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Reviews
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008)
Bonnie and Klaus in Wild West Germany...
I have seen this movie twice. I have an alternate title: Bonnie and Klaus in Wild West Germany. You have to consider these are the children of WW2 Germany, and they got to experience the resurrection of West Germany, another economic miracle (funded by US tax payers under the Truman Doctrine). So, they were living quite well and feeling guilty about everyone in the third world living like dogs. But I have to say it was a bit of an over reaction. But I figure their intensity is just another example of how a younger generation responds to a society crisis, and they feared Fascism. But like the late Bobby Fuller sang in a song, "I fought the law and the law won." The establishment cannot be beat. They have the resources, which can easily squish ideology. But this film is a good educational resource. I had heard of the Baader-Meinhoff Gang and the Red Army Faction, but knew very little, as this film revealed to me. I suggest doing some research about Baader-Meinhoff before seeing this film. It won't spoil it, as it may actually make it a little more coherent as the events unfold. This is a keeper for me, and I will own the DVD.
Vier Minuten (2006)
Vier Minuten. Hannah Herzsprung challenges the late Klaus Kinski.
I first saw Hannah Herzsprung in The Reader. It was a nice filler part. I saw her recently in The Baader-Meinhoff Komplex. It was a brief part, but very emotionally powerful. In Vier Minuten I found her performance astounding. It reminded me of Klaus Kinsi's performance in his Jesus Erloeser monologue. Hannah expresses a performance in Vier Minuten that completely makes me believe the frustration of a young woman permanently placed in prison. She has been convicted of murder. I was able to see the sorrow of being in that place, and found compassion for the circumstances. I did experience a sense of apprehension as I viewed the film. It comes down to the energy of the performance Hannah expresses. Don't take this film lightly. It is straight forward and brutally honest.
Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
Film is deeper than it appears.
This film hung in with me after its viewing. I thought a lot about how the surface story was much more deeper than it seemed. It captured the boredom of a small town quite well. There is also, the post high school politics of socio-economics. But this is just the surface. So, if you have not seen it yet watch it very carefully. Think about what these girls are doing. Alan Alda as dad was a very honest performance. His subtle presence was very powerful. Since I have two older sisters I could appreciate the dynamics between the two main female characters. Go slow with this one. Like I say I really had to think about it. We had a long discussion over pizza after the viewing. It might seem like a chick flick, but don't bee fooled.
Citizen Kane (1941)
A Classic Sets The Pattern.
Who wrote a better Elektra, Sophocles or Euripides? At this point it probably doesn't matter, but they set the pattern for a future Shakespeare. The brilliance of Citizen Kane is its source: The Mercury Theatre. Wells notched up cinema by making this play set to 24 frames per second. It also is early post-modern: It is made for the viewer, not the glory of the author. The viewer has complete understanding of what is going on, and the characters in the story are lost in a fog wondering what is Rosebud? Each character is stuck in their fixation of their relationship with Charles Foster Kane. Kane is the stage manager of this story. I first saw this film on a late night LA television station in 1966 when I was ten years old. I was alone. I knew I was watching something unique and special like no other film before, old or modern of that time. Later on in college in a film class I was re-introduced to it as a classic masterpiece, the choice viewing of the class. What has to be accepted is its uniqueness. The style can really only work for this film. You have to give Orson Wells great credit of theater to film vision. Another great example is his "MacBeth" done on a shoestring budget. I am not sure if it is important that this is the best film of all time. It is the only film that does what it does for its time. Theater vision burst through the camera lens, and if you watch it you never forget it. I think it is better to say that it is a classic best of classic cinema.
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Gut emotion film gives me gut reaction response.
I think this movie should have won best picture. The Cohen Brothers made a good film, but this is an excellent woven epic that you can watch over and over again. It makes me think of Giant with James Dean, but a deeper vision into the rotted core of human existence, manipulation and greed. I have to say I favor Daniel Plainview, because his honesty is to the point. The cinematography won an Oscar, and reminded me a lot of the clarity found in Days Of Heaven: Brooke Adams, Richard Gere, Sam Shepard. The soundtrack is a great combination of Native American meeting industrial banging and drilling. If you have not seen it yet, pay very close attention. If on DVD, you will probably watch it more than once. I have seen it four times.
Vantage Point (2008)
Flaws but still clever.
I like how this film flowed. It did keep my attention. There were some flaws, but this is a difficult formula on how to tell a story. The casting was good, and William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver played important roles in key parts of the film. They showed they are the upper class-men of modern cinema. There are generic moments that serve as filler. But it did make me think of the sophistication of modern terrorism. In that aspect it was educational. But I found the process of the story to be realistic and believable. When the film was over with I felt like I had been through an experience and got my ticket's worth. It gave me faint memories of the foreign thriller "Z."
10,000 BC (2008)
Plan Nine From Inner Void.
This was a politically correct circus show. Apocalypto meets Lawrence of the Indo-Iranians, Helen of the Mammoths, and even a sinister old white man as a pharaoh allusion of a German Pope, with his Aryan college of priests (real Aryans from India). It was filmed in Africa and New Zealand, and even the Eisentstein theory of shifting locations was confusing. My suspension if disbelief was marred. These mammoth chasers with dreadlocks must have traveled 10000 miles, and why would predators of mammoth chasers go that far to find slaves? The variety of African tribesman were pretty good, and how could you not like the Sabertooth Garfield? But in reality the brotherhood of man at the end, and the resurrection of Eve implying reincarnation from a dying shaman woman was, well, Goddess 101. This has nothing to do with a real conception of 10000 B.C., but a corny clown show.