Saturday 19 January 2008

Saturday

I never had any intention of watching About a Boy. I'd read High Fidelity when I was younger, and marginally enjoyed it, but it wasn't the kind of fiction I continued reading, or especially wanted to see adapted into movies. So, Hugh Grant in what seemed like another romantic comedy role trying to scrape the last bit of success out of the achievements of Four Weddings and a Funeral. Nonetheless, I somehow found myself with nothing else to watch last night, and decided to give the film a chance. Most reviews seemed to be 'better than you'd expect', which was encouraging. And, overall, I'd have to say it was better than I'd expected. This does not, however, mean it was good. The director simply wasn't brave enough with the material. The first thing to do is get rid of the voice-over narration. And this isn't a romantic comedy, it's been mis-advertised. Hugh Grant's relationship with Rachel Weisz takes about five minutes. The rest of the film is devoted to how he deals with the boy. Without the richness of a book, the film is unbalanced, and becomes bizarre. The ending isn't at all satisfactory or convincing. But I'm being too harsh. This wasn't a bad movie, it's just that it didn't make much of an attempt to rise above a standard that had been set eight years earlier.

Friday 11 January 2008

Friday

I don't remember the cinema release of Double Jeopardy. I wouldn't be surprised if it went straight to video, at least in this country. It does have big stars, Tommy Lee Jones and Ashley Judd, but I think the problems start with the title itself. When I heard it I thought 'I've seen that before', and that's a terrible thing for a movie title to do. It should excite and inspire you. When I started watching it, however, I realised I hadn't seen it before. The plot, though, felt familiar: a woman's husband dies and she is accused of the murder. She is sent to prison, only to discover that he isn't actually dead. The film tries to encompass too much. The woman spends six years in prison. This is too heavy an experience to drift over in two minutes with a montage (which they do). It would've been better to begin the film with her emerging from prison. Then we could engage with her better. This movie is really not much more than a TV film. It is interested more in story (which would be ok if the story was fascinating), rather than in a way of telling that story. It has a strange mixture of happy and grim moments. Perhaps the director's hand was forced by producers but, overall, there is no excuse for anyone making a movie like this.

Thursday 10 January 2008

Thursday

Identity is a well woven film. For the majority of its length the suspense is well maintained. I don't know anything about the plausibility of the psychological disorder shown here, but its treatment was entertaining and I guess that is the point (rather than a clinical analysis). Not wanting to give too much away, but the twist that comes half-way through the film is intriguing, and the one that comes three-quarters through is even more fascinating. However, I did feel it made the film slightly pointless. The characters you'd invested in turn out to mean nothing. This film is of course incredibly post-modern. It deconstructs the cliches of movies, whilst at the same time using and enjoying them. You can guess the final twist at the end if you're observant, but it doesn't really ruin the pleasure. This is good fun and entertaining, tightly knit and compact.

Wednesday 9 January 2008

Wednesday

The ending of Woody Allen's Manhattan counts as perhaps some of the best five minutes in cinema. Suggested by Alex, David Cairns recently included it on his blog in his listing of euphoric cinematic moments. The sequence begins with Woody Allen listing the things that make life worth living. He lists actors, music, films, novels, works of art, food, and the face of the woman he loves. I have long thought that Allen's inspiration for this speech was the poem by W. B. Yeats 'Beautiful Lofty Things'. Here, Yeats, writing at the end of his life, lists moments that he'll never forget. Near the end he remembers the sight of the woman he loved, and wrote some of the best poetry ever written about. I don't know for sure that Allen was thinking of this poem whilst writing Manhattan, but for me the connection enriches the scene.

Tuesday 8 January 2008

Tuesday

In a rare breach of security, the plot to the next Bond film has been leaked to the press. The movie is to begin with Bond on a mission that goes wrong. He is shot in the back, falls into the sea, and wakes several days later to find he has lost his memory. He then travels across Europe, trying to rediscover his identity, whilst being chased by the government that used to employ him, now attempting to stop him divulging their secrets. Ok, none of this is true, but the rumour is that the film may be based on Fleming's short story 'Risico'. It's also been suggested that it may in some way be a sequel to Casino Royale, rather than an entirely independent film. Marc Foster is directing, with Paul Haggis (writer/director of Crash) contributing to the screenplay. The title is being kept secret - didn't they used to reveal it in the credits of the previous film? - but some suspect it might be simply 007. It's due for release in November (was originally planned for May). I just hope they're not rushing its production, like a band who had a successful first album and hurry a second in order to exploit the opportunity.

Monday 7 January 2008

Monday

I was given and have subsequently watched the Band of Brothers television series over Christmas. What did you think of it? Here, I believe, we have another example of television approaching, if not actually rivalling, cinema. Every episode is almost as good as a movie. Certainly the budget must have been, as the effects, the sets, the acting and the direction are all way above what even some films can't do. Certainly there is a sentimentalism here, almost a romance, which perhaps precludes aesthetic judgement (especially in episodes like 'Why we Fight'), but I actually think this series has less such effects in comparison to Saving Private Ryan - a movie you can almost see as its companion piece. In Saving Private Ryan there are slow motion shots, music changes to emphasise emotion, and generally more 'tricks' to lead the viewer to a more subjective viewing of the war. For instance, the film begins with the American flag flying in the wind. Band of Brothers is, moreover, based on true accounts, each episode being prefaced by the survivors talking about their experiences. There seemed to less explanation, or justification, of events or actions to the audience. Perhaps the last few episodes aren't as good as those that begin it, but undoubtedly I think Band of Brothers is a significant work of cinema.

Thursday 3 January 2008

Thursday

The third film of Quentin Tarantino is perhaps the least talked about and least appreciated. I don't remember ever seeing it at the cinema, it came out in 1998 here, but I do remember my expectations were high. This, of course, prejudices us greatly. Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction were so good. Jackie Brown, undoubtedly, isn't. The first thing to be said is that it's too long. Not that two and a half hours is too much, but it is too much at the pace that this movie runs. We don't get the casual violence that carries us through the earlier films, or the sharp dialogue that kept us amused. The music selection, too, isn't quite as good as it had been. Maybe we were expecting Tarantino to do something revolutionary again, when he actually went the other way and did something quite conservative. The most significant thing that I noticed, however, when I watched it last week, that I'd never noticed before, was that it was adapted from a novel. As you may know, I have suspicions about adapted movies, and I think they're confirmed here. Tarantino wasn't aggressive enough with the material. He added moments of his own dialogue and action, but I doubt he radically altered the plot. Kubrick was great at adapting novels, but on this aspect of directing it seems Tarantino has, so far, failed.

The Hateful Eight

Tarantino has said he'll only make ten films, and then retire. I don't know if he still stands by this statement, and if he does we ...