Tweeting the Movies, Sep – Nov ’10
As the month closes, I’m consolidating here all the tweets on all the movies I’ve seen since I boarded the flight to college, in lieu of the fuller reviews that I haven’t found the time to write. I’ll be listing, in alphabetical order, the movies released in the US this year that I’ve seen, then all the others beneath the jump:
ANOTHER YEAR, ’10: Homely, comic, laced with bitter regret; end chapter tips into frost. A gem ensemble. Staunton haunts, Manville improves
CATERPILLAR, ’10: Assaulting, repetitive, too literal in its nationalistic and gendered metaphors; but in historical context, it kinda works
DOGTOOTH, ’09: Achieves the dark, biting horror of parental overprotection and deceit that Shyamalan’s THE VILLAGE only feigned to hint at
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 1, ’10: Cried within opening minute for Hermione’s self-erasure. Mechanical Cliff’s Notes-ing and scenery porn thereafter
IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE, ’10: Incessantly follows its unlikable lead, with literal closeups on his back. But his unknowability wears thin
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, ’10: Milks awkwardness for long stretches, often swerves broad/tasteless for laughs. Still raw and tender, though
UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES, ’10: Mostly linear Apichatpong: not a good sign. At its best when unpredictable, and steeped in folkloric desire
WINTER’S BONE, ’10: Generic plot of cockblocks shifts to meth gang-fueled jolt, deus ex machina, Oscar clip. Sharper in scenes of domestic resilience
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, ’68: Sublimely scored opera of primal visions, riveting sci-fi worldbuilding, boldly deliberate thriller. A triumph
ADAM’S RIB, ’49: A shocking, revealing play at Tracy/Hepburn’s relationship. Outraged, sex-minded and needy Hepburn is a surprise
AELITA, ’24: Cockamamie mix of melodrama, sight gags, stagey set pieces, and Soviet Martian revolutions. Yes, you heard that last one right
BACK TO THE FUTURE, ’85: A peak of 80s fantasy aesthetic. Joyfully contrived sets and scenarios, campy hindsight time-travel jokes galore
THE BOURNE IDENTITY, ’02: Still kinetic, though it now feels like a schematic, over-sentimental setup for the sequels
THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, ’04: Re-jolts the series by pitting two “rogue agents” against each other, both driven by offenses they didn’t court
DOWN WITH LOVE, ’03: Reed proves as savvy, colorful, daring as with BRING IT ON. McGregor never more lasciviously exploited without nudity
GILDA, ’46: A draggy, curious noir on triangular obsession; only Hayworth earns and keeps her status as bearer/object of hatred and desire
HEDGEHOG IN THE FOG, ’75: One of Miyazaki’s faves, a charmingly textured, quaint children’s-book short. See it!
HOLIDAY, ’38: Fairest standoff of Freedom against Sensibility I’ve seen in Hollywood romantic idealism. Grant and Hepburn lovely, fragile
KRAMER VS KRAMER, ’79: Breadwinner tamed by housewife’s duties: what’s new? Middlebrow, sturdy. Courtroom pushes Hoffman and Streep to peaks
THE LADY EVE, ’41: Stanwyck’s masterclass in sensuality, intelligence, emotional clarity & comic wizardry. Deftly paced, if a bit boisterous
THE MATRIX, ’99: “Anti-bourgeois/authority” gun/PVC worship and gender/race/human treatment still problematic, but an effective mass fantasy
MCCABE AND MRS MILLER, ’71: Hazily, expansively grounded in its small-town locale and western tropes. Beatty at his muffled best
MEAN GIRLS, ’04: Oddly, a career landmark for most involved (‘cept Fey, who got her Palin acting break). Still propulsive, witty. I miss Lindsay!
MOONSTRUCK, ’87: Odd-toned romcom, dull and tangential in construction, bizarre in sentimentalism. Possible brainchild of Wednesday Addams
PATHER PANCHALI, ’55: Loose vignettes rooted in rhythm to the life of poor, rural Indian family. Charming, eye-opening, at times very sad
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, ’75: Brilliantly deranged, yet oddly unmoving; this movie demands the big screen and crowd call-and-response
RUN LOLA RUN, ’98: Runs purely on the MTV adrenalin and absurdity of its conceit; not many ways each branching timeline could end, really
SAMURAI FICTION, ’98: Rote samurai story, enlivened by anachronistic score, cheeky camera and trope use. Clear influence on KILL BILL
THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, ’40: Unhurried, humane, equal parts bittersweet and warm. Masterful handling of a potentially treacly premise
V FOR VENDETTA, ’06: “Ideas are bulletproof,” so this movie isn’t, mixing lip-service to democratic ideals with stylized violent anarchy
Hi! Its great to see a cinephile from Singapore having a film blog, cuz I am also deeply interested in films( not referring to big budget blockbusters and mega franchises) and from SG too. Are you going to watch Black Swan? I am dying to watch it and it kills me that it is only opening here in Feb 13. And your review of TKAAR is abit harsh , i liked that movie though I wish i could view it in better quality cuz I streamed it from some website. And would u mind explaining but what you meant by “Generic plot of cockblocks”? Thanks and do keep posting!!!!!!!!!!
1Hi Bluemoon, thanks for the encouragement, and glad to hear of your interest in films too. I will, indeed, be catching Black Swan here in the US when it releases sometime in December.
Re: The Kids Are All Right, I actually liked how uncomfortable it dared to be (as I implied by “milks” in “milks awkwardness for long stretches”), but sometimes (especially) the extramarital affair was played for laughs when it shouldn’t have been, which explains my “broad/tasteless” qualification.
Re: Winter’s Bone, almost a good hour is spent on Jennifer Lawrence’s character wandering around houses in the middle of nowhere, and having grumps deny her information about her father that they obviously have.
2Oic. Actually the tone of tkkar was supposed to be more dramatic but Annette benning suggested to the director to not make things too heavy-laden, as seen in the interviews . Maybe that’s why the the adultery seemed more comedic and slapstick, but u can sense the heavy burden of guilt and mental exhaustion when she asked for a cigarette. . I related more to Julianne ‘s character , her ending monologue and her explaination on why they watch gay porn was pure gold.
U seemed to have watched a number of Hepburn films, are u a fan? My personal favourite of hers is Summertime. And your review of The Lady Eve is spot on. Best female comedic performance I have ever seen.
3I am indeed a fan of Hepburn, though I haven’t yet come across Summertime. My favorite dramatic performances of hers, which I’d recommend you check out, are her pridefully nutjob matriarch in Suddenly, Last Summer and (if you have three hours to spare) her self-deceiving, barely held-together wraith of pooled regrets in Long Day’s Journey into Night.
4All this time I thought you probably didn’t have english as your native language but wikipedia informs me that it is actually the main language of Singapore.
That means that you’re “just” a brilliant writer and not an alien god. (because alien gods are more powerfull than Earth ones :S)
That a person can write that good at your age and with that kind of insight that you do, is impressive enough.
A random request: I’d appreciate it if you added in your blogger profile your favorite movies and books. Just curious and interested in suggestions.
Are you planning to become a film writer or haven’t decided yet? I know you are not studying film but you seem to be very interested (and -ing, obviously).
5Dear James: Native language or not, you’re too kind! All credit, of course, should belong to our (I presume) mutual mentor Nick Davis, and the guiding trail of formal insight and humanism that his writing has blazed. As Bluemoon has noted elsewhere in the comments, I am in fact already starting my majors in film and literature. I’m not presently intending to pursue film writing as a full-fledged career (my present plan is to teach high school literature back in Singapore), but I’ll still have plenty of opportunities between now and then to write about them in college. Plus, I’ll still have this blog.
6Oh, I had no doubt your strengths as a film writer have a lot to do with Nick. It’s difficult to read a paragraph written by him and not be inspired. Without him knowing it (or maybe he does know), he’s done a great job with a really talented student
7To James T: I am confused but isn’t Colin majoring in Film and English?
To ColinLow: Would like to know on how you manage to get a place in this university to study film? Were u an alevel student or from a polytechnic? I was from a jc and i did badly for my As. Haas.
8You’re right. For some reason I thought he only studies English. :/
9Seen Suddenly Last Summer before and her voice, that metallic tone is a wonder. I enjoyed her opening scene with montgomery clift where it became clear she is struggling to hold back her nervous breakdown with the thin line of depraved sophistication. Was unable up finish Long DayS Journey To night because of the extremely long n tedious dialogue and it was hard watching them Do nothing but indulged in hard liquor and lamenting about the past every minute.
10Can’t wait to see ANOTHER YEAR. Not showing near me.
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