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cordedpoodle
Reviews
The Last Samurai (2003)
Slick Action but the premise is nonsense
Great camera work, locals, sets and good actors wasted on fairy tale with no real link to reality. American vision of "honor" among thugs. This is a repeated theme in American westerns. The "dignity" and "honor" theme among violent thugs is exposed for what it really is in more complex films like the Godfather and Apocalypse now.
Like many of these films it pretends to have a deeper moral message, linked to extreme self discipline and Zen without any real expenditure of thought.
No need for a spoiler here, the plot is telegraphed way ahead and anyone with a trace of brainpower knows what is going to happen after about 10 minutes.
It's basically a vehicles for Tom Cruise to further his career. He's aware of what consistently sells and he's willing to deliver. Far better and cheaper films about feudal Japan have been made for TV.
What gets me is an honest film would have been very interesting. Why you would want to make a mediocre film full of clichés about such a subject is beyond me.
Gladiator (2000)
Spoiler but read it anyway. You'll be glad you did.
Warning Spoiler,,,,
It's hard to believe that this bomb gets such high ratings.
1) Wooden acting and dialogue. 2) The MTV 'fast cut" photography does nothing to enhance the movie. It's merely a FAD promulgated by no talent camera people who substitute faddish standards when they can't think clearly or creatively. 3) Scott treats Maximus and Marcus Aurelius like they are noble characters, with corny swelling music. Instead of what they were. Vicious, ruthless creeps on par with the worst of the Nazis.
4) Now to the worst part and the spoiler. Even if you've disagreed with the former you have to agree with this. This movie wants us to believe that Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) would put Maximus (Russell Crowe) into slavery because he threatens Commodus's chances of being the Emperor. He lets him live so he has a chance to come back and threaten later. Duh! Yeah that makes sense. He kills Maximus's wife & kid though. C'mon! Any dufus dictator would have just executed him plain and simple.Then we are supposed to believe that Maximus rises to the top of the gladiatorial thingee far enough that he becomes a hero gladiator. Again. Duh! Commodus would allow this? Double Duh! Now the crowning blow to credulity. We are supposed to believe that the wimpy Emperor would be STUPID enough to climb down into the arena and fight the buff, tough, well trained killer Maximus.
How stupid can movie goers and reviewers get? Pretty damn stupid I guess judging from the reviews here. Not all of us are fooled though.
The real tragedy is that within the story of Rome are countless compelling stories. Truth is way more interesting than this kind of contrived fiction. A real movie about real life Romans would have been far more interesting. Romans were like us. Their rulers were lazy, corrupt, ignorant, egotistical and horribly brutish. They had slavery like us, conquered like us, maintained a republic for 200 years, like us, until they capitulated to a dictator and a dictatorship in the name of security, which I hope we avoid. The Romans were masters of self delusion and deliberate ignorance of the society they created.
Spartacus, of course, comes to mind. The way that Kubrick explored the inner decay and fear of Laurence Olivier's Marcus twisted Licinius Crassus was brilliant to say the least. On the surface Crassus is genteel, educated, brilliant, but on the inside... Crassus kills HIS gladiator the way a real Roman Emperor would, after he is wounded, near death and no threat. He kills him in fear, cowardly, with a knife to the throat. He desperately wants Livia's love but doesn't know why or even what love is. He will never know love. He is obsessed with her indifference because it threatens his self deluded image of his own superiority. Rising to become the most powerful person in Rome he's really a pathetic shell of a human being terrified to confront his humanity. So pathetic he is worthy of pity from his slave.
There is nothing in this film that even comes close. Its all flash over substance and not even great flash.
The tension and anticipatory horror in final battle scene in Spartacus is palpable. We feel it the same as the rebels feel it. We are small and vulnerable in the coming gigantic battle. We feel their fear but we also know they are ready to die free because the alternative is worse. We are with them in spirit because we ARE them. We fear the Romans but we also hate their decadence and lack of decency and what they will do to our families. We may die but we are going to take down as many of them as we can.
In Gladiator we are treated like dumb observers who can't think for ourselves. We are marks who are stupid enough to pay the admission price. We ARE the observers in the coliseum, lazy, corrupt, ignorant, decadent, stupidly accepting a absurd plot.
Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story (1995)
Not bad. Good if you are interested in Hollywood Grotesque.
Hollywood is all image. Happy celebrities selflessly attending charity parties all scrubbed and dressed and young and beautiful. But Hollywood is big money and sex and dreams and it attracts the damaged and the creepy. Hollywood is harsh place filled with whores, social climbers, suck ups and people who measure a person by the size of their wallet and their fame or infamy, it doesn't matter much which it is. When I say Hollywood I mean the entertainment business in general.
It would be hard to make a bad movie about damaged, confused screwed up people like Woody Allen and Mia Farrow. Woody's fans, of course, hate to see something approaching the truth about him, because his fans identify with him, so their comments are understandable. Personally, I think Woody is a reasonably good director but way, way overrated by most people. His fans, as I said, are generally those who identify with him.
The movie itself is a fairly well made made for TV movie. Actually there are a lot really good made for TV movies now days. Smaller budgets generally mean better movies. Worth a watch if the truth about the Hollywood Grotesque interests you.
The Birds (1963)
Grow up and think!
As per usual when confronted with a really challenging movie most viewers are lost.
Pay attention I say.
One wonders what was Hitch's intent? More than likely it was to make an open ended movie that one can interpret multiple ways. There is no explanation of why the Birds are attacking and the ending leaves no clues as to whether they will continue to attack.
The Birds becomes more interesting everyday foreshadowing the environmental consciousness and animal rights consciousness. Revolutionary at that time.
There are no human hero's here. Almost every character has glaring flaws, petulance, jealousy, callousness, egotistical, lust. Melanie is a rich spoiled brat, Mitch is a lawyer who has lust for Melanie and is not very nice to her at the start, Annie is jealous, and Mitches mother is weak and clinging. The Bar scene is especially delicious, every one who speaks is a jerk, from a self important "expert" ornithologist to a drunken bible thumper. Hitchcock, of course, was a master at exposing flaws in human psychology.
Metaphors fly right from the start, as the protagonist human brings caged love birds ostensibly as a present but really to buy into a sexual relationship.
We hear a lot about how good the shots were and the special effects, and they are good especially for the time. But the true story is really how Hitch was able to get us to watch a film with no ending.
Like most truly great film this film presents plenty of questions but gives no answers. That's what's what is really interesting about this film. You don't just sit there and get entertainment spoon fed to you like a baby, you have to interact with the film.
That's what most people don't get. Art is about questions not answers.
Secretary (2002)
A Secret Gem
This is a film I can't get out of my mind. It brings to mind a comment by Martin Sheen about an episode of West Wing where he comments it's really wonderful and that you'll need to have a hanky because it's a tear jerker. How foolish. How hard is it to make a pathetic puppy film and of what use is it? Instead of provoking false emotions, this film is an fascinating insight into the nature of ourselves found in the most unlikely place: a sado masochistic relationship. Gyllenhaal plays a seemingly pathetic character who is willing to take any job because of her seemingly low esteem. She lands the first crappy job she applies for because few others are dumb enough to take it. Spader comes off at first as a self assured and cleaver tyrant who gets his kicks out of manipulating the weak. But upon closer inspection we realize that he is really a connoisseur of the unusual. We also realize that Gyllenhaal's character is actually a very special and unusually discriminating person for whom an average life is deathly boring. As Spader and Gyllenhaal drift into a sexually stimulating relationship, Gyllenhaal realizes that she is not just a weirdo or a looser but a very unique person and that the relationship fulfils her need to live an unusual life. Spader who has seemingly been in charge realizes that Gyllenhaal is enjoying being abused which is a sexual oxymoron. He can only enjoy abusing her if she feels abused and when he feels in charge, when he realizes she is enjoying the abuse he is no longer in power and is thrown into confusion and self searching which, in turn, throws her into confusion and self searching. Sound familiar? Sort of a metaphor for life, when we get what we think we need and find that we don't want it anymore and find we must rethink what we really want. Nicely underplayed by both actors in parts that could have been ruined by clumsiness. I found the spanking scene to be quite erotic even though I'm not attracted to S&M at all. The Eros is a result of the mental intimacy of the characters in that the bond that has been building between the characters is consummated during the act. The soundtrack consists of well chosen, somewhat obscure but very intelligent music that fits quite well. I'll not ruin the ending for you, like others I didn't enjoy the press scenes very much, it's a small flaw in an otherwise wonderful gem of a film. The important part is really the way the relationship changes and opens up each of the characters.
Wise Blood (1979)
Exquisite Bittersweet Black Comedy
Black humor has never been done better. But this is not a film for the squeamish. It's going to take some thought. Not a film to be watched while doing the dishes. This is a challenging but rewarding film that borders on being a great work of art. The first time I saw this film I was impressed. Each time I rewatch this movie it becomes more funny in an odd sort of fatalistic way. Each time I rewatch it it becomes more impressive. It's almost impossible to describe the way the bittersweet pathos of the movie collides with the funny, goofy, craziness of the characters. We've seen these people but rarely do we really consider their lives. They're damaged or idiots or inept swindlers or all three. We look at them with small amusement or try to get away from them, but don't give them much thought. I usually don't care much about actors. They are a dime a dozen. This film is different. This is pretty much every actors best role. Brad Dourif shows why he should be way more famous. Amy Wright is spellbinding in as a very strange girl. Dan Shor is hilarious and pathetic at the same time as a lonely moron. Stanton is hysterically funny as an utterly corrupt preacher. Lot's of other unusual and interesting performances including a small but wonderful performance by a sympathetic one armed mechanic, a wise but vicious highway patrolman and a small town hooker enjoying her own downward spiral. In the end all of the characters are doomed, but they are all worth caring for in spite of and because of their own strange but very human weaknesses. In addition it's beautifully filmed and has a heart rendering score that fits it perfectly. Reputed to be Hustons own personal favorite film, it bombed at the box office. Highly recommended.