26 January 2007

Alphaville

It has been 20 years since I watched this movie. It contains classic
warnings against living only logically and rationally -- but perhaps
not too much more of a critique than Star Trek -- and all of the
cliches that one now associates with "European Art Cinema" of the
1960s: portentous dialog that is often mostly just pretentious, edgy
editing, etc. To top it off, it is almost the Love Conquers All
version of Brazil -- which is an ironic criticism of such an
outsider's film.

17 January 2007

Dressed to Kill

A bit stilted, as are so many of DePalma's films, but also genuinely
creepy -- and filmed with the trademark bravura that was (and is) his
signature style. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works,
though I must admit that I somehow knew of one key plot twist already
and it diminished the shock value that a first blush viewing was
intended to elicit.

16 January 2007

Little Miss Sunshine

Paint-by-numbers indie flick, without any depth or anything new.
Definitely good for a few laughs. But superficial and forgettable.
Almost a string of cliches, right down to typcasting Beth Grant into
the same role she had in Donnie Darko.

Holy Smoke

This could have been a great movie. The subject could have been
mind-bending. But the story gets silly, and the filmmakers' reach
exceeds their grasp by far too large a margin. It is a somewhat
useful reminder of how what one thinks is going on (in this case,
"de-programming" a "cult" member) is often not really what's going on
(adolescent rebellion, dysfunctional families, abusive relationships,
opportunism, mid-life crises, and implausible wish-fulfillment). But
it doesn't really work, and unlike Campion's far more accomplished
"In the Cut," one cannot grant this film enough slack in order to let
it work.

In The Cut

I really liked this raw and unpleasant film, though some of the plot
needed more work before being committed to film. It's great to see
Meg Ryan with a gritty role, because she has the chops to make it work.

07 January 2007

Kal Ho Naa Ho: Tomorrow May Never Come (2003)

A recent Bollywood classic, set in NYC, which gives it an extra layer
of flavor and flash: Some dance numbers become an outsider's lovely
cliche about the American dream and melting pot, etc. It's long, and
fanciful -- after all, it's Bollywood -- and the genre doesn't get
much better than this!