unclefestering Blog

I have a lunch meeting with Cliff Huxtable at the Four Seasons in 20 minutes

unclefestering — Wed, 21 May 2008 02:24:47 GMT

Like all true satires, American Psycho isn't afraid of being misunderstood. It is a deeply black comedic looks at the shallow lives that first became truly available in the 1980s. It was a time when the growing backlash against sexual liberation was teaming up with corporate prosperity.

This movie captures all those ideas in a twisted allegory. Patrick Bateman is the perfect embodiment of style over substance. He does hundreds of crunches to have the perfect body. He shows that perfect body off in the best tailored suits. He makes sure that the body and suits are seen by the right people by eating in the most exclusive restaurants. He affords all of these luxuries by holding down a Wall Street job in Murders and Executions. Or is it Mergers and Acquisitions? But what does all of that mean to him? Nothing.

Why should it mean anything to him when his friends and coworkers are interchangeable? At one point in the movie he passes himself off as one of his victims, not because they look alike, but they are all so alike in attitude and vapidness that no one pays any attention to which of the Pierre Cardin suits they are dealing with.

The perfect embodiment of the young Reagan Republican corporate warrior doesn’t feel anything. He doesn’t get any satisfaction from his job, his friends, his apartment or his lifestyle. He does find satisfaction in killing. He feels calmness and relief in the flow of blood…

And Huey Lewis.

Possibly Phil Collins too.

This movie carefully balances the moods of the scenes. It slides silkily from tension, to humor; from horror to confusion. It doesn’t matter to him who he kills. Coworkers, girlfriends, rivals, strangers all fall victim to his killer sense of fashion and then his killer sensibility.

Christian Bale is always amazing to watch as the eerie tension builds or in the outrageously funny scene where he is dancing behind one of his victims, while she is being bored by his explanation of how commercially accessible his favorite 80s pop group is.

Reese Witherspoon and Chloe Sevigny are interesting as the two main women in Patrick Bateman’s life. They are dependant on him for the same reason but by different means. Reese Witherspoon plays his fiancée who is willing to put up with what she believes are Patrick’s “infidelities” as long as it is going to lead her to a life in the Hamptons. Chloe Sevingy is hard-working and wants to be independent but her economic future depends on making sure that Patrick looks like he is actually doing work.

This movie works on so many different levels.

Bateman is a monster and like all the best monsters he is the product of his culture taken to an extreme. He is commercialized masculinity. He is feminized by his interest in fashion grooming and décor. He hates in others what he perceives as his perfections. He is a beast hidden among the lambs. Disguised as one of their own, but with a ravenous hunger that can’t be contained.

The power of a voice and the power of love

unclefestering — Mon, 19 May 2008 05:11:09 GMT

Diva is a great film. It has everything you could want: action, romance, corrupt cops, honorable thieves and plenty of setbacks to be overcome. This stylish thriller from the early 80s reset what a person could expect from a French film and introduced the cinema du look.

An opera star is afraid of losing her voice but unwilling to be recorded. A young Parisian messenger boy manages to sneak a high quality recording device into one of her performances. A group of Taiwanese recording executives become aware of the tapes existence and begin to hunt the messenger down.

In the meantime, a prostitute manages to drop a recording of her confession against a corrupt police official into the messenger’s bag just before she is killed. Poor Jules is being hunted for two recordings, but only knows about one.

Fortunately, he is aided by a young, Vietnamese shoplifter who has her own connections to shady characters. There is a great chase scene on a motorcycle in the subway. And Jules is hunted down through an arcade like a wild animal.

This is a movie full of desperately lonely people who are all yearning to find some one or some thing to connect to. Jules has a one-sided love affair with an opera singer who doesn’t know he exists. The Diva has cut herself from everyone, because she is afraid they are taking advantage of her. Alba, the Vietnamese girl is very young but act like a woman twice her age. Despite a surface friendliness, she too is afraid of getting hurt if someone gets too close to her.

The optimism of this movie is a projection of the viewer that these people will be able to change. That they will become aware of their own shortcomings and learn to let people break through the barriers they have constructed around themselves is implied, but not specifically stated.

Couldn't stay awake

unclefestering — Mon, 19 May 2008 04:43:41 GMT

First let me say that House of Flying Daggers is an incredibly beautiful film. The cinematography is breathtaking. Every time I woke up, I was awestruck at the images on the screen. And therein lay the problem: the languid pace and convoluted plot kept putting me out.

I’ve seen plenty of foreign films. I have no problem with subtitles. I own plenty of Chinese, Japanese, German, French and Spanish films. I have never fallen asleep through any of them other than this movie. Just to be sure, the third time I tried to watch this movie, I watched the dubbed version. No help there.

It tries to be another Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) but the acting failed and the plot failed. All that was left was special effect and incredible scenery. This movie was hollow to me.

I don't know what I'd say if I actually saw this movie today

unclefestering — Mon, 19 May 2008 04:24:11 GMT

This was one for the first movies I saw on cable when I was a kid. I thought it was hilarious. Now keep in mind I was seven or eight and it didn't take a lot to make me laugh, back then.

I'd almost be afraid to watch this movie again and ruin my memory of it.

Thought Provoking Science Fiction

unclefestering — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:49:43 GMT

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.

Gripping and Clever

unclefestering — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:23:30 GMT

Why does it always seem that there are two movies abot the same subject released at the same time? The Prestige was released just after The Illusionist (2006), which is a shame because that sucked away the audience that might have gone to see this.

Don't get me wrong, the Illusionist isn't a bad movie, but I find this one so much better. Two young magicians become bitter rivals when one of them may or may not have been instrumental in the death of the other's wife. From that point on, they do what they have to do to steal each other's secrets no matter who it hurts in their lives.

A taut and gripping plotline is boosted by great performances of Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. Both performances are filled with envy, jealousy, and anger. Some people say that the end is a bait and switch, but if you are paying attention to the movie, you are lead down to its dark inevitable path.

What was I thinking

unclefestering — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:09:27 GMT

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?

Cute but Overrated

unclefestering — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:50:23 GMT

That Thing That You Do! is an overrated movie. Don't get me wrong. It is cute. It has a beat you can dance to, but it seems like a retread of almost every music/road trip movie out there and doesn't really add anything to it to make it special. Liv Tyler's sexy yet innocent smile is the best thing about this movie.

Opening their eyes to the possibilities

unclefestering — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:45:16 GMT

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.

One of those movies that I'll always watch

unclefestering — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:30:58 GMT

Almost Famous is one of those movies that will stop me from channel surfing to watch it when it is on. Although it has its flaws, it is one of Cameron Crowe's best and most personal movies. It is right up there with Singles (1992).

I loved how this movie really evoked the feeling of the 70s. That mood that what was special about the 60s was slipping away. That feeling is mirrored by the gradual loss of William's innocence as he leaves the shelter of his overprotective mother for the care of Penny Lane.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman is great (as always) as the rock critic who is William's mentor and offers advice that is too eagerly discarded until he realizes its worth far too late.

It is hard to believe that Crowe could make this and be the force behind the soulless Jerry Maguire (1996).