Since I haven't updated in a while and Midterms are coming up...

February 10 -

City Lights - Dir. Charlie Chaplain - 1931

Review:

Charlie Chaplain has once again made a great film a great sense of hope and love. He knew that his films were escape and that he mirrored the people who watched them. He knew that people didn't want to see something super depressing, but that they wanted something uplifting and he delivers it in spades here.

This time the story is of the Tramp falling in love with a blind woman and the ways he must help her regain her eyesight. The film begins with a simple case of mistaken identity. The blind girl thinks he is a wealthy duke. This also helps with the multi-level of Chaplain poking fun at the upper crust of society in the ways that only he can.

The pure genius of the film is when the final scene plays out and she realizes it is just the little tramp. It is beautifully shot sequence. It is so touching that I did feel tears start welling up in this moment.

I personally preferred this over "The Gold Rush." However, not as much as "The Kid." There is nothing like the performances in that film. However, "City Lights" may offer more laughs to most than "The Kid." The city elevator scene is extremely genius and could have the side effect of putting you into stitches. Really great work here.

The Wicker Man - 2006 - Dir. Neil LaBute

This movie has several awesomely bad moments. My two favorite being a moment where Cage starts yelling "How'd It Get Burned?!" over and over and another where he is wearing a bear costume and just punches an old lady. Awesome.

Mister Deathman - 1977 - Michael D. Moore.

This film is pure awesome from beginning to end. I cannot even describe the awesomeness of it. This is a true Grindhouse film. Not a "throw back" or "loving parody." No, this is a true to life groundhouse film. I didn't even know what was going on in the first few minutes of this movie because of how badly put together it was. Later on in the film, I realized all of these clips were outtakes or deleted scenes...that is how bad this movie was... awesome.

February 14

Our Hospitality -

I frankly don't think that this film is that good. Granted there are a few great sequences, among them the train sequence, the chase at the end and the joke about the traffic. The rest of the film, though, was incredibly stretched and weary. Even in the train sequence, Keaton repeats the same joke twice; the one about his tall hat not being able to fit on his head because of the low roof (whereupon he dons his famous porkpie hat).

The whole thing simply feels dated; it doesn't have the incredible pace of later Keatons (like Sherlock Jr.) and it doesn't have the great editing of Charlie Chaplin's or Harold Lloyd's films of the same year (Harold Lloyd released both his most famous feature film "Safety Last!" and arguably his funniest, "Why Worry?", in 1923 - if you like silent comedy those are some of the best). I've always found that out of the three great comics of the silent era (Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd), Keaton always had the most trouble telling a story coherently through his medium; I always find myself struggling more to find out what exactly is going on on the screen, who's called what and who's angry at who, etc.

Feb. 26 -

Nanook of the North - Dir. Robert J. Flaherty - 1922

I found this movie to be slow moving and rather lame frankly. I get the entire point is to see how these people live and how it is different than us but it doesn't mean it is exciting. Now, it could hurt that I'm not a big documentary fan period that an early one would bore me, but still.

Now, I must agree that some of the cinematography that is in this film is breathtaking. They capture how bleak and beautiful it is as times in the north. Really great stuff here. In fact, I'm sure that just by this shear fact alone it can bring out many emotions to somebody, I just wasn't having it.

Mainly because the title card treat you like an idiot and explains things that are going on. It was like watching "Dune." They don't trust you enough to understand what is going on, so they spoon feed it to you. It is probably a bi-product of the times, but, frankly, I hated it and almost couldn't make it through the film. I wouldn't have unless I needed to for class and even then, the 2nd half the film my mind was wandering real bad.


February 22 -

The Academy Awards - Dir. Roger Goodman and Allen P. Haines - 2009
Best Ceremony for a really long time... too bad an overrated film took them all.

Feb. 23 -

Wrong Again - Dir. Leo McCarey - 1926

The Kid Brother - Ted Wilder and J.W. Howe - 1927

The General -Dir. Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton - 1927

Buster Keaton was an incredibly famous comedian back in the day, and this film definitely shows why. Even though his face is almost blank the entire time, the gags and stunts he sets up are amazing. I don't feel that Keaton was a master of character in the way that Chaplain or even Llyod was, but he was definitely the king of stunts and that is where this film comes in.

The plot of this film is fairly simply. Keaton's character has two loves: his engine and his girl. When the Civil War breaks out, Keaton's character rushes down to the recruitment office only to be turned down because he is more valuable to them as an engineer than a soldier. When he returns home, his girl doesn't understand and stops talking to him. A while later, Union spies use his train on a kidnap mission and they kidnap his girl. This sets Keaton on a trek to save her from them, and save the South.

I think that this is a rather funny film, but sometimes the comedy is hit and miss because of Keaton's blank expression. There are times where it is absolutely hilarious that his expression has remained the same, and there are times where you would just like a little emoting once in a while. During one of the sad scenes at the beginning his face really works. Keaton rarely lets anything but his body do the speaking.

But what he can convey with his body. He has slight slouches when he's sad, he stands up straighter when he feels like the hero. It is great.

The gags in this are great in this. The train chase sequence in particular is great. It is funny, suspenseful and frightening. This sequence is what filmmaking is about today. It has a little bit of everything and Keaton does it all himself. The danger, was really danger and being able to see that really helps push it along and have you delve into it much father.

Great film.

February 26 -

Stick It - 2006 - Dir. Jessica Bendinger

Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Bridges and the main girl save it. Forced to watch it.

February 27 -

Man with a Movie Camera - Dir. Dziga Vertov - 1929

This is less of a film and more of an experiment to see if a person can accurately capture the feeling of living in a city in one day. It uses great use of montage and particularly the music that they had played behind it.

It is a very basic story, which is in fact, not much of a story. It is simply a series of shots put together to pull an emotion out of you and more times than not, it is very effective. The early morning slow shots of the empty city as things begin to stir are great. My favorite sequence though is in the busy market place. The cuts are so quick and build one on another that it creates a dizzying sense of the work for the day.

I think it is a little bit cocky of Vertov to state at the beginning that he is going to re-define cinema... however, when you actually pull off a ballsy statement like that, you might have a point to. He really did change things. This is the first time a film feels totally "modern." If this was colorized and had synched sound, it could almost pull for a documentary of today.

While not just making a statement on film, Vertov makes a statement on society in Russia which is rather refreshing and makes this film really work on its own and not just a film students wet-dream.

March 1 -
The Crowd - Dir. King Vidor - 1928

Irving Thalberg was quite right in letting "The Crowd" sit on the shelf for two years, on the hunch that the public wouldn't go for it.

And it didn't, coming up with a loss when finally released. That wouldn't matter now, were the film of high vibratory energy. "The Crowd," though, has a negative ring, despite King Vidor's impressive direction, Henry Sharp's keen camerawork, and Cedric Gibbons' and Arnold Gillespie's artful settings.

Vidor's hero, John, from early on, has his eye on "success." He eschews the "crowd" and its "sameness," and views life from a strongly comparative perspective.

He wants desperately to be "above the masses," to "succeed over his colleagues," and "stand out from the crowd." When this desire falls short, he's devastated.

John doesn't put much stock in considering how he could help others, contribute to the good of humanity, or share his talents and skills with his fellow beings. He only wants not to be like them, to be "better" than them. The result is a superiority quest that scorns the average and norm.

The skewed mentality of the hero contributes to a depressing, downbeat quality of this silent drama. It falls short of making a definitive statement, due to both the hero's and filmmakers' apparently being unaware of its own self-absorbed mentality.

It's as though an important element is overlooked: the degree to which satisfaction may be received in freely and joyfully giving and receiving of one's anothers talents. In neglecting to incorporate morality into their scenario, Vidor and associates created a skillful yet vacuous "little man" tragedy.

In the end, John didn't learn much about what "success" really entails--which is much more than "rising above the Joneses" while "putting on the dog."

March 3 -

Boa Vs. Python - Dir. Dave Flores - 2004

This movie is awesome. In the first 10 minutes you get a guy bit in half by a giant snake, a giant explosion, luchadors and gratuotous nudity. What more could anyone ask for?

Absolute Zero - Dir. Robert Lee - 2005

If I was Robert Lee, I would have gone by Allen Smithee and if I was any of the actors, I would get drastic plastic surgery. Just saying.

Transmorphers - Dir. Leigh Scott - 2007

Snakes on a Train was a much better rippoff film. At least it was exciting with hearts being ripped out... this just sucked.

March 6 -

Watchmen - Dir. Zack Synder - 2009

I first read the graphic novel roughly three years ago. Some people had told me I should read it, so I was at Border's one day and decided to pick it up. The next 2 days I spent totally absorbed into this comic. Every twist, every turn, every little bit of new information given to us about the characters. I loved. Then I heard there was a movie being made and Zack Synder had just signed on. I was worried to a point like everybody else. Then I got my hands on Alex Tse's first pass at the screenplay and realized: that was Watchmen. Condensed to the barest of its bones, but that was it: that was Watchmen. From the point that the pictures coming out to every trailer, I believed Synder has done it. But did he? Or was all that time wasted?

I am here to say: Fuck Zack Snyder. Not because he messed it up, no, but because he got it perfectly right. Synder nailed this film and he shouldn't have been able to. This is a guy who refers to this project as "Bad ass" and "cool." How is this the guy that gets it right? It doesn't make sense. The fact of the matter is he did though, he really did.

At this point, if you read reviews you know the plot, but I'll do a quick summary. Watchmen is a film set in an alternate reality where Super Heroes exist. Well, they aren't really Super Heroes, but people who dressed up and fight crime. There is one super hero named Dr. Manhattan. When one of them named the Comedian gets murdered, another one named Rorschach believes somebody is killing off "masks." This leads us into a deep character study of almost all the characters with a gritty "who done it?" Wrapping the entire thing together.

This film has been deemed un-filmable by many but does Synder care about the impossible? No. In fact, I would go so far as to say there were things in Synder's version that I liked BETTER than the novel. Strangely enough, with what Synder does to build to it, his altered ending is one of them. Now, I love the graphic novels ending and I don't think it would have worked there, but for the movie. I love what he did so much more than the Squid. Even though Synder has said that this is effectively the comic on screen, he definitely leaves his own fingerprints all over it, in a good way. Of course the action is amazing, but the most amazing moment that he creates is Dr. Manhattan's story of his creation and separation from everyone. Heart breaking and magnificent all at the same time.

A reason for this could be that Synder has cobbled together the perfect cast. Instead of opting for an A-List cast, he decided to go with a bunch of great character actors and almost everyone of them hits it out of the park. The big four are Jefferey Dean Morgan as The Comedian, Jackie Earl Haley as Rorschach, Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan and Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl II. Wilson is great in the role adding more of a sense of being the nerd who got to do this for real and now is sad that it is gone. It is something I hadn't really picked up before except in a few pages of the novel, but he creates the character so perfectly that he really ends up being the heart of the film. He is our emotional core of the film. However, Rorschach is the real true to life core and Haley nails it. Haley has brought him to life. Everything we ever loved about Rorschach is there and it is amazing. Even when he takes off his mask it is amazing, and I never thought I'd say this, but I would have liked to see him out of the mask more! He is a coiled spring at all times just waiting to explode and explode he does. His acting under the mask during a scene involving child abduction is amazing. Finally, there is Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan. Really an amazing performance. Playing Dr. Manhattan less as a man all about numbers as a man who is detaching himself from the rest of the world because he is sad to see where man kind is going. This is a difficult role to play as you have to be monotone the entire time, but even just being a CGI character you can feel him throughout it. Really amazing work. Morgan as the Comedian is another really wonderful performance. He plays it less like "I'm a horrible person" but more like a dog who has got off the chain, but who wants somebody to desperately yank hard and fast on his leash. He knows the way people think and just wishes somebody else would realize the absurdity of trying to be a good person. For these four guys, this film will easily be a deal changer.

The other two members of "the team" are Matthew Goode as Ozymandius and Malin Ackerman as Silk Spectre II. Goode is actually very good in this film once he gets to shine. He delivers his monologues how they should be. However, he just isn't given much screentime until the end, which is like the comic. However, he is really good here even though I thought he would be a weak link. Which, on occasion is what Ackerman is. Now, this isn't all of the time, but there are moments her line readings are fairly bad and takes you out of the film. Over all she does a great job.

This film is about as perfect an adaptation that you'll ever get... until Synder's director's cut comes out. This is an amazing triumph of fandom and I have heard that it actually DOES work very well for people who haven't read the novel. I hope you really enjoy this film and pick up all the nuances and every carefully crafted detail. Great great film. I can't wait to see it again.

March 8 -

Metropolis - Dir. Fritz Lang - 1927

Thank god for this movie. Seriously, thank freaking god. It is not only one of the best films of its decades but of all time. There is so much going on in this film that there is almost TOO much going on. However, you never feel that way. You just feel it sucking you in and wait for the next little bit about this world and story that will be unvield to you.

This is all about how the upper class and the working class must come together. In fact, much of this film sort of feels biblical in nature. Not that it can be said to be a direct lift from a biblical story. That is just the vibe it gives off. With a story about a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to bridge the gap between the two sects of society.

The acting in this is amazing. Every character hits their perfect notes.

Most importantly upon first viewing though, at least for me, was the social commentary and the fairly ancient feeling story set in the future. What a future it is also. The set design is amazing in this and has been copied time and time again. Well, at least attempts have been made. The most successful probably being Star Wars. However, there is no way to avoid seeing this movie and not just be awestruck by it. Really it is just jaw dropping.

This is the one silent film I recommend to everybody because of how it is just about perfect in every single way. Except for the missing gaps of film which I can't wait to see finally restored. Long, beautiful and devastating. That is what this movie is.