circuitsnake Blog

Under discussion:

The Usual Suspects  (1995)

Swimming Pool  (2003)

    Ok, so I just finished watching Swimming Pool which, like other films before it has a twist ending in which you realize that the past 100+ minutes might have been false. I did not enjoy this twist, while with the Usual Suspects (a film which I do still have issues with), you always feel like you are being manipulated, I felt that Swimming Pool doesn't accomplish the same feeling. For those not in the know and don't care about spoilers, Swimming Pool is the tale of an author who can't concentrate on writing, who decides to take a vacation in France, which is interrupted by the sex-loving daughter of her publisher. When the daughter kills a man who won't have sex with her, the story turns into a very similar looking murder mystery than that of the authors books. Unfortunately you realize that the character of the daughter is fake and that for the past hour and a half we have been watching the author write her book.

 The final twist is what I don't like about this film, it loses the intrigue that the authors life might have turned into one of her own books and that she might just reveal it all through her passion (obsession?) for writing (the author, as it is hinted at might be writing the story fo her publisher's secret life, which would include this daughter and the murder). To me, this is so much more interesting than the final twist, which (cleverly) reveals that the past hour and a half never happened. I find it so much more interesting if the writer is actually so obsessed with her stories that, although she helped the daughter, she couldn't help writing the story. 

 Anyway, just some thoughts on what doesn't work in the cleverly executed twist of Swimming Pool. Dont' get me wrong it's a much better film than The Usual Suspects, which uses the same idea, but since part 1 of the usual suspects I could feel that twist coming. Not in Swimming Pool, I found myself more dissapointed that surprised.

Under discussion:

Wild Strawberries  (1957)

Y Tu Mamá También  (2002)

Little Miss Sunshine  (2006)

While watching Wild Strawberries the other night I began to come to a realization. I was watching a road trip movie. But like most Bergman movies, there is so much more to it. I'll admit it, I'm not the biggest fan of Persona, I think it has some excellent moments (hottest sex scene in a film has no sex at all), but as an overall film I found it lacking. Wild Strawberries is fantastic.

The film starts off slow, at first I found the opening narration filled with exposition, I understood the man was lonely, I get it. Let's move on. You do not really get how misunderstood this man is until we start his journey. How he is haunted by dreams and memories of the past, which I never really understood until he visited his 94-year-old mother. I truly enjoyed watching this character's immense amount of history. 

That being said, it is a road-trip movie and I've always had something against road-trip movies. Perhaps it is because the concept is simple "a character or a number of characters get from one place to another and change." Now, one could argue that all films are like that, but that's another argument entirely. What I am saying is the true genius of this film that only a handful of road-trip movies get right (see Y Tu Mama Tambien) and millions get wrong (see Little Miss Sunshine) is how deep the character is. This film cannot be talked about without mention of the ingenious dream sequences, something that Bergman mastered. This film isn't just about a character changing, but about the audience coming to realize how they can change. Which is why this film is so important.

Under discussion:

Ratatouille  (2007)

There, I said it. It's done. Brad Bird is one of my favorite directors working today.

This film is an amazing achievement on so many different levels. First is the complete ingenious use of visual storytelling. This film is not dialogue heavy and is a throwback to so many slapstick comedy's. Which works in even more advantage because of the relationship between Remy and Linguini.

There are so many classic parts to this film, I don't even know where to start. I feel bad coming back from the preview screening and not really having a well structured review. Throughout the film we are given surprises with some of the most ingenious characters to ever grace the scene. The character of "Ego", (voiced by Peter O'Toole) almost steals the film. And I won't say it here, but Bird pulls off a moment which will go down in film history as one of the funniest and most emotional part in a film. There are so many throwbacks to old films in paris as well as just great storytelling throughout the film. All I can say is that I hope I am this good when I get to my third film. 

See this film. It's the best film of the summer. 

Under discussion:

White  (1994)

This week I've been watching the Three Colors Trilogy (tomorrow I'm watching Red) and I found myself pleasently surprised to how different 'white' is from 'Blue', while 'Blue' was about the world finding you when you are lost, white seems about the world discovering you when you are lost.

White is underrated. It's different from Blue and from what I've heard, Red as well. The difference between Blue and White is the observation of the charactersr. Blue goes inside the characters head, while White is more of an observational piece. Rather than get inside the mind of the character, Kieslowki spends a lot of time just simply studying the main character of Karol and his perdicament. The performance is superb and it really shows how a simple concept of revenge can still hold more emotions than the distastful complicated plots of today's cinema.

Under discussion:

The Man Who Knew Too Much  (1956)

Don't get me wrong, The Man Who Knew Too Much is a good film and probably 2 stars is a little harsh.

But I'm comparing this film to other Hitchcocks. The film is incredibly straight forward and was just dull. Perhaps it's because it follows the "man who's in the wrong place at the wrong time" plot that has been imitated for years, but when comparing it to similar films such as North by Northwest, it just doesn't hold up.