Films I Watched - January, 2008
Submitted by lbangs on Wed, 01/02/2008 - 12:41
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- 1/1 - Juno - The first few minutes really worried me. The dialogue came quick, stylized, and far too cute. I'll assume the best and guess that the film felt it had something to prove right off the bat. After all, it is the third highlighted film of 2007 to feature a surprise pregnancy. Luckily, after a little time, Juno relaxes, allowing the story and the terrific ensemble of actors to carry the flick. They surely do, with the charismatic Ellen Page scoring big in the title role and Jason Bateman oozing oil in a terrific creepy turn. I'll be somewhat unique among film critics and place this one in the middle of the prenatal sandwich; I enjoyed it a little more than I did Waitress, although I favor Knocked Up. *** 1/2
- 1/2 - I'm Not There - Psyche and identity spiral in a mad dance around a certain gravity, a liquid concrete consistency bobbing about the middle we like to think is us, our being. Is this a quicksilver truth, or a nearly solid mirage? Are we coherent beings or collections of random firings whose only real unity is the fact they all combust inside our single brains? Todd Haynes isn't spoonfeeding you any easy answers as he expands and explodes what might a simple biography into a mesmerizing maze of personality shown through a prism. Considering he is taking on the tale(s) of the single greatest and most important musical figure of the last century, we really shouldn't expect anything less. Different actors bring to vivid life different phases or sides of Bob Dylan's persona. All do a very good job, although it slams nobody to point out that Cate Blanchett blazes the screen with a career-topping performance that will leave your jaw unhinged. I'll be blunt, anything short of an Oscar for her job here will be pure bullshit. She tops herself, tops her fellows, and blows the doors off of this film with a turn that might well stand as the best of this decade when all is said and done. A few moments are too obvious - we know Dylan and his livewire crew blew away the folk crowd without actually seeing them fire actual guns - and not every crazy moments adds to the overall effect, but enough experiments succeed to make this is wildly invigorating tango around a person who may or may not be there after all. He may well be none or all of the various people you see dissected here. This penetrating, exciting study shows why films such as Ray or Walk the Line do a severe lazy disservice shoehorning fascinating unconventional lives into by-the-book boring conventional Hollywood flicks. Here, when the credits roll, nothing was delivered, but everything's been returned which was owed. That's more than enough. ****
Author Comments:
I'm rating the films on a zero to **** basis. ** 1/2 is average.
I plan to do a final (?) update of my top ten films of 2007 by the end of the month. That'll give my little town a chance to show There Will Be Blood and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
By this time next week, I should have I'm Not There, Atonement, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street under my belt...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I love your film reviews. Easily the best on the site that I have seen. I also enjoyed I'm Not There quite a bit. And I'm salivating over the prospect of seeing There Will Be Blood when it arrives in my area (Oregon, USA).
Thank you very much! I'm trying to ease myself into writing these again.
Blood hasn't hit my town yet either, but nearly every theatre is showing the trailer, so I have hope...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs