Cinematic grab-bag
I've been slacking on this. So, in the interests of efficiency, here are the films that I've seen (or at least remember seeing) since the last time I updated:
The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006): A strong genre film, Scorsese's B movie. Nice character work, and when you realize that it's a crime genre film, it's easy to excuse the weaknesses in the plot.
Battle Ground: 21 Days on the Empire's Edge (Stephen Marshall, 2004): Iraq doc. Began by criticizing the standard, superficial media treatment of the situation, only to use a montage-heavy, hipster-esque, superficial treatment when showing the US forces in Iraq. But the scenes focusing on Iraqis were pretty strong, especially when time was given to the former resistance fighter who fled to America at the end of the Gulf War and was now returning for the first time since.
Marie Antoinette (Sophia Coppolla, 2006): Take the French queen out of her historical context and what do you get? A teen romance? Nope. Historical apologism. I wanted to see her head get chopped off, I didn't care about whatever personal upheaval she went through as the pampered queen. Besides, take away the modern lingo and the 80's soundtrack and this was a pretty standard biopic.
Kanal (Andrej Wajda, 1957): Amazing. The scenes in the Warsaw sewer as the resistance fighters attempt to flee the enclosing Nazi forces were some of the most haunting, harrowing, claustrophobic, desperate scenes ever put to celluloid. Can't wait to see the third film in Wajda's war trilogy, Ashes and Diamonds (the first being A Generation, which I watched not too long ago).
Pulse (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2001): Started off pretty good. Ominous atmosphere, creepiness galore, and lots of Japanese nostalgia for me. But then it started to suck. Like when the focus of the film shifted from a tight-knit group of friends experiencing a series of traumatic episodes and trying to make sense of them (a limited focus which gave the film its ominous feel and emphasized the key motif of isolation, as if there was no one to help them) to encompass the entire world. Basically, I started watching a creepy little horror film with lots of haunting imagery and ended up watching a post-apocalyptic film? How did that happen?
The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2005): Once again, started off good. Nice long build-up which increases the tension and lots of cringe-worthy moments in the cave even before the monsters show up (claustrophobia, anyone?), but once the monsters did show up I felt it was a case of too much, too soon. I think it would've been better to with-hold the monsters a bit more, but instead the film morphed into a common gore outing. And I really didn't care about the little dramas between the women. Get right rid of that shite.
Dog Star Man (1962-64) and other short films by Stan Brakhage: Look, I have a ton of respect for Brakhage. But he just doesn't do it for me. I love his abstract films, but I can take or leave his more symbolic efforts. I just don't like symbolism. I don't know if it's just me, but I feel that experimental film should be liberated from such out-dated, simplistic devices as symbolism. That being said, Brakhage is a giant in experimental film, as he deserves to be. I just wish the Criterion DVD collection of Brakhage films had more of his abstract work and less of his symbolic work.
Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami, 1997): This one was one of those films I go into not knowing what to expect because it's been so critically acclaimed. More often than not, those situations disappoint me. Taste of Cherry did not. It deserves all of the acclaim it's received, and then some. I loved that post-modern, extra-diegetic ending!
Ok, I think that's it.
The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006): A strong genre film, Scorsese's B movie. Nice character work, and when you realize that it's a crime genre film, it's easy to excuse the weaknesses in the plot.
Battle Ground: 21 Days on the Empire's Edge (Stephen Marshall, 2004): Iraq doc. Began by criticizing the standard, superficial media treatment of the situation, only to use a montage-heavy, hipster-esque, superficial treatment when showing the US forces in Iraq. But the scenes focusing on Iraqis were pretty strong, especially when time was given to the former resistance fighter who fled to America at the end of the Gulf War and was now returning for the first time since.
Marie Antoinette (Sophia Coppolla, 2006): Take the French queen out of her historical context and what do you get? A teen romance? Nope. Historical apologism. I wanted to see her head get chopped off, I didn't care about whatever personal upheaval she went through as the pampered queen. Besides, take away the modern lingo and the 80's soundtrack and this was a pretty standard biopic.
Kanal (Andrej Wajda, 1957): Amazing. The scenes in the Warsaw sewer as the resistance fighters attempt to flee the enclosing Nazi forces were some of the most haunting, harrowing, claustrophobic, desperate scenes ever put to celluloid. Can't wait to see the third film in Wajda's war trilogy, Ashes and Diamonds (the first being A Generation, which I watched not too long ago).
Pulse (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2001): Started off pretty good. Ominous atmosphere, creepiness galore, and lots of Japanese nostalgia for me. But then it started to suck. Like when the focus of the film shifted from a tight-knit group of friends experiencing a series of traumatic episodes and trying to make sense of them (a limited focus which gave the film its ominous feel and emphasized the key motif of isolation, as if there was no one to help them) to encompass the entire world. Basically, I started watching a creepy little horror film with lots of haunting imagery and ended up watching a post-apocalyptic film? How did that happen?
The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2005): Once again, started off good. Nice long build-up which increases the tension and lots of cringe-worthy moments in the cave even before the monsters show up (claustrophobia, anyone?), but once the monsters did show up I felt it was a case of too much, too soon. I think it would've been better to with-hold the monsters a bit more, but instead the film morphed into a common gore outing. And I really didn't care about the little dramas between the women. Get right rid of that shite.
Dog Star Man (1962-64) and other short films by Stan Brakhage: Look, I have a ton of respect for Brakhage. But he just doesn't do it for me. I love his abstract films, but I can take or leave his more symbolic efforts. I just don't like symbolism. I don't know if it's just me, but I feel that experimental film should be liberated from such out-dated, simplistic devices as symbolism. That being said, Brakhage is a giant in experimental film, as he deserves to be. I just wish the Criterion DVD collection of Brakhage films had more of his abstract work and less of his symbolic work.
Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami, 1997): This one was one of those films I go into not knowing what to expect because it's been so critically acclaimed. More often than not, those situations disappoint me. Taste of Cherry did not. It deserves all of the acclaim it's received, and then some. I loved that post-modern, extra-diegetic ending!
Ok, I think that's it.