May 2013 Movie Journal - Xanadon't

An engaging documentary/film essay that presents viewers with multiple readings, theories, and musings on what the beloved horror classic The Shining is really about. The filmmakers don't attempt to cast judgement on any of the collected analysis (no matter how far fetched some of the more elaborate theories might get) and this works in the film's favor.

In the end this is a fun exercise and an entertaining way to spend time with Kubrick's horror masterpiece, even if I won't feel compelled to visit the documentary a second time. But for those interested in film appreciation and thinking about the different ways of "reading" a film, Room 237 is a great watch.

Baz Lurman's imagining of Fitzgeral's "Great American Novel" and high school reading list staple is splashy cinematic bliss for most of its run-time. It's only in the final 20 minutes that the film loses a bit of its steam and some of it's magic begins to fade.

Still, in many respects this was one of the most satisfying novel adaptations I've seen-- the film actually bolstered my fondness for the book and reminds of just how rich and timeless (while existing very much of their time) Fitzgerald's characters are. It was a pleasure to watch a talented cast bring them to life here and neat watching Lurman inject the story with his lavish and excited sensibility.

I'll be watching it again, hoping the film reaches a level of greatness that a first watch never quite mustered up.

I've said it elsewhere, and I'll say it again-- I enjoyed Star Trek Into Darkness exactly enough to never watch it again, but almost certainly watch the next installment. And that's just fine by me.

Benedict Cumberbusterredenbacher made for a far better villain than the first reboot gave us.

A thoughtful, precisely observant, and pleasantly sweet-hearted slice-of-life indie flick that does nearly everything right. There's a voice and heartbeat to this little film that immediately grabbed and maintained my absolute attention and affection all the way through. $65,000 movies don't often come better than this.

I'll be keeping my eye out for future projects from this director, as well as anything that the two talented young leads might do next.

This was a fun enough off-beat movie, but it was eventually pulled down by a sorta self-aware "trying too hard to be cool" kind of thing that prevented anything from feeling very immediate-- or very special -- to me. Don't get me wrong-- a certain amount of John Dies at the End comes off as fresh and smart and most movies (especially genre movies) can't even make that claim. So this may well do more for you than me. But fact of the matter is, the movie didn't make much of an impression on me and I'm already having trouble remembering much of the film in any significant capacity.

Stand Up Guys is a mostly mediocre film that does a few thing surprisingly well. One of those things is the way the movie establishes tone and place. There's a somber and pensive vibe to most of what exists between its overt gags and comic set-ups. It kinda crept up on me in a sneaky way, and if the film was a bit less uneven, I think this could've been one of the more quietly effective and overlooked movies of the year. Additionally, the movie provides a coherent and unique universe that's at once very much like we've seen before, but somehow different. The streets and sets are a little lonely, the plotting is sometimes a bit absurd, but when the movie is hitting the right notes, this suits the story and the themes well and we're presented with a sorta dreamy "familiar, but not familiar" world, and a believable one.

Unfortunately the movie is also a bit too silly and often kind of dumb to really strike any deeper levels of fascination. At the end of the day, Stand Up Guys is mostly just a show-case for the seasoned talents of Christopher Walken, Al Pacino, and Alan Arkin, that hits a few nice notes here and there.

A promising set up and some genuinely creepy visuals eventually deteriorates into a frustrating and asinine mess. By the end, the movie is just a nonsensical free-for-all that doesn't even bother to create, much less follow, its own horror-movie logic. It basically becomes a disaster.

But come to think of it-- I was never going to love this movie. Jessica Chastain's character is over-written and over-performed in a way that becomes laughable during the moments that it's not simply cringe-inducing. There's nothing in the way of humanity-conducive subtlety. She's a cliche lifted from the page and remains a lifeless cliche on-screen, and nothing more.

It's ambitious, for sure, but not wholly successful. I found myself admiring Blindness every now and then, but never actually liking it.

I didn't dislike it the way that I often felt about Igby Goes Down, but it never struck me as a uniquely special high school movie. I'll take Easy A, Rushmore, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, or even Ferris Bueller's Day Off (that's what the poster reminds me of!) over this, any day.

I was hoping to report that The Ladykillers is a severely underrated Coen Brother's effort, but no cigar. It really isn't all that good. Whereas I mostly enjoy the Coens work for their talky scripts, here the talkiness eventually grew tiresome. And whereas the Coens generally offer up enjoyable, colorful, and nicely rounded out supporting characters-- here we're given an ensemble of mostly dull -- and sometimes grating -- sidekicks. Sidekicks to Tom Hanks' at first intriguing, but finally see-through and played out, lead performance.

Luckily Irma P. Hall is pretty darn magnificent. Without her the movie would be nearly altogether unremarkable.

Quintessentially film-noir, Out of the Past feels like one of those classics that I should've seen years ago, and am now returning to rather than watching for the first time.

Robert Mitchum absolutely kills in this movie-- his screen presence is immense and seemingly effortless. He has a casual, laid-back, almost cocky kind of way about him. Part of why it works so well is because he looks more like, say, a hockey player, than a Golden Era Hollywood star. His gruff, everyman persona is at once identifiable and larger-than-life. He impresses as a movie character, and not simply an icon.

Jane Greer is beautiful and beguiling, captivating and infuriating in her role. She pretty much nails it.

Out of the Past is a near-perfect balance of fun and serious-minded. Much of the dialogue crackles with punchy wit and hard-nosed attitude. It never quite achieves the scope or style of what one would commonly call a masterpiece, but damn if this isn't good cinema.

Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart. Can't ask for a bigger cast. And in this film each one of them reminds us exactly why they're the icons that they are. Fantastic performances all around.

I was really impressed with just how hilarious this movie is. I don't remember laughing nearly as much during High Society (the musical retelling of the same story). There's a certain element to the story that I simply don't find terribly interesting, dealing with the woes of the privileged upper-class ans so forth, but there's enough universal ideas and themes at play to really make the film compelling. And it was interesting to ponder how the filmmakers got around the Hollywood production code that was in place at the time-- what with all the "racy" plot-points going on.

Anyways, it's really a fine romantic comedy/screwball comedy of the era that deals with ideas of love and redemption and its fun watching the film sort its way through its love tangled mess to arrive at a sweet ending. Great watch! Thanks phillydu... er, portlander!!

I guess if I had to single out a Studio Ghibli movie as being "non-essential" thus far, Porco Rosso is the one I'd go with.

Not as wonderful and magical and endearing as I felt it to be when I saw it in the theater. In fact, it's likely nowhere close. But I still think it's a rather fun, smart, and sensitive movie that's a simple pleasure to watch.

Moulin Rouge is a hyper-stylized, hyper-edited, hyper-charismatic celebration of film-making. It weaves together so much from the "good old days" when it comes to story-telling, slapstick, musical grandeur, and so-forth, and then vomits it out into a brightly ambitious, shamelessly romantic, and tirelessly inventive extravaganza of modern cinema. It's pretty marvelous, really.

What a weirdo genius that David Lynch guy is, huh? Well, I think so anyway, even if some of you think he's a blathering jackass.

Just an oddly and entirely mesmerizing film busting at the seems with striking visuals and cheerfully (and not so cheerfully) haunting moments.

I really really like this movie, though I don't love it. It's all a bit too neat and tidy and visually it's just not that interesting to look at. But I will say, this is one of the best ensemble cast/performances ever put together. Holy hell, is there ever some fine acting on display all over the goddamn place.

Strikes me as one of the greatest pieces of horror cinema to come down through the ages. I could probably watch it every month for the rest of the year and not grow tired of it.