more of what i like

Antichrist. This and The Tree of Life in one weekend? I could use a good slapstick comedy now. It wasn’t as dark or graphic as I expected, but Jeeeeeeesus. Not for the timid. This is a movie that I’ll enjoy a lot more after reading some good criticism. Plenty of (not-so-subtle) archetypal/mythological/symbolic/etc./etc. fodder here.

Incidentally, this one was dedicated to Tarkovsky. One obvious reference to Solaris:

If I didn’t dedicate the film to Tarkovsky, then everyone would say I was stealing from him. If you are stealing, then dedicate.

The Tree of Life. Well, it’s beautiful. And huge bonus points to Malick for ridiculous ambition and the credibility to do it at scale with big names. But in the same way that I wouldn’t necessarily recommend movies like Solaris or 2001 or Once Upon a Time in the West or Koyaanisqatsi or something, I don’t recommend this one if you’re not willing to sit through some wanky, gorgeous, exhausting, melodramatic sequences. I felt really, really skeptical when I saw the trailers, skeptical when I started, rolled my eyes a few times when I was watching… and yet I’m warming to the idea of watching it again. In the moments where there’s actually acting, the performers are excellent. Sometimes it takes you one viewing to figure out the rules and another to participate/surrender like you need to. My current Terrence Malick rankings:

1. Days of Heaven (with a probably insurmountable lead)
2. The New World
3. Badlands
4. The Tree of Life (or tied for third?)

With this one out of the way, it’s on to The Thin Red Line.

Sweet Smell of Success. It’s about information, and what you can get for it. This is a cynical film, but somehow you’re never far from a punchline. Awesome movie. Tony Curtis is truly incredible. (I really liked him in Some Like It Hot, too.) First time I’ve seen Burt Lancaster, though The Killers has been on my list for a while.

Gilda. This one is worth watching for Rita Hayworth. Gilda is a sad, sad, rebellious woman. The movie ends and you don’t feel good about this couple at all. I love Steve Geray’s role as a sort of one-man Greek chorus. Also great photography here by Rudolph Maté, who directed the superior D.O.A.. Reminds me of another excellent film with a lost woman that revolves around casino life: La Baie des Anges. And another good film named after and about an object of irrational obsession is Laura. Glenn Ford was also awesome in 3:10 to Yuma. Filed under: film noir; movies I’ve seen.

Insomnia. Starts well, but I’d tighten it up a bit. I’d rank this is my 4th favorite Christopher Nolan movie. We need more old, aching heroes. I love seeing old man Pacino tired and cranky, running around trying to not to screw up even more. Kind of like a Harrison Ford hero. My biggest struggle with the movie? Hilary Swank has too much natural toughness and smarts for the role here. I don’t buy her as the aww-shucks/awestruck/wet-behind-the-ears type. Apparently this is a remake of a 1997 Norwegian film.

Visions of Light. If you have the slightest movie nerd or photography tendency, this will be a treat. It’s a documentary about cinematography, told through interviews with cinematographers and lots and lots of clips — I wish I’d taken notes to track them down later. Favorite bits: early silent film and how way, way advanced they were when it comes to lighting and movement; how the dynamism of silent film was lost when the talkies came around (sound recording required isolating/insulating the camera, which was thus rendered largely immobile); how Hollywood starlets formed relationships with the cinematographers who lit them well; early color technique; New York style vs. Hollywood style; film noir roots, style, and influences; and so much more. Great stuff.

Following. Christopher Nolan’s first feature film set the trend for his later puzzle-piece, time-shifted narratives. Solid, modern noir. I like seeing early work like this without fancy production, pristine private sets, celebrity talent. My rankings of Nolan movies I’ve seen:

1. Memento
2. Batman Begins
3. Following
4. The Dark Knight
5. Inception

Yeah, after his last two I mostly lost interest in Nolan’s work. This one was good enough to get me curious about Insomnia and The Prestige, though. I’ve also done rankings for Hitchcock, Eastwood, Malick, Wes Anderson, and David Fincher, etc.

Louis C.K.: Chewed Up. Good stuff. A few of my favorite bits are in this one.

The Gauntlet. They used at least 300-thousand-million bullets in this film. It’s not the best Clint Eastwood movie I’ve seen, not by a long shot, but I went in with appropriate expectations. It’s just a fun and highly ridiculous road trip movie with a loser cop and a clever prostitute. We need more helicopter chases in movies. Interesting parallels with Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night. Check out that promo poster!

My updated rankings for Eastwood’s directing:

1. Unforgiven
2. Gran Torino
3. Million Dollar Baby
4. Mystic River (or maybe tied for third)
5. The Outlaw Josey Wales
6. Changeling
7. Play Misty for Me
8. The Gauntlet
9. High Plains Drifter
10. Bird
11. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Mean Streets. Didn’t enjoy this very much. I appreciate how Scorsese mixes up the camerawork and the musical interludes, but otherwise it seemed a bit of a drag.

The Iron Giant. The greatest anti-war film ever made. I LOLed a lot. So good.

The Crowd. It took a while for the talkies to catch up with the camerawork in this 1928 film. Nicely done. And as I find with many silent films, it was much funnier than I expected. The work scenes anticipate Il Posto (one of my favorite movies) in some ways. Technically, it’s supposed to be one of the pinnacles of silent film. One early long zoom moment reminded me of Hitchcock’s famous zoom-in in Notorious, 20 years later. Themes include changing social mores in relationships, expectations about masculinity, the arrival of modernity, self-realization, practicality. Probably hard to find on DVD, I lucked out with a live screening and piano accompaniment. Looking forward to the rest of Emory Film Department’s spring 2012 series.

Beginners. What a good, sweet movie. If you miss and/or dismiss this you’re dumb. Excellent soundtrack with old blues and standards and, much to my delight, an arrangement of the Adagio from Marcello’s Oboe Concerto in D minor, one of my favorite tracks from one of my favorite albums of 2010. Another good movie about starting over that co-stars a charismatic dog: The Artist. The dog has the best line in the whole thing:

Tell her the darkness is about to drown us unless something drastic happens right now.

Brick. Hard-boiled film noir in modern high school suburbia. Everything was treated very carefully here, and it totally works for me. I could understand how ostensible 17- or 18-year-olds talking like Dashiel Hammett characters might not work for some, though. Some of which characters are clearly set to type (femme fatale, loyal informant, short-fused blockhead, sad-sack, etc.). Most of the movie has great, lively style but isn’t afraid to undercut itself every now and then. Solid score. I say it’s worth your time.

Bill Cunningham New York. Very highly recommended. What a guy.

If you don’t take money, they can’t tell you what to do. That’s the key to the whole thing.