INSOMNIA
INSOMNIA
October 9th (I think) 2003, DVD, my living room
The first film viewed for the first time in my new dwelling, on a brand-new DVD player! How lovely. Good thing it was this tight-and-tasty noir thriller from director Christopher Nolan, imagining that MEMENTO was just too lighthearted. I swear, his next movie is going to be about an autopsy on a kid that goes all wrong - no wait, that's ALIEN 3.
Al Pacino looks terrible, and that's perfect for this role - his hard-bitten L.A. cop, still kidding himself about his levels of cynicism, shows up in the northernmost town in the United States, which happens to be above the Arctic Circle, and it's summer, so - no night-time. Groovy, huh? A crime thriller where it never gets dark? It's brilliant! Unfortunately, things just arne't that creepy in the daytime, even when they're Robin Williams, who also looks really awful, and I suppose that's appropriate, or at least inevitable when you're his age with his bone structure. Robin's voice is so carefully modulated that it's unrecognizable as coming from that wicked ball of manic energy that we all know and love; when he's talking on the phone to Al, I didn't place the voice at all. I had to literally hear it coming out of Robin's mouth. Uncanny! Helping out Al is his crooked partner, played for no apparent reason, besides the fact that he's brilliant and he deserves to make money, by future husband Martin Donovan. There's little to say about his performance - anyone could have done it, really, and though Martin Donovan is brilliant, he's best in Hal Hartley movies. I could see, oh, I dunno, Marky Wahlberg doing a slightly better job. Hilary Swank is the Alaska rookie captain, fresh out of the academy, and so humorless and dedicated that she's pointy. I have never seen her in anything else; this was not a very auspicious introduction. Jonathan Jackson, one of the prettiest human beings alive, and Katharine Isabelle as the town teen slut, are our star-crossed teenage losers - who knew they got so gorgeous up there at the Arctic Circle? And for some reason, Maura Tierney is also in it, as the concierge of the hotel the cops stay at. Huh? But this is mere quibbling, trying to find fault with a very clever, unusual, tight, intense, surprising, and deeply satisfying film. I must now watch the Norwegian film this was a remake of - I bet it's really good.
October 9th (I think) 2003, DVD, my living room
The first film viewed for the first time in my new dwelling, on a brand-new DVD player! How lovely. Good thing it was this tight-and-tasty noir thriller from director Christopher Nolan, imagining that MEMENTO was just too lighthearted. I swear, his next movie is going to be about an autopsy on a kid that goes all wrong - no wait, that's ALIEN 3.
Al Pacino looks terrible, and that's perfect for this role - his hard-bitten L.A. cop, still kidding himself about his levels of cynicism, shows up in the northernmost town in the United States, which happens to be above the Arctic Circle, and it's summer, so - no night-time. Groovy, huh? A crime thriller where it never gets dark? It's brilliant! Unfortunately, things just arne't that creepy in the daytime, even when they're Robin Williams, who also looks really awful, and I suppose that's appropriate, or at least inevitable when you're his age with his bone structure. Robin's voice is so carefully modulated that it's unrecognizable as coming from that wicked ball of manic energy that we all know and love; when he's talking on the phone to Al, I didn't place the voice at all. I had to literally hear it coming out of Robin's mouth. Uncanny! Helping out Al is his crooked partner, played for no apparent reason, besides the fact that he's brilliant and he deserves to make money, by future husband Martin Donovan. There's little to say about his performance - anyone could have done it, really, and though Martin Donovan is brilliant, he's best in Hal Hartley movies. I could see, oh, I dunno, Marky Wahlberg doing a slightly better job. Hilary Swank is the Alaska rookie captain, fresh out of the academy, and so humorless and dedicated that she's pointy. I have never seen her in anything else; this was not a very auspicious introduction. Jonathan Jackson, one of the prettiest human beings alive, and Katharine Isabelle as the town teen slut, are our star-crossed teenage losers - who knew they got so gorgeous up there at the Arctic Circle? And for some reason, Maura Tierney is also in it, as the concierge of the hotel the cops stay at. Huh? But this is mere quibbling, trying to find fault with a very clever, unusual, tight, intense, surprising, and deeply satisfying film. I must now watch the Norwegian film this was a remake of - I bet it's really good.