I hate having to give up on something. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, availability of movies, money issues and a stack of other things, I've been unable to view and write about it. I haven't stopped watching movies, just not at the same pace. And I haven't been able to write about them as I should have been. I've seen about forty movies since I Office Space, both old favorites and new challenges. I can't possibly write reviews for all of them (I'd have to find all my tickets, for one thing). I can say that Resident Evil was a great movie experience, in the sense that I have no idea what the plot was, but Milla Jovovich delivered the expected asskickery. The Golden Compass was a promising addition to the fantasy pantheon. The original Halloween was startlingly good (though I really need to start giving John Carpenter more credit). It's always fun coming back to Hellraiser and The Fifth Element, and Beowulf was a pretty kicking tale of norse heroism-booze, babes, and total idiocy.
I think I'm going to close 'the project' with my very own little awards show, and then I'll carry on this blog with my thoughts on movies, my further learning in the areas of film theory and whatever else I happen to come up with that's tangentially related to 'flicks'. So without further ado...
Worst Thing I Watched: Tempo. Oh god, if there was ever a viewing experience I wish I could take back, it's Tempo. The promise of Rachel Leigh Cook sucked me in, and how wrong I was. When Stephen Dorff movies and Milla Jovovich sequels can't sink lower...when PORN, for crying out loud, has a more believable plot and better acting, you know a movie is utterly awful.
(Honorable Mention: Blood Creature. Wicker Man. Blood and Chocolate.)
The "I think I just threw up a little" moment of the year: The climax of Oldboy. The whole movie lead up to a moment so brutal, so hard to handle that my stomach heaved. The last time a movie did that to me was 28 Days Later.
(Honorable Mention: Man Bites Dog-Christmas sequence.)
Best Overall Viewing Experience: I started this project not just to learn about myself, but to learn about the people around me, what they like and why. When I sat down with Broomie to watch Godzilla: Final Wars, I was struck by how much he loved this movie he'd never seen. I learned more about Godzilla and about one of my best friends in the world in those two hours than I ever thought I would. Movies influence us in unimaginable ways, and not just the good films. His love of Godzilla movies translated to a love of the environment (due to their heavy emphasis on the dangers of pollution) and ecology, which then became a deep interest in biology. I can't comment on whether or not he's planning on creating Monster X or anything, but sitting my butt down and getting a lesson on kaiju film theory from him was a great experience.
(Honorable Mention: Introducing KV to Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Learning of the fabulous existence of John Waters via Cry Baby.)
Moments That Elevated The Film: Multiple nominees in this category, which is all about those little touches in movies that make them more than just their genre.
-Alicia Keys and Ryan Reynolds (Smokin' Aces): In a movie that is low in plot and high in action, there's a beautiful moment. As she's being carried away from the violence and chaos happening on an upper floor, Alicia Keys' gun-toting-assassin-babe crosses paths with Ryan Reynolds' FBI Agent. There's a confrontation with so many layers and challenges that it's uncommonly intense...and then it's over.
-Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada): I love Meryl Streep. She's just so goddamn good. I think possibly her best moment this year was the speech she delivered about fashion, its purpose and its trickledown effect. In one swoop, we come to understand just how powerful her character is and why her choices are important (in context).
-Angela Goethals (Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon): I can't praise this movie enough for everything it did to take on the challenges of inverting the slasher genre, examining while simultaneously chomping through the standards. The point where it really rises above is truly an excellent moment in film. And Angela Goethals is really great.
-Elizabeth Mitchell (Running Scared): This one almost makes it into the stomach-turner category. Her scenes are short, her part is minor, and like an awful lot of people in Running Scared, she meets a nasty end. But I love Elizabeth Mitchell so very much for being utterly disconcerting in her role as Edele. Just watch her eyes.
Surprise of the Year: High Noon. I'm not much for cowboy movies. Just never had any interest in them. High Noon blew me away. It had depth and texture, it was bold and interesting and it was just an excellent movie all around. If I had known there was a single cowboy movie out there that was this good, I would have been watching them since the beginning. Now, I have to catch up.
(Honorable Mention: Down With Love. Love Actually. Point Break. The Jacket.)
Movie of the Year: Children of Men. Good god was this ever an amazing experience all around. I loved this movie, I still love it, and I'm going to love it forever. It was spectactular, and incidentally it was also bloody well robbed by the Academy. It at least deserved a nomination, and it got hardly anything.
(Honorable Mention: American Beauty. The Fountain.)
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Saturday, September 1, 2007
I'm so happy I've never had to have flair.
The Movie: Office Space, directed by Mike Judge
Recommendation: Dee
Reason: I have seen Office Space before, but who wouldn't want to see it again?
There is a painful amount of truth in Office Space. Not about morality or legality or anything like that, but just in the treatment of the soul-deadening ways that an office job can break a person down. There are Miltons in this world, and there are pieces of flair. There are meaningless jobs and horrible management techniques and dear god there are Lumberghs everywhere. The plot of the movie is almost irrelevant, compared to the insight that Mike Judge demonstrates.
The plot is subdued and a little wacky. After a hypnosis accident, a peon at a software company shrugs off the shackles of his oppressive workplace and tries to break free with a stack of the company's money. It's office-monkey wish fulfillment. In between point A and point B though there are plenty of entertaining stops.
As a cult film. Office Space stands up, setting itself head and shoulders above the rest. It was mismanaged and badly marketed, leading to its being an utter flop (and Mike Judge refusing to do a sequel). Thank god for video and DVD sales.
-184/365 down, 181/365 to go
Recommendation: Dee
Reason: I have seen Office Space before, but who wouldn't want to see it again?
There is a painful amount of truth in Office Space. Not about morality or legality or anything like that, but just in the treatment of the soul-deadening ways that an office job can break a person down. There are Miltons in this world, and there are pieces of flair. There are meaningless jobs and horrible management techniques and dear god there are Lumberghs everywhere. The plot of the movie is almost irrelevant, compared to the insight that Mike Judge demonstrates.
The plot is subdued and a little wacky. After a hypnosis accident, a peon at a software company shrugs off the shackles of his oppressive workplace and tries to break free with a stack of the company's money. It's office-monkey wish fulfillment. In between point A and point B though there are plenty of entertaining stops.
As a cult film. Office Space stands up, setting itself head and shoulders above the rest. It was mismanaged and badly marketed, leading to its being an utter flop (and Mike Judge refusing to do a sequel). Thank god for video and DVD sales.
-184/365 down, 181/365 to go
My favorite spy like totally 4eva!
The Movie: The Bourne Ultimatum, directed by Paul Greengrass
Recommendation: Me
Reason: My love for the first two movies is great. Had to see the third.
I'm so fond of Paul Greengrass's work (what I've seen of it). Unlike most people, I'm a fan of the shakycam approach to fights, though I can certainly see their complaints about it. It's a stylistic choice most directors wouldn't make. I think Greengrass's camerawork is good more often than it's bad.
As usual, the plot was solid and the action thoroughly interesting. They delved deeper (as usual) into Bourne's past, giving him further depth. I'm on the fence over Nicky-I don't know if she's quite as interesting a character as Marie. I think she has potential though, as long as it's properly developed.
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne continues to be perfect casting. He has a real presence and sense of the character-it's his performance that ties all the goodness of these movies together. If there is a fourth one (and I might actually be on board for that), I think he could keep up the trend.
-183/365 down, 182/365 to go
Recommendation: Me
Reason: My love for the first two movies is great. Had to see the third.
I'm so fond of Paul Greengrass's work (what I've seen of it). Unlike most people, I'm a fan of the shakycam approach to fights, though I can certainly see their complaints about it. It's a stylistic choice most directors wouldn't make. I think Greengrass's camerawork is good more often than it's bad.
As usual, the plot was solid and the action thoroughly interesting. They delved deeper (as usual) into Bourne's past, giving him further depth. I'm on the fence over Nicky-I don't know if she's quite as interesting a character as Marie. I think she has potential though, as long as it's properly developed.
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne continues to be perfect casting. He has a real presence and sense of the character-it's his performance that ties all the goodness of these movies together. If there is a fourth one (and I might actually be on board for that), I think he could keep up the trend.
-183/365 down, 182/365 to go
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Brain damage schmain damage.
The Movie: Flatliners, directed by Joel Schumacher
Recommendation: Dee
Reason: I had never seen the entire movie and had always been fascinated by it. She emphatically recommended it as a good movie about death.
Movies about dead people coming back to life are definitely right up my alley. Zombies, vampires, I'm there. Once upon a time, several years ago, I was channel surfing and hit someone broadcasting Flatliners right in time for Kevin Bacon's reanimation. I was hooked, but was unfortunately unable to watch the entire movie. After noting who was in it, I resolved to look it up later and see the whole thing.
Time has passed and I found out the title, but today was my first viewing of the whole thing. Flatliners was generally quite good with a few rough patches, those mainly stemming from holes in the story. The cast was pretty good for 1990, including Julia Roberts, a Baldwin brother, ever present Kevin Bacon and Kiefer Sutherland, never mind dear roly poly Oliver Platt. They played well together, I thought.
The movie was also visually strong, using an occasionally very dynamic camera to drive certain points home. I appreciated the use of different camera types to differentiate the dead world from the living, lending a sense of unreality to each. The way the handicam was used to create a sort of deadzone feel to those remaining on the living side was particularily impactful. Overall a good movie.
-182/365 down, 183/365 to go
Recommendation: Dee
Reason: I had never seen the entire movie and had always been fascinated by it. She emphatically recommended it as a good movie about death.
Movies about dead people coming back to life are definitely right up my alley. Zombies, vampires, I'm there. Once upon a time, several years ago, I was channel surfing and hit someone broadcasting Flatliners right in time for Kevin Bacon's reanimation. I was hooked, but was unfortunately unable to watch the entire movie. After noting who was in it, I resolved to look it up later and see the whole thing.
Time has passed and I found out the title, but today was my first viewing of the whole thing. Flatliners was generally quite good with a few rough patches, those mainly stemming from holes in the story. The cast was pretty good for 1990, including Julia Roberts, a Baldwin brother, ever present Kevin Bacon and Kiefer Sutherland, never mind dear roly poly Oliver Platt. They played well together, I thought.
The movie was also visually strong, using an occasionally very dynamic camera to drive certain points home. I appreciated the use of different camera types to differentiate the dead world from the living, lending a sense of unreality to each. The way the handicam was used to create a sort of deadzone feel to those remaining on the living side was particularily impactful. Overall a good movie.
-182/365 down, 183/365 to go
Gore turned up to 11.
The Movie: Final Destination 3, directed by James Wong
Recommendation: Me!
Reason: Yes, I know, it's always me. Morgan and Wong strike once more with death as their master plan. Yay!
I don't think human beings actually do explode like a water balloon full of blood and entrails, no matter how big whatever you drop on them is. Not that realism really matters in Final Destination's world, where death suspends the laws of physics to make a million to one chance actually happen. Though I felt that one of the deaths was uninspired (tanning bed), the rest were as refreshingly interesting as the mutilation of the casts from the first two movies.
These aren't films you watch to see a great plot or an interesting subtext. These are movies about teenagers being stalked by death. I'm certain that Morgan and Wong could manage some sort of message in there, but they know we're all in it for the exploding heads, smashed torsos and bisected bodies, never mind the explosions, dismemberments and the regular decapitations. It's the traps, death's devices that keep on coming back.
I love that this movie, like the previous one, was aware of its universe. There are references to the first movie, in fact the story of the first movie is retold as a clue to solving the problem of this third one. Not that it helps anyone very much, when all's said and done. The only problem I had with this third installment was a potential murder-one character was to cause the death of another, which seems a little sloppy to me. We didn't get to see the plan go down, though, so who knows. It may have been an accident waiting to happen. If you like the series, Final Destination 3 carries on the tradition. If you don't, don't bother-in between the deaths there's not a lot that you haven't already seen.
-181/365 down, 184/365 to go
Recommendation: Me!
Reason: Yes, I know, it's always me. Morgan and Wong strike once more with death as their master plan. Yay!
I don't think human beings actually do explode like a water balloon full of blood and entrails, no matter how big whatever you drop on them is. Not that realism really matters in Final Destination's world, where death suspends the laws of physics to make a million to one chance actually happen. Though I felt that one of the deaths was uninspired (tanning bed), the rest were as refreshingly interesting as the mutilation of the casts from the first two movies.
These aren't films you watch to see a great plot or an interesting subtext. These are movies about teenagers being stalked by death. I'm certain that Morgan and Wong could manage some sort of message in there, but they know we're all in it for the exploding heads, smashed torsos and bisected bodies, never mind the explosions, dismemberments and the regular decapitations. It's the traps, death's devices that keep on coming back.
I love that this movie, like the previous one, was aware of its universe. There are references to the first movie, in fact the story of the first movie is retold as a clue to solving the problem of this third one. Not that it helps anyone very much, when all's said and done. The only problem I had with this third installment was a potential murder-one character was to cause the death of another, which seems a little sloppy to me. We didn't get to see the plan go down, though, so who knows. It may have been an accident waiting to happen. If you like the series, Final Destination 3 carries on the tradition. If you don't, don't bother-in between the deaths there's not a lot that you haven't already seen.
-181/365 down, 184/365 to go
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