Double feature yesterday ...
Another Nick Cage film, starring Nick Cage as Nick Cage. Ah, what are you going to do? At this point, he doesn't come any other way.
Regarding the film itself, the first thing that occurs to me is that there were some really good special effects. The sequence with the airplane crash was pretty spectacular, although it doesn't make a whole lot of sense in the context of the entire film once it's played out.
Typically, I'm not very satiated with a good effects film that otherwise pretty much wasted my time. But Knowing did have some decent plot twists and enough freaky stuff going on that I was at least intrigued to see the ending. But there is the problem with how this film ends. Mass audiences simply are not going to go for a film that resolves this way, and I think that's where this film stumbles a bit. Always tough to take this kind of road, although the director Alex Proyas has had some success dealing with (dark) subject matter in the past.
Friday, July 10, 2009
The International
Overall a pretty good film. Certainly a lot more action than I had imaged. Although throughout the entire film I kept thinking, "why would a banker be up to these kind of shenanigans when they can just legally rob people all day?" But whatever. ASSUMING a banker wanted to be an international arms dealer, the rest of the movie made ... slightly more sense I guess. Typically I try not to get too mired in the details, but again, it was a reoccurring thought throughout the whole movie.
On a (very) positive note, the cinematography in this film was excellent. There was some very nice use of actors crossing through the scene to introduce new angles, and the overall feel of the film was very modern, and I thought very beautiful. Especially that last dolly shot on the roof to a close-up as the film ended ... the edge light coming from the rising sun was just so crispy and well planned, kudos to the photographer, Frank Griebe.
Oh, and in case you haven't noticed yet, Naomi Watts is not a very good actor.
On a (very) positive note, the cinematography in this film was excellent. There was some very nice use of actors crossing through the scene to introduce new angles, and the overall feel of the film was very modern, and I thought very beautiful. Especially that last dolly shot on the roof to a close-up as the film ended ... the edge light coming from the rising sun was just so crispy and well planned, kudos to the photographer, Frank Griebe.
Oh, and in case you haven't noticed yet, Naomi Watts is not a very good actor.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Away We Go
Pretty nice little film here. I should say that I think Sam Mendes has some real flashes of brilliance, and is overall an A list director. This film may be below his bar, but that's still higher than most directors reach.
It's nice to see Krazinski and Rudolph stepping out of the comedian roles, although this pairing was essentially two "straight men." Good thing the rest of the supporting cast is the funny man in the double act as this pair tries to find their place in the world.
Perhaps the film lags a little bit in the middle act, but watching these two young comedians venture into some dramatic work. Nice film overall.
It's nice to see Krazinski and Rudolph stepping out of the comedian roles, although this pairing was essentially two "straight men." Good thing the rest of the supporting cast is the funny man in the double act as this pair tries to find their place in the world.
Perhaps the film lags a little bit in the middle act, but watching these two young comedians venture into some dramatic work. Nice film overall.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Valkyrie
[Double dipped last night; Seven Pounds came from RedBox kind of randomly. I prefer RedMail myself.]
Considering some of the reviews this film got, I wouldn't have been surprised if the thing were a total trainwreck. Happily, it was not. The Tom Cruise character was portrayed as grotesque, to be sure, which I suppose might be laughable to some. But the other characters around Cruise helped create a sense of the tension, the sense of urgency these insurgents must have felt.
The film butts up to the Titanic problem, however, in that the entire audience knows the resolution to the story, and so at the climax, the viewer is left wondering not what is the resolution, but rather how will the inevitable play out? Here, there's not much doubt about how the Nazi regime would deal with traitors like this. So the story is left with is how emotionally sympathetic the characters are, in terms of the payoff for the audience. At least for me, in this film, I didn't feel connected enough to these characters to really be moved by their deus ex machina.
Considering some of the reviews this film got, I wouldn't have been surprised if the thing were a total trainwreck. Happily, it was not. The Tom Cruise character was portrayed as grotesque, to be sure, which I suppose might be laughable to some. But the other characters around Cruise helped create a sense of the tension, the sense of urgency these insurgents must have felt.
The film butts up to the Titanic problem, however, in that the entire audience knows the resolution to the story, and so at the climax, the viewer is left wondering not what is the resolution, but rather how will the inevitable play out? Here, there's not much doubt about how the Nazi regime would deal with traitors like this. So the story is left with is how emotionally sympathetic the characters are, in terms of the payoff for the audience. At least for me, in this film, I didn't feel connected enough to these characters to really be moved by their deus ex machina.
Seven Pounds
"I was like, WTF mate?"
Pretty interesting last quarter of the film, which made suffering through the three quarters almost bearable. The trouble is, with this story arc, if the first part were more cohesive, it might give away the story. Once the narrative got more linear, it was abundantly clear how the film would end, and thus the audience is left wondering how the inevitable resolution will play out.
But whateves, I don't really expect that much from Hollywood anyway, so I wasn't that disappointed.
Pretty interesting last quarter of the film, which made suffering through the three quarters almost bearable. The trouble is, with this story arc, if the first part were more cohesive, it might give away the story. Once the narrative got more linear, it was abundantly clear how the film would end, and thus the audience is left wondering how the inevitable resolution will play out.
But whateves, I don't really expect that much from Hollywood anyway, so I wasn't that disappointed.
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