End Of The Week Shorts #83
When I first saw this two years ago, I may as well have been frothing at the mouth I disliked it so intensely. Having sat a bunch more D.C slop since, having not disdained the likes of Suicide Squad and having actually really liked what has been done with Wonder Woman, I went into this far calmer. And so whilst this is ridiculously childish in its conception of character, symbolism and meaning (far too conscious, far too intentional, far too transparent) I simply didn't let this rouse me. I was shocked, however, at how ludicrous Eisenberg's performance was. What was he thinking? How could he not have read the script and have slapped a palm-shaped hole through his head? Superman is hateable quite like Captain America is; Batman is self-righteously annoying; Louis Lane needs far less screen exposure; Perry White needs his lines slashed from the film. Is there a single character that works well in this film? No. Too pretentious to be trash.
A sweepingly beautiful melodrama, a tragedy in a cinematic space Maya Deren is known to have cultivated, The Hours is a film about ghosts falling through time and spirits struggling through space. What makes this such a special film is that its photogenic quality is constructional, is an expression of montage and a movement between blocks of spacetime of a feminine character. The daunting thematic juxtaposition between loving and leaving--and life itself--is made palpable by this presentation of time and characters lost in it - and each and every performance sees its performer lost. The Hours is cinematic suspension, deeply affecting for that fact.
Thanks to Jake for the recommendation.
Unspeakably perfect, Fellowship of the Ring is one of the most incomprehensibly flawless pieces of cinema ever constructed, each and every part of its construction in resonance with the next, every cinematic element in harmony, executed sublimely. Of course, much of The Lord of the Rings' brilliance lies in Tolkien's narrative, but how many times before has a great book--so great a trilogy--been turned into something so inconceivable as this? Exuding a mastery of form and an unfathomably deep understanding of cinematic narrative, Jackson has made something beyond special in his Lord of the Rings trilogy with Fellowship being the most complex, demanding and well-executed of all of the films. Watching this today was like stepping out of a haze; my whole life, I have felt the Lord of the Rings' existence (these are some of my favourite films), but it is only now that I have developed the ability to start to understand how profoundly important these films are. A revelation.
- Take one Andrei Tarkovsky, a drill, a saw, a pen and a screwdriver.
- Remove cranium.
- Poke at the flesh until one's curiosity is satisfied.
- Set the zombie loose in a shopping mall and batter with women's magazines whenever he slows.
- Add undead film crew into the mix.
Your sculpture in time will be ready in 150 minutes. The narcoleptic apocalypse will subside soon after.
Beyond his ventures into more 'artistic' cinemas (as with Punch Drunk Love and The Meyerowitz Stories), Adam Sandler is only really palatable between 1995 and 2000, a period which captures some career highlights in Billy Maddison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, Waterboy and, this, Big Daddy. The only exception to the rule may be found in 2004's 50 First Dates. Alas, it is in this period that Sandler hits that sweet spot in comedy in which a performance can simply not taken seriously, yet nonetheless felt. More important than this, it is in this period where pathos is sometimes seen to underlie Sandler's comedy. This is felt best in The Wedding Singer, but Big Daddy runs in a close second thanks to the silly, but legitimate melodrama.
In very many senses, this is Sandler's most serious comedy and I can't help but appreciate it for that fact. Seen it plenty, but still watchable.
A masterpiece and a new personal favourite. Never before have I found myself so lost in melodrama; melodrama of the purest poetic quality; a poem of elemental, transcendental supra-affect. My mind inured with a red swelling, my senses fever-stricken, this has left me inebriated and delirious. The dances, exquisite, the direction, performances, cinematography, flawless. A work of melodramatic art of incomparable brilliance. I can only say it again: a new personal favourite.
The only bad thing about Mission Impossible XI is the opening credit sequence. Which is only to say, why try and spoil all the greatness to come? Beyond this, Fallout is simply spectacular. The premise is basic and well understood. A hero is simultaneously that which confronts and creates chaos as it is a hero's idealism that sees the impossible transcended, that can create a third option when asked to choose the lesser of two evils. Ethan is a perfect embodiment of this archetype and Cruise puts him on screen seemingly effortlessly. The cast around him is solid; the script doesn't foreground itself (despite its unending plot) and the direction is simply immense. This is not mere entertainment, it is sheer brilliance; understated and formulaic (classically constructed) where it needs to be and balls-to-the-wall where it should be. I'm glad I've finally seen it.
She's Gotta Have It is, in essence conflicting. The script is clearly one of a young writer; arrogant, too sure of himself and rather pretentious. (I'm not too sure if Spike Lee has ever grown up much). The editing, however, is a reprieve thanks to its playfulness. That said, in the direction and editing is a self-relexivity that is a major ingredient of the pretentious whiff this generates. Alas, the biggest issue in She's Gotta Have It emerges when the amateurish dialogue meets the so-so performances. There is a conundrum in the film, for indeed, the dramatic roots of this lie in the meta-space between the viewer and narrative. That is to say that we can question the validity of all of our criticisms and consider these criticisms of Lee's that he has simply made with formal choices... but.... not buying it. Clunky--conceptually mature and slightly challenging, but ultimately asideable.
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She's Gotta Have It - The Failing Of Photogénie
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The Night Comes For Us - Fight For Your Soul?
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