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Eli_Cash
Reviews
Week end (1967)
A funny, horrifying, senseless (at times), artistic film worth seeing.
Wow, such a polarizing film! It seems everyone either detests this work as something less than terrible or conversely praise it to the heavens. I guess I'm sadly somewhere in between. Having read a bit of theory behind the film before I saw it I won't rehash that here, only state my reaction, for if there's anything this picture cries out for it is a reaction. Well here goes. Parts are horrifying. Far more disturbing than slasher film gore (mostly because the imagery being dispensed with aren't human). Parts are boring (and NOT the ten minute tracking shot which was a gem. Has anyone even been in a traffic jam before? Godard merely replicates it and all the while makes you wonder where that couple's car is heading, and what could have caused such a jam). Parts don't make sense, mostly because I don't think they are supposed to. That is their purpose, to disrupt sense. And, surprisingly something that nobody on here has mentioned, parts are very very funny. Okay, so perhaps not everyone will laugh as often as I did, but please, lighten up kids, Godard is making fun of us, its healthy to laugh at oneself once and a while. And some of his film is just fun too. Okay, now go back to the other reviews of how hopelessly miserable you'll feel after watching this, or how much of a religious awakening this will be if your down with the art-house film-erati. Definitely worth seeing.
Big Fish (2003)
Burton at his muddled worst
This movie is an unsalvageable wreck. The acting is wretched with apologies to Bonham Carter and Cotillard who do not belong within a hundred and fifty miles. Burton seems confused as to which of the 4 or 5 different movies he wanted to make. None of them is fully realized. There is the sappy fun-for-the-whole-family melodrama that has infected his recent work. There is the 'trademark' weirdness that he has failed to develop significantly since Scissorhands. It just seems recycled and out of place here (Burton himself absolutely pillages Peewee's Big Adventure, which by the way, is a far superior film). There is a contrived story between father and son which leaves me with the impression that Burton not only never had a father but has never seen a father and a son interact in the same room. And there are at least three moments, horribly short, where one sees what the film could have been. That is the most infuriating part. The most disappointing film I've seen this year. 2/10 stars
28 Days Later... (2002)
Its all the Rage, Not the Hype.
It truly bothers me that many viewers of this film do not find its contents frightening. Or that they find elements of the plot and structure in similar styled movies which preceded it.
An honest interpretation of this film destroys both of these false conceptions. It wasn't formed seemlessly in a vacuum. _28 Days Later..._ does indeed pay homage to the heroes of its genres whether they be the apocalyptic or more straight forward horror. This is not to say that it doesn't spin these themes around on their heads and give them us something provocatively new.
Quite simply, _28 Days Later..._ takes one of the most numbingly frightening aspects of our contemporary culture, that of blind, irrational, and implacable hatred and lets it destroy the world or most of it. Sure its an infection but lets be quick to the point here, there's a reason its called rage. No longer are the 'zombies' the dead ghouls rising to plague the living. No, these 'zombies' are very much alive, exaggeratedly so, ruthlessly fast and completely indiscriminate in their destruction. The only thing they can actively discern apparently is who doesn't share their boundless blood-lust. And all they want to do is pass it on.
Ironically the dead are the only ones at peace and the living no longer need their help finding ways to die.
This film does have its flaws (I did give it a 7 after all) but not detriments such as shameless unoriginality or lack of terror. At times it can be a bit heavy-handed, delivering its morals with a listless dull thump, exactly the kind of strikes I remember _Night of the Living Dead_ zombies making, which makes them all the more unacceptable now that Boyle has decided to usurp such creatures. The latter third of the film, the Manchester-third (without giving anything substantial away) is far from subtle and can be a bit tedious. Thankfully the breath-taking opening and terrific middle portions will be remembered for what they are and payed homage to in the future in their own right.
The Pianist (2002)
Jarring Holocaust Piece of a Man's Determined Survival
This was improbably my first Polanski, not surprisingly my first Brody, but certainly not my first World War Two/Holocaust picture. I have to admit I knew little going 'in' to this except holding foolish thoughts like 'how many more times are they going to make a movie on this topic?'
Polanski blows that preconception apart. He provides a startlingly fresh approach to the genre which includes _Schindler's List_ and to a lesser extent, _Saving Private Ryan_. Like 'SPR' _The Pianist_ uses technically proficient shots of horrific violence. Unlike 'SPR' these sequences are sporadic and always come like a jarring physical blow. Much like some of the more successful practitioners of some forms of metal and punk music, you can come off being far more brutal and shocking if you're not so thick with the dissonance.
Yet much of _The Pianist_ power comes in the form of traumatic psychological violence. Like _Schindler's List_, this is the story of Jewish survival at all costs during the Nazi Pogrom. However unlike 'SL', this is not the epic broad-stroke of an entire population's suffering but largely the tale of a single man and his efforts to stay alive. Not to say that either this or 'SL' is significantly better than the other, they are to disparate in their approach to be fairly judged tete a tete. But _The Pianist_ accomplishes a few things 'SL' couldn't by narrowing its scope somewhat. Not that Polanski completely throws away the horrible effects such atrocities had on a wide range of people. We learn that it takes the fellowship of his people, the kindess of the underground German resistance, and a few other more unlikely supporters not to mention no small amount of sheer luck for Mr. Szpilman to survive.
Brody is terrific as Szpilman logging more screen time than just about everyone else combined. I hope to see him again as soon as possible. Now to go see more Polanski immediately.
Monster's Ball (2001)
Haunting American Period Piece of the Last Century
A powerful work. It struck me while watching, that despite a few cultural references (mostly automobiles, their years and models giving away the time period of this setting) the drama of this film is wonderfully atemporal. It is happening in the present day, but could just as easily taken place 5, 10, even 50 years ago. This then is a revealing view into society's relatively stable prejudices and ideologies and of the few who use love to splinter these same frameworks. Halle Berry is achingly great but Thornton's the one who ends up capturing the awful complexity that each of these characters is made up of. True to life, none of these fellas is flawless and quite a few are critically flawed. But this doesn't stop them from living and coping with each others drawbacks together.
An inspiring if not haunting American period piece for the entire last century and who knows how far into the future.
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
A Colossal Collapse of Faith and Integrity
Jon Nash's own marvelous, plagued, muddled and ultimately fascinating existence is one which may deserve cinematic portrayal. _A Beautiful Mind_ is a pandering shameful corruption of a true story which should have been filled with compelling, complex, troubling characters. Nash has been homogenized for the public gastro-intestinal tract and spewed forth by Crowe, a feat which is sure to be the nader of his acting career. He is paradoxically terminally bland and oppressively obnoxious. His wife's role played by Connelly is harmless and sincere I think, she is miscast (certainly not given the same depth as in _Requiem for a Dream_) and not to be blamed. Harris has always performed better.
I file this picture away with neighbors such as _The Rock_ and _Legally Blonde_, both shamelessly populist candy but, and this is the Grand Canyon of buts, both of these films are actually WATCHABLE. On their own terms these two are probably better films for they are what they are, are exactly what they are supposed to be. _A Beautiful Mind_ crumbles under its own stupendous pretensia, and is one colossal collapse of faith and integrity to be avoided if at all possible.
Finding Nemo (2003)
A remarkable animated road film without a road
Finding Nemo is wonderful. Gorgeous to look at with animation that wouldn't be possible even five years ago and written with deft, fun, and heart. The film may suffer from being directed solely at kids and there requisite guardians (me and my brother were likely the only 15 to 25 year-olds in the whole cineplex) which makes the plot structure of the titular youngen Nemo swimming off on his own to do some much needed growing up while simultaneously forcing his father Marlin to challenge himself and grow no small amount himself so delightfully subversive. Defoe, Brooks and Rush's voicework is quite brilliant but believe me when I say this, DeGeneres improbably steals the show. After the first word her character Dory said I shuddered and thought I'd be in for a long two hours. But with significant screen time she never once got tiresome or annoying. I caught myself laughing at her jokes and thought to myself, 'this is Ellen DeGeneres, right?' Y'all may not have my inborn mistrust of DeGeneres, but those who do, don't miss out on a truly surprising road film without a road.
Species (1995)
sci-fi winner could use help but holds up well enough
'A' list character actors and a slumming Ben Kingsley combined with an interesting twist to the whole 'maybe we aren't the top dog on the universal evolutionary ladder' trope make this a winning sci-fi picture. Kingsley is under-used but effective, perhaps because the creators of this film knew the target audience would be more responsive to the numerous partially nude sequences with Henstridge. The latter was an excellent casting decision for more reasons than the obvious physical charms; for the same reason Reeves was a bullseye for the overwhelmed Neo(phyte) in the original _Matrix_, Henstridge's naive Sil speaks little and gets away with being believably awkward. The ending starts to spiral this ride out the tightly wound spool it started from, and leaves room for the obligatory sequel (which I'm not likely to rush out see, though not for the quality of THIS movie. More for the nature of slap-dash sequels all in the name of monetary profit for which the obvious exception is _Aliens_ to which _Species_ is already the progeny of. Both were helped out tremendously in the creature design by the artist Giger) which is fairly annoying but doesn't sink the ship.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Who's the victim here?
To be fair when I voted for this film (and I gave it a 9) I wasn't comparing it to _Schindler's List_, or _Metropolis_, or _Casablanca_. I was judging it within its genre, a dangerous tactic to be sure seeing that there a more than a few movies in the category that i haven't bothered with, but one that left me with a notable conclusion. I've never viewed a better horror film. Hooper's _Massacre_ makes one so uncomfortable, so physically and mentally upset with the treatment of both its unfortunate juvenile protagonists as well as the bizarre rural meat-working family, that one is left completely unhinged. Leatherface out-psychopaths (to coin a new verb) Freddie, Jason, and Michael Myers partially because one reads his torment so clearly. He's not some supernaturally horrific ghoul from beyond the grave, but an ordinary Joe down on his luck, the runt of the litter, picked on even by his own family. Okay so not ordinary. The man's lineage has been struck down to the wayside by technological advancement in the field they specialized in (livestock slaughtering) leaving them out of work. The world spins by them rapidly leaving them archaically useless, old-fashioned, and on a steady path toward perversion and hate. Then some annoying sexually precocious hooligans show up at your door all whiny and half-naked? Who wouldn't bury a sledge in a cranium or make use of that old meathook just collecting dust in the back room?
Oh and besides all this psychological critique babble, its scary as all get out.