SCARFACE (1983) Brian de Palma brings everything about the gangster saga and multiplies it to a point of excess in this intense, iconic picture about the rise and fall of a Cuban drug lord. Profanity, violence, and drugs are in full stock and the tightly plotted screen play by Oliver Stone unfolds beautifully. Al Pacino as Tony Montana is unforgettable, and as the film progresses he sinks deeper and deeper into tragedy until his whole world crumbles on top of him. Like most great crime films, this shows what the darker side of ambition can do to a person's life; the American Dream tainted and unholy. The climax in Scarface's mansion is masterful, also. The world was his oyster, and his conquest is our entertainment.
Reviews
3 Reviews
Pulp Fiction
(1994)
Black humor shines in dialogue-heavy pastiche
2 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
A lot of people have heard about "Pulp Fiction", but what about it has made it so endlessly popular? The main attribute, I believe, is that there are few cinematic experiences like it. It is in the nether land between drama and comedy, and defies genre. Crime thriller? Not serious enough. Comedy? No, those are made solely for you to laugh. You want a comedy, get Steve Martin. After Travolta and Jackson exit that diner and the credits roll, you feel like you've seen something truly different. On top of the unique style, highly creative threads run non-chronologically through the movie, punctuated by irony. Examples? The diner thieves declare restaurants would be easy to rob, but are stopped dead by a religious hit man. A man has to take his boss's wife out, and if he so much touches her feet, he'll be killed. This turns to crisis when he almost kills her, which would be much worse. And finally, one hit-man admits that God intervened in his life and survives; the man who scoffed at this is killed. Those these stories may seem dry on paper, Tarantino peppers them with idiosyncratic moments: Gangsters dressed in t-shirts and bathing suits, a mysterious briefcase, and an escalating series of unfortunate events after returning from the bathroom. It's not perfect, however. The homosexual rape scene is in bad taste and does not have the artful spark the other stories do. This by itself knocked my rating down to an 8. Also, and this is an observation, not a criticism: the characters and plot are not as deep or involved as some other films. They have no purpose or weight. There is little change in characters that is delved into deeper than a conversation. Whether this is because the narrative only spans two days are because the "epitome of cool" style doesn't want emotional change is unknown. Overall, this is an interesting divergence from regular hero-villain-what have we learned cinema that combines clever story lines with cinematic homage.
Rollicking time capsule
30 July 2010
JOE COCKER: MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN (1971) Few films capture the grimy, jazzy feel of what it was like to be in a rock and roll band than this documentary gem. One particularly revealing scene shows what a recording session was like: ten people crammed in a smoke-filled room playing loudly and in one take. No over dubbing or fancy equipment. Just some men and women (or, as the final song shows, hermaphrodites) with passion and raw musical talent. The famous performance of "The Letter" with Joe Cocker in a lei is the one you hear on the radio today. The Mad Dogs, headed by Cocker and Leon Russell, rework several well-known songs to fit their own groovy, down and dirty style. "With a Little Help from My Friends" becomes a choir backed extravaganza, while The Box Tops' "The Letter" is fashioned into a R/B piece with an immortal horns riff; You know the "da da da dadada" when you hear it. The technical aspects are solid as well, with split screens, frame coloration, and the like. The film doesn't tell you in voice over what the road was like, it shows you. In a camp out scene, Joe can be seen looking at his contemporaries embracing while he sits off-kilter by himself. It's always suggesting, never telling. I saw this with my grandpa and he had lots to say about what he remembered about those days. He enjoyed it thoroughly and I was surprised how much I did as well; more so than even "Woodstock". "Woodstock" was too sprawling, too colossal to love. This one is a brief, piercing look at a band that wasn't necessarily the best, but had a hell of a time trying to be.
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