the time, to try to be this generation's ET. Even the score by Michael Giacchino (Star Trek, Ratatouille), who is quite good, is a bit reminiscent of ET. Both scores convey a sense of mystery and innocence.
There is a lot to like about Super 8. For one, it is one of those movies about kids, in this case, 12-13 year olds, that treat the kids with respect. All the kids in the movie are believable and their interactions and dialogue very real. Elle Fanning, as Alice, is, in particular, fantastic and I was surprised that she is actually only 12 because she portrays Alice with such poise and maturity that you'd think she was much older. There are a lot of little things that make me love how well they fleshed out the kids characters: at one point, Alice refuses to drive the protagonist, Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) to their filming site b/c his dad is the sheriff and his first reaction isn't to persuade her to drive him, but to be surprised that she actually knows who he is. In a tenser situation, when the kids are doing some important research, one of them starts playing video games. There's also a great scene where Alice and Joe talk about their friendship and you can't imagine it happening in any other way.
It's unfortunate then that the movie doesn't do the same with the adults, who are one-dimensional cut-out characters. The general main plot of the movie, while it does a great job with the build up (why are there appliances missing? why are all the dogs running away), it wraps up tepidly. Besides the beginning train sequence which is fantastic- it is one of the best old school action scenes I've seen in a while, the other action in the movie isn't great. It relies too much on the same sort of suspense sequence. While I didn't mind that they did the cliche "mysterious creature approaches as unobservant townsperson goes about their business until they notice something amiss", it got old pretty quickly.
I would have not minded if they down played the main plot of the movie. I liked the character development of the kids more and would have preferred to watch a movie more focused on them- about them making their movie.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
It's the very last one, and it's a good one.
A major part of Harry Potter culture is waiting in line with fellow fans. For this last movie, we definitely weren't disappointed in that aspect. I went to a Friday night (opening night) showing and even though we got to the theater an hour early, there was already a very long line. I dressed up as did quite a few other people for the show.
Over the decade of Harry Potter movies, I've learned to manage my expectations for the movies. I still think that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban are the two best Harry Potter movies, mainly because they can stand on their own and there were extra elements that distinguished them from the books. In POA, it was seeing the time travel paradox in action and seeing my favorite rendition of Hogwarts: messy, old, but very much magically alive. In HBP, it was seeing the characters actually be friends with each other, added humor, the Draco plot making a lot more sense, and the characters be in many ways, much more likable then their counterparts in the book. Harry, for example, is actually extremely focused on his task to get that memory from Slughorn.
On the other end, there was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which really just seemed like a collection of the major scenes from the book put together in a movie. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 7.1, while it followed the book closely, and did maintain some semblance of plot, it really did not flow well and was too bleak and hopeless. The first half of the Harry Potter 7 book was super hopeless and dark, but even that had more levity than the movie. If I'd made the movie, I would have included the Wizarding Wireless Network, all those words at Godric's Hallow cheering Harry on, and Harry pulling out the Maruder's Map just to see Ginny's dot on it. Also, you can still make a perfectly good movie about dark times without filming a movie completely in bleak, gray tones (See Lord of the Rings.)
(*SPOILERS start here*)
HP 7.2 is a much better movie than HP 7.1. It flows better, is more focused, and the soundtrack is really great- much better than 7.1. The movie doesn't incorporate too many additional scenes, but instead amends some of the existing ones.
The trio's Gringott trip is a fun one as Hermione uses Polyjuice Potion to become Bellatrix Lestrange. Helena Bonham Carter does a great job pretending to be Hermione pretending to be Bellatrix. It really bothered me in the books when the good characters used any of the Unforgivable Curses. I'm glad they took most of that out in the movie, but I still cringed when Ron uses it on the teller in Gringotts.
They do touch upon Dumbledore's past and his penchant to keep secrets, but it's so brief that I think it would have been better if that had all been taken out all together. They also downplay how terrible Hogwarts becomes after Snape becomes headmaster- they do hint at it in the beginning but shrug, the movie can only be so long.
The beginning of the Battle of Hogwarts is well done. The scene where the Hogwarts professors cast a protection spell is a welcome addition and then there's a scene where the trio runs through the battlefield and there're magical spells being cast all around- the music swells beautifully, and it's really an amazing scene- the scene to rewatch from the Battle of Hogwarts.
I'm glad Neville is semi-featured in this movie. In the books, it was amazing and really moving to see him grow, lamentably in the background of course, from this shy, clumsy awkward kid to the badass de-facto leader of students at Hogwarts who chops off Nagini's head in a moment of complete despair when everyone thinks Harry is dead. On that note, I'm disappointed in the way they amended the Nagini's death scene. I understand that they wanted to do it concurrently with Voldemort's defeat, but I thought it was handled more aptly in the book. In the movie, Neville still shows that he's brave but he does it Samwise Gamgee style and Samwise did it better.
There is, also, of course Snape. The Prince's Tale is one of the best chapters in the whole book series. In the book, you actually get to meet Lily, see her friendship with Snape, and see that despite everything, she and Petunia still cared for each other. In the movie, it's just glimpses in Lily and since it's all from Snape's perspective, you do really wonder if they'd been more than just friends.
Anyhow, it's a decent movie and a great way to end the series. Also has a fantastic soundtrack- a great improvement on 7.1.
Goodbye Harry and friends- it's been a fantastic ride.
Super 8
Super 8 is about a group of friends who witness a mysterious train crash as they are filming a movie. Super 8 refers to 8 mm film, which is the film that people used to use to film movies. It really plays up the nostalgia factor, which it does effectively some of the time, to try to be this generation's ET. Even the score by Michael Giacchino (Star Trek, Ratatouille), who is quite good, is a bit reminiscent of ET. Both scores convey a sense of mystery and innocence.
It's unfortunate then that the movie doesn't do the same with the adults, who are one-dimensional cut-out characters. The general main plot of the movie, while it does a great job with the build up (why are there appliances missing? why are all the dogs running away), it wraps up tepidly. Besides the beginning train sequence which is fantastic- it is one of the best old school action scenes I've seen in a while, the other action in the movie isn't great. It relies too much on the same sort of suspense sequence. While I didn't mind that they did the cliche "mysterious creature approaches as unobservant townsperson goes about their business until they notice something amiss", it got old pretty quickly.
I would have not minded if they down played the main plot of the movie. I liked the character development of the kids more and would have preferred to watch a movie more focused on them- about them making their movie.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
It's the very last one, and it's a good one.
A major part of Harry Potter culture is waiting in line with fellow fans. For this last movie, we definitely weren't disappointed in that aspect. I went to a Friday night (opening night) showing and even though we got to the theater an hour early, there was already a very long line. I dressed up as did quite a few other people for the show.
Over the decade of Harry Potter movies, I've learned to manage my expectations for the movies. I still think that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban are the two best Harry Potter movies, mainly because they can stand on their own and there were extra elements that distinguished them from the books. In POA, it was seeing the time travel paradox in action and seeing my favorite rendition of Hogwarts: messy, old, but very much magically alive. In HBP, it was seeing the characters actually be friends with each other, added humor, the Draco plot making a lot more sense, and the characters be in many ways, much more likable then their counterparts in the book. Harry, for example, is actually extremely focused on his task to get that memory from Slughorn.
On the other end, there was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which really just seemed like a collection of the major scenes from the book put together in a movie. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 7.1, while it followed the book closely, and did maintain some semblance of plot, it really did not flow well and was too bleak and hopeless. The first half of the Harry Potter 7 book was super hopeless and dark, but even that had more levity than the movie. If I'd made the movie, I would have included the Wizarding Wireless Network, all those words at Godric's Hallow cheering Harry on, and Harry pulling out the Maruder's Map just to see Ginny's dot on it. Also, you can still make a perfectly good movie about dark times without filming a movie completely in bleak, gray tones (See Lord of the Rings.)
(*SPOILERS start here*)
HP 7.2 is a much better movie than HP 7.1. It flows better, is more focused, and the soundtrack is really great- much better than 7.1. The movie doesn't incorporate too many additional scenes, but instead amends some of the existing ones.
The trio's Gringott trip is a fun one as Hermione uses Polyjuice Potion to become Bellatrix Lestrange. Helena Bonham Carter does a great job pretending to be Hermione pretending to be Bellatrix. It really bothered me in the books when the good characters used any of the Unforgivable Curses. I'm glad they took most of that out in the movie, but I still cringed when Ron uses it on the teller in Gringotts.
They do touch upon Dumbledore's past and his penchant to keep secrets, but it's so brief that I think it would have been better if that had all been taken out all together. They also downplay how terrible Hogwarts becomes after Snape becomes headmaster- they do hint at it in the beginning but shrug, the movie can only be so long.
The beginning of the Battle of Hogwarts is well done. The scene where the Hogwarts professors cast a protection spell is a welcome addition and then there's a scene where the trio runs through the battlefield and there're magical spells being cast all around- the music swells beautifully, and it's really an amazing scene- the scene to rewatch from the Battle of Hogwarts.
I'm glad Neville is semi-featured in this movie. In the books, it was amazing and really moving to see him grow, lamentably in the background of course, from this shy, clumsy awkward kid to the badass de-facto leader of students at Hogwarts who chops off Nagini's head in a moment of complete despair when everyone thinks Harry is dead. On that note, I'm disappointed in the way they amended the Nagini's death scene. I understand that they wanted to do it concurrently with Voldemort's defeat, but I thought it was handled more aptly in the book. In the movie, Neville still shows that he's brave but he does it Samwise Gamgee style and Samwise did it better.
There is, also, of course Snape. The Prince's Tale is one of the best chapters in the whole book series. In the book, you actually get to meet Lily, see her friendship with Snape, and see that despite everything, she and Petunia still cared for each other. In the movie, it's just glimpses in Lily and since it's all from Snape's perspective, you do really wonder if they'd been more than just friends.
Anyhow, it's a decent movie and a great way to end the series. Also has a fantastic soundtrack- a great improvement on 7.1.
Goodbye Harry and friends- it's been a fantastic ride.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
A Change of Pace: On Fan Fiction
Fan Fiction and Harry Potter
An article from Time about fan fiction and Harry Potter. How very appropriate because Harry Potter has one of the largest, if not the largest, fan base that I have seen online. I used to be involved in the fan fiction world myself, mostly as a reader, and I still peak back at it sometimes.
I think the article does a good job with giving a good overview of the fan fiction world, but I wanted to add a few things:
-One very positive thing about fan fiction is that it helps a lot of people write. A lot of times, it's about the community of writers and readers that you encounter. You have these characters that everyone knows and so you already have an audience (encouragement for writing and good for feedback) and also, characters you can flesh out and explore. Writing about characters that exist is much less daunting than characters you create on your own.
-What about the fictional books that are based on famous novels? E.g. I have seen quite a few books out there that do an alternative take on Jane Eyre and lots of sequels to Pride and Prejudice.
In honor of the last Harry Potter movie coming out (sniffle sniffle), I wanted to share a link to one of my favorite Harry Potter fanfics out there: Summer Holidays by Penknife. A lot of people, myself included, were really frustrated with the epilogue in the last Harry Potter book after a decent ending in the last chapter. While it was nice to see Harry happily settled down, their children have ridiculous names and the epilogue, as a whole, just seemed tacked on and *too happy*.
An article from Time about fan fiction and Harry Potter. How very appropriate because Harry Potter has one of the largest, if not the largest, fan base that I have seen online. I used to be involved in the fan fiction world myself, mostly as a reader, and I still peak back at it sometimes.
I think the article does a good job with giving a good overview of the fan fiction world, but I wanted to add a few things:
-One very positive thing about fan fiction is that it helps a lot of people write. A lot of times, it's about the community of writers and readers that you encounter. You have these characters that everyone knows and so you already have an audience (encouragement for writing and good for feedback) and also, characters you can flesh out and explore. Writing about characters that exist is much less daunting than characters you create on your own.
-What about the fictional books that are based on famous novels? E.g. I have seen quite a few books out there that do an alternative take on Jane Eyre and lots of sequels to Pride and Prejudice.
In honor of the last Harry Potter movie coming out (sniffle sniffle), I wanted to share a link to one of my favorite Harry Potter fanfics out there: Summer Holidays by Penknife. A lot of people, myself included, were really frustrated with the epilogue in the last Harry Potter book after a decent ending in the last chapter. While it was nice to see Harry happily settled down, their children have ridiculous names and the epilogue, as a whole, just seemed tacked on and *too happy*.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
The Others, Adaptation, and Se7en
The Others
The Others is about Grace (Nicole Kidman, who is really great in this movie) and her two light sensitive children who live in an old, Gothic mansion- made scarier as it is constantly shrouded in darkness as a result of the children's condition. When intruders start appearing in the house, Grace isn't quite sure what she should do.
I caught the last half an hour or so of this movie a very long time ago and have wanted to see the whole movie for a long time since. I loved the ending but hate the way DVDs advertise it- come on- spoilers much? The Others has a lot of truly eerie moments: the pictures of the dead, when Grace and her children finally learn the truth about the servants in their house, and the final sequence when your mind is literally blown away but you're also terrified by what's going on. It's a decent movie, not really worth watching more than a few times. I do applaud the movie for really creating a creepy, eerie atmosphere; it's so refreshing to see an actual horror movie based on genuine chills as opposed to another gory horror movie.
Adaptation
Adaptation follows tormented, self-loathing Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) who is struggling with his adaptation of Susan Orlean (Meryl Strep)'s book The Orchid Thief.
I really wanted to like this movie. I really did, b/c I've liked many of Charlie Kaufman's other stuff. I loved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- one of my favorite movies EVER, and really enjoyed Being John Malkovich - it's so out there but it's so much fun, but I just could not get into Adaptation. I tolerated it up until they end up in Florida and people are trying to kill each other. It's too much, too regular action movie for it to be believable in the realm of the Adaptation world. Adaptation does contain some great quotes though and it has one of the best perspectives on love I've heard in a very long time.
Speaking of Adaptation, one helpful screen writing tip that Adaptation offered was that endings really matter. Even if you have a mediocre movie, if the ending is solid, then you have a good movie. This really applies to Se7en, which I finally saw recently.
Se7en
Se7en is follows two police officers, world-weary Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and hot-heated rookie Mills ( Brad Pitt) as they try to figure out who has been committing all of these horrific crimes that follow the Seven Deadly Sins. Even though I already roughly knew what happens, I was still very curious to see the movie. Up until the last act, it was an okay film- mainly memorable for how gory and unique the murders are and a fine performance from Freeman. The cat and mouse game between the detectives and the killer was intriguing, but certainly not the best that I've seen. It was a bit frustrating to watch how rushed and excitable Mills was-makes him seem more naive than he should be and also, later on, how far behind the detectives really were. Like Somerset says cynically, their job isn't to solve murders, it's to track down what happens and organize them into neat little piles.
And then it got to the last 30 minutes of the movie, and I was absolutely blown away. It's amazing how that final car ride changes everything, how the tension just keeps rising and rising as they get closer and closer to their destination. And that's why Se7en's so memorable and talked about years after it's been in theaters.
Se7en is a great film but definitely not for people who scare easily.
Films Currently in Theaters
I also recently wrote reviews for Horrible Bosses (good movie! Lots of fun) and Cars 2 (not so great...oh Pixar, you've let me down!).
The Others is about Grace (Nicole Kidman, who is really great in this movie) and her two light sensitive children who live in an old, Gothic mansion- made scarier as it is constantly shrouded in darkness as a result of the children's condition. When intruders start appearing in the house, Grace isn't quite sure what she should do.
I caught the last half an hour or so of this movie a very long time ago and have wanted to see the whole movie for a long time since. I loved the ending but hate the way DVDs advertise it- come on- spoilers much? The Others has a lot of truly eerie moments: the pictures of the dead, when Grace and her children finally learn the truth about the servants in their house, and the final sequence when your mind is literally blown away but you're also terrified by what's going on. It's a decent movie, not really worth watching more than a few times. I do applaud the movie for really creating a creepy, eerie atmosphere; it's so refreshing to see an actual horror movie based on genuine chills as opposed to another gory horror movie.
Adaptation
Adaptation follows tormented, self-loathing Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) who is struggling with his adaptation of Susan Orlean (Meryl Strep)'s book The Orchid Thief.
I really wanted to like this movie. I really did, b/c I've liked many of Charlie Kaufman's other stuff. I loved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- one of my favorite movies EVER, and really enjoyed Being John Malkovich - it's so out there but it's so much fun, but I just could not get into Adaptation. I tolerated it up until they end up in Florida and people are trying to kill each other. It's too much, too regular action movie for it to be believable in the realm of the Adaptation world. Adaptation does contain some great quotes though and it has one of the best perspectives on love I've heard in a very long time.
Charlie Kaufman: How come you looked so happy?
Donald Kaufman: I loved Sarah, Charles. It was mine, that love. I owned it. Even Sarah didn't have the right to take it away. I can love whoever I want.
Charlie Kaufman: But she thought you were pathetic.
Donald Kaufman: That was her business, not mine. You are what you love, not what loves you. That's what I decided a long time ago.
Speaking of Adaptation, one helpful screen writing tip that Adaptation offered was that endings really matter. Even if you have a mediocre movie, if the ending is solid, then you have a good movie. This really applies to Se7en, which I finally saw recently.
Se7en
Se7en is follows two police officers, world-weary Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and hot-heated rookie Mills ( Brad Pitt) as they try to figure out who has been committing all of these horrific crimes that follow the Seven Deadly Sins. Even though I already roughly knew what happens, I was still very curious to see the movie. Up until the last act, it was an okay film- mainly memorable for how gory and unique the murders are and a fine performance from Freeman. The cat and mouse game between the detectives and the killer was intriguing, but certainly not the best that I've seen. It was a bit frustrating to watch how rushed and excitable Mills was-makes him seem more naive than he should be and also, later on, how far behind the detectives really were. Like Somerset says cynically, their job isn't to solve murders, it's to track down what happens and organize them into neat little piles.
And then it got to the last 30 minutes of the movie, and I was absolutely blown away. It's amazing how that final car ride changes everything, how the tension just keeps rising and rising as they get closer and closer to their destination. And that's why Se7en's so memorable and talked about years after it's been in theaters.
Se7en is a great film but definitely not for people who scare easily.
Films Currently in Theaters
I also recently wrote reviews for Horrible Bosses (good movie! Lots of fun) and Cars 2 (not so great...oh Pixar, you've let me down!).
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Kubrick and Nolan
Two posts in two days? I guess I'm on a roll. (more accurately, I'm on a short break).
Insomnia
Today I watched Christopher Nolan's Insomnia and now, I can proudly say that I have seen all of his movies. It's interesting seeing brief glimpses of his future filmmaking style, like the brief flashes of memories in Insomnia, which are later abundantly used in Inception and Batman Begins. Insomnia is a solid movie, a crime drama that takes place in a small, isolated town in Alaska. Al Pacino plays Detective Dormer who goes to Alaska during the summer, so it's light outside all the time, to solve the murder of a 17-year old girl. Supporting cast features Robin Williams and Hillary Swank. Insomnia is like a long episode of old school Law and Order with Detective Lenny Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), and starts getting interesting when you find out what the movie really is about. Insomnia asks interesting questions about morality; does the end really justify the means? And while it does twist the question around a bit, in a lot of ways, the ending took the easy way out. It's certainly a solid movie with some genuinely suspenseful moments such as Dormer's interrogation of the dead girl's best friend and it's fascinating to see common Nolan motifs lightly touched upon in this movie that are more heavily explored in his later films, but I wouldn't say it's particularly memorable.
There've been a lot of comparisons b/n Nolan and Kubrick, mainly b/c Nolan hasn't really made a bad film. I had trouble getting into Following, but liked its intensity and really loved the first 20 minutes of it. I love Inception and the Batman films. I found Memento really fascinating and the jury's still out for The Prestige, but I definitely do want to see it again. I think that Kubrick is really in a class of his own, but it's nice seeing a director out there who makes good action movies and makes fun, intelligent blockbusters.
Lyndon Barry
On Kubrick, I have seen most of his films and am just *blown* away by how each of his films are in a different genre and how he nailed each and every one of them. Eyes Wide Shut loses steam towards the end, but it's still filled with so many absolutely fascinating, memorable, cinematic sequences. On that note, I also watched Lyndon Barry recently. While I didn't like it as much as I liked The Shinning, 2001: A Space Odyssey, or A Clockwork Orange, it's a decent film, howbeit quite slow. The DVD summary wasn't lying when is said that Lyndon Barry was like a slow-moving painting. Lyndon Barry does have one of my favorite dueling scenes ever. The incredibly tense scene is here, and it is imho, the best scene in the whole movie:
I am fascinated by how much work went into the filming of the movie. Some of the candlelight scenes in the movie were really *only* lighted by candles. I didn't care much for the omniscient narrator, though I did like the necessary humor he added to the earlier half of the movie. The movie picked up steam and started going somewhere after Barry meets Lady Lyndon, but ultimately, it was hard to really like or root for any of the characters. Barry, while an interesting antihero, is really not a good person nor a particularly bright one. Lady Lyndon is silent and placid and her son, who should by all means get loads of sympathy given his situation but is weak and whiney. Overall, Barry Lyndon is for the hard core Kubrick fans; it has a few really fantastic scenes but is generally a very very slow movie.
Insomnia
Today I watched Christopher Nolan's Insomnia and now, I can proudly say that I have seen all of his movies. It's interesting seeing brief glimpses of his future filmmaking style, like the brief flashes of memories in Insomnia, which are later abundantly used in Inception and Batman Begins. Insomnia is a solid movie, a crime drama that takes place in a small, isolated town in Alaska. Al Pacino plays Detective Dormer who goes to Alaska during the summer, so it's light outside all the time, to solve the murder of a 17-year old girl. Supporting cast features Robin Williams and Hillary Swank. Insomnia is like a long episode of old school Law and Order with Detective Lenny Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), and starts getting interesting when you find out what the movie really is about. Insomnia asks interesting questions about morality; does the end really justify the means? And while it does twist the question around a bit, in a lot of ways, the ending took the easy way out. It's certainly a solid movie with some genuinely suspenseful moments such as Dormer's interrogation of the dead girl's best friend and it's fascinating to see common Nolan motifs lightly touched upon in this movie that are more heavily explored in his later films, but I wouldn't say it's particularly memorable.
There've been a lot of comparisons b/n Nolan and Kubrick, mainly b/c Nolan hasn't really made a bad film. I had trouble getting into Following, but liked its intensity and really loved the first 20 minutes of it. I love Inception and the Batman films. I found Memento really fascinating and the jury's still out for The Prestige, but I definitely do want to see it again. I think that Kubrick is really in a class of his own, but it's nice seeing a director out there who makes good action movies and makes fun, intelligent blockbusters.
Lyndon Barry
On Kubrick, I have seen most of his films and am just *blown* away by how each of his films are in a different genre and how he nailed each and every one of them. Eyes Wide Shut loses steam towards the end, but it's still filled with so many absolutely fascinating, memorable, cinematic sequences. On that note, I also watched Lyndon Barry recently. While I didn't like it as much as I liked The Shinning, 2001: A Space Odyssey, or A Clockwork Orange, it's a decent film, howbeit quite slow. The DVD summary wasn't lying when is said that Lyndon Barry was like a slow-moving painting. Lyndon Barry does have one of my favorite dueling scenes ever. The incredibly tense scene is here, and it is imho, the best scene in the whole movie:
I am fascinated by how much work went into the filming of the movie. Some of the candlelight scenes in the movie were really *only* lighted by candles. I didn't care much for the omniscient narrator, though I did like the necessary humor he added to the earlier half of the movie. The movie picked up steam and started going somewhere after Barry meets Lady Lyndon, but ultimately, it was hard to really like or root for any of the characters. Barry, while an interesting antihero, is really not a good person nor a particularly bright one. Lady Lyndon is silent and placid and her son, who should by all means get loads of sympathy given his situation but is weak and whiney. Overall, Barry Lyndon is for the hard core Kubrick fans; it has a few really fantastic scenes but is generally a very very slow movie.
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