A miniature holiday for yours truly delayed our micro-capsule column by a few days, but it is back to help with the multiplex blues, for a few minutes, anyway. The gist of it is that the writers around here watch and re-watch a lot of stuff in between the current releases, and occasionally (with a little cajoling, less successful when I am on the road it would seem) drop blurbs in the Movies We Watched sub-page of the site, accessed on the right-hand-sidebar with icon you see in this post. Hopefully it offers a tiny catalyst for conversation. A sampling of the entries for the past few weeks are below:
The Man from Laramie (1955) 4/5
The last of seven films director Anthony Mann made with James Stewart, and it’s as good as any of them. Stewart plays the title character, who takes his little wagon train to neighboring Coronado to exchange his cargo and also find out who’s been selling repeating rifles to the Apache – the Apache’s possession of said rifles had led to a massacre killing Stewart’s brother. While there he stumbles into a feud with the landowner of the region (Donald Crisp in a surprisingly empathetic role). Stewart plays the quiet man with both purpose and humor, and he’s surrounded by a supporting cast that does its job admirably. The way Mann lets the story unfold, letting it layer itself slowly and deeply while never losing focus, works extremely well, too. -JANDY
Love Me if You Dare (2003) 3/5
Here’s one that wasn’t quite as engrossing and rich as I remember it being. I actually found this film to be rather mean-spirited and not believable at all. Funny that it reminds me so much of Amélie both in aesthetic and directing style. It’s frantic and the color scheme is corrected too high in the magenta and yellow palette. Normally something this different would be something I’d enjoy, but this time around it was just grating and frustrating – compunded negatively by the downer (confusing?) ending. Marion Cotillard is fantastic here but it’s so cold I got distracted easily. All in all, not what I want from a dramatic “love” story, if you could even call this such. -ANDREW
28 Weeks Later… (2002) 5/5
Rapidly becoming my favourite film of the new millenium, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (who wrote and directed) takes the concepts and general aesthetic of Danny Boyle’s 2002 film and improves upon it in ever single way. From its eerie and powerful opening sequence to the firebombing of central london to even an improved metro-in-the-dark set-piece. Moving back to film was a vast improvement in the visual departments, and Jeremy Renner, donning Gulf War II-esque combat fatigues before The Hurt Locker came along, makes a lasting impression as a soldier that fears the containment policy more than he fears the raging undead. -KURT
28 Days Later… (2002) 4/5
While big points for re-inventing the zombie film and making the plunge into digital video, Danny Boyle’s rage-infection flick does suffer from a murky palette and lack of direction in the final 30 minutes. Still it is an ambitious story full of ideas and social pot-shots. And when it is Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and Brendan Gleeson travelling around deserted London, the film is a wonder to behold. The army guys were much better used in the superior sequel. -KURT
Sunshine (2007) 4/5
Even after a fourth viewing of Danny Boyle’s hard science fiction film, I find it hard to love the last 20 minutes, even as I understand how it fits into screenwriter Alex Garland’s vision of the sun as a malevolent and implacable old-testament god. An international team of scientists have one last shot to (essentially) impregnate the sun with science and bend it to their will; the resulting ‘rebirth’ will reheat the now freezing third rock from the dying star. As they get closer bad judgement and strange addictions to the power and the fury of the central orb drive some of the crew mad, while the remainder make tough decisions on how to salvage the increasingly desperate mission. A blend of hard science fiction and oddly enough action setpieces (particularly the wobbly final act) it is the truly stunning and unique visuals that make this one a winner. There are some good ideas embedded in the bombast as well. -KURT
Solaris (2002) 4.5/5
Taking the core love story element from Stanislaw Lem’s novel, the one element that Tarkovsky’s 1972 version of the film fumbled on, and re-building a hard-science fiction look at identity, and a celestial body as implacable deity, Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 film gets 4 top notch performances from George Clooney, Natasha McElhone, Viola Davis and Jeremy Davies as the real and replicate technical folks battling their demons made corporeal. A fabulous script and gorgeous production design make this one overcome its delicate (some may say glacial) pacing. -KURT
If you want to watch it onl1ne for free,...
Comment by Andrew James — July 20, 2009
Comment by Kurt Halfyard — July 20, 2009
Kurt, wow, 5/5 for 28 Weeks Later? I guess I’ll have to see it. The military part of 28 Days Later was my least favorite part (I hated that part, actually), so seeing that 28 Weeks Later focused on the military pretty much me write it off immediately. But if they handle it better, I should give it a try.
Comment by Jandy Stone — July 20, 2009
Its full on gutting of the Rom-Com WHEN HARRY MET SALLY formula with a FIGHT CLUB level satire/ethic is what makes the film stand out. I remain in the minority on this, but I’ll easily take it over the more saccharine and earnest AMELIE.
Comment by Kurt Halfyard — July 20, 2009
And good to see that the troublesome ending to SUNSHINE isn’t detracting too much from the enjoyment of the rest of the film. I too have problems with it but it doesn’t detract from my enjoyment and love of this movie. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
Comment by Marina — July 20, 2009
Yes, there has been a very mean spirited streak in French exports over the last little while (Aja, Noe, and the ‘Inside’ and ‘Martyrs’ directors), not to mention Haneke, although I’ve not seen his Cannes-winning lastest yet.
But then there is the OSS series which is supposed to be very FUN, FUN, FUN and I really, really really liked Tell No One which wasn’t mean spirited at all. And THE CLASS was, well, pretty classy.
Comment by Kurt Halfyard — July 20, 2009
Comment by Dave — July 20, 2009
Comment by Marina — July 20, 2009
But watching it on Friday night because I couldn’t get out to the Hurt Locker (dang it’ll happen at some point, but it’s absolutely killing me that I’ve not seen this yet!), totally floored me with how well this sucker keeps playing out. It is already one of my favourite zombie films (yea suck it Zombie purists!) and rapidly becoming one of my favourite sequels that trump the original in every way.
Comment by Kurt Halfyard — July 20, 2009
The opening sequence is knock-out, intense cinema however.
And I think Days is holds up much better.
Comment by Andrew James — July 20, 2009
And there have been loads of charming French cinema as of late. Don’t forget “Girl from Monaco” (worst trailer of all time) and “Priceless.”
“A Christmas Tale” was tiresomely boring.
Comment by Andrew James — July 20, 2009
Comment by Marina — July 20, 2009
Comment by Andrew James — July 20, 2009
Comment by Marina Antunes — July 20, 2009