Friday, July 24, 2009
Movies I've Watched Recently And A Few Notes
Le Samourai (1967) - Brilliant. I love Jean-Pierre Melville (Army of Shadows) and Alain Delon was brilliant in this. The story was pretty straight-forward but told in such a way that you weren't really sure what was going to happen next. And the fact that both the Police and the bad guys are after him, it makes for an excellent cat and cat and mouse.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) - Excellent thriller from the 70's. They don't make them like this anymore, it's all style over substance now-a-days, and this is all about the characters and the story. Also where Tarantino got the color coordinated names (Mr. Blue, etc.) for Reservoir Dogs.
I Live in Fear (1955) - Another top-notch Kurosawa film. Not quite up to his usual efforts, but that is holding an extremely high standard. Mifune was excellent as the very paranoid head of the family, and was also almost unrecognizable, it took me about 30 minutes to figure out that it was him.
When We Were Kings (1996) - Shot in 1974, this documentary on Muhammad Ali and the Rumble in the Jungle (Zaire) is an amazing piece of political and sports history. Ali was the hero of the African-American community and did many great things for them and was also the greatest fighter in the world. I admit, I didn't know how this fight turned out until I watched this film, it amazed me.
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) - The main attraction here is Henry Fonda playing Abe Lincoln, and it's one of the greatest performances I've seen him give (Grapes of Wrath and Once Upon A Time in the West also come to mind). Also like those movies there is a brilliant director behind the camera, in this case, John Ford. Ford knows how to use the camera to capture peoples faces, actions, that no other director of his time could do.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Sherlock Jr.
Buster Keaton - 1924 - Buster Keaton
This movie really made me see Keaton in a different light. Before I had always seen him as an inferior to Chaplin, but Sherlock Jr really changed my perspective on him, it's like comparing apples to oranges really. Sherlock Jr is about a movie projectionist, Keaton, who is also studying to be a detective. When his girlfriends fathers pocketwatch is stolen he decides to put his skills to use, however, when he has to return to his real job of being a projectionist, he begins to fall asleep and the film world and the real world become intertwined and this is where he becomes the "real" Sherlock Jr and the villain in real life becomes the villain in the film. The special effects that they managed to pull off in 1924 when Keaton literally walks into the movie and goes through several scene changes is very impressive. But of course the main attraction here is Keaton and the amazing physical feats he accomplishes all the while being such a lovable character. Also, the ending is one of the best I've ever seen in silent films, right up there behind City Lights. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this film, it also moves at a blistering pace, it's only about 45 min.
5/5
Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand - 1957
This is my first, and hopefully not last, book review on my blog. I actually started reading Atlas back in December when I had my gallbladder removed as I figured the surgery and recovery would take longer than it did. The first 1000 pages flew past, the story of Dagny Taggert and her quest to save her trains from the looters (mainly Government), Hank Rearden's struggle to save his steel mills, and Francisco d'Anconia's plot to overthrow his own copper mines is a thrilling read. Atlas is about the "men of the mind" going on strike and retreating to an "Atlantis" type hole in a mountain where they simply work, work on refining their skills and doing the tasks that they have to do to stay alive, while they leave the "looters" to destroy the world. If you don't know anything about Ayn Rand and her politics, and you're even slightly interested in reading about them and enjoy a good story, this is a good place to start. Yes, the philosophy of Objectivism is prevalent throughout and the politics are pretty heavy-handed, but it is also a wonderful story even if you don't agree with her on anything. The main problem I had, is that about 1000 pages into it, the story STOPS, and we get an 80 page rant about her philosophy. This ONE CHAPTER is what took me so long to get through the book, I really couldn't read more than five pages of it at a time. But in the greater scheme of things, it is a very minor problem, and I happen to agree with her on most things, I just think this one chapter should have been shortened to about 20 pages, it would've helped the flow of the book so much.
9/10
Friday, May 1, 2009
Ninotchka
Ernst Lubitsch - 1939 - Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas
Oh, Greta Garbo, you can make any movie wonderful. In Ninotchka, Greta plays the title character, a stern Russian communist who is sent to Paris to recover some "stolen" jewels. While in Paris Ninotchka runs into Leon, played by Melvyn Douglas, who is the Duchesses assistant in charge of the jewels, and of course she begins to fall in love. When she initially shows up in Paris she is disgusted at the over-indulgence of capitalist society and how well people live, of course, this also begins to fade as she realizes that she can have nice things for herself when she doesn't have to work for "the good of the people." Besides the amazing performance by Greta Garbo, who absolutely steals the show, although Melvyn Douglas holds his own pretty well, the dialogue is especially top notch. Witty, smart, and consistently funny (funnier than most modern films in my opinion), the script is extremely tight, hardly a moment wasted. And, like any good Lubitsch film, there's the political undercurrent. In this case it's pretty obvious that he's making the case about how capitalism is a much better system than communism/socialism. Even when Ninotchka first arrives in Paris she speaks more like a robot than a Russian. Smart, funny, political undercurrents, great direction, and an amazing performance from one of the greatest actress's of all time, couldn't ask for much more.
5/5
Friday, April 24, 2009
Nayagan
Mani Ratnam - 1987 - Kamal Hassan
Not to lessen the film any, but this is essentially India's answer to The Godfather. It plays out very similarly to the story of Don Corleone. A young man, Velunayakan, comes to town one day after his father has been killed for leading a rising of Union workers. He sees several opportunities to take the law into his own hands when he feels the lower class are being mistreated by the police and the upper class. This eventually leads him to basically running a mafia that helps out the community any way it can. However when a new police chief comes into town, it might be time for him to change his tactics to be more by the book, or face the consequences. This is considered by many to be one of the greatest epics of Indian film, and with good reason. Although it is not very large in scale, the fact that it follows one person from his childhood, through his successful adulthood, and into his eventual downfall when he gets older makes it one of the more intimate epics. It should also be noted that there are several singing and dancing scenes, although they don't REALLY come out of nowhere, they are slightly amusing especially to an American audience who isn't used to such things in a serious drama. However, they don't really take away from the viewing experience.
5/5
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Man with the Movie Camera
Dziga Vertov - 1929
Russian. Cinematic. Classic. A "lone" cameraman goes out into the city to document the life of it's citizens with dazzling effects. I said "lone" because obviously someone is filming him and several times during the movie there are scenes of self-reference, which was a first for films. Several of the techniques used in this film were also a first or at least rarely used (probably never used all in the same film that's for sure), such as: dutch angles, fast motion, slow motion, animation, double exposure, freeze frames, and jump cuts. Those are just a few of the techniques used in this film. It's also notable because it has no actors and no story, it is essentially a documentary about nothing. This was basically just an exercise to see how many different film techniques they could throw in one movie and not have to worry about anything else. This film seemed to have a lot of influence on the Godfrey Reggio "Qatsi" series (Koyaanisqatsi mainly). Where Reggio's films have the clashing of man and nature using different classic and modern film, video, and post-production techniques, Vertovs film focuses on the day to day life of the common people with the manipulations that were available to him in the late 20's. The editing in this film also deserves a special mention. At no point does it ever really slow down, it's a very modern style, including cross-cutting to build considerable tension where there otherwise wouldn't be any. And then it shows the women editing it, remarkable (shades of Gimme Shelter?). If you like classic films, or artsy films, don't miss. If you're a cinema history buff, you should have already seen it.
5/5
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