Blue Angel Reviews

I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967)

Politics, more than sex, kept this film censored in the US

[10/10 · 13 July 2000]

This is truly an excellent film with a revolutionary message (both in form and content) that should not be missed by any fan of French New Wave or Underground film. There are barely opening or closing credits--we are just dropped into the world of consumerist art, revolution, and youth. This film has little to do with documentary and is more interesting in playing with our ideas of advertising and its relationship to reality. Lines of real and not real are crossed in ways familiar with films discussing documentary, but this time we do it for the sake of consuming and marketing, not for describing the real.

Swimming with Sharks (1994)

flaccid characters + egoistic plot mechanisms = B-movie

[5/10 · 7 June 2000]

Sure, Kevin Spacey is fantastic in this film, but that still doesn't help over come the fact that the story is weak and petty, the lead character is nothing more than a two-dimensional cut-out representing the p***y frustrations and alter ego of the writer, and that the ending makes little sense. Not to mention that the whole film is lacks any development and is just a collection of cruel scenes with little explanation or connection between them. There is no development: just a mean boss, an aspiring kid, and torture (which is such a pathetic attempt at cathartic redemption--obviously designed for the post-pubescent frustrated men who are the key market to this kind of B-film)--basically nothing really separates this film from a Russ Meyers special except that Meyers doesn't have pretensions of any sort while you can just feel how important this movie believes it is.

All in all, this film may be worth watching just to see Spacey do his magic, but the residue this film leaves behind almost makes me think I should just watch American Beauty twice instead of seeing this once.

Topkapi (1964)

The perfect crew, the perfect prize, the perfect crime . . .

[10/10 · 12 May 2000]

If you like Sneekers, The Sting, or The Thomas Crown Affair (or at least what Thomas Crown was trying to do) then Topkapi is for you. The story starts quickly and directly--this is a group of thieves who want the ultimate prize: an emerald studded dagger found in the Topkapi museum in Turkey. For the next 2 hours we follow them with clever and understated cinematography through all levels of their deception. The characters are each interesting and idiosyncratic, and the writing is light hearted and comedic.

The story is also truly cinematic in a very Hitchcockian way: there are long segments without dialogue where you are simply forced to concentrate on the action (shot from frightening angles) and deal with the awful (yet wonderful) syncopation created by the ambient sounds and the action in the shot. The film also has an interesting homoerotic edge (very Hitchcock) which ads a nice subversive edge to anyone interested in such readings.

Except for the hokie closing credit scene--this movie is one of the best heist films ever.

Midnight (1998)

Nothing changes on New Years Day

[10/10 · 2 February 2000]

This film takes place in Rio de Janeiro from December 30 1999 to January 1, 2000. It takes the stories of two people who's lives are about to totally change, and throws them into a universe which has no intention of changing despite the ostensible significance of the new calendar year.

The film is furiously shot and travels deep into the poverty stricken edges of Rio's mountainous terrain. It's a visceral visual experience (try to say that five times fast) and a must see for all cinema fans.