Viewing Diary

Continued...

The Blue Dahlia: While I enjoyed this quite a bit, it really hasn't stuck with me all that well, despite some interesting images (those big blue flowers people keep plucking the petals off of). The plot is, unsurprisingly, convoluted, and while I love Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, it's not the Alan-Laddiest and Veronica Lakiest of their roles.

Darius Goes West: I know. Super late to the party. It's fun to watch and a great story, but I wish it were better constructed as a documentary. It seems mostly reminiscing even as the story's not over yet, and I don't mean the story in real life. I mean the specific story the movie presents of Darius's journey to the West Coast and back.

Ikiru: Why don't I just sit down and watch all the Kurosawa? Because I'm an idiot? Ostensibly boring plot (bureaucrat discovers he has cancer and his life has been a waste) but wonderful execution, from the drunken stumbling around through pachinko parlors (amazing camerawork) to the jockeying of his fellow bureaucrats. I never would have guessed it would have so much in common with Parks and Recreation.

Dances with Wolves: I'd never gotten around to this. The first two hours or so are pretty good stuff (if, indeed, flawed in the classic "white dude's vision" way), kind of in the way the middle section of Castaway is interesting. It's like a couple of hours' worth of problem solving. But then it gets very obvious at the end, and the other cavalry officers are rather excessively villainous (although probably realistically so). It's not bad, though. I like K-Cost with a stache.

Yankee Doodle Dandy: If you just think of Jimmy Cagney as a tough guy, this is the flip side, in that he's a singing, dancing tough guy. It's sort of a silly movie, the kind of biopic completely shaped by its subject, so it's not like there's a whole lot of drama or any portrayal of him in an unflattering light, and I suppose the musical numbers go on a bit long, but it's also extremely enjoyable. It's a lot of fun to watch Cagney caper all over the place, and it's fast-paced and committed to entertainment.

Big Love, season 3: I continue to enjoy this show.

17 Again: Zac Ephron completely creeps me out, and yet I think his strange, awkward manner contributes greatly to this movie being pretty watchable. Maybe I'm starting to like him as an actor, and maybe he can use his secret creepiness to good effect if he gets the right role. Not a very good movie, though.

The Crazies (2009): Jared's point was good, which is that it's sort of a more interesting movie at the beginning, when it's about the whole town rather than just about a small group of people trying to survive, but I still think this was well executed. There are few moments of wincing in irritation at people's stupidity, which is darn good for this kind of "run and hide" movie. It's not too gross, the scares are decent, etc. It doesn't get up into the level of awesomeness of, e.g., The Descent, but considering the kind of crap I will watch in this movie category, I'd give it a thumb's up.

State of Play (2009): It's what you might expect. Most of the important material of the original slotted into a much smaller space and with some silly ramped-up drama thrown in. Which is not to say it's bad. It's fairly classy, and the plot remains good. It's just that some of the extraneous material is what makes the original interesting, and there's no McAvoy.

Quantum of Solace: Shiny and fast, but damn you Paul Greengrass for making this kind of filmmaking acceptable. I really like to be able to see some of what's happening, especially when they've clearly spent quite a bit of time choreographing some good action scenes. I don't need to feel like I'm in it. I just want to see it. Also, I don't seem to remember this much plot in the old Bond movies (grumble grumble). I don't want to have to keep track of people's names. Just show me the baddies and punch them. Good explosions, though, and it's a very attractive movie.

Land of the Lost: We only watched about half of this before deciding we can use our time better. Lazy and dumb.

Andrei Rublev: Oh my lord. This took forever. And it's slow and Russian and at least somewhat incomprehensible, plus they actually kill a horse onscreen. But all that said, it's totally worth the investment of time and energy, which many things are not. I'm not really a big Tarkovsky fan, but there really is something incredible about a lot of the images, and while the (virtually nonexistent) plot won't stick with me, some of the camerawork and scenes will.

True Blood, season 2: The only explanation I can come up with for how much I like this show, other than my appetite for trash, is that Alan Ball is absolutely brilliant at pacing. I'm super impressed with the way he keeps you watching by ending each episode at just the right point. Also, the idea of a vampire virgin whose hymen keeps growing back due to her supernatural ability to heal? Amazing and new.

The Rocker: Not terrible and well intentioned, but this is still a total failure, considering how many funny people are in it. The plot is completely perfunctory, and there is loads of terrible physical comedy. I appreciate a good pratfall, but you're not going to get away with a lazy one, and this movie is full of them. I wouldn't bother.

Planet 51: This is mid-range, with some amusing jokes, but it ain't no Pixar. That said, I spent most of my time watching it trying to figure out why the female aliens wear skirts but the male aliens don't wear pants. I mean, obviously it's to make them cute by emasculatizing them, but where is the genitalia of this species? It's possible they have no sense of shame, but that doesn't seem to be the case, and, anyway, practical considerations abound for pants as well. Anyway. Mysterious.

The Ballad of Narayama: Wowsers. This is another one where the plot description sounds awful: Japanese village experiences permanent state of famine, which means they abandon their old people to starve on a mountain. But that neglects to mention that it is oddly hilarious, despite considerable cruelty, including a dead baby dumped in a paddy. It's a pretty amazing movie, actually, and it has incredibly well done subtitles, which include notes on what some words mean and color-coding if there's overlapping dialogue. Imamura intersperses a lot of beautifully shot nature footage, too, which reflects the pursuits of the humans on either side of it and sets up a parallel. You should totally see this!