The World as Hamburger Sometimes, if we are lucky, a film plants itself deep in our souls and thrives there. Other times, a film is something different: an invitation to a party in the world of the filmmaker. In that case, it cannot touch you and as long as you know there is no danger… Continue reading Bad Taste (1987)
Category: Twos
Films rated two stars out of three
Bad Santa (2003)
Inversion It is a simple idea: exploit the sweetness of Christmas by being mean to kids. Superimpose this on the old genre of bad man turns good through an unwanted role as parent. This works only because of extensive script doctoring, thanks to the Coen brothers. If you know their expertise in genre-bending, you’ll appreciate… Continue reading Bad Santa (2003)
Bad Influence (1990)
A Failed Experiment When you encounter a bad movie, the tendency is to just blow it off. After all, most folks are largely incompetent at what they do. But if you check the credentials of the people involved, you have to think again. The writer has written successful movies as well as fine ones. “Snake… Continue reading Bad Influence (1990)
Bacon Grabbers (1929)
Destruction This was the 25th short as a team. I’m only now dipping into Laurel and Hardy in a serious way, but the whole 20 year collaboration seems to be based on two things: the comedy of destruction, and a sort of flummoxed humiliation. We laugh at both, but it is the destruction (or sometimes… Continue reading Bacon Grabbers (1929)
Baby Daze (1939)
Slow Burn This is included as an extra on the “The Southerner” DVD and is much the better experience. Both films represent a lost attitude in film. This one is worth re-experiencing: the Slow Burn flummox that was invented by this guy, continued in many radio series (“Guildersleeve” is the best), to be mastered in… Continue reading Baby Daze (1939)
Ayurveda – Art of Being (2001)
Cinematic Cosmologies I suppose there are an infinite number of coherent structures that pockets of people have invented to explain the world to themselves. All of these will be of deep sophistication. All will be constrained by the hard wiring in the human mind and what we can handle conceptually. Each will be further constrained… Continue reading Ayurveda – Art of Being (2001)
Storm Boy (1976)
Mockingbird I’ve had the advantage of being old, and living in both the US and Australia and raising kids in each. That gives me a perspective on the book before seeing the film. Every so often, a young adult book hits a sweet spot in the national heart. I believe it is because we yearn… Continue reading Storm Boy (1976)
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
Acting by Surrounding This movie is easy to describe. It is a zombie movie. Carpenter’s world is one in which everyone is besieged by demons. It is only a matter of what shape the refuge takes. So he seamlessly maps strong movie situations to this form. And it is Carpenter’s vision that is extended a… Continue reading Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
Arthur (2011)
A Matter of Worlds Remakes embed a history of abstraction, so even though both the concerned films may be trivial and uninteresting, the story of their difference can be quite engaging. The original was simply constructed based on the drunk redemption story spliced onto the flexible rubber of romantic comedy. It was something of a… Continue reading Arthur (2011)
Australia (2008)
The Story There’s plenty of space for others to comment on how wrong the shape of this is, and whether Nichole is too wooden. Talk like that is boring to me. I enjoyed it in spite of it working hard against success. One reason is that I know cattle drive westerns well. Its not only… Continue reading Australia (2008)