The Movie: Firewall, directed by Richard Loncraine
Recommendation: Dee
Reason: See title.
There is one good thing about this movie, and it's that Carly Schroeder continues to get work. A young actress of her caliber deserves to get as much screen time as possible, work up a thorough resume and when she becomes the next Jodie Foster, we can all look back and say "Remember Mean Creek? That sure was an awesome movie." Because it was an awesome movie, and you should all go out, rent or buy it and enjoy how subtle and nuanced her performance in that film was. Do me the honor of _not_ picking up a copy of Firewall.
I can't really address the technical aspects of this film. It'd be great if, just once, some techy guy being held hostage to force him to be a 1337 H4XX0RZ would lie, and the stupid bastards who'd taken him hostage believed him. We get Harrison Ford, hacking the Gibson with an iPod and half of a fax machine instead. Apple's cool and all, but c'mon, not even an iPod is more AWESOME than Acid Burn and Zero Cool. At least in 1995 they had an excuse-not a lot of people were 'net savvy enough to know that Hackers was completely off-the-charts impossible.
Firewall fails on a lot of levels, from technical impossibilities to the stupidest damn seven year old in the history of film (0 to Stockholm Syndrome in twenty minutes). I'd love to see someone flip this whole idea on its head, and have some sort of older woman-action-hero-Frances McDormand-type having to save her family from the bad guys. That'd be pretty cool.
-62/365 down, 303/365 to go
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Monday, March 5, 2007
Never trust a hippie with your wife.
The Movie: Down and Out in Beverly Hills, directed by Paul Mazursky
Recommendation: AMC
Reason: Hey look, a movie! On TV! What a novelty!
It's very difficult to believe that Down and Out in Beverly Hills was made over twenty years ago. The cinematography's excellent, likely pretty innovative for the late eighties. It was the first thing I noticed about the film, though there were a lot of other points that caught my attention. The plot is similar to American Beauty, but the execution and tone is different. Down and Out focuses on the same sort of journey, an awakening brought to the suburbs, but this awakening is gentle.
Lester (from American Beauty) somehow felt a little more real, a little more desperate than Dave, Richard Dreyfuss' suburban dad in Down and Out. Though the catalyst for the change they experience is desire, Dave's envy seems more pure than Lester's lust. When both of them see the object of their desire exposed for what it is, the result is strikingly similar-retreat, relief. It could be a quirk of the actors, but I feel it's more a reflection of the material and mood of the respective films.
Overall, this was an interesting light to American Beauty's dark. There were a few moments of really solid brilliance in the film, though there were definitely some low points (AhemLittleRichardAhem). It had several subtle points that were made, once more about the society that the suburbs seem to create within and without. Very interesting.
-61/365 down, 304/365 to go
Recommendation: AMC
Reason: Hey look, a movie! On TV! What a novelty!
It's very difficult to believe that Down and Out in Beverly Hills was made over twenty years ago. The cinematography's excellent, likely pretty innovative for the late eighties. It was the first thing I noticed about the film, though there were a lot of other points that caught my attention. The plot is similar to American Beauty, but the execution and tone is different. Down and Out focuses on the same sort of journey, an awakening brought to the suburbs, but this awakening is gentle.
Lester (from American Beauty) somehow felt a little more real, a little more desperate than Dave, Richard Dreyfuss' suburban dad in Down and Out. Though the catalyst for the change they experience is desire, Dave's envy seems more pure than Lester's lust. When both of them see the object of their desire exposed for what it is, the result is strikingly similar-retreat, relief. It could be a quirk of the actors, but I feel it's more a reflection of the material and mood of the respective films.
Overall, this was an interesting light to American Beauty's dark. There were a few moments of really solid brilliance in the film, though there were definitely some low points (AhemLittleRichardAhem). It had several subtle points that were made, once more about the society that the suburbs seem to create within and without. Very interesting.
-61/365 down, 304/365 to go
Saturday, March 3, 2007
My love is conditional
The Movie: Zombi 2, directed by Lucio Fulci
Recommendation: Me
Reason: Shark vs. Zombie vs. mostly naked diver.
I like zombie movies, really I do. When I watch things like Zombi 2 and House of the Dead, it's really hard to remember that. I tried to like this one based on its charming bad acting and hideous special effects. I managed to make it through the entire eye-gouging and the whole aforementioned fight scene pretty well, but the rest of the film was a trial in stupidity. There's something to be said for heroes and heroines who don't just stand around waiting to be eaten. Shambling zombies should win through superior numbers, not through apparent idiocy.
So that's the deal. It was like House of the Dead, without the video game clips and with added gore. I'm starting to get desensitized to the sight of exposed intestines, which I'm not sure is entirely normal. Then again, it's not like I'm giggling as loops of guts fly at the camera. I think I'm still fine. Oh wait, no, I do laugh when that happens in Shaun of the Dead. I'm going to hell.
I think we need to see more revolutionary zombie flicks like Night of..., Shaun of...
and 28 Days Later. I supposed for completeness' sake I should also pick up copies of that atypical Z-movie classic Assault on Precinct 13, just for Carpenter's shot at the genre. And I don't know about any more mondo flicks. I think I only need one eye-gouging in my life, thanks.
-60/365 down, 305/365 to go
Recommendation: Me
Reason: Shark vs. Zombie vs. mostly naked diver.
I like zombie movies, really I do. When I watch things like Zombi 2 and House of the Dead, it's really hard to remember that. I tried to like this one based on its charming bad acting and hideous special effects. I managed to make it through the entire eye-gouging and the whole aforementioned fight scene pretty well, but the rest of the film was a trial in stupidity. There's something to be said for heroes and heroines who don't just stand around waiting to be eaten. Shambling zombies should win through superior numbers, not through apparent idiocy.
So that's the deal. It was like House of the Dead, without the video game clips and with added gore. I'm starting to get desensitized to the sight of exposed intestines, which I'm not sure is entirely normal. Then again, it's not like I'm giggling as loops of guts fly at the camera. I think I'm still fine. Oh wait, no, I do laugh when that happens in Shaun of the Dead. I'm going to hell.
I think we need to see more revolutionary zombie flicks like Night of..., Shaun of...
and 28 Days Later. I supposed for completeness' sake I should also pick up copies of that atypical Z-movie classic Assault on Precinct 13, just for Carpenter's shot at the genre. And I don't know about any more mondo flicks. I think I only need one eye-gouging in my life, thanks.
-60/365 down, 305/365 to go
Friday, March 2, 2007
Can someone please un-pussify Guy Ritchie?
The Movie: Layer Cake, directed by Matthew Vaughn
Recommendation: Me
Reason: I wanted to see how the new James Bond shaped up in his earlier roles.
Guy Ritchie needs to shape the hell up. I'm a huge fan of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Hey, everyone loves a caper movie, right? Ocean's Eleven through Thirteen (just speculating on that one), O Brother Where Art Thou?, they've been decent hits, good movies to watch just to have something to watch. Heist movies live and die on style, and Ritchie had a whole hell of a lot of it. There was just something so perfect about the fast cuts, the writing, the casting, and the directing that Ritchie did on his better known pictures. He was supposed to direct this little number, but he didn't. Passed on the torch to Matthew Vaughn, on a movie that could have been a triumphant return to the genre he'd helped revive.
Vaughn was involved in Lock, Stock... and Snatch as a producer, so it's no surprise he handled Layer Cake so nicely. It has a similar feel to Ritchie's originals. Unfortunately, it's not so engaging as either. The plot twists and turns in some really great (though predictable) ways, but aside from Daniel Craig's stone cold XXXX and a very good ending, it doesn't stand as an equal to the movies it's succeeded.
Daniel Craig is definitely comment-worthy. He's a unique, understated actor with a great unruffled feel about him. His bearing and his tone just fit. I had to give myself a little giggle when XXXX picks up his first gun and immediately strikes a Bond pose-at the time Layer Cake was shot, Craig was probably unaware that he was soon going to become that legendary character. At any rate, Craig alone commends this flick. If you liked Lock, Stock... or Snatch, you might get something out of Layer Cake. It'd also be a pretty decent introduction to the other two, should you be looking to get someone else interested.
-59/365 down, 306/365 to go
Recommendation: Me
Reason: I wanted to see how the new James Bond shaped up in his earlier roles.
Guy Ritchie needs to shape the hell up. I'm a huge fan of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Hey, everyone loves a caper movie, right? Ocean's Eleven through Thirteen (just speculating on that one), O Brother Where Art Thou?, they've been decent hits, good movies to watch just to have something to watch. Heist movies live and die on style, and Ritchie had a whole hell of a lot of it. There was just something so perfect about the fast cuts, the writing, the casting, and the directing that Ritchie did on his better known pictures. He was supposed to direct this little number, but he didn't. Passed on the torch to Matthew Vaughn, on a movie that could have been a triumphant return to the genre he'd helped revive.
Vaughn was involved in Lock, Stock... and Snatch as a producer, so it's no surprise he handled Layer Cake so nicely. It has a similar feel to Ritchie's originals. Unfortunately, it's not so engaging as either. The plot twists and turns in some really great (though predictable) ways, but aside from Daniel Craig's stone cold XXXX and a very good ending, it doesn't stand as an equal to the movies it's succeeded.
Daniel Craig is definitely comment-worthy. He's a unique, understated actor with a great unruffled feel about him. His bearing and his tone just fit. I had to give myself a little giggle when XXXX picks up his first gun and immediately strikes a Bond pose-at the time Layer Cake was shot, Craig was probably unaware that he was soon going to become that legendary character. At any rate, Craig alone commends this flick. If you liked Lock, Stock... or Snatch, you might get something out of Layer Cake. It'd also be a pretty decent introduction to the other two, should you be looking to get someone else interested.
-59/365 down, 306/365 to go
Thursday, March 1, 2007
He's not gone. He's never gone!
The Movie: What About Bob?, directed by Frank Oz
Recommendation: Dee
Reason: "Bill Murray is so funny!"
I really needed a break. As you can see , there've been some really psychologically gruelling films over the last week. Man Bites Dog just won't leave my head, and so the double bill of "Trisha Takinawa is Dead" on Lost and What About Bob? was the perfect thing to wash the dirt out of my psyche. Though Hurley's tale of woe and heartache was fun, What About Bob? was just really nice.
I appreciate Bill Murray's acting more and more every time I see one of his early films. Oddly, I don't have as much experience with his more recent work, though I'm looking to change that. He's a funny man, always has been, and I'm interested to see his dramatic turns. Tears of a clown. In What About Bob? he's his usual wacky force of nature, quirky and odd as he wanders through the story. His counterpoint in this odd couple comedy is Richard Dreyfuss. Dreyfuss's character is a good foil. He doesn't do much beyond explode at Murray's offbeat antics, but that's all he needs to do.
The film is funny, quirky and a little dark, but it's not black as pitch. It's what I needed to see, basically. Go Bill Murray.
-58/365 down, 307/365 to go
Recommendation: Dee
Reason: "Bill Murray is so funny!"
I really needed a break. As you can see , there've been some really psychologically gruelling films over the last week. Man Bites Dog just won't leave my head, and so the double bill of "Trisha Takinawa is Dead" on Lost and What About Bob? was the perfect thing to wash the dirt out of my psyche. Though Hurley's tale of woe and heartache was fun, What About Bob? was just really nice.
I appreciate Bill Murray's acting more and more every time I see one of his early films. Oddly, I don't have as much experience with his more recent work, though I'm looking to change that. He's a funny man, always has been, and I'm interested to see his dramatic turns. Tears of a clown. In What About Bob? he's his usual wacky force of nature, quirky and odd as he wanders through the story. His counterpoint in this odd couple comedy is Richard Dreyfuss. Dreyfuss's character is a good foil. He doesn't do much beyond explode at Murray's offbeat antics, but that's all he needs to do.
The film is funny, quirky and a little dark, but it's not black as pitch. It's what I needed to see, basically. Go Bill Murray.
-58/365 down, 307/365 to go
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
