The World’s Fastest Indian (2005) – [rate 2]
As tear-jerking feel-good movies go, this one could be worse. Anthony Hopkins plays an amiable old mechanic from New Zealand who has little else left in his life than his Indian motorcycle (or ‘motorcicle’ as he keeps referring to it). He’s been tweaking it for speed for as long as anyone can remember and his ultimate dream is to set landspeed records with it on the saltlake flats of Bonneville. Continue reading The World’s Fastest Indian
Notorious (1946) – [rate 4]
A classical spy movie and an undeniable Hitchcock. It has it all, Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, oodles of suspense, intricate and complicated cinematographic novelties, the works. If anyhting is wrong with this movie is that a lot of movies like it have been made over time, including quite a few by Hitchcock. In its genre, it has some original twists and it makes effective use of a love interest to drive the plot, but I still feel it falls well short of a masterpiece. Continue reading Notorious (1946)
Rope (1948) – [rate 4.5]
What never ceases to amaze me about Hitchcock pictures is that they seem so modern. Rope is no exception. The acting, the camera work, the dialogue all seem well beyond 1948 – though not quite 2008 of course. It’s an amazing feat of cinematography, shooting a psychological thriller in only 5 shots (did I miss any cuts?) with clever transitions. Rope follows all three Artistotelian unities: it takes place in a single appartment, sometimes even shooting other rooms from within the main living room. It takes place in the timespan of a single afternoon and evening. And it just deals with the murder that the movie starts with. Continue reading Rope (1948)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) – [rate 2]
B-movies, impossible to rate. If you look at this movie with modern eyes, it hard to see any quality at all. The plot is shaky and incredibly stereotypical. The special effects are limited to a sliding door in a big metal box and a big ray of light emanating from the eyes of a robot that makes weapons disappear. Stuff you can reproduce with garden-variety toys available to everyone today, even without the use of a PC. And there’s not a lot of acting going on either, though that’s not the worst part of the movie, considering other contemporary pieces. Continue reading The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Waltz with Bashir (2008) – [rate 4.5]
In this animated documentary, Ari Folman makes very effective use of animation. It’s not just stylistic, though many of the scenes are sleek, colorful or even hallucinatory thanks to the style of animation that reminds me of woodcut prints and Flash animation. But by showing you scenes with extreme violence or under poor circumstances in stark animation, the movie takes away the grit and filth that would just detract from what is going on and why people are acting the way they are. Continue reading Waltz with Bashir
Burn after Reading (2007) – [rate 3]
After No Country for Old Men, this definitely feels more like a ‘classic’ Coen-brothers production. The characters all seem to be confronted with situations that are outside their ability to deal with things. Greed leads otherwise innocent characters down a dark path of punishment, which I think is a recurring theme in their movies and everything is soaking in a fairly bleak humorous light. Continue reading Burn after Reading
My girlfriend doesn’t like any computer games. Any computer games? Well, there’s one she does like and in fact went to the trouble of installing herself: the 11th Hour. Yes it’s old^H^H^Ha classic. But playing it together – which I have to admit is an altogether different experience on a widescreen TV with a decent stereo and a fast computer – we ran into something I missed on the first time through. Continue reading Old and wrong, but not forgotten
Hellboy (2004) – [rate 2.0]
After watching Hellboy II on the big screen, I felt the need to rewatch Hellboy, since I’d missed the middle part the first time I watched it and never gave it a good look. One thing I immediately noticed is how much Hellboy and Hellboy II are the same. The story, the characters and even some of the visual jokes and action scenes are so much the same that, in retrospect, I should really lower the score (3.5) I gave Hellboy II. Continue reading Hellboy
Hellboy II: the Golden Army (2008) – [rate 3.5]
The signature style of Guillermo del Toro and Mike Mignola’s comic universe of Hellboy and the BPRD mix surprisingy well in this fantasy action thriller. Although the story is fairly straightforward and bears little hidden meaning, it’s entertaining and it looks great on the big screen. With a fantastic universe that’s likely to remind you strongly of del Toro’s recent Pan’s Labyrinth, the movie has its own feel, but lacks real originality, both in story and in setting. What originality it has, it lends from the comic book intellectual property of Mignola. Continue reading Hellboy II: the Golden Army
3:10 to Yuma (2007) – [rate 3]
It’s a good thing I hadn’t realized this one was written by the same scenarists that wrote Wanted, or I might have worried that my verdict was influenced by my recent experience of that movie. 3:10 is a decent western and manages to add something to the genre. Of course, it is a genre-piece and as such I feel it should be held to a higher standard than anything that doesn’t try to fit a specific genre. That’s the price you pay for a lack of originality in my opinion. As westerns go, 3:10 to Yuma doesn’t disappoint, but neither does it impress. Continue reading 3:10 to Yuma