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reelwoman
Reviews
Efter brylluppet (2006)
Enjoyable, but...
{spoilers alert}
Other reviewers recount the many strengths of this emotional drama, so I will be brief. I understand that an America re-make is underway, and I wince to imagine.
Two things disturbed me about the film. The first may be minor to many, but ... Jorgen's off-hand comment about taking his young sons fishing as a manly pursuit because he wouldn't want them to become gay. Really? Seems natural and acceptable to Helene, but a kick in my gut.
Second and more difficult for me, Jacob agrees to Jorgen's demand that Jacob leave India behind to live in Denmark with the family Jorgen will leave behind. Although Jacob hesitates, he agrees too readily. He leaves behind his own family of the orphanage of boys, and must choose to sacrifice his established life in India and his fatherhood of young Pramod, in order to become the father figure Jørgen's family. Pramod is so thoroughly devoted to Jacob, who has raised him from, infancy and is as much a father to this child as any father could be. Yet he abandons him with promises of visits. Ugh.
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (2015)
The suppressed story of the Black Panther Party
Because I'm old as dirt, I recall reading about the murder by the Chicago Police of Black Panther Fred Hampton in his bed while he slept, clearly part of J.Edgar Hoover's national program to undermine any leadership of the Black Panther Party. I was a senior in high school, and promptly tossed aside the Beowulf paper I was writing for one on the Black Panthers. This documentary gives you the full story that overlooked in civil rights discussions: the idea of militant blacks bearing arms was too frightening, although it sure made Martin Luther King's marches seem quite suddenly acceptable. I suspect it is the frightening aspect that has kept the Black Panther story stuffed in the closet of civil rights history.
The documentary portrays how carefully the Panthers attended to legal rights regarding guns, how they stood witness en mass whenever police pulled over black in the neighborhood (Black Lives Matter) to ensure just treatment. Very well portrayed was the diabolical and successful program of the FBI and law enforcement to cripple the organization. Important viewing for all Americans.
Mad Men (2007)
Anachronisms
I enjoy the show generally, for the intriguing writing, the strong performances, the interesting set and costume design. But I get bugged by frequent anachronisms, especially given that the details of the era are so important to the plot line.
A huge bag of UTZ chips prominently on Don Draper's fridge?
PANTYHOSE being slithered into, even so sensually? Nuh-uh. In those days, everyone wore girdles, no matter how skinny, with hosiery that hooked onto the clips or garter belt -- at least until the very late '60s.
That's just today's episode from season two for me. Got more?
I suspect that much of the show's popularity comes from the extreme sex role stereotyping and bias that was indeed typical of the ealry '60's -- an anachronism today? Not always so, m'dears, not always so.
Australia (2008)
inept quilt of genre clichés
Not sure if the making of this film was a cynical money-grubbing craft of old Hollywood genre clichés stitched together in soul-less fashion to try to evoke cheap emotional responses -- or if it is simply ineptitude. But this film is one shameful P.O.S. This felt less like an attempt to convey important themes and messages, more to manipulate an audience in ham-handed fashion. The treatment is artificial to the point of predictable, phony and Disney-esquire. I stayed to the end, but felt that I'd been ripped off by the filmmaker intent on making a buck, not to make a great film. A shame, I am a fan of Jackman and Kidman. Their acting was fine, the fault lies with the script and director.
Bottle Shock (2008)
Wasted treatment of a strong story
A compelling story that landed with a dull thud. Horrible writing, pacing, the story dragged terribly. Wasted fine performances by Alan Rickman, Freddy Rodriguez, Bill Pullman. Dennis Farina entertaining but caricatured (and that clown suit? Subtle American dig?) Chris Pines' Bo utterly lacked charisma. Who cared what happened to him? But we did care about Freddy Rodriquez' character -- and he is left hanging after a great build up. Bo got the girl? I'd call it nonsensical, if not racist that she'd go for him -- but then, she's just a throwaway sex vehicle to kindle cheap interest in this lackluster film.
Yes, the scenery was awesome, if overused. Yes, the base story is compelling and appreciated details of how such things are decided and publicized, etc. Perhaps what is most troublesome is how the raw potential of the rich story and the very fine cast presented an utterly missed opportunity for a fine film.
If you're interested, rent the video and be prepared to give your fast-forward finger a workout.
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Ha-ha-ha, they got your money too, huh?
Has Daniel Day-Lewis EVER been in a film that wasn't all about Daniel Day-Lewis and his self-indulgent, narcissistic intensity as an actor? He is consistent as ever in this one. Yes, he's intense, and yes he inhabits the role with his entire being. It's just ... from the start, there's no reason to give a damn what happens to Daniel Plainview: who cares?
I wanted to like this film. I seem irretrievably drawn to Day-Lewis films, yet almost always walk away feeling that for all his effort and craft he can ONLY carry acting to the level of CRAFT, and not to the level of ART. I suppose that's not a terrible thing, at least not in some films. But this film held nothing more for me than a showcase for Daniel Day-Lewis' craft. And that wasn't enough to engage me in any of the characters or the story line. For all the talk of character development, I didn't see any with the possible exception of son H.W., as he developed into a young man who wised up.
I was interested in seeing what Paul Dano would do with this film, and I will continue to watch his career with interest. I think he did as much as could be done with this role, but the script does a weak job of character development here as well. We won't even go into the bone-headed decision to make "identical twins" out of Eli and Paul.
And let's not dwell on how years pass and yet characters never seem to actually age, certainly not HW until he magically transforms into a young man at the end; not Eli who is entirely unchanged from his introduction as Paul to his bowling alley finale; and not even Daniel Plainview, but for a gray grizzled beard in his later years.
I did grudgingly give the film two stars for the stunning cinematography, and also for the interesting film score. The use of sound in general held at least intellectual critical interest for me, including the score but beyond in the use of silence, and the use of intimate dialogue between father and son as we watch them engage in a distant long shot, that sort of thing. This film actually has lots of elements worthy of consideration in any film criticism.
But was it a stimulating cinematic experience as a whole? Apparently for some it was, but it left me cold. Left me feeling dirty and used. Wouldn't it be interesting someday to see Day-Lewis in a movie where the point was ... the movie? And not DDL's ego? But it was worth the viewing just to share the laugh out loud list of 100 things we all learned from the film.
The History Boys (2006)
Guess I shoulda seen the play
Interesting, the strong reactions pro and con on this one. I expected to love it, based on reviews and friends' enthusiasm, but couldn't wait for it to end.
The fault, I believe, is in the direction and scriptwriting --oddly perhaps given Alan Bennett's obvious gifts. This was apparently one powerful stage production, but the film feels like a rush to move the story from one medium to another without respect for the differences of stage and cinema.
ALL of the characters felt two dimensional to me in a way that the actors' craft could not overcome. "Unruly boys" -- so we're instructed, but these are cardboard cutout characters. The headmaster: oh, please. The plot line felt equally forced and contrived, including the Irving predicament-- the script TOLD us that the events unfolded, but the story did not unfold naturally or believably.
And let me have a whack at that dead horse, Hector the pedophile. I appreciate Bennett's courage in attempting to balance Hector's pure wonderful-ness with this mortal flaw, but the film undercuts the balance by portraying the boys' reactions as jolly acceptance, beyond minimizing pedophilia it feels just plain false. It breaks the movie: if there were more realistic ambivalence about Hector's character we could embrace the conflict and let it move us.
Finally, Hector's last bike ride: utter sentimental cheap shot. Alan Bennett should be above such contrivance.
Law & Order: Terminal (1997)
Steven Hill's transcendent final scene
The last few minutes of this episode contain one of the most powerful acting scenes I've ever experienced in television, as Adam Schiff witnesses his wife's death in her hospital room. With no dialog and barest minimum of gesture and expression, Steven Hill (as Adam) conveys profound emotion as he mutely assents to withdrawing life supports from his off-camera wife. In a single camera shot, he registers the visceral reaction to her immediate death, behind nearly impassive expression he conveys transcendent pain and an animal urge to flight, and in an instant his shining eyes transition to resignation and pure grief.... This terminal scene alone makes this episode one of the finest of a series noted for fine productions.
Failure to Launch (2006)
An insult to viewers
Ugh. I had low expectations: picked the movie up on cable, expecting not art, but maybe a playful guilty pleasure fluff of a film. Not even that, was it? The writers/director clearly looking to cash in on a formulaic comedy that thuds on the screen. The Farrelly Bros can make stupid animal tricks work, but here they're just stupid and pointless. I LIKE Sarah Jessica Parker; Matthew McConaughey, well, he's no actor but he's pretty to look at. Huh, in this film, you just wince and want to look away. I felt sorry for the very talented Kathy Bates. I will say that Terry Bradshaw did just fine, and I'd hope that he finds a better vehicle next time out.
Oh yeah, they cranked this one out and waited to cash in. Have a look at the list of goofs if you want some insight into the craftsmanship that the filmmakers didn't have. Makes me feel used to have even picked it up on cable. I only wish they had failed to launch this piece of excrement.