Go see this movie. Right now.
I think it’s the best Sci-Fi movie since Blade Runner. It does a great job with believable technology and balances that with realistic characterizations. Definitely see it on a big screen! I have no idea why the film distributors have been so quiet about this movie and why the release has been so small.
I’m apparently a little (a lot) behind in the review party. I’ve only read the first three books in the series, so at this point, I can only review the movie and a movie. Order of the Phoenix is one of the best films in the series so far. The story moves along at a good clip, the story is accessible to those who haven’t read the books or even (in the case of Virginia), those who haven’t seen previous movies.
The story has gotten progressively darker as the series works to a close, and the film reflects this change in mood well. The actors are growing well as actors and the performances here are very good. In particular, Imelda Staunton plays Dolores Umbridge as the sort of person who uses a pleasant exterior to cover a ruthless and viciously conformist interior. I love the way the film uses the Umbridge character to make comments on standardized testing, teacher evaluation, and using traditional values as a cover for villainy. I also love how the film points out how authorities (in this case the Ministry of Magic) can be in such systematic denial about threats that it turns on those who would point out those threats. Very interesting.
In other Harry Potter news, I’m only half-way through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as compared to most people I know who finished the book within hours of the Saturday release. Too much life going on to dedicate that much time to reading at the moment - which isn’t really a bad thing.
This is a video I made for Matt featuring his autocross run in his Honda Civic hatchback. It is a taste test of some stuff I’m going to do for the full SASCA promo video.
I came across an article about Roger Ebert and his lengthy recovery from his illness. I’m glad to hear that he won’t let nasty paparazzi media types keep him away from his Overlooked Film Festival.
Virginia and I Have had a running argument about whether or not I enjoy “Chick Flicks”. She claims that I simply don’t like them. I argue that I do, but I hold them to the same criteria for quality that I hold any other movie - they don’t get a buy simply because of their genre.
Last night, we were watching All About My Mother which I define as a chick flick (and I loved it) - Virginia disagrees. So perhaps I simply have some misconceptions about what defines a chick flick.
Throwing out a definition, I came up with “a movie describing human relationships (often romantic) from a woman’s perspective.” With this definition in mind, I came up with the following movies immediately:
Virginia disagreed with the entire list - saying that having to read the movie (subtitled) ruins the effect.
Over lunch today, Greg Lange, Edward Mao and I were talking about this. I described the plots of the above movies and they disagreed with my designation of the movies in question as chick flicks also. Stymied, I asked for a definition from Greg. He came up with:
Chick Flicks have a simple plot, and are about a woman and one or two guys.
I’ve seen some movies like this, but I’m not sure most people would describe them as chick flicks.
Just to avoid being called a foreign film snob, I came up with some American or at least English language chick flick movies:
I later found a few links about the topic which triggered positive memories about the following:
Also, these lists had some seriously weird choices for “chick flicks”. For example:
Hmm.
Greg came up with the following:
Edmo came up with:
And the number one - suggested by Virginia is The Notebook - which I’ve got in my queue already!
So what do y’all think? I declare myself not a chick flick hater!
The first session we attended was the Snakes on a Plane discussion. It was moderately interesting, but a little light on insightful commentary. Ultimately, I agreed with one panel member - the biggest problem with SoaP was that it was released too late after the hype peaked - people lost interest in what was otherwise a perfectly entertaining little genre disaster movie.
Notes:
I probably saw my first Guillermo Del Toro, Mimic, without noting who the director was. It turns out that the version of Mimic that was released was so mutilated by the studio that it left only an impression of a fun popcorn monster movie with some good atmosphere, but no lasting presence.
Much later, I heard a lot of buzz about a Spanish language film he had made about a ghost in an orphanage set during the Spanish Civil War. Miracle of miracles! The film actually came to a theatre in San Antonio, and I took a long lunch one weekday and caught it in a nearly empty theatre. I walked in as the opening credits were rolling. I looked around for an empty row, still snow blind from the bright sun outside. There looked to be only one other person in the theatre on the far side of the room. I rushed into the closest row and smashed with more force than I’d care to admit into the other person in the theatre. I whispered an apology and moved to a seat in the middle of the row. I loved The Devil’s Backbone immediately. It’s still the best ghost story I’ve ever seen. It has a sense of dread in every frame, the cinematography is beautiful - every frame is planned, and the surprises in the script really work. It’s the kind of film that unfortunately can only be made outside of the studio system.
He came back to the studio system for his next two films. The much more successful Blade II and Hellboy - two great examples of the comic book genre. Both in my DVD collection.
I have been waiting to see Pan’s Labyrinth for over a year. I knew very little about the story line, but I knew that it was in a similar setting to The Devil’s Backbone and at this point, Guillermo’s name on the project was enough to get me in the theatre seat.
One of the sad things about living in San Antonio is that we generally get passed up on the initial release of smaller films. Fortunately, Austin is close enough to warrent a trip up and usually gets films like this. Virginia and I drove up on the opening Friday to check it out. We weren’t disappointed.
All of the precision in the cinematography that I loved in The Devil’s Backbone was again here in Pan’s Labyrinth. In this film, also was the combination of the horror in both the supernatural and natural worlds. The new film is much more brutal in its violence and it was interesting to me that the real-life horror was more intense and disturbing than anything that happens in the fantasy realm. I’ve seen a lot of violent films but the violence in this film made me (and other audience members) wince in a way that usually don’t. The story line is well plotted, and the real and fantasy element mirror each other in interesting ways. All of the characters are well cast. In particular, Ivana Boquero as Ofelia and Sergi Lopez as her very evil step-father Capital Vidal are outstanding. Sergi Lopez manages to be an even more vile villain than Ralph Fiennes managed in Schlinder’s List. The movie is tense and is most definitely not for children despite what the fantasy elements might seem to imply in the age of Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia. Pan’s Labyrinth is heartbreaking, beautiful, and really should be seen in the theatre.
Go. Now. I mean it. It’s showing in San Antonio now!
Courtesy of Instapundit, I read today that Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age will be made into a miniseries on the Sci-Fi channel. Wow.
I’m of mixed feelings here. I’m excited that it’s being done, but Sci-Fi channel’s work varies in quality a bit. George Clooney is producing (I’m moderately positive about this) and Neal Stephenson himself is doing the adaptation (WOW!). Who is going to direct?!?!
They’ll have to dial down several things for TV (the long walk on the short pier - the nudity & sex in the underwater tunnels) but I’m cautiously optimistic that this could be very cool.
I caught the trailer for Black Snake Moan when I went to Austin to see Pan’s Labyrinth. It looks like a lot of fun. Only Samuel L. Jackson could pull this role off and he looks fantastic - I love that he is willing to change his appearance in unflattering ways to suit the character. Let’s see Tom Cruise or John Travolta appear with a bald spot on screen.
Christina Ricci is so thin, she’s almost unrecognizable. I hate seeing actresses do this to themselves, but I must admit it fits the character.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu director of “Babel”, Alfonso Cuaron, director of “Children of Men”, and one of my favorite directors, Guillermo del Toro, of “Pan’s Labyrinth”, sit down with Charlie Rose and discuss their work.
I haven’t seen “Babel” yet (though it looks interesting), but I’m dying to see “Children of Men” and especially “Pan’s Labyrinth”. Which I plan on driving to Austin to see on January 12th.
Any other takers?
P.S. If anyone reading this (is anyone reading this?) hasn’t seen The Devil’s Backbone run out and buy a copy on DVD ASAP. I guarantee you will love it. It’s one of the best ghost stories that I’ve ever seen.
