Bob le Flambeur (1956)

2/5

Jean-Pierre Melville's Bob le Flambeur is a character study of the titular gambler (Duchesne). As the movie begins, we see him enjoy hefty winnings from a racetrack bet only to lose it all on roulette that night. Out of money and burdened with debt, he collects a team of thieves to help him complete a heist on a casino. But things don't go as planned.

The movie has alternately been described as a film noir and a precursor to the French New Wave, preceding both Godard and Truffaut. I can see elements of both, but I feel that they embody opposite ideals and disparate moods. One deals in archetypes, the other in innovation; one in seediness, the other in rejuvenation. The movie has a fractured tone as a result, and prevented me from really getting into it.

Plot-wise, much of the movie reminded me of Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven. Where that movie had slick editing, this one had amateurish camerawork. Where that had wit and cleverness, this has the occasional stray joke and just one real surprise. The acting is bare-bones and basic, serving the story instead of the characters. But despite all those negatives, this movie has a truly remarkable ending that almost makes up for its technical flaws. Almost.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047892/

Young Adult (2011)

3/5

Jason Reitman's Young Adult is somewhat of a diversion from his earlier comedies (Thank You for Smoking, Juno). It follows the story of young adult fiction writer Mavis Gary (Theron), who returns to her small town of Mercury after learning that her high school boyfriend (Wilson) has just had a child. Aiming to ruffle some feathers and win him back, she accidentally bumps into someone else she went to high school with: Matt Freehauf (Oswalt). Matt walks with a cane, after having been beat up back in high school for supposedly being gay, and tries to convince her not to ruin the new couple's life. But he can only do so much, because he's not the only one with old wounds.

Ultimately, I think this movie takes a sobering look at the terrors of high school relationships, how awful and cruel those interactions can be, and how they can stir up primal emotions our evolutionarily-mature cerebral cortices should be able to inhibit. High school can be painful, and filled with painful memories, even in the most well-adjusted graduate. It's where we first develop a sense of superiority, a sense of insecurity, or a sense of dependency--and also a sense of self. It's a far more complex movie than any trailer could do justice to, and perhaps than even the film itself can. It is a funny movie, in the sense that there are sarcastic jokes and awkward moments, but it's also a very sad story, in the sense that we are faced by depressing realities. But for me, it was just hard to get into. There is more focus on the editing than the dialogue, more emphasis on the representation of the characters than the people who live these lives. It's a dark comedy, intelligently told, and wholly unlike Reitman's earlier works. If you decide to watch this movie, just go in knowing what to expect.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1625346/

King Kong (1933)

4/5

The original King Kong was a monumental achievement in filmmaking for its time. Made almost 80 years ago, it still manages to tell an engrossing tale of hubris, humanity, and love. The movie starts with film director Carl Denham (Armstrong), about to set sail into uncharted territory with a film crew and enormous supply of tranquilizing gas bombs. He won't tell any of his compatriots the exact location until they near it, but he plans to shoot his newest adventure film there. He brings on a young Ann Darrow (Wray) as his lead actress to act against Jack Driscoll (Cabot). And so begins the story that inevitably ends in disaster.

The movie is remarkably efficient (especially in comparison to the remake that almost doubles the running time), and serves as an example of impeccable storytelling. We are immediately placed in the mystery of the moment, buffeted along by every twist and turn in the plot. The titular ape does not appear until almost halfway through the film, but our eyes are glued to the screen the entire time. It turns into an epic love story, one of unrequited love and sacrifice. We watch as our antihero protagonist builds up a tribute to himself and to mankind that eventually comes crashing down. Literally. The plot is so thick with multiple thematic meanings that it becomes a joy to analyze.

Unfortunately, the movie has more than its fair share of faults. The performances are rather stilted and bland. The dialogue itself isn't bad--when it's not racist or sexist, that is--but the delivery absolutely kills it. It's not such a bad thing the first time you watch it, but it seems to lose a little of its luster with every repeat viewing. There is also a large amount of obvious green-screening. But the most glaring problem is the stop motion animation. While hailed at the time as being unbelievably, unexpectedly realistic, it just looks comical now. This would have been more bearable if the effects simply stayed in the background, but the director spends exorbitant amounts of time showing off the latest and greatest like he's Michael Bay. It's as if the director forgot the focus should be on the story and the characters, and chooses instead to focus on the novelty of the animation. It doesn't help that the computer-generated effects in the remake easily outperform all the hard work put into the original.

All in all, the film is somewhat of a mixed bag. It was clearly a labor of love, and involves a richness and depth you wouldn't expect in this type of film, but it just doesn't hold its weight against modern cinema. It's hard to watch knowing a better-looking version is available, although I feel a twinge of nostalgia every time I think of this movie. Highly recommended.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/

Footloose (2011)

2/5

This 2011 remake of Footloose is kind of a funny movie, although not always intentionally so. It purports to be a movie about an out-of-towner (Wormald) who discovers that public dance has been outlawed in his new small town home and attempts to overturn that silly law. It is also about a foolish, old-school preacher (Quaid) who must learn humbling life lessons from his far wiser, far sassier, daughter (Hough) and her precocious teen friends. I guess it's also supposed to be a dance movie, but there are about 3-4 scenes total that involve any kind of dancing. I say that it's funny because I can't wrap my head around the plot enough to suspend my disbelief. A group of drunk teens gets into a car accident while leaving a party that involved dancing, and the next logical step is to outlaw dancing. A high schooler gets so fed up with the unfairness and oppression leveled at him by adults that he has to go to an abandoned warehouse and dance his heart away. Most preposterous of all, however, is the drag race involving schoolbuses that ends in flames. Honestly, I'm not quite sure that the filmmakers were going for, but whatever it was, I don't think they succeeded.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1068242/

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010)

3/5

Tsui Hark's Detective Dee movie has a ridiculously long title and a preposterous plot to match. I was suckered into watching this because it was on Time's list of the top ten movies of the year, as number 3 behind The Artist and Hugo, and I was surprised that I had never heard of it. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, but I certainly hoped it would be good, especially since it had been lauded as "Crouching Tiger meets Sherlock Holmes." The movie starts with the mysterious death of two men who are working on a gigantic Buddha for the coronation of China's first female emperor (Lau), two men who literally explode into flames when the sun hits their skin. The empress enlists the titular detective (Lau) to solve the crime, but sends her aide (Li)--a martial artist with a whip--and an official from the Royal Court (Chao)--a martial artist with an axe--to keep an eye on him.

The story includes transfiguration, fighting puppets, and talking deer. But it also includes a surprisingly affecting love story and a clever mystery. So what that some of it makes no sense, that the line work is simplistic, and that the special effects are laughable? Nothing impresses, nothing offends. It's mindless entertainment in the cinematic style of old Asian dramas. It is what it is and nothing more. Watch it if that's the kind of movie you like, but don't go in hoping to be converted to a new genre you've never tried before.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1123373/

Drunken Angel (1948)

3/5

Drunken Angel is an early Kurosawa film, billed as a film noir but playing more like a character study. The story follows Dr. Sanada (Shimura), a gruff physician working in a poverty-stricken district with a trash-infested swamp serving as the centerpiece for the village (and thematically probably much more, although I can't figure out what). He works not for money or prestige, but for the inherent reward of helping people in need. He begins an uneasy friendship with a gangster named Matsunaga (Mifune) after diagnosing him with tuberculosis. Tensions heighten when Okada (Yamamoto) returns from prison, declaring power over Matsunaga's turf and claiming ownership of a young woman who works for Dr. Sanada (Nakakita).

The movie is surprisingly unique, and for whatever reason I could not predict what would happen next. Kurosawa has a way of making movies that envelop you in them, that place you in the action, so that you enjoy the story instead of analyze it. Even so, I was disappointed in the film. Some characters were written flat while others felt like explosive caricatures. The titular doctor has an unusual habit of throwing bottles at his patients and calling them fools. The compositions were second-rate (made worse by the sub-standard Criterion transfer), the camerawork was shoddy, and the editing was choppy. Much of the medicine in the movie is unintentionally comic, likely because it is old medicine and not because of bad writing. Overall the movie just felt a little less put-together than his later films. You could see sparks of genius and the direction he wanted to take it, but without the proper tools to get him there. A fine effort, but there is much better Kurosawa to be had.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040979/

An Affair to Remember (1957)

4/5

Leo McCarey's An Affair to Remember is a surprisingly affecting and powerful tale of true love and bad timing. Nickie Ferrante (Grant) is a notorious playboy Lothario, who is finally settling down and marrying the heiress of a fortune (Patterson). Terry McKay (Kerr) is a professional night club singer, and also currently engaged (Denning). They meet on a transatlantic ocean liner and, of course, fall in love. Once they realize this, unfortunately, the boat is about to dock, and they promise each other that they will meet again in 6 months at the Empire State Building and marry each other then. But things do not quite work out as planned.

The first half of the movie was, I'll be honest, forgettably straightforward. Nothing really stood out, except one scene where they visit Nickie's grandmother (Nesbitt), and I almost stopped watching the movie halfway through. I'm glad I did not give up, however, as the second half is uniquely fascinating and tragically beautiful. The scenes where they break off their respective engagements is ferociously brutal, heart-rending, and touching. What perfect filmmaking, where Kerr walks out onto the balcony and you see the bay door reflecting an image of the Empire State Building by her side. And the final scene brings you to the breaking point--you cannot help but feel with all your heart when you watch it. It is overflowing with regret, with mercy, with pride, and with so much human imperfection as to make your whole body tingle with emotion. Despite any issues I have with the first half of the movie (and all the cheesy singing), I can't help but remember all the good things it delivers on. For any romantic out there, you need to watch this film.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050105/

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (2011)

3/5

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen is a terrifically predictable romance about an unlikely couple (McGregor, Blunt) forced together by circumstance (Waked, Scott Thomas) and then torn apart by equally implausible circumstance (Mison). It is filled with inspiring music that swells up during talk about fishing and ominous overtones that creep up during moments of danger. It is not the most sophisticated film as far as subtlety is concerned, but its traditional storytelling structure is better than some indie romances I've seen in the past. The chemistry between the two leads is unexpectedly good, and that more than makes up for the mediocre rest. As for the plot, everything ties up a little too neatly and happily at the end to be believable. But it's a mindless movie with sufficient heart and humor to appeal to the masses. It's a movie that doesn't ask you to think too hard about it once the credits roll and you shuffle out of the theater. It is harmless Sunday morning fare and it serves its purpose well.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441952/

The Guard (2011)

3/5

The Guard is an independent Irish movie about Boyle (Gleeson), a local sergeant in the law-enforcing Garda who stumbles upon a violent murder in a sleepy town in Ireland, and Wendell (Cheadle), an FBI agent tracking down drug-runners with a cocaine supply worth $500m. They discover the two events are interconnected and must team up to take down the baddies, one of whom (Strong) has become nostalgic for the days where his occupation was a difficult and dangerous endeavor.

The movie is a fish-out-of-water tale combined with odd couple dynamics within a black comedy atmosphere. Usually when I throw in multiple genres, I describe movies that fail to satisfy on many (if not all) fronts. Here, it is a bit different because the movie aspires to none of those individual formats and instead hopes to just be true to itself. It succeeds. It doesn't feel like a clone or a Frankenstein, but a wholly and completely fresh world.

The plot is fairly basic without any real intrigue or suspense, but that is not why you watch the movie. The cinematography contains that quirky indie obsession with transforming the ordinary into the beautiful (sometimes successfully, sometimes not), but that is not why you watch the movie. You watch because of the people. It relies on its characterizations, which are a strange combination of stereotype, archetype, and oddball fascination. They're certainly different, but I don't think they offer anything truly arresting as far as character studies go. The thick accents add a little Fargo-esque humor but also make the dialogue difficult to understand. Honestly, it's a solid, off-the-wall black comedy that sits alone in its indie corner, and wouldn't be too upset if nobody else liked it as much as it likes itself.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540133/