Short Rounds vol.1

Okay, I have to admit, I'm being lazy. I've got, seriously, a backlog of 16 movies to write reviews on that I probably won't get to. Some of them deserve longer reviews, and some of them I just won't think about much more than I have to. So I'm going to do my best to wrap up some of them here... I hate to do it this way, because it makes it harder look wade through the archives for a specific film, but c'est la (mo)vie.

Undertow

Written and directed by David Gordon Green, undertow is a wonderfully understated but suspenseful little film about the bonds and brutality of family. After the death of his wife a father isolates himself and his two troubled boys on a pig farm in the deep south. All things turn awful when his brother shows up and, not to spoil anything but... kills him. He then chases after the two boys across the countryside. It's all very low key, and the performances are fantastic, the direction skilled, and the visuals quite powerful. Charming isn't the word, perhaps effective?
4/5

The Matador

Written and directed by Richard Shepard. Pierce Brosnan is cast as the anti-Bond, a 50-something hitman named Julian who is having somewhat of an identity crisis, which is throwing off his game. Botching a job in Mexico and realizing he has no friends, he latches onto sadsack salesman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) at a Mexican bar, and his impact on Danny's life is huge. Jump forward six months, Julian is screwing up as many jobs as he is accomplishing, which makes him a liability in the eyes of his employer. He goes to Danny's house to hide out and finds that Danny has turned his life around. The surprising thing is from what I've written you would think you could figure out how the movie would play out, but it seriously works against convention, and not making it obvious that it's working against convention (it's not a hitman satire or anything). It plays out true to character as opposed to writers whims. It's very fluid, organic, and highly entertaining. It's just unfortunate that it's also kind of forgettable as well. Don't expect any action, it's a character driven, intimate comedy.
3.5/5

Big Night

Directed by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci, written by Tucci with Joseph Tropiano.
My video store has thousands of films, but I don't think the owner has expressed more enthusiasm about any other film... perhaps it was because Big Night wasn't available on DVD for years, and its rarity enhanced its status in his mind, I dunno. But after years of his touting, finally getting a DVD copy and a "Our Highest Reccomendation" sticker on the shelf-box, I finally managed to see the movie and, well, it's all right. Two Italian immigrant brothers in the 1960's are finding their hopes and dreams quashed as their business begins to fail. Their competition across the street, another more successful immigrant restaraunteur, takes pity on them and says he can get singer Luis Prima to come to their restaurant to boost their exposure. The film follows the brothers Primo and Secondo (Tucci and a fantastic Tony Shalub) as they prepare for the big night, inviting anyone that they come across. There's a huge build up to the event, and the last act of the film is the event itself. As I think about it, it's a wonderful thing, the moment they captured on film of a huge, ornate, multi-course feast lasting from late evening until early morning. Wine, food, dancing... we should all be so lucky to have an evening like that. Well vicariously you can. The actual interpersonal drama is overshadowed by the event... Primo's courting of Minnie Driver but sleeping with Isabella Rossolini and Secondo's shy interest in Allison Janney is sweet but hardly the heart of the movie. The acting is solid, and it's certainly an experience, but as a full bodied movie I'm not so sure.
3.5/5

Possible Worlds

Directed by Robert LePage and written by John Mighton (based on his play)
In Possible Worlds, a man is discovered dead with his brain removed. Two detectives are on the case with relatively no leads. As we follow their trail, we are treated to "flashback" experiences of the dead man and his varied encounters with the same woman but on parallel dimensions. The man explains that he can see himself in every possible dimension, and therefore everything happens a little differently everywhere else. But in what dimension was he killed and his brain removed. The trails all seem to be dead ends and the parallel worlds are intriguing, but confusing, especially as it seems the man can no longer keep the worlds distict from one another. It's a very methodical, ambiant film. It moves along at a turtle's pace, but it's intriguing enough to hold ones attention. Plus Tilda Swinton is in it and she gets to play a variety of personalities within the same character, which she handles exceptionally well. It's a Canadian film, and it has the feel of Atom Egoyan circa Exotica or Dead Ringers era Cronenberg, and it's got a nice visual and audio esthetic which goes a long way in carrying the mood of the piece. A nicely conceptual, although not mind-blowing, bit of work.
3/5

Insomnia

Directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg, written by Skjoldbjærg and Nikolaj Frobenius
People had touted to be the superiority of the original Norwegian version of Insomnia to the more recent Christopher Nolan version, and, well, I'm inclined to agree with them, mostly because I'm not a Pacino fan... and even though Robin William's performance was acceptable, it's still Robin Williams (and after seeing the original, it dawned on me that Williams performance was more an imitation of Bjorn Floberg's role). The performances in the original are a lot stronger, with Stellan Skarsgaard in the lead as the flawed, detective much more nuanced than Pacino is capable of. The plot and execution in both are strikingly similar, with the remake being a little more defined on the detective's troubled past. I liked the setting in the remote Norway village, but I also liked the estetique of Nolan's Alaskan town... each has their own cultural relevance and but neither is so distinct that it alienates the audience. Nolan's direction and visual flourishes are about the only improvement upon Skjoldbjærg's original, using some washes to bleach out the film and enhance the perpetual sunlight a little bit more. If I were to pick one to watch, it would be the original, based solely on the strength of the acting and my disdain for Pacino.
4/5

Robots

Directed by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, and written by your usual excessive team of hollywood script doctors.
Robots left a bad enough taste in my mouth from its commercials and trailers that I had absolutely no desire to see it. Even favourable reviews still couldn't provoke me. Even having a copy laying around to watch still proved unenticing. It wasn't until someone else put it in to play that I actually watched it, and you know, it's actually not too bad. It's a little cutesy, the gags are exactly that, intentionally groan-inducing gags, and the story isn't anything but something to hang the gags on, but it works. And it's freakin' amazing to look at. The design that went into this film is spectacular. It's truly a marvel of creativity (which is a nice parallel to the theme of inventiveness that runs throughout the story) and there's a lot of neat conceptual elements that, although infinitely improbable, are still fun to watch. It really captures imagination on screen with sense of awe and wonder that makes it more endearing than it has any right to be, considering it's propensity for poop and fart jokes. The voice cast is solid, Ewen McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Jennifer Coolidge, Greg Kinnear, Drew Carey, Mel Brooks, Halle Barry and many many more, although I could seriously do without Robin Williams in yet another cartoon voice role. Yawn. Not quite up to Pixar level in terms of storytelling, but visually it's easily their equal. Blue Sky is another standout name in digital animation.
3/5

Indiana Jones and...

The Raiders of the Lost Arc
Despite my incredible fanboy leanings, I've never been a huge fan of the Indiana Jones movies, in fact until recently I don't even recall the last time I watched any of them save for when the final chapter hit the theatres when I was a lad. I'm going to presume at least 1 decade. Revisiting "Raiders" I didn't get any sense of that childhood tingle that I get when I put on, say, Star Wars or the Muppet Movie. As it played on I was rather struck by how violent and aggressive Indy's tendencies were. He must have killed about two dozen people, often ruthlessly, throughout the film. Indy, I have to say, is a bit of an asshole. I was glad to see Karen Allen, as a bit of cute, spunky frecklage is always a nice addition, and Raiders has a nice religion as mythology element which I always kind of like. Ford does carry a bit of charm in the role, and the supporting cast of villains (and John Rhys-Davies as Indy's old friend is always fun). It's odd that I've always thought of this as a kid's movie, and in a sense, Ford's barrell chested, know no fear (except snakes), daredevil superhero archaeologist is perfectly suited to be inspiring or at least stimulating to children, however were I a parent I'd be calling into question how appropriate it all was. But then, I turned out just fine so I think we're all way too touchy these days.
4/5

The Temple of Doom
But then, when you cater to a child audience, this is the shit that you wind up with. Way overblown, hokish, cartoony action and violence with very juvanile humour and very few deaths. Oh, and children. A cast full of children. First, they pair him up with a kid sidekick, Short Round (who actually winds up being the only character I enjoyed in the film), and then the annoying, shrieking damsel in distress, and then send him on a mission to rescue children from a demon worshipping cult. Yeah, whatevs. This, in reality, is an incredibly stupid movie that talks down to its audience, and even insults them with "exotic Indian cuisine" meal. Have you been to an Indian restaurant? When's the last time they served you chilled monkey brains or eyeball soup. Come on! I had forgotten this, but Spielberg has a perverse desire for conceiving gross-out moments. The first hour of Saving Private Ryan is another prime example. The only good thing to come out of TOD is the Clerks Animated parody that combines this plot with both the Bad News Bears and the Last Starfighter.
1/5

The Last Crusade
There is a key element missing in this film, but at the same time it's a lot more mature than either of it's predecessors. Dealing with Indy's awkward relationship with his fathe (Sean Connery) was a nice bit of characterization that neither of the other two really had. Connery plays Dr. Jones Sr. as a bit of a clutz and bumbling old man, which is perhaps too against type, but he does his best to make it work, and his chemistry with Ford is really the last example of anyone having chemistry with Ford. Oh, and the Austrian lady interest as played by Alison Doody is probably Jones' best looking female lead, and his most intriguing adversary. The action sequences are scaled back from both films, and the plot is probably the most straightforward, and again they return to the religion as mythology/supernatural stuff I like so much and mix it in with Arthurian legend, which all works out well in the last act. It also introduced the Young Indy in the opening sequence, as play by River Pheonix, and it's a really smart how they opened this, and kept the character fresh. I still don't care for Indiana that much, but I have to admit this one was quite fun.
3.5/5

Blade Runner

Got about half an hour into it before turning it off. It's just as boring today as it ever was.

Van Helsing

Got about 40 minutes into it before turning it off, because it's ugly, horrendously acted, badly written, lacking in any sense of logic, and completely without any sense of fun. I feel ill just thinking about it.

Posted by graig at February 15, 2006 11:18 PM
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