Not much Oscar chatter here (or anywhere, for that matter). Is anyone interested in watching the ceremony? More than likely I will be switching back and forth between the Oscars and the NBA game, all the while grading papers. I do like the films up for nomination this year–they’re all very strong. But I just don’t have that much enthusiasm. Continue reading Oscar predictions?
Month: February 2008
Lust, Caution
In retrospect, this suspenseful melodrama is preposterous to the extreme. Still, I savored every moment. First, it’s an exquisitely crafted work of cinematic art (though it never strives to be anything other than a romantic thriller). Just watch the first four or five minutes as Ang Lee moves the camera with dexterity and precision to dramatically enliven a game of mahjong (the editing by Tim Squyres and the photography by Rodrigo Prieto are exemplary throughout). Wikipedia tells me mahjong involves skill, strategy, and calculation, as well as a certain degree of chance, which makes the game a perfect metaphor for the film’s central character: a young, idealistic woman (Wei Tang) who goes undercover for a resistance cell to seduce and trap a Chinese official (Tony Leung) collaborating with the Japanese government during Japan’s occupation of China in the late-thirties and early-forties. Continue reading Lust, Caution
Elah
Hm. Way better than his Crash yet shackled to some of that film’s flaws, In the Valley of Elah succeeds in large part because of the taciturn, restrained gravity well that is Tommy Lee Jones (complemented by a slew of strong supporting actors). Continue reading Elah
Seductive destructions
I promised a post on In Bruges, which Kris and I very much enjoyed, but I’ve been wracking my brain about what exactly grabbed me about it. The plot’s too Tarantino: two hitmen sent to cool their heels in Bruges, and they do the sightseeing thing, while one (Ray, played by Colin Farrell) suffers both a crushing (funny) ennui with all things Bruges and the lingering ethical after-effects of their last gig. Farrell is not just better than I’ve seen him, and not just finally good (since I don’t think I’ve ever really thought much of his performances), he’s pretty damn good–holds his own in the constant precise shadings and even more constant tonal shifts of writer-director McDonagh’s dialogue. Ralph Fiennes shows up two-thirds of the way through and rips it up, gloriously unblinkingly BenKingsleyinSexyBeastish as the ridiculous vicious boss Harry.
Ostensibly the film uses this black-comic set-up as cover for a plot/theme about violence, kids, … stuff McDonagh’s exploited before in his play “The Pillowman.” But as a morality play, the thing’s quite thin–clearly, the pleasures of viciousness don’t just outweigh a moral vision, they stomp the shit out of it. Continue reading Seductive destructions
Better than eh
After you get past (or just used to) its Wes-Andersonny tics, Rocket Science boasts great acting from its actually-adolescent-looking cast, and manages to be that teen-angsty-romance-schoolcompetition sort of film without fading into those films’ ruts. It was funny, moving — but really the leads (Reece Thompson and Anna Kendrick) made the film more than a minor pleasure.
Acting also amps up the rewards of The Assassination of Jesse James, with the justly-nominated Casey Affleck as the weaselly Bob Ford wheedling across the screen in a really great performance, and lots of strong work from supporting cast (Sam Rockwell is reliably great, Paul Schneider quite funny, and Garret Dillahunt outstanding as the hangdog Ed Miller). Plus the film looks a wonder, shot by Roger Deakins to enthusiastically capture the look of images (photographed and painted) from the era depicted. Still, I found the story often muddled — some great dialogue, but… well, James was a cipher, and I couldn’t even get a real handle on Ford, let alone the film itself. Intriguing at first, always ravishing to see, but after a while (and it goes on a while) wandering with the emphasis on wan.