Films I Watched - November, 2006
Submitted by lbangs on Thu, 11/02/2006 - 13:31
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- 11/17 - Casino Royale - As you've heard by now, Daniel Craig pulls the feat off. Yes, hilarious hype has swollen up around him, and while I won't go so far as to parrot many critics and to claim him as the best Bond since the original, he ain't bad. Neither is this film, although it sadly fumbles during gratuitous opening and closing action scenes. At least the opening sports some fine vertigo-inducing stunt work; the ending is lame and a sorry end to this generally electric affair. The middle (largely lifted from the novel) is the blood of this film, and it puts this franchise back onto some solid ground. Suspense is built, characters are explored (!), and by golly, a script is actually used. Eva Green can act and look gorgeous, and to the glory of the universe, there is not an invisible car, a laser bowtie, or any other stupid gadget in sight! It is a shame the bookends are so patchy, a situation that especially hurts a two-hour-plus film, but the rest is exciting, stirring stuff. Welcome back, Bond. May your next outing prove even better than this, your best adventure since Licence to Kill (oddly enough, the last time you tinkered with the formula; seeing a pattern yet?). ***
- 11/10 - Babel - Even with my interest revving on high, I was still steeled for disappointment. It seems the shortcut to artistic status in cinema currently is to interweave yourself a few stories and muse on communication breakdowns only slightly more subtlely than Plant did. If you can snooker a marquee star to buckle up for the indie ride, all the better. This really had Pretentious Boring Rip written all over it in triplicate. As these stories slowly seep by, though, and as the material is handled with all the delicacy and sensitivity it demands, you start to participate in the pondering over our attempts and failures to reach out to others. The English dialogue, subtitles, and sign language seem to slur into an Esperanto expression of longing and loss. The bold spaces all start to fill. When the film finally floats to a finish, you're floored by the realization that Iñárritu has landed this flight successfully, moving your heart, sparking your mind, and mastering this increasingly tiring genre with grace, skill, and a sensibility that manages to be shot through with life and quiet and still all at once. ****
- 11/6 - Borat - It isn’t incredible Sacha Baron Cohen spins laughter from his act. The hidden camera technique scored for Candid Camera, and the idea of capturing hilarious footage out of unsuspecting people confronted by a knowing actor has been used by comedians such as Dennis Pennis for quite a spell now. Where this polevaults previous efforts, raising the entire effort to another plane entirely, is how the character of Borat is used to yank out the prejudices of so many victims, from the hateful homophobic rodeo cowboy to the gun store owner in Dallas more than happy to show our leading man which gun works best for killing Jews. This peeling of the ugly fruit of America wouldn’t matter squat, of course, if it wasn’t funny; fortunately, this film is funny, frequently very funny. He ‘accidentally’ smashes antiques in front of a shopkeeper eyes, he greets hardened New Yorkers with a kiss, and in the film’s funniest scene, he keeps a straight face while tossing a Southern dinner into utter havoc. Does he go too far? What sort of question is that for such a bold comic endeavor? If he goes too far, he takes most of the audience with him. Fox was foolish enough to listen to tracking studies and to yank this from a wider release at the last moment, yet the box office totals prove movie executives should know better than to do that. This is that rare comedy hit that deserves its success. *** 1/2
- 11/1 - The U.S. vs. John Lennon - The myths are myriad. First, hoards believe that Yoko Ono somehow broke up The Beatles, which is not true. Then, some people believe John Lennon to be a saint, and that sure as hell ain't true. And, of course, the people who are smart enough to know that first rumor is rubbish often don't realize that since his death, Ono has indeed been whitewashing John's music and his life, remixing, revising, and omitting until we now suffer from the misconception of (as the great Stephen Thomas Erlewine has dubbed it) St. John, which, to be polite, is utter baloney. She can do this because she owns the rights to his solo work and important veto power on the music of his former band. This film is an authorized biography, which means you get both ample samples of Lennon's terrific music and the Ono version of his life. Thus, she is in nearly every shot of the film, and since she is also interviewed in the present, this has more Ono than John. You also get absurd statements about how squeaky clean life with the former Fab one was, with nary a mention of lost weekends or marital infidelities. Still, this is a well-crafted document, with a coherent if less than thrilling narrative of Nixon's attempts to ship John back across the pond. Compared to the war waging at the time, this is pretty tame stuff, but it is interesting to watch, especially with Gore Vidal peppering his well-worded insights with the occasional absurdity such as, "Lennon represented life, and Mr. Nixon, and Mr. Bush, represent death, which is bad." As far over the top as that statement soars, it does highlight the strongest stroke this film strikes other than the music; it makes very strong parallels between the days of Nixon and Vietnam and our current times, especially in how the powerful presidents abused civil liberties to support stupid, wasteful wars and massacres. It doesn't take a saint or a prophet to see those connections, especially after this movie. Now if only it examined its subject with such an honest, penetrating stare... ** 1/2
Author Comments:
I'm rating the films on a zero to four star basis. ** 1/2 is average.
Nice reveiw of Casino Royale. I haven't heard any input as yet from anyone except mine and my boyfriends, and we just keep singing, "dum dadada DUM, dum dum dum, dum dadada DUM, dum dum dum".
I'm sorry you didn't like the opening. It was gratuitous, but I was just so pleased to see Parkour used in an action sequence. It's about bloody time someone saw the raw, barebones appeal of that sport. I LOVED the extended poker sequence, and the one-liners managed not to sound hackneyed.
I still think Clive Owen would have done just as good a job, and that if anyone was born to play Bond, he was. Still, Daniel Craig has me sold. Eva Green was lovely, and her acting was fine, but her voice annoyed me slightly. Why was her voice so tight? I remember Joe (from www.bookofjoe.com) complaining that women these days were starting to make a weird croaking sound, and I've finally heard it. If she had spoken with the kind of feminine appeal and ease of the silver screen ladies, she would have been just perfect.
Also, your review of Babel makes me intrigued. I'll have to give it a go, though I'm one of the only people I know who's remotely interested.
I think the opening would have been splendid hacked in half. Once they get off the girders in the sky, it was time to wrap it up! Up to that point, though, I thought it was stellar.
I confess I did not note that tight croaking in Eva's voice, but then, not having read that article, I didn't know to look for it! I'll see if I can spot it when I have lunch with her next week.
Yeah, I also think Owen would seriously kick in the role. Alas.
I understand; Babel is the type of film I always have to see on my own, except this time, I didn't. :)
It is worth a solitary venture into the theater, least in my ledger.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Surely you jest about lunching with Eva. It's hard to tell on that 'tinternet sometimes. If you are, in fact, dining with her, then hats off to you sir, you lucky dog! And if she croaks still, I'm sure you could find a way to stop her talking!
But a lame joke on my part... ;)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Well, one can always dream. In mine I'm being wined and dined by Mr. Bond. Martini and all.
Medium-dry with both vodka and gin, I assume... :)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs