Jul 31, 2013
La Vie de Bohème
Decalogue I
This first episode was the 'I am the lord your god' episode and therefore featured some hubris of man being humbled by forces beyond his control. The humbled protagonist is a computer-wiz/linguistics expert who I at first understood to symbolize Science as a whole (which understanding I believe now to be mercifully mistaken.) His sister is a religious woman with no other role than to be religious. I found it interesting that the two were not played as being in opposition to each other. They peacefully disagree about spiritual matters, but neither of them let this aspect of their lives dominate their relationship.
The film is shot in a chilly, distant way. Opportunities for cheap sentiment are wisely missed. There were also some images that were genius, such as the frozen holy-water at the end and the 'crying' painting of Mary. I thought it was fascinating. A strong start to the series.
Jul 25, 2013
Revenge of the Ninja
Hilariously, this film is banned in Norway.
Jul 24, 2013
Executive Koala
Jul 21, 2013
Femme Fatale
The central femme who is fatale is delightful though. She starts out as one of those sympathetic characters who shouldn't be sympathetic. As the film wears on she becomes at first delightfully evil and then just evilly evil. It was at this point I began to wonder where all this vitriol for attractive women came from and began trying to think of cute ways to say 'misogynist.' But then (sweet redemption,) she is a good bad girl again! So I concede, my emotions were well manipulated. Good show De Palma. I was entertained, but begrudgingly so. So, as I often say in these cases, you win this time, De Palma. You win this time.
Jul 20, 2013
The Man Without a Past
Jul 19, 2013
A Man Escaped
A perhaps more fruitful angle to look at this film with is to consider how purposefully non-action-packed it is. Much of the story is told via over-the-shoulder shots of the prisoner industriously braiding rope or sharpening a spoon. Months of inaction are narrated away. Insecurities and worries become almost as caging as the walls and doors themselves (again, symbolizing a struggle for meaning perhaps.) An interesting movie with clearly more going on under the surface than I have the equipment to unpack.
Edit: According to imdb, the ropes and hooks used in the movie are the real ropes and hooks used by the guy whose story this is. That's pretty awesome.
Jul 17, 2013
Bigger Stronger Faster
The most compelling counter-arguments against steroids that he has in the film come from his mother who argues not against steroids themselves, but against their causes. She doesn't care that steroid abuse is semi-illegal, she only cares that her sons don't feel successful. The director himself misses her point when she says to him that the bible can solve every problem. He counters that the bible can't make him look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but of course the philosophy promulgated by the bible can help him to no longer want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. I believe this to be an intentional omission, because the conclusion he reaches dovetails nicely with this outlook. I can't be sure though because he seems more interested in pointing fingers and wallowing in disillusionment than providing answers. Though the pointing and wallowing make for an excellent documentary, so I can't complain.
Tangential fact about me: I actually take steroids daily. Nasal steroids. I am a nerd.
Jul 16, 2013
Crocodile Dundee
I was wondering as I watched the film how it would deal with the girl's emotions as she clearly falls in love with someone who isn't her fiance? Would she be wracked with guilt and depressed or care-free and therefore careless? How would her family react? I wondered how the black chauffeur would react when he realized Dundee wasn't calling him a 'tribal' ironically? What if Dundee was shot in the leg one day? What if the hotel objects to him charmingly sticking knives into the wall? Would Dundee ever get in serious trouble for grabbing a transsexual's genitals?
All of these potential traps are dealt with by not being dealt with. The woman's emotions happen entirely off-screen. The family is never again mentioned. The chauffeur is already good friends with Dundee after one scene. Dundee lives a charmed life and the hotel loves him and, this being the 80's, transsexuals are not yet people.
Again, I find it not bad but uninteresting.
Jul 15, 2013
Alien 3
Edit: Apparently both fans and even the director hated this movie. Well I liked it. They hate the very sense of futility I enjoyed about it. So I win.
Jul 14, 2013
Die Hard 5
I'm really glad my adventure in Die Hard-land is over. This series is just really not meant for someone like me.
Jul 13, 2013
Umberto D.
The movie isn't as miserable as, say, The Bicycle Thief (to say nothing of the likes of Dancer in the Dark) but it's certainly grim and has an oppressive atmosphere. The visit to the dog-pound is particularly worrying.
Jul 11, 2013
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
I was a bit confused that it's heavily implied the Joker is killed in the end. The freakin' Joker? No way.
Jul 10, 2013
The Interrupters
Good, tough movie.
Jul 9, 2013
Dancer In The Dark
Huge emotional reaction. Never again.
Jul 8, 2013
Die Hard 4
There was some kind of worrying stuff about recent politics thrown in "it took FEMA 5 days to gt water to the superdome." (as they're being hacked) "The FAA says all flights are grounded." These references to 9/11 and Katrina are jarring and don't feel like they belong in a light-hearted watch-McClane-kill-everyone movie. But I suppose it was 2007, so what can you do?
Very very goofy, but entertaining I guess, if you're into that.
Edit: I really, REALLY liked the montage of president clips being threatening. I've always wondered if such a thing would work.
Jul 7, 2013
The Red Shoes
Jul 6, 2013
The Karate Kid (1984)
Do the closing credits music really say "Standing alone, Willem DaFoe?
Jul 5, 2013
The Hangover
Jul 3, 2013
Training Day
I did think the closing lines, though cute, were stupid. Oh well.
Bonus barely-related trivia:
- This blog suddenly saw a whole mess of traffic from Russia that came from an obfuscated link source. Yeah, no.