Siobhan's July 2009 Flicks
My micro-reviews of the films I watched in July, 2009.
29. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2009 (07/24/09)
The sixth film in the Harry Potter franchise succeeds, like so many of its predecessors, in whittling down J.K. Rowling's complex and intricate plot lines into a streamlined screenplay that effectively portrays the essence of the book without including every little detail. A thoroughly enjoyable film, the mood is certainly different from the prior flicks; it is darker, more dangerous, and much more melodramatic. The acting of the young cast is vastly improved since the inception of the series, especially for Daniel Radcliffe. I enjoyed it as a HP fan, and my husband, someone who has never read the books, enjoyed it as well. Well done there. 4.5/5
30. Project A Part II, 1987 (07/29/09)
OK, this is a sequel to a Hong Kong Jackie Chan film. The sequel is in my "1001 Movies" book, but the original is not. Go figure. Well, as it turned out, I really didn't need to see the original first. It's a Jackie Chan movie. That should pretty much tell you everything you need to know. There are good guys and bad guys, a few pretty girls who are put in distress, and lots and lots of incredibly impressive fight sequences. The stunts are just fantastic, and knowing that Chan does his own stunt work is truly mindblowing. This was a given going into the film, but I was pleased to discover moments of Charlie Chaplin-esque comedy sprinkled throughout the film. Most memorable was a sequence where multiple characters, both good and bad, are concealed within the cabinets of the same house without each other - or the owner - knowing. Amusing and diverting, high art this isn't. 3.5/5
31. Report, 1967 (07/30/09)
Bruce Conner assembled this short film that focuses on the JFK assassination with primary source material. He uses nothing but newsreel footage and radio broadcasts until the moment of the bullet being fired. The broadcast then continues, but now the image is a jarring blank white screen. He then begins to show a variety of images, almost a visual free association, as the broadcast goes on. It's interesting, it's brief, and it's available on youtube. If you have any interest, check it out now before Bruce Conner's estate takes it down. 3/5
32. Down By Law, 1986 (07/30/09)
Jim Jarmusch, king of American independent film before it was "cool" to make indies, creates this unassuming, quiet film about three deadbeats in New Orleans who end up in jail together, then break out. For a film that has a prison escape in it, this is neither a prison film nor a prison break film. In fact, it's rather hard to categorize this into any particular drama. It's subtle, it's slowly paced, but there are moments of excitement and comedy. Roberto Benigni - yes, that Roberto Benigni - plays one of the three men, and he considerably lightens the mood of the film. Ultimately, what I gleaned from this film was the significance of the transient connection these three men form. They drift into each other's lives and then inevitably drift out. Very lovely and, in a strange way, moving. 4/5
33. The Cloud-Capped Star, 1960 (07/30/09)
This is an Indian melodrama from 1960. This is NOT a Bollywood musical. The story centers on Neeta, the eldest daughter of a struggling middle-class family, who sacrifices again and again and again for her family. Her older brother is an aspiring singer who is practicing his craft for two years before he can earn a living at it. Her younger brother and sister constantly want pocket money, and her father is a teacher who earns next to nothing. Neeta even goes so far as to sacrifice marrying the scientist she loves so that she stays at home. This dreadfully backfires as the scientist, apparently an impatient man, decides (with the help of Neeta's meddling mother) to marry Neeta's younger sister. Neeta gets pushed around again and again in this movie, but she eventually realizes that she is not blameless in this. In a satisfying scene, Neeta tells her former fiance that she should have been more vocal, she should have stood up to the injustice. Neeta is ultimately sadly sympathetic, and I found myself greatly moved for her plight. The story is helped along by beautiful music and photography. Wonderful. 4.5/5
34. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, 1985 (07/31/09)
An American produced, American directed Japanese film with Japanese actors about the most controversial and perhaps most important Japanese artist of the 20th century, Yukio Mishima. This is the most astounding "biopic" I have ever seen. It presents its subject, an immensely complicated man, only through his own words and work, using four representative works from his art to help illustrate four different periods of his life. The works are acted out in Disney-bright colors on a minimalist soundstage and are thoroughly Kubrickian in their mise-en-scene. These are contrasted with the biographical part of the story, shot in black and white and on location in Japan. Mishima was a narcissist, a bisexual, a lover of all things Samurai, and above all, an artist. Passionately devoted to his art, the film adroitly illuminates his complicated relationship with art, action, and life. I would attempt to explain this relationship, but really, the film does a much better job than I ever could. This is an astounding piece of film, helped along with a jaw dropping score by Phillip Glass. I have never seen a biopic tackle a more complicated subject and keep his complexity intact; that is truly the brilliance of this film. It does not distill its subject down to a stereotype - a rarity indeed in the biography film genre. I can see this film easily entering my Top 50 Films - maybe even Top 25! It's just THAT GOOD. A resounding 5/5.
35. The Ear, 1970 (07/31/09)
A married couple comes home from a government dinner party in Czechoslovakia. She is drunk and he is irritable. She seems to have lost her keys - an innocuous enough situation, but this, combined with other innocuous oddities, leads the husband to begin to suspect that government officials have broken into the house. This is Communist Czechoslovakia, and the husband works for the Ministry. However, as he just found out at the dinner party, nearly all the people he worked with have just disappeared without a trace. As the movie progresses, we see the couple bicker as the husband recollects seemingly unimportant - and yet, maybe, not so unimportant - conversations from the party that heighten the sense of unease and paranoia. What are those men doing in the yard? Why is the cellar door unlocked? Is the house bugged? The relationship between the husband and wife is at the heart of the film, symbolic of the plight of the people during this time. Unsurprisingly, the film was banned by the Communist Regime when it first came out and for many years following. Generally unavailable on DVD, this film is currently posted on youtube under its Czech title, Ucho. Please, check it out. This is a fascinating psychological thriller. 5/5
Best Popcorn Flick: Harry Potter 6
Best edge-of-your-seat movie: Ucho
My "seriously, more people need to see this" movie: Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Ucho
29. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2009 (07/24/09)
The sixth film in the Harry Potter franchise succeeds, like so many of its predecessors, in whittling down J.K. Rowling's complex and intricate plot lines into a streamlined screenplay that effectively portrays the essence of the book without including every little detail. A thoroughly enjoyable film, the mood is certainly different from the prior flicks; it is darker, more dangerous, and much more melodramatic. The acting of the young cast is vastly improved since the inception of the series, especially for Daniel Radcliffe. I enjoyed it as a HP fan, and my husband, someone who has never read the books, enjoyed it as well. Well done there. 4.5/5
30. Project A Part II, 1987 (07/29/09)
OK, this is a sequel to a Hong Kong Jackie Chan film. The sequel is in my "1001 Movies" book, but the original is not. Go figure. Well, as it turned out, I really didn't need to see the original first. It's a Jackie Chan movie. That should pretty much tell you everything you need to know. There are good guys and bad guys, a few pretty girls who are put in distress, and lots and lots of incredibly impressive fight sequences. The stunts are just fantastic, and knowing that Chan does his own stunt work is truly mindblowing. This was a given going into the film, but I was pleased to discover moments of Charlie Chaplin-esque comedy sprinkled throughout the film. Most memorable was a sequence where multiple characters, both good and bad, are concealed within the cabinets of the same house without each other - or the owner - knowing. Amusing and diverting, high art this isn't. 3.5/5
31. Report, 1967 (07/30/09)
Bruce Conner assembled this short film that focuses on the JFK assassination with primary source material. He uses nothing but newsreel footage and radio broadcasts until the moment of the bullet being fired. The broadcast then continues, but now the image is a jarring blank white screen. He then begins to show a variety of images, almost a visual free association, as the broadcast goes on. It's interesting, it's brief, and it's available on youtube. If you have any interest, check it out now before Bruce Conner's estate takes it down. 3/5
32. Down By Law, 1986 (07/30/09)
Jim Jarmusch, king of American independent film before it was "cool" to make indies, creates this unassuming, quiet film about three deadbeats in New Orleans who end up in jail together, then break out. For a film that has a prison escape in it, this is neither a prison film nor a prison break film. In fact, it's rather hard to categorize this into any particular drama. It's subtle, it's slowly paced, but there are moments of excitement and comedy. Roberto Benigni - yes, that Roberto Benigni - plays one of the three men, and he considerably lightens the mood of the film. Ultimately, what I gleaned from this film was the significance of the transient connection these three men form. They drift into each other's lives and then inevitably drift out. Very lovely and, in a strange way, moving. 4/5
33. The Cloud-Capped Star, 1960 (07/30/09)
This is an Indian melodrama from 1960. This is NOT a Bollywood musical. The story centers on Neeta, the eldest daughter of a struggling middle-class family, who sacrifices again and again and again for her family. Her older brother is an aspiring singer who is practicing his craft for two years before he can earn a living at it. Her younger brother and sister constantly want pocket money, and her father is a teacher who earns next to nothing. Neeta even goes so far as to sacrifice marrying the scientist she loves so that she stays at home. This dreadfully backfires as the scientist, apparently an impatient man, decides (with the help of Neeta's meddling mother) to marry Neeta's younger sister. Neeta gets pushed around again and again in this movie, but she eventually realizes that she is not blameless in this. In a satisfying scene, Neeta tells her former fiance that she should have been more vocal, she should have stood up to the injustice. Neeta is ultimately sadly sympathetic, and I found myself greatly moved for her plight. The story is helped along by beautiful music and photography. Wonderful. 4.5/5
34. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, 1985 (07/31/09)
An American produced, American directed Japanese film with Japanese actors about the most controversial and perhaps most important Japanese artist of the 20th century, Yukio Mishima. This is the most astounding "biopic" I have ever seen. It presents its subject, an immensely complicated man, only through his own words and work, using four representative works from his art to help illustrate four different periods of his life. The works are acted out in Disney-bright colors on a minimalist soundstage and are thoroughly Kubrickian in their mise-en-scene. These are contrasted with the biographical part of the story, shot in black and white and on location in Japan. Mishima was a narcissist, a bisexual, a lover of all things Samurai, and above all, an artist. Passionately devoted to his art, the film adroitly illuminates his complicated relationship with art, action, and life. I would attempt to explain this relationship, but really, the film does a much better job than I ever could. This is an astounding piece of film, helped along with a jaw dropping score by Phillip Glass. I have never seen a biopic tackle a more complicated subject and keep his complexity intact; that is truly the brilliance of this film. It does not distill its subject down to a stereotype - a rarity indeed in the biography film genre. I can see this film easily entering my Top 50 Films - maybe even Top 25! It's just THAT GOOD. A resounding 5/5.
35. The Ear, 1970 (07/31/09)
A married couple comes home from a government dinner party in Czechoslovakia. She is drunk and he is irritable. She seems to have lost her keys - an innocuous enough situation, but this, combined with other innocuous oddities, leads the husband to begin to suspect that government officials have broken into the house. This is Communist Czechoslovakia, and the husband works for the Ministry. However, as he just found out at the dinner party, nearly all the people he worked with have just disappeared without a trace. As the movie progresses, we see the couple bicker as the husband recollects seemingly unimportant - and yet, maybe, not so unimportant - conversations from the party that heighten the sense of unease and paranoia. What are those men doing in the yard? Why is the cellar door unlocked? Is the house bugged? The relationship between the husband and wife is at the heart of the film, symbolic of the plight of the people during this time. Unsurprisingly, the film was banned by the Communist Regime when it first came out and for many years following. Generally unavailable on DVD, this film is currently posted on youtube under its Czech title, Ucho. Please, check it out. This is a fascinating psychological thriller. 5/5
Best Popcorn Flick: Harry Potter 6
Best edge-of-your-seat movie: Ucho
My "seriously, more people need to see this" movie: Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Ucho