Movie Reviews (20)14: Modern Times Edition

[LMP]

...All the Marbles (dir. Robert Aldrich, 1981)

Down-and-out wrestling manager Peter Falk drags his female tag team duo through the Midwest chasing a dream of the big show. A Pagliacci-inflected car ride through Steeltown USA is a blue collar odyssey in and of itself, bolstered by the honesty in the central performances. Like any great show business picture, it comes down to the main event, and the wrestling scenes deliver. The two female leads do their own stunts & Robert Aldrich doesn't shy away from any punches. For such a silent craftsman, this is a hell of a note for Aldrich to end his career on -- a rousing, tremendously entertaining crowd-pleaser from start-to-finish.

Here's a trailer.

Le professionel (dir. Georges Lautner, 1981)

Liam Neesons. Bruce Willie. Jean-Paul Belmondoes.

Belmondo may have the body of a brawler and the face of a sun-drenched frog, but he's the type of tough guy who is always one step ahead of the clowns chasing him. After being imprisoned in Africa after the French Secret Agency terminated his mission to assassinate a warlord, JPB wiles his way across Paris to get even. It's a classical revenge story that splits political intrigue with Belmondo paying bums to mess with surveillance cops. And yes, there is a fight involving a croissant.

 

[lazarus]

Adrich has a lot of great films.

 

[LMP]

Saw 2001 in 70mm tonight. Hoooooooooooooooly shit. Clarity to the point where I could almost touch everything.

Also, right after was the Shaw Bros. gore jam Seeding of a Ghost:

The fates of an ordinary cab driver and an ordinary black wizard are intertwined through happenstance. Cuckholded by his wife then left emotionally and physically crippled by her rape and murder, said cab driver enlists the help of said black wizard to inflict vengeance upon those who wronged them. Witchcraft as an overt, gross-out metaphor for the transformative power of revenge is potent stuff for exploitation; after a relatively boring first 20 minutes of gleeful blackjack games & furious mahjong, the "seeding of a ghost" makes no bones about being totally fucking nasty. Rampagingly groty shit ensues in the film's backhalf, culminating in a showdown with demon tentacle spawn -- the by-product of a beautifully animated ghost fucking a possessed corpse in mid-air.

If that last clause doesn't excite you, I hear that Amish country is lovely this time of year.

 

[corianderstem]

Killer Joe

Dude, that was fucked up.

 

[lazarus]

Cori will never eat fried chicken again.

 

[deep]

True Detective

 

[LMP]

Gina Gershon's name in the credits is usually a good sign that shit will go down.

 

[bono_212]

Bram Stoker's Dracula

As someone who, as a whole, doesn't care much for vampire films, I was very, very pleased with this movie. It was a beautiful mess, and I felt like Coppola did a lot of things visually simply because he felt he could get away with it, in the confines of the horror genre. Sometimes it really worked, sometimes it really reminded me that I was watching a movie, but altogether it left me with the feeling of unreality and a small sense of disturbance, which set a tone that was really special. Oldman was fantastic, and I was very pleased with Ryder. Hopkins remains one of my favorite actors for a reason and I was especially fond of this quirkier role. But, generally, the movie made me so happy because it "fixed" everything I didn't like about Universal's version. Definitely joining my standard October film rotation.

8/10

 

[lazarus]

The jaw-dropping visuals help the film rise above a inconsistent script. All of the special effects were intentionally accomplished by techniques that were available during the early years of filmmaking: double exposures, rear projection, forced perspective, etc. And the costumes and music are superlative and really sell the atmosphere.

Oldman is phenomenal, Reeves is beyond miscast. I always feel Ryder looks too modern for period pieces but she did well here. Hopkins isn't bad per se, but a bit over the top. And I think it's idiotic that he suddenly teleports for no reason, and his apparent supernatural powers are never explained or referenced again. That's shitty writing.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=113XaZpybqs

 

[bono_212]

I forgot about the teleporting. That really bugged me. Also that Oldman died simply by bring stabbed through the heart with a sword. Other than those two things I was just so pleased with how much I enjoyed watching this movie.

 

[LemonMelon]

The ingredients are there for a brilliant film, but a few rotten apples (Reeves, some shitty writing) very nearly spoil the bunch. I was dazzled by the visuals from start to finish, but Coppola's direction deserved better than what we ended up with. Oldman's fantastic performance drags the film kicking and screaming to a 7/10.

"Cawfax Abbeh"

 

[lazarus]

I forgot about the teleporting. That really bugged me. Also that Oldman died simply by bring stabbed through the heart with a sword. Other than those two things I was just so pleased with how much I enjoyed watching this movie.

He did have his throat slit first, to be fair.

 

[LMP]

Force Majeure (dir. Ruben Östlund, 2014)

A sneakily hilarious Scandinavian relationship drama is all about whiteness*. More specifically, it's how's carefully maintained veneers, whether they be of a family or the upkeep of a fancy mountain resort, can be beset by the unpredictability of nature. Tomas, the tech-obsessed patriarch of a well-to-do family, ditches his family (and his manhood) after the threat of an avalanche almost overtakes them at a ritzy outdoor bistro. What follows is a carefully-constructed turning of the knife as his wife Ebba questions her role as a mother & wife in the midst of the vacation from hell.

This sounds a lot headier than I intend. There's some viciously funny and truthful moments centered around the idea of how each character views themselves, exacerbated by Östlund's painfully long takes. The way he isolates reactions within busy frames and patiently lets them build from shot-to-shot & scene-to-scene is astounding. I can't wait to see this again.

*Also, snow

It was pitched to me as Scenes from a Marriage by way of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which I heartily endorse.

 

[purpleoscar]

The jaw-dropping visuals help the film rise above a inconsistent script. All of the special effects were intentionally accomplished by techniques that were available during the early years of filmmaking: double exposures, rear projection, forced perspective, etc. And the costumes and music are superlative and really sell the atmosphere.

Oldman is phenomenal, Reeves is beyond miscast. I always feel Ryder looks too modern for period pieces but she did well here. Hopkins isn't bad per se, but a bit over the top. And I think it's idiotic that he suddenly teleports for no reason, and his apparent supernatural powers are never explained or referenced again. That's shitty writing.

I agree with most of this but Reeves bad acting somehow helped the Jonathan Harker character because he's so clueless and would have to be to hang out with Dracula. Nobody plays clueless like Keanu.

I loved the music and editing and Oldman was fantastic. I love the cinematography and set design. Ryder is too modern for it but it's still the best movie version by a landslide. Sadie Frost played the slut with gusto.

The book is still the best. Mina is much more interesting in the novel. In all the movie versions she's developed poorly (likely due to time constraints.)

 

[purpleoscar]

Fury 1/10: One of the worst war movies I've ever seen and certainly one of the crappiest endings to a movie I've ever seen. When you start rooting for the NAZIS you definitely have a bad movie. It looked like the writer and director thought that as long as NAZIS are being killed the audience won't notice how bad the movie is. Most of the acting was embarrassing but Shia Lebeouf does an okay job with what little he has. Brad Pitt was just annoying. You could almost see him pretend he's Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan but it looks like a pantomime.

Spoiler

The entire cliched "a few guys against the SS battalion" was like "oh God I hope they don't go there." The SS soldier finding the last American survivor, then smiling and letting him live was The "ignore the Geneva convention and shoot the German to make the rookie become a tough guy" scene was

 

[bono_212]

He did have his throat slit first, to be fair.

Fair, but... I mean... Come on. I suppose it doesn't even matter, dude wanted to die. Man, that ending really got me, too. I might need to pick up the book next year. Don't want to read it now, too close to having viewed the film.

 

[Hewson]

Reeves is beyond miscast.

Aside from Ted "Theodore" Logan and possibly Johnny Utah, this could be said of any role.

 

[bono_212]

He is apparently the nicest, sweetest guy and I truly believe that, but I can't take him seriously in any movie I've ever seen him in except Bill and Ted.

 

[LMP]

Man of Tai Chi is super legit. Reeves directs the hell out of the action sequences, showcases contrasting styles, and gets to ham it up as the villain. John Wick also looks like a jam. Maybe he's found his late-career action wheelhouse.

 

[LMP]

Also, The Replacements is a sneaky good underrated sports movie. Reeves' charisma sells it.

He's not in the same stratosphere as Cage, but the meme-ification of both dudes drives me up the wall. Keanu rules, except he's dreadful in Dracula sure yeah. Monica Belluci eats a baby how would you react?

 

[bono_212]

He's dreadful in nearly everything I've seen him in. Day the Earth Stood Still, The Watcher, Johnny Mnemonic, he doesn't exactly carry The Matrix, either, just to name a few. I don't feel like I've even seen the guy legitimately smile in a movie since Bill and Ted. Maybe that has something to do with it. He feels like emotionless cardboard most of the time.

 

[LemonMelon]

If we're not getting our gifs from ludicrous Nicolas Cage/Keanu Reeves acting, where the hell are they going to come from?

 

[LMP]

He's a blast in Speed.

I don't mind the .gifs as long as folks acknowledge that Cage/Keanu know they're in on the joke.

 

[bono_212]

I don't believe Keanu is in on the joke, but Cage, dude, he's totally gone to the other side of the parody, at this point, and I find it kinda depressing.

I do like Reeves in Speed, you're right, I overlooked that one. Again, one of the few movies I've seen him in where he looked like he was enjoying himself.

 

[LMP]

I watched Reeves explain the virtues of Tai Chi in a debate punctuated by a boxing match. It was a signature event for last year's Fantastic Fest. He gets it.

Cage is hella entertaining, makes bonkers (and mostly defensible) choices, and is in at least 20-25 watchable movies. Actors should kill to have a career like his. Why do Bruce Willis, Sam Jackson, etc... get a pass for being awful or mailing it in in 3-4 movies a year and Cage is a whipping boy? The dude mostly brings it. Even in DTV shit like Rage, he's giving a performance.

Laz made this argument for Cruise in how he works with name directors, check out Cage's slate:

Uncle Coppola, Lynch, Ridley Scott, Scorsese, the Coens, John Woo, De Palma, Spike Jonze, Herzog, David Gordon Green, Paul Schrader (though he & Schrader disown the current cut of their movie together), Oliver Stone, and depending on your mileage Michael Bay giving a shit.

And Vampire's Kiss, Fire Birds, and Zandalee aren't covered on that list.

 

[bono_212]

That's what I'm trying to say. I never was into mocking Cage until he started mocking himself. He was legitimately one of my favorite actors until about 5 years ago. But, now, he pisses me off more than he makes me happy. It's not that I care if he makes a bad movie here or there, but there are no longer good movies to break it up. It's basically all bad.

What's the last OK thing he was in? Bad Lieutenant?

 

[LemonMelon]

While this was not the case at the beginning, back in the glorious Deadfall days, Cage is now 1000% aware that everyone is waiting for him to go batshit insane at any moment. For better or worse.

What I've seen of Vampire's Kiss is fucking amazing.

 

[LMP]

Joe is pretty okay, fits in the wheelhouse of Rural Coming of Age Masculine Dramas. It's one of his best performances, too. Kick-Ass is absolute trash... Cage is one of the bright spots. Knowing is woefully underrated. Ghost Rider 2 is a mess that captures some of Cage's better manic energy; Neveldine & Taylor really wanted him for Crank.

It's the worst period of his career though, for sure.

 

[bono_212]

OK, Kick-Ass. Kick-Ass was the last thing I saw him in that I liked his performance.

EDIT: Posted at the same time. So I'll add, without getting into this debate again, that Knowing is one of the worst movies I've ever seen, but that one wasn't actually Cage's fault, he was OK in it.

 

[bono_212]

The long and short of it is, I look at Cage's filmography Pre-Wicker Man and I come away thinking, 'I love this guy.' I look at it post-Wicker Man and I struggle to come up with even three movies that I really like him in, and not his wackiness.