screening log: 9 June - 27 June
Jun 30th, 2009 by dkaz
Ever more, sorry for the lack of detail:
Around the Bay (Adams, 2008) - better than Canary, and reminds me a great deal of Resnais. The structure of the sound design is very ostentatious but wonderful. Title seems to not quite work as a title but fits so very well as something allusive and suggestive in meaning.
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (Scott, 2009) - liked it, wrote on it for The Auteurs.
The Fountainhead (Vidor, 1949) - what a strange post-war creature this is. All the more so pairing the barely-the-lead-actor Gary Cooper with the Strangest Looking Lead Actress, Patricia Neal. A masterpiece but I have no organized thoughts about it.
The Hangover (Philips, 2009) - “A Todd Philips movie”? That’s the most pretentious thing I’ve seen in film in 2009, and I just came back from Cannes! Opening credit sequence is nice, as is Ed Helm, but this thing never takes its concept anywhere interesting, over or under the top.
My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (To/Wai, 2002) - saw this as prep for an interview with Wai, who I thought directed it solo. Credits tell me no, but film tells me yes. Would love to rib hard-core auteurist To acolytes to know where they see him in this.
Breathless (Yang, 2009) - wrote a bit about this at The Auteurs.
Scenes from Under Childhood (Brakhage)
Written By (Wai, 2009) - wrote about this at The Auteurs.
Year One (Ramis, 2009) - will be writing about this for The Auteurs, but I say skip it (the film that is).
Bunny Lake is Missing (Preminger, 1965) - I haven’t watched a Preminger in a while, and seeing this reminds me how much Resnais is indebted to him, and how much the ending of Muriel relies on Preminger as an inspiration. Oh, and how weird is the ending of this movie? Seems to devolve, right?, away from the concept of the psycho-drama, but only gets more unsettling unresolved and opens more bizarre psycho-doors in the story. It explains away the plot mystery but does nothing but introduce things that undercut all that safety and satisfaction.
Whatever Works (Allen, 2009) - will be writing about this for The Auteurs, but I say see it (the film that is).
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (Bay, 2009) - I swear I quite liked this movie, thought it was rad, and not to be one of those jerkish contrarian high brows. It moved better, faster, and less smugly than the previous film, and the greater amount of fights combats all the more with ILM’s insane attention to CGI detail.
The Exploding Girl (Gray, 2009) - really lovely, and, finally, an American indie that uses tripods and precise editing. My hat’s off. Still lacks details of the real world outside of emotional/romantic sensation, which is a real detriment to the film and to films like this in general, but gets so much right in comparison to the wrongs currently being made by similar filmmakers that it is hard to stay mad.
Maine-Océan (Rozier, 1986) - uncategorizable, difficult to talk about, absolutely brilliant. Wandering, free form, surrealist (pace David Phelps), fresh, so fresh. Rozier never made a full feature again?
10 Rillington Place (Fleischer, 1971) - as a good friend would say, this is some real ham and cheese. Only John Hurt escapes with some tenderness, and the rest never really settles on any of the angles that would make the story interesting. And it relies on ham and cheese.




