gambrel83 Blog

Under discussion:

Walk the Line  (2005)

Director: James Mangold
Writer(s): Gill Dennis & James Mangold
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, & Robert Patrick

Synopsis: An autobiographical look at the life of Johnny Cash. Looks at his family life, how he began his music career, his drug problem, and his love for June Carter. From a poor country life to his early recording sessions, to his performances in Folsom prison, his early life is filmed in vivid detail.

Review: I was not a country music fan going into this movie, but I gained an appreciation for old time country and the man who defined it after I saw Walk the Line. Phoenix and Witherspoon are wonderful as Johnny and June Cash; they both sang all of their music and had wonderful chemistry on stage. The film highlights significant events in his childhood and early adulthood, and how they shaped him into the legend he would become later in life. The music itself was exciting and really drove the film. While the film perhaps dragged in some places, overall it was really well done and really captured the man in black.

Under discussion:

Transformers  (2007)

My rating: 7/10

I've never watched an episode of Transformers before, but I believe this film comes close enough to creating a world where real-life robots threaten the human race.  Michael Bay never fails to create good atmospheres for action and thrills, but Transformers still suffered from some problems.  These problems were big enough to detract from the whole picture.

First, the action.  It was top notch, but not perfect.  The special effects were probably the best and most advanced I've seen yet.  The human military presence was awesome.  Watching the U.S. military, with it's most advanced technology, get served by a couple alien robots, really gives a nod to the power of the alien force.  But, the action was just too much.  I've been noticing a trend with new movies lately that the action in these types of movies continues to get faster.  It's now getting more difficult for the human eye to follow what's happening.  At times I had trouble following the action, or even recognizing which robots where good and which were evil.  I really wanted to enjoy every second of the graphical battles, but if I blinked and focused on the wrong part of the picture, I found I missed a lot.  Bigger and faster is not always better.

The detailed design of the transformers was also too complex for my taste.  It was all SO detailed, I had a hard time appreciating it.  Since of course they wouldn't stand still long enough to notice the fine details, they were a wasted feature in my mind.  More complex is not always better.

I really enjoyed the slow-motion, Matrix like moments, albeit brief.  These short shots really showcased the graphical power of this film.

The story was typical but sufficient.  The quest for an artifact that would calm a civil war between robots, with some teenage love thrown in.  You can't really expect more from this type of film.

What was refreshing and nice to see was the humor.  It was actually very funny.  This was what prehaps redeemed the film, giving it character and watchability that the overload of graphics took from it.  Both the characters and transformers lent their personalities and their unique takes on the impending destruction, lightening up the movie enough to give it some character.

I'd recommend Transformers.  Some prefer to live by "the more action, the better", even if it's too much for myself personally.  Check it out.

Under discussion:

The Godfather  (1972)

My rating: 9/10

Going into this film, it's hard not to take into account its reputation.  #2 on AFI's 100 greatest movies.  #1 of the IMDB Top 250.  Considered by many as the all time greatest American film, referenced and quoted countless times.  Going in, I expected perfection even though I try to leave expectations at the door when watching a film.  This is my second viewing, and really my opinion of it hasn't changed much.  I loved the movie, and it's bascially flawless, but I can't give it a perfect 10, nor can I consider it the greatest film of all time.  One of the greatest, perhaps, but I disagree with what seems like the majority of opinions.

The story is certainly interesting: a mafia boss's son returns home after the war, innocent of his family's dealings and intent on keeping it that way.  But somewhere along the way, he becomes personally involved in a way that he can never reverse.  The dangerous but relentless life in the mafia for all involved is told wonderfully.

The acting is done wonderfully by some of the best in the business.  The dark cinementography is perfect for such as film as this, as is the musical score.  Again, I can't really find anything wrong with The Godfather but for me that doesn't consistute a perfect film.  For it, it's missing the "awe factor".  I was never really found myself holding my breath during a great scene, witnessing greatness that made me become a film buff in the first place.  It's a solid film, paced wonderfully, not too slow or with unnecessary scenes.  But I just can't rank it up there at the very top, regardless of its place in film history.

Under discussion:

WWII: The Lost Color Archives - A New World Order  (2000)

WWII: The Lost Color Archives - Total War  (2000)

WWII: The Lost Color Archives - Triumph and Despair  (2000)

Rating: 9/10

I was recently drawn to rent a collection of 40 minute shows known collectivly as "WWII: The Lost Color Archives".  If you're a history or war buff, you probably know why.  World War II has always been seen in black and white, but what I wasn't aware of was that were exist hundreds of hours of color footage taken both at the front lines and of the events surrounding the war.  I was hoping to see the war in a way I never had before, and I was deeply satisfied.

The collection is broken up into three 45 minute segments: A New World Order, Total War and Triumph and Despair.  Together, the tell a brief story of the war from Hilter's ascendtion to the allied victory in Japan.  There is narration throughout as the program plays out like any history program.  There is extensive use of diary entries of numerous people involved, from soldiers on both sides to civilians, nurses and the victims of concentration camps.  The diaries are read by convincing actors with the proper accents, and while the number of diaries gets a little excessive, it still probes deeper into the effects of war than most programs do.

The footage is remarkable.  The quality is very good for the time period, and is taken in many different parts of the world.  It's not just news footage, it's taken by soldiers as they bomb cities, including the two atom bomb runs, as well as post-Pearl Harbor shots and plenty of footage of France, a devastated Berlin and the home movies of Adolf Hitler.  As I watched this footage, I felt closer to those involved, as if these events happened only years ago, not generations.  The footage was also appropriate for the narration, and most of it was not terribly bloody or gorey (although there were shots of dead bodies both on the battlefield and in the concentration camps).  Some of the shots were so tear-jerking you wondered how humans could do this to one another.  As the U.S. took some of the Japanese-held pacific islands, they discovered thousands of innocent Japanese civilians in caves, starving because the Japanese army had taken their food.  The impact of civilians was something you rarely see.

 I would recommend this to anyone.  The knowledge is important and the color brings it to life in a way that can't be missed.

Under discussion:

Mission: Impossible  (1996)

8/10

I first watched this film back when I was a teenager, and at that time I found the plot very confusing.  Rewatching it now at 24, I realize how great it is.  Perhaps because I already knew what was going to happen, and maybe that's what frustrated me in the beginning.  We weren't expecting such a twist, such backstabbing, such confusion as Cruise's character finds himself in.  The movie was perhaps too cerebral, which is why it disappointed some.  But if you can get past that, the plot is great and the action (while sometimes over the top) manages to compliment it.   The next two films in the series focus much more on the action, and I think what would make the perfect M:I film would be a mix of the first film's atmostphere, plot and suspense, and the sequals' action and less serious nature.  This film is not the typical M:I story, I believe because so much goes wrong for the protagonist. He's fighting what he can't see, but such is the life of a spy.