Purity, Song, Jade Miike has a pretty solid pattern. He makes films for a distinctly Japanese audience, teasing out some issue or two that seems culturally rooted. This is his context. He shifts it into a magical, cinematic world and imagines scenes as episodes within this containing structure. So we get impressed by the big… Continue reading The Bird People in China (1998)
Tag: 1990s
Films released in the 1990s
Bingo (1991)
The American Spirit One of the strongest influences in how a society imagines itself is film, and of films the strongest are where the characters are most abstract. Abstraction can be through cartoons or cartoonizing, stereotyping or extreme dramatizing. But the most elegant to my mind is when everyday creatures or objects become the character.… Continue reading Bingo (1991)
Billy’s Balloon (1998)
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)
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)
Big Daddy (1999)
The Goof It is always been an American film staple to have a simpleminded but purehearted hero. Chaplin invented the image. He would be appalled at how the notion has been appropriated by the US Republican party. An excellent character is all that matters, especially compared to the archetypical Democrat played by the worrywart “responsible”… Continue reading Big Daddy (1999)
Better Living Through Circuitry (1999)
Honest Music, Dishonest Business Social trends are often shaped by strange overlaps in market forces. You have to have a steady stream of “artists” who are compelled to do their thing, driven primarily by an urge to express. We have that in this music, because the barriers to entry are exceedingly low, so any untrained… Continue reading Better Living Through Circuitry (1999)
Betsy’s Wedding (1990)
Pillow Fight This is a significant failure for interesting reasons. Situations can be funny. Worlds can be funny. People can be too, but not all at the same time. Alda comes from a tradition where people are funny. Situations are there, and worlds too, but only so that funny people can be so. This is… Continue reading Betsy’s Wedding (1990)
Tango (1998)
Making Film Dance I love this stuff. This film has weaknesses, but the ambition is so grand one can forgive, at least in deciding to watch. The general problem is mixing film and dance. Rarely, oh so rarely is it done well. The stock choices are two: either film a dance more or less as… Continue reading Tango (1998)
Liar Liar (1997)
Anti Vax Sometimes a film is just a wrapper for a broken person, who when unconstrained amuses us. Robin Williams, Peter Sellers, Jerry Lewis are examples. These are souls we accept because we find an endearing core around which the outrageous behaviour orbits. So far as we could see, Robin, Peter, and Jerry were good… Continue reading Liar Liar (1997)
Before Sunrise (1995)
The Movie Not Married I think the memory of this is better than the movie itself. I recently saw the sequel. It was one of the most delicate and perfect things I know so far as that shell of romance which is outside of intimacy. That was because I think of the actors… Continue reading Before Sunrise (1995)