Saw The Cameraman, a Buster Keaton comedy. This one follows Keaton as he tries to become a cameraman solely to woo the hot front-desk girl at a news station. He falls in love with her after smelling her hair in the middle of a crowded street. Ah, romance! There's the usual clowning, this time usually involving an angular and pokey camera tripod. It's Buster Keaton so the gags are usually good and always funny, as long you set your expectations properly (silent film, 20s-era.)
The film is shot in some city (presumably New York) and there's a theme of overcrowding everywhere. On the bus Buster is separated from his beloved by a huge crowd of men. At the public baths, Buster loses his swimming shorts and tries to sneak away only to be thwarted by a class of synchronized swimmers. We do get to see some nice old-timey guys in only their swimming trunks however, which is nice. This overcrowding would have been topical for its time of course and is an evergreen topic for comedies set in big cities.
The film is sweet, centering on Keaton's bread and butter: a bumbling but loveable guy courting a personality-less woman. It's a fun film if a bit dated.
Jan 15, 2018
Jan 13, 2018
Tropic Thunder
Saw Tropic Thunder, an ensemble comedy directed by Ben Stiller. It follows the filming of a doomed war film and so is half insider-Hollywood comedy and half straightforward action-comedy. It's mostly funny, although there were parts that fell a tad flat for me. I think this is a side-effect of seeing this while not surrounded by happy, laughing people, but Ben Stiller's main wellspring of comedy seems to be self delusion and I feel like some amount of self delusion is healthy (whatever happened to believing in yourself?) This is a minor thing however. For the most part the film is solid comedy.
There's an extended sequence in the middle where two actors have a Peter Sellers-esque crisis of personality. They're always pretending to be different people, competing with each other to more perfectly inhabit this character, so if their personalities are so fluid then who are they really? I think this sort of crisis is an occupational hazard of acting. In this case however, it's just an imitation of a breakdown which is lampshaded (he's got the tilt-stares!) and joked about. They're looking down this strange postmodern hall of mirrors and getting vertigo but they're also commenting on this and drawing us into it sort of. This postmodern posture of being a film and simultaneously commentating about films makes the handling of blackface in this film very tricky.
One of the actors within the film dyes his skin in order to play a black character. This is portrayed within the film as offensive and the actor's lazy stereotyping of how black people act is called out. However it's called out by a black rapper who sounds like Chris Rock and who I therefore suspect was the comic relief in the war film. So, it's only a joke. It was Obama-era America and racism was dead. Yeah, it's called out but that doesn't un-black the face. Smarter people than me have discussed this but it reminds me of the sexist-not-sexist film Suckerpunch. It's a fun enough movie but I think there's something distasteful about it. Maybe it was just after its time.
At any rate, this is a fun movie which comes with some unfortunate (and unfortunately interesting and discussable) baggage.
There's an extended sequence in the middle where two actors have a Peter Sellers-esque crisis of personality. They're always pretending to be different people, competing with each other to more perfectly inhabit this character, so if their personalities are so fluid then who are they really? I think this sort of crisis is an occupational hazard of acting. In this case however, it's just an imitation of a breakdown which is lampshaded (he's got the tilt-stares!) and joked about. They're looking down this strange postmodern hall of mirrors and getting vertigo but they're also commenting on this and drawing us into it sort of. This postmodern posture of being a film and simultaneously commentating about films makes the handling of blackface in this film very tricky.
One of the actors within the film dyes his skin in order to play a black character. This is portrayed within the film as offensive and the actor's lazy stereotyping of how black people act is called out. However it's called out by a black rapper who sounds like Chris Rock and who I therefore suspect was the comic relief in the war film. So, it's only a joke. It was Obama-era America and racism was dead. Yeah, it's called out but that doesn't un-black the face. Smarter people than me have discussed this but it reminds me of the sexist-not-sexist film Suckerpunch. It's a fun enough movie but I think there's something distasteful about it. Maybe it was just after its time.
At any rate, this is a fun movie which comes with some unfortunate (and unfortunately interesting and discussable) baggage.
Jan 7, 2018
Livid (2011)
Saw Livid, a horror movie which opens with Lucie, a nurse in training, being shown the rounds of her housebound patients. One of them is this old lady in a coma who lives in a giant mansion. The experienced nurse who Lucie is shadowing explains that this women is rumored to have a giant fortune stashed away somewhere in the house. Lucie then meets up with her dock-worker boyfriend and waiter brother and tells them about the rich coma lady. Do they decide to break in to the spooky old mansion and search for the treasure? Yes, almost instantly.
Once at the mansion, things start getting weird fast and not weird as in ghosts and monsters, but in a kind of whimsical, magical, kind of clumsy way. Lucie sees a flickering blue flame on the lawn. She picks it up and gazes at it before it winks out. What this blue flame is is unexplained. At one point one of the protagonists gets stuck behind a mirror. Is the old woman a witch, or is this a haunting or in their minds or something? It's never clear. We start getting some exposition and mythos-building later in the film, but much happens without explanation. The effect is certainly creepy although not exactly terrifying.
I was very relieved once it became clear that this was not a gore-and-jump-fest, that this was more fairy-tale-like and evocative. The film is sold like a regular horror flick however, so I imagine it annoyed some more serious horror fans. This film is high on imagery and light on explanation. Some excellent stuff involving ballerinas and dolls with animal heads. I enjoyed it more or less, but I did want some explanation of the nature of the stakes here. Why are they doing what they're doing? Why are they sewing their eyes shut? What was that blue flame? Mysteries without explanations, alas.
Once at the mansion, things start getting weird fast and not weird as in ghosts and monsters, but in a kind of whimsical, magical, kind of clumsy way. Lucie sees a flickering blue flame on the lawn. She picks it up and gazes at it before it winks out. What this blue flame is is unexplained. At one point one of the protagonists gets stuck behind a mirror. Is the old woman a witch, or is this a haunting or in their minds or something? It's never clear. We start getting some exposition and mythos-building later in the film, but much happens without explanation. The effect is certainly creepy although not exactly terrifying.
I was very relieved once it became clear that this was not a gore-and-jump-fest, that this was more fairy-tale-like and evocative. The film is sold like a regular horror flick however, so I imagine it annoyed some more serious horror fans. This film is high on imagery and light on explanation. Some excellent stuff involving ballerinas and dolls with animal heads. I enjoyed it more or less, but I did want some explanation of the nature of the stakes here. Why are they doing what they're doing? Why are they sewing their eyes shut? What was that blue flame? Mysteries without explanations, alas.
The Sword of Doom
Saw The Sword of Doom, a morbid samurai film about this ecil swordsman who just keeps killing! It starts out with him killing an old pilgrim who is praying at a remote shrine for a peaceful death. Later on he kills a guy during a sparring match because the guy was coming at him with deadly force. The film is set in a kind of perpetual winter and the anti-hero protagonist stalks through the village in a black cloak. Although he kills a lot, his morality is kept kind of grey. His various murders are always somehow defensible but he's clearly sinking deeper and deeper into a murder-based lifestyle. Eventually, he joins up with some kind of special-forces assassin's unit to make murder his full-time job. At home he drinks and threatens is wife and grimly practices his Kubrick stare.
The film was intended to be part one of a three-part trilogy, so it ends extremely abruptly and without much closure. The protagonist seems very wicked but he's humanized here and there by his guilt over his actions and by his moral grey-ness. His fighting style is even pointed out to be a patient waiting for his opponent to attack and then striking them dead. He would not kill if his opponents did not wish him dead, this seems to imply. But then a lot of footage is devoted to making us hate him.
The film is also shot very starkly, the contrast turned way up to give us only blacks and whites, with little grey. This is perhaps ironic since we would like to think that the protagonist could be redeemed, or that his evil ways will be punished and while these things happen a little in the film, it ends too quickly for me to feel satisfied. A frustrating film, but interesting in its wickedness. It's sort of fun to watch a villain stalk about.
The film was intended to be part one of a three-part trilogy, so it ends extremely abruptly and without much closure. The protagonist seems very wicked but he's humanized here and there by his guilt over his actions and by his moral grey-ness. His fighting style is even pointed out to be a patient waiting for his opponent to attack and then striking them dead. He would not kill if his opponents did not wish him dead, this seems to imply. But then a lot of footage is devoted to making us hate him.
The film is also shot very starkly, the contrast turned way up to give us only blacks and whites, with little grey. This is perhaps ironic since we would like to think that the protagonist could be redeemed, or that his evil ways will be punished and while these things happen a little in the film, it ends too quickly for me to feel satisfied. A frustrating film, but interesting in its wickedness. It's sort of fun to watch a villain stalk about.
Jan 6, 2018
The Hustler
Saw The Hustler, a Paul Newman film about pool hustling. It starts out fairly silly, introducing us to the seedy world of pool gambling. The big names all know each other, there's a secret system of nods and winks that let them know what they're up to and of course the poor saps who are taken in by these charming, sly men. It's like something out of an Oceans 11 film. The film takes an abrupt turn however when the protagonist plays a gruelling 25-hour marathon game against renowned pool-player Minnesota Fats. From there he meets up with Sara, a boozy writer who is living a similarly seedy life, although one that's fulfilling to her. Newman's character is obsessed with being the best, even though being the best clearly won't make him happy.
Like many sports films, this isn't really about the physical activity, but about the pursuit of an unattainable goal and possible lives that could follow after attaining it. Newman's hustler is tormented, self-defeating, the petty king of a tiny corner of the universe and the Eugene O'Neill-style street-level poetry comes thick and fast. Great stuff!
I also thought I detected echoes of the French New Wave, with its spacey, quiet shots and focus on individualism. The protagonist dips sometimes into the inscrutable selfishness that characterises the 70s (for me.) At one point he screams that everyone wants a piece of him. Ah, but this is only because he gives nothing of himself to those he loves. I think it's understandable if your girlfriend wants you to be a little open with her, yeah? No need for screaming protestations. I'm a fairly open person and this type of aggressive guardedness annoys me. I think it's supposed to be masculine and cowboy-ish but just seems kind of self-limiting and teenagery to me. Get over yourself.
Anyway, a very moving, very good film. It's got some excellent high-falutin' melodrama and some nice things to say about life.
Like many sports films, this isn't really about the physical activity, but about the pursuit of an unattainable goal and possible lives that could follow after attaining it. Newman's hustler is tormented, self-defeating, the petty king of a tiny corner of the universe and the Eugene O'Neill-style street-level poetry comes thick and fast. Great stuff!
I also thought I detected echoes of the French New Wave, with its spacey, quiet shots and focus on individualism. The protagonist dips sometimes into the inscrutable selfishness that characterises the 70s (for me.) At one point he screams that everyone wants a piece of him. Ah, but this is only because he gives nothing of himself to those he loves. I think it's understandable if your girlfriend wants you to be a little open with her, yeah? No need for screaming protestations. I'm a fairly open person and this type of aggressive guardedness annoys me. I think it's supposed to be masculine and cowboy-ish but just seems kind of self-limiting and teenagery to me. Get over yourself.
Anyway, a very moving, very good film. It's got some excellent high-falutin' melodrama and some nice things to say about life.
Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult
Saw Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, the last of the Naked Gun series. This one was more of the same slapstick, whoopie-cushion humor I expect. We find the protagonist in retirement, feeling helpless against the forces of crime and impotent as a man. He starts wearing pink slippers and baking cupcakes (which, because he's a man, is absurd.) Sure enough, he's called out retirement for one last sting operation and we get to see some nice parodies of Shawshank Redemption and White Heat. Some business ensues and the film ends.
Watching these films is like eating cotton candy - pleasant but insubstantial. The gags are funny and it's definitely entertaining but, as with the second film, nothing surprised me. This isn't to say the films are predictable, just sort of rigidly stylistic.
These would be fun party movies for people who want to ignore the film, only tuning in once in a while to catch a small joke. I'll miss these films, but I'm glad I'm done with them for now.
Watching these films is like eating cotton candy - pleasant but insubstantial. The gags are funny and it's definitely entertaining but, as with the second film, nothing surprised me. This isn't to say the films are predictable, just sort of rigidly stylistic.
These would be fun party movies for people who want to ignore the film, only tuning in once in a while to catch a small joke. I'll miss these films, but I'm glad I'm done with them for now.
The Beach
Saw The Beach, a fluffy but grim film about a teenager who is looking for adventure in Thailand. He runs into some shouty Irish guy who gives him a map to an island paradise. There he discovers a comune of very attractive people who seem to do nothing all day except hang around in hammocks and garden and play gameboys. They talk a lot about how much better they are than the noisy tourists who are crapping up the mainland (congratulating themselves on their isolation is a bad sign) and they are ruled by Tilda Swinton (very bad sign! Abort! Abort!) So of course things go awry fairly quickly.
This film is based on a novel of the same name which is itself based on Rushing to Paradise, a J G Ballard novel. The Ballard-ish influence is felt in the creeping corruption of the apparent paradise. This island is a paradise only in comparison to the real world which is only considered to not be a paradise for fairly flimsy reasons. Other people are loud and obnoxious, life is too comfortable, electronics make things unreal. These are only problems for young idiots who think that grand adventures await them in some magic never-never land. This is mixed in with a heavy hit of Apocalypse Now which yields some nice protagonist-is-going-crazy montages.
The film is kind of fluff. The protagonist is a cocky bro who is able to goof and glower his way out of problems. The island inhabitants are cartoon people who are always smiling and laughing or amiably groaning at chores. The bad stuff is solely the work of the wicked Tilda Swinton and the film ends with an unearned happy ending. Any adult will feel the cult-vibes coming a mile away, will know that this pretty idiot is doomed. The film tries to argue that the community makes this place a utopia, but utopias are imaginary and we know this going in.
The film is pretty to look at, both in terms of the actors and the scenery and there's some nice Deep Forest-style music. It's too slight to be taken very seriously however and not jolly enough to keep kids interested. It's like an Apocalypse Now for teens. And, being for teens, it therefore feels kind of dated and awkward. It's like looking at a yearbook photo of the cool kids from high school. Clearly lots of confidence but very little backing that confidence up.
This film is based on a novel of the same name which is itself based on Rushing to Paradise, a J G Ballard novel. The Ballard-ish influence is felt in the creeping corruption of the apparent paradise. This island is a paradise only in comparison to the real world which is only considered to not be a paradise for fairly flimsy reasons. Other people are loud and obnoxious, life is too comfortable, electronics make things unreal. These are only problems for young idiots who think that grand adventures await them in some magic never-never land. This is mixed in with a heavy hit of Apocalypse Now which yields some nice protagonist-is-going-crazy montages.
The film is kind of fluff. The protagonist is a cocky bro who is able to goof and glower his way out of problems. The island inhabitants are cartoon people who are always smiling and laughing or amiably groaning at chores. The bad stuff is solely the work of the wicked Tilda Swinton and the film ends with an unearned happy ending. Any adult will feel the cult-vibes coming a mile away, will know that this pretty idiot is doomed. The film tries to argue that the community makes this place a utopia, but utopias are imaginary and we know this going in.
The film is pretty to look at, both in terms of the actors and the scenery and there's some nice Deep Forest-style music. It's too slight to be taken very seriously however and not jolly enough to keep kids interested. It's like an Apocalypse Now for teens. And, being for teens, it therefore feels kind of dated and awkward. It's like looking at a yearbook photo of the cool kids from high school. Clearly lots of confidence but very little backing that confidence up.
Jan 4, 2018
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island
Saw Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island, the final part in the Samurai trilogy. As I predicted, the younger sexier samurai from part 2 is the antagonist this time. The protagonist, Musashi, is scheduled to fight with him but begs a rain-check of one year. In this year, he settles down in a farming village which is beset by bandits. Once the bandits learn that he's there though, they leave the village alone. By his mere presence and reputation, he brings peace to the land. This shows us that Musashi has attained the highest, almost metaphysical, level of swordsman-ship: he no longer even needs to raise a sword to win the day.
Before the great showdown duel, he must also deal with some loose ends (ie women) in his past. One is the daughter of grave-robbing woman from part one, now a cortesan, the other is a girl from his home-village (and, according to Japanese tropes, therefore his destined true love.) They vie over him but of course he is a stoic lone wolf, with eyes only for the young samurai who he yearns to cross swords with.
This film is about Musashi living as a true swordsman. There's the mcguffin of this showdown which is necessary to prove that, yes, he is actually a master swordsman, but there's no training montage. He's already at that level at the start of the film. There's some making amends business with the women which seems soul-settling and spiritually significant, but this reads as plain old character development to me.
As he lives as a farmer, he takes up wood-carving. Initially he carves figurines of the two women until they are dealt with. Then he carves a statue which we never see clearly but which I believe is the rival samurai. Finally, just before the great duel, he carves a sword. Yes, he's a samurai now by golly.
An interesting film, I found the quasi-spiritual stuff hard to follow and kind of opaque and (being kind of a weenie myself) I'm very sympathetic to his girlfriends' requests for him to stay and not fight the duel, but this is not that kind of film. This is a film where men are men and swords are sometimes symbolic.
Before the great showdown duel, he must also deal with some loose ends (ie women) in his past. One is the daughter of grave-robbing woman from part one, now a cortesan, the other is a girl from his home-village (and, according to Japanese tropes, therefore his destined true love.) They vie over him but of course he is a stoic lone wolf, with eyes only for the young samurai who he yearns to cross swords with.
This film is about Musashi living as a true swordsman. There's the mcguffin of this showdown which is necessary to prove that, yes, he is actually a master swordsman, but there's no training montage. He's already at that level at the start of the film. There's some making amends business with the women which seems soul-settling and spiritually significant, but this reads as plain old character development to me.
As he lives as a farmer, he takes up wood-carving. Initially he carves figurines of the two women until they are dealt with. Then he carves a statue which we never see clearly but which I believe is the rival samurai. Finally, just before the great duel, he carves a sword. Yes, he's a samurai now by golly.
An interesting film, I found the quasi-spiritual stuff hard to follow and kind of opaque and (being kind of a weenie myself) I'm very sympathetic to his girlfriends' requests for him to stay and not fight the duel, but this is not that kind of film. This is a film where men are men and swords are sometimes symbolic.
Jan 2, 2018
Black God, White Devil
Saw Black God, White Devil, a Brazilian film about a very poor cow-herd, Manuel. Manuel has a hard and meager life and dreams of better days to come. One day he sees a religious procession in the desert and believes it to be an omen of a miracle. The next day, after his landlord tries to cheat him, he runs from his life into the desert with his wife, to join the religious group. He has abandoned the exploitation of regular society for a life of religious pursuit.
The film now follows two chapters which mirror each other: Manuel with the religious group, and later following a dangerous outlaw. These two pursuits are the white Devil and black God of the title. It would seem that the black God would be preferable but the religious group has an oppressive, cult-like feel to it. The outlaw forces Manuel to do terrible things but the religious group inspires him to voluntarily do very similar terrible things. There are some other connections which imply that neither group is really much better than the other. Both talk of a time when the desert becomes an ocean. For the religious group this is a symbol of faith and the great heaven to come. For the outlaws the desert becoming the ocean is the day they stop robbing. The symbol for them is one of cynical impossibility. They also both try to separate Manuel from his wife. The cult via religious mania, the outlaws by straightforward seduction.
I can't help but think this film is about subjugation and exploitation. I'm on thin ice here but I think many Spanish-language films from the 60s dealt with communism (although a quick google yields discouraging results for this theory.) My thought process is that Manuel leaves the exploitation of capitalist society and tries out the religious communism of the cult and then the anarchic barbarism of the outlaws. Despite capitalism's serious failing of Manuel, neither alternative seem much better.
The film also has these jarring action sequences. Most of the film is 1960s art-house, with lots of staring women and deafening background noise. But then there's a choot-out and people run around frantically, shooting and jumping as frantic guitar music fills up the soundtrack. It's almost self-parodying and seems to be making fun of it's own sudden tone-shift. Weird. Fairly slow film but interesting if you can keep awake.
The film now follows two chapters which mirror each other: Manuel with the religious group, and later following a dangerous outlaw. These two pursuits are the white Devil and black God of the title. It would seem that the black God would be preferable but the religious group has an oppressive, cult-like feel to it. The outlaw forces Manuel to do terrible things but the religious group inspires him to voluntarily do very similar terrible things. There are some other connections which imply that neither group is really much better than the other. Both talk of a time when the desert becomes an ocean. For the religious group this is a symbol of faith and the great heaven to come. For the outlaws the desert becoming the ocean is the day they stop robbing. The symbol for them is one of cynical impossibility. They also both try to separate Manuel from his wife. The cult via religious mania, the outlaws by straightforward seduction.
I can't help but think this film is about subjugation and exploitation. I'm on thin ice here but I think many Spanish-language films from the 60s dealt with communism (although a quick google yields discouraging results for this theory.) My thought process is that Manuel leaves the exploitation of capitalist society and tries out the religious communism of the cult and then the anarchic barbarism of the outlaws. Despite capitalism's serious failing of Manuel, neither alternative seem much better.
The film also has these jarring action sequences. Most of the film is 1960s art-house, with lots of staring women and deafening background noise. But then there's a choot-out and people run around frantically, shooting and jumping as frantic guitar music fills up the soundtrack. It's almost self-parodying and seems to be making fun of it's own sudden tone-shift. Weird. Fairly slow film but interesting if you can keep awake.
The Naked Gun 2½
Saw The Naked Gun 2½, a Leslie Nielsen comedy in the style of
Spike Jones - an
everything-and-the-kitchen-sink style comedy which references pop culture
issues (the Exxon Valedeze oil spill) jostle for space with fart jokes and
billiard balls falling on distinguished heads. If you've seen any of the Police Files show, you'll know what you're in for. It's not surprising, but it's reliable.
I think I have one more of these to see and I'm looking forward to being done with them. They're funny and an interesting look at a time I just missed (their references to Dukkakis are hilariously scathing) but I haven't been surprised by anything in these movies since the beginning. I hope they go dark for the last one. Picture this: Leslie Nielsen is a bumbling doctor in a children's hospital, during one surgery he's unable to concentrate because of a busty nurse. In his distraction, he sutures three children into a human centipede. We can then go forward from there, Leslie creating an army of glued-together child-abominations and terrorizing a town. Basically I want to see a bare-chested Leslie Nielsen bellowing his defiance against god and nature from atop a pyramid of human skulls. Is that too much to ask for?
I think I have one more of these to see and I'm looking forward to being done with them. They're funny and an interesting look at a time I just missed (their references to Dukkakis are hilariously scathing) but I haven't been surprised by anything in these movies since the beginning. I hope they go dark for the last one. Picture this: Leslie Nielsen is a bumbling doctor in a children's hospital, during one surgery he's unable to concentrate because of a busty nurse. In his distraction, he sutures three children into a human centipede. We can then go forward from there, Leslie creating an army of glued-together child-abominations and terrorizing a town. Basically I want to see a bare-chested Leslie Nielsen bellowing his defiance against god and nature from atop a pyramid of human skulls. Is that too much to ask for?
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