Inflated This is a replacement comment. The original bothered a diligent reader, so I have made some expansion. Animation is like any film type: artists ally to certain philosophies, perhaps without realising it. In the case of animation, it bumps up against that great American invention, noir. That’s the notion that there is a world… Continue reading Billy’s Balloon (1998)
Billy Elliott (2000)
Battle Dancer This is a replacement comment. Though the dance was passable here, the story is so vapid and unembellished, I sat there looking for another movie. And I found one, battling to get out. It was clever and true, overlooked because of the mediocrity placed in front of it. You can find the tragedy… Continue reading Billy Elliott (2000)
Oppenheimer (2023)
Fours First let me remark on the film itself. Visually, Nolan continues his ‘dogma of performance’ where every decision is slanted toward reality except — predictably — the sex scenes. Structurally, he has mapped his philosophy of folded narrative onto basically four events with nested histories, both as traditional viewer-oriented (narrative-expository) flashbacks, and those carried… Continue reading Oppenheimer (2023)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Camera in the Head I’m an enthusiast of film, the kind of film that uses the uniquely cinematic qualities of the medium. From time to time, I see a non-cinematic film which I like. This is one such. By non-cinematic, I mean that the film is not more than play. Film adds only a few… Continue reading The Big Sleep (1946)
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2022)
Ensnared The affirmative platitudes that anchor this are inescapable, and since they are relatively true, you may as well embrace them. My tween boys did, and I’m glad for it. But why I am recommending this is the art and animation. I have to admit that I do not know the legacy. For all I… Continue reading The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2022)
The New World (2005)
Matoaka’s Miranda (This comment was deleted by IMDb based on an abuse report filed by another user, because of some perceived religious slight.) Malick’s method is to frame films as remembrances. Remembrances of romantic notions, whether freedom, peace, war or love (as his four films trace). This way, he can exploit a languorous floating through… Continue reading The New World (2005)
Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
Comedic Self-reference You can read from others about the basic nature of this, and how widely it is admired and enjoyed. I myself admire and enjoy it. It is a movie about movies. Its something between a “Scary Movie” style parody and a “Charlie’s Angel’s” … What’s called an homage but is really more of… Continue reading Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
King Lear (1987)
English Recursion Meets French Semiotics Lear is about sight and truth, and incidentally about how devilish charms (derived from the audience’s participation and perception) bend sight and truth. So it (and the similarly placed ‘The Tempest’) are naturals for film, especially self-referential films about films and filmmaking. Self-referential filmmaking is an art that the French… Continue reading King Lear (1987)
Cheeky (2000)
Nonchalant Openness Some films are simply about the appeal of one character. That’s all that matters. There seem to be two types: those that depend on the charm of attractive women, and those that have to work some other engagement. Often that’s the acting challenge. I’m thinking in particular of Audrey Hepburn and “Funny Face.”… Continue reading Cheeky (2000)
So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)
Green Haggis Sometimes a movie only develops worth after a subsequent movie worked. I myself disliked “Shrek” because of the underhanded attempt to undermine the Disney/Pixar alliance, and the smarmy Bill Gates strategy. But some people did like it, largely because of the voices and key to that was the Scots’ version of Shrek. Apparently,… Continue reading So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)