Movies Seen: First Time Viewed*
Paprika*
Gentlemen Broncos*
Evil Dead II*
The Will Be Blood*
Melinda and Melinda
Taxi Driver*
Paprika (2007 Satoshi Kon):
Paprika is an animated film I watched in my world cinema class. It is about a therapist (maybe? I don’t think she ever said she was one in the film) who use a newly invented machine to enter her patients dreams and help them work things out. Things get whacky of course and the dreams start mixing with reality and then we are all taught how technology can destroy civilization if we don’t keep it in check. Ok, so that is a really broad and small sighted statement about a whole cultural bias in Japan. You would be afraid of tech too if someone had dropped a couple of nukes on your cities. The movie was a real trip, full of bright colors and dialogue you had to sort of take with a grain of salt. When the dreams start influencing the people who are awake, they all start talking gibberish. I was very glad that I had read a synopsis of the movie’s plot before watching it, because if I hadn’t, I would have been so lost. Paprika goes real crazy real fast, and the plot gets pushed along at a sometimes ridiculous speed. Sometimes people need a little time to let things settle you know? All said, it was a good movie, I recommend it to people who like anime like Ghost in the Shell and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Just, you know, don’t drop acid beforehand. You’ll be in for a bad trip in the end. SPOILER: The fat guy gets the girl.
Gentlemen Broncos (2009 Jared Hess):
From the man who brought you Napoleon Dynamite (which I haven’t seen) and Nacho Libre (which I don’t want to see) comes a new comedy about nerds! See, I should write tag lines for movies, because I’ve got the mad skills needed for such summaries. This movie absolutely panned at the box office and after having watched it I cannot see why. The main character Benjamin (Michael Angarano) is a reclusive nerd who lives with his weirdo mother (Jennifer Coolidge) and writes sci-fi stories as his hobby. Now based on that alone why wouldn’t you want to see this movie? Seriously though, he goes to a writing workshop with a bunch of other mostly weird looking people, including Hector Jimenez who I NEVER WANT TO SEE AGAIN ON FILM!!! His lips and mouth are DISGUSTINGLY huge. Skip all this stuff I said, besides the story line being pretty good, and the movie being pretty funny, Jemaine Clement is the reason to see the film, especially if you have watched any Flight of the Conchords. He plays such a gross human being, someone we have all met before I am sure at one time or another. The kind of person that thinks their crap smells like roses and nothing they do is wrong, but secretly they have a lot to prove to themselves. A lot of the dialogue is just embarrassingly funny and the ending is extremely satisfying. I cannot remember the last time I saw an ending that made me feel good for the characters in the film.
Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn (1987 Sam Raimi):
I maintain the have a deep love for Bruce Campbell. The man is the American dream wrapped in sexy savory bacon. Man crush? How dare you! Anyway, despite my love for the actor, I really have found very few of his horror movies very enjoyable. It has nothing to do with him; I am just not into horror for the most part. I have to say I like Evil Dead part the first for its campiness and cheap but effective effects. Evil Dead II?... Not so much. There were way too many jump scares, which are just cheap I tell you, CHEAP! I wanted to enjoy what was going on onscreen, but I was too busy shying away from the next potential jump. The over abundance of gore was great, Campbell is magnificent of course, and there really was some great camera work. I had to look up the cinematographer I liked it so much (his name is Peter Deming). I always wonder how much of the camera work is actual the cinematographer or the director. I got a heavy sense of Three Stooges from the film, and of course, I was right on. The short documentary that comes on the DVD has Sam Raimi and Bruce acting like a couple of knuckleheads right on film. All you Raimi fans are welcome to give me a big fat DUUUUHHHHHH, it’s alright. Statement; I have Army of Darkness, I am going to watch it, I have no choice. Even with all my problems with the movie, that ending just left me dying to know what happens next. DAMN YOU RAIMI! You’re making me watch movies that scare the poop out of me!
There Will Be Blood (2007 Paul Thomas Anderson):
I am a changed man. Because I have seen this film, I cannot help but start talking like Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) whenever the urge comes about. He is my new Sean Connery, and I love me some Sean Connery. This movie blew my mind away. From the acting, which was amazing all around, to the cinematography, which uses the environments and shadows as if they were actors themselves, to the music, blending from scene to scene adding so much depth it is unspeakable. Has it come across I wonder? I LOVED THIS MOVIE. I loved it so much that I am honestly sorry that No Country for Old Men, another movie I love dearly, won the best picture Oscar over this. I don’t have the words to describe the magic this movie made me feel. Daniel Plainview, as a character, is so charismatic that he could have bought all of my land (not that I have any… I guess he could have bought all my NES games for 5 bucks). The drama of this driven yet conflicted man made me hate him and love him all together at once. Paul Dano did an excellent job as well, playing religious leader/fanatic/town leader Eli Sunday. Their displays of emotion bordered on insanity, certainly on obsession. Now I would like to talk about the amazing music, but I am not very good at describing things like that. The music made the whole atmosphere of the film fascinating to me. It added intensity to scene that otherwise would have come off as filler, moments just meant to take up space in the plot. I am a mild fan of Radiohead, but right now, I would get down on my knees and kiss Jonny Greenwood’s feet. The man obviously has a huge amount of talent. I could keep gushing, but I feel like I will just embarrass myself trying to describe the indescribable. This movie may now be in my top ten all time films. ‘Nuff said.
Melinda and Melinda (2004 Woody Allen):
So, I already stated I am a fan of Woody Allen. It isn’t because I believe I am some pseudo intellectual and believe he speaks for all of us, it’s because he’s funny. That sarcastic self-deprecating bastard makes me laugh every time. Melinda and Melinda has problems. Because it is split into two tales, both about the same situation, one comedy one tragedy, I don’t feel like the stories are fleshed out enough for a proper narrative. Especially at the end of the tragic tale, I want to know what happens with Jonny Lee Miller’s character. It isn’t really important to the story I guess, because the movie is really about two playwrights’ interpretations on life, but I can’t help but feel like I missed something. I don’t have much else to say about the film, but I want to note that this is one of the few movies that I actually enjoy Will Ferrell in. The absence of over the top actions on his part is always an improvement for me.
Taxi Driver (1976 Martin Scorsese):
This movie is nothing like I imagined it would be like. I thought it would be all about this psycho cab driver and I don’t know what else. Not much to go on there. Something in this film drove at least one person to try to assassinate the president at the time. I think I can see why (I swear I’m not crazy!). Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is relatable to anyone who found something special about the novel The Catcher in the Rye. His disgust with the world and people around him, his awkwardness about sex and women, his desire to protect the innocent, sounds like Holden Caulfield to me. Now, I realize that I am not saying anything that hasn’t been said by someone before me, as is the case with almost everything I write in this blog, but I think it is important to point this angle out. I noticed it while watching the movie, and it actually drove me away from really loving the film. Taxi Driver has an amazing narrative, perfect score (that saxophone music is so seedy, it just adds stickiness to the whole movie), and superb acting. I am chased away from it by remembering how much Catcher affected me in high school. I never want to feel that way again. Travis Bickle and I will never be friends, but I don’t mind watching him from a distance. Possibly parked across the street in a cab… NO!
So, this week had a lot of heavy stuff, and not just in the movie category. I cannot help but wonder if the way I was emotionally was truly affected by what I watched this week. I guess I wouldn’t be surprised. Any questions, comments, or swarthy tales of life on the sea, please send them to JDTMovies@gmail.com. Also, I have started a fan page on facebook for my pathetic blog. Please become a fan and feel free to leave any comments you have for me there!
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