V for Vendetta (McTeigue, 2OO6)
The villains of James McTeigue and the Wachowski Brothers version of V for Vendetta are uninteresting. There is nothing new or different in this version of another dystopian future. The hero, however, is new and problematic. What are we to make of this freedom fighter that would imprison his only friend to destroy her fear.
And what do we make of the fact that in this world terrorism works, terrorism can be good. At what stage must we become freedom fighters, no matter what the cost.
The film also has a very interesting take on homoexuality, and turning as it does on a lesbian love story, in an action film no less, it may actually make a stronger movie forward for gay rights than Brokeback Mountain ever could. V may indeed be the first gay superhero, and if he is embraced I think perhaps that is worth more than gay cowboys.
As a film, it is a wonderful entertainment, with good turns by Weaving and Portman. But mostly it wants to be a film of ideas, one that raises interesting issues. And while the high minded might find it banal, and the low miss the point all together, I was and am thinking about the film. And that is the best I can ask of the cinema.
Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. A Prairie Home Companion
2. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
3. V for Vendetta
4. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
5. American Dreamz
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
The villains of James McTeigue and the Wachowski Brothers version of V for Vendetta are uninteresting. There is nothing new or different in this version of another dystopian future. The hero, however, is new and problematic. What are we to make of this freedom fighter that would imprison his only friend to destroy her fear.
And what do we make of the fact that in this world terrorism works, terrorism can be good. At what stage must we become freedom fighters, no matter what the cost.
The film also has a very interesting take on homoexuality, and turning as it does on a lesbian love story, in an action film no less, it may actually make a stronger movie forward for gay rights than Brokeback Mountain ever could. V may indeed be the first gay superhero, and if he is embraced I think perhaps that is worth more than gay cowboys.
As a film, it is a wonderful entertainment, with good turns by Weaving and Portman. But mostly it wants to be a film of ideas, one that raises interesting issues. And while the high minded might find it banal, and the low miss the point all together, I was and am thinking about the film. And that is the best I can ask of the cinema.
Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. A Prairie Home Companion
2. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
3. V for Vendetta
4. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
5. American Dreamz
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Top Ten of All Time
1. Citizen Kane
2. Weekend
3. Dekalog
4. Rashomon
5. A Woman Under the Influence
6. Playtime
7. Dr. Strangelove
8. Au Hasard Balthazar
9. Hannah and Her Sisters
10. Stroszek
1. Citizen Kane
2. Weekend
3. Dekalog
4. Rashomon
5. A Woman Under the Influence
6. Playtime
7. Dr. Strangelove
8. Au Hasard Balthazar
9. Hannah and Her Sisters
10. Stroszek
American Dreamz (Weitz, 2006)
Hello Paul Weitz, new master of the completely average comedy. Your In Good Company was too bland to register on anyone's radar, and your new film wants to be controversial, but will only be so in the heart of the Red States(Austin excepted, of course).
American Dreamz is a non-committal comedy that is equally mildly funny or blandly boring. Quaid and Grant are funny, if off their respective games, and the rest of the cast is perfectly adequate.
About a Boy may go down as the one wholly successful Weitz film, and this one is no pretender to that throne.
Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. A Prairie Home Companion
2. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
3. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
4. American Dreamz
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Hello Paul Weitz, new master of the completely average comedy. Your In Good Company was too bland to register on anyone's radar, and your new film wants to be controversial, but will only be so in the heart of the Red States(Austin excepted, of course).
American Dreamz is a non-committal comedy that is equally mildly funny or blandly boring. Quaid and Grant are funny, if off their respective games, and the rest of the cast is perfectly adequate.
About a Boy may go down as the one wholly successful Weitz film, and this one is no pretender to that throne.
Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. A Prairie Home Companion
2. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
3. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
4. American Dreamz
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Bickford Schmekler's Cool Ideas: Absolutley terrible. By the time Matthew Lillard showed up as cooky character number 47, I was out.
Gabrielle: Terribly dissapointing. Too stagy.
A Prairie Home Companion: A really great movie. If this gets bumped off my 2006 Top Ten list, then some great movies have come out this year.
American Dreamz: Perfectly bland. Funny in part, boring in others. Grant, Quaid, Moore and Dafoe are funny but I still can't stand Chris Klein.
Gabrielle: Terribly dissapointing. Too stagy.
A Prairie Home Companion: A really great movie. If this gets bumped off my 2006 Top Ten list, then some great movies have come out this year.
American Dreamz: Perfectly bland. Funny in part, boring in others. Grant, Quaid, Moore and Dafoe are funny but I still can't stand Chris Klein.
I've been going to that other festival in town the last couple of days, saw some interesting stuff.
Maxed Out: Not a great film, but very compelling material and info. The credit industry is frightening. Another in the great "corporate evils info" doc vein.
Darkon: Very interesting, fun little doc. I never knew that live action roleplaying had such a bizarre and huge subculture.
Gretchen: This film stars a good friend and co-worker, so I am biased, but this is a fun and moving story. Gretchen Finkel is destined to be a cult character for some young girls, and hopefully it will be allowed to find that audience.
Maxed Out: Not a great film, but very compelling material and info. The credit industry is frightening. Another in the great "corporate evils info" doc vein.
Darkon: Very interesting, fun little doc. I never knew that live action roleplaying had such a bizarre and huge subculture.
Gretchen: This film stars a good friend and co-worker, so I am biased, but this is a fun and moving story. Gretchen Finkel is destined to be a cult character for some young girls, and hopefully it will be allowed to find that audience.
A Prairie Home Companion (Altman, 2006)
Robert Altman's latest, and potentially last, film is a brilliant meditation on death and memory. He takes Keillor's interesting story about the death of his show, and the culture it represents, and begins to craft a story more about his own impendening demise. The acting and camerawork all resonate amazingly well, and its function as a musical harkens back to Nashville a film I am beginning to realize I need to give another chance.
I hope and pray that Altman has more films left, because this one shows such an amazing talent still burns in him. But if this ends up being his last one, what a way to go out.
Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. A Prairie Home Companion
2. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
3. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Robert Altman's latest, and potentially last, film is a brilliant meditation on death and memory. He takes Keillor's interesting story about the death of his show, and the culture it represents, and begins to craft a story more about his own impendening demise. The acting and camerawork all resonate amazingly well, and its function as a musical harkens back to Nashville a film I am beginning to realize I need to give another chance.
I hope and pray that Altman has more films left, because this one shows such an amazing talent still burns in him. But if this ends up being his last one, what a way to go out.
Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. A Prairie Home Companion
2. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
3. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
French New Wave + Germany.
0 Comments Published by Jesse Trussell on Tuesday, March 07, 2006 at 6:31 PM.
Love is Colder Than Death (Fassbinder, 1969)
Fassbinder's first film is an odd mix of Godard and German alienation. Strangely enough, of course, Godard is not one of the two New Wavers thanked in the dedication. Playing the lead himself, the film combines amazingly striking visuals, like the stunning tracking shot on the road, or the long static shots that play out through out the film.
The film works well, but manages to connect in small doses only. Fassbinder was obviously still developing his skills as a filmmaker, and the style here goes almost to baroque in many places. It is still, however, an immensely interesting first feature.
Fassbinder's first film is an odd mix of Godard and German alienation. Strangely enough, of course, Godard is not one of the two New Wavers thanked in the dedication. Playing the lead himself, the film combines amazingly striking visuals, like the stunning tracking shot on the road, or the long static shots that play out through out the film.
The film works well, but manages to connect in small doses only. Fassbinder was obviously still developing his skills as a filmmaker, and the style here goes almost to baroque in many places. It is still, however, an immensely interesting first feature.
Dave Chapelle's Block Party (Gondry, 2006)
What an amazing, funny, great movie this is. Breathtaking performances mixed with Chapelle' incredibly personable humor make for an immensly watchable film, and a light touch in mixing in social criticism also works very well. Mos Def, Kanye West and The Roots all tear the house down, but the highlights must be Dead Prez and the Fugees reunion.
Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
2. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
What an amazing, funny, great movie this is. Breathtaking performances mixed with Chapelle' incredibly personable humor make for an immensly watchable film, and a light touch in mixing in social criticism also works very well. Mos Def, Kanye West and The Roots all tear the house down, but the highlights must be Dead Prez and the Fugees reunion.
Current 2006 Top Ten:
1. Dave Chapelle's Block Party
2. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Heart of Glass (Herzog, 1976)
Glass is beautiful, haunting film that uses actors in a way I had never seen before. They were all hypnotized, except for the lead, and yet each give strong vibrant, strange performances. Especially the typically Herzogian town aristocrat who is both haunting and disturbing.
Herzog claimed that in German the opening of the film would put you into something of a trance, and I believe him. A truly mesmerizing film.
Even Dwarves Started Small (Herzog, 1970)
A film that in many way couldn't be any more similar or different than Heart of Glass, Herzog's second feature is alternatively hypnotic and utterly boring. It is a (mostly) failed attempt at allegory that is incredibly effective in brief streches. The sequence with Hombre and the bed or anything with the car is amazing, but for the most part it falls fairly flat. However, the ending may be something I can never get out of my head.
Glass is beautiful, haunting film that uses actors in a way I had never seen before. They were all hypnotized, except for the lead, and yet each give strong vibrant, strange performances. Especially the typically Herzogian town aristocrat who is both haunting and disturbing.
Herzog claimed that in German the opening of the film would put you into something of a trance, and I believe him. A truly mesmerizing film.
Even Dwarves Started Small (Herzog, 1970)
A film that in many way couldn't be any more similar or different than Heart of Glass, Herzog's second feature is alternatively hypnotic and utterly boring. It is a (mostly) failed attempt at allegory that is incredibly effective in brief streches. The sequence with Hombre and the bed or anything with the car is amazing, but for the most part it falls fairly flat. However, the ending may be something I can never get out of my head.
