Tag Archives: Movie

Sep 21 2022
Leave a comment
Art, Cinema, Film, Movie, Movies, Uncategorized, United States

Million Dollar Baby (2004) is a horrifying watch.

Saw this once. Hated it.

Saw it again last week. Hated it.

Not the movie – I’d say it’s extraordinary, but I hated the experience of watching it. The gloom and the dread and the realism and Clint being a very unhappy Clint. I just mind folk were peeved because he won the Best Director Academy Award over Marty for his The Aviator (2004), a standard Oscar bait biopic and one of the few Scorsese movies not even worthy of a second viewing.

Clint does this thing – he will make five stinkers in a row but then pull a motion picture out the bag that totally blows away all doubters.

But I’m never watching it again.

Tagged , , , ,
Sep 15 2022
Leave a comment
Art, Cinema, Crime, Film, Movie, Movies, Uncategorized, United States

The Card Counter (2021). Brilliant and vintage Paul Schrader.

This guy makes movies about the worst people, humans you don’t even want to know. But he always draws out the dimensions and probes at the reasons why people are the way they are. He’s the most mature filmmaker, a bloke actually interested in the human psyche and how film can treat this. He’s also clearly obsessed with Robert Bresson. The ending here, I think he’s done the Pickpocket (1959) tribute a dozen times now.

The acting in this is magisterial and the style of Schrader always suits his stories; he’s so underrated as an artist, perhaps because he’s not razzmatazz, but he can be when the moment needs it.

Most films these days are fucking pathetic, either derivative tripe, childish nonsense about superheroes, or leftist politics running riot at the expense of story or ideas. There is no fun in The Card Counter but that’s the essence and point of it – it’s gruelling and heartbreaking, like Travis Bickle taking a WASP to a porn movie (thank you, Paul Schrader).

Schrader is one of the few left with a soul and the lad has been kicking about for half a century. I define ‘The Few’ as writers and directors who make cinema about and for adults and aren’t afraid to take risks and put themselves out there. He’s incredible and we need many more gems from the lad.

This is a proper masterpiece.

Tagged , , , ,
Sep 14 2022
Leave a comment
Art, Cinema, Film, Movie, Movies, Technology, Uncategorized

Jean-Luc Godard. Cheers.

I’ll leave it Roger Ebert to summarise the master: ‘Godard is a director of the very first rank; no other director in the 1960s has had more influence on the development of the feature-length film. Like Joyce in fiction or Beckett in theater, he is a pioneer whose present work is not acceptable to present audiences. But his influence on other directors is gradually creating and educating an audience that will, perhaps in the next generation, be able to look back at his films and see that this is where their cinema began.’

Scorsese brought me here:

Further reading/viewing:

https://variety.com/2022/film/columns/jean-luc-godard-tribute-remembered-breathless-1235371061/

https://loeildelaphotographie.com/en/in-memoriam-jean-luc-godard-1930-2022-dv/

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/sep/14/godard-shattered-cinema-martin-scorsese-mike-leigh-abel-ferrara-luca-guadagnino-and-more-pay-tribute

Tagged , , , , ,
Sep 10 2022
Leave a comment
Art, Cinema, Crime, Film, Planes, Transport, Travel, United States

American Made (2017).

With his natural, unforced charm and (still) boyish looks, it’s easy for many to dismiss Cruise as being of a limited range, a man of few talents but maximising them. It’s a nonsense argument when you scroll through the magnificent works and superlative performances. You can name at least 15 films worthy of repeat viewings, some verified modern classics. I don’t think he’s ever had a bad role, and to lazily use a well-worn idiom, he has aged like a fine wine.

American Made (2017) is rollicking fun, an ’80s throwback which is amusing as Cruise remains an ’80s throwback but he’s an ’80s throwback … throwing back … the present. What I’m trying to get at is: he’s still relevant.

Tagged , , , , ,
Aug 23 2022
Leave a comment
Architecture, Art, Cinema, Film, Movie, Movies

The Painted Veil (2006).

The music of Alexandre Desplat can elevate even the most prosaic of scenes but the exposition here would have been just as glorious without his Malick-esque melodies. It’s the cherry on top, though.

I was intrigued from the start, and the movie never faltered in its pacing and performances, the way in which its characters continued to evolve and adapt. The stylistic flourishes, too, were a surprise, as this sort of fare is usually a static camera affair.

Naomi Watts is captivating, and Edward Norton is as far away from an Edward Norton performance as you can get. What a talent he is, as is the seemingly omniscient Diana Rigg.

A lot of these period pieces are a grind, the usual stiff yarns concerning archetypes without agency simply reacting to events. This is different, with characters influencing their calamitous environment, or at least trying to. It also felt like another time and place, not merely an attempt to depict one.

It’s so entertaining, and yet it shouldn’t be.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Aug 19 2022
Leave a comment
Art, Cinema, Crime, Movie, Movies, Uncategorized

Wolf (1994) – where was this buried?

It’s like it never existed, a forgotten flick, a secret wee thing that few know of. But it’s very good.

A standard horror premise mixed with office politics, James Spader chomping on the Yuppie remnants of his late ’80s heyday, and Jack just loving his life. If I think of a black comedy/thriller done well, Wolf (1994) is sinking its fangs into my mind. Jack could do any role and be great; he’s not capable of ever being uninteresting.

And Ross Geller is in this. Jack steals his handcuffs.

Tagged , , , ,
Aug 17 2022
Leave a comment
Art, Cinema, Film, Movie, Movies, Uncategorized

Prey (2022).

This was way better than I expected – the bar is low these days.

It got so good at one point, I was awaiting a Predator and protagonist temporary collaboration against a truculent tribe. But it lost the momentum, as most movies do.

We also have the worst ever acting job (ever) from a bear, and a highly irritating and needless appropriation of a classic line (“If it bleeds ….”).

And a most unsubtle score rip-off from The Last of the Mohicans (1992).

However, the film has its moments for 55 minutes so it gets a 3/5 on my wee scale.

Definitely better than taking a shit.

Tagged , , , ,
Aug 16 2022
Leave a comment
Cinema, Film, Movie, Movies

Unlawful Entry (1992).

Ray Liotta was for so long the go-to menacing nutjob. Even when he’s not trying to be creepy, it doesn’t work. Henry Hill, for example, never seems quite right despite being one of the more normal Goodfellas. Liotta is a right maniac in this one, and it works perfectly.

The crime-ridden early ’90s Los Angeles, corrupt cops, home invasion paranoia, and a creepy Ray Liotta – talk about capturing the zeitgeist. After watching this I looked up Rodney King just to reacquaint myself with the period.

This is a thoroughly unsettling movie, not just because of the era it’s from and depicts, but the downright creepiness of Liotta in a police uniform.

The word of the day is: creepy.

It works.

Tagged , , ,
Aug 13 2022
Leave a comment
Art, Cinema, Film, Movie, Movies, United States

Hustle (2022).

Formulaic but brilliant, this demonstrates Adam Sandler’s considerable acting chops even better than Punch Drunk Love (2002) or Uncut Gems (2019), because this character is more complex, and dare I say it, multi-layered.

I know fuck all about basketball. I don’t get it. I find it dull. This made the sport interesting.

It’s the central relationship which is the heart, an initial association of convenience which ultimately goes beyond the professional. It wasn’t Mickey and Rocky but it aped that well.

Nothing special here but good enough, a proper movie with no pretensions; it knows what it is.

And it comes with obligatory mental training montage.

Tagged , , , ,
Aug 10 2022
Leave a comment
Cinema, Film, Movie, Movies, Technology

Death Becomes Her (1992). Visual effects. Nothing else.

This movie is more interested in visual trickery than the characters or plot, of which there are none. I didn’t see the point of any of it, and it took an age to get going. It was also needlessly violent, the worst cartoon kind, Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn whacking each other with shovels particularly daft. Some of the reviews from the time describe the film as cruel and heartless, which is entirely accurate. It’s meant to be a comedy. I only laughed at myself for not turning the thing off.

An uncredited cameo from Sydney Pollack aside, I hated it.

Next.

Tagged , , ,
← Older posts
Newer posts →