unclefestering Blog

Under discussion:

Pi  (1998)

Primer  (2003)

Primer isn't a movie that tries to reach the lowest common denominator in terms of audience. It expects you to meet its concepts. And for those that do there is a great payoff.

Four engineers in a tiny startup realize that they have built something amazing, but don't quite know what they have. Two of them figure out they have built a time machine and manage to buy out the others.

At that point they start going back in time to make money on the stock market, always careful to avoid interfering with themselves or anyone they know. But eventually the temptation to interfere in their own lives becomes too great and the repercussions grow greater and greater.

This harkens back to when science fiction movies were about ideas and not just explosions. There is a lot of tech talk, but is easy to follow and actually has meaning, unlike the techobabble in most science fiction movies.

It isn't boring, but the deliberate pace of this movie may put some people off if they are expecting and action adventure movie. That pace is important because it gives you a chance to catch up with some of the moral and ethical dilemmas this movie sets up.

This is one of those movies that calls for multiple viewings. Each time you can see new implications of the ideas explored in this movie. Although distinct from Pi, this movie has a very similar feel.

Under discussion:

The Greatest Show on Earth  (1952)

Ok. I was on a trip to Florida and we went to the Ringling Museum (Incredible works by Rubens). On the property there is housed a circus museum. (Last aside: the docents wear the same uniforms as the art museum. Nobody in clown shoes and tiny cars.) One of the main sections of the circus museum is dedicated to how the Ringling Brothers Circus helped make this movie.

So that was the hook. and I fell for it like a mark at the target booth. Chuck Heston is extra stiff as the circus manager "with sawdust in his veins." Betty Hutton overacts as the trampy trapeze artist who tries to make Heston jealous of her affair with Cornel Wilde.

And would anybody anywhere feel threatened by Jimmy Stewart, even if he took off the clown makeup?

Under discussion:

The Commitments  (1991)

Fame  (1980)

Pink Floyd: The Wall  (1982)

The Commitments bring together two of Alan Parker's favorite themes: music and class. Both elements are well servied by this funny and touching story of a man with an unlikely goal: to create the next U2. It doesn't matter that he doesn't know anybody in the music business. He gets a motley crew together and forms them into a great soul band. He wheels and deals, doing whatever he has to, in order to get his band on stage.

The final concert scene is one of my favorite musical moments in the movies. Alan Parker may have first staked out his rock credentials with Fame and Pink Floyd: The Wall, but nine years later, he reaffirmed them solidly with this movie.