Testament (rewatch)

Back when I was in college, I went through a brief period where I had a series of nuclear nightmares.  With Bush in office, I’ve got apocalypse on the brain again.  Testament isn’t a terribly good film (though not too shabby by made-for-TV standards) but it is effective, and depressing.  Point deducted for extra-cheesy musical score.  Rating: 6

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American Movie (rewatch)

Well, now I’m ticked off.  The last 15 minutes of this movie were unwatchable because of a big scratch on the disc.  I’ve seen it a couple of times before, but man, I was getting so into it and to have it crap out right at the end really bummed me out.  And now I have to decide whether or not to buy a new copy of it.

And I probably will, because this is still one of my favorites.  Populated by a host of memorable characters, but at the center is Mark Borchardt — the classic lovable loser (though not so lovable when he’s had a few), a dynamo of homespun charm and undying drive, he walks a wobbly line between brutal cynicism and carefree optimism.  The film follows his triumphs and frustrations like a rollercoaster, always offering new info to you, never once dwelling too long on anything.  A compelling and completely re-watchable documentary… provided the disc is kept in good condition, that is.  Rating: 10

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How to Steal a Million (rewatch)

Light romantic comedy, one of the better Audrey Hepburn films, in my opinion.  She and O’Toole are charming, the story moves along at a good pace, with a satisfying ending.  The heist is a nice bit of clever plotting.  The humor is occasionally undermined by annoyingly wacky music cues (“boiiiing!”).  Rating: 7

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Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma

It’s mere coincidence that I watched this back-to-back with L’Age d’Or.  The end of Buñuel’s film borrows from Marquis de Sade’s “120 Days of Sodom” by putting Jesus Christ in the role of the Duke.  And Salo recreates the entire story in fascist Italy.  Well, no, not the entire story… I’ve only skimmed the book, but from what I saw it was extremely repetitive.  Pasolini trims down what seemed like 300 shit-eating scenes to a mere 2 or 3.  So at least he spared us that much.  I have to admit it was better than I expected.  I watched it just to say that I had done it, but it does make a powerful statement about fascism.  

But that’s not to say it was a good movie.  First of all — not really as disturbing as it’s cracked up to be.  The last 20 minutes of Audition are far more squirm-inducing than this whole film, perhaps because the “action” in Salo looks so fake.  Not that I expect them to actually do these things, but at least try to trick me into believing it.  And the acting is pretty lame, not helped at all by the dubbing.  I just might give up on Italian films altogether.  I seem to recall them having some kind of reason for rarely doing sync sound, but man, does it irritate me.  And in spite of all the decadent depravity on display, Salo is mostly tedious and dull.  Furthermore, I can’t shake the feeling that Pasolini is either grasping for shock value (not in a funny way like John Waters, but in a pathetic way like Marilyn Manson), or else indulging his own repressed desires. After all, one would assume he read “120 Days” cover to cover before doing this film, and to do that you have to be really into the subject matter.  Rating: 5

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L’Age d’Or (rewatch)

My opinion has changed very little since the first time I saw it.  A very cool movie.  But the commentary on the DVD was pathetic… about 12 minutes altogether, and focused mainly on the historical context rather than what was happening onscreen.  Rating: 8

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Dark Days

Riveting documentary, impressive work from a first-time filmmaker and his homeless amateur crew.  Rating: 8

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Bullet in the Head

On the one hand, this is a film on the level of John Woo’s masterpieces — magnificently choreographed gun-fu bloodbath that explores how friendships form, and disintegrate, in the face of violence.  Overly sentimental as well, but that’s pretty standard for Woo.  On the other hand, it’s a messy, heavy-handed amalgam of The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now and probably two or three Vietnam movies too.  Overall, not as good as The Killer or Hard Boiled (and it put me in the mood to revisit those movies), but an improvement over A Better Tomorrow.  Rating: 7 

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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (rewatch)

A perfect piece of storytelling that surpasses its predecessors in every category.  The music is better, the special effects more convincing (impeccable, really), the story is tighter, the laughs are funnier and the joy is more heartfelt.  Even the closing credits are superior.  Cuaron’s direction is bold, putting his individual flair into the film while remaining absolutely true to Rowling’s world.

I find it much easier to relate to our three heroes as adolescents than as younger children, and this is aided by the fact that we get to see them in regular clothing and not flapping about in their robes all the time.  The decision to cut material from the book is of course an unavoidable one, but I feel there is only one misstep in this area — it is never explained why Harry’s Patronus is a stag, and that information gives the Patronus scene a lot more emotional impact.  It would have taken only a couple of minutes to work that into the script, and at the same time could have explained more about the Marauder’s Map.  But I suppose it would be known to the fans already and was deemed to be unnecessary info for the newcomers, who ought to be sufficiently enchanted to go and read the books anyway.  Rating: 10 

I look forward to Cuaron’s future work (apparently he’s doing a sci-fi picture next — quite a versatile director!)  I’m really worried that Mike Newell is going to fuck up Goblet of Fire.  We shall see….

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (rewatch)

I’d forgotten that there’s a bit of deus ex machina in this one, as well.  But this time around Harry displays some actual heroic characteristics, rather than simply waiting for heroism to be thrust upon him.  A far more satisfying tale in every way, densely packed with clever inventions, genuine thrills, and a plot that turns every few minutes.  It’s sometimes a struggle to keep track of all the twists, but familiarity with the book (which surely most of the intended audience will possess) aids in that endeavor.  On the down side, Dobby is a most irritating creature, but then again, he’s supposed to be.  Rating: 9

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (rewatch)

[spoilers galore ahead] I’m going to talk mainly about gripes, because, well, gripes are more fun than praise.  First, about the Harry Potter world in general.  Quidditch is a poorly designed game.  It’s so exceptionally difficult for the snitch-catching team to lose a game that more than half the players are utterly useless.  Like most everything else in the Harry Potter universe, the rules seem specifically engineered to help glorify Harry Potter.  Also, the Dursleys and the Malfoys are so absurdly malicious that they become caricatures rather than characters.  Give me at least one reason to like them, don’t make hating them so goddamn easy.  Severus Snape, for example, is an antagonist with far more depth.  And I question the “houses” of Hogwarts.  Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are treated are mere afterthoughts, and it’s odd that Slytherin is allowed to keep cranking out evil wizards unchecked.

About Sorcerer’s Stone: this is my least favorite of the novels, and thus my least favorite of the movies.  Harry does almost nothing in this story.  He’s given an invisibility cloak, he’s auto-magically an expert on the broomstick, he’s got “magic skin protection” in one of the cheapest bits of deus ex machina you’ll ever see.  All his accomplishments in this story are accidental or simply because he’s born that way.  He doesn’t work hard, he doesn’t have any great ideas, he just stands around while the glory gets handed to him on a silver platter.  It’s lame.  And it’s lame that Dumbledore comes up with these bogus reasons to give Gryffindor the cup.  No wonder the Slytherins are so nasty, if they always get cheated like this by professors who play favorites.  

However, we won’t fault the film for flaws in the source material too much.  Columbus and company bring the Harry Potter world to life in extraordinary fashion, with only a few small quibbles.  The CGI is mostly astounding, but it does get annoyingly obvious at times.  And John Williams must have gotten lazy; his score seems composed entirely of bits cribbed from Star Wars that are tweaked ever so slightly.  Otherwise, well done, particularly in the astonishingly appropriate casting.  Rating: 7

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