Films I Watched - December, 2005
Submitted by lbangs on Mon, 12/12/2005 - 13:10
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- 12/30 - Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - Here is the best Tim Burton film since Ed Wood, and Mr. Burton had not a thing to do with it. This is terrific stuff for warped kids of all ages; the visuals scream out fantastic Gorey phantasmal splendors while the story, though unfortunately episodic enough to reveal its multiple sources, twists around and delights enough to keep the audience enchanted until the ending. Well, until around twenty minutes before the ending, as the climax is oddly anticlimactic (though the final music and credits are utterly amazing, especially if you have surround sound), but the kids are fantastic and too cute to be believed, the acting is aces (yes, I even liked Jim Carrey here), the law that Timothy Spall must be in every family film is a fine one, and I have the horrible feeling that once again I will never be admitted into the critics’ guild. Ah, well. I’ll take this over any of the Harry Potter films any day. Best bit from the screenplay: "No, silly children, he was eaten alive by leaches. Come, I'll show you." Oh, and try to hide as you might, I see you, Jane Adams... *** 1/2
- 12/29 - Good Bye Lenin! - Obviously, this is a second viewing. My original review still stands, but I may have enjoyed this one even more the second time around. It nearly earns four stars. *** 1/2
- 12/28 - Munich - Steven Spielberg is doomed to carry a bad rap among the hipsters. This happens to many great artists who create a style so effective it dominates a field. Young aspiring directors (such as ol’ Dawson) claiming him as an idol over, say, Godard, sets eyes rolling to the heavens in split-seconds. We hate it when our friends are successful. His hoard of hacks who spun careers out of emulating him (Why, hello, Chris Columbus!) does not help the situation. It is not fair, of course, especially when in a year where the popular accusation became that he makes films for kids, he released two of his most adult films ever; in fact, Munich may well be his most mature film so far. If he shares the bad rap I mentioned above with Alfred Hitchcock (who certainly had a similar accusation leveled against him by contemporaries at times), he also shares one of the director’s flaws; they both have troubles with ending their films. For the first two hours or so, this film is fantastic. Spielberg has never been so subtle and yet so shocking with his images at the same time. He explores his characters’ psyches without resorting to lame speeches or other poor devices. He builds suspense like a political thriller while at the same time questioning the very premises behind such plots. He creates stunning, unconventional visuals, some even in glass reflections, which will stay with the sensitive viewer for weeks. When he stumbles in the home stretch, it is surprising; the scenes become heavy-handed () and sloppy. Throughout it all, though, Janusz Kaminski’s cinematography is stellar without being flashy, Geoffrey Rush continues to prove he is one of the most versatile actors around, and Eric Bana delivers a performance every bit as worthy of an Oscar nomination as Joaquin Phoenix’s Johnny Cash. The final shot, while hardly subtle, clears any doubts a dense person might have about why Spielberg wanted to do this film now; it may be a wallop, but it is an effective one nonetheless. In the end, Munich in one of Spielberg’s best films since the early 80s; it is simply frustrating because with a slightly better ending (and luckily, this one is not nearly as bad as the finale of War of the Worlds), I would not need to put any time qualifier on that statement. *** 1/2Spoiler: Highlight to viewWhy have a dramatic breakdown ending in a night in the closet when a simple pan over an empty bedroom into said closet would have been much more appropriate and moving? I know he is new to the territory, but did anybody bother to tell him that the sex scene toward the end starts off well enough but sadly slips into goofiness? And while the flashbacks to the Munich hostage event are excellent, they are as illogically placed as the ones in Ray...
- 12/25 - Christmas With the Kranks - Stuffed, overdone, and inducing sleep? Yup, it is a turkey. Instead of skipping Christmas, try skipping this Christmas... * 1/2
- 12/22 - Ushpizin - Who wouldn't want to love this film? Real-life couple Shuli Rand and Michal Bat Sheva Rand created a slice-of-life drama concerning a couple who (also mirroring reality) are Orthodox Jews surprised by shady visitors during the holiday of Sukkot. It is clearly a labor of deeply-felt love and touching religious sentiment, but it is, alas, hampered by a story too predictable and pat by far, and good performances and affection that actually makes it onto the screen can't quite salvage the film from that unfortunate fact. If the creators had ditched the Abraham and Sarah subplot and focused on the smaller details of the people and their interactions, perhaps this would have been terrific. **
- 12/21 - King Kong - Most of our culture’s most valued dramas are remakes of a sort; the Greek tragedies were nearly all re-workings of traditional material, much of which was transformed into plays many times before the classic versions we treasure, and of all of Shakespeare’s virtues, his originality of plot is never a highlighted one. Purists may grumble and complain, but our cinema is the closest our civilization has to such a unifying dramatic medium as the classical folks enjoyed; events are dramatized, people across the nation watch, and we often take it for granted that most people we converse with over the age of twenty-five have the Star Wars trilogy or several of the Spielberg constructions as a point of reference. If we roll our eyes at remakes, it is only because Hollywood cynically cranks them out, all too often as camp. Peter Jackson’s King Kong, however, is not this type of product; it is closer to reworking already classic material, and if the special effects are dramatically enhanced in this presentation, so are many of the dramatic elements. The bizarre love story between Naomi Watts and the large ape is epic not only in sheer size, but in emotional impact as well. Kong here surpasses the director’s previous Gollum as an incredibly expressive computer-animated creation. This drama occupies the spotlight, but other interesting strands weave a rich web in the background. Jack Black’s obsessed director notes the dichotomy of our struggle with art, romance, and the other beautiful things we love; too often, we either strangle these valuables or are strangled by them. If we love, we jump, but that guarantees no happy ending. Nearly upstaging the characters in this film is the deliriously delicious attention to detail; Broadway of the 1930 comes to lucid life, and the Empire State Building demands all the awe it commanded in its glory days. Did I mention how thrilling this film is? A protracted segment involving dinosaurs is one of the most riveting, adrenaline-saturated montages captured on film, and the climatic scene will speed your pulse regardless of whether you know how it all ends. On top of the thematic richness many will miss upon viewing this, Jackson’s epic has more popcorn value than any other film of this decade. In fact, while the box office threatens to label this a disappointment, let us fall in awe before this beast. Critics were much too quick to label this director’s Middle Earth trilogy as his masterpiece. This film surpasses that work by quite some degree, at the risk of breathing heresy, I’ll even whisper a more astonishing truth. Peter has pulled off the impossible here; he topped the classic original. If cinematic decades are remembered more for their blockbusters than their art offerings, this ten-year stretch may well be the decade of King Kong; if the public refuses it that title, it will go on to be Jackson’s Vertigo, shunned on release and later worshipped as a missed masterpiece. ****
- 12/20 - Valentin - There is nothing too terribly new in this film; it is simply another foreign coming of age story done pretty well. The script and period details are quite charming, the central child actor, Rodrigo Noya, is as cute as a button, and Julieta Cardinali is luminous beyond words. Oh, I can see where many critics roll their eyes at this fare, but I found it an enjoyable, slightly moving way to spend an hour or two, even if it is too familiar to light any real fires. I'll take unremarkable but touching drama like this over tried and tired action crap or forensic procedurals like the type that Jerry Bruckheimer vomits up regularly any day... ***
- 12/16 - Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic - I have to be very careful here, since I’m that mystery man Sarah’s been flirting with behind Jimmy’s back; thank goodness I enjoyed the film. Sadly enough, that does not mean it was perfect; when she’s not singing one of her original compositions, the skit bits between her stand-up routine are too often lame and exasperating, and even the songs are a little inconsistent. When she is on stage, though, which luckily is most of the film, she is hilarious, poking at the scabs of American racism and other taboos often glossed over. I laughed. A lot. ***
- 12/14 - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – You cannot imagine my fear walking into this film. Some of my most treasured memories of childhood are of my father reading aloud to us kids from this beloved series, a role I repeated when reading bedtime stories to the men and women in my dorm during my college years. The first twenty minutes or so only compounded the problem, as a lame attempt to start the film with a bang plays out more like a deleted scene from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. As is often the case with this sort of film, though, it takes off once the wardrobe is open and we enter the land of Narnia. Even here, though, a few problems pop up, the most conspicuous one being the computer generated Aslan. Not only is the animation not thoroughly convincing, it renders the lion as a simple civilized beast with little of the wildness attested to several times in the book and at the end of the film (He's not a tame lion, you know...). Truth be told, he is a bit boring here. Luckily, the kids are fine; if I was thirteen, I would be in love with Susan, and if I was five, I might dig Lucy. The story itself is strong and presented with gusto, and as I suspected, Tilda Swinton is perfect as the White Witch, coldly beautiful and spewing icy hatred. You’ll be forgiven for feeling like this is The Lord of the Rings-lite, since to a large degree it is, but in the end, the narrative is stirring, passing through the merely exciting into the mythic, and it is enough to make this movie worth you money, even if it can’t quite create the classic the wonderful book deserves. ***
- 12/13 - Syriana - I’ve always had a hankering, hunkering hunch that if you take away a few brain cells, that scene with Jennifer Lopez in the trunk of the car in Out of Sight is more George Clooney’s true self than acting. He is a huge, certified star, but one of the few that seems actually to love films as much as fame. This year, he has been a force behind two attempts to revive the classic political thrillers that have not really thrived since the seventies, and if his self-directed Good Night, and Good Luck was an excellent success, the Stephen Gaghan written and directed Syriana is even better. Using Gaghan's template from Traffic, this newer films does an even better job interweaving disparate narratives on different continents that despite distance are tightly interwoven beneath the surface. You have to stay awake, and even then, one or two events do not quite add up, but all the elements combine to create an excellent political thriller that does not sacrifice the thrills for the politics. Conflicting viewpoints fly, and each one is stated with some intelligence and force, leading to a more even-handed treatment of complex issues than you’ll find on an average hour of cable news. Still, blow that all aside; the engrossing story and living characters alone will absorb you, and if Hollywood films are too often made for teenaged boys, this is one smart, adult film I pray finds its intelligent audience. Syriana is one original, impressive film. ****
- 12/11 - The Squid and the Whale - Wasted actors (particularly Laura Linney in an under-written, thankless role), too-familiar story devices, and a been-there-done-this feel keep this over-praised independent from ever scurrying above middling, despite its constantly engaging screenplay and an excellent turn from young actor Jesse Eisenberg. The film is not a total loss, but it is a fantastic example of the over-rated indie critics' darling. ** 1/2
- 12/11 - Nine Lives - Why is this film being tucked away quietly? Sure, Garcia is largely redoing his earlier Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her, but with this cache of actresses and this set of absorbing, moving short stories examining various women and their interlocking lives, who cares? New here is the technique of shooting each story in one long take, and each of the nine segments are terrifically filmed and achieve an intimacy rarely seen off of the stage. Where to begin singling out performances? Lisa Gay Hamilton (amazing), Holly Hunter (still one of my girlfriends), Robin Wright Penn, Amy Brenneman, Glenn Close, Dakota Fanning, Kathy Baker, and many more. They are all great, and I'm not even mentioning the great job by such male actors as Joe Mantegna and Jason Isaacs. Sure, this is a drama about women without a weepy melodrama or romantic comedy angle, and they don't tend to do well at the box office, but this is a wonderful film, and I don't want to hear critics complaining about the lack of worthy actress come Oscar time. They just need to remember this moving little movie. *** 1/2
- 12/8 - Henry VIII - Why does British television (and, in the States, Masterpiece Theatre do so well at this sort of historical drama endeavor while theatrical attempts often stink? Ray Winstone is Henry VIII, with such terrific actresses as Helena Bonham Carter and Assumpta Serna tackling the roles of his numerous wives. This biography certainly attempts to humanize the wild king while not excusing him; it only partly pulls this off, as Henry still remains pretty distant. The various intrigues, however, are clearly portrayed, and the dialogue sparkles. ***
Author Comments:
I'm rating the films on a zero to four star basis. ** 1/2 is average.
I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed with Narnia, for the same reasons you cite.
However, I liked the opening, because it explains to the modern audience how the children ended up being shipped off to live with a stranger.
I didn't mind the idea of the opening, even if it does lose the lost mystery the book conveys that joins you as a child kindred with the other dislocated children (gee, does that even make sense?), but I just thought it was handled poorly, especially the shots of the planes looking more unrealistic than most of the land of Narnia.
The film was hardly a total loss, though the clice is so true; the book is much better, as I'm sure you'll agree.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Yes, I noticed the CGI pilots were weak.
The book is WAY better. Way. Way. Way....Way.
Agreed.
Hopefully, the film series will improve as it progresses and by the time we get to my favorite character, Eustace, my smile will grow.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Man, I wish I went to the theaters more often so I could see new releases around the same time as you and other Listologists. Definitely a temporal disconnect, discussion-wise, as I can't comment on any of these until six months after the fact. Ah well...
Anyway, dug the Syriana and Narnia reviews, and can't wait to check those out. I think we might hit a movie this week, but it will probably be Harry Potter, as it will likely leave first, leaving open the scant chance we could catch it, Narnia, and King Kong all on the big screen. I'm thinking Syriana will be the best of the lot, but screen real estate drives my theatrical viewing more than anything else these days.
The Potter flick is a good choice, especially if you haven't let the hype unrealistically jack up your expectations. Syriana is terrific but certainly no family flick.
I'll probably have to see King Kong soon, but those crowds have frightened me away for the time being, and besides, Sarah Silverman beckons this weekend...
Thanks for the kind words. These reviews always read better the next day; I'm usually nearly disgusted with them when I first post them. Let that be a good word for suspending the internal editor once in awhile.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
My internal editor has "left to pursue other opportunites."
Several of my friends and family members are chipping in to buy me a new one.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I want to write my own review before I read yours, but I just wanted to say that I really liked Munich too.
I'm glad you waited; it was very interesting to see how close some of our comments were!
I enjoyed your review. Thanks!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Whoa, I am totally bowled over by your Lemony Snicket review!
Boy, good thing that tiny little part of you crying out against common sense's demands to remove it from your queue won out. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.
But, but, but...
Really?!
:-)
The kids were great though. And I do wonder how differently I'd feel if Jim Carrey worked for me even a little bit.
As you know, you were not the only one surprised. I wasn't expecting much, and I loved it.
Like you, I suspect Jim might have been the litmus here...
I had a grand time; it was one of the nicer shocks of the cinematic year it closed out for me.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
BTW, you can catch the first part of Henry VIII for free tonight on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre.
Just in case you're interested...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs