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24 March 2006

The six degrees of Jean Renoir

http://reel.com/reel.asp?node=features/interviews/criterion

"Recently in our newsletter we had a six-degrees-of-separation quiz where we challenged our newsletter subscribers to connect two people using only directors and actors involved in films that were only in the Criterion collection. You could get anywhere you wanted, but you had to go through Jean Renoir."

16 March 2006

Some notes

Big Fish (Tim Burton, 2003)



This was another film I watched at my wife's request. Blasphemous as it may be, I've never been much a fan of Burton's work, or at least what little of it I've seen. Still, Big Fish was a fine enough movie, with a wonderful cast and an appropriately fantastical ambiance. The story was hackneyed and predictable, and the general theme, that we should accept our loved ones as they are, was simple enough to not be lost on the general audience, I suppose. For me, probably the most interesting aspect was the casting of a Scotsman and a Mancunian to play the younger and older versions, rtespectively, of an American southerner.

Weeping Meadow (Theo Angelopoulos, 2004)



A work of massive scale and breathtaking, almost heartbreaking beauty. It's only flaw (for me) was the difficulty I had in achieving any sense of empathy or understanding of the characters. Perhaps this wasn't Angelopoulos' intention; it's hard to say. Maybe if I knew more about Greek history... What's certain, however, is that this film boasts some of the most stunning visuals and one of the loveliest soundtracks of any film I've ever seen. This is definitely one I need to see again.

Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)



Now this is a film everyone should see. Rare is it that I would declare a film a masterpiece after having seen only 30 minutes or so of it, but after the first half-hour I was confident that Haneke had pulled it off, that he had finally realized his full potential after several mis-steps and close-but-no-cigars. By the end this was abundantly clear. This is really the film that brings it all together for him, a stunning work of visual brilliance, thematic genius, and yes, even edge of the seat quality suspense. (one of the reasons Caché works so well is that it's massively entertaining as well as being just plain brilliant.) I should probably write at length on this later; a paragraph or two does it a great disservice. But by all means, see this film as soon as you can. Go to whatever lengths it requires. You will not be dissapointed by this, one of the handful of genuine cinematic masterpieces of the 21st century.

Hmm...

09 March 2006

Film Comment's best films of 2005

  1. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, U.S.) 775 points
  2. 2046 (Wong Kar Wai, China/Hong Kong/France) 668
  3. Kings and Queen (Arnaud Desplechin, France) 549
  4. Caché/Hidden (Michael Haneke, France, etc.) 501
  5. Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, U.S./Canada) 490
  6. The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, U.S.) 474
  7. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, U.S.) 470
  8. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand) 458
  9. The World (Jia Zhangke, China) 401
  10. Capote (Bennett Miller, U.S.) 384
  11. Good Night, And Good Luck. (George Clooney, U.S.) 330
  12. The Holy Girl (Lucrecia Martel, Argentina) 314
  13. Saraband (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden) 289
  14. Land of the Dead (George Romero, U.S.) 276
  15. Head-On (Fatih Akin, Germany/Turkey) 259
  16. Last Days (Gus Van Sant, U.S.) 256
  17. Munich (Steven Spielberg, U.S.) 251
  18. The Intruder (Claire Denis, France) 223
  19. Me and You and Everyone We Know (Miranda July, U.S.) 217
  20. Syriana (Stephen Gaghan, U.S.) 208

08 March 2006

Notes

Frank Miller's Sin City is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I can't believe I actually forced myself to finish it. I had to watch it in 20-30 minute segments because it was so violent and offensive. However interesting the visuals were, the novelty of the film's 'look' wore off by the end of the first hour. It was also exceedingly misogynistic.

Watching The Umbrellas of Cherbourg on the small screen is no substitute for watching it in a theater, but the magical effect it has is still the same. I didn't remember the ending to have been quite that tragic. It's still, IMO, just about the most charming movie ever made.

I got to watch the Mk2 DVD of Double Life of Veronique last night. I haven't been able to control the grin on my face since. What a masterful, awesome work of cinema.