My 2011 Movie Odyssey - Part VI

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)

There are some interesting images in this early talkie from Fritz Lang that would have been better as a silent film.

The Country Girl (1954)

Grace Kelly goes plain and won an Oscar in this OK movie. Wait, what am I saying? Grace Kelly is supposed to illuminate the screen in gorgeous gowns by Edith Head. This is a terrible movie.

Three’s a Crowd (1927)

Having seen most of the important silent comedies from Keaton, Lloyd, and that other guy, I was interested in checking out the work of Harry Langdon. My first foray into his films was a major disappointment. The movie is not very funny and the plot is seriously flawed. But the biggest issue I have with the movie is one of missed opportunities. There is a comically long flight of stairs leading up to Langdon's apartment, which he does absolutely nothing with. Chaplin would have walked up and down the stairs in a funny way, Lloyd would have almost fallen off them, and Keaton would have built a whole sequence around them, but Langdon lets them sit there begging to realize their comic potential.

The Chaser (1928)

Fortunately there were two Harry Langdon movies on the disc, and The Chaser was quite funny. Langdon manages to make doing mundane housework and even just sitting there very funny. The plot is rather ridiculous, but I enjoyed Langdon's performance and am eager to check out more of his work.

The Fly (1958)

Constructed more as a murder mystery than a monster movie, The Fly is very entertaining and manages to avoid being hokey like many of its contemporaries. And the final scene is still quite chilling.

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

This movie is terrible. King Kong looks like a man in a bad monkey suit and his face makes him look incredibly stupid. The fight scenes are uninspiring, the models look like models, and the whole idea of electricity making King Kong stronger is just laughable.

Samurai Cop (1989)

This is a gloriously bad movie. The action scenes fail at being thrilling or believable, the cinematography is shoddy, the dialog is awful (with lines like, “I will bring you his head and I will place it on your piano.”), and it even features Robert Z'Dar and his incredibly huge face. Samurai Cop's sidekick can't decide if he's the stoic silent type, or the wise-cracking black guy, and he manages to pick wrong in every single reaction shot. But the best part about Samurai Cop is the Samurai Cop's hair. The actor sports gloriously long 80s locks, but halfway through filming he cut his hair, so wears cinema's worst wig for half the movie. The great thing is that it switches back and forth between real hair and wig throughout the movie, even in the middle of some scenes.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

This is the kind of movie tailor-made to win cinematography awards. It looks great. Unfortunately the film is way too long for its own good and drags far too often, especially in the final act.

Monster Camp (2007)

This documentary tries to tell the real story behind the people who participate in Live-Action Role Playing (or LARPing), but the production value is amateur, the subjects aren't particularly interesting, and it never manages to really explain how LARPing works or tell much of a story.

Little Caesar (1931)

Maybe its just too much of a precursor, but I found the story to be unengaging and the tough-guy dialog felt hokey. I guess I only like my classic gangster movies to star James Cagney.

My 2011 Movie Odyssey - Part V

Strange Invaders (1983)

This is a rather forgettable movie that is neither funny enough for a spoof of 50's B-movies nor affectionate enough for an homage.

Let Me In (2010)

This American remake of Let the Right One In brings very little in the way of anything new to the material. In fact, its so similar that there's very little reason to see both versions. (Though I would vote for the first one not only because it was the first, but also because the remake uses a false inciting incident: taking an exciting scene from the middle of the movie and putting it at the beginning to hook the audience then throwing up a "Three Months Earlier" title.)

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

The movie was not nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be. If you go in with low enough expectations, it's actually kind of fun.

The Killer (1989)

The main reason the see this movie is the copious amount of gloriously over-the-top gun battles.

Cube (1997)

Six strangers find themselves in a maze-like building of identical rooms. There they must figure out how to survive the deadly traps that are found in most of the rooms and ultimately escape. There's plenty of tension and the various traps are rather inventive, but the whole thing is overly grim, both with the characters and the ending.

A Serious Man (2009)

I didn't like any of the characters and all the bad things that kept happening to the main character just got ridiculous. I expect more from the Coen Brothers.

The Nutty Professor (1963)

I am just not a fan of Jerry Lewis. This is supposed to be his best movie, yet I found both versions of the professor to be woefully unfunny.

Trafic (1971)

While not as good as Jacques Tati's other films, there are still plenty of amusing moments as he tries to get an experimental vehicle to an auto show.

Henry V (1989)

I now know the context for the “Band of Brothers” speech.

Boys Town (1938)

Spencer Tracy as Father Flanagan is really awesome and the idea of a Boys Town is a really interesting one (especially once I learned that it is a real place), but Mickey Rooney's troubled youngster was a bit too much of a caricature for me.

My 2011 Movie Odyssey - Part IV

Ooh! Blog posts two days in a row! I'm going crazy! (Or something.)

When Worlds Collide (1951)

In a precursor to Deep Impact, a rogue planet is on a collision course with Earth. The only way for the human race to survive is to build a space ark and be off Earth when the planets collide. What follows is an interesting and at times intense story of human ingenuity and survival, with both the best and worst of humanity on display.

127 Hours (2010)

James Franco does a one man show through most of the movie as a hiker who gets his arm trapped by a boulder and has to cut it off in order to get free. Franco does an admirable job carrying the movie and the amputation scene is fittingly unsettling. The only real flaw in the film are the occasional dream sequences featuring other people; they break the tone of isolation that is one of the film's strongest features. (It also contains what may be my favorite burp in movie history.)

eXistenZ (1999)

This movie tries to keep the audience guessing as to what is reality and what is not, but I stopped caring about half-way in and the ending left me extremely dissatisfied.

Aeon Flux (2005)

The story is rather silly, but the fight scenes are choreographed well and it has an interesting look.

Unknown (2006)

Five men wake up in a warehouse all suffering from amnesia. It's fascinating to watch as they try to figure out who they are and why they are there, and which of them are the good guys and which are the bad guys. There are a few flashback scenes and a few flash sideways, but the bulk of the movie (and all of the interesting stuff) takes place within the warehouse.

Hercules (1983)

I remember seeing the ending of a Hercules movie some time ago that featured as its climax Hercules going into space and turning into bad animation to defeat the bad guy. It was really bad and I was interested in seeing the whole thing. I hoped this would be it, but sadly it wasn't. Fortunately, it was as bad as I remembered the other one being. Lou Ferrigno stars as the worst Hercules I've ever seen. From the neck down he actually looks like Hercules should look, but his face is too soft to be convincing as a hardened warrior. Add to that wooden acting and only one facial expression of dull bemusement and Ferrigno brings the world of beefy action stars to a new low. Herc fights ridiculous, laser-shooting mechanical monsters, travels from one place to another for no apparent reason, duels King Minos with a light saber, and gets huge. The screenplay has no narrative cohesion with things happening merely due to the screenwriter's whim. This is the worst Hercules movie I've seen. (And it has a sequel!)

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

The first half of the movie tells the tale of Mr. Toad from The Wind in the Willows. While there's nothing bad about it I found the whole thing rather flat. Things get much better in the second half, which tells the tale of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It is dark, atmospheric, a little scary, and very entertaining.

Winter’s Bone (2010)

High schooler Ree has to make sure her father makes a scheduled court date so the family won't lose their house in an isolated Ozark community. Jennifer Lawrence puts in a strong performance as Ree, as she tries her best to keep her family together. What I found most fascinating about this movie is more about what isn't there. There are big things going on with drug dealing but we see almost none of it. Instead, the filmmakers take a minor character from a film noir and make her the hero of her own little story.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)

This Korean re-imagining of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is wild and full of energy. However, I never really latched on to any of the characters and the ending was unsatisfactory. Recommended mostly for fans of Asian cinema and spaghetti westerns.

Tron: Legacy (2010)

I love the 1982 original and was really looking forward to the second chapter of the Tron saga. Unfortunately, the whole thing fell rather flat. The messianic themes of the original are replaced with eastern mysticism. The action sequences were overblown and many felt like they existed just to throw flashy imagery at the audience. In many ways, Tron: Legacy reminds me of The Matrix Reloaded in that it took the unique, original vision of its precursor and expanded it but did it in a way that made everything more muddled and far less interesting. And CG young Jeff Bridges just looked wrong.

My 2011 Movie Odyssey - Part III

Micmacs (2009)

While not as good as Amelie or some of his other earlier work, Jean-Pierre Jeunet still infuses this film with plenty of quirky characters and lots of his unique visual and narrative style. The whole movie ends up being quite fun.

Things to Come (1936)

As a vision of the future, the movie is pretty interesting, predicting what life will be like from 1936 to 2036. It's fun to compare what they got right and what was wildly inaccurate. Unfortunately, it's rather boring. Since it covers so much time the characters keep dying off to be replaced by new characters, depriving the audience of anyone to really latch on to. And the movie is so preachy in its anti-war message that it manages to sap any remaining energy right out of the film.

Shallow Grave (1994)

Danny Boyle's directorial debut is full of unhappy people doing unpleasant things to each other; a real downer of a movie.

MirrorMask (2005)

I give the movie points for creating a new world but take them all back for its visual style. Everything is distorted in a grotesque way and half the time I felt like I was watching the movie through a dirty pane of glass. The plot is little more than a twisted retelling of Alice in Wonderland, and the plot twists were either cliched or contrived.

Blood Simple. (1984)

Several sequences are very well crafted but the overall bleak tone of the movie kept me from enjoying it.

Die Hard 2 (1990)

This seems little more than a bad episode of 24. I found some of the plot twists unexpected, but only because they were really dumb.

It Came from Outer Space (1953)

There's little in this movie to separate it from all the other alien invasion movies of the 1950s.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)

As I expected, the movie was a little too long and slow and didn't have a satisfying ending. This is the problem with telling a story in two parts that was never designed to be split up. I can't pass final judgement until I see Part 2, but right now I feel that there should be just one really long movie. (And they still left too much for Part 2.)

Catfish (2010)

What starts out as a rather unremarkable documentary about a photographer quickly escalates to being almost a thriller about the way people choose to present themselves to the world.

The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)

This is an interesting look into the life of Robert Evans, one of Hollywood's most celebrated producers. My main problem with it is that of the four movies that get the most attention, The Godfather is the only one I like and I utterly loathe Love Story and Rosemary's Baby.

My 2011 Movie Odyssey - Part II

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Me, I am thankful for movies from the good to the bad, in their wide-ranging genres and subject matters.

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

This is a fascinating look at the world of street art and the artists who make it. It starts with a montage of street artists plying their craft - some clever, some vulgar, and some outright vandalism - all while a song plays in the background declaring that “Tonight the streets are ours.” Then we are introduced to Thierry Guetta a clothing shop owner/documentarian/aspiring street artist. He’s quirky, full of life, and enjoys almost unlimited access to some of the biggest names in street art. But when he starts doing his own street art it’s derivative and repetitive (and most if not all of the actual artwork is done by other people). What results is a wonderfully entertaining look at several interesting people and the work that they do, even when their art is completely illegal.

Alien Nation (1988)

It tells an interesting story about racist attitudes towards the alien population in America, but it would have been better if the violence had been toned down and the fun factor increased.

Invaders from Mars (1953)

It has some wonderfully creepy moments in the first half hour as aliens take over the minds of various townspeople, but the end is rather unspectacular and not very distinguishable from similar efforts from Roger Corman or Burt I. Gordon.

Dogtooth (2009)

Nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar and available on Netflix streaming, I thought I would check this movie out. I should have stayed away. It tells the tale of a family who isolate themselves from the world. The parents use scare tactics and misinformation to keep their children inside their little compound. Why? I have no idea because the movie never bothered to tell me. I kept waiting for something to happen to shake things up, and it finally happened in the last couple minutes of the film. But instead of exploring the implications of the first real plot development of the movie, they decided to roll the credits instead.

Metropia (2009)

This animated movie has an interesting noirish look, and the individual frames look really good. Unfortunately, the animation leaves much to be desired. The characters reside squarely in the uncanny valley - the human models are wonderfully detailed, but they move so little and unnaturally that the filmmakers might as well have just filmed Barbie dolls bouncing across the screen. The story tries to be a dystopia along the lines of The Matrix, but ends up making little sense, and none of the characters are particularly memorable either.

Ip Man (2008)

This is a fictionalized account of Ip Man, a martial arts master who trained Bruce Lee (and many others). The first half is a whole lot of fun featuring plenty of martial arts hijinks in a largely pre-industrial Chinese town. Then the Japanese invasion of WWII happens, and the film takes a decidedly serious turn. Ip Man and his fellow countrymen struggle to get enough food to feed themselves while still maintaining their honor in occupied territory. Ip Man is fascinating to watch, both in moments of quiet dignity and when he is laying down some martial arts smack-down.

The Secret of Kells (2009)

This beautifully stylized animated film tells a fictionalized account of the creation of the Book of Kells. The film takes many visual cues from the artwork in the Book of Kells, leading to a movie that looks like a moving illuminated manuscript.

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)

It's better than a Roger Corman movie, but not by much.

The King’s Speech (2010)

This is a well made movie that smacks a little of Oscar porn. There's not a whole lot that I loved about the movie, but really the only thing I didn't like about the film is that I felt they focused on the wrong character. Colin Firth's character is only interesting because he is a prince who stutters; take those two things away from him and he's rather dull. Geoffrey Rush, on the other hand, is quite engaging as the speech therapist who manages to help Firth overcome his speech impediment. Had they focused on his character instead, the movie would have been far more interesting.

Unstoppable (2010)

This is a fun action movie that wasn't as cliched as I was expecting it to be, though the ending was a bit of a letdown.

My 2011 Movie Odyssey - Part I

Now that November is half over, I really ought to start posting my movie odyssey. This year I've been much worse than usual about keeping up with my thoughts on the movies I watch. So far I've seen 132 movies this year for the first time but only have 55 blurbs written. (Somewhat in my own defense, I have been working on other projects.) But at least one of you likes reading these, so here is the first installment.

The Social Network (2010)

This is a slick movie that is full of energy. The opening scene between Mark Zuckerberg and his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend is immediately arresting with dialog so quick it would make Howard Hawks proud. The conversation continually goes on tangents then loops back around in a way that reminded me of reading a comment thread on facebook. Jesse Eisenberg is electric in the role of Mark Zuckerberg, graduating from “poor man’s Michael Cera” status to becoming a force to be reckoned with. The Social Network is engaging all the way through, with fascinating characters, memorable performances, and a taut script, all held together masterfully by director David Fincher.

Exam (2009)

Eight people are in a room prepared to take a test that will determine which one of them will be given a high-profile job. The only problem: when they turn their test papers over, there is nothing written on the other side. The entire film takes place in the exam room, and it is fascinating to watch the candidates as they try to figure out what the rules are and what it is that they need to do.

The Proposal (2009)

Sandra Bullock is fun to watch (as always) and there are a few laughs, but there is nothing in this film to distinguish it from the rest of the romantic comedy crowd.

Black Swan (2010)

This visually striking tale about a ballerina's descent into madness features strong performances from its three leading ladies, a compelling story, and lots of beautiful ballet. I just wish it hadn't decided to go into weird sexual territory.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

I was hoping that this would be an honest documentary about the merits and flaws of the MPAA rating system. Unfortunately, it was actually a 97 minute rant against the MPAA's puritanical view of sexual content, completely missing the fact that the MPAA rating system exists for the movie- going public, not the filmmakers.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

There were a couple interesting visual touches, but overall I was bored with the endless scenes of teenagers running and screaming.

Tangled (2010)

This is a really fun movie. The animation is gorgeous and features several wonderful moments of pure character animation (with the animators constantly coming up with new and inventive uses for Rapunzel's hair), the songs are all pleasant (though none of them are particularly memorable), and Rapunzel spends most of the movie barefoot. Really, what's not to like?

True Grit (2010)

The 1969 original is one of my favorite westerns, so the Coen brothers' version had a lot to live up to, and they delivered a fine remake. Roger Deakins’ cinematography was beautiful as always and Matt Damon played a much more interesting LaBoeuf than Glen Campbell’s take on the character. But The Dude cannot hold a candle to The Duke.

Innerspace (1987)

This was mostly fun, rather silly, and very 80's. To be honest, I find it hard to believe that Dennis Quaid’s character had any friends at all based on how he always acted.

Darkman (1990)

It’s an interesting take on superhero tropes, but it was too dark and angry for my tastes.

An Ode to Theatre

As far back as I can remember, I have enjoyed being in theatrical productions. They have ranged from Sunday school dramas* to high school productions to community theatre. I have had lead roles and roles of one just one line. I have worked backstage, and even co-directed. And I have thoroughly enjoyed almost every minute of it. By my count I have been a part of over thirty different productions.

The other day I started wondering why it is that I enjoy doing theatre so much, and the first thing that came to mind is that I enjoy watching and being part of the process of a show coming together. It starts with auditions. There is always a feeling of both excitement and dread on the day of auditions: excitement because I may finally be able to play the role I always wanted, dread because I may end up getting saddled with a boring role that doesn't give me anything to work with. I eagerly watch the others as they audition, casting the show in my head and trying to figure out who the director will cast in each role (and in the process try to figure out which role I will get).

Once the show has been cast, there are the first few awkward rehearsals. We don't know what we're doing, we're doing it with a bunch of strangers, and we're doing it on a bare stage (or maybe not even on a stage at all). But as rehearsals progress, lines are memorized, the set starts showing up piece by piece, and the cast gets comfortable with each other and starts working together as a unit. Even when I'm not on stage, I like watching the director work with the other actors to create a scene and am genuinely happy for them when it comes together. The first time we run through the entire show without stopping is always a momentous occasion. Sure everyone screws up at least once, and the whole thing is very rough and way too long, but we just proved to ourselves that we can do it. When the costumes show up, you find yourself actually standing next to Belle, instead of an actress saying all of Belle's lines.

When the tech crew arrives for the last week of rehearsals, it feels like the family is finally complete. Now we have someone to give us light or darkness as needed, and someone to operate our mics and any music. We may have people working backstage, manipulating props and set pieces so the actors don't have to.

Opening night is the culmination of all our efforts.** We now have an audience to laugh, cry, and applaud. By this time, all the jokes have become stale to us, so it is refreshing and invigorating to learn that we are still being funny and that the audience likes it. And there's nothing like listening to an audience sniffle as they try to hold back their tears, or gasp at a shocking or scary moment.

Some philosopher (and probably more than one) said something to the effect that life is not about the destination but the journey. This is definitely true for me when it comes to theatre. For me, the rehearsal period is the Thanksgiving dinner while the performances are the piece of pumpkin pie for dessert. Sure it's nice, but what I'm really there for is the turkey, rolls, and mashed potatoes. It's fun to watch a ragtag bunch of misfits become a well-oiled machine.

But even more than watching the whole thing come together, the thing I think I like the best about doing theatre is that it gives me the opportunity to be an indispensable part of a whole greater than myself. A production of Romeo and Juliet needs both a Romeo and a Juliet, and those are the roles that most people want. And yet, though he has only four lines, the Apothecary is just as integral a piece to the play as Romeo or Juliet. And the beautiful thing is that the guy playing Romeo cannot play the Apothecary. Nor can Juliet. Nor can anyone else in the play.

And what's even more awesome is that the actors can't do it without the tech crew. Even those so-called one man shows have a team of technical people behind them. And having been both an actor and a techie, I know that while the actors may look down on the techies, thinking they are only techies because they are not good enough to be actors, the techies know that the actors are not smart enough to be techies.

I once had the opportunity to be part of a production of The Foreigner. I was part of the crew. My entire job was to stand backstage during the climax to do some special effects. I was busy for only about five minutes of the entire run of the two hour show. But all the actors were on stage at the time, so none of them could do it. And the other people in the crew weren't in a position to be able to get backstage to do it. So even though I was needed for only five minutes of the show, I was still a vital part of the production. And I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

*Ever since I heard it, I have hated the word "skit." It sounds willfully unprofessional - something merely to kill time or appease the kids and not something that aspires to be a work of art. If I had my way it would be removed from the English language entirely. It also doesn't help that it is one letter away from being a profanity.

**Two opening nights in particular stand out in my memory. The first was a production of Rivers and Ravines my freshmen year in high school. It was a cast of all freshmen. Our rehearsals were rough, and we had never made it through the entire show without stopping. And to top it all off, we had to replace one of our actors in one of the major roles at the last minute. Standing backstage with the other actors, I finally understood phrases like "The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife." I could literally feel the tension pressing down on me so much that I had to get away from everyone for fear of it affecting me. Then the show started, and we rocked! The second was a production of Calamity Jane my senior year in high school. This time I was the last-minute replacement for a major role (though I did have a week to learn it, unlike the guy in Rivers and Ravines who only had about a day). The euphoria I felt when the lights went down after the final scene and the applause started was unlike any I have felt before or since. For the usual feeling of "We did it!" was combined with my own personal "I did it!"