HairyLime Blog

Memorial Day Viewing

HairyLime — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:09:49 GMT

Caught this one on our 'On Demand' cable service last night. I'm a big fan of 'submarine movies' with all their cliches and standardized plotlines (the 'silent running sequence', the 'depth charges sequence', the 'battle weary captain' the 'going too deep and the pressure is going to crush us sequence'). I wasn't expecting much at first, the acting by the bit players was wooden and the dialog a little corny, but once the two main characters were introduced and the chase begun, this turned out to be a pretty decent little war film. Mitchum and Jurgens were both great, and it was interesting to see a war film that actually avoids taking sides, and treats the enemy with a bit more respect and intelligence.

Some other favorites: Run Silent Run Deep, Tokyo Bay, U-571, Das Boot, Crimson Tide, The Hunt for Red October

Deathly Dull

HairyLime — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:06:16 GMT

Sure, a lot of pretty visuals, but really no better or worse than the average video game, which is what it mostly reminded me of. Way too much slow motion (I suppose so you can better appreciate the time and effort that went into the CGI visuals and to best appreciate Frank Millers static design sense), but frankly the story, characters and acting put me to sleep, and I ended up turning it off out of boredom before the 'epic battle' even took place. If you liked Sin City, you wil probably like this too. Frank Miller seems endlessly mired in a 14 year old mindset, dramatic shadows, sculpted muscles, tits and lots of blood seem to be the formula. If you are looking for something a little more grown up, try Spartacus, or Gladiator.

Cold Biopic

HairyLime — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 04:35:22 GMT

I was frequently reminded of my favorite 'Sports Movies' while watching this Canadian Film, and how the best of them can move or excite or thrill despite the viewer's complete ignorance of the particular sport. I'm thinking of 'Breaking Away' (bicycle racing), or 'Hoosiers' (basketball), or 'Eight Men Out', 'The Rookie', 'The Natural' (baseball), 'Slap Shot' (hockey), 'Remember the Titans' (football), 'Rocky', 'Cinderella Man' or 'Body and Soul' (boxing) or even the recent 'Dodgeball'. All manage to engage the viewer in the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat regardless of whether you are a sports fan or not. There are times in this film that the filmmakers got close to the net, and a couple moments where they scored a goal, but they couldn't quite put together a hat trick with this one. The hockey action scenes were well filmed and edited, and gave a sense of excitement. I particularly enjoyed the scene where the notoriously violent New York player tries to 'get' our hero, but gets a surprising comeuppance. But the scenes never quite seemed to flow together enough to get the audience in a 'cheering' mood, but were just pockets of excitement here and there. I frequently found myself confused about what was going on. Perhaps this is one of those movies where you need to be familiar with the sport/sporting legend to fully appreciate it. The lead actor did a fine job, portraying the simple french canadian machinist/hockey star with a calm dignity and stubborn drive, and the 'fight for french canadian dignity' was effective and interesting. Roy Dupuis reminds me of a young Rock Hudson, or possibly Sam Raimi favorite Bruce Campbell. The whole 'family drama' angle kind of left me cold. I really wasn't overly interested in the 'brother in law who can't good tickets to the games' subplot, or the 'poor people fence' or the 'father in law who doesn't approve of the son-in-law' subplot (seems like they tried to squeeze too many subplots into the mix, and couldn't quite decide which one to emphasize or expand on, so all are given short shrift)..and the wife seemed almost an afterthought to the story (There is a scene where our hero goes all gushy over his newborn baby, but then we never see the kid again after that).. The actor who played the Montreal Canadiens coach was particularly good (and looks real familiar to me, I'll have to IMDB him to see where else I've seen him). Some of the camera work seemed a bit unnecessary, especially the sudden switches to washed out black and white for certain scenes (with no particular rhyme or reason that I could decipher). Could've been a condender, but left me a bit cold. A cut above most of the other 'Spout Mavens' discs I've received.

Alice in Slumberland

HairyLime — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 13:07:34 GMT

Well, I'd warn you to avoid the review if you are worried about spoilers, but to be honest, there isn't anything all that earth shattering to reveal. A young roofer overhears some "mysterious" conversations, and after his employer overdoses, decides to take his place on a 'money making opportunity'. He's in need of money, well, not desperately, but just needs some (it is kind of hard to tell what motivates anyone in this movie, all the characters are such blanks -- ha ha, shooting blanks, get it?). He ends up at a sort of 'russian roulette competition' with a bunch of rich guys betting on who makes it to the end. It takes a slow 45 minutes to get to the "big secret", and then once it has been revealed, you are stuck with round after pointless round with little or no suspense (I mean, we know who's going to win, the number in the movie title?). I suppose it is meant to be bleak and existential (one of the 'coaches' gives his contestant a pep talk to that effect in one of the early rounds). I don't know what went wrong with this film, but I found myself fast forwarding through the last half. None of the characters engaged, the situation, once revealed, was tedious to sit through, and the outcome was mostly a foregone conclusion. A tacked on bleak ending put the final nail in the coffin of this forgettable movie.

Later in the evening, I was flipping channels, and came across "The Insider". A movie I've seen a couple times before, and I had no intention of watching the whole thing again, but I was struck by how tense and thrilling and full of paranoid menace they were able to convey, with a seemingly less thrilling premise (whether or not a 60 minutes interview will be aired about a smoking industry whistle blower). This film got it right. I ended up staying up til the wee hours riveted by the story, and trying to figure out what it was that made this movie work, and the one I'd tried to watch earlier in the evening fail so miserably to capture my attention. A lesson there somewhere, but I don't know what it is.

Dog

HairyLime — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 14:34:59 GMT

Hmm. Saw this last night with the family unit at our local 'cheapie movie' theater, which plays a mixture of 2nd run blockbusters on their last legs mixed with a sprinkling of independant features (I think this one is already on DVD if I'm not mistaken). Not really what I was expecting, but that isn't always a bad thing. I admire all the actors, who all did a spectacular job, but the story was a bit uncomfortable to sit through. It is always a bit nerve wracking to watch a movie in which the main character gradually becomes unhinged, because you have a tendency to see things through their eyes, and on the one hand, you can see why their actions make sense based on their own inner logic, but on the other hand, you can't divorce your own personal feelings from that of the character you are watching, and you find yourself fighting the urge to scream at the screen "STOP IT - what the heck are you thinking?" I was reminded of such films as Scorcese's Taxi Driver, or King of Comedy, or Nick Nolte in Affliction, or Gene Hackman in The Conversation. I suppose we can be grateful that this movie didn't choose the conventional route of the the main character finding 'mr. right' and settling down to a happy ever after life. While the ending seemed a bit unrealistic (she's going to get her job back and be forgiven of attacking her neighbor with a hunting knife and embezzling funds with a few phone calls?), I did however like the final 'summing up' where she compares her 'love of animals' with all the other various forms of love and affection and obsession that others cling to, and really, is it any less meaningful - but I suppose what it comes down to, is where YOUR obsessions and interests cross the line and impact others (and THEIR loves, interests and obsessions). I guess I admire this movie, but I can't honestly say I enjoyed it.

My Sister Eileen

HairyLime — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:12:48 GMT

Caught this one on TCM last night. Rather silly stage adaptation (you can even pick out where the curtains drop on act one and two). A lot of the jokes are rather dated, which is probably why this one doesn't show up on television all that often. Rosalind Russell plays her usual 'smart alec street smart dame' role that she did so well, and has to fend off numerous oddball characters interested in her naive pretty younger sister while trying to make it as a writer in New York. I lost interest in the third act, but my wife stuck with it and seemed to find the ending satisfactory (even with a cameo by the Three Stooges) and in her words 'very cute'.

Almost

HairyLime — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:05:41 GMT

Rented this one on the basis of a few interesting trailers and a couple conflicting reviews. The movie started out pretty good, and had some interesting camera work and special effects throughout, but it was too long, and meanders around aimlessly in the middle and then by the time the movie picks up steam at the end, it feels less like a satisfactory conclusion, and more like a video game hero who just beat the 'big boss' at the end of the level. Rather disappointing overall.

No Weddings and One Funeral

HairyLime — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:54:19 GMT

Saw this at the multiplex this weekend. Laugh out loud black comedy with a whole mess of Brit actors that look sort of familiar (we had to go home and imdb the whole bunch of them, everyone except Peter Dinklage that is). The set ups seemed a bit forced in the beginning, i.e.: hallucinagenic drugs in the wrong bottle, cranky old wheelchair bound uncle, dead dad with a secret, parson who really really has to be out of here by 3:00 - like you are able to see the puppeteers hands working the strings. But once you relax into it and get familiar with the characters a bit it works like a charm. But I wonder if years from now I'll return to it, like I did with 'A Fish Called Wanda', and wonder what it was I found so sidesplittingly funny.

Slow Road to Crimea

HairyLime — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:42:25 GMT

Starting to notice a trend in the four movies I've received as part of the 'Spout Maven's' group. Each of the movies has involved a young boy, set adrift, abandoned, neglected by adult foibles and shortcomings beyond his power to either influence or comprehend. In "Clean" it was drugs and show business, in "The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things" it was a whole myriad of child neglect nightmare scenarios, in "Mother Mine" it was WWII and the foster parent program, and, now in "Roads to Koktebel" we have alcoholism and abject poverty. This movie is what you would call 'deliberately paced', which is an art film term for slow moving. This film was so slow in fact, that I was convinced at one point that it was moving backwards. We are introduced to a father and son travelling with little or no means of support from the big city of Moscow to a new life at a sister's house by the Black Sea. The father and son seem rather distant from each other, the father speaks in curt sarcastic tones to the boys' occasional questions, and the boy has a stern far off look of sad determination much of the time. We gradually understand by the father's refusal of vodka, that he had a drinking problem at some point, which may have added to their bad fortune, and that the boy's mother died at some point in the past and may have led to the drinking, but it is never spelled out in so many words. At one point he falls off the wagon with a persuasive host, and shows signs of alcoholic desperation for a single scene, but seems to get over it rather quickly (a shotgun to the shoulder will do that I suppose), and when they are taken in by a somewhat attractive woman doctor, the father falls under her charms and abruptly changes their plans and decides to stay there with the woman. The son gets fed up with the father and takes off to complete the journey alone. There are frequent allusions to flying and albatroses throughout, and when the boy reaches the 'sea' we are treated to a few confusing scenes that I suppose have something to do with the 'flying' metaphor, but they were lost on me, I'm afraid. The film is beautifully shot, the bleak Russian landscapes and life of poverty were filmed with a real love of composition and color. I was reminded of the Cormac McCarthy book "The Road" (except without the cannibals), in which the boy eventually leaves the father to find his own path - and I was also reminded of the wonderful film "Sullivan's Travels" about the filmmaker who wants desperately to make a 'serious film' about 'real people', 'real poverty and real desperate lives', and discovers that real people go to the movies to escape their 'real poverty and real desperate lives' (and to make this point the movie is wonderful in the way it uses every cheap escapism trick in the book, slapstick car chases, caricatured stereotypes, pratfalls, and Veronica Lake does a number of titilating shower scenes).

Zombies on Speed

HairyLime — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 15:49:14 GMT

Caught this one the other night on cable. Wasn't expecting much, but it was a fun zombie/apocalypse/survival flick with appealling leads and only a few shortcomings. I've never seen the original of this, but I've seen Night of the Living Dead numerous times, and now am kind of curious to see the original. Ving Rhames and Sarah Polley give good performances and the action is well paced and exciting. Some of the characters have "red shirt" written all over them from their first appearance, and a few of the sequences and one liners seem blatantly ripped off from other movies (one line that the 'annoying boat owner dude' uses is straight from Pulp Fiction, and the whole 'rescue the dog across the street' sequence is pure Rear Window, and the final 'escape from the mall' sequence quite closely resembles 'Road Warrior' in many ways). A fun zombie romp, and I may be checking out the original Dawn of the Dead, and perhaps Day of the Dead next.