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What are You Watching in 2008?
Once again, the DVD release schedule brings us an extremely lackluster slate. The current crop of new releases, including The Game Plan and Saw IV, need no input from me. The only titles that look worthwhile to mine eyes are the Donkey Kong documentary (No, really) The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters and a new edition of Monty Python’s The Life of Brian, cheekily subtitled, “The Immaculate Edition.”
So instead, I shall offer a new round of What Are You Watching, now that I’ve finally caught up on seeing movies outside of the purposes of this blog.
On the Big Screen
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: This extraordinary film hasn’t made it to the Dayton area yet, but when it does get here, I cannot recommend highly enough that you see it as soon as humanly possible. It’s the true story of French Elle Editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a stroke and was completely paralyzed, except for one eyelid; he could only communicate by blinking. Via some truly striking visuals by director Julian Schnabel and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (both of whom earned well-deserved Oscar nominations), the film boldly puts us inside Bauby’s head so we can feel what it is like to be him. Remarkably, the movie even finds mordant humor in an awful situation. This year may have only just begun, but I will guarantee this will be on my best-of list in 11 months. GRADE: A+
Romance and Cigarettes: I caught John Turturro’s boldly weird musical during its brief run in Columbus recently, and I’m sorry to report that the film is not a lost masterpiece that a clueless studio let sit on a shelf for years. Early on, it offers some truly inventive outlandish musical numbers that are like nothing else out there, but when it turns serious in the second half and asks us to care about these strange goings-on, it falls apart because it hasn’t laid the foundation for that. Still, it’s at least worth a look for the way Turturro and a cast that includes James Gandolfini, Kate Winslet, Christopher Walken and Mandy Moore, throw caution to the wind. It’s on DVD Feb. 12. GRADE: B-
There Will Be Blood: Proof positive that no filmmaker is more daring than Paul Thomas Anderson, and that no actor is quite so magnetic as Daniel Day-Lewis in this spellbinding story of an oil man, Daniel Plainview, who is charismatic yet soulless. The film prompts many responses, but one thing is for sure: You will never - ever - hear the words “milkshake” and “drainage” in the same way again after seeing this film. GRADE: A+
27 Dresses: The filmmakers weave one chick-flick standby after another throughout this movie, but they do so skillfully, thanks in no small part to Katherine Heigl, who definitively proves her worth as a romantic comedy lead. Color me happily unsurprised. Also worth mentioning though is James Marsden, who matches Heigl nicely as her romantic foil. Between this, Enchanted and Hairspray, Marsden has had a good, strong run. GRADE: B
Small-screen films after the jump…
On the Small Screen
Badlands: Terrence Malick’s breakout film about a couple (Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek) on a killing spree set the template for his work: beautifully shot, well-acted, fascinating in concept, but rather distant and remote in execution. GRADE: B
No Direction Home: I know Todd Haynes wasn’t really trying to tell the Bob Dylan story in I’m Not There, but still, why make a big deal out of faux Bob Dylans when the real one, as portrayed by Martin Scorsese, was so fascinating? GRADE: A
La Vie en Rose: This biopic of legendary chanteuse Edith Piaf got the Oscar nominations it deserved; the costumes are beautiful, the makeup does a remarkable job of aging actress Marion Cotillard, and Cotillard herself is outstanding as Piaf. She helps alleviate the fact that as far as musical biographies go, this isn’t much more inventive than, say, Ray. GRADE: B
Val Lewton: Man in the Shadows/I Walked with a Zombie: Scorsese pops up again, this time as the narrator and producer of a documentary on Lewton, who made such chilling low-budget shockers as Cat People, Curse of the Cat People and Zombie, getting maximum impact out of minimal effects. Zombie in particular oozes eerie atmosphere, making its voodoo trappings unnerving when they could very easily have been very silly. BOTH: A
Your serve; Tell me what you’ve been watching, whether the screen is big or small, or whether you’ve seen the movie once or 100 times.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Reviews
Comments
By TJ
January 31, 2008 9:07 AM | Link to this
Finally saw Juno, want to see 27 dresses. I’m also really excited about Eastern Promises. I love Viggo too.By SRCputt
January 29, 2008 2:34 PM | Link to this
Also out on DVD this week is a deluxe edition of El Cid, the historical epic I think most deserves the MST3K treatment. What an overrated film that is, laughably bad for some stretches (although it is beautiful).By SRCputt
January 29, 2008 2:11 PM | Link to this
First, I generally agree with Eric about Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Romance and Cigarettes, and There Will Be Blood, although I think he is a little too kind to Romance and Cigarettes. Lately, I’m playing around with my Christmas gift from my wife, which is the briefcase of Blade Runner. The second disc, Dangerous Days, which is an exhaustive documentary of the making of the film, is very well done, with almost every principal interviewed (oddly, William Sanderson is missing), and an impressive number of fans and admirers (Frank Darabont is especially fun).By Allie D.
January 29, 2008 1:49 PM | Link to this
I couldn’t agree more with There Will Be Blood. I’ve seen it twice now and will likely be going back to see it again this weekend. I’m bringing more converts into the fold. The movie has truly haunted me on some level, probably more so than No Country. Daniel Day-Lewis is absolutely awe-inspiring. Last night, I watched Brokeback Mountain for the first time since Heath Ledger’s death. I found myself on the verge of tears through a great deal of it this time around, probably because the beauty of Ledger’s performance really hit home knowing he would never do another one like it again.