This tiresome film looks set to pick up at least a couple fo oscars; it doesn't deserve anyway.
Lets start with the plusses; this is not an utter stinker. George Clooney is still a suave, sophistictated screen presence, with almost literal magnetism holding a soft pull of the viewer towards him. The idea threatens to be interesting at times, with notions of loneliness, modern simulacra and society, the psychological cost of unemployment, and various other modern discourses all rearing their hands at random points. The airport settings are inherently cinematic. This is not a TV movie.
All told though, it's not much of an experience. Firstly, this has to have one of the worst written (non braindead multiplex action category)scripts in recent mainstream memory. Bad lines intrude on the actions, the poor actors pausing at times, stumbling through fragments, as though to convey to the viewer and each other 'this isn't my fault'. Too wordy and unreal at times, utterly predictable, plain cliche. The direction is flabby, scenes go on too long and there's a lot of pointless drawing-the-obvious-out. The interesting settings aren't well shot, no build up is ever sustained to create a specific mood. Music either intrudes or is dreary background fodder.
The ideas are also confused, either lacking in the ability to sustain their arguments or simply reverting to the cracker-wisdom twee when sincerity appears to be aimed for. The film falls apart structurally towards the end, though to be fair this at least gives it a little variety.
All told, it just about holds the attention, but can't ever be categorised as anything but a below par, out-and-out poor movie.
Friday, 29 January 2010
Noi Albinoi (Noi The Albino)
An Iclandic coming of age tale, this is an unrevolutionary but perfectly well structured and charming film. We are slightly unsure why the lead is an albino, apart from that it makes the point that it rather doesn't matter he is aan albino. It has a light tone throughout, whimsical even, and scenes of fine comedy on occasion. The central thrust, if rather ridiculous at the end, is a curious but all the same traditional tale of the end of adolescence and the entrance of real life.
If we were being cruel, we would say it is neither a particularly dramatic (satisfying) drama nor a particularly comedic comedy. Failing to fit into these genre straightjackets is not a fault a priori (though we'd be lying if we didn't mention that it often leads contemporary European cinema to rather pointless blind alleys)however, and the film just about manages, through well paced direction and the beautiful sweeping backdrops of the landscape, along with a healthy variety of twists and subplots, to keep us involved in the ultimately rather surreal tale.
If we were being cruel, we would say it is neither a particularly dramatic (satisfying) drama nor a particularly comedic comedy. Failing to fit into these genre straightjackets is not a fault a priori (though we'd be lying if we didn't mention that it often leads contemporary European cinema to rather pointless blind alleys)however, and the film just about manages, through well paced direction and the beautiful sweeping backdrops of the landscape, along with a healthy variety of twists and subplots, to keep us involved in the ultimately rather surreal tale.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Duck Soup
We suspect a surprisingly small number of people under the age of fifty have actually seen any Marx Brothers films, so the experience of doing so is certainly an exciting novelty, wrapped up in forever images of their representations and parodies across the media landscape where the source material itself is often neglected...
The film is certainly anarchic, profoundly so, far more than any film we have seen in our entire lives. It is almost Beckettian in the sheer pointless flipping and non sequiters and bizarre wordplay and changes and complete lack of narrative structure. The jokes in themselves aren't always, perhaps ever, particularly funny in themselves. Perhaps this is the aspect that has dated the most. It is rather the build up of joke on joke, the endless (non) structuring of chaos across the short landscape of the picture, that builds up its humour. Saying that, we never found ourselves laughing for any moment of the duration; it was more a kind of sick curiousity, a slight feeling of uncomfortableness at the complete lack of structure.
Physically, no performer seems to stand out as particularly talented, the acting is uncertain, Groucho delivers his lines pacily as though not saying anything at all. None is particularly graceful. Some of the tomfoolery undoubtedly required talent, though it is never quite note perfect. I suppose we have been spoilt. Though how they made the horse corresspond to their wishes remains beyond our ken...
Duck Soup surprisied in how much more profound, accidently or not, it is. Beckett is the obvious parallel to draw, the snapping chaos of dialogue becoming twisted and rendering the viewer never quite settled in their own skin. The final scenes are bizarre rather than funny; it so lacks in any kind of thrust, while travelling at such a pace, it attains a sort of spectral poignancy. Truly inexplicable.
Not the most fun to watch, and not a comedy to have one breaking out in laughter. A curiousity though, and one to confound expectations.
The film is certainly anarchic, profoundly so, far more than any film we have seen in our entire lives. It is almost Beckettian in the sheer pointless flipping and non sequiters and bizarre wordplay and changes and complete lack of narrative structure. The jokes in themselves aren't always, perhaps ever, particularly funny in themselves. Perhaps this is the aspect that has dated the most. It is rather the build up of joke on joke, the endless (non) structuring of chaos across the short landscape of the picture, that builds up its humour. Saying that, we never found ourselves laughing for any moment of the duration; it was more a kind of sick curiousity, a slight feeling of uncomfortableness at the complete lack of structure.
Physically, no performer seems to stand out as particularly talented, the acting is uncertain, Groucho delivers his lines pacily as though not saying anything at all. None is particularly graceful. Some of the tomfoolery undoubtedly required talent, though it is never quite note perfect. I suppose we have been spoilt. Though how they made the horse corresspond to their wishes remains beyond our ken...
Duck Soup surprisied in how much more profound, accidently or not, it is. Beckett is the obvious parallel to draw, the snapping chaos of dialogue becoming twisted and rendering the viewer never quite settled in their own skin. The final scenes are bizarre rather than funny; it so lacks in any kind of thrust, while travelling at such a pace, it attains a sort of spectral poignancy. Truly inexplicable.
Not the most fun to watch, and not a comedy to have one breaking out in laughter. A curiousity though, and one to confound expectations.
Die Falscher (The Counterfeiters)
2008 Foreign Language Film Oscar winner, this is an engaging and snappy story of moral difficulty, characters caught between their own self preservation and wider responsibilities.
Set largely in Sauchausen concentration camp, the viewer is essentially asked to create much of the tension themselves through a (rarely sighted) awareness of the terrors that must be taking place just outside the counterfeiters relatively comfortable quarters. It is a film that demands engagement- and all the better for that. It paints the impossible moral picture well by situating characters rather than symbols in the maze; the acting across the board is terrific, especially from our lead.
We are not spared the view of horrors, and 'commonplace' indignities are, if not disspassionately, faithfully shot. The viewer must learn not to make themselves too comfortable.
The plot fizzes along nicely, not a lot of messing around, even if some of the side-stories don't particularly add anything to what is, after all, pretty much a straightforward one issue tale. Though saying that, the Monte Carlo and liberation scenes certainly do add a level to our appreciation of Salomon as more than just a prisoner; it turns into a fascinating study into the forced degredation of man.
All told, a fine movie.
Set largely in Sauchausen concentration camp, the viewer is essentially asked to create much of the tension themselves through a (rarely sighted) awareness of the terrors that must be taking place just outside the counterfeiters relatively comfortable quarters. It is a film that demands engagement- and all the better for that. It paints the impossible moral picture well by situating characters rather than symbols in the maze; the acting across the board is terrific, especially from our lead.
We are not spared the view of horrors, and 'commonplace' indignities are, if not disspassionately, faithfully shot. The viewer must learn not to make themselves too comfortable.
The plot fizzes along nicely, not a lot of messing around, even if some of the side-stories don't particularly add anything to what is, after all, pretty much a straightforward one issue tale. Though saying that, the Monte Carlo and liberation scenes certainly do add a level to our appreciation of Salomon as more than just a prisoner; it turns into a fascinating study into the forced degredation of man.
All told, a fine movie.
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Gegen Die Wand (Head On)
This German/ Turkish collaboration is a fine entertainment. Without undue characterisation, we are launched into an occasionally hillarious and often entertaingly derivative tale of the growing relationship between the hurt man and the women he enters into on a marriage of convenience.
It is is artfully shot; there are some interesting angles and mis-en-scene, the cuts to the band and singer breaks the action up nicely. It also is succesful in never falling into a lull of genre rules.
All the same, this is in honesty a pretty conventional love story, even if a synopsis of the plot might not give that impression. The action is always enthralling, we come to know the characters (however much we know any of them) through this rather than anything else.
Good fun, keeps the pace up, with a few moments of poignant beauty as little bits of the world crash around our feet. Not metaphysical, but worth watching.
It is is artfully shot; there are some interesting angles and mis-en-scene, the cuts to the band and singer breaks the action up nicely. It also is succesful in never falling into a lull of genre rules.
All the same, this is in honesty a pretty conventional love story, even if a synopsis of the plot might not give that impression. The action is always enthralling, we come to know the characters (however much we know any of them) through this rather than anything else.
Good fun, keeps the pace up, with a few moments of poignant beauty as little bits of the world crash around our feet. Not metaphysical, but worth watching.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Waking Life
This self conciously odd piece of animation from Linklater is in many ways rather half-cooked, but there are much worse ways to spend ninety minutes.
The camera following our drawn Wiley Wiggins about is shaky and unstable, certainly disoreintating and we are curious to know whther the from of animation made this a necessity. By the time of 'A Scanner Darkly' the part animatory use of actors had improved leaps, and that film is much more succesful at integrating the style to the film it surrounds. It is an arresting technique; the texture and flourishes made us, well, keep our eyes on the screen. It would be wrong to say that it was more than a diversion however.
The film itself can be a little too much like a showcase for the visuals; the (quite deliberate) meandering structure (we look forward to slackers) may not get boring but does leave a certain incomplete feeling. The conversations, especially earlier on, our fitfully interesting but rather shallow. A good introduction for the 15 year old stoner they may be, but when we had knoweldge of the topic the analyses was pretty much artifical or trivial. Though the very raising of the philosophical, scientific and sociological questions ut does should be applauded.
The film is at its best when the script becomes fragmented, the visuals tire the viewer and let them enter a world of hallucination and weightlessness. Rather fittingly, it is a film that both encourages and revels in its soporific qualities.
A film worth seeing if just for the development of the visual technique (though 'A Scanner' would really be the place to go to see this), and for its bravery in at least reaching out for some intelligence. Far from a wonder, however.
The camera following our drawn Wiley Wiggins about is shaky and unstable, certainly disoreintating and we are curious to know whther the from of animation made this a necessity. By the time of 'A Scanner Darkly' the part animatory use of actors had improved leaps, and that film is much more succesful at integrating the style to the film it surrounds. It is an arresting technique; the texture and flourishes made us, well, keep our eyes on the screen. It would be wrong to say that it was more than a diversion however.
The film itself can be a little too much like a showcase for the visuals; the (quite deliberate) meandering structure (we look forward to slackers) may not get boring but does leave a certain incomplete feeling. The conversations, especially earlier on, our fitfully interesting but rather shallow. A good introduction for the 15 year old stoner they may be, but when we had knoweldge of the topic the analyses was pretty much artifical or trivial. Though the very raising of the philosophical, scientific and sociological questions ut does should be applauded.
The film is at its best when the script becomes fragmented, the visuals tire the viewer and let them enter a world of hallucination and weightlessness. Rather fittingly, it is a film that both encourages and revels in its soporific qualities.
A film worth seeing if just for the development of the visual technique (though 'A Scanner' would really be the place to go to see this), and for its bravery in at least reaching out for some intelligence. Far from a wonder, however.
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
A Bout De Souffle
Godard's new-way standrad bearer, this 1960 movie is a good bit of fun. Punchy dialogue, cuts and scene pacing happy to satisfy the viewer and succeed in never falling into traps of boredom or overindulgence.
Not as visually interesting or as considerate of character as, say 'Les Quatres Cents Coups', we generally have pretty ciphers with rather disconnected traits (Lacanian?) gettng caught up in bits of fun or bits of action. It pretty much sums up with its visual improviation and dramatic verve this cinamtic epoch. Don't watch it expecting a masterpiece (unless the innovations especially strike you, which I suppose they could), but it's good fun and the kind of important document we like to study; i.e. entertainment along with your theoretical directorial manual.
Not as visually interesting or as considerate of character as, say 'Les Quatres Cents Coups', we generally have pretty ciphers with rather disconnected traits (Lacanian?) gettng caught up in bits of fun or bits of action. It pretty much sums up with its visual improviation and dramatic verve this cinamtic epoch. Don't watch it expecting a masterpiece (unless the innovations especially strike you, which I suppose they could), but it's good fun and the kind of important document we like to study; i.e. entertainment along with your theoretical directorial manual.
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