Saw Hot Shots! a film which, as its exclamation point promises, is indeed a comedy. This one is a spoof specifically of Top Gun and more generally of the US Air Force. I haven't actually seen Top Gun yet, so I don't know if any of the silliness was references but the film powers along with admirable gusto, throwing in everything and the kitchen sink to make us laugh. The opening sequence has the loner anti-hero being pulled out of retirement which he's spending with some native americans, smoking a helium peace-pipe. It's not very socially conscious or indeed even clever, but it's silly and funny enough.
The film is fairly harmless. Native american-sploitation aside, most of the humor is fairly tame, preferring nonsense over topical humor. There's a scene where some men are marching in formation out the window. In the next, they're kicking their legs like rockettes. It's whoopie-cushion-level humor. Funny, yes, but in a broad, Reader's Digest sort of way. I feel like this is the sort of film Air Force families would really love.
Oct 29, 2017
From Up on Poppy Hill
Saw From Up on Poppy Hill, a diabolically wholesome film from Studio Ghibli. This is directed by Goro Miyazaki, the son of the more famous Miyazaki. It follows a hard-working, earnest young girl who must cook and clean for her family's houseful of boarders. Not satisfied with this burden of housework, the budding Cinderella also takes on the Herculean effort of cleaning up her high-school's clubhouse. This clubhouse is gloriously busy and messy. Different clubs sit cheek-by-jowl, like different races in a fantasy world, each specialized and intensely inward-focused, stacks of mysterious documents and objects stacked around them. The clubhouse is this film's equivalent to the beautiful bathhouse in Spirited Away. There's a sense of accreted and secret systems and arrangements, all chaotically arranged, but arranged in a working order nonetheless. The clubhouse alone makes this film worth a watch!
But anyway, this girl decides to clean the clubhouse after dramatically meeting the boy who runs the student newspaper. The film is set in the 60s, so he's mimeographing his articles, and he too is a serious, sincere little boy. These two sincere, wholesome kids try to save the clubhouse from demolition while trying to get home in time to make dinner (or write, as the case may be.) It's so so wholesome. It's also set in the 60s for a nice, nostalgic feel. No cell phones and drugs, only fish and telegrams.
I really liked the film. The gender politics leaves a bit to be desired. The girl basically tries to save this clubhouse through the power of a really good spring cleaning. The boy is earnest and great and everything as well, but he spends most of his time writing articles advertising her efforts. As their relationship grows (and of course they have a relationship) we get into some tricky situations that required me to remind myself that both the past and Japan are foreign countries; they do things differently there. This is a minor bum note in an orchestrated assault on your heartstrings. There are some great scenes and of course that glorious clubhouse. Good stuff!
But anyway, this girl decides to clean the clubhouse after dramatically meeting the boy who runs the student newspaper. The film is set in the 60s, so he's mimeographing his articles, and he too is a serious, sincere little boy. These two sincere, wholesome kids try to save the clubhouse from demolition while trying to get home in time to make dinner (or write, as the case may be.) It's so so wholesome. It's also set in the 60s for a nice, nostalgic feel. No cell phones and drugs, only fish and telegrams.
I really liked the film. The gender politics leaves a bit to be desired. The girl basically tries to save this clubhouse through the power of a really good spring cleaning. The boy is earnest and great and everything as well, but he spends most of his time writing articles advertising her efforts. As their relationship grows (and of course they have a relationship) we get into some tricky situations that required me to remind myself that both the past and Japan are foreign countries; they do things differently there. This is a minor bum note in an orchestrated assault on your heartstrings. There are some great scenes and of course that glorious clubhouse. Good stuff!
Chopper
Saw Chopper, a film that opens with the assertion that this is not a biography of Mark 'Chopper' Read, a famous Australian criminal. It's a nervy little film. Darkly lit but vibrant with neon and sodium lights. Often the characters are light in garish colors, popping out from the dark backgrounds like garish cartoons. Mark himself is played likeably, with an open demeanor that hides a sinister joviality. We are shown scenes from his perspective and according to his version of events. We are told that he's lying by other characters. It's not clear if he knows that he's lying or if he's really just delusional.
The film is kind of a hagiography on the surface. If you look closer, you can see hints of unreliability in Mark, our narrator. He's a strange guy, one moment coldly gunning someone down and then, as they're bleeding out, will profusely apologise. In his moments of regret he seems sincere, like a likeable guy, but then later he's getting offended for not getting credit for the crime. It throws the whole story into doubt. He's only been convicted one time, but is this because he's such a master criminal or because he's a complete bullshit artist?
The film is cleverly post-modern, making us doubt our own eyes as we see events unfold. The protagonist is supposed to be loveable but comes off as kind of a jerk. I would definitely not get along with him, for what it's worth. An interesting film.
The film is kind of a hagiography on the surface. If you look closer, you can see hints of unreliability in Mark, our narrator. He's a strange guy, one moment coldly gunning someone down and then, as they're bleeding out, will profusely apologise. In his moments of regret he seems sincere, like a likeable guy, but then later he's getting offended for not getting credit for the crime. It throws the whole story into doubt. He's only been convicted one time, but is this because he's such a master criminal or because he's a complete bullshit artist?
The film is cleverly post-modern, making us doubt our own eyes as we see events unfold. The protagonist is supposed to be loveable but comes off as kind of a jerk. I would definitely not get along with him, for what it's worth. An interesting film.
Oct 28, 2017
El
Saw El, a film by the great surrealist Luis Bunuel. In the last review I asked for hysterics and symbolism and with this film the film gods have smiled upon me. Yes, this is an intense psycho-drama about a man and a wife. The man is rich and important, fighting an eternal war with the government to reclaim his ancestral home. His wife is an angel of a woman, but the man has deep insecurities and a jealous mind. He imagines her pleasantries and politeness to be wanton flirting. He imagines her slightest protest to be a cruel condemnation of his personality. This being a Bunuel, this starts off as pretty squabbles and mounts into extreme, unbelievable hysterics. Great stuff!
The film illustrates two of Bunuel's great interests: the hypocrisy of the so-called respectable class, and the use of sexual deviation which exposes it. In this case the sexual deviation is a deep-rooted insecurity. In a bit of hilarious symbolism, the husband's tie gets subtly shorter and shorter throughout the film! Throughout the film, the husband makes unreasonable demands of the wife. She must be charming, but not too charming, she must be beautiful, but only for him. Similarly, we get no indication that the land he's fighting for actually belongs to him. He may just feel entitled to it, as he feels entitled to controlling his wife's every movement.
In addition to being the vehicle for some some fine hysterics, this film is all too depressingly realistic. The wife turns many times to her upper-crust friends, but they are all too willing to believe that she's a flirt than to believe that one of their own has emotional problems. It's maddening at times to watch, but I believe the situation. Sad to imagine that this surrealist psychodrama may be some women's lives. Great film anyway though!
The film illustrates two of Bunuel's great interests: the hypocrisy of the so-called respectable class, and the use of sexual deviation which exposes it. In this case the sexual deviation is a deep-rooted insecurity. In a bit of hilarious symbolism, the husband's tie gets subtly shorter and shorter throughout the film! Throughout the film, the husband makes unreasonable demands of the wife. She must be charming, but not too charming, she must be beautiful, but only for him. Similarly, we get no indication that the land he's fighting for actually belongs to him. He may just feel entitled to it, as he feels entitled to controlling his wife's every movement.
In addition to being the vehicle for some some fine hysterics, this film is all too depressingly realistic. The wife turns many times to her upper-crust friends, but they are all too willing to believe that she's a flirt than to believe that one of their own has emotional problems. It's maddening at times to watch, but I believe the situation. Sad to imagine that this surrealist psychodrama may be some women's lives. Great film anyway though!
Blades of Glory
Saw Blades of Glory, a comedy about figure-skating. Will Ferrell and that guy from Napoleon Dynamite play two rival figure-skaters who must pair up to skate together for the gold. It really only has one joke: gay people. That's it. That's the joke. It's not offensive, just kind of stale. I was actually kept sort of interested by wondering if the film would ever commit and actually have them smooch or something. There is one cannon gay couple, but they're relegated to the background, their relationship winked at and alluded to. Kind of lame.
This film feels like a throwback to the big-budget comedies of the 80s, when they would cram every comic standing nearby into some cameo and finish it up with a big, feel-good song at the end. It's sort of refreshingly unpretentious, but then I am a pretentious man. I like me my histrionics and symbolism and there isn't much here. Eh.
This film feels like a throwback to the big-budget comedies of the 80s, when they would cram every comic standing nearby into some cameo and finish it up with a big, feel-good song at the end. It's sort of refreshingly unpretentious, but then I am a pretentious man. I like me my histrionics and symbolism and there isn't much here. Eh.
Oct 22, 2017
Runaway Train
Saw Runaway Train, a strange sort of action film about two convicts who escape from prison in Alaska and jump on a train whose conductor (by bizarre coincidence) has a heart attack. Now, trapped on an out-of-control train, the convicts must do what they can to survive. This film works a hell of a lot better than it should. The premise alone is fairly far-fetched.
All of the characters are supposed to be super-macho tough-guys so all of the acting is broad as hell and usually delivered through bared teeth. It's also fairly racist (black characters do not come off looking good.) But somehow it all comes together for a couple of amazing scenes.
The film contains a couple of great, swooning, evocative scenes of the train endlessly speeding through the Alaskan wilds. These scenes are a chilly reprieve from the goofy, self-serious acting. We follow the train in a far-off helicopter shot, as it speeds along, silent and dangerous, the cause of so much trouble at the main office and maybe (somehow, impossibly) also the ticket to freedom for the two convicts. This doesn't 100% make up for all of the surrounding bullshit, but this is a fascinating, fascinating mess.
One of the convicts is this beautiful animal type, always raving about how it's him, against the world. He would settle down and hold a steady job if he possibly could but he, man, he is just too free. This is a trope I kind of hate, but I dig it here. Maybe I'm just in the right mood. I kept trying to draw some parallel between the convict and the train, both uncontrollable, both probably doomed.
This is not my favorite film, but I'll be recommending it to people. I've never heard of it before but it's got some great (and some really dumb) stuff inside of it. Such an interesting film.
The film contains a couple of great, swooning, evocative scenes of the train endlessly speeding through the Alaskan wilds. These scenes are a chilly reprieve from the goofy, self-serious acting. We follow the train in a far-off helicopter shot, as it speeds along, silent and dangerous, the cause of so much trouble at the main office and maybe (somehow, impossibly) also the ticket to freedom for the two convicts. This doesn't 100% make up for all of the surrounding bullshit, but this is a fascinating, fascinating mess.
One of the convicts is this beautiful animal type, always raving about how it's him, against the world. He would settle down and hold a steady job if he possibly could but he, man, he is just too free. This is a trope I kind of hate, but I dig it here. Maybe I'm just in the right mood. I kept trying to draw some parallel between the convict and the train, both uncontrollable, both probably doomed.
This is not my favorite film, but I'll be recommending it to people. I've never heard of it before but it's got some great (and some really dumb) stuff inside of it. Such an interesting film.
Candy
Saw Candy, a fairly depressing drug film about Dan and Candy, a young couple in love. He a poet, she a painter. They spend their days mumbling into each other's faces, nose-tips touching. They do a bit of heroine on the side, but they are so very happy and so very in love. As an acoustic guitar plays, a title card fades in saying 'heaven.' Already we can see the 'earth' and eventual 'hell' title cards incoming. This will not end well.
As with many drug-related tragedies, the film is full of heartbreak. Dignity compromised and lines crossed, chances at redemption missed or purposely blown. The only question is if it will end in death or despondency. The film is interesting and effective. It largely avoids dream sequences or those camera tricks that you see to convey that drugs are happening. It's shot naturalistically for the most part, showing the characters' trips from the outside. These kids are young and in love, they're hurting no one, but of course their life is unsustainable. Eventually they'll get evicted. Eventually the money will dry up.
A powerfully sad film. I wouldn't really recommend it as it is a tremendous bummer. It's better than your average misery porn, so if you have some kind of interest in seeing junkies self-destruct, you should check it out.
As with many drug-related tragedies, the film is full of heartbreak. Dignity compromised and lines crossed, chances at redemption missed or purposely blown. The only question is if it will end in death or despondency. The film is interesting and effective. It largely avoids dream sequences or those camera tricks that you see to convey that drugs are happening. It's shot naturalistically for the most part, showing the characters' trips from the outside. These kids are young and in love, they're hurting no one, but of course their life is unsustainable. Eventually they'll get evicted. Eventually the money will dry up.
A powerfully sad film. I wouldn't really recommend it as it is a tremendous bummer. It's better than your average misery porn, so if you have some kind of interest in seeing junkies self-destruct, you should check it out.
Oct 15, 2017
The Wind
Saw The Wind, a 1920s silent western drama about a woman who is sent off to work for her sort-of brother (they were raised together, but they'r not related) out in some desert where it's always blowing with gale-speed winds. The wind is strong and constant, blowing sand everywhere and making (we must assume) an eerie howling noise. The protagonist lady hates this but tries to make the best of it. This is the thematic mood of the whole film: an unearthly, hostile land which is barren and harsh. Since the protagonist is female, and since this is that sort of a film, love is a vector for further harsh necessities. People do not fall in love here, so much as they are blown together and cling tight.
The film is in essentially two halves, the first spent with her friend's family (and the second... kind of a spoiler.) I think this first half is the stronger one though. The wife of the sort-of brother is played by this terrifying woman who slaughters cattle and glares at the protagonist, both contemptuous and jealous of her dainty, big-city ways and missish dislike of the sand and wind. There's some comic relief in the form of a pair of ranchers who are always after the protagonist's love, but anything can be stopped at a moment's notice by a door blowing open, or by a cyclone stirring up.
There's a couple of great, hallucinogenic dream sequences, where the wind is portrayed as a white horse, bucking and racing through the stormy sky. It's beautiful and interesting. I wasn't floored by this film, but it's definitely worth a look if you can stand silent films. The version I saw (linked above) was scored by some live band who felt the need to scream and bang drums and make mouth noises at random times. They did a good job, but sometimes I got very grumpy with them.
The film is in essentially two halves, the first spent with her friend's family (and the second... kind of a spoiler.) I think this first half is the stronger one though. The wife of the sort-of brother is played by this terrifying woman who slaughters cattle and glares at the protagonist, both contemptuous and jealous of her dainty, big-city ways and missish dislike of the sand and wind. There's some comic relief in the form of a pair of ranchers who are always after the protagonist's love, but anything can be stopped at a moment's notice by a door blowing open, or by a cyclone stirring up.
There's a couple of great, hallucinogenic dream sequences, where the wind is portrayed as a white horse, bucking and racing through the stormy sky. It's beautiful and interesting. I wasn't floored by this film, but it's definitely worth a look if you can stand silent films. The version I saw (linked above) was scored by some live band who felt the need to scream and bang drums and make mouth noises at random times. They did a good job, but sometimes I got very grumpy with them.
Oct 8, 2017
Black Dynamite
Saw Black Dynamite, a hilarious throwback to 70s-era blaxploitation films. This film perfectly captures the self-serious cheesiness of those films, the scowling protagonist is some impossibly cool and badass dude, the women are all sexy bombshells, the secondary characters are all pimps. The whole thing seems to be filmed through a smoked glass filter. It's hilariously on-the-nose.
They break the fourth wall a few times, just to let us know that they're in on the joke, but it's otherwise played straight enough that someone might mistake it for just a particularly crazy blaxploitation film. The ending get sufficiently nuts to fix that however.
I enjoyed it. It's a funny, crazy film that is maybe celebrating something embarrassing (blaxploitation) but is also maybe owning and recontextualizing that thing. It's interesting as a cultural artifact and also pretty funny. Which is nice.
They break the fourth wall a few times, just to let us know that they're in on the joke, but it's otherwise played straight enough that someone might mistake it for just a particularly crazy blaxploitation film. The ending get sufficiently nuts to fix that however.
I enjoyed it. It's a funny, crazy film that is maybe celebrating something embarrassing (blaxploitation) but is also maybe owning and recontextualizing that thing. It's interesting as a cultural artifact and also pretty funny. Which is nice.
Oct 7, 2017
O-bi, o-ba, The End of Civilisation
Saw O-bi, o-ba, The End of Civilisation, a dismal Polish sci-fi. The idea is that nuclear holocaust has driven everyone into a giant fallout shelter where they'll hunker until a magnificent vessel called "The Ark" comes to save them all. It's unclear if this vessel will be a spaceship, or if it will transport them to somewhere on earth that's still safe, or indeed, if this Ark even exists. In the meantime, we follow a sort-of-policeman as he visits the more militaristic and crazy part of the miserable bunker-dwelling society. There's suicidal engineers and rich weirdos, a librarian who has disposed of all books except for those detailing who was at fault for the nuclear war.
The society and inner workings of the shelter are interesting, but there's a palpable sense of doom in the air. What with the name of the ship, The Ark, and the impending slow destruction by radiation, there are obvious religious overtones to the whole thing. The ending in particular seems very pointed about how we as a society hamstring our own salvation (salvation here meaning survival or ascension into heaven or utopia or whatever) The ending is also kind of a departure from the depressing realism of nuclear winter and is sort of an a-tonal flight of fancy.
So the film is fairly miserable. It's an existentialist allegory for our current lives. The protagonist tries to find some way to survive in this doomed world, or perhaps if not to survive than to do something meaningful. The film is interesting to look at (although, of course, also depressing. Cracked tile and fluorescent lights are 90% of the decor) and the protagonist's actions are interesting to follow, but it's kind of grim going.
The society and inner workings of the shelter are interesting, but there's a palpable sense of doom in the air. What with the name of the ship, The Ark, and the impending slow destruction by radiation, there are obvious religious overtones to the whole thing. The ending in particular seems very pointed about how we as a society hamstring our own salvation (salvation here meaning survival or ascension into heaven or utopia or whatever) The ending is also kind of a departure from the depressing realism of nuclear winter and is sort of an a-tonal flight of fancy.
So the film is fairly miserable. It's an existentialist allegory for our current lives. The protagonist tries to find some way to survive in this doomed world, or perhaps if not to survive than to do something meaningful. The film is interesting to look at (although, of course, also depressing. Cracked tile and fluorescent lights are 90% of the decor) and the protagonist's actions are interesting to follow, but it's kind of grim going.
Oct 1, 2017
Welcome to Woop Woop
Saw Welcome to Woop Woop (thanks, John!) It was a fairly wild film about an attractive dude who gets trapped in an incestuous, cult-like small town in the Australian outback. The film is a shaggy-dog comedy. It reminded me a lot of Nothing But Trouble. This film is similarly enthusiastically and boldly different and also unfortunately not very good. This also sort of feels like Wake In Fright. It similarly depicts small-town Australia as being brutal and anarchic, ruled by tin-pot despots and populated by giggling weirdos. It's all in good fun, if not in good taste.
Anyway, the film is alright. It's fairly wholesome, almost sweet in a way. It does have an extended sex scene in the beginning however, so not family-friendly, just ugly and friendly, like a loveable dog with a skin disease.
The townspeople in the film are kept docile by continual Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. This film seems to be a poke in the eye of all of that self-satisfied pap. One of the most interesting thing about the film to me is the backstory of trying to get Julie Andrews' and everyone's permission to use the music. Apparently the director of this film also filmed Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and they were able to leverage the goodwill of the Hollywood gays to get their way. I feel that that story would be interesting to hear.
Anyway, the film is alright. It's fairly wholesome, almost sweet in a way. It does have an extended sex scene in the beginning however, so not family-friendly, just ugly and friendly, like a loveable dog with a skin disease.
The townspeople in the film are kept docile by continual Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. This film seems to be a poke in the eye of all of that self-satisfied pap. One of the most interesting thing about the film to me is the backstory of trying to get Julie Andrews' and everyone's permission to use the music. Apparently the director of this film also filmed Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and they were able to leverage the goodwill of the Hollywood gays to get their way. I feel that that story would be interesting to hear.
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