Man on Wire

Man on Wire (2008)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1155592/]

The Gist:
Man on Wire is a documentary that speaks to a sort of simple poetry, whereby walking on a wire hundreds of feet in the air is exalted as a spiritual experience, as a overwhelming purpose in the life of our protagonist. Immediately, then, we have one of the key components for an excellent documentary, a subject of innate interest. However, I also enjoy how the entire film works as a sort of slow build to the event, taking the audience pace by pace through the preparation and anxious moments until finally we arrive at dawn to this crazy French fucker doing tricks on the rope held taut between the two now nonexistant trade towers, avoiding the police and even mocking them, staying up on the rope for forty five minutes before finally coming down as the wind starts to pick up. This documentary technique was done with a greater pace and a stronger affect in The Cove (which unraveled like a heist film), but what Man on Wire lacks in suspense it makes up for with whimsical spirit.

Full Metal Jacket

Full Metal Jacket (1987)
IMDB #83 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093058/]

The Gist:
Oddly, this film has a similar feel to From Dusk Till Dawn in that the first half and the second half feel like two completely separate movies that just happen to exist on one chronological plane. Granted, with Full Metal the shift isn't quite as severe but it is quite notable from the boot camp scenes to the leap forward to the thick of the Vietnam War. For my taste, I thought the second half of the film was expertly crafted, very very well done war film. The first half, on the other hand, felt a little uneven and a little dated. I think the whole hard as nails asshole drill instructor was probably a novel concept at the time, in fact I think this film has helped perpetuate the role. However, at times I would think to myself "yes, you're an asshole drill instructor who uses lots of dirty words, I get it". The most interesting thing about the first half was to see the progression of Joker and Pyle, which was good but overshadowed by the taut brilliance of the second half.

From Dusk Till Dawn

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116367/]

The Gist:
From Dusk Till Dawn is really two films in one smooth running time. The first half is a brilliant Tarantino dialogue driven post-heist escape to Mexico in the vein of something like Reservoir Dogs, only more twisted. Tarantino's character in particular is so demented in such a fascinating way that I pretty much fell in love with the film instantly. However, after Mexico the film takes up a different tact and it is this half that the film is known for. Essentially, what had started as a film with some depth and legitimacy somehow transitions into a highly stylized exploitation satire with vampires. I think that some who watch this film might find the shift disconcerting, but honestly both half of the films are awesome. They're just two films that fit together pretty well. Besides, any film that has a guy shooting a machine gun from his crotch has to be worth watching, right?

The Rules of the Game

The Rules of the Game (1939)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031885/]

The Gist:
This is my first Renoir film and having not seen any more of his work I have a difficult time saying if The Rules of the Game is a good deal like Robert Altman films or if Altman films are a good deal like Renoir films. Never-the-less, this film balances a large cast who all struggle with the enervating and at times superfluous nature of love. Often, the way characters interact with each other are desperate and pleading and occasionally vapid but are always entertaining in a helter skelter sort of fashion. The camera picks up long winding one takes that flow from one character to the other and the depth often picks up multiple planes of action. All that being said, the relationships in this film are pretty hollow (although great intense burning love and affection are often purported by the characters). However, if you juxtapose that with the cruelty of the noblesse hunt that takes place in the film, the obliteration of the rabbits and game hen that inhabit the forest all to satisfy a bored over privelaged upper class...well then you can extend the tepid relationships and philandering as another symptom of the ennui of the rich, which is in its own way sort of tragic.

Week Forty

Gah, so late... New queue:

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) - check
Man On Wire (2008) - check
Full Metal Jacket (1987) - check
The Rules of the Game (1939) - check

Spaceballs

Spaceballs (1987)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094012/]

The Gist:
To be honest, I think I enjoyed this movie more because I'm an intense Star Wars fan (the originals, oi) and less because I think it was one of Brooks' better parodies. Simply put, it's pretty weak if you put it side by side with his classic films (ie Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and even Robin Hood: Men in Tights). That's not to say it's a bad film, in fact it has some great moments. I loved Rick Moranis as Dark Helmut, particularly the scene where he plays with his dolls; I loved the moment when they put the videotape of spaceballs in the VCR (ah I remember VCRs) to find out where the Princess had escaped to; I also really liked the whole merchandising spoof poking fun at the whole Lucas merchandising phenomenon. However, John Candy was completely wasted in this film with a plainly unfunny character, the film relies a lot on jokes it had done better in the past, and honestly it just kind of stays the course with safe jokes for most of the film.

The Passion of Joan of Arc

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019254/]

The Gist:
This film is the first completely silent film I've seen. No music, no random sound effects, just completely silent where the only thing I had to accompany it are the birds and the cars and so on outside the window. I do think that when there's no music to underscore an emotive response, the film's performance gain a nuance that is otherwise impossible, and in retrospect this is crucial to the film. For almost the entirety of the film we see frames of close ups along with title cards that actually transpose the transcript of the real historical Joan's trial. The effect is sort of memorizing, particularly the woman who portrays Joan who pours so much emotion into the role that somehow an entire movie trained largely on her face becomes riveting.