Terrydoodle Reviews

Paths of Glory (1957)

The first great proto film of Stanley Kubrick

[31 March 2008]

Paths of Glory is the first great proto film of Stanley Kubrick. You can see elements of his style taking hold and developing. The incredible use of set and location, the long tracking shots of the trenches, war, and execution march. His unrelenting storytelling style compared to Hollywood genre conventions; And of course his ending.

Paths of Glory works both as a great human drama and an anti war film. The most mesmerizing moments are when Kurt Douglas' Colonel Dax is defending his men's lives from what he clearly views as an unjust decision. He pours his emotions onto the floor of the ballroom where the court marshal is being held and the French generals put him down every chance they get. While the film's most personal moments are the scenes of the soldier's reactions to their own captivity and their impending doom, they don't want to die. Lastly, and most important, is the film's closing scene.

The ending, to me, has to do with the theme of the young and the powerless sent to die by leaders warriors and generals who themselves do not fight on the battlefield and who do not die in the cold night. There is a world war I poem of amazing power called Dulce Et Decorum Est (which is the first part of a Latin phrase Dulce Et Decorum Est Pa Patria Morie) which means it is sweet and proper to die for one's country. Here are these men, obviously men, who are fighting and dying because they are told they are fighting for France against the enemy Germany. And then a woman is brought out on stage. One of the ENEMY, who can't even speak French. And at first the audience is thinking "oh my god, they're going to rape her" etc. They're going to force her to strip and Colonel Dax is going to have to step in. And then Kubrick does something amazing. She begins to sing a German song. The soldiers don't understand, but they don't need to because the message is clear. She's human... so are they... and they begin singing with her realizing ... why are we killing these people... and yet even with that realization... it's not enough because war goes on and they have to go fight because their leaders tell them to. I think it's a similar statement about how far man can go that is made in 2001 but in a much more compact shorter scene that is cut short because... well... they have orders to return to the front.

There are so many interpretations of the ending but a couple of things bare mind, first of all, the young woman singing the song eventually became Christian Kubrick, his wife of many, many years, they stayed married until his death. When she called Stephen Spielberg to tell Stephen of Stanley's death, Stephen was having a couple of people over for a dinner party, none of them involved with film, and he wanted to show a scene to celebrate Kubrick's life and he chose this scene, a great decision. Special thanks to Jeremy Lum.

In Bruges (2008)

Funny, Violent, Rude, With Tons of Swearing

[27 February 2008]

In Bruge is an incredible film about two assassins struck in the Mideival Belgian city of Bruges. The movie is by Martin McDonagh, his first, although he has won the Tony for playwriting and is an incredible story teller! He has been described as Tarantino-esquire, and the dialogue certainly comes off that way, as well as the comic presentation of violence.

I thought the drama was very well placed, though many will disagree, and it eventually added to the strong character development and overall effect of the story. Dwarfs are very prevalent in this film and provide much of the comic relief, as well as the foreshadowed ending.

The movie is funny, violent, rude, with tons of swearing, and an incredible story; I recommend it highly!

Sunshine (2007)

Refuge in Darkness

[30 October 2007]

Sunshine, directed by Danny Boyle, is only a visual and psychological journey, not an emotional one. Chris Evans, from Fantastic Four, surprisingly gives a realistic and convincing performance as to how an astronaut would act in the face of the end of the world. What tremendous pressure they must feel, but unfortunately no one other than the human torch conveys this. Capa (Cillian Murphey), in one scene, explains that he doesn't fear death, but his explanation only makes me feel like his character has no will or motivation to live. This comes across as bad acting rather than subliminal character development. The computer generated imagery enhances the confused story that makes for a so-so experience. Notice how I say that the story is confused, it does not know what it is and therefore suffers from a failure to present itself well. More on the story later.

The sun is a character of its own; constantly we are being shown solar images that convey its sheer power. In the observation room, a meer five percent of sunlight exposure can blind you. The films screenwriter, Alex Garland, and Danny Boyle are said to have disagreed over the meaning of the screenplay; Garland finds it as a reference to the search for God, while Boyle finds it representing global warming. The film's villain is really the the sun, where tragedy and confusion is based in light and the audience find refuge in the dark. Boyle references tackling this concept as "quite a challenge because the way you generate fear in cinema is darkness." It is rare when a science fiction film tries to convey deeper meaning.

The film, I would say, is split into three acts: the first is character interaction during a calm period, the second is the accident and the quest to fix it, and the third is the twist where everything is turned upside down. We have all seen poor attempts at this science fiction disaster genre like The Core, but never before has a film like this thrown in such a disastrous twist that completely flushes itself down the toilet. Alex Garland has certainly got some explaining to do.

My main problem with this film is my lack of interest in the characters and the horrendous plot twist that turns this philosophical journey into a sub par slasher flick. This is a great film for fans of Boyle and the genre, but how much you let the third act disappoint you is, well...up to you. 7/10.

American Gangster (2007)

Creating Worlds

[30 October 2007]

The most interesting thing about American Gangster is its dark and moody atmosphere. Ridley Scott is a master at creating worlds, yet he has fallen short, in my opinion, on his most recent projects Kingdom of Heaven and A Good Year. Here, his style is what carries a somewhat formulaic story, one that we've all seen before. Many of the characters are underdeveloped, i.e. Richie Roberts (Russel Crowe), and many scenes that were too short should have been longer. There were also many unnecessary characters and subplots that added to the film's length but added nothing to the story, i.e. Robert's ex-wife. Anyway, getting back to the saving grace of this film, I felt the acting was above par and everything about the film oozed late 60's and early 70's, I strongly believed that what I was watching was a physical moment in history. The costume design and club scenes as well as the references to newly created technology, i.e. the microwave, added to the period feel. Also the structure of the police system and Frank Lucas' (Denzel Washington) rise to power was so interesting that an entire film, at least the majority of this film, could and should have been dedicated to that concept. American Gangster did not blow me away, but it was better than many other films that share its genre. It was also very similar in structure to more influential films like Scarface, as in the rise and fall from grace of a drug lord. 7/10.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Amazing Work of Art

[9 October 2007]

Wow, does this film have style or what? The Assassination of Jesse Jamed by the Coward Robert Ford, is one of the longest titles I've ever seen for a film and the movie's run-time follows the same pattern. I have no problem with this. I would sit through a ten hour "Jesse James" because of the excellent tone given out by director Andrew Dominik. The frozen Missouri/ Kansas landscapes are a treat for the eyes. The musical score does its job: to blend into the film so subtly that I cant imagine the images on the screen without it. The narration neither detracts or adds to the tone, although there is one bit of bad editing that confused my friend as to whether the narrator was speaking or a man's voice had been dubbed poorly.

"Jesse James" delves deep into the inner conflicts and emotions of every character. We live with them, eat with them, and often feel their pain or their confusion. This confusion is often associated with the bi-polar nature of the film's central character, Jesse James, played by none other than Brad Pitt. Casey Affleck delivers a subtle performance here that actually becomes the most effective as the film progresses over its 160 minute running time. I hated Robert Ford for a good portion of the film, thought he was so annoying and clingy that it was a wonder Jesse James didn't kill him within the first day of their complex relationship. But then, as I sat through the so called "gruelling" running time of the film, I learned to feel for him and understand his motives and attraction for Jesse. But ultimately, his childhood, comic book worship of the famous outlaw changes.

The "style" of the film is evident in the first frame of passing clouds. Roger Deacon's cinematography is the best I've seen since Conrad Hall's work in Road to Perdition, perhaps better. He is definitely winning the Oscar this year, between this and No Country For Old Men. There is a scene involving a train robbery where the visuals and utter style blew me away. The lighting and camera direction becomes more subtle and less noticeable after the train scene, but, does not lessen in quality and pure artistry. There is a topic on the IMDb message boards approaching the topic of whether certain films should be labeled "art films." Well all films are works of art, some are horrendous, some are extraordinary. Well, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is an extraordinary work of art.

The Prestige (2006)

Oscar Worthy!!!!!

[24 October 2006]

So far this year, I have seen only about 3 movies that deserve the best picture nomination, this is one of them. (Just in case you were wondering the other two were the Departed and Flags of our Fathers)The Prestige delivers a mysterious, dark tone that is carried out through the entire movie, especially near the ending. It goes from being a typical success story which makes you choose sides almost emediately, rooting for Angier (Hugh Jackman), because his character gets the most screen time, and we feel sympathy for the loss of his wife. We follow him through his journey to discover what Alfred's(Christian Bale) secret is for his teleporting trick. This takes him to Colorado where he meets a scientist who provides Angier with a machine that somehow duplicates objects, for a great price of course. This is where it gets really interesting. The character of Alfred is clouded in mystery almost the entire movie until the bitter climax, when you find out his true secret. I would give this movie a 9 just for the great "tone" this movie sets, but add a great suspenseful story and you've got a masterpiece. Unfortunately this film doesn't add up to classics like "Silence of the Lambs" or "The Godfather" so I can not give it a ten. But for what its worth its one of the best movies of the year, so go see it and enjoy!!!