Category: Ones

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)

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)

Marooned Movies from this era often fade into incomprehensibility when we take them away from the context in which they were made. These were after all intended as a disposable product, to live for only a few weeks. In this particular case, the movie follows a play that had some persistence before and afterward, so… Continue reading Idiot’s Delight (1939)

Two Paths Full feature animation has settled into two paths which will never again pass. One is the long form narrative which makes animated films no different than most other movies, real movies. The other is a collection of jokes. Now there are lots of non-animated movies that have adopted this strategy as well, but… Continue reading Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (2006)

Gen R You should know that I have a great deal of patience for extreme films. I watched “The Falls” twice in one day. I dug through Matthew Barney, and patiently dug out some gems. I see merit in the early Jarman stuff. Korrine interests me. I presume that most things I encounter deserve to… Continue reading I-Be Area (2007)

Sullivan’s Possession Lake was a rising star when this was made, and it is clear that the story was engineered to highlight the charm of whoever starred. The previous year she did well in “Sullivan’s Travels”, something of a touchstone in film history. It was a so-called “folded” film, one that had a movie within… Continue reading I Married a Witch (1942)

Watching Them Watching Us I suppose there are many ways of watching movies as there are of eating, a lot. But most folks seem to do it quickly, without savour. So from time to time it is worth watching an old movie with little merit just to see if you can escape the furrow plowed… Continue reading I Married a Monster (1998)

Bonecrushing Display of Phosphorescence Rest assured that there is little relationship between this film and Carroll’s poem about his father’s crusade against French etymology. Instead, we have the first chapter in Gilliam’s quest for an appropriate vehicle for his imagination. That imagination isn’t comic in the ordinary sense. Gilliam’s world is one which is architecturally… Continue reading Jabberwocky (1977)