Screening Log, August 2006
August 15th
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Dir: David Lynch
Source: Universal DVD
Even if one isn't able to put together the pieces of Lynch's erotic fever dream, his mise en scène is so compulsively watchable that it would hardly flag the experience. However, once the viewer accepts, unquestionably, the twisted logic of the film and its tragic heroine, there isn't a single moment that fails to make absolutely perfect sense. The film effortlessly folds back within itself like a psychoanalytical puzzle, profoundly thrilling both in the form of scattered pieces as well as its mind-bogglingly complete form.
August 16th
The Godfather (1972)
Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
Source: Paramount DVD Box Set
There's hardly an example where watching Coppola's masterful debut that isn't a cause for celebration; in this particular instance, it was introducting the film to my long-time cohort, thus filling in one of his most embarassing blind spots. The Godfather weaves its tale of crime, honor and family together with magnificent ease, although after this viewing (probably my 5th or 6th) I think it now certain to say I prefer Part II. There's hardly a moment of this original that doesn't reach some sort of pinnacle, but if I had to single out one complaint, it's that the operatic gestures often beg for a more subtle intimacy with the characters' emotions.
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Dir: Wong Kar-Wai
Source: Criterion DVD
"Wow. Are you sure you weren't having sex?"
- Paul Schrodt (replying to the description of my experience watching said film)
Full review here.
August 17th
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
Dir: Luis Buñuel
Source: Transflux Films DVD
There's far more to be written about this film than I could possibly muster up after only one viewing. Buñuel's, and - fittingly - cinema's first foray into the realm of surrealism is transfixing and completely engaging even when it doesn't make a bit of sense. Of course, that's only if you're looking for a story or plot on which to fixate the progression of events. Un Chien Andalou is cinema, its often illogical images of death and decay reflecting human sexuality and immortality with titillating ease. The first scene of the film shows a man (the director, no less) slicing open a woman's eye with a straight razor, thus inflicting upon his audience the challenging (and, literally, eye-opening) nature of his imagery. A recurring box that appears throughout the film (perhaps an inspiration for Mulholland Dr.'s immortal "blue box"?), only to be shattered into bits at the end, thus signifying the destruction of convention in order to pave the way for a new wave of cinema.
August 18th
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Dir: David R. Ellis
Source: Theatrical Print
The title says it all, really. If you want to see it, then chances are you will like it.
Full review here.
August 20th
V for Vendetta (2006)
Dir: James McTeigue
Source: Warner Bros. DVD
One of my beliefs is that anyone can be wrong about anything and should at least be mature enough to own up to it when such is the case. For this reason, I will often re-watch movies of which my opinion is in the minority. This has often led to 180-turns (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which I initially hated, now love; vice-versa for Saved!), while in cases where my opinion remains steadfast, I refuse to watch the film in question more than three times (Crash, The Deer Hunter, Full Metal Jacket); sometimes that majority will disagree with you and that's that. However, revisiting V for Vendetta, amidst landslides of fanboy hype and praise from within my circle of friends, did little to improve my opinion. I'm sure a great movie could be made from this material, but the film, concerning a terrorist/revolutionary figure set on overthrowing the corrupt government in futuristic Great Britain, is too idealogically reductive to be taken seriously, and strains so hard to be taken as such that it's also very little fun. The filmmaker's are obviously trying to comment about current America by means of David Lloyd's graphic novel, but the overt usage of Orwellian language and explanatory dialogue renders any illumination more condescending than enlightening. The anti-government stance, driven by a plot element that indicates the government once killed thousands of its own citizens in order to further a political agenda, is less a re-imagination of current 9/11 conspiracy theory concerns than it is simply a means of getting idiot liberals some anarchy to get excited about, while the humanistic elements (such as a sepia-toned flashback to a now-dead lesbian's persecution) are outright demeaning in their hollow nostalgia. V for vacant.
August 21st
Adaptation. (2002)
Dir: Spike Jonze
Source: Sony Pictures DVD
So few films (or any work of art, for that matter) feel as startlingly complete as this, reuniting Kaufman and Jonze from their work on Being John Malkovich for a film just as inventive and exhuberant. Ouroboros is the key word here, for Adaptation. is literally about the creation of itself... or is it? For anyone who has ever strived to do something true and creative and unique while others succeed through a celebration of mediocrity, Adaptation. will become something of a theme song.
Gosford Park (2001)
Dir: Robert Altman
Source: Universal DVD
It can't hold a candle to Nashville, but this Altman ensemble piece slowly accrues a deep sense of involvement between the audience and its characters, a slice of both the upper and lower classes convening at a high-class party in the country. When an unsuspected murder takes place, deep, personal secrets and unspoken pasts emerge with a tranquil profundity. And what is it with Bob Balaban playing characters with movie-related professions? (a scene of him dodging a falling fowl at a hunting party had me laughing hysterically)
August 23rd
Lenny (1974)
Dir: Bob Fosse
Source: MGM DVD
Full review here.
August 24th
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Dir: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Source: Theatrical Print
Indie cinema has long had its own set of formulas to rival Hollywood fare, and this is the latest in a long line of quirky dramedies without much in the way of real substance. Some great performances aside (Steve Carrell is borderline brilliant), the movie trades strictly in strange eccentricities far too much to really get at the heart of its familial dysfunction.
Miami Vice (2006)
Dir: Michael Mann
Source: Theatrical Print
What movie was I watching the first time? Arguably the most soulful "action" film so far this decade, Mann's film is fluid on plot and heavy on sleek imagery, like a meditative music video under the influence. Any connection with the 80's series is purely incidental, and it's all the better for it.
Full review here.
August 25th
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Dir: Richard Linklater
Source: Theatrical Print
The animation style isn't as well-employed as in Waking Life (although Keanu Reeves' scramble suit is quite cool), but this Phillip K. Dick adaptation is solid Linklater material, intriguing and, more than anything, quite funny at times. For once, an anti-drug movie that doesn't take itself so godawfully serious all the time.
August 26th
L'Enfant (2005)
Dir: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Source: Sony DVD
Another film that benefitted greatly from a second viewing. Full review coming soon.
Dogville (2003)
Dir: Lars Von Trier
Source: Lions Gate DVD
Full review.
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Dir: David Lynch
Source: Universal DVD
Even if one isn't able to put together the pieces of Lynch's erotic fever dream, his mise en scène is so compulsively watchable that it would hardly flag the experience. However, once the viewer accepts, unquestionably, the twisted logic of the film and its tragic heroine, there isn't a single moment that fails to make absolutely perfect sense. The film effortlessly folds back within itself like a psychoanalytical puzzle, profoundly thrilling both in the form of scattered pieces as well as its mind-bogglingly complete form.
August 16th
The Godfather (1972)
Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
Source: Paramount DVD Box Set
There's hardly an example where watching Coppola's masterful debut that isn't a cause for celebration; in this particular instance, it was introducting the film to my long-time cohort, thus filling in one of his most embarassing blind spots. The Godfather weaves its tale of crime, honor and family together with magnificent ease, although after this viewing (probably my 5th or 6th) I think it now certain to say I prefer Part II. There's hardly a moment of this original that doesn't reach some sort of pinnacle, but if I had to single out one complaint, it's that the operatic gestures often beg for a more subtle intimacy with the characters' emotions.
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Dir: Wong Kar-Wai
Source: Criterion DVD
"Wow. Are you sure you weren't having sex?"
- Paul Schrodt (replying to the description of my experience watching said film)
Full review here.
August 17th
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
Dir: Luis Buñuel
Source: Transflux Films DVD
There's far more to be written about this film than I could possibly muster up after only one viewing. Buñuel's, and - fittingly - cinema's first foray into the realm of surrealism is transfixing and completely engaging even when it doesn't make a bit of sense. Of course, that's only if you're looking for a story or plot on which to fixate the progression of events. Un Chien Andalou is cinema, its often illogical images of death and decay reflecting human sexuality and immortality with titillating ease. The first scene of the film shows a man (the director, no less) slicing open a woman's eye with a straight razor, thus inflicting upon his audience the challenging (and, literally, eye-opening) nature of his imagery. A recurring box that appears throughout the film (perhaps an inspiration for Mulholland Dr.'s immortal "blue box"?), only to be shattered into bits at the end, thus signifying the destruction of convention in order to pave the way for a new wave of cinema.
August 18th
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Dir: David R. Ellis
Source: Theatrical Print
The title says it all, really. If you want to see it, then chances are you will like it.
Full review here.
August 20th
V for Vendetta (2006)
Dir: James McTeigue
Source: Warner Bros. DVD
One of my beliefs is that anyone can be wrong about anything and should at least be mature enough to own up to it when such is the case. For this reason, I will often re-watch movies of which my opinion is in the minority. This has often led to 180-turns (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which I initially hated, now love; vice-versa for Saved!), while in cases where my opinion remains steadfast, I refuse to watch the film in question more than three times (Crash, The Deer Hunter, Full Metal Jacket); sometimes that majority will disagree with you and that's that. However, revisiting V for Vendetta, amidst landslides of fanboy hype and praise from within my circle of friends, did little to improve my opinion. I'm sure a great movie could be made from this material, but the film, concerning a terrorist/revolutionary figure set on overthrowing the corrupt government in futuristic Great Britain, is too idealogically reductive to be taken seriously, and strains so hard to be taken as such that it's also very little fun. The filmmaker's are obviously trying to comment about current America by means of David Lloyd's graphic novel, but the overt usage of Orwellian language and explanatory dialogue renders any illumination more condescending than enlightening. The anti-government stance, driven by a plot element that indicates the government once killed thousands of its own citizens in order to further a political agenda, is less a re-imagination of current 9/11 conspiracy theory concerns than it is simply a means of getting idiot liberals some anarchy to get excited about, while the humanistic elements (such as a sepia-toned flashback to a now-dead lesbian's persecution) are outright demeaning in their hollow nostalgia. V for vacant.
August 21st
Adaptation. (2002)
Dir: Spike Jonze
Source: Sony Pictures DVD
So few films (or any work of art, for that matter) feel as startlingly complete as this, reuniting Kaufman and Jonze from their work on Being John Malkovich for a film just as inventive and exhuberant. Ouroboros is the key word here, for Adaptation. is literally about the creation of itself... or is it? For anyone who has ever strived to do something true and creative and unique while others succeed through a celebration of mediocrity, Adaptation. will become something of a theme song.
Gosford Park (2001)
Dir: Robert Altman
Source: Universal DVD
It can't hold a candle to Nashville, but this Altman ensemble piece slowly accrues a deep sense of involvement between the audience and its characters, a slice of both the upper and lower classes convening at a high-class party in the country. When an unsuspected murder takes place, deep, personal secrets and unspoken pasts emerge with a tranquil profundity. And what is it with Bob Balaban playing characters with movie-related professions? (a scene of him dodging a falling fowl at a hunting party had me laughing hysterically)
August 23rd
Lenny (1974)
Dir: Bob Fosse
Source: MGM DVD
Full review here.
August 24th
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Dir: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Source: Theatrical Print
Indie cinema has long had its own set of formulas to rival Hollywood fare, and this is the latest in a long line of quirky dramedies without much in the way of real substance. Some great performances aside (Steve Carrell is borderline brilliant), the movie trades strictly in strange eccentricities far too much to really get at the heart of its familial dysfunction.
Miami Vice (2006)
Dir: Michael Mann
Source: Theatrical Print
What movie was I watching the first time? Arguably the most soulful "action" film so far this decade, Mann's film is fluid on plot and heavy on sleek imagery, like a meditative music video under the influence. Any connection with the 80's series is purely incidental, and it's all the better for it.
Full review here.
August 25th
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Dir: Richard Linklater
Source: Theatrical Print
The animation style isn't as well-employed as in Waking Life (although Keanu Reeves' scramble suit is quite cool), but this Phillip K. Dick adaptation is solid Linklater material, intriguing and, more than anything, quite funny at times. For once, an anti-drug movie that doesn't take itself so godawfully serious all the time.
August 26th
L'Enfant (2005)
Dir: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Source: Sony DVD
Another film that benefitted greatly from a second viewing. Full review coming soon.
Dogville (2003)
Dir: Lars Von Trier
Source: Lions Gate DVD
Full review.
