War of the Worlds (rewatch)

I actually liked it a little more this time.  The “bad daddy” subplot didn’t bother me as much, nor is the movie as repetitive as I had previously thought.  Yeah, there’s a lot of “aliens attack – heroes escape – illusion of safety – aliens attack again” going on, but each situation is a little different as the outlook gets progressively darker.  The tripods are the scariest onscreen entities since H.R. Giger’s alien designs.  The film is briskly paced, with the only nagging slowdown occurring when they meet Tim Robbins.  I’m cutting Spielberg some slack and bumping up my score.  Rating: 9

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Save the Green Planet!

An inspired flight of fancy, a schizophrenic hodge-podge of horror, suspense, drama and comedy.  The best capsule description I can come up with is Silence of the Lambs meets Terry Gilliam with a touch of Takashi Miike (with a bonus 2001 homage).  But doing that robs it of its own uniqueness. Strange and funny, dark and disturbing, sharply stylistic but with proper restraint.  Very compelling.  Rating: 9

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King Kong (rewatch)

Good lord, I haven’t seen this in ages.  I picked up the box set on a whim, but now I think I’ll probably eBay it.  It’s entertaining and iconic and has some wonderful elements to it, but the effects are too outdated now to take seriously as the spectacle they’re meant to be (although of course they would have been amazing at the time).  Also, the movie brings up a lot of unanswered questions.  Why don’t the pterodactyls attack the villagers?  How old is Kong, and are there others like him?  Why don’t Jack and Ann realize there’s a 25-foot-tall gorilla climbing up the side of their building until it’s too late?  Rating: 7

Watching Kong did do one thing for me, though.  It really ramped up my enthusiasm for the Peter Jackson remake.  I think the best movies for remakes are the ones that didn’t live up to their potential, and this film has untapped potential in spades.  I’m dying to see how this plays out with modern, convincing effects, and a more sophisticated sense of storytelling.  I even feel better about the casting of Jack Black and Naomi Watts.  The only thing that worries me is the reported 3-hour running time.  I’m not sure this tale can sustain interest for that long, but we’ll see.    

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addendum 5/21/12: boy was I wrong that remake

Double Indemnity

The definitive noir, a brilliantly crafted bit of murder, deceit and paranoia.  The superb screenplay by Chandler and Wilder is full of quotable little gems, with riveting performances by MacMurray, Stanwyck and Robinson.  Thoroughly enjoyed it.  Rating: 9

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The Ice Harvest

This was a little better… at least it didn’t seem to be such a blatant grab for the Academy gold, and the brief length meant it was over before it wore out its welcome.  A fun neo-noir with John Cusack doing his typical John Cusack thing and Billy Bob Thornton swearing up a storm.  Rating: 7

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Walk the Line

Seeing this really makes me feel ashamed for giving Week End a lame score.  Godard may be a pretentious boring putz sometimes, but it’s exactly this kind of by-the-numbers Hollywood bullshit he was working against.  Hollywood actors seem so pathetic sometimes, like they think all they have to do is learn a new voice and they’re doing this amazing fucking job.  Oh wow, Joaquin Phoenix sounds like Johnny Cash and he even learned to play guitar!  Give the man an Oscar!  Oh look, Reese Witherspoon is cute!  Give her one too!  I can’t complain too much about this film, since there was nothing in it that’s terribly annoying or bad.  I can’t even say it was dull (a few parts were, but not that bad).  It just doesn’t deserve all this stupid hype.  It’s your standard rock n’ roll biopic, nothing special about it.  I guarantee that after the Oscars are over, hardly anyone will even remember it.  You don’t hear anyone still talking about Ray, do you?  Rating: 6

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Week End

Would I possibly like Godard more if I was a smarter person?  Many of his films are very intellectual, especially this one, and it’s not that I feel it’s over my head… but I just can’t make myself care.  At heart I have to admit I watch movies for entertainment or emotional stimulation.  I don’t want people reading philosophy to me and all this didactic preachery.  I don’t mind being challenged from time to time, but I don’t want to be part of whatever revolution you’re selling.  I did enjoy the general spirit of the film, however, and the references to Buñuel.  Rating: 6

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Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director

Very dry.  A small handful of interesting anecdotes, but mostly unnecessary biographical info.  The documentary’s style is completely unremarkable, which is surprising from the director of Onibaba.  The first 30-40 minutes tells you virtually nothing about Mizoguchi or his work, mostly just a bunch of his associates relating when/where/how they met him (which brings up another gripe: too many interviewees to keep track of).  The next two hours aren’t much better, with precious little discussion of his films, and not even all that much about his methods.  Best bits: his wife’s mental illness, the revelation that he hated the loyalism in The 47 Ronin (just like I did), and the mystery of his love for one of his main actresses.  Rating: 5

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Ugetsu Monogatari (rewatch)

Another Criterion DVD loaded with extras.  The most interesting tidbit from the commentary is that Mizoguchi wanted a darker resolution to the Tobei/Ohama story, but the producer forced him into something more hopeful.  I actually side with the producer in this case, but only because the rest of Mizoguchi’s work is so bleak.  It’s also interesting to see this so soon after Human Condition, and I think it serves the anti-war theme far more effectively.  I stand by my earlier rating of 10.  I’m starting to like Mizoguchi even more than Kurosawa now.

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Not as distinctive (or as fun) as Azkaban, it still does a damn good job.  It’s a bit rushed, even with all the superfluous bits from the book cut out.  There’s so much ground to cover that important plot threads like Harry’s increasing unpopularity arise and get resolved in the space of a few minutes.  This is also a rather dark and gloomy entry in the series, and earns its PG-13 rating.  Even the ending is very subdued, lacking the triumphant oomph of the previous films.  Rating: 9

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