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April 25, 2005
The Last Mitterand at the Castro (SFIFF), 4/24/05
Man, this movie was no fun. It's about a journalist who is hired by Francois Mitterand to write his memoirs as he leaves office. He spends very little time on politics and instead we get bogged down in Mitterand's uncertain involvement with the Resistance. Also, he seems to be played as a wacky old man which just seems sort of jarring. The ending seems so "feel good", I wondered if Americans had made this movie. It's too bad because Michel Bouquet does an amazing impression of the man.
Posted by deaconmf at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)
Raging Bull on DVD, 4/23/05
I keep forgetting that this movie is so complex considering that its starting point is rage. Jake La Motta's anger gives him success in the ring and ruins his marriage. His jealousy is an ugly thing to watch especially when he accuses his brother of sleeping with his wife. Cathy Moriarty seems so angry and strong that I can't quite see her as a victim in this relationship. Robert De Niro is hot as the younger Jake, but there's this horrible sense of ruin when he does "On the Waterfront" as a fat, washed up old man struggling to survive.
Posted by deaconmf at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2005
Sin City at Van Ness 1000, 4/17/05
Mostly black and white. Red for love and blood, yellow for sickness and other unspeakable bodily fluids. Bikini girls with machine guns. Clive Owen's accent comes in and out. The horrible voiceovers and stilted dialog. Mickey Rourke, forgotten monster. Frodo is now silent boy-cannibal with sharpened nails. This is some comic book movie. Fun actually, brutally and casually violent. It feel fragmentary and jagged. While I wish it were more cohesive, it does look amazing. I just wished it sounded amazing as well.
Posted by deaconmf at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
April 15, 2005
Infernal Affairs on DVD, 4/14/05
Damned clever plot. The police and the mafia each have a mole planted years ago on the other side. Now, both sides know those moles are there and they're both desperately trying to find the traitor before the other side does. Tony Leung (the fake gangster) always looks hot but he's great at looking desperate and nervous too. Andy Lau is great as the crooked policeman. It's obvious that his divided loyalties are getting to him and he needs a way out of this situation.
The director filmed an ending to the film that was logical, but fell totally flat. I'm glad they used the more heroic ending.
Posted by deaconmf at 09:20 AM | Comments (0)
Tokyo Underground, Vol. 1 on DVD, 4/10
Another anime TV series, I think. This one is Superhero Junior High. A mysterious group (aren't they always mysterious in anime?) called the Company is chasing a couple of girls with superpowers in the sewers of Tokyo. They flee above ground and meet two boys, one of whom is a martial arts master in training. He decides to shelter the two girls while the forces of the Company keep attacking to bring the two girls back. Coincidentally, our martial artist begins to develop some superpowers of his own. Stylistically, this one looks great. We have these nifty freeze frames that use the previous scene as a backdrop. Guess it keeps the viewer from noticing how cheap the effects in this show are. Looks like they've spent most of the money showing the superpower battles. The conversations that play up the teen aspect of this are done in the cheaper style. Our poor martial artist gets hot anytime the youngest girl smiles at him. Puppy love, superpowers and mysterious companies. Seems like I've described the X-Men too. LOL.
Posted by deaconmf at 09:19 AM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2005
Alright, alright. I'm catching up. Promise.
I promise that I'm moving forward. I'm only about a month behind at this point. Check out the archive for more DVD reviews.
Posted by deaconmf at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)
The Motorcycle Diaries on DVD, 4/9/05
This one is like the Odyssey in reverse. Instead of knowing heading home again, two characters set off to find themselves. This is a hagiography of Che Guevara who gets saintly as the movie progresses. At the beginning, he goes to visit his girlfriend on her family farm. She breaks up with him in a letter later. Soon, their motorcycle breaks down. He talks to the poor farmers, miners and laborers of Latin America until he finally gets to a leper colony in the Amazon where he becomes the doctor who breaks the rules and actually touches the patients. He's turned into Odysseus looking for advise among the dead or Marlow looking Kurtz. Perhaps the best analogy is Christ harrowing Hell. In any case, there's a lot of suffering in this movie and Gael Garcia Bernal does empathy very well. He's got sincerity down too, so his earthiness makes the preachy plot bearable.
And goddamn, who doesn't want to do Gael Garcia Bernal? No shirtless scenes though. Couldn't they have done just one? Sigh.
Posted by deaconmf at 09:26 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2005
Gantz Vol. 1 on DVD, 4/5/05
So, the rental cue finally started sending me some anime. This one is quite a doozy. A couple of kids die when they try to save an unconscious homeless man from a train. Instead of dying though, they're spirited away to an apartment in downtown Tokyo by some giant metallic egg. The egg spouts guns and uniforms and has them hunt a celery-kid and his father.
Um, I don't know what to make of this. We hear most of this through one kid's point of view. He's horny and seems to resent doing anything that might help someone else. His friend wants to help other people and our narrator really has the hots for one of the women in their little group, but we're given next to no information about what they people are doing. The living can't seems to see them though their weapons blow up walls. The celery kid actually lives in a house. Anyone who wanders away from this little scenario blows up. So, these are dead people who can die. Again. Weird.
Posted by deaconmf at 07:49 PM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2005
Bright Young Things on DVD, 4/1/05
This wasn't disasterous, but it sure isn't the book. Vile Bodies is one of those very funny novels that revels in its bitchiness. I guess the screenwriter/director changed the name of his movie because it's not the same thing at all. He makes his characters tragic and then gives the leads a happy ending. Too bad. Evelyn Waugh would have had something nasty, funny and appropriate to say about all this.
Posted by deaconmf at 07:01 PM | Comments (0)