"... running around in a bear costume".
Saw a couple of films today, both of which were interesting... for entirely different reasons.
Shadow of the Vampire -- a fictionalized account of the making of the classic horror flick Nosferatu. It had its lulls - but - it was also very, very amusing at times; primarily due to the performance of Eddie Izzard. Not that he was being particularly comedic or anything, rather that he just seemed so damn put-upon and nervy. His scenes with the vampire (played excellently by Willem Defoe) were definitely the highlight - though in retrospect, I probably should have sat in front of my television, instead of laying on my bed 4 metres away. You're never quite sure the extent of your psyche you're projecting onto the screen, how much you're projecting onto the actor's faces. I guess being closer can go some way to eradicating that danger. Damn that aching, primeval urge to be horizontal!
Overall, a unique and intriguing movie, with some fine performances - 4 stars all the way... and den some. Mhmh.
Predator -- I haven't seen this movie for a long time. I was thinking to myself whilst watching it how a movie can offer up an entirely different experience when seen again years later. The film, the objective construct, stays the same - the watcher, the subjective experiencer, returns to it with new-found thought processes, ideas and perceptions. It results in an experience that, to varying degrees, you're familiar with (on a mental level), but in other ways, not. Glorious, non?
But yes: all in all, Predator is highly entertaining fodder. It's stripped down, macho, ultra-violence, skillfully directed and produced. I don't think Arnie has ever been in his element like he has in this film; surrounded as he is by modern-day cavemen, b actors that look hard and... uh, Shane Black. Being that Predator was made in the part of Arnie's career defined by absolute shite (often gloriously so) acting, his performance is remarkably decent - in fact, he doesn't appear to be straining in the slightest. The ludicrous "ngarrgggggghh"s and "ughaa-aRGH"s that typically accompany his movie performances are nowhere to be seen, and he comes across as - dare I say tit - charismatic.
Predator's full of good ideas, excellent casting, great scenery, and one of them most iconic bad 'guys' in Cinema history. It also includes a scene (I'm smiling just thinking about it) where Arnie and Co are emptying their clips, reigning massive, gratuitous devastation into the jungle, for a duration of about 3 minutes (an age in cinema). I LOVE that scene, and not in a homo-erotic way... the muscle-bound, toned-to-perfection soldiers - holding-their-big-guns as they stand cast against the tropical backdrop is lost on me - I just find it incredibly and deliriously dumb. srsly.
Ya, 4 stars. And the ending is cool too. Arnie sat in the helicopter looking COMPLETELY fucked. As you would expect him to be after what he's been through. Which is precisely why it's cool.
So that's that. Right now I'm downloading The Wicker Man. I know, I know. It's absolute pap. But I keep hearing about Nic Cage running around in a bear costume and I can't get that damn thought out of my head!!!11oneon (and it's not because I'm a furry) I must see it before I die. I must.
Oh, and next week I'm popping round a friend's house to watch the entire 3rd season of Lost (er, thus far), to all those who are interested (i.e. Paul). My thinking is that, it can't be any less tedious with a friend, right?
olol.
Yeah, a night of Lost. I. Can't. Wait.
Woa.. long entry alert....
End.
End it now, dammit!
Okay... okay I'm ending it.
Cheerio.
Shadow of the Vampire -- a fictionalized account of the making of the classic horror flick Nosferatu. It had its lulls - but - it was also very, very amusing at times; primarily due to the performance of Eddie Izzard. Not that he was being particularly comedic or anything, rather that he just seemed so damn put-upon and nervy. His scenes with the vampire (played excellently by Willem Defoe) were definitely the highlight - though in retrospect, I probably should have sat in front of my television, instead of laying on my bed 4 metres away. You're never quite sure the extent of your psyche you're projecting onto the screen, how much you're projecting onto the actor's faces. I guess being closer can go some way to eradicating that danger. Damn that aching, primeval urge to be horizontal!
Overall, a unique and intriguing movie, with some fine performances - 4 stars all the way... and den some. Mhmh.
Predator -- I haven't seen this movie for a long time. I was thinking to myself whilst watching it how a movie can offer up an entirely different experience when seen again years later. The film, the objective construct, stays the same - the watcher, the subjective experiencer, returns to it with new-found thought processes, ideas and perceptions. It results in an experience that, to varying degrees, you're familiar with (on a mental level), but in other ways, not. Glorious, non?
But yes: all in all, Predator is highly entertaining fodder. It's stripped down, macho, ultra-violence, skillfully directed and produced. I don't think Arnie has ever been in his element like he has in this film; surrounded as he is by modern-day cavemen, b actors that look hard and... uh, Shane Black. Being that Predator was made in the part of Arnie's career defined by absolute shite (often gloriously so) acting, his performance is remarkably decent - in fact, he doesn't appear to be straining in the slightest. The ludicrous "ngarrgggggghh"s and "ughaa-aRGH"s that typically accompany his movie performances are nowhere to be seen, and he comes across as - dare I say tit - charismatic.
Predator's full of good ideas, excellent casting, great scenery, and one of them most iconic bad 'guys' in Cinema history. It also includes a scene (I'm smiling just thinking about it) where Arnie and Co are emptying their clips, reigning massive, gratuitous devastation into the jungle, for a duration of about 3 minutes (an age in cinema). I LOVE that scene, and not in a homo-erotic way... the muscle-bound, toned-to-perfection soldiers - holding-their-big-guns as they stand cast against the tropical backdrop is lost on me - I just find it incredibly and deliriously dumb. srsly.
Ya, 4 stars. And the ending is cool too. Arnie sat in the helicopter looking COMPLETELY fucked. As you would expect him to be after what he's been through. Which is precisely why it's cool.
So that's that. Right now I'm downloading The Wicker Man. I know, I know. It's absolute pap. But I keep hearing about Nic Cage running around in a bear costume and I can't get that damn thought out of my head!!!11oneon (and it's not because I'm a furry) I must see it before I die. I must.
Oh, and next week I'm popping round a friend's house to watch the entire 3rd season of Lost (er, thus far), to all those who are interested (i.e. Paul). My thinking is that, it can't be any less tedious with a friend, right?
olol.
Yeah, a night of Lost. I. Can't. Wait.
Woa.. long entry alert....
End.
End it now, dammit!
Okay... okay I'm ending it.
Cheerio.