The Illusionist
Marwencol
Carlos
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Let Me In
Let Me In
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One of my least favorite trends in American movies is the remake of a recent foreign movie. Every now and then a remake of a foreign movie is no big deal. Especially if the movie is a short (12 Monkeys) or nobody really saw the original (Quarantine). But when the original is a wonderfully captivating and original film that played in theaters all across America, I kind of take exception.
Let the Right One In is an ethereal, striking magical film that extended the vampire myth in ways that True Blood and Twilight could only hope to achieve. Let Me In, though a capable remake, lacks any of the magic and wonder that sort of shimmered through the original. It is rough and gritty and goes to great lengths to contrast the bullying the little boy goes through with the violence the girl is forced to perpetrate to stay alive. It feels a little heavy handed. It could have been done in a much more subtle way but I already knew that because there already is a perfect version of this story. The CGI vampire murder scenes looked terrible, almost like a video game. That bad. The other aspect of Let Me In that really fell flat was the music. It was a constant annoying presence attempting to sway the audience's feeling. And, just wondering, does it really snow that much in Los Alamos, New Mexico?
That being said, the performances by the leads in Let Me In were pretty stunning. Still not as good as the original actors but they hold their own nevertheless, especially in their scenes together. Richard Jenkins was suitably creepy, and probably the best part of the movie, as the weird old man aiding our little vampire. So while it doesn't really hold a candle to the original I still think it was a pretty decent movie. Sean has never seen Let the Right One In and he enjoyed it more than me so I think if you haven't seen the original you'd probably like Let Me In.
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One of my least favorite trends in American movies is the remake of a recent foreign movie. Every now and then a remake of a foreign movie is no big deal. Especially if the movie is a short (12 Monkeys) or nobody really saw the original (Quarantine). But when the original is a wonderfully captivating and original film that played in theaters all across America, I kind of take exception.
Let the Right One In is an ethereal, striking magical film that extended the vampire myth in ways that True Blood and Twilight could only hope to achieve. Let Me In, though a capable remake, lacks any of the magic and wonder that sort of shimmered through the original. It is rough and gritty and goes to great lengths to contrast the bullying the little boy goes through with the violence the girl is forced to perpetrate to stay alive. It feels a little heavy handed. It could have been done in a much more subtle way but I already knew that because there already is a perfect version of this story. The CGI vampire murder scenes looked terrible, almost like a video game. That bad. The other aspect of Let Me In that really fell flat was the music. It was a constant annoying presence attempting to sway the audience's feeling. And, just wondering, does it really snow that much in Los Alamos, New Mexico?
That being said, the performances by the leads in Let Me In were pretty stunning. Still not as good as the original actors but they hold their own nevertheless, especially in their scenes together. Richard Jenkins was suitably creepy, and probably the best part of the movie, as the weird old man aiding our little vampire. So while it doesn't really hold a candle to the original I still think it was a pretty decent movie. Sean has never seen Let the Right One In and he enjoyed it more than me so I think if you haven't seen the original you'd probably like Let Me In.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
A Woman, A Gun, and a Noodle Shop
A Woman A Gun and a Noodle Shop
This faithful remake of Blood Simple doesn't quite make it. The plot is there but the pacing and characters really don't do the story justice. There is a lot of unimaginative slapstick humor that seems really forced and intentional. I found it mostly distracting. The original Blood Simple does have some humor but it is dark. I don't think you necessarily have to include the same tone when a movie is remade, in fact, it may be a mistake. Remakes should come off more as cover songs, imbuing the new film with a different sense of time or place or character is essential in producing a decent remake. Most are just rehashes. I applaud this film in that respect. Yimou Zhang normally does interesting things with color in his films. It starts out brilliantly but the palate sort of fades into the background of the drudgery that is the third act of the film. Perhaps it was intentional but I needed something to look at as the story dragged on and on. I guess the title translates more directly to A Simple Noodle Story which is a much better title than the one it got in America but I suppose that's neither here nor there. The only real glory of this film is in this noodle making scene.
This faithful remake of Blood Simple doesn't quite make it. The plot is there but the pacing and characters really don't do the story justice. There is a lot of unimaginative slapstick humor that seems really forced and intentional. I found it mostly distracting. The original Blood Simple does have some humor but it is dark. I don't think you necessarily have to include the same tone when a movie is remade, in fact, it may be a mistake. Remakes should come off more as cover songs, imbuing the new film with a different sense of time or place or character is essential in producing a decent remake. Most are just rehashes. I applaud this film in that respect. Yimou Zhang normally does interesting things with color in his films. It starts out brilliantly but the palate sort of fades into the background of the drudgery that is the third act of the film. Perhaps it was intentional but I needed something to look at as the story dragged on and on. I guess the title translates more directly to A Simple Noodle Story which is a much better title than the one it got in America but I suppose that's neither here nor there. The only real glory of this film is in this noodle making scene.
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps
Obviously this movie was bad. Oliver Stone hasn't made anything worth seeing since JFK but all of his movies leading up to and including JFK I actually enjoy so there is always a chance. It just seems like he's lost his way with the basic idea of Story. This particular dud contained no compelling characters or ideas. He lets all the bad guys off easy and the good guy, you can tell because the good guy is the one trying to make money off of green energy, kind of wins in the end. I just didn't see the point. There are so many lines and tangents in this mess that just go nowhere, it's like a plate of spaghetti just glopped on the screen. I spent most of the movie trying to figure out why Josh Brolin's character would have an office with two huge Keith Haring paintings as well as a Goya's Saturn Devouring His Children and a Richard Prince nurse painting. His opulence did not compute. And if you hate Shia Labeouf, he cries in this. Finally, while "money may never sleep," I did for about fifteen minutes in the middle of the movie.
Obviously this movie was bad. Oliver Stone hasn't made anything worth seeing since JFK but all of his movies leading up to and including JFK I actually enjoy so there is always a chance. It just seems like he's lost his way with the basic idea of Story. This particular dud contained no compelling characters or ideas. He lets all the bad guys off easy and the good guy, you can tell because the good guy is the one trying to make money off of green energy, kind of wins in the end. I just didn't see the point. There are so many lines and tangents in this mess that just go nowhere, it's like a plate of spaghetti just glopped on the screen. I spent most of the movie trying to figure out why Josh Brolin's character would have an office with two huge Keith Haring paintings as well as a Goya's Saturn Devouring His Children and a Richard Prince nurse painting. His opulence did not compute. And if you hate Shia Labeouf, he cries in this. Finally, while "money may never sleep," I did for about fifteen minutes in the middle of the movie.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Devil
Devil
(It was remarkably hard to find an image pertaining to this movie, probably because everyone is collectively trying to forget it.)
Initially I was so filled with vitriol after seeing this movie that I wanted to run home and layer my intense hate upon well deserved hate in a sort of bean dip of hate but I let it go and after a week it has mostly abated. It was just so stupid. Every time someone said something, I thought, that's ridiculous, nobody says those words in conjunction with those other words in response to yet other utterances nobody would bother to produce. And that's just the dialogue. The plot does have some merits. The initial premise that these people are stuck in an elevator with four other people, one of whom is the devil incarnate, could have worked. They just kept blowing it with every plot turn. Have you ever been riffing on some subject with a friend who just keeps inserting inane, unfunny, unrealistic smaller riffs into the greater riff? Yes? Well this is the movie that friend would make.
M. Night Shyamalan didn't write or direct this movie though he is credited with the story and producing. It has to be the only thing that got this mess into the theaters. There's so many straight to dvd movies that are better made than this, it's an injustice. All that being said, we did laugh our asses off for most the movie.
(It was remarkably hard to find an image pertaining to this movie, probably because everyone is collectively trying to forget it.)
Initially I was so filled with vitriol after seeing this movie that I wanted to run home and layer my intense hate upon well deserved hate in a sort of bean dip of hate but I let it go and after a week it has mostly abated. It was just so stupid. Every time someone said something, I thought, that's ridiculous, nobody says those words in conjunction with those other words in response to yet other utterances nobody would bother to produce. And that's just the dialogue. The plot does have some merits. The initial premise that these people are stuck in an elevator with four other people, one of whom is the devil incarnate, could have worked. They just kept blowing it with every plot turn. Have you ever been riffing on some subject with a friend who just keeps inserting inane, unfunny, unrealistic smaller riffs into the greater riff? Yes? Well this is the movie that friend would make.
M. Night Shyamalan didn't write or direct this movie though he is credited with the story and producing. It has to be the only thing that got this mess into the theaters. There's so many straight to dvd movies that are better made than this, it's an injustice. All that being said, we did laugh our asses off for most the movie.
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