The Watercooler: 5/12/08
Welcome back to another Monday Watercooler. I hope the moms out there had a lovely Mother’s Day and I hope everyone managed to catch something good and discussion-worthy either at the cinema or on DVD.
I didn’t catch quite as many movies as I’d originally planned, I missed Redbelt and Mister Lonely and a midnight screening of Smokey and The Bandit at The New Beverly, but I did manage to catch the French spy spoof OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, Tarsem Singh’s visually splendid fantasy/drama The Fall and a repeat viewing of the much maligned Speed Racer.
First up, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies. That’s a title that begs for an exclamation point. OSS 117 is a fictional French super spy named Hubert Bonniseur de la Bath who beat James Bond to print by 3 years and was the subject of a movie a full 5 years before Ian Fleming’s hero. This current incarnation turns the genre on its head and spoofs it with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
The story is set in 1955 and every effort has been made to make it appear as if it was actually filmed 50 years ago. From the old-style Gaumont Film Company logo, to the Saul Bass style opening credits, to the old stock footage of Rome, Paris and Cairo, to the clothing styles, to the process shots used in the driving scenes, this could easily have been filmed in the 1950s. In fact, one couple leaving the theater wondered aloud if it had been.
The jokes come from the offensively insensitive and hopelessly inept OSS 117 as he stumbles through foreign countries inciting revolution even as he seeks to stop them. What separates this from something like the Austin Powers franchise is that the filmmakers never let on that they’re kidding and the film lacks Mike Meyer’s knowing smugness. As a result, it works better as a satire.
Ultimately, this is a funny movie of the continually rolling chuckle variety rather than the spleen busting variety, but funny is funny.
Next up was The Fall from Tarsem Singh (The Cell). I had high hopes for this one and though I’m not immune to visually splendid, narratively dubious films (see My Blueberry Nights and Speed Racer), this one did not have enough going for it to rise above being somewhat disappointing. The story interweaves fantasy and reality in a hospital in Los Angeles in 1915. There, a despondent, paralyzed Hollywood stuntman (a very good Lee Pace) tempts a little immigrant girl with a fantastic story of adventures in exotic lands in the hope of recruiting her to steal a bottle of morphine so he can kill himself.
The Fall was beautiful to look at and newcomer Catinca Untaru was pretty adorable as the little girl. I recommend it though I’m forced to admit that, despite my protestations, Jeff Wells’ suspicion that there was something wrong with the film based on how long it had been on the shelf proved accurate.
Finally, I watched Speed Racer for a second time just to make sure my original enthusiasm had some merit. I’m happy to announce that it’s still a very good movie, though I did find that the film dragged at times and was a little bit too long this time around. Still, it’s a far far better film than critics are saying and it’s very unfortunate that all the talk today is going to be about how it was clobbered at the box office by the 2nd week of Iron Man and perhaps even by What Happens in Vegas. All I can say is that there’s no accounting for taste.
Besides these three films, I caught an odd batch of trailers this weekend. First there was Stuck, the new movie from Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, Edmond) based on a true story about a woman (Mena Suvari) who hits a homeless man (Stephen Rea) with her car and leaves him, still alive, lodged in her broken windshield. Billed as a thriller, there appears to be plenty of macabre humor ala Re-Animator. Needless to say, the largely older audience who had turned up for OSS 117 was bewildered.
The bewilderment increased with Mother of Tears, the conclusion of Italian horror master Dario Argento’s witchcraft trilogy that began with Suspiria (1977) and continued with Inferno (1978). This one stars his daughter Asia.
By the time the trailer for Celine Sciamma’s Water Lilies played, I think the French tale of synchronized swimming mixed with a tinge of adolescent lesbianism was nearly enough to drive the codgers out of the theater.
Swing Vote looks like a thoroughly mediocre Frank Capra wannabe with Kevin Costner as an aging slacker whose vote will decide the outcome of a presidential election. Looked dismal, but Kevin Costner was funny. I’d like to see him make a career rebound. I still love Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and The Untouchables and I think the man has paid enough for the The Postman, don’t you?
Mike Myers’ The Love Guru continues to look horrible. Amusingly I keep getting emails from some guy asking me to spread the word about a Hindu boycott of the film. Sorry, I fully support a person’s right to be stupid and offensive on film. However, Hindu groups needn’t worry. I won’t be paying to see this movie or encouraging anyone else to do so because it looks retarded.
On the other hand, I have to admit the trailer for Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohan about an Israeli Mossad agent who fakes his own death in order to pursue his dream as a hair dresser made me laugh a little bit. I’m not saying I’m on board, I’m just saying.
Finally, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D with Brendan Fraser looks noisy and stupid. I’m curious to catch one of these new 3-D movies everyone is talking about, but this isn’t going to be it.
That’s what I’ve got. How about you?
Filed under: Watercooler
I want what you got.
I did not see A SINGLE FILM in cinemas all weekend, for the first time in months. It sucked.
So next week, I hope to catch up.
And I am missing the press screening of “Married Life” today because I am sick.
* totally sucks*
Awwww, Nicky bear.
I think you may have really enjoyed MARRIED LIFE, too. I have a feeling it probably will be something that you will sincerely dig.
Not to worry. I’m sure it will be in cinemas in SA for a bit (AT LEAST) and you can attend a “normal” screening with your friends later.
Feel better, k?
*Hug from your blonde “big sister” in spirit*
I missed a screening of Married Life last week too, but it was on purpose: I’ve missed too many math classes already, and I really need to pass this course (aside from my thesis, it’s the last requirement for my MSc). Considering I got an 8/10 back for the midterm though, I should be fine. And there’s another screening in july 28th- it doesn’t come out for a looooon time here.
Anyway, my weekend: there’s a Latin American Film Festival going on in the best theatre in Utrecht, and on Saturday, after one of my friends cut off about 3/4 of my hair (it looks very spunky short now), we went to a midnight screening of a truly, unbelievably bad film called La Noche de los Inocentes/ The Night of the Innocents.
I mean, you can’t fault a cheap movie for it’s low production values, I know. But aside from that, the acting was straight out of a telenovela, the story was incredibly convoluted and clumsily told, and while the idea, of telling a story through the tales of several unreliable narrators, was interesting, the execution was clumsy at best. But I have to admit: the fact that I couldn’t understand a lot of what was being said due to the “all your base are belong to us”-nature of the subtitles might have influenced my opinion.
Yesterday there was an open air screening, also for this festival (the weather’s been amazing for a week now). The film was Como Agua Para Chocolate/Like Water for Chocolate, and I really liked it. The food angle came and went a bit too randomly, I thought, and the story was totally ludicrous but in a nice, magical realist way. I had to sit on half a chair because it was so crowded, but the atmosphere was great.
I’m sad to hear The Fall was a disappointment. But I’ve been feeling ambivalent about seeing it: it’s been in theatres two weeks now, and I still haven’t gone. I guess it’s because I didn’t like The Cell much: it looked great, but it seemed little attention had been put into anything else. Lee Pace means I might have to see it though. I can;t believe we have to wait until the fall for new eps of Pushing Daisies…
I spent part of Mother’s Day watching Sansho the Bailiff for the first time and, of course,was stunned by how thematically appropriate that turned out to be.
Also caught Redbelt which has that Spartan thing of building and building to absolutely nothing. I love me some Mamet but this is skippable.
Thanks Miranda :)
And you too Hedwig! Because now I do not feel alone.
Here is how we are similar:
Married Life was supposed to be released in SA on 23 May – but I thought since that is “Indiana Jones” weekend, I would try see “Married Life” early – too bad it is now being released in SA on 13 June.
I also cannot wait for the new eps of one of my FAVOURITE shows “Pushing Daisies”. I remember cursing at the Writer’s Strike, but in actual fact most of the television shows I watch are showing now – the exact same episodes that are showing in America. It makes sense in my head, maybe not here. I don’t know.
So, snap.
I just remembered that I saw “The Lookout” on DVD which I really enjoyed, not what I was expecting at all, cannot believe I skipped it last year; who am I to skip things???
Oh, and “Georgia Rule” on DVD, which has scarred me for life. The trailer makes it look all warm and fuzzy, which it is, but it is randomly crude as well. I mean, my little sister rented it over “Martian Child.” What an odd film indeed.
And I am officially sold on the film “Brick Lane” which is meant to open in SA this week Friday, the trailer makes me happy. And it looks beautiful.
I have also decided to get myself a car, and paint it all kinds of neon-ish colours and pretend like I am in “Speed Racer.” Or something.
I am with you on ZOHAN, Craig. I probably saw the same trailer you did, and that shot where he flies across the room sideways in slow motion and kicks the guy through a concrete wall had me rolling. Could this be a return to HAPPY GILMORE days? Could it?
THE FALL strikes me as one of those films that I’ll have to see no matter what reviews it gets, although your estimation doesn’t surprise me.
I saw HELVETICA last night and am sad to report that it was not as engaging and insightful as I had hoped it would be. A couple of really dry interviews torpedo it at the beginning, and it never quite recovered for me, even though some of the later designers they talk to are cracker-jack fire brands. It also wasn’t as visually gorgeous as I had hoped or heard. An interesting film, to be sure, but if you’re looking for info-intense docs, see MY ARCHITECT instead.
Also, I saw a little film called SPEED RACER, but you know how I feel about that. Hopefully second helpings at IMAX are in the stars for me tonight.
you know it was all about the babysitters for me…..!!!! :)
uh i’ll likly see redbelt tuesday. could fake the energy to see it sat/sun.and i do wonder why i’m going to see it. and i say oh well since i’ve become more immersed in a.d/lic/cp stuff.maybe i should see more. but o doubt most of it will be as good as the babysitters opps ! :)
but don’t worry i’m not gonna see che or indy jones etc.and etc…
redbelt /sure i’m the least athletic guy ever.and i realy don’t give a danm about guys kicking each in the head (see i’m pretty unamerican)
but i’m curious and this film has drug addict so maybe i’ll go… ;)
iron man saw that wednesday. uh…no….you know when the car ran over iron man… if it would have killed him i wouldn’t have cared……please will this superhero stuff just stop…
I went to see Speed Racer in IMAX Friday morning and thought it was fantastic (review here). That’s all for me, though. Too much work to see anything else. Sorry to hear you’re sick, Nick. That always sucks, especially when it impedes on movie watching.
Craig, I also want to go see Speed a second time around but haven’t been able to yet. I’m glad to hear it still holds up.
Your honesty is such a pleasure to behold glim.
I would like to see Babysitters, and am really only going on your thoughts on it, that I read over at CP and now here.
And thanks Justin – the good thing is that I miss school, which kicks enormus amounts of ass. I cannot wait to read your review, come Junish.
Hah hah, Glim…my least favorite moment in Iron Man is when the car runs over him. It was a silly gag that came at a pointless moment for a gag, it looks incredibly dumb, and if a modern car ran over Iron Man it wouldn’t just speed off like that. His armor would have ripped the undercarriage to shreds, probably causing an accident that would have killed those cute little brats inside.
Aw, but there I go…looking for realism in Summer popcorn. Silly, I know.
I watched Cloverfield on DVD Sat afternoon, and I’m pretty much in near-complete concurrence with Craig’s review. I thought the premise and setup were actually fairly strong and the monster movie angle and special effects work like gangbusters, but the movie is seriously hobbled by an absolutely annoying cast (talk about lack of charisma) and a very insipid third act. Still worth seeing but not the 2007 Top Ten contender it could have been.
Sunday I caught Redbelt and I pretty much agree with Chuck’s quick take. If you like Mamet, see it, but it could easily wait for DVD. Considering there five people in the theater with me Sunday afternoon, that won’t be a long wait.
Later I saw My Blueberry Nights, which was delicious. It wasn’t a movie that would necessarily stick with me and gnaw away at my brain, but it was gorgeous to watch (and listen to) and an enjoyable ride. The supporting cast was uneven but good and Jones wasn’t nearly as bad as some critics contend. MZS and Craig are both right…this was a nice trifle of a movie.
Sometimes the critics fall all over themselves getting it way wrong.
The trailer for Stuck looks very interesting, although I’m hesitant to believe Mena can carry this movie. I also really liked the trailer for The Wackness. I have no interest in seeing Baghead, after sitting through that trailer twice.
joel the trailer for baghead makes it seem more a horror thing/but supposedly it’s not…. ??
if it’s not a horror film i may have interest in seeing it.
cloverfield. the cast..uh i haven’t seen the movie.but as long as everyone is attractive.who needs charisma ???
wait your take on what would really happen if the car ran over iron man is really funny especially since after attck by the bad iron man(i forget his name sorry) he said something like ‘i see you’ve updated your armour’
but joel you know the main reason that car survived was because product placement is stronger than iron man… ;)
nick i’m almost affraid to go back and re-read what i wrote about the babysitters at cp. but i love the movie !!! :)
joel, i liked blueberry too ! could you pin point the accent the portman charcter used.and she was so much better in this movie than that short in which she was nude. who, would have thought… :)
bop’s take on the weekend. and yeah i know i’m the person at lic/a.d. front page or cp to ref bop. but i love it…
http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=10662
so speed racer on did slighly offer $20 million this weekend. hmm… so *far* under predictions that weren’t even in the blockbuster range anyway…
Nick, your taste is once again, exquisite. Pushing Daisies is the best little bon bon on television, and I too was very fond of The Lookout. Good stuff. There’s one for a future Overlooked Film Fest.
Hedwig, I haven’t revisited Like Water for Chocolate since I first saw it in the theater, but I really liked it then. I’m a sucka for magical realism, though. Also for chocolate.
OSS 117 sounds pretty fun, Craig. I agree with you about Journey to the Center of the 3D Earth with Brendan Fraser. But it’s Brendan Fraser, that painfully goofy mug on so many bad DVD covers.
My Friday was dominated by trying to trap and then kill or otherwise neutralize a possibly rabid, seemingly undead superbat that was loose in my house and woke me up at 4 a.m. by flying across my face whilst I was lying peacefully in bed. Eek. There’s a long story behind it that doesn’t end happily for the bat, but this, even on Watercooler day, probably isn’t the forum for it.
Anyway, between my batscapades and other commitments, the only movie I caught this weekend was The Kite Runner on DVD. I thought it was a decent adaptation of the book, though the book’s ever-tidy coincidences and metaphors seemed more glaring on film than when I read it. Mr. Jennybee enjoyed it more than I did, though he was a Kite Runner novice with very low expectations.
jennybee, I also thought Kite Runner {the film} was a pretty good adaptation – I only read the book in its entirety after seeing the film, but the book is still tops for me. Not a bad film, but not the *great* I was hoping for. It did have a magnificent score and the boy actors were really engaging.
I saw the trailer for “Journey to the Center of the 3D Earth with Brendan Fraser.” when I saw U23D – and I hated it. I plan to stay well clear of that one.
I am no fan of Brendan Fraser – I still wish he was not in “Crash” – I hated him in that movie too. He is the kind of guy who should be doing TV/Radio commercials and not be in film. Just me and my opinion.
Jennybee, hope that experience doesn’t spoil The Dark Knight for you.
Glim, charisma goes a long way when you have to follow four whiny characters through an entire movie. I pretty much was hoping the monster would kill them all and not to be too spoilery, but I almost got my wish.
I still liked it.
As for Iron Man, true, product placement trumps all else. Love the unabashed Burger King ad in the middle of the movie.
As for Natalie in MBN, her accent was a little annoying but I liked her in the part. But since I’ve had an…er, affectionate appreciation for Ms. Portman for some time, my opinion don’t mean jack on that count.
The short you mention was pretty good too. Again, my undying love and appreciation for Wes Anderson.
Here is something random:
Has anyone here seen the film “Son of Man”?
I hope all of the Moms, if there are any here, had a wonderful Mother’s Day.
Sorry to hear that you’re sick, Nick. I hope you feel better very soon.
Jennybee: eek, sounds scary. I hope everything is alright (not with the bat obviously – though hopefully he’s out of his misery now).
I’ll chime in with praise for The Lookout. It was one of my faves of 2007. And Como Agua Para Chocolate was an enjoyable adaptation. The book is a good read if you haven’t already delved in.
I caught up on a few movies that I missed in theaters since last week’s Watercooler. First, I revisited the original anime film Blood: The Last Vampire, which I saw a long time ago and decided to see again. It’s an interesting, fun little movie that clocks in at under one hour. I heard a rumor that they are making a live action version of this which should be interesting. Although I’m not an obsessive fan, I do have a real appreciation for a lot of Japan’s manga and anime series. There are some interesting, creative stories there, with great characters (both male and female).
I caught 12:08 East of Bucharest on DVD and loved it. While I feel that 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days was the superior movie, this film was still a gem. The humor is priceless, and I wasn’t expecting it given the tone of the movie at the beginning, which was typical of the mood of Romania at the time.
Next on the program was Viva Cuba, a small, low-budget film, very simple. The story is a Romeo and Juliet tale, set in Cuba and with its own twists, and is very engaging. It’s humorous, poignant, touching and quite sad in parts. I highly recommend it. If for nothing else see it for the two kids who are in the leading roles. They’re wonderful.
The last DVD was Jindabyne, which I missed in the theater. It’s based on a short story and they expanded on it to make the movie feature-length. Some of it worked for me, some of it didn’t. There were several plot points left unresolved, and in my opinion they should have kept the focus on the main crux of the story, which was the mens’ behavior after their discovery and the consequences. The acting is terrific and the wonderful Laura Linney is superb – the movie is worth watching just to see her.
Finally, Mom and I went to the movies yesterday and saw Fugitive Pieces. Though it has some great moments I appreciated the movie more than loved it. The acting was terrific all around, particularly Rade Serbedzija as the Greek archaeologist who saves Jakob, and there were moments of real poignancy in the film, which have stayed with me. I’ve never read the book that this was adapted from, so I can’t say whether it was done well or not. The style of storytelling in the movie is very passive, which gives it a slower pace. I don’t mind a slower pace at all, but I got to a point where things felt repetitive and I wanted it to just wrap up. Not a good sign.
And, not to leave anything unmentioned, when I got home last night I caught, for the 80 zillionth time, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope on Spike TV. There will be an 80 zillionth plus one time in the future.
Thanks Ali :)
I keep on ignoring “Jindabyne” at the video store but I am a sucker for all things Linney, so maybe I’ll rent it tomorrow.
If I could see “4 months” right now, I would not even mind if I dropped dead as soon as the credits roll. My antcipation is THAT extreme.
Jenny “Mina” bee, I hope that with your tormenter’s demise the neck punctures are healing and you can soon dispense with those tiresome scarves.
I too really enjoyed Natalie and the short, Joel. When they move onto the balcony and the wide shot of the softly lit Paris cityscape appears my heart ached with nostalgia.
Introduced the wife to two classic Cary Grant screwball comedies – “The Awful Truth” and “Bringing Up Baby”. His chemistry with both the wonderful Irene Dunne and Katherine Hepburn was brilliant. The man could do anything – verbal and physical comedy, drama/suspense as hero or anti-hero, and action. My only regret is that too few films explored the darker hues of his intriguing persona.
Now that you mention that scene, sartre, the Natalie factor almost bridges My Blueberry Nights and Darjeeling Limited for me. Both of those movies seem to be getting at something similar, ie a melancholy for the loss of love/a loved one and at the same time, an evocative search for self on the road, and both do it in distinctly different yet highly stylized ways. MBN is far lighter and looser than Darjeeling Limited, I suppose.
Plus both have gotten decidedly mixed receptions from critics at large.
I don’t know, maybe I’m stretching here, since MBN is more about lost love than Darjeeling’s tussle with familial loss.
Sounds like Jennybee had one of those viral Dark Knight campaigns go horribly awry.
aahahha….”undead superbat”
Don’t take my disappointment in The Fall too seriously. If I review it, it’ll still get 3/5 stars. Fans of Lee Pace will most definitely want to catch it, I think and there really was some stunning imagery. Plus, did I mention the little girl was cute?
Nick, I hope you feel better soon and I hope you catch up to Married Life soon. I’d like to hear what you think of it. Also, for some reason I had you pegged as a big Joseph Gordon Leavitt fan, in which case I’m shocked you hadn’t seen The Lookout, but then now that I think about it, maybe I’m confusing him (or you) with someone else.
Evan, normally I can take or leave Sandler, but yeah, the slow mo kick through the wall got me. My second Speed viewing wasn’t in IMAX…it just didn’t work out logistically, but I kind of wish it had been.
Glad you liked it also Justin. It’s nice to have the opinions of people I respect on my side on this one since it’s getting murdered from all sides.
Glimmer “but joel you know the main reason that car survived was because product placement is stronger than iron man” best comment of the thread. I didn’t catch The Babysitters Glimmer because it was only playing at weird theaters far away from wherever I was. Didn’t feel like a movie I needed to drive across town for.
Joel, I wonder if Cloverfield worked better on DVD. I’ve been pretty negative on it lately, but I did give it a positive review so I’m sensing a little backlash on my part. Also…”Roar!” still rules.
Hedwig, I haven’t seen Like Water for Chocolate for years, but I’m kind of a sucker for it. A perfect example of a movie I’m not supposed to like because of my chromosome arrangement, but there you go.
Chuck and Joel just might have killed Redbelt for me. I regretted missing it over the weekend, but now, not so much.
Alison 12:08 East of Bucharest was a movie I kept meaning to see and kept missing. Death of Mr. Lazarescu cooled me on the whole Romanian explosion, but 4 Weeks rekindled it so perhaps I should right my past wrongs and give it a look.
Jindabyne was one of the first reviews I wrote and I’m afraid to go back and read it for fear that it’s awful, but the movie got under my skin. Aside from Linney, Gabriel Byrne was really good I thought…a little different character than he normally plays. There was a lot playing under the surface in that movie…the town buried under the lake was an appropriate metaphor…maybe a little too obvious.
Nick, if you like Linney, definitely catch Jindabyne.
Fugitive Pieces was on my short list to catch in between OSS 117 and The Fall if I was in the mood. Now it’s on the longer list…
I agree with Joel that charisma is very useful when without it you just want to see the character’s head stepped on by an angry fish monster. Put me out of my misery, please.
Sartre, what’d Mrs. Sartre make of the Grant classics? I used to be a Jimmy Stewart guy and I still am, but I think Grant is my real favorite among the old movie stars. I agree that he should’ve explored his dark side more, but as such a huge movie star, it’s a little surprising he got to explore it at all. We can thank Hitchcock for most of that.
MBN is certainly more ethereal than Darjeeling, but I think you’re on to something there Joel. If nothing else, they’re both lovely to look at.
Also, did I mention one of the best parts of my blogging week is reading everyone’s chatter about what they discovered over the weekend?
Good stuff and it always inspires me with more things to throw into my recently neglected Netflix queue.
Craig, check out Viva Cuba if you haven’t already seen it. It’s not a long movie. I loved it. See it for the kids in it – they’re great together and it makes the film absolutely charming.
Glad you appreciated at least the production of OSS 117, Craig. As I said, it owes as much to Austin Powers as it probably does to the original OSS series. I don’t know that I had too many belly laughs (maybe a couple – the post-dance scene at the ball was a highlight), but it was good enough for consistent chuckling. I would have no problem if movies like that continue to come down the pike, especially if they’re so beautifully made.
I gave my thoughts on Speed Racer on another thread – loved the racing, didn’t love the running time or the story quite as much.
I’m going to go ahead and admit that I, too, found myself watching the Zohan trailer and not scoffing. I imagine I’ll quietly see it, saying nothing if it’s bad and championing it if it’s good.
That film festival sounds really cool, Hedwig. Outdoor screenings are a nice summer treat. Somebody told me today that a hip downtown bar is going to be showing NCFOM and TWBB on their roof deck tonight and tomorrow night. Are you kidding me? Nothing like a suspenseful scene in the middle of loud drinkers, city street noise, and terrible lighting.
Too bad to hear that about Helvetica, Evan.
I half-saw a trailer for Towelhead, and it was enough to interest me for a possible theater viewing.
Aside from SR, I also saw Rambow, The Custodian (El Custodio), and Blindsight in area theaters. Pretty much a combined 3/4 there.
Rambow is funny and innocent, but it packs a dramatic punch I was unprepared for, and it left me bewildered. That makes it sound like I didn’t like it – I did.
The Custodian is an incredible study of one man’s quiet life as a bodyguard for a high-ranking goverment official in Argentina. Beautifully shot and masterfully acted, it’s been somewhat fairly compared to Taxi Driver. It’s not quite as ambitious but delivers in many ways.
Blindsight is a documentary about six blind children in Tibet who are given the opportunity to scale the peak next to Everest with Erik Weihenmayer, the first climber to scale many of the world’s peaks. All I’ll say about it is that it’s surprisingly not what you think it’s going to be, and its 100% RT rating is deserved.
I haven’t seen Son of Man, Nick, but it sounds familiar. Maybe because of Son of Rambow. Unrelated – have you seen Bunny Chow? It’s an SA film that I’m planning to see at a festival on Thursday. Also, has anyone heard of or seen Let The Wind Blow, from India?
The Lookout was great – Jeff Daniels delivered one of the most overlooked performances in the last 5 years.
Great thoughts on Grant, sartre.
Daniel, “Nothing like a suspenseful scene in the middle of loud drinkers, city street noise, and terrible lighting” is exactly why I skip most outdoor screenings. Portland has some wonderful second-run brew pub theaters where the sound is pretty awful and having a waitress/waiter interrupting your viewing is a serious nuisance.
Craig, I was wondering if Cloverfield held up better in SD DVD than on a big screen. The effects looked pretty good on my TV. The Bluray comes out next month but I doubt I will revisit it any time soon.
Thanks for the tip on Viva Cuba, Alison.
Daniel, Blindsight sounded unbearable so I dismissed it, but thank you for the positive word. I may have to add it to the gigantic documentary pile cluttering up the LiC offices (with King of Kong right on top).
As I said at Getafilm, the trailer for Rambow kind of threw me too. I was expecting more zaniness and less of a heart. I still haven’t decided if it’s a better film as imagined it would be or as it turned out to be.
Add me to the list of people who haven’t seen Son of Man, Nick. Was it good?
Joel, I think JJ Abrams said somewhere that Cloverfield was sort of designed for the small screen or something to that effect.
Not sure what his exact words were, but they’re what made me wonder.
Daniel, I completely agree with you about Jeff Daniels in The Lookout. That performance was terribly underrated.
I’ve never seen Son of Man either, but it does sound familiar.
Craig, my wife had a great time watching them. She couldn’t recall seeing Grant in anything before, so was naturally taken with his enormous talent. Afterwards we watched the TMC documentary on his life and career that accompanied Baby. She also got a real kick out of the intelligent, strong, resourceful, and adorable female leads that easily held their own with him.
Joel, I’ve not yet seen MBN but you make it all the more appealing with your thematic analysis bridging it and DL.
“Cloverfield was sort of designed for the small screen or something to that effect.”
That would explain the January release date and the small scale of the casting they did. It also makes sense because everyone involved has a TV background.
Still much better than I expected it to be, warts and all.
Rambow was playing the two biggest screens at my local Regal indie-plex this weekend and the place was PACKED on Sunday (?). Not sure everyone turned out for that movie, but it was very busy. I guess Mother’s Day is a good day to go see a movie.
sartre: good point about the intelligent, strong, resourceful and adorable female leads that held their own. In general, this is a characteristic I find in many films of the 1930’s and ’40’s. The lines between the genders were clearly drawn back then, but women really held their own against their male co-leads in their own ways and without losing their femininity.
Irene Dunne in particular always came across as classy and lovely, even in the screwball comedies.
Sartre, keep expectations low on MBN and I think you’ll enjoy it. I think the critics were expecting something far different and they were more than happy to savage Jones’ performance. It’s one of those movies that is almost like good background music in a good bar or cafe, or like thumbing through a good coffee table book of photography or art. If you put too much effort into it, you’ll probably ruin it for yourself.
Well said, Alison. They displayed an appealing quality of free-spiritedness despite the gender role prescriptions.
Joel, my MBN expectations have been tempered by the qualified enthusiasm offered by you, Craig, and others here. But I’ll nonetheless be attuned for “a melancholy for the loss of love/a loved one and at the same time, an evocative search for self on the road”.
“She couldn’t recall seeing Grant in anything before” Man, I would kill to go back and relive my ‘old movie virginity’ now that I’m smart enough to appreciate what I’m laying eyes on for the first time.
Glad she enjoyed them.
Alison, they knew how to make so-called ‘chick-flicks’ back then like nobody’s business. These days? Meh, you can keep your Nancy Meyers and your crap with Kate Hudson.
As far as ZOHAN, the jokes about him fighting people look funny in that Sandler way, but the jokes about hair-styling are dead dead dead, at least according to the three different audience reactions I’ve seen.
I stayed in all weekend writing. pining, rewatching POINT BLANK and listening to the Roger Corman audio commentary on THE TRIP. I would have love to have worked for him back in the New World daze.
The clips I’ve seen from OSS make it look fun, but not that funny. It’s right up my alley though.
I’m finding it hard to put perspective on my life in the face of half a million dead in Burma and 9000 dead in China. Awful stuff.
“I’m finding it hard to put perspective on my life in the face of half a million dead in Burma and 9000 dead in China. Awful stuff.”
Too true, Christian, too true.
Jeez, I leave for like a minute to watch “Grey’s Anatomy” and things here explode.
Craig, I like Joseph A LOT. But you may have been confused, I don’t think I have vocalised it much. I don’t know. But I skipped “The Lookout” because I thought I had better things to watch.
So, I will catch Jindabyne tomorrow. I read your review a while back Craig, first time I heard of the film actually, it is a good review, they always are around here.
Son of Man played at Sundance in 2006 – before I was interested in film – about a black Jesus. I have not seen it, I think it opens here in June. Seriously, we don’t even get to see our own films early.
Bunny Chow apparently sucks Dan. I skipped it because all sorts of Oscar contenders were opening when it opened, but it is on DVD. Apparently, it is best viewed when on LSD or weed, or so a friend of mine says. I suck.
I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around Myanmar and now China. It doesn’t help that I’ve been on kind of an unplanned news blackout the last few months.
OSS 117 as I said is definitely more of the frequent chuckle variety of comedy, but I think that’s a good thing.
Nick, I think I was thinking of someone else who is a big Shia fan and a big Levitt fan and I translated your like for Shia as a like for Levitt even though they’re really nothing alike….if that makes any sense.
I’m guessing you really liked Brick…?
My weekend consisted of Speed Racer, which I hope to write out a proper review of later today, Innerspace, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the 1950 sci-fi movie Destination Moon, and the French horror movie Sheitan. Good stuff all the way around.
More like 100k than 500k, if that’s any consolation, and the government there has been criminally negligent in taking care of its people.
And that’s the reason I enjoyed RAMBO, was the sheer guilty cathartic pleasure in seeing wicked bastards punished by exploding bullets.
You sound like such a Neocon.
Well I like them both, so :)
I LOVED “Brick,” it was even better than”The Lookout” in my opinion.
It’s not neo-con, it’s my innate Sagittarian need for justice meted out to those who deserve it through cathartic art. Just like when I cheer Bruce Lee kicking the hell out of the racist Japanese occupiers in THE CHINESE CONNECTION or Indy showing up at the children’s mine in TOD…
Blindsight ends up being your typical feel-good-about-bad-things documentary, Craig, but it’s more interesting than most because it features some really rich symbolism about how we Westerners try to do good in these ways. Who are we to think that we’re saving a blind kid’s life by pushing him up a mountain? Is to so we can tell a story to our friends back home, or is to actually improve their situation, and if so, how is it accomplishing that? I also learned how the blind are essentially banished from society in Tibet, as their blindness is thought to be the result of past sins. When two of our likable subjects accidentally brush by an old lady on the street with their canes, she calls them morons and tells them they deserve to eat their father’s corpse. I’m serious, it’s bad.
Yeah I’ve since looked up Son of Man and am interested in it, Nick. I thought it was potentially going to see a release here at some point. Thanks for the tip on Bunny Chow. Sounds like a no. I’d heard it compared to Clerks and Seinfeld, somehow, but upon further investigation it doesn’t appear worth my while.
The body counts out of these disasters is really beyond our comprehension. Not a reason to ignore it by any means, but it my explain the shrugged shoulders. Unfortunately we live in a world where some lives are “worth” a lot more than others. When 13 people lost their lives when the 35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi here in Minneapolis last summer, it was an international tragedy. Heck, Katrina was seen as a sign of the apocalypse. The fact is, any regular visit to the BBC news website will show that these massive tragedies are happening quite frequently. The recent doc Up the Yangtze is as close as you’ll see to a news story about 2-4 MILLION people being displaced from their homes.
Anyway, I’m rambling. It just sucks that losing some lives, regardless of the cause (war, cyclone, etc.) is more important than losing others.
Christian, if it had actually been the Burmese fighting back in Rambo instead of the Saggy White Hope doing their rescuing for them – and being more interested in the white missionaries anyway – I might have agreed with you.
Glad I could be of some kind of help Dan, but do not take my word for ir. If you are not to busy, see for yourself if Bunny Chow does indeed suck.
Christian I think what appealed to you about Rambo is exactly what pissed me off about it…which is odd because I’m sure you’ll agree you’re more liberal than I am.
The thing is, the need for catharsis and/or revenge may in fact be human nature, but in light of the mess it’s gotten us into in Iraq, seeing it celebrated in a movie theater surrounded by boys hooting like they were in a strip club really bugged me.
Pretty foolish of me to expect anything other than that, but I guess I was hoping for more of a return to the original.
Daniel, bravo to you for your ability to keep up with so many great documentaries.
Wow, what a Watercooler. Last night at around 9:30 I felt the effects of not getting enough sleep for a month. Had an earache, headache, backache and felt like I was getting sick. So I went to bed and slept for no less than sixteen hours. When you wake up at at 1:30 in the afternoon, you might as well just stay home and forget about school. Good thing is I feel completely refreshed, though the earache persists.
Chuck, I’m glad you saw Sansho the Bailiff. A magnificent film and certainly a great Mother’s Day movie, too.
JJ Abrams making movies that work better on TV are indicative of his TV background. He has a lot to learn about cinema, I think. The “Roar!” is cool, though, to be sure.
Jennybee, what a story! Ahaha, Dark Knight… I’m glad you took care of that batstard, though.
The Lookout is a piece of strong filmmaking. Definitely a compelling neo-noir. Brick is a great film, though. I can’t wait to see what Brian Johnson does next, Nick. (Sorry to hear that you’re sick. Maybe you should sleep for sixteen hours like me, that always helps.)
Christian, I just saw Point Blank again recently. I’m hoping to write a review of it for my blog very soon. Great film. The Chinese Connection is awesome!
Sartre, I’m glad your wife enjoyed the double Cary Grant comedy show. The more I watch Grant the more I realize just how insanely talented he was.
Alison, 12:08 East of Bucharest is indeed a lot of fun. It has a special meaning for me and my girlfriend as she (being a Transylvanian Hungarian “Romanian”–ah, that darned World War I sure screwed Europe up) was a television show reporter in Romania before she came to America. It’s an amusing film that steadily becomes rather hilarious during that whole TV show part. Craig, you owe it to yourself to see it.
OSS 17 sounds like a lot of fun, Craig. I also want to see The Fall. Thanks for filling us all in on both of those.
I think Joel and Chuck may have killed Redbelt for me, too, at least theatrically.
Alison, Viva Cuba sounds very interesting. Thank you for the recommendation…
This weekend I saw The Living Daylights, as I hadn’t seen it in a long time and Christian and I defending it the other day here made me want to take another look. It actually gets better and better, and I’m looking forward to listening to the audio commentary by the director, John Glen. The deleted scene, “Magic Carpet Ride,” feels like a Roger Moore Bond movie and was rightly cut.
Then I saw Catch-22. Still can’t totally warm up to this film; I’m sure that’s because I loooove the novel so much, that the movie can never even get close to matching the brilliance of Heller’s work. Nonetheless, Nichols deserves a lot of credit for getting a lot of things right. Jon Voight is great as Milo.
Then I visited my mom and we saw Damn Yankees from 1958, her favorite movie. (Yes, she loves baseball.) A lot of fun. The Devil bits are still infectiously enjoyable.
I was just mentioning the other day how much I enjoyed Innerspace back in the day, in spite of Martin Short’s sometimes spastic physical comedy.
I just added your blog to my links Alexander. Check out my review of POINT BLANK and we’ll compare views. I love that movie.
And CATCH 22 is a masterpiece. Flawed and cold, but tons of great stuff.
As per RAMBO, had I seen it in a theater like the first sequel, I would have hated it like I hated all the sequels. But I let Sly by because I thought the filmmaking was better and I like the action. Sometimes I can let my political pov slide when it comes to the action genre. I mean, I’m a pacifist. But I thrill to Bruce Lee kicking ass.
I think I see exactly where you’re coming from Christian…under different circumstances I might’ve felt the same way.
I think I prefer my catharsis of the true alien variety, like Aliens or Starship Troopers, two totally different films, but they allow you to get your revenge kicks while still sleeping at night. Cowardly perhaps…
Put me down for Point Blank and Catch-22 as well, though for some reason I couldn’t get your review to come up. Perhaps I’m just not trying hard enough.
Craig, just scroll down to the review. It’s up.
Of course, I alternately loathed ALIENS for its Reagan era xenophobia…
Even Jeffmcm admitted he loved TRUE LIES despite its odious political nature.
And lest we forget that RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD 2 and ALIENS were both written by the same guy. Irony!
Do I contradict myself? I am large; I contain multitudes…
My multitudes could cut your multitudes in half with a .50 caliber machine gun, asshole! (kidding!)
When it comes to these kinds of movies, of course we could all decide to dislike them based on their politics, but if you do that you become an obnoxious ideologue who’s made their mind up about everything ahead of time.
If a movie works for you, it works; all the rest of reviewing is justification.
I’m normally not too politically minded when it comes to my entertainment, but wow Rambo gave me the willies.
You’re a Sagittarian, christian?
Hmmm…Don’t know if we would get along then. Those boys find me rather tempestuous and intimidating – and they all sorta give me hives. Most of them seem to like easy going, nonglamourous girl next door types anyway – and that is SO not me. NOT BY A LONG SHOT.
Maybe you’re an exception, though? You and Craig go back a ways. He’ll likely give me the straight goods.
I have nothing to add. If anyone here reads the blog (I know a few of you do), then y’all know what I thought of Iron Man.
But being the lone voice in the wilderness never bothered me…
I prefer tempestuous and intimidating. And I dunno where you heard Saggies like girl-next-door-types; I go for planet-next-door types. All my ex’s have been actors, singers, artists, writers, etc. I get along best with Leos, who are not guilty of being shy. Us archers are explorers, so we don’t like routine. Assuming you buy into the star system…
BTW, Sinatra was a Sag.
Okay, everybody lay out their charts to see your moon sign…
I only went out with one Sagittarian my entire life – and I know he would never have had the guts to even talk to me if we hadn’t had mutual friends. Let’s just say he was much nicer on the phone than in the restaurant at dinner. I almost ran him over in the parking lot…
I’m much too practical and grounded to be a New Agey type. But I do know a lot about astrology. Is there any validity to it? Seems to me that there is. But then I’ve always been open to various types of spirituality and alternative ways of thinking due to my Catholic upbringing. I’m not at all rigid in that sense – and I think anything that gives you solid information that’s real is automatically valuable.
For the record, I DID know Frank was a Sag. Ava was a Capricorn. JUST LIKE ME.
I have the moon in Gemini and Leo rising. I don’t pull any punches. Are you satisfied now? Hee hee….
Sag and Capricorn? Holy shit. No wonder Frank spent his later years wandering through the soul wreckage of his wild time with Ava.
I dated one Capricorn. I maybe kinda sorta have a clue as to what ol’ blue eyes experienced. Scott Fitzgerald used to write such tales.
I’m Jewish/Catholic, so it’s all one vast universal dance to me.
If astrology has any validity, it’s probably in the personality profiles.
But certainly the position of the stars and planets and Earth must have some sub-atomic influence on our genes. You just can’t rely on it…then again, I’m a Sag and we’re the optimists of the zodiac;]
I caught ole’ Speedy for the second time tonight at the IMAX. It was, I am happy to report, practically as good as the first time I saw it. A little long in the second act as Craig notes, but otherwise as much joyous fun as it was on Friday. Gosh, I love that movie.
And when did LiC turn into a zodiac dating service? Time to start charging at the door, Craig. There is money to be made.
That’s exactly what Craig’s scope said today. Booyah!
Hahaha Evan. I’m a Cancer. I just want everyone to be friends and have fun.
Actually Christian, it was my fortune cookie.
Hehe, I’m Pisces, but I couldn’t tell you the signs of anyone I dated… Just too much of a scientist, I guess :-)
Same here Hedwig, on both accounts. But I never begrudge others harmless magical thinking :-)
I watched In the Valley of Elah and the first two Indiana Jones movies (on cable) this weekend. I liked Elah, especially Tommy Lee Jones who did a terrific job. Still think NCfOM is the better of his roles last year, but he completely sold the grieving army dad. There were a few awkward parts where Haggis’ righteous indignation shined through the dialogue, but overall I thought it was a good low-key drama.
I fell in love with Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom all over again. I had work to do Sunday night, but once I looked at the TV for a few minutes, I was sucked in. (I finished my work at 2 in the morning.) Missed Last Crusade, but that was always my least favorite of the three. Hopefully, Spielberg can deliver something that doesn’t taint the good will I have for the first films.
I missed OSS 117 when it was playing at my uni’s foreign film series, but I’m intrigued nonetheless. Can’t wait to see The Fall. Sounds like a fantastic film and will at least deliver some dazzling visuals. For all its faults, The Cell was a beautiful film.
I’ve been meaning to catch Raiders and Temple myself WJ before the new one hits. Glad to hear they still hold up.
If you like your visuals, you might really like The Fall.
Speaking of dazzling visuals that aren’t impressing anyone, I was dead wrong about the popularity of Speed Racer in Europe…looks like it stiffed there too.
SPEED RACER is the GRINDHOUSE of 2008.
We’ll see if Cahiers du Cinema names it as one of the Top Ten films of the Year… (Technicality: they only did so with Death Proof.)
I’m going to start looking at what French critics are saying…
That’s a good analogy Christian. Another movie during which I had a blast, only to come out and find that most people were apathetic at best.
Such is the beauty of movies I suppose.
The French are my last hope Alexander. If they deny me…well I don’t know what.
I actually saw Temple of Doom yesterday, on the same channel that aired Raiders the week before, and I realized….I actually had never seen it. Somehow I thought I’d seen all Indy films and just couldn’t get them straight. Some parts were familiar, but most of it wasn’t at all.
I have to say? Not too enthused. There were a few moments that made me grin, but most of it felt a little flat.
Also, I know this is going to make me sound like an even bigger film snob than I am, but I HATE it when they don’t show movies in their correct aspect ratio. In this case, it was kind of wide screen, in that there were bars above and below. But it wasn’t as wide-screen as it should be. And I’m not basing this just on the frequent cutting off of dancers and half-faces, either: I’m fairly certain the movie wasn’t directed by Teven Spielber.
Was it the darker tone that threw you with Temple Hedwig? Or was it just…as you say…flat.
Strange that it was letterboxed, but still cut off. The worst of both worlds!
Actually, it wasn’t the darkness (though the whole child slavery thing definitely doesn’t bring a grin too my face), but partly Kate Capshaw, partly the comic relief, the “gross food” humor, and mostly that so much felt forced and kind of wooden. I dunno. It just didn’t do it for me, I guess… though some moments did (like the whole exchange about what the sultan of Madagascar threatened to cut off).
And yeah. Don’t they realize their raping movies by doing that? Commercial interruptions are one thing, but show me the movie as the director wanted it to be!
I don’t think you’re too far off with Doom. It has its fans, but as I’ve said before I was really disappionted by it back when it came out. It was only after coming back to it with zero expectations that I warmed up to it.
In some ways I think it captured the serial spirit more purely than even the first one, though I agree with you about Capshaw.
“It was my…misunderstanding.” I always liked that.
I’m changing the topic completely, but I had to share this and it seemed appropriate to post it here. Yes, it’s going to have a long shelf life. Click me.
That was wonderful, Alison. Thanks for the link.
“partly Kate Capshaw, partly the comic relief, the “gross food” humor, and mostly that so much felt forced and kind of wooden.”
That perfectly sums up my own issues with it.
Thanks for the link Alison. And some were saying it would never find a place in popular culture despite the best efforts of fanboys.
Alison, that was awesome.
Re: Temple of Doom, I think it’s the messiest and most inconsistent Indy movie, which means it goes from the lows of Capshaw to the highs of the minecar chase.