Row Three Narcissism: Movies We Watched

A day late, but that’s the sunny Canadian weather for you. While the onset of summer has gotten a few us out in the sunshine more and in the living room, consuming DVDs less, There is still plenty of films we have been watching that never made it into their own column or article. We gather these in the “Movies We Watched” subsection (link on sidebar), complete with a little blurb for you to chew on. Here is the last week and change:

The Guatemalan Handshake (2006) 3.5/5
If David Gordon Green’s All The Real Girls had a lovechild with Napoleon Dynamite you’d get the slice-of-life with stylized touches that is Todd Rohal’s debut film about lonely souls looking for something they’ve lost. The gorgeous colours pop off the screen on this one, and it is optimistic and funny as it is strange. - KURT

Viagem ao Princípio do Mundo (1997) 4.5/5
Dedicated to Marcello Mastroianni and featuring the master actor’s last performance, “Voyage” encapsulates memories, perceptions, history and emotion into a quiet, deliberately paced story of a trope of actors and a director (said to be partly biographic of Oliveira himself) on a quest. One actor is in search of an aunt he’s never met and along the way, the Portuguese director reminisces about his past, sharing memories of what was in parallel to what is and along the way, the group discuss everything from the importance and relevance of memories to mortality. The triumph of this film comes in the last twenty minutes when we meet the old aunt and learn of the hardships of life in the Portuguese countryside. It’s emotional and poignant. - MARINA

Aniki Bóbó (1942) 4/5
Manoel de Oliveira’s first full length feature is a charming cautionary tale of what happens when you don’t do the right thing. It’s also a gorgeous film documenting a time, place and way of life, in this case early 40’s Porto, of the past. The film’s message is wonderfully displayed with little exposition and the result is a story in which the actions speak louder than any words. A little seen classic. - MARINA

Duel (1971) 4.5/5
Spielberg’s first feature film shows exactly why he became the genius that he did. With probably no budget, Spielberg put together this terrific psychological thriller on wheels. Sort of “Two-Lane Blacktop” meets “Falling Down” meets “Psycho.” Shot completely on location in 12 days with kick-ass angles and stylistic shots is awesome. If you took away all the CGI from Spielberg so that this is the kind of thing you get, I want more! Oh yes, and the special edition DVD has the closest thing you’ll find to a Spielberg commentary. - ANDREW

Ghosts of Mars (2001) 1.5/5
Even by John Carpenter’s semi-campy, b-movie-esque standards, this movie is pretty awful. I actually wasn’t able to watch it all in one sitting. No joke it took me 4 nights of viewings to get through it. Pretty poor acting, HORRIBLE fight choreography and laughable set design. Hell, the storyline itself was basically a futuristic rip-off of “Assault on Precinct 13.” The villains look kind of cool and Natasha Henstridge is hot, but otherwise I recommend Dave skip this one in his John Carpenter series on the site. It’s not worth the pain. - ANDREW

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) 3/5
I’ve come to notice that I don’t care for a movie without at least one character with redeeming qualities. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe” and “Margot at the Wedding” spring to mind. I can now include “The Other Boleyn Girl” to that list. Despite some nice acting, lovely sets, amazing costuming and some pretty exceptional cinematography, every character in the story is completely despicable. I can understand why some people would be fine with that and still love the movie, but for me, it just makes the already slightly bumpy (although dramatic) storyline nearly intolerable. - ANDREW

The Signal (2007) 2.5/5
Broken into three parts by three different directors, to say the film’s transitions are jarring is an understatement. To be swept up within each segment is easy, to be ripped from the experience and thrust into something unwanted is even easier — and an unwelcome experience. By the end I just didn’t care. The first and second segments do have potential if they were to each stand on their own as a feature film however. - ANDREW