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The Invisible Man - Not as compelling as Frankenstein or Bride of Frankenstein, but I can officially now say I am a James Whale fan and look forward to seeing more of his movies. The effects were great, but I was incredibly frustrated by how long it took for the police to come up with even halfway decent ways to catch him. I also feel like I've seen Claude Rains naked so there's that.
Beginners - I tried but I couldn't do it. I got about 45 minutes in and told my girlfriend (who was loving it) that she could finish it. I went in wanting to like it but found it dull. Some people say that Wes Anderson's films are quirky for the sake of being quirky, but at least you can believe his quirky characters. I thought everyone except the father was poorly drawn and not very well acted. In that regard, why do people keep hiring Ewan to play Americans? It never rings true. When combined with the "oh look how weird we all are" element it turned budding romance into dead drollery. Blech.
The Muppets - Very possibly my favorite movie of the year, if not "Rango." Y'all already know.
Shanghai Express - Another film I wanted to love but left disappointed. The Scarlet Empress = Great. The Blue Angel = True classic. Shanghai Express = Too little to stand up. I appreciated some of the treatment of female sexuality, especially in regards to Dietrich's ability to choose what she did and with whom, but at the end of the day she was still won over when I wanted her to stay independent. Maybe this is unfair because her independence was also at the root of some of her sadness, but I genuinely felt that if she hadn't met her former lover she could have continued on happily. The real problem though was the inclusion of all the Chinese Civil War stuff. It added "drama," but I was more intrigued by the love story than any fight going on outside. If anything it should have been more peripheral - nothing much was added by the general trying to get with Dietrich cause it was all too obvious it would never happen anyway.
Broadway Danny Rose - Nothing earth shattering but really enjoyable. The thing I'm reminded of most watching Woody's 80s output is just how strong his tie to Mia was. Sadly... she's no Diane Keaton. Not her fault, but I can't help thinking about it. I did find this movie effortlessly funny, and quiet as kept Woody works a plot better than almost anybody in movie history. Thumbs up.
Wings of Desire - My first Wenders and I still can't decide if I want there to be more. I was entranced the whole time by the hypnotic camera movement, but I also wanted to call bullshit at times. I know that as a screenwriter it is a necessity to create a world in which the story takes place, but I couldn't buy how high thinking EVERYone in the movie was. Would Peter Falk be thinking about his career? Sure. Would there be at least one person in a library who thinks poetically? I hope so. Does a dying man reflect on what every thing means? If he doesn't why not go ahead and go out. Still, at some point I broke - maybe a certain poetry was lost in translation, but after a while things that seemed interesting in the first five minutes became pretentious in the second hour. And I'll give you one Nick Cave performance in a movie but two was too long of a focus on an inconsequential performance sequence. And back to Peter Falk - was he all that necessary? I'm sure he prolly helped get the film some extra funding, but he took up a large chunk of time for what was basically one bitter punchline that realistically could have been delivered by anyone. To move back to the positive, Bruno Gans had the perfect face for this film, there was a palpable pull to the "real" world, the camera movement was phenomenal as I said before, and I felt genuine pain for the second observer left to watch his former friend. All in all there was a lot I loved, but there was also a lot that left a bitter taste in my mouth, especially the great romantic meeting. Wenders... we'll see.
American Movie - I had seen the first 45 minutes of this movie years ago but the DVD was screwy and I never finished it. I'm not sure why it took me so long to get around to watching the full thing but I am incredibly glad I did. I hate calling this (or any documentary for that matter) a "comedy," because I too often felt bad for laughing. That is something of the power of this movie - I know Mark didn't make it big, but I still alternated between wanting to see him make his film and hating him for being a fuck up. At times I was disheartened because I saw my own plight in it, but I'm sure the same could be said of the filmmakers so the framing is intentionally tragic. And speaking of tragic, few things in film have affected me as much as Uncle Bill's "songs" to his dead wife. "I don't think so... I don't think so." There is an awful moment in a bank early on when Mark comes off pushy and Uncle Bill defenseless (which he certainly is) but the way the filmmakers allowed Bill to have real moments of regret shined a light into his eyes that was beautiful to see. I haven't even spoken on Mike Schank, but wouldn't everybody love to have that guy as their best friend? Great movie all around.
Badlands - I thought this film was better than my appreciation for it. To its credit I never turned it off, but I knew almost instantly that it would be too existential for me. I didn't like Camus when I was forced to read "The Stranger" and I didn't like this for the same reasons. I understand that this particular brand of sociopathic behavior is interesting/revealing to some people, but I need more than general malaise to really feel that I love a character. Again, I was impressed that all of my natural inclinations to not enjoy this film were pushed back by the relative speed of the narrative, but I won't be watching this again. I will however definitely recommend it to a few people.
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