diversitycommittee Reviews

Death Wish 3 (1985)

I have absolutely no idea...

[1/10 · 2 February 2005]

I'm very tempted to give this movie a 10. In some ways it might have been genius, but that would be giving the film makers far too much credit. It's absolutely godawful, but it's incredibly hardcore. Every few minutes there's another unbelievably brutal moment where Chucky B. whips out a giant weapon, utterly brutally beats the life out of someone, or sets up a contraption of massive pain. But trust me, aside from it's Chuck B. style insanity, it's amazingly bad. It's filled with bad humor, horrible lighting, and by far the worst dialogue you'll ever find.

But I suppose I'd recommend it. If you have to see one really bad movie, make it Death Wish 3.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

Absurd comedy near its best

[8/10 · 23 December 2004]

Stella (the creators of MTV's The State) is at the forefront of absurd experimental comedy, and this movie shows that. It's not for people who don't like absurd comedy, that's for sure, but if you dig absurd comedy, this movie is very much for you. At first it seems like a cheesy spoof of camp movies, which in one sense it is. But then you begin to notice how it's structured as a series of sketches that aren't 100% tied to each other, and would be funny on their own.

About a third way into the movie it takes a very absurd turn and it only gets better from there, and if you liked it, then it'll only get funnier. Sometimes the jokes seem a bit stupid, but you can forgive them for it. They earned a few bad jokes.

It's a very different sense of humor, but it's a very different movie.

Akira (1988)

When Anime goes right

[8/10 · 2 September 2004]

In general, I dislike Anime. I think most of it is godawful formulaic crap full of horrendous clichés. But it has it's strengths, and a good director knows what they are and knows how to use them. Akira knows what the strengths of Anime are and uses them.

Visually, it's about as good as it gets. Neo-Tokyo is brought to life with detail that would make any sci-fi fan giddy. You enjoy watching the sprawling megalopolis come to life in the bike sequences and the riots and protests throughout. The long sequence at the end is beyond description. All that should be said is that it couldn't be made without animation. Any Hollywood attempt to pull the sequence off would be computer generated and tacky. It could only be made by hand drawn animation, and it's proven to be a formidable format.

Throughout the whole movie this amazing drum music plays in the best parts. I'm not sure what it is, I imagine it's Japanese, but I'm not sure. Whatever it is, it complements the on screen action perfectly. The director knows when to put what music where, and does it.

The entire movie is able to give you an extreme sense of unease and fear. It isn't fear in the horror movie sense of the word, or in the David Lynch surreal sense, but just a fear of the world you're being shown. It's a scary place, and Akira conveys it perfectly.

The characters aren't well developed. Any anybody who tries to tell you otherwise doesn't know real character development. But that's not what the movie is going for. The movie is showing you characters that are as well developed as they need to be. They are well animated enough to seem realistic and do what you would expect them to do in their situation. You don't need to feel for any of the characters. The movie doesn't need them to be interesting people. But for what they are, they are extremely believable and effective.

The movie is deep beyond a normal science fiction story. No, it won't question yourself most likely, or your relationship with others. But it will haunt you for a very long time, and it richly deserves it. There are better movies out there, but there's always a better movie. I recommend this to anybody, but especially someone interested in the strengths of animation. This movie is the embodiment of what can go right in animation.

Playtime (1967)

In the tradition of silent comedy

[9/10 · 2 September 2004]

This is the first Tati film I've seen, but I've heard quite a lot about him. I saw the 70mm reprint with high expectations and was not disappointed.

This is a movie that leads the viewer where it feels like going. It has it's own rhythm and path. Just as circumstance beyond Mr. Hulot's control takes him wherever he may go, the camera seems to follow the same kind of path. The viewer doesn't know where it's going, and the viewer doesn't know where exactly it wants to go. The great thing about this movie is that it doesn't follow Mr. Hulot exclusively. The camera behaves the same way without needing to follow Mr. Hulot. He moves where he goes, the tour group moves where they go, and the camera moves where it may go. The world around them and the viewer dicates it in the most unconscious kind of way.

The first part of the movie is a satire on the inhuman world we've built around us. Mr. Hulot tries to navigate it, but the world won't sit still. Everything moves around without him and he can't find anything. Just like he is moved around, so is the object of his desire, whatever it may be at the moment. But Mr. Hulot doesn't mind, he goes along with it and enjoys it all the way, just like the viewer.

In another Tati movie, Mr. Hulot's Vacation, there is a scene where he's resting on a beach, and his drink floats away with a wave and floats back just as he reaches for it. That's how this movie is. Everything might not exactly go as people hope or plan, but it goes it's own way. Not everything goes as planned, but Mr. Hulot accepts it and so does the viewer. Rather than fight the world around him and force it to do what it wants, he takes joy in looking around and enjoying the ride, and what makes the movie so great is that so does the viewer. You might not know where things are going, but they do what they will and you enjoy watching things unfold.