Sunday, January 28, 2007
Babel (2006)
Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Oh no, another of this year’s critically acclaimed films turns out to be a disappointment. OK, director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu lost me when Gael Garcia Bernal’s characters runs from the boarder patrol officers and drops his aunt and the children out in the desert in the middle of the night. There was nothing in Santiago’s character development to justify these drastic, insane actions. Plus, as the children now wonder near death in a desert their mother, who has been accidentally shot from a mountain top, is near dieing in Morocco. Talk about a bad day for a family! It is enough to make you roll your eyes and say “come on!” and “give me a break!” Which I did, and no drama can fully recover from the eye roll.
Despite this terrible, disappointing turn in the storytelling, in all other film making aspects Babel may be the best made movie I’ve seen this year. The stories wove beautifully together to create a complex mediation comparing the ever closer interconnectedness of our globe with people's growing alienation and inability to form meaningful relationships. Also, the editing masterfully allowed for an exhale by cutting from one story to the next just when you could not bare the dramatic tension any longer; and Inarritu skillfully captured the distinct mise-en-scene of each distinct setting. You walk away thinking, that was fatastic film-making.
Ahh, too bad for that eye roll. I could have loved this film.
Oh no, another of this year’s critically acclaimed films turns out to be a disappointment. OK, director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu lost me when Gael Garcia Bernal’s characters runs from the boarder patrol officers and drops his aunt and the children out in the desert in the middle of the night. There was nothing in Santiago’s character development to justify these drastic, insane actions. Plus, as the children now wonder near death in a desert their mother, who has been accidentally shot from a mountain top, is near dieing in Morocco. Talk about a bad day for a family! It is enough to make you roll your eyes and say “come on!” and “give me a break!” Which I did, and no drama can fully recover from the eye roll.
Despite this terrible, disappointing turn in the storytelling, in all other film making aspects Babel may be the best made movie I’ve seen this year. The stories wove beautifully together to create a complex mediation comparing the ever closer interconnectedness of our globe with people's growing alienation and inability to form meaningful relationships. Also, the editing masterfully allowed for an exhale by cutting from one story to the next just when you could not bare the dramatic tension any longer; and Inarritu skillfully captured the distinct mise-en-scene of each distinct setting. You walk away thinking, that was fatastic film-making.
Ahh, too bad for that eye roll. I could have loved this film.
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Pan’s Labyrinth is half fairy tale and half military movie. I loved the fairy tale, told in the pre-Disney understanding that fairy tales are about a child’s psyche confronting death, parental abandonment and impending sexuality. Guillermo del Toro’s visual effects creating the fairy tale world are fascinating, spectacular and a compelling reason in themselves to see this film. This imagined world was so wonderful I kept hoping to get back to it each time our little girl heroine had to step back into the film’s reality. I did not care for the film’s reality, a military story set in fascist Spain. Here del Toro uses his abundant visual talents to makes us squirm anticipating torture and looking at gore (from which I chose to look away).If del Toro had decide to make the fairy tale alone I may have loved this film. But sadly, it is yet another disappointment in this year of disappointing films. As you may imagine, loving only half a film is ultimately unsatisfying.
Pan’s Labyrinth is half fairy tale and half military movie. I loved the fairy tale, told in the pre-Disney understanding that fairy tales are about a child’s psyche confronting death, parental abandonment and impending sexuality. Guillermo del Toro’s visual effects creating the fairy tale world are fascinating, spectacular and a compelling reason in themselves to see this film. This imagined world was so wonderful I kept hoping to get back to it each time our little girl heroine had to step back into the film’s reality. I did not care for the film’s reality, a military story set in fascist Spain. Here del Toro uses his abundant visual talents to makes us squirm anticipating torture and looking at gore (from which I chose to look away).If del Toro had decide to make the fairy tale alone I may have loved this film. But sadly, it is yet another disappointment in this year of disappointing films. As you may imagine, loving only half a film is ultimately unsatisfying.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Dreamgirls (2006)
Director: Bill Condon
To quote The Stranger, this is not a good film. That said, if you approach Dreamgirls as a dollop of superficial, spectacular fluff there is an abundance to enjoy. In enjoyed watching Eddie Murphy, for instance, more than I have in 25 years. Murphy gives a terrifically exciting performance in his half Little Richard, half James Brown persona. He may even be a little too good, making Beyonce’s and Jamie Fox’s uninspiring acting feel even more flat. But they, along with everyone else, is surrounded by so much noise and color, so much fashion and hair flux that you hardly care. Actual acting is negligible to the overall effect of the spectacular. So what it’s hollow; Dreamgirls is the most fun I’ve had in the theater since Little Miss Sunshine. Don’t expect character development, don’t expect real emotion, don’t imagine that there is anything beneath the shiny surface. The best musicals are sweet frosting slathered over an empty hat box, and that’s what you get from Dreamgirls.
To quote The Stranger, this is not a good film. That said, if you approach Dreamgirls as a dollop of superficial, spectacular fluff there is an abundance to enjoy. In enjoyed watching Eddie Murphy, for instance, more than I have in 25 years. Murphy gives a terrifically exciting performance in his half Little Richard, half James Brown persona. He may even be a little too good, making Beyonce’s and Jamie Fox’s uninspiring acting feel even more flat. But they, along with everyone else, is surrounded by so much noise and color, so much fashion and hair flux that you hardly care. Actual acting is negligible to the overall effect of the spectacular. So what it’s hollow; Dreamgirls is the most fun I’ve had in the theater since Little Miss Sunshine. Don’t expect character development, don’t expect real emotion, don’t imagine that there is anything beneath the shiny surface. The best musicals are sweet frosting slathered over an empty hat box, and that’s what you get from Dreamgirls.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Check out new blog
My film blog (Big Screen Seattle) was not working. I now realize a blog is not a good format for film reviews. A blog is a quick, daily musing, where as my film blog was occasional, lengthy and demanded the organization of a web site to be useful. In Daily Media Consumption I will spend 20 minutes each night writing a paragraph on the bit of media (books, TV shows, films, radio, music, newspapers, or podcasts) that struck my mind as most worthy of comment that day.
Check it out: http://mymediaconsumption.blogspot.com/
Check it out: http://mymediaconsumption.blogspot.com/
