Ebert-may-care
Kill Bill 1 and 2
Blood and Guts in seprate films....more later.
R
CL Review
Sunday, 8:37 am. Read the paper, now it's time to tell you about a ppv I saw this weekend. Before I name the film, let me say, this film was absolutely savaged by the critics; they hated it and had no trouble labeling it: Corrupt, intellectually bankrupt, morally dishonest, melodramatic sloshing, sanctimonious posturing, overly contrived, hysterical and longwinded. This, a mere sampling of some of the kinder reviews!
That's why there are "real people reviews". Sadly real people often look to the critics to decide for them before seeing something for themselves. While on occasion the critics can save you 9 bucks and major disappointment, more times than not a film loses a ticket sale it rightfully deserved. That being said, I give my "real person" opinion of:
The Life of David Gale
Premise: A popular professor, devoted father, and respected death penalty opponent finds himself (ironically??) on death row for the rape and murder of his close associate and fellow death penalty opponent. (Laura Linney). He has a mere six hours over three days tell his tale to a journalist (Kate Winslet) who quickly realizes his life is in her hands, prior to his scheduled execution on the fourth day. (Or is it)?
Plot contrivances aside, which undermine this very serious and topical political theme, I really liked this film. I think a lot of critics got tripped up because instead of reviewing this movie for what it was, (a thriller, and dramatization) they went ahead and entwined their own personal gut feelings about the death penalty into their "movie" reviews.
I liked the performances. Kevin Spacey gave a fine performance as an very intellectual but flawed man, and completely carried me along for his ride. Linney was unrecognizable, but convincing in her role as friend, confidant and partner in the death penalty trenches, harboring a secret of her own. Some may say Winslet had to "dumb down" to play the journalist, but I prefer to see her performance as truly impartial until she start to figures(?) it out. I liked the way the film was shot and how it looked. Admittedly, the story had some silly contrived roles (the mysterious truck driving cowboy, could have been portrayed far more effectively). David Gales wife seemed to serve NO purpose. She bailed so early in this film, it's hard to believe their was enough devotion in this marriage to spawn a child. (A child who clearly adored and was adored by his dad.) And the glibly ineffectual attorney had me questioning motivation upon his first appearance on the screen.
(As a total aside, in regard to the role of David Gales attorney; If one really wants to believe a film role, the average individual would presume even the worst attorney would have earned enough in his career to have his teeth fixed! My husband and I uttered "nice teeth" at the exact same moment while watching this film).
In all fairness, the most implausible scene was the last shot. Why would a death penalty opponent sign his own death warrant? Perhaps, this gives it all away, but this to me is what most clearly deserves any critical bashing it gets from any and all sources.
My opinions on the death penalty is similar in a fashion to my opinion on abortion, and this is NOT the forum. Unfortunately, I think the critics forgot that when reviewing this film.
Whales Ahoy! That will be the next film I see. But I'll get the rest of my Top 10 out of the way first...
6) The King of Comedy - A dark parody of the politics of show biz, produced at a time when executives at three networks controlled the airwaves. Rupert Pupkin breaks into comedy by holding a corrupt entertainment industry and lazy viewing public hostage, and is later embraced and applauded by them. DeNiro's Pupkin appears to be crazy, but by the end of the film, the audience imagines that others who've made it in show business could only have risen to the top in similar fashion. This is Sandra Bernhardt's breakthrough film, and a scene in which she has dinner with a bound Jerry Lewis is often imitated.
7) Life is Beautiful - Though I am still a childless undergrad, I hope one day to love my child as totally and unselfishly as Benigni's Guido loved his son Joshua. Guido uses comedic elements borrowed from the silent film era to woo his wife Dora, and later, preserve Joshua's innocence while the family are prisoners at a Nazi concentration camp. Joshua's cries of, "We won," from the back of an American tank he thinks is his prize for winning a game invented by Guido to keep him hidden from prison guards, represents the salvation of his family's humanity at a time and place where a plan of unthinkable inhumanity was carried out.
8) Unitl the End of the World - I'll admit that Wim Wenders' vision is sometimes not shared with his audience, but he achieves clarity in this futuristic road film that gives us a day-after-the-bomb worldview that is inspiring rather than disconcerting or tragic. William Hurt's Sam travels the world with a machine that can capture images his blind mother can see, and is spontaneously pursued by a bored jet-setter named Claire. As a nuclear satellite spins toward Earth with consequences no one can predict, Sam has to collect, from friends and family, what images really matter. Claire, on her 30th birthday, finally finds meaning in her life and turns her attention to the most important image, Earth, still in one piece but in need of TLC. Life really does begin anew at 30...
9) Pulp Fiction - Credit Tarantino with the invention of the moebius-strip time line, and with out-gunning his first film, Reservoir Dogs, in every sense. This film's cultural influence rivals another Travolta film, Saturday Night Fever, and captured the 90's zeitgeist without trying to be a zeitgeist film. Pulp Fiction is the Forrest Gump for people who think Abby Hoffman was that Jewish guy who went to their high school in the suburbs. Singling out a favorite scene would be very, very difficult.
10) Fargo - The fact that this story was based on actual events doesn't make it any likelier. North Dakota seems at once close to home and somewhere over the rainbow as we watch Frances McDormand's pregnant Police Chief Marge Gunderson unravel a homocide, and reveal the minds of the poor slobs behind it. Marge, satisfied with herself and her life in a place where it seems the sun rarley shines, is able to rise above the greed and insecurity that have driven others to crime, and, as she tells a survivor of the fumbled plot, not let a beautiful day go to waste. This film is the Coen's best, I hope they can produce its equal in the future.
Well there it is, everything there is to know about me. Now let me get my butcher knife, it's time to review some new films.
Oh-tay
1) Lone Star - John Sayles best film is set in Frontera, a Texas/Mexico border town with a long past that continues to tear apart its distinct but closely connected communities. I love this film because it reminds viewers how little separates us from neighbors, and encourages us all to Forget the Alamo...at last, someone had the guts to say it.
2) Being There - Peter Sellers parodies American politics, and encourages voters to consider the cyclical nature of gardens and the economy. This style-beats-substance satire was Sellers' last film before his death. I love this film because it's relevant today, and will be until the American public isn't so easily manipulated. (i.e. it will always be relevant) This is a uniquely
non-Goonie performance for Sellers, and perhaps his most potent.
3) Talk to Her - Almodovar fans will argue with me, but I think this is Pedro's best film, ever. (Yes, it even beats Women on the Verge, High Heels, and All About My Mother) I love this film because it speaks about love and connection with others in an unique, beautiful, and fearless way, through a troubled man's relationship with his comatose love interest.
4) Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control - The sole documentary on my list. I never knew what secrets Lion Taming, Topiary Gardening, Robot Making, and Blind Mole Rat Cultivating held...if nothing else, I love the nobility with which the lives of four men in odd professions were portrayed. I love this film because it encourages viewers to follow their dreams, regardless how unconventional they are.
5) Shawshank Redemption - All it took to get Andy DuFresne back to the business of living was patience, time and a small hammer. I love this film because it shows that Steven King's work is more ironic than horrific, and that there is a way out of even the most desperate situation for those with the will to make it happen. Through Morgan Freeman's Red, King takes us to the edge of Andy's balanced world, with hope. It's a start, indeed.
6-10 to come...
After many amendments to the list, at last, my Top 10 is complete:
1) Lone Star
2) Being There
3) Talk to Her
4) Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control
5) Shawshank Redemption
6) The King of Comedy
7) Life is Beautiful
8) Until the End of the World
9) Pulp Fiction
10) Fargo
It was a tough decision...The Party, Wonder Boys, Dr. Strangelove, Gahndi, This is Spinal Tap, Lawrence of Arabia and The Royal Tennenbaums just missed the list. Punch Drunk Love and Donny Darko are a little too noir-otic to be among the top 10, but aren't far behind. Two influential films that I'd like to discuss, but come in below the rest, are Saturday Night Fever and Enter the Dragon.
I'll talk about my first 5 today.
Hello! This blog is written by two undergrads at an Ivy League college...well, we're saying that so that CNN or a producer of made-for-tv movies will take interest. All are welcome to participate and comment.
