Snail Eats Label Life in a day: The Scott brothers sponsor a film with YouTube. I suppose the idea from YouTube’s side is that ordinary people make films that are real, and that allow us to deeply share humanity… the kind of films you can find on Google’s YouTube. This film really is good, but… Continue reading Life in a Day (2011)
Tag: p2011
Comments first posted in 2011
127 hours (2010)
The Hand Left in the Thing There are so many filmmakers out there that I am still approaching many films the way they were intended to be approached: as self-contained works of art (or craft). But there are some filmmakers I know well enough to trust in a larger journey, something of a shared life.… Continue reading 127 hours (2010)
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2001-2007)
Navel Gazing I have now rewatched several of these, and have refined my appreciation. The usual models for these sorts of projects is to distribute the episodes among different directors and screenwriters, assuming that the continuing characters are what matters. This series is different. The producers kept a firm hand on the way the episodes… Continue reading The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2001-2007)
13 Assassins (2010)
The Rustic in the Woods There are some directors that you just consider geniuses. They innovate, walking into new modes, vocabularies. My list of these artists is short. They greatly enrich because they expand and challenge. Other filmmakers may be talented and even capable of making personal films that are effective. But they are in… Continue reading 13 Assassins (2010)
# Inspector Bellamy (2009)
Mystery Man I was never a champion of Chabrol, but I am amazed at what he left as his last film. The film is superficially framed as a detective story but as it progresses it slowly turns inside out as it becomes a discovery about the nature of the detective. This is done so surreptitiously… Continue reading # Inspector Bellamy (2009)
Hitman (2007)
Clones I found this solid and competent. The curious thing is that what it did well, it did not because of what it is, but because it did not stick closely to the world of the video game. This is also why the fan base rejected it. Apparently, the agent in the game is one… Continue reading Hitman (2007)
The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
Two Worlds We live in two worlds with usually hidden doors between. One world is unexpectedly complex, powerful and cosmic in an apparently demented way. The second world we have to put up with. It is a world of rote mechanics and faux imagination. That first world is the world of Phil Dick, something I… Continue reading The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
A Single Man (2009)
Julianne’s Floating There’s something offensive about this, and it is a rather delicious experience finding out what it is. Of course, there is the feint, the whole business about gay love being unremarkable. Even ten years ago, most of the American public would have struggled a bit with this. But already it is a non-issue,… Continue reading A Single Man (2009)
French and Saunders (1990)
Asher to Ashes I came to this quite by accident. I was looking for recent appearances by Jane Asher. There is a bit, it turns out, at the end of the “bonus” collection, where she plays herself. But getting to that, I patiently watched this and tried to get it. No, I was trying to… Continue reading French and Saunders (1990)
I-Be Area (2007)
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)