Watchers Excepting Snowpiercer, this filmmaker has a distinct style. He surveys watchers and watching by creating and weaving layers. So far as I know, this is his masterwork. This filmmaker sees differently. He sees people seeing, weaves stories around this to keep us engaged, then simply shows watching. The story here is superficially a murder… Continue reading Memories of Murder (2003)
Tag: p2015
Comments first posted in 2015
The Lego Movie (2014)
Gamer Gate The outer story is about a kid and his dad who doesn’t understand play. An inner story has tokens that elaborate on this, a story that is mostly flashiness. The animation is based on Lego and I am sure there is a large franchise in the works. An inner, inner story is about… Continue reading The Lego Movie (2014)
Lady Maiko (2014)
Adaptation The story itself is about adapting from a not ideal Japanese state to the purest state, a Geisha. In Japan, the rural north is considered to consist of country bumpkins, something like in the US we associate with the South. A Geisha’s training includes many arts but primarily speaking, and doing so in the… Continue reading Lady Maiko (2014)
Nightcrawler (2014)
Wet Spots There are some fine things about this that you can read elsewhere, There seems to be no lack of appreciation for the obvious things. What struck me was the role that Russo has. I am interested in films where the filmmaker — usually a man — is in love with his lead actress.… Continue reading Nightcrawler (2014)
Murder by the Book (1967)
Double Folds This isn’t worth watching for what it is, but I count it as a notable example, more so because it is a cheap TeeVee production with low aspirations. The overall story is about art forgery. The structure is adventuresome. The story we see is written by the mystery writer who is the main… Continue reading Murder by the Book (1967)
Murder Ahoy (1964)
Jerry Lewis’ Mutiny The good: well it has a jaunty theme song. At least it honors the original form in that the order we see things in is roughly the order of discovery by the detective. By this entry in the series, they had seriously lost their way. What genuinely started out as detective stories… Continue reading Murder Ahoy (1964)
The Old Dark House (1932)
Extremes without Connection This is James Whale in his prime, for better or worse. The film was lost for generations before being reclaimed and restored, and for that reason is celebrated beyond its merits. What we have is a collection of stereotypical scenarios and characters. A stormy night. A collection of stranded travelers. A very… Continue reading The Old Dark House (1932)
Oblivion (2013)
Appropriated Appropriateness One measure of a science fiction movie is whether the science and fiction are coherent. I’ve been following the Hunger Games saga and this is driving me crazy. Some technology is advanced, some adopted from the sixties. In good hands, like with Nolan’s Interstellar, this could be used to advantage. In that case,… Continue reading Oblivion (2013)
Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow Watchers (2021)
Fiddling Around When you get something like this, you have to give allowances. No money was spent; friends did the acting. Production is brusque. What you have to look for is the intent of the writer/director/main actor. If he could have, would he have delivered a film that mattered? Well, he started with Holmes, one… Continue reading Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow Watchers (2021)
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)
Han Shoots Last Movies can do a lot of different things for us, from giving us 90 minutes away from stress to providing a skeleton on which we build lives. The films that matter to me are these latter ones. Much of what we think of evil, nobility and love we gather from films to… Continue reading Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)