Tag: film

Hard Eight

~ Mark

Hard Eight. Philip Baker Hall is awesome, and so is John C. Reilly. Love how Reilly becomes a poor imitation of the expert. I love the moments of still life, coffee and pie and cigarettes and such. I felt a bit let down by the reveal. I guess you’d have to steer the climax a bit differently without it, but I didn’t really need a reason for how the story opened. I was totally on board with this strange characters. I think The Master is my favorite of Paul Thomas Anderson’s, then probably this one and then There Will Be Blood and then Magnolia? Hard to say. They’re all pretty solid.

All Is Lost

~ Mark

All Is Lost. Loved it. Perfect movie for the messy, rainy weather of late. Redford’s sailboat is hit by a freight container… and then he deals with it. Minimal script and music, the focus is on inventiveness, improvising, and the mundane aspects of making do. I appreciate that there weren’t any gimmicks that felt too dumb or contrived, like, I dunno, getting tangled in the ropes or something. It’s also a great example of how much more thrilling it can be to focus on the person facing peril, and how they react, rather than show a huge CGI wave vs. a tiny boat. I love the couple moments where he’s… enjoying himself, somehow? A sunset. A simple dinner. And there’s a beautiful, heartbreaking moment before he sends out a communication where he pauses – not quite ready – and then follows through.

Other good “peril at sea” movies: Captain Phillips and Life of Pi.

Other good survival films: Gravity (+ Aningaaq). The Grey. 127 Hours.

Another good movie focusing on one actor, one vehicle: Locke.

Another good movie with an older actor trying to get out of trouble: Arbitrage.

Veronica Mars

~ Mark

If I were wise enough to know the difference between what I can and can’t change, would I even be who I am?

Veronica Mars. It opens with an explanatory montage narrated by Bell – it’s a nice introduction for newbies and also helps boost the anticipation/nostalgia for veterans. Even with that lead-in, though, I don’t think you could get much out of the movie without watching a good bit of the TV series (which you should absolutely, definitely do as soon as possible).

Lots of inside jokes, references, running gags, cameos, and other bits of fan service. There were a pair of legitimately shocking moments in there, too. The great writing that sustained the show carries over here, and the key relationships – Veronica and her dad; Veronica and Logan – are as sharp as ever. Love the Lou Rawls soundtrack during one of the climactic scenes.

But alas, it’s not the TV show, and two hours simply is not enough for a challenge worthy of Veronica, and there’s not enough time for beloved supporting characters to remind us why we love them so much. Another great movie that revolves around noir-ish high school drama is Brick.

Strange Days

~ Mark

Strange Days. The last movie I watched in 2014. The setting is a dark and messy L.A. where the go-to underground drug is VR “playback” of other people’s recorded first-person thrills. All the stuff with rampant police abuse, violence for entertainment, and mediated experience seemed relevant today. It’s one of those where I love the world they built in the early parts of the movie, but didn’t have much interest in the story they developed from there. Love the closing song. My Kathryn Bigelow rankings:

  1. Zero Dark Thirty
  2. Point Break
  3. The Hurt Locker
  4. Strange Days

She’s really damn good.

The One I Love

~ Mark

The One I Love. Highly recommended, a lot of fun. I wish this one had made a bigger splash. A couple on the rocks goes on a retreat to focus on their relationship. Hijinks ensue. I love movies like this that focus on just a couple cast members, and you get to see their chemistry and talent carry the whole thing. Moss and Duplass are awesome.

Le Week-End

~ Mark

Le Week-End. Fast-forward Linklater’s Before trilogy 40 years into the future, and you’ll get the idea. The silly parts are much sillier, though, and the dark parts even worse. Jeff Goldblum’s character is overwhelming and terrible and so much fun to watch.

Foxcatcher

~ Mark

Foxcatcher. I appreciate the acting, but I couldn’t hang with it. Mark Ruffalo is a genius, though. Matt Zoller Seitz said it well: “If I had to make a list of movies I’m saddest about not having liked, this would rank near the top.”

Stand By Me

~ Mark

Stand By Me. Nothing beats exploring the woods with your friends. Especially when your parents are clueless as to your whereabouts. This one is not as good as I remembered. I couldn’t help but compare it with that other Oregon-based tween adventure from a year earlier, The Goonies, and it comes up short. Maybe it just works better for younger eyes and ears, where the foul language is more scandalous and thrilling, and the loving fisticuffs more relatable. I didn’t realize this is where the production company’s name came from.

Taken 2

~ Mark

Taken 2. I like the flip-flop here, where Neeson has to rely on his daughter for a bit. Love the absurdly nonchalant use of grenades. Neeson is the most nightmarish backseat driver you could ever imagine. Like The Equalizer, he gives the final bad guy a chance to make the right decision, but… people never learn. Not sure what’s up with the images here, like how the colors were pushed and processed into these weird greenish-yellow skin tones. Tick of the Clock is one of the best things to happen to action movies (Cf.). More of the same ain’t bad, but Taken is better.

Dark City

~ Mark

Dark City. Not going to complain about Lizabeth Scott (I only put this one my list because of Pitfall), but there’s not a lot of compelling stuff here. Good job easing into the pivotal scene though. Watch the other completely unrelated 1998 Dark City instead.

Meek’s Cutoff

~ Mark

Meek’s Cutoff. The opening scene has the cast fording a waist-deep river – rushing water taking over the soundtrack – and you sense that’s about as good as it’s gonna get for a while. I love the contrast between the hot bright sunny bleached-out days, and the nights where you can see absolutely nothing but what fire’s light touches. And the square frame makes things feel a bit more fraught somehow. Over and over we see women hanging back while men deliberate their course. (Often with men in long shot, conversations barely audible, while the women get the close-ups and mediums.) And look where it gets them. By the end, it’s time to try something new. Fingers crossed.

Kelly Reichardt’s movies Night Moves and Old Joy are also really good. Wendy & Lucy is still on my list.

Enemy

~ Mark

Enemy. Unexpectedly good soundtrack. The more chamber ensemble feel is a nice change. Even got some bassoon leading the way at times. Two Gyllenhaals contrast in appearance (leather band dress watch vs. link sports watch; chinos vs. denim; blazer vs. leather jacket; Volvo vs. motorcycle) and behavior (hunch vs. swagger). Nice how each man (emotionally) is the one the other’s wife has been missing. Also a good reminder of how objectively difficult it would be to live someone else’s life – from basics like knowing which keys to use to family history, social circle gossip, etc. – and the futility of escapism when we have our own multitudes we should be reconciling. There’s a good car scene here, particularly as it settles down with a truck-mounted camera, which then cranes down and closer to the action. Not sure about the spider imagery. Something about weaving illusions, bread-and-circus distractions from real life (like the strip club).

Thief

~ Mark

Thief. So great. This was the first time I’d noticed a couple cameos from Manhunter stars: Dennis Farina (Manhunter’s Jack Crawford) as a henchman and William Petersen (profiler Will Graham) as a bouncer at the bar where Caan is late for his date. A few other nice camera/editing odds and ends I appreciated this time around:

  • During the diamond exchange in the diner, I like how he starts unwrapping one of the packages, then pauses, and the camera cuts away when the waitress arrives.
  • After Caan barges into the office, the blocking follows the shifting of power. Caan moves from the visitor’s chair in the owner’s office, then parallel to the desk, then moves behind the desk and forces the owner into the guest’s chair.
  • When using a tracking device to misdirect the cops, the camera tells the story as it zooms past three or four cars, then fixes on the bus.
  • The wide shots of the monolithic safe at the big heist me of similar shots at the El Paso bank in For a Few Dollars More.
  • Just about 99% of the movie is urban, but the final setting is in comfortable suburbia (the sort of life that Caan has been working toward). The climactic scene at the mob boss’s house is nearly silent up until the last moments, and then there’s a crane up into the trees…

One last bit of awesomeness is Willie Nelson’s character, Okla, dispensing some perfect life advice:

Lie to no one. If there’s somebody close to you, you’ll ruin it with a lie. If they’re a stranger, who the fuck are they you gotta lie to them?

Night Moves

~ Mark

Night Moves. Movements of all sorts cultivate their own extremists. Part of being on that fringe is wrestling with futility. Even if you accept that you’re not able to do one huge world-changing act… you may not even be at peace with your own puny effort. Reichardt captures pretty standard thriller genre stuff with a spooky calm. The lead-up to and climax at the dam is brilliant. I love the scenes with jabs at how we’ve alienated ourselves. There are glimpses of homes with heavily landscaped backyards that imitate nature itself; leisure activities like golf in the same faux-natural environments; campgrounds where people sit in RVs and watch TV; gear stores that sell a squeaky-clean impression of interest in the outdoors; etc. Been a while since I’ve seen a character use a public library. Eisenberg is a master of sulking. He’s so good.