Inarticulate Speech of the Trailer Park I am the perfect candidate audience for this. I watch a couple theatrical projects a day. I love film and am hungry for new and/or intelligent experiences. Plus, I have a passion for “folded” films, films that about themselves in some way. Moreover, this project comes with Sundance buzz… Continue reading American Movie (1999)
Category: Ones
Films rated one star out of three
American Pie (1999)
Slow Times at Ridgemont Sex jokes are never about sex, instead about class. It is possible to make a comedy that is sincerely about high schoolers, and because they are obsessed with sex, be about sex. ‘Ridgemont High.’ This has no sincerity or charm. It is aimed at the class it makes fun of. Posted… Continue reading American Pie (1999)
Rambo (2008)
Arrows I suppose it makes economic sense to design a film this way. It has one scene only: the shootout at the end. This is what the target audience comes to see. Everything else is setup and justification. The Asians are baddy bad bad. The mercenaries are only in need of a disciplined superior. The… Continue reading Rambo (2008)
The Dark Mirror (1946)
Her Sister Rose An actor’s challenge is when they are required to create their own mob, create the tension they are to hold. I’ve just seen a few “multiple people in one body” type films. Here we have something different: one actress playing two characters, exact twins. One is a murderer, we discover early in… Continue reading The Dark Mirror (1946)
Dark Command (1940)
Before the Pattern John Wayne ruined the western for me. The whole idea of the western until Leone was in constant repetition, walking the same route every time so that subtleties could be emphasised. Since everything else was given, we could focus on the smallest things. Real art in moviemaking is in picking the right… Continue reading Dark Command (1940)
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
Dibs on the Guide It is all about intent, isn’t it? If you have a film intended to reach some depth, the intent can be simply what the artists trust and if they are deep themselves AND good artists we get something valuable. I would never discount this, and many of my favorite film experiences… Continue reading Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
King Arthur (2004)
Blue Woman With these simple constructions, its easy to see where they decided the hook would be. I imagine the pitch was that this would be “Braveheart” meets “Gladiator” but with a fighten’ gal. I’m sure they took a model and put her in blue tattoos and unlikely leather seminude battlegear and took photos to… Continue reading King Arthur (2004)
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Not that Kind of Tailoring From time to time in these comments, I remark on my surprise at how sophisticated young viewers are, and how they demand ever more complex and subtle self-referential folds. It gives me pleasure to realise that my flower children cohort were and still are largely incapable of this level of… Continue reading Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)
The Character Lab Ostensibly, this film is an emotional account of a place where strong characters are created. But what I find interesting is the story behind the characters in the film. Disney has the most advanced character lab in the world, a place which scientifically explores how we personify emotions. I’ve had a glimpse… Continue reading Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)
Killers From Space (1954)
Fools You, You Fools You know, slogging through 50’s scifi through the same stuff in the seventies is a dreary business unless you invent your own film on top. Most of the viewers who do this, simply hoot at the silliness and bad production. But there are other, more rewarding challenges. Superficially, this has a… Continue reading Killers From Space (1954)