Sans Soleil

The next logical step for anyone taken by Chris Marker’s La jetée is to view Sans Soleil. This was probably the best film I have seen in a long time and viewing it makes me want to see more “better” films. I may try to review some more remarkable films, but I promise that the reviews will still be poorly written. That is a Worst Reviews promise!

What makes any film or work of art memorable or particularly favorable for me is typically if specific images or dialogue resonant long after viewing the film. Marker accomplishes this with Sans Soleil – a film with intriguing visuals, narrative-style and depth that exceeds most films.

It’s harder to review a really good film because essays could be written that serve a sense of critical justice, but just my initial emotion impact will be significant enough for this purpose.

The film breaks documentary convention in the most entertaining way with letters written by travelers of various countries illuminated by staggering visuals, including distorted scenes of war and travel through the use of a Spectron video synthesizer. Overall, the film is a contemplation on memory, which couldn’t be anymore fitting considering the tranquility which proceeds the most memorable of images in the film – including the scene of suffering giraffe being shot in the head. Graceful and brutal.

10/10

Dan in Real Life

I put off watching Dan in Real Life for a long time due to the fact that Dane Cook is in it. Everytime, well this and Mr. Brooks, Cook stars as a supporting character I have someone telling me that he’s not that bad or annoying in the film. This is somewhat the case with Dan in Real Life, but not entirely. He’s still douchey Dane Cook.

I understand some people dislike Steve Carell as much as I despise Dane Cook, but Carell has grown on me over the year. Carell does take a stab at actual acting, but it’s the screenplay that really suffers. The story is just a little too obvious and the film is just a mundane romantic comedy that wishes it had some artistic direction.

The best part of the film is the music by Sondre Lerche throughout the entire duration, and there’s even an appearance by Lerche at the end. But even his music kind of just adds to the cornball factor of the overall picture. It’s simply a Lifetime movie starring Steve Carell.

4/10

Everything Must Go

I’m not sure why they even bother saying that the film Everything Must Go is based of a Raymond Carver story when the only element borrowed from the 5-page short story, “Why Don’t You Dance?” is the character, Nick Halsey, selling all his belongings on his front lawn.

I’ll admit that I was attracted to the film based of the Carver connection, but I also wanted to come in with no expectation for a hyped performance by the one-note Will Ferrell. Many reviewers have been comparing Farrell’s performance to Adam Sandler’s dramatic turn in Punch Drunk Love, but the two films just can’t be compared.

Ferrell’s performance is underwhelming instead of his overwhelming zaniness. I agree with one review that I saw that this film is still more decent than most of the crap that comes out. However, what the film lacks the most is having a sense of still. The film-making and way that the story is too generic and forgettable.

6/10

LOL

LOL isn’t funny and that’s kind of the point. The film screams cheap Indie film, and was the predecessor for the mublecore movement. Consider I haven’t really met a mumblecore film that I don’t like, I knew I had to give this film a chance.

I put it off for so long after viewing the trailer and seeing how much it reminds me of film student’s final project. In general, this film isn’t all that great or considerable well acted. It’s a decent final project for any amateur.

What the film did do well was examine three different male characters social/relationship disconnections due to their constant drive to always be connected (laptop, cell phone, etc.) The degradation of communication in our society in regards to over-consumption of technology has always been interesting to me, and even blogging about such a film holds a least three or four separations or irony.

Greta Gerwig did not really stand out at all in this film, and barely had any real scenes. The best character study in the film was the musician who was obsessed with meeting someone online while shutting out the only person who probably would like him.

LOL is slow, corny, gimmicky and, at times, too uncoordinated. But, it was a nice start for a film movement. Unfortunately, when the film came out in 2006 the Internet wasn’t as prevalent as it has become more than four years later. It does make one think, “Just how bad is this all.”

6/10

Rabbit Hole

Let’s start the first post in a while for The Worst Reviews with a poorly written review of a decent movie. The reason why Rabbit Hole exceeded my expectations was due to the fact that I expected something overacted, melodramatic and slowly-paced.

The plot centering on a couple grieving over their son’s death is nothing new for film, but what this film does well (as well as the play it’s based on, I can only assume) is avoid the pitfalls of turning real-life drama into a laughable Lifetime movie.

I thought the movie might have made me fall asleep, but Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart carry the film. The dialogue doesn’t get to sappy or cheesy, and for the most part the film avoid clichés that would have been so easy to slip into.

7/10

Let's Try This Again

Alright, here's the obligatory post about writing on here again. Since I got rid of TV and have been drinking gallons more of coffee, I should be able to keep this thing updated. I might look back on some of the movies I watched the last few months, but I'll try to just keep things simple. Observational. Get ready for a fun-filled summer!

Timecop

I haven't had much time to update lately due to catching up on work and studying. However, I was able to fit in watching a lot of different movies. So expect more reviews coming in.

For now though...Timecop

Oh, Timecop is there nothing you can’t do? It has come to my attention that I’ve been rating movies pretty high lately. I definitely need to be a little more focused. As much as I love giving films an 8 out of 10 or higher, I also enjoy rating films real low.

Well, I thought Timecop would be another 8 out of 10 for sure. Boy, was I wrong. The movie spent much of the opening having characters complain about time travel, making references to Star Wars. The set up is that time travel is “sissy stuff”, and the rest of the film is supposed to prove that’s not true.

But, really it is sissy stuff. Besides a funny scene here or there, the idea of Jean-Claude Van Dame traveling through time gets old fast. This is Van Dame at the end of his blockbuster action streak, and it really shows.

Towards the end, the action and plot get so convoluted that you just really shouldn’t care.

4/10

The People Under the Stairs

I think I saw The People Under the Stairs when I was a little kid, but I didn’t remember any of it. So, I didn’t categorize this as a rewatch, but I will say that I’m glad I watched this.

This is definitely one of Wes Craven’s best, up there with Nightmare on Elm Street and Last House on the Left. When did Craven start to deteriorate as a director? Anyways, this film tried to have a plot with a socio-political context concerning class tension in the early 90’s. But, as were Candyman succeeded at this same time by having something to say about perpetuating stereotypes, The People Under the Stairs just comes off as having unintentional camp sensibilities.

The film is fun as it is flawed, creative and original. When a young African-American boy named Pointdexter (nicknamed “Fool”) goes to steal gold coins with his uncle he ends up on an adventure in a house owned by a bizarre couple.

The couple is what makes the movie, and they are played by Everett McGill and Wendy Robbie (both who also played husband and wife in Twin Peaks). If you were a fan of their characters in Twin Peaks then you won’t be disappointed. Their “zaniness” makes the film well-worth watching.

Also, Ving Rhames as Uncle Leroy is hilarious with such great one-liners as, “Maybe the president is going to make me the secretary of pussy.” Overall, the film is a little drawn-out and has a pretty stupid ending, with 90’s hip-hop-do-gooder music. The People Under the Stairs feels like an awkward mix of a kid-friendly Disney horror film and the gross-out scenes of a Clive Barker movie.

7/10

Rewatch: Commando

What can I say about Commando that hasn’t already been written in lengthy, scholarly essays? I can just say that it was a movie of its time, and it all worked due to Arnold Schwarzenegger. No other actor could have pulled this off madness.

The plot follows retired special forces operative John Matrix as he tries save his kidnapped daughter from a bad guy. Just a bad guy with a funny mustache, who appears to have an orgasm when he gets close to killing Matrix.

I’m pretty sure this movie won an Academy Award for best picture. From the amazing opening where Schwarzenegger eats ice cream and pets a deer to the “in-your-face” closing that I posted above, this film is one hell of ride. Strap your seatbelt on, right?

Eh, well…people probably didn’t find it funny back then, or maybe some people did. It’s Schwarzenegger at his prime before the Terminator, and it makes you want to watch more bad/funny action movies. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. No chance.

7/10

The Collector

I vaguely remember hearing about The Collector when it was first released. I think my dad and little brother went to go see it at the movie theater. I’m not sure why this was released theatrically as it had a straight-to-video feel from beginning to end.

This film had a lot of laughable parts, and for me that’s a good thing. There’s two kinds of people that would watch a horrible film like this: 1) People who actually get scared by and enjoy this crap. 2) People like me who find humor in bad horror movies.

Horror films have always really been dark comedies anyways. And, I give it to The Collector in reminding me why I need watch more bad horror movies. For the humor.

Apparently, The Collector was going to be a Saw prequel as it was made by the same writer or whatever. I personally can’t stand the Saw films, but I might go back and watch all of them for the giggles.

The main protagonist is made out to be an anti-hero as he breaks into a house to rob a safe to save his own family he ends up trying to save another family from the…duh, duh, duh…THE COLLECTOR.

Or, whatever. The dude isn’t the least bit scary. If you realize from the horribly made and hilarious opening credits that this is going to be a funny movie than you’re in for some sure-fire lols.

Let’s see….the collector dude just likes torturing and collecting people and wears a ski mask. Okay. He enjoys booby-trapping the house Home Alone style with wires, bear traps and knives dangling from a chandelier. Okay.

The cat scene was ridiculous. The flaming dog in the waste basket being used as a weapon (Why didn’t I think of this?) was ridiculous. The drawn-out psych-out ending was ridiculous. This entire movies was funny and ridiculous.

All I learned from it was that it’s good to steal from rich peoples’ houses because you could end up saving lives.

6/10

Rewatch: District 9

I haven’t posted any reviews in a few days, as I’ve been busy working, studying and doing other things. Basically, I didn’t make time to watch many movies over the weekend. I did, however, watch more of Season 2 of Alias, which I’ll write up a review for later.

Friday night I viewed District 9 for the third time. It was the first time my wife had seen the film and it was the first time seeing it on Blu-ray for me. The first time I saw it was at the theater and then on TV in HD.

The Blu-ray is great and has some awesome bonus features. The images are much crisper then when I watched it on TV, and the surround sound in wonderful.

Not a lot changed in my opinion of the film in the third viewing. I did feel that I didn’t care as much about the prawns, and I actually think Christopher wouldn’t come back for Wikus. I was little more positive the first time watching it, a lot more negative the third time.

I just love the image of the entire mothership that is continuously shown in the background and blends so well with the Johannesburg scenery. This film will definitely go down in history for it’s creative, modest budget and documentary-style. Though, my biggest complaint has always been that it seems the documentary feel gets somewhat lost in the third act.

Watching District 9 again just got me excited for Neill Blomkamp’s next film, Elysium.

8/10

Buried

Rented the Blu-ray of Buried and watched it without any expectations. I may have been a little bias with my preconception of absolutely finding Ryan Reynolds to be a bad actor.

The film is a little hokey, but delivers for the most part. If you don’t know, the entire is film is simply Reynolds trapped in a coffin. We stay in that coffin for 94 minutes!

The plot reminded me of something like Phone Booth, and the premise is actually very similar. However, what makes Buried more suspenseful than most “intense” action films is the break-through performance by Reynolds and the carefully anxious directing of Rodigo Cortes.

Reynolds still acts like a smart ass in a couple of scenes, but mostly he gives a believable performance. The film goes deeper than just plot and can be viewed in a strong socio-political context.

Also, the psychological pathos displayed in hostage situations is delivered in an almost exuberant and surreal manner. In the end, the trained viewer will ask questions that dig deeper than what was intended.

Overall, it’s not for everyone. There should be a disclaimer that the duration of the film takes place in a coffin. It’s as unconventional as mainstream can get, and Reynolds gave me just a tad bit of hope for The Green Lantern.

8/10

Resident Evil: Afterlife

Nerd alert! Resident Evil: Afterlife wants to go back to what made the first film tolerable for horror/zombie fans and fans of the video game series. The series somehow made it over the horrible hump after the disastrous Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and Paul W.S. Anderson came back to direct the fourth installment.

The film series has tried to include elements from the games, and Afterlife includes characters from both Resident Evil: Code Veronica and Resident Evil 5 (two of my favorites). It’s nice to see Claire and Chris Redfield in action, but it’s also really only semi-appealing to fans of the game. Also, I thought Wentworth Miller was really the standout actor in the film as Chris Redfield, but not enough was done with his character.

The film was made for 3D and was just fine in the appearance of 2D on Blu-ray. The Blu-ray also has some nice features, including Zombie picture-in-picture vision.

The opening scene was pretty neat with the zombie Japanese girl, though I’m not sure how it really tied into the entire film. That’s also one of my biggest complaints is the lack of zombie action and the reliance on 3D action sequences that quickly become cheesy. For example, the battle scene with the Executioner was more cartoonish than it was dark and suspenseful.

Wesker was actually done better than I thought, and did become too corny in the end. And, of course the film is cheesy and mindless. But, luckily it’s not too mindless for fans of action films and the Resident Evil games. Something like this often borderlines into Uwe Boll Alone in the Dark territory, but manages to regain consciousness due to Anderson and Mila Jovovich actually caring about their work to some extent.

4/10

Rewatch: Southland Tales

I probably shouldn’t admit that I own Southland Tales on Blu-ray. It’s not a good movie by any means, but inspires thought and creativity throughout – no matter how pointless it may all seem.

Critics and audiences notoriously panned this film. Even fans of Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko were unimpressed. But, how do you follow such a cult-hit like Donnie Darko?

You go all out. It’s almost tradition or insanity for modern independent directors to bite of more than can chew after a magnum opus of a film. Think Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain following Requiem for a Dream or even Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York.

The over-ambitiousness is endearing and often viewed as self-indulgent. However, these films always tend to reach cult status eventually.

The biggest problem with the film is that it’s hard for the audience to detect the satirical take trying to be achieved as the plot seems to only derive from nonsense. The main casting of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seann William Scott, Mandy Moore and Justin Timberlake is questionable enough.

The supporting cast of John Larroquette, Bai Ling, Kevin Smith, Cheri Oteri, Jon Lovitz, Amy Poehler, Janeane Garofalo and Will Sasso is more than enough proof that Kelly meant for his epic to not be taken seriously.

If only the captivating could simply overshadow the bad, boring and pretentious scenes. For example, the handheld cam scenes at the beginning are almost better than anything else. The Liquid Karma-vision scenes echo Donnie Darko SFX as well as the slow-paced musical montages (wonderful score by Moby).

Kelly was going for Lynchian humor, but Kelly’s humor isn’t as full of odd wit. Though, it is as absurd as satire can be, it’s too abrasive and not seemingly self-aware. The Blu-ray is worth it for those surprisingly good CGI moments and the inclusion of the prequel graphic novel is a nice touch.

7/10

Winter's Bone

Winter’s Bone received a lot of praise and made many top ten lists of 2010. However, it seemed that not too many people saw the film and that it was quite underrated.

I found it to be overrated. Maybe since 2010 was such a poor year for film, Winter’s Bone stood out. It’s not a horrible film, but it's lacking in many ways. Based on the book of the same name there is a neo-noir twist of white trash country realism. In hindsight, the plot sounds interesting enough, but the film is too slow and the characters are too one-dimensional at times for this to truly be a great film.

The film follows 17-year old Ree on her quest in the Ozark “slums” of Missouri to find her meth-cooking dad, who has disappeared after mysteriously being bailed out of prison. The sheriff (“the law”) tells Ree she’ll lose her house (where she cares for her younger brother and sister), if her dad doesn’t appear for court. Comedy ensues.

Jennifer Lawrence gives a subtle, but decent performance, but John Hawkes' portrayal of meth-addict Teardrop is probably the best and most underrated performance of Winter’s Bone.

I rented this on Blu-ray and nothing really stood out, even with some of the more nature-type shots. Winter’s Bone was directed well, but unfortunately took its self too seriously.

6/10