The Watchtower of Destruction: The Ferrett's Journal - The Collapsing Video Store Of Doom Mini-Reviews, Part 1!
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The Collapsing Video Store Of Doom Mini-Reviews, Part 1!
All right, so I have all of these videos ganked from the sad ruins of a video store*, and not surprisingly I've been watching many of them. Here are my reviews in brief, in alphabetical order.
American Beauty
The inspiration for a thousand other "Suburbia is a place of rot and ruin" movies, American Beauty succeeds for three reasons:
1) Unlike the other also-rans, it understands that at one point, suburbia filled a need in these characters' lives, and that they chose to be there. Awful movies like "Little Children," on the other hand, seems to think that the characters were hauled off to the suburbs one day by police and left there as a form of punishment.
2) It knows that Lester Burnham's revival is both exhiliarating and kind of creepy. Really, he's the skeezy old guy.
3) There is one choice that Lester makes at the end that completely redeems him for everything that he's done. And that choice is both surprising and beautiful, showing humanity's best and worst in a nutshell.
Gini saw it and was amazed. I was amazed at how much its ironic tone has been ported to TV in particular, with shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "Dead Like Me" ripping off the narration and the soundtrack and the style wholesale. Not that this is a bad thing, but I have a feeling if we were to measure movies in terms of influence upon other media, American Beauty would be at the top of the list for recent films, right under The Matrix.
Awakenings
Starring Robin Williams as the reticent, awkward physician who stumbles upon the cure to bring brain-damaged patients out of their paralysis, this movie was surprising to me in what I forgot. I remembered how stubborn Robin Williams (playing one of my favorite writers, Oliver Sacks) was at curing the patients. I remembered how Robert Deniro played one of those patients and did his usual Robert Deniro shtick. I remembered how delightful it was when the patients awoke all at once, freed from their bodily lockstep to literally be brought back to life.
What I had forgotten was the struggles that followed after as the patients, now perfectly healthy but still in an asylum, fought to be treated like people. That had completely slipped my mind, and I'm not sure why; it's sort of like we all remember how awesome Martin Luther King was at fighting for black rights, but we forget that he was brutally anti-Vietnam as well, saying things that would make Obama's Pastor Wright nod his head in agreement.
And it's not that it wasn't interesting to me. It was just not... Part of the story. But it is part of the story. Why would that not stick in my head? Bizarre.
Also, I stand alone on this one, but Robert Deniro is a fine actor who is terribly overrated. He has, essentially, two roles: impassive thug or everyday guy. He's great in both of them, don't get me wrong, but the ability to modulate the thug slightly does not make the difference between his performance in, say, Goodfellas and Casino all that different. And he hasn't stepped out of that comfort zone ever, at least not that I've seen.
Anyway, Awakenings is a solid film that seems to have slipped from the mind of the public. But hey! I have it. Thanks to a dead video store. And speaking of Robert Deniro....
Casino
Martin Scorcese excels at making quality films about people I personally hate. Casino is a three-hour movie about three utter scumbags, any of whom I'd be happy to see dead. There's Ace Rothstein, a clutching, anal-retentive dick; Joe Pesci-under-a-pseudonym, playing an amoral, whining thug; and Sharon Stone as a whore in every worst sense of the word, greedy and venal and completely able to justify every shitty thing she does while trying to make you feel bad for her.
It's a very well-done movie. But I still cheer at the end when the bodies start falling.
Casino Royale
This got a lot better on the second viewing. I think of "Casino Royale" as "The Bond film for people who don't like Bond," because it's so awesome with Daniel Craig as a raw lump of beef, lacking subtlety, who will eventually learn to become the smooth Bond we know and love but not there yet. I love the way Craig plays Bond - cunning, smart as all hell, but just a hair less smart than he needs to be at this stage. And the action sequences are among the best in any film.
Frankly, I think it's a shame that "Best Stuntwork" isn't an Oscar category. And if it was, this should have won it in 2007, no ifs, ands, or buts.
The only ding to Casino Royale is that I turned it off half an hour early. It's a wonderful film, but the coda with the love interest takes far too long, and the final sequence in the building in Venice is the lamest in the movie. Still, major points for bringing parkour to the big screen, guys.
The Color Purple
Those who have been reading my journal for a long time will doubtlessly remember my consistent, vitriolic hatred of Whoopi Goldberg. However, having seen the musical, I conceded that this could have been the one role that Whoopi was born to play.
I was disappointed.
The movie isn't terrible - Steven Spielberg has a way of capturing iconic moments with a single camera angle, and that's apparent even in his lesser works - but the adaptation cuts out the stuff that I found most compelling in the play and book. The lesbian relationship where Celie finds love? Barely mentioned. The bizarre love triangle at the end? Not really touched. The redemption of the most evil characters in the film? Skimmed over. The way Celie finds her own self-love? Hinted at.
What we're left with is a very, very long movie about a woman who's beat to shit by life but eventually overcomes. Which I've seen before. I felt like Steven actually reduced the story to its most mundane components, leaving out the little bits that really perked my interest. And so it was merely okay. And long. Very long.
Hunchback of Notre Dame
I remembered this movie as being better than everyone thought it was at the time. On second viewing, I realize that I was wrong. Sorry.
Also, the fact that Disney chose a twisted hunchback as the resting place for their next big Burger King campaign still boggles the mind. They thought this was merchandisable? Calling Walt!
Jerry Maguire
A near-perfect love story about a selfish, ugly sports agent who makes a very bad mistake and then proceeds to make even worse mistakes throughout the movie. The romance is agonizingly real, where you can see two characters who are completely unsuited for each other backing into what they don't need out of instinct and terror... And yet somehow this works.
We all know the end. "You complete me." "You had me at hello." But the reason those lines became iconic is because they showed the potential for change. That's beautiful and good.
Though I do wonder how much the Academy regrets giving Cuba the Oscar every time "Snow Dogs III: This Time It's Doggier" comes direct to DVD. "OSCAR-WINNING ACTOR CUBA GOODING, JR!" it shouts, and somewhere a board meeting groans.
Also to the also, Tom Cruise? Still like him as an actor here, just as I still enjoy Michael Jackson's early music. The man does not touch the performance for me. Though he has a couple of Oprah-style moments in this one.
Kentucky Fried Movie
Gini thinks this is a bad movie. She is wrong. She does not like dumb movies, and this is one of the greatest dumb comedies of all time. Made by the guys who brought you Airplane, this is a series of comedy sketches that are each strangely hysterical and shameless in that Naked Gun sort of way. (Fun fact: They rip off several gags wholesale from Kentucky Fried Movie to use in Naked Gun II.)
Now if only I had The Groove Tube.
Memento
Christopher Nolan is my official Favorite Director of The Twenty-First Century. Has the man directed a bad movie? No. The Prestige was one of the great films of our time, Batman Begins was an awesome action flick, and Memento is awesome at the way it takes what could have been a cheesy trick - a film shown backwards thanks to a man with a memory that only goes back ten minutes - and turns it into something both chilling and moving.
It held up very well. And I'd forgotten how brutally evil Carrie-Anne Moss's character truly was, because she appears sympathetic at first almost every time we meet her. But she is evil. Even if the protagonist will never know that.
Also, I wanted to watch this in the theater with the tie-in candy: Mementos, the candy you eat first and then open the wrapper.
Three Kings
Still one of the best movies about modern war ever made. See it.
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| | "And he hasn't stepped out of that comfort zone ever, at least not that I've seen."
Haven't you seen Stardust? :/ Or Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Maybe that's why he doesn't step out too often.
Edited at 2008-04-15 02:45 pm (UTC) Also, the fact that Disney chose a twisted hunchback as the resting place for their next big Burger King campaign still boggles the mind. They thought this was merchandisable? Calling Walt!
What about Ratatouille? Rats and French Cuisine! But Ratatouille worked because the rat is CUTE. Disney films depend on the cuteness and accessiblity of their characters. The Hunchback? Not cute. They tried super hard but it didn't work and their efforts totally pulled the teeth of the story. Casino Royale isn't the only movie to bring parkour to the big screen - there was a fun little French film a few years ago that did, too - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414852/ - it' s not bad if you don't mind subtitles. A little lacking on plot, but... Heh, I just recommended that too! A lot of French action movies have parkour-ish feel. The action sequences frequently have with a lot of movement and acrobatics. I saw American Beauty in the theater and was blown away by the nuance of it all. I loved it even while I thought Lester was a creepy fucking lech at times.
But then I tried to watch it again and, like most movies that hinge on a twist/surprise ending (see also, anything by M. Night), I just couldn't appreciate the journey through the film - the weight of knowing the ending hung over everything, colored everything in new and far less subtle and/or emotional ways and, instead of being incredible, it was both boring and highly irritating as people behaved badly and then even more badly.
It makes me so sad, because I really wish it were possible to recapture the feeling of watching it unfold for the first time. Have you seen Starfall? Robert DeNiro was hilarious, in a pretty decent modulation of the thug role. Not the typical. I think you mean Stardust. Also, I stand alone on this one, but Robert Deniro is a fine actor who is terribly overrated.
Fortunately, I saw "Awakenings" long before crap like "Patch Adams", because I now view Robin Williams as far more of an overrated deterrent than Deniro. ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/42449233/7138923) | | From: | ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) 28bytes |
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| Date: | April 15th, 2008 06:56 pm (UTC) |
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I resent the fact that I can't un-see Patch Adams. The way that they shot the gunfights in Three Kings were fabulous, and something that I wish I got to see replicated in other films. But the Bullet-Time thing took over too much. :P
Edited at 2008-04-15 01:45 pm (UTC) ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/67685551/11033953) | | From: | vrax |
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| Date: | April 15th, 2008 01:50 pm (UTC) |
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| | Casino! | (Link) |
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So my grandfather, Judge Adrian Fink, used to be law partners with Oscar Goodman, shown in the film as Pesce's attorney.
I saw the movie with him in a packed theater sitting in the front row. My wife was there too, hearing for the first time about his old jobs. Well, my grandfather is pretty close to deaf so he tends to yell a lot.
And yell he did. We heard the real life gritty details of each guys crimes, and how their lawyers kept getting them off. He told us which parts were nearly-truthful and what was totally made up. Due to his volume, he told the rest of the patrons that night, too.
I don't think I could ever watch it again. ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/56728339/537564) | | From: | ladywind |
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| Date: | April 15th, 2008 04:20 pm (UTC) |
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| | Re: Casino! | (Link) |
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And see... now I wish I could watch it with your grandfather. :) I have wanted a copy of Kentucky Fried Movie for a long, long time. I think if more of my friends saw that movie, they would understand me much better (my wife, bless her, thinks it's hilarious, too, which explains a lot about why she hasn't dumped me long ago).
I agree on the stuntwork in Casino Royale: I like the much more acrobatic (but still not wire fu) action of the baddie in that than just running down a street, shooting, and throwing punches. ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/109082541/810751) | | From: | jfargo |
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| Date: | April 15th, 2008 01:52 pm (UTC) |
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Very cool reviews, and I completely agree about Memento. Loved that movie, and thought afterwards how amazing it was that the trick came across well as opposed to feeling hackneyed. Two movies for you:
District B13: A French action/sci-fi flick starring one of the guys that founded parkour.
August Rush: Heart-warming Dickenisian magical realism. I watched it last night because I wanted something brainless and upbeat. I liked it way more than I thought I would. August Rush was one of the biggest surprises I've ever seen in the theatre. Both my boyfriend and I walked out of the theatre sublimely happy after seeing it. ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/8998562/1520447) | | From: | darlox |
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| Date: | April 15th, 2008 01:54 pm (UTC) |
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I'm fairly certain that The Groove Tube is a little too raunchy for a family-friendly Giant Eagle. I, personally, could have gone my entire life without seeing Chevy Chase's penis doing a PSA for venereal disease...
It is funny, but absolutely true, that we own this DVD. And it is (I believe) the only DVD that lives in a drawer of random junk somewhere in my office, rather than on the DVD shelf! Gr. Hunchback. Had a lot of cool in it-- I like the Gypsies-- but... who decided to make a Disney movie of that book? Esmeralda dies. Phoebus indirectly kills her and watches her die with his fiancee by his side. Quasi dies, but it's beautiful and perfect and does not involve falling off the cathedral.
It still annoys me that everyone I knew knew Quasi dies, but the movie was such that they thought he splatted rather than... I love the last scene of the book. I can almost understand changing Phoebus from a lustful guy who tries to rape the love-struck Esmeralda and then allows her to go forward to execution for his murder due to a misunderstanding.
What pisses me off is that they changed one of the most tragic parts of Quasi's character -- he's deaf. He used to be able to interact with people if they could get past his appearance (or not see it), but the bells he loves so much have destroyed his hearing, and his last chance to be able to go out into the world.
But deaf hunchbacks don't sing very well, so DisneyModo has perfect hearing.
It's baffling why they picked that book, of all things, to make a movie out of. It's totally inappropriate for a children's movie without such huge revisions that, in the end, you're just making a different movie with the same character names. So why pretend it's based on the book in the first place? Memento is one of my favourite movies ever, and I also was baffled HOW evil Moss's character was. Not Snow Dogs III: Dog Harder? Snow Dogs III: The Doggening. KFM is one of my favorite movies.
"But you could always go home. Just crick your heers, thlee times" That was a quote of extra-ordinary magnitude. You obviously forge your comments in the spirit of our ancestors. ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/8796120/32341) | | From: | shayde |
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| Date: | April 15th, 2008 02:08 pm (UTC) |
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You ran down a perfect list of movies there - all I've seen, and I agree with the comments.
I had the happiness of coming across a video store unloading DVD's by the bucketful at a flea market a few years ago, and added another 35+ movies to my pile (now floating around 400 titles). Having the media, and having the time to just sit and -watch-. Ahhhhh.
ALso, your comments on Casino were dead on. Great movie, yay bodies flying at the end. "YES! Shoot him AGAIN!"
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/97847649/446488) | | From: | ewin |
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| Date: | April 15th, 2008 02:13 pm (UTC) |
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I read The Color Purple on a frequent basis. It's just one of those books that's incredibly important to me. I found the movie disappointing... it verged close to slapstick so many times. Probably the only thing that the film did right that I wish the book had in it was that scene with Albert cheering Shug on as she drives away in the van, and then Celie collapsing on the road... it encapsulated a lot. Still. It was a one-see.
DeNiro: he has a certain kind of acting genius. It's like Jack Nicholson, or in a way, John Cusack... you go to the movie knowing exactly who you're going to see. But the way he delivers a line is special. The way he looks at other characters is special. Little tiny things make him fascinating to watch, and let you know what he's thinking. (My fave role for him is still the one from Backdraft...)
It's sort of like the way you listen to some singers for their incredible range, and some for their subtle timbre and inflection. | From: | pi216 |
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| Date: | April 15th, 2008 02:16 pm (UTC) |
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I re-watched Casino Royale with a friend who hadn't cared for it on his first viewing, and (with the subtitles on, as always; we've been doing it for years, simply because we're ALL movie-talkers and -mockers, at least in each others' homes) we went through the whole thing breaking down the construction of Craig as proto-Bond instead of iconic Bond. He liked it much, MUCH more. | From: | pi216 |
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| Date: | April 15th, 2008 02:18 pm (UTC) |
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And to nerd out over the action sequences tying in with the proto-Bondness, Bond versus parkour was just fantastic. "Oh HELL no I can't do that, but I can...". Royale Bond was all about tactics, in contrast to the later (timeline-wise) strategic Bond. Hunchback, for me, will always be redeemed by the Parental Bonus of "Hellfire." Sinister chanting and corrupt, horny priests: man, it's like a Squaresoft game in a Disney movie. A small defense of Carrie Anne Moss' character in Memento.
Don't forget that Ledger's character brutally murdered her boyfriend in the end (er beginning) of the movie, and that she figured it out (what with him driving her boyfriend's car and wearing his clothes.)
So there was some serious in-the-heat-of-the-moment motivation for what she did. Once she realized the amnesia wasn't an act, she saw him less as the murderer, and more as the weapon, and perhaps felt justified in turning the weapon back on it's master (Joey Pants' character). And I think she felt regret for using him after she "pulled the trigger," hence the sleeping with him.
So, morally very bad and messed up. But I wouldn't classify it as stone cold evil. What would you do if your lover's murderer showed up on your doorstep, completely oblivious to the fact he'd killed that person, earnestly wanting to help you find who did it, and who would never remember doing anything you needed done? A fine recipe for some seriously bad choices to get made. American Beauty - don't forget Six Feet Under, which had the same writer...
I always felt there was something to be written about how Fight Club and American Beauty reflected each other. I've just never quite tied it down. ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/44258742/2702865) | | From: | beldar |
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| Date: | April 15th, 2008 03:40 pm (UTC) |
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Re: Jerry Maguire, I liked that one, though my SO doesn't. I always believed that if Gooding deserved the Oscar it was for being about the only person who ever made an Arizona Cardinals uniform look good.
As for Cruise, the darker his public persona turns, the more I like his acting in "Magnolia."
Amen on Memento. That would have been a total crapfest with anyone else. Perfect casting, and Nolan is a genius. Hate that The Prestige didn't get more attention than it did.
As for Three Kings, I know I'd love it, but every time I think of watching it I remember it stars George Clooney, who I know is good but always looks like he's winking at the screen, and Ice Cube, who is cinematically iffy, and I think of something else. Clooney is always winking at the audience. It's how he's gained his legions of followers. Just think of him not as winking, but squinting. It's a desert, there's lots of sun and sand, he's going sand-blind. :P I was going to say that. How does "gay sky pirate" fall into "thug" and "everyday guy"? Thug with triple sec, lime, and cranberry.
Or else, everyday guy with a flying boat.
I had a hard time believing the character, not because the character wasn't believable, but because it felt to me that DiNiro didn't get much past the surface of him.
This is probably what I get for watching Patrick Swayze in To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar", though, so hey, YMMV. ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/67387852/207113) | | From: | kenshi |
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| Date: | April 15th, 2008 03:45 pm (UTC) |
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Memento and 3 Kings: legendarily great
Jerry Maguire ... meh. Tom Cruise plays his normal douchebag self. Rene Zellweger is hideous as usual. They have no chemistry at all. FAIL. |
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