In There Jane Campion has a tenderness that is so attractive that if it did not come with warnings, I would build a romantic dreamworld around it. Because that is what we do with deep soft urges. Her films seem always to be about the edges, the danger, the costs. But they are motivated by… Continue reading In the Cut (2003)
Category: IMDB Comments
Comments made for the Internet Movie Database
In My Father’s Den (2004)
Spatial War, Redhead Landscapes, Image and Word Woven Together Apart Australia is vital to my life in film. From an American perspective, New Zealand is normally clumped in there as well — something that annoys Kiwis to no end. At least in terms of film, they differ: more direct, honest, intimate. Unfortunately, you pretty much… Continue reading In My Father’s Den (2004)
Impromptu (1991)
Fluid, Woven Passion Sometimes you just like a movie. I admit I was prepared to like this. It features Chopin, and he is a large part of my musical world. His stuff really is magical, but only when flowing through a rich vessel. The things he wrote when he was with Sands are a touchstone… Continue reading Impromptu (1991)
The Stunt Man (1980)
Citizen Crane There are quite a few movies like this, films that reference films and that also aver that the drama within can bend the reality without. The kernel of this idea was ‘Citizen Kane’ but it seemed to flower after John Fowles published ‘The Magus’ and the Beatles followed his lead. This one has… Continue reading The Stunt Man (1980)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
The Penitent Man I had to come back to this, because I’m puzzled. I wonder what it is about Spielberg. It is easy to criticise his mawkish sentimentality and his theatrical sweeps. But I think it is more than that. After all, we happily tolerate that and worse in some others. And it cannot be… Continue reading Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Destricted (2006)
Holy Most of the films in this collection are simply silly. One is at least artistic in the old, wan sense of visual oddity. There is one interesting one, though. Larry Clark’s “Impaled”. It is rather clever: young men seeking to get into the “business” are interviewed. All of them are sad losers and that… Continue reading Destricted (2006)
Imagining Argentina (2003)
Until the Next Time I am pretty sure that it is not possible for someone other than an Argentine to make a film about this subject and have it matter. These are people who at the beginning of the terror supported it wholeheartedly. The military simply responded to what they saw was a terrorist threat… Continue reading Imagining Argentina (2003)
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
Imagination Imagine the standard paragraph here, the one others are writing about Gilliam’s grand ambition but lack of execution. The man made a very bad career decision, to try to map his very particular and limited imagination into film. He has two notions only. One is dear to my heart: the idea of an inner… Continue reading The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975)
Damaged Film, Damaged Viewers Movies touch life in fewer and more unexpected places than you think. Most movies are about other movies or society’s dreams rather than the real world. So films that reference major historical events are interesting beasts. Possibly apart from Vietnam, no war-related event has been more trammelled by films than the… Continue reading Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975)
Ignition (2001)
Wet Powder, Powerful Powder This little disaster probably resulted from 9-11. I get the impression that the project was halted halfway through and was just shoved out in this form. No great loss. But it does have two interesting elements. The first is Lena Olin. I think she is one of the most interesting woman… Continue reading Ignition (2001)