Mineshaft Gap

It's a screening log, no more no less. Maybe I'll have something interesting to say one of these days...


Dustin Hoffman Double Feature.

All the President's Men (Pakula, 1976)

I revisited this over the to show it to my girlfriend. What an amazing, well made film this is. Combines great performances, intelligent direction, taught writing and social consciousness in the way the only the 70s could. Perhaps the best part of the film is the humor, the look on Redford's face when he gets Hunt on the line, or the way Hoffman gets the bookkeeper to talk.

It actually manages to be inspiring, and coming from Hollywood, even in the 70s, that is some feat.

The Graduate (Nichols, 1967)

For some strange reason I had never seen this before, and now I have no idea why I waited so long. Absolutely worth all the praise, Nichols second feature takes a great script co-written by Buck Henry and adds the clear influence of the French New Wave to make something truly new and special. The editing when Ben sees Mrs. Robinson naked for the first time is brilliant, as is the lost summer montage. Hoffman is so funny here, and so great at playing much younger than he was. Amazing to think this was only his second feature.

For someone about to graduate, it is still an oddly relevant film. And Simon and Garfunkel were the best folk act ever, and yes I include Dylan in that.

Verite.

United 93 (Greengrass, 2006)

United 93 is an amazing film, one that totally surprised me as well as shaking and saddening me. Greengrass rises to the top of the filmmaking game here, creating a story that feels so true and powerful that one cannot look away no matter how awful the images feel.

It is a film that manages to stir feelings of patriotism in me, without succombing to Bushisms.

Most importantly, and in a scene that I feel will be misunderstood, I feel that the film condems religion. There is a scene in which both the terrorists and passengers are praying. It underlines the ways in which something like religion, theoretically designed for the good of mankind, does nothing more than seperate us.

With the performances Greengrass gets from both his actors and those playing themselves, combined with such visercal visuals, Greengrass has fashioned a remarkable and moving film.

Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. United 93
2. A Prairie Home Companion
3. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
4. Hard Candy
5. V for Vendetta
6. Thank You For Smoking
7. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
8. Slither
9. American Dreamz
10. Silent Hill

Victims and victimizers.

Hard Candy (Slade, 2006)

No matter what the preview audience I saw the film with might think, David Slade's Hard Candy is no girl power fantasy. Instead this is a amazingly tragic thriller that shows the true depths of what sexual violence can do to a young woman. Slade opens up the theatricality of the very good and literate script, while at the same time eliciting amazing performances from both his leads. Page and Wilson both deserve the highest praise for their work here, and Page might just be a major new find if she gets the right parts in her development.

The most amazing thing about the film is the way it asks questions and inverts conventions of the rape-revenge genre. Though many audiences might be conditioned to accept and even want the type of violence she visits on the Wilson character, the film brilliantly show the sadness of the character and the depths of depravity that some unknown violence can place in the mind of a young girl.

Great work from everyone involved. Special mention must also be made of the stellar art direction in this film, truly superb.

Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. A Prairie Home Companion
2. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
3. Hard Candy
4. V for Vendetta
5. Thank You For Smoking
6. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
7. Slither
8. American Dreamz
9. Silent Hill
10.

Video Games.

Silent Hill (Gans, 2006)

There is a good Silent Hill film to be made, but this is certainly not it. For about 20 minutes Gans' atmosphere and camerawork are effective at getting up a few scares, and the first appearance of the Pyramid-head is frightening. But after that it quickly descends into horrible plotting and a ridiculous explanation scene that reveals nothing if have actually been watching the film. The third act in particular is atrocious, and gets more laughs than creeps. Roger Avery's script is an utter failure, and that hamstrings the film almost as much as the progressively over-kinetic camerawork.

This should have been fantastic, instead of terrible.


Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. A Prairie Home Companion
2. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
3. V for Vendetta
4. Thank You For Smoking
5. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
6. Slither
7. American Dreamz
8. Silent Hill
9.
10.

First act problems.

Slither (Gunn, 2006)

James Gunn's Slither is a fun and funny movie with a few major and painful flaws. Chief amongst those is the awful and boring first act, which seems to have over estimated the audiences' tolerance for the anoying heavy. It is not until the Nathan Fillion character becomes the lead about 30 minutes into the film that the humor really takes off and Slither stops being a total bore.

Fillion is an incredibly deft actor, able to play action hero and comedy equally well(thank Joss Whedon for that). Overall, the film doesn't work but I would still tell friends to see it.

One last note: Why is there no nudity in this film? There are scenes written into the script that only play as a sendup of B horror nudity, and without the women being naked the jokes don't play.


Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. A Prairie Home Companion
2. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
3. V for Vendetta
4. Thank You For Smoking
5. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
6. Slither
7. American Dreamz
8.
9.
10.

Canted Angles.

Scream (Craven, 1996)

Surprisingly, I had never seen Craven and Williamson's pomo horror flick. And for the most part I'll say it's a decent script if not a great film. Williamson has always been too clever by half, but he manages to reign it in here somewhat. Craven however always was and will be a hack. It seems that his entire directorial vision for the film was to cant the camera. It adds nothing to the tension and in fact just becomes annoying quickly.

While the film is a comedy first and foremost, the lack of anything resembling actual scares is what kills the film. Maybe if a more talented director was handling the picture it could have lived up to its solid script.

Then again, who knows what problems arose simply from having such a braindead cast. They are all at the top of their games here, and that is just sad. Only Arquette and Jamie Kennedy manage to register, and then mostly just as comic relief.

Put in the hands of someone a little more clever (David Fincher, perhaps?) this could have been a great film, instead of just a pop culture moment.

Scary Children.

The Brood (Cronenberg, 1979)

Cronenberg's third feature, The Brood is an effective, bizarre little thriller that furthers my theory that little blond children are the scariest things alive. Though the film loses its way between the first and second kills, it gets back on track soon and overall it is very tight and scary.

The best aspect of the film is the almost total lack of exposition. We are thrown into this world with a great opening scene, and little is established of what is going on. For a plotline that is so outlandish, the less information we receive the better. I don't really want to know how the brood were created, or what psycho
plasmics is or how it works, the answers could only be unsatisfactory. Cronenberg films are about mood and visceral alienation from your own body, and over explanation would kill them.

With this film Cronenberg had yet to achieve the mastery he would attain with The Fly, but it showed immense talent and potential.

Cigs.

Thank You For Smoking (Reitman, 2006)

Jason Reitman's debut feature is a funny, oddball film that will hopefully be a star turn for Aaron Eckhart. Though much better in its first 20 minutes than in the rest of the film, it is quite enjoyable overall. Cameron Bright scares me.

Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. A Prairie Home Companion
2. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
3. V for Vendetta
4. Thank You For Smoking
5. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
6. American Dreamz
7.
8.
9.
10.
1.