AVATAR (2009)- Despite the fact that he is an historically immense asshole, James Cameron is nonetheless a very smart man, a man capable of crafting very effective cinematic entertainment. While AVATAR suffers from many problems, among them profound racism and a script with about a third of the wit of PUNISHER: WAR ZONE, it uses some of the most rudimentary storytelling techniques to rehash a familiar trope to great effect. To deny the technical mastery of AVATAR is foolish, even though it is still okay to laugh at the fact that that guy from GRANDMA'S BOY was cast as one of the scientists.
THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE (2000)- This film is a sparkling example of the right way to make an animated feature as well as sad reminder of how horribly Disney's traditionally animated films have gone wrong in the last ten years. NEW GROOVE features a unique and perfectly executed visual style, a hilarious script full of excellent jokes, and a slapstick tone that is greatly benefited by the epic proportions and gestures of its characters. The brilliantly cast voice acting and the fact that Sting was supposedly enraged that the songs he wrote that were originally supposed to be incorporated into the less comedic first draft of the script are both sweet icings on the cake.
THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (2009)- Ti West's THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL starts out very promisingly with a slick, speedy first half that sets up a potentially potent third act. Regrettably, both the final narrative push and its meager set-up feel rushed and uninspired. While the visual aesthetic of the film is pitch perfect, it lacks the soul and profoundness which elevated the cannon of films that it is so desperately trying to imitate.
THE HURT LOCKER (2008)- While the vignettes in THE HURT LOCKER are tingling with tension and effectively transport the audience to the sand swirled plains of Iraq, they are nothing more than fragments that never cohere into a whole story. The leads, most notably Jeremy Renner as a reckless team leader, attempt to bring as much vitality to their characters as the disparate sequences allow, but none of them ever gain enough traction to make them seem like real people rather than wartime caricatures. THE HURT LOCKER functions best as a series of kinetic shorts, particularly the electric and visceral desert sniper assault, but feels too disjointed to function as a true character study of the men on the ground in the war on terror.
JAWS (1975)- It's stunning how clearly JAWS adheres to the Spielberg aesthetic that is still present in every film he does today despite the technical and financial restrictions he was under in his debut feature. The nighttime dive scene was brilliantly shot and utterly beautiful. Fun fact: the Blockbuster nearest my house does not have JAWS, but they do have JAWS 2 as well as JAWS 3-D (surprisingly starring Dennis Quaid).
PINOCCHIO (1940)- I have been rewatching a lot of the older Disney library as it is always fun to compare the impression you have of a film as a child versus your opinion on it as an adult. PINOCCHIO struck me as a particularly odd experience, largely due to the creepy and dark sequence where Pinocchio is brought to Pleasure island, where errant little boys are transformed into donkeys (?) and sold to salt mines as slave labor. Some of the narrative leaps were also very jarring, such as when Pinocchio is seated on a step, believing that his adoptive father is dead only to have a shimmering dove drop him a note explaining that Geppetto is in the belly of a whale named Monstro.
SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)- Guy Ritchie has never struck me as more than a hyperkinetic one-trick pony, but SHERLOCK HOLMES is a welcome departure from his previous oeuvre. The saving grace of the film is not the storytelling or the story, however, so much as the charisma of Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. as the (what I thought were very obviously overtly homosexual) leads. It's a wonder what a divorce from Madonna will do for a fellow, and I suggest another separation before he helms the inevitable sequel.
WHIP IT (2009)- I do understand what rookie director Drew Barrymore was trying to accomplish with WHIP IT: creating a film with strong female leads and a story that empowers them. A flimsy script written by Shauna Cross, who has seemingly never had a conversation with another real human, and recklessly amateurish direction and editing prevent WHIP IT from rising above direct-to-video quality. Worse still, it seems as though the actors were all given the script two days before filming and just told to have fun with it, as even reliable character actors like Kristen Wiig (GILLY ALERT!) seem cardboardish and robotic.
the emperor's new groove? really?!
ReplyDeleteYes indeed. You can borrow it. I own it.
ReplyDelete