Sunday, July 31, 2005
Several Reviews In Brief
One of the few good things about my having missed three weeks of work is that Wendy and I have been able to catch up on a lot of movies. It’s often hard for us to watch movies together on regular circumstances. When I work graveyard shift, I end up having to leave so early that we’d not have time to finish a movie. When I work days, I’m usually so tired in the evenings that I end up asleep shortly after 9:00 PM. When I work the late afternoon/early evening shift, I get in around 10:30 at night, which is usually too late for us to stay up and watch a movie. So except for my days off, we end up only seeing movies that are appropriate for family viewing most of the time.
For the past three weeks, though, we’ve had plenty of chances to watch movies in the evenings after the kids go to bed. We’ve seen quite a few, and here are some brief reviews of the ones we’ve watched over the past three weeks:
Love & Sex
Wendy says: I think it’s one of the best comedies about relationships. I really enjoy the characters. John Favreau is hot!
Darrell says: Cute little romantic comedy, chick flick kind of thing. Not as dumb as most of them, but nothing amazing, either. My idea of a good romantic Comedy is Jerry Maguire. I’d give that movie four stars. This one falls short of that, but it ain’t bad.
Eat Drink Man Woman
Wendy says: This is one of Ang Lee’s finest films. The relationship between the father and his daughters is sometimes sad, sometimes heartwarming, and sometimes funny. Food is so important to this movie that it’s almost like a character. The relationships of the primary characters always involve food, whether between the father and his daughters or the daughters and their friends and lovers. Cooking is a way of communicating for the people in this film. Sometimes it’s done to express love, sometimes to assert authority, but always with a subtext.
Darrell says: I didn’t expect to like this movie as much as I did, but I really, really enjoyed it. From the opening scenes, with a chef preparing food, this movie really appeals to the senses. Ang Lee uses sound to convey the sense of food being prepared in a really surprising way. From there, the movie develops into a smart movie about families and the relationships of sisters. It’s never predictable and I enjoyed every frame of it. I’ve seen about half of Ang Lee’s movies, and this one is among the best I’ve seen.
Naked
Wendy says: This movie stands out among Mike Leigh’s films, in that it is so different. The relationships between the characters are not only sad but very brutal. Mike Leigh has a really wonderful way about making movies about people. It’s rare to find a director of his caliber. This is one of his earliest films, and it’s also his most upsetting, but ultimately it’s a very compelling character study.
Darrell says: I haven’t seen many of Mike Leigh’s films, but all of them so far have been outstanding. Naked reminds me some of Closer, another movie about the ways that men and women can traumatize one and other. The main difference between this film and Closer, though, is that there is a level of physical violence in Naked that seems appropriate for the hate expressed in the movie. David Thewlis’s does an amazing job as Johnny, a main character you can’t take your eyes off of. Next time you’re in the mood for a heavy, aggressive movie, try this one.
Heathers
Wendy says: I’ve always heard so much about this film, people think of it as one of the best black comedies from the 80’s. Perhaps, had I seen it back then, I may have enjoyed it more. I think that it had some good moments, but overall, I was kind of disappointed.
Darrell says: I’ve seen this movie, I don’t even know how many times. Maybe it’s one of those generational films, and I love it simply because I always have. All I know is, it’s one of my favorites and I never get tired of it. It does express something about the vacuous late 80’s as I remember them, but given reality TV and today’s obsession with celebrity, I think it’s as topical and funny and smart by today’s standards as it ever was.
The Exorcist III
Wendy says: I honestly didn’t want to watch this movie. It was the better of two choices, though (it was Darrell’s night to pick). What’s most upsetting about this movie is that the characters aren’t as rich as in The Exorcist, the original film. There were a few honestly scary moments, but overall, I just wanted it to be over.
Darrell says: I wanted Wendy to see this film, not because I think it’s a good movie, but because I think it’s an interesting “study of film,” if you’ll forgive me sounding pretentious. It’s a movie that had the potential to be good, but never met that potential. See my detailed review here, if you’re interested.
Sense and Sensibility
Wendy says: I first saw this movie when I was in high school, and I hadn’t seen it in a long time. It’s another great Ang Lee movie, based on a horribly boring book by Jane Austen. I think Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant are all at the top of their game in this film. I think it’s a beautiful movie and a beautiful story.
Darrell says: Ah, lord. I have to admit, it’s a well made movie. It looks great, the direction is good, etc, etc… but it really did bore me. The best thing about the movie for me was seeing Alan Rickman play a sympathetic character. That was a nice change, he usually gets stuck playing smirking bad guys. Overall, though, this movie reaffirmed my honest belief that I’d like to see Hugh Grant beaten with a rake. This movie started my and Wendy’s debate about the equine qualities of Emma Thompson, but other than that, it didn’t effect me much.
Black Hawk Down
Wendy says: I can’t stand war movies, and I avoided this movie like the plague. But, one night, Darrell convinced me to watch it, and I’m really glad I did. I think it has a really interesting look about it. It seems dirty, gritty, and dangerous. I think the primary actors are all fine, I think the story is very good, and it really held my attention because I wanted to know what was going to happen.
Darrell says: I love Black Hawk Down. Granted, it’s a total guy movie, but it’s really outstanding. All of the performances are great, especially Eric Bana, who really blows my mind more and more each time I see it. It’s so hard to believe he’s from Australia. He nails the Carolina accent. Most of the time I’m bugged by bad attempts at southern accents in movies, but Bana gets it right. The movie really looks great, too… it makes war look like it should; terribly risky, loud and grungy and brutal. Plus, the movie portrays the American military in a totally heroic light. That won me over completely.
Interview With The Vampire
Wendy says: I’m trying to think of something good to say about this movie. The fangs look real. That’s a positive. I don’t like vampires, and they’re so flamboyant in this film. I understand that it’s supposed to be a creepy, gothic movie, but I just couldn’t wait for it to be over. I almost didn’t finish it. The sets are great! It looks gothic, and I guess it succeeds in its gothic feel, but I just don’t care.
Darrell says: Hey, it’s not a horror film… it’s a big, gay, gothic romp, and for what it is, it’s entertaining. It’s fun, just purely for a radical change of pace, to watch Tom Cruise parade around in a blond wig, acting like a fop. It’s fun to see Antonio Banderas and Brad Pitt sashaying around like they’re putting on a show called “Vampire Eye For The Mortal Guy” or something. It’s just a movie I get a huge kick out of. No, it ain’t a perfect movie by any standards, I just think it’s fun. I laugh all the way through it. I guess it’s my own personal “Rocky Horror” kind of thing.
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Wendy says: I saw this movie when it first came out in the theater. It had been so long since I’d seen it that all I could remember was how good Matt Damon was. Seeing it again, knowing what to expect, allowed me to enjoy his performance even more the second time around. This is a creepy movie, but it’s very well acted and well directed, and well shot. The locations are beautiful and they add a texture to the story. This is the first film I ever saw Jude Law in, and it definitely put his name in my book of good actors. I haven’t really seen him do too much since this, though, that I liked as much as this performance.
Darrell says: I was not prepared for how creepy and upsetting that this movie was. I knew that it involved someone impersonating another person, trying to take over their life… but I had no idea that it was basically a stalker movie. I guess I expected espionage or something. Matt Damon is really, really good in this film. His character is extremely complex, and he really pulls it off. The direction is good, the other actors all excel, too… and even though I never care to see this movie again, I have to give it credit for being really very good.
Shaun Of The Dead
Wendy says: This was my first experience with zombies. Anybody who knows me knows that I stay as far away from scary movies as possible. I thought that this movie was very funny and it genuinely scared me. I know that there are lots of references to other movies, but they just passed me by because I’ve never seen any of those movies. My favorite part was in the extras, on the DVD, when they explained all the plot holes for each character. I thought they were hilarious. I thought that the ending was appropriate for the movie, and I enjoyed it.
Darrell says: This movie was pretty much what I expected it to be, and it was as funny as I’d hoped it would be. I enjoyed all the references to the classic zombie movies, and got a kick out of the original jokes, like Shaun taking offense at Eddie’s use of the word “Zombie,” as though it’s not politically correct. Overall, the movie was totally predictable, but you can’t hold it against a movie for being as predictable as the movies it is satirizing. There was a little loss of focus toward the end, when the movie seemed to try to get more dramatic than it needed to be, but overall, it genuinely amused me throughout, and I look forward to the actor/director/writer team’s next film.
Blood Simple
Wendy says: I’d wanted to see this movie for a long time because the Coen brothers directed it, but, overall, I’m kind of disappointed. Maybe I hyped it up too much. I never really liked any of the characters. It’s hard to enjoy a movie without liking somebody in it. There were very tense scenes in the movie, and I guess it did keep me guessing, but parts of it were predictable. Frances McDormand is alright in the film, and you can tell that she’s very inexperienced at this point in her career. However, had it not been for this film, we would have never gotten Fargo, so that’s a good thing.
Darrell says: Of all the movies Wendy and I watched over the past few weeks, this is probably the one where we disagree the strongest. I don’t get why she doesn’t love this movie. I’ll give her Black Hawk Down and Heathers because it’s a generational thing, I suppose… but Blood Simple, I think, is really outstanding. This is as good as modern film noir gets. There were times during this movie where I sat for, I suppose, ten or fifteen minutes at a time, on the edge of my seat. The Coen’s really, really had me wrapped around their little fingers, here. And, by the way, Frances McDormand is absolutely adorable in this movie, looking all of 19 years old and as fresh-faced as could be. I thought her performance was flawless, and I’d almost say the same thing about the movie as a whole.
Badlands
Wendy says: This is a movie about lost innocence. But, really, this is a movie about two people so incapable of grasping the world around them that, even after a string of bloody crimes, they’re as innocent as they ever were. The films starts out in a small town with Sissy Spacek as a young girl twirling a baton in the middle of the road. Martin Sheen’s character walks up to her, and her life changes. She’s still an innocent little girl, but now she’s mixed up with one of the weirdest characters I’ve ever seen on the screen. They do odd things. After committing a murder, they hide in the woods in an elaborate hideout with booby traps and tree houses. It’s like something kids would do; to them, it’s like a child’s game. They commit random murders, but they’re so detached from what they’ve done. It’s obvious that Natural Born Killers was influenced by this movie. Not in terms of violence, but in terms of character. Martin Sheen is treated like celebrity, and is well liked by the cops who eventually arrest him. He seems unfazed by everything he’s done. It’s a strange movie. Sissy Spacek is very good, but, overall, it isn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be.
Darrell says: The whole time I was watching Badlands, I was distracted by the obvious comparison to movies like Natural Born Killers and Kalifornia. It’s obviously a film that’s influenced many of the movies I’ve seen and enjoyed. Wendy nailed it above, what makes the killers in this movie so creepy and unnerving is their detachment from their own crimes. The movie even forces the viewer to observe the crimes in an almost clinical way; there’s no overt clues as to how we should feel in regard to musical score or cinematography. We’re asked to make up our minds about the crimes ourselves, and given only an emotional view of the crimes as their committed and the blank-faced reactions that the killers have in retrospect. Badlands is a stark, upsetting movie… and it should be, considering the subject matter. However, if you’ve seen the later movies I’ve mentioned above before you see this one, your appreciation of this film will be muted by the heavy influence it’s had on other films over the years.
The French Connection
Wendy says: This is one of those movies that I’ve always heard about but had never seen. I knew that people liked it, but I didn’t really know anything about it. It starts out like a “cop movie.” And, I guess, it is a “cop movie,” to some degree. However, more than being a “cop movie,” it’s a character study of a man who is obsessed with bringing criminals to justice, in particular, drug related criminals. He’s obsessed, he’s flawed, he’s racist, he’s ruthless. The movie never tries to change him, but rather studies him in his downward spiral. Today, so many movies feature flawed people, racist people, and then try to redeem them at the end. This is not that kind of movie. There is no redemption for Gene Hackman’s “Popeye” Doyle. He’s not a nice guy, and the movie never tries to present him otherwise. This is the most unconventional of any cop movie that I’ve seen. At first I thought the movie was kind of conventional, but by the end, all conventions were lost for the sake of an honest representation of the character, who is based on a real-life cop. It’s a tremendous piece of work on Hackman’s behalf. He thinks that locking up dime-bag criminals by the hundreds is honorable, but he’s always looking for the case that will really make his name. With older movies, it’s hard not to know too much about them going into them. I knew that people love The Godfather, but I’d heard so much about it that by the time I saw it, I wasn’t blown away. Going into this movie not knowing as much about it as a lot of older movies really worked to my benefit. I was able to appreciate it on it’s own merits. If you haven’t seen it, go out of your way to find it. It’s really worth it.
Darrell says: The French Connection was, by far, the best movie Wendy and I watched during this three week movie spree. Like Wendy, I’d always heard it described as one of those “classic movies,” but didn’t know much more than that it contained a famous car chase scene and that Hackman’s “Popeye” Doyle was a legendary cop character. The car chase really does live up to the hype, and Hackman’s performance was really astonishing. Wendy mentioned The Godfather, and for both of us, the comparison is obvious. Neither of us saw The Godfather until relatively late in life, and we both appreciated it, but didn’t love it. It couldn’t have possibly lived up to the hype of being “the greatest movie ever made.” I saw The French Connection knowing little about it, and it blew me away. I wasn’t expecting a character as intense and compelling as “Popeye” Doyle, I suppose I expected a “Dirty Harry” type of anti-hero… or else, a conventional action hero. I didn’t realize I’d be seeing such a gripping performance. It’s amazing to watch. Early in the movie, “Popeye” stares at a potential bust with what I can only describe as lust in his eyes. This is a guy so driven by a deep need to make arrests that he is immoral and relentless about it. The end of The French Connection seems to be anti-climatic… but in retrospect, I realize that the movie ends with one of the most quietly devastating scenes I’ve ever seen. The way that scene is filmed, too, is amazingly artful… as “Popeye” walks away from the camera, and, for the first time, the camera doesn’t follow him. The camera, and the viewer, stays behind. “Popeye” is lost. Where he’s going, no sane person can follow. When we sat down to watch this movie, I was prepared to like it, but not to love it. I did love it, though, and I’m going to have to re-examine my list of favorite films because of it. It probably belongs in my personal top twenty. It’s not even unreasonable to say that, with repeated viewings, The French Connection might find it’s way into my personal top ten. It's that good.
¶ 8:36 PM 
One of the few good things about my having missed three weeks of work is that Wendy and I have been able to catch up on a lot of movies. It’s often hard for us to watch movies together on regular circumstances. When I work graveyard shift, I end up having to leave so early that we’d not have time to finish a movie. When I work days, I’m usually so tired in the evenings that I end up asleep shortly after 9:00 PM. When I work the late afternoon/early evening shift, I get in around 10:30 at night, which is usually too late for us to stay up and watch a movie. So except for my days off, we end up only seeing movies that are appropriate for family viewing most of the time.
For the past three weeks, though, we’ve had plenty of chances to watch movies in the evenings after the kids go to bed. We’ve seen quite a few, and here are some brief reviews of the ones we’ve watched over the past three weeks:
Love & Sex
Wendy says: I think it’s one of the best comedies about relationships. I really enjoy the characters. John Favreau is hot!
Darrell says: Cute little romantic comedy, chick flick kind of thing. Not as dumb as most of them, but nothing amazing, either. My idea of a good romantic Comedy is Jerry Maguire. I’d give that movie four stars. This one falls short of that, but it ain’t bad.
Eat Drink Man Woman
Wendy says: This is one of Ang Lee’s finest films. The relationship between the father and his daughters is sometimes sad, sometimes heartwarming, and sometimes funny. Food is so important to this movie that it’s almost like a character. The relationships of the primary characters always involve food, whether between the father and his daughters or the daughters and their friends and lovers. Cooking is a way of communicating for the people in this film. Sometimes it’s done to express love, sometimes to assert authority, but always with a subtext.
Darrell says: I didn’t expect to like this movie as much as I did, but I really, really enjoyed it. From the opening scenes, with a chef preparing food, this movie really appeals to the senses. Ang Lee uses sound to convey the sense of food being prepared in a really surprising way. From there, the movie develops into a smart movie about families and the relationships of sisters. It’s never predictable and I enjoyed every frame of it. I’ve seen about half of Ang Lee’s movies, and this one is among the best I’ve seen.
Naked
Wendy says: This movie stands out among Mike Leigh’s films, in that it is so different. The relationships between the characters are not only sad but very brutal. Mike Leigh has a really wonderful way about making movies about people. It’s rare to find a director of his caliber. This is one of his earliest films, and it’s also his most upsetting, but ultimately it’s a very compelling character study.
Darrell says: I haven’t seen many of Mike Leigh’s films, but all of them so far have been outstanding. Naked reminds me some of Closer, another movie about the ways that men and women can traumatize one and other. The main difference between this film and Closer, though, is that there is a level of physical violence in Naked that seems appropriate for the hate expressed in the movie. David Thewlis’s does an amazing job as Johnny, a main character you can’t take your eyes off of. Next time you’re in the mood for a heavy, aggressive movie, try this one.
Heathers
Wendy says: I’ve always heard so much about this film, people think of it as one of the best black comedies from the 80’s. Perhaps, had I seen it back then, I may have enjoyed it more. I think that it had some good moments, but overall, I was kind of disappointed.
Darrell says: I’ve seen this movie, I don’t even know how many times. Maybe it’s one of those generational films, and I love it simply because I always have. All I know is, it’s one of my favorites and I never get tired of it. It does express something about the vacuous late 80’s as I remember them, but given reality TV and today’s obsession with celebrity, I think it’s as topical and funny and smart by today’s standards as it ever was.
The Exorcist III
Wendy says: I honestly didn’t want to watch this movie. It was the better of two choices, though (it was Darrell’s night to pick). What’s most upsetting about this movie is that the characters aren’t as rich as in The Exorcist, the original film. There were a few honestly scary moments, but overall, I just wanted it to be over.
Darrell says: I wanted Wendy to see this film, not because I think it’s a good movie, but because I think it’s an interesting “study of film,” if you’ll forgive me sounding pretentious. It’s a movie that had the potential to be good, but never met that potential. See my detailed review here, if you’re interested.
Sense and Sensibility
Wendy says: I first saw this movie when I was in high school, and I hadn’t seen it in a long time. It’s another great Ang Lee movie, based on a horribly boring book by Jane Austen. I think Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant are all at the top of their game in this film. I think it’s a beautiful movie and a beautiful story.
Darrell says: Ah, lord. I have to admit, it’s a well made movie. It looks great, the direction is good, etc, etc… but it really did bore me. The best thing about the movie for me was seeing Alan Rickman play a sympathetic character. That was a nice change, he usually gets stuck playing smirking bad guys. Overall, though, this movie reaffirmed my honest belief that I’d like to see Hugh Grant beaten with a rake. This movie started my and Wendy’s debate about the equine qualities of Emma Thompson, but other than that, it didn’t effect me much.
Black Hawk Down
Wendy says: I can’t stand war movies, and I avoided this movie like the plague. But, one night, Darrell convinced me to watch it, and I’m really glad I did. I think it has a really interesting look about it. It seems dirty, gritty, and dangerous. I think the primary actors are all fine, I think the story is very good, and it really held my attention because I wanted to know what was going to happen.
Darrell says: I love Black Hawk Down. Granted, it’s a total guy movie, but it’s really outstanding. All of the performances are great, especially Eric Bana, who really blows my mind more and more each time I see it. It’s so hard to believe he’s from Australia. He nails the Carolina accent. Most of the time I’m bugged by bad attempts at southern accents in movies, but Bana gets it right. The movie really looks great, too… it makes war look like it should; terribly risky, loud and grungy and brutal. Plus, the movie portrays the American military in a totally heroic light. That won me over completely.
Interview With The Vampire
Wendy says: I’m trying to think of something good to say about this movie. The fangs look real. That’s a positive. I don’t like vampires, and they’re so flamboyant in this film. I understand that it’s supposed to be a creepy, gothic movie, but I just couldn’t wait for it to be over. I almost didn’t finish it. The sets are great! It looks gothic, and I guess it succeeds in its gothic feel, but I just don’t care.
Darrell says: Hey, it’s not a horror film… it’s a big, gay, gothic romp, and for what it is, it’s entertaining. It’s fun, just purely for a radical change of pace, to watch Tom Cruise parade around in a blond wig, acting like a fop. It’s fun to see Antonio Banderas and Brad Pitt sashaying around like they’re putting on a show called “Vampire Eye For The Mortal Guy” or something. It’s just a movie I get a huge kick out of. No, it ain’t a perfect movie by any standards, I just think it’s fun. I laugh all the way through it. I guess it’s my own personal “Rocky Horror” kind of thing.
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Wendy says: I saw this movie when it first came out in the theater. It had been so long since I’d seen it that all I could remember was how good Matt Damon was. Seeing it again, knowing what to expect, allowed me to enjoy his performance even more the second time around. This is a creepy movie, but it’s very well acted and well directed, and well shot. The locations are beautiful and they add a texture to the story. This is the first film I ever saw Jude Law in, and it definitely put his name in my book of good actors. I haven’t really seen him do too much since this, though, that I liked as much as this performance.
Darrell says: I was not prepared for how creepy and upsetting that this movie was. I knew that it involved someone impersonating another person, trying to take over their life… but I had no idea that it was basically a stalker movie. I guess I expected espionage or something. Matt Damon is really, really good in this film. His character is extremely complex, and he really pulls it off. The direction is good, the other actors all excel, too… and even though I never care to see this movie again, I have to give it credit for being really very good.
Shaun Of The Dead
Wendy says: This was my first experience with zombies. Anybody who knows me knows that I stay as far away from scary movies as possible. I thought that this movie was very funny and it genuinely scared me. I know that there are lots of references to other movies, but they just passed me by because I’ve never seen any of those movies. My favorite part was in the extras, on the DVD, when they explained all the plot holes for each character. I thought they were hilarious. I thought that the ending was appropriate for the movie, and I enjoyed it.
Darrell says: This movie was pretty much what I expected it to be, and it was as funny as I’d hoped it would be. I enjoyed all the references to the classic zombie movies, and got a kick out of the original jokes, like Shaun taking offense at Eddie’s use of the word “Zombie,” as though it’s not politically correct. Overall, the movie was totally predictable, but you can’t hold it against a movie for being as predictable as the movies it is satirizing. There was a little loss of focus toward the end, when the movie seemed to try to get more dramatic than it needed to be, but overall, it genuinely amused me throughout, and I look forward to the actor/director/writer team’s next film.
Blood Simple
Wendy says: I’d wanted to see this movie for a long time because the Coen brothers directed it, but, overall, I’m kind of disappointed. Maybe I hyped it up too much. I never really liked any of the characters. It’s hard to enjoy a movie without liking somebody in it. There were very tense scenes in the movie, and I guess it did keep me guessing, but parts of it were predictable. Frances McDormand is alright in the film, and you can tell that she’s very inexperienced at this point in her career. However, had it not been for this film, we would have never gotten Fargo, so that’s a good thing.
Darrell says: Of all the movies Wendy and I watched over the past few weeks, this is probably the one where we disagree the strongest. I don’t get why she doesn’t love this movie. I’ll give her Black Hawk Down and Heathers because it’s a generational thing, I suppose… but Blood Simple, I think, is really outstanding. This is as good as modern film noir gets. There were times during this movie where I sat for, I suppose, ten or fifteen minutes at a time, on the edge of my seat. The Coen’s really, really had me wrapped around their little fingers, here. And, by the way, Frances McDormand is absolutely adorable in this movie, looking all of 19 years old and as fresh-faced as could be. I thought her performance was flawless, and I’d almost say the same thing about the movie as a whole.
Badlands
Wendy says: This is a movie about lost innocence. But, really, this is a movie about two people so incapable of grasping the world around them that, even after a string of bloody crimes, they’re as innocent as they ever were. The films starts out in a small town with Sissy Spacek as a young girl twirling a baton in the middle of the road. Martin Sheen’s character walks up to her, and her life changes. She’s still an innocent little girl, but now she’s mixed up with one of the weirdest characters I’ve ever seen on the screen. They do odd things. After committing a murder, they hide in the woods in an elaborate hideout with booby traps and tree houses. It’s like something kids would do; to them, it’s like a child’s game. They commit random murders, but they’re so detached from what they’ve done. It’s obvious that Natural Born Killers was influenced by this movie. Not in terms of violence, but in terms of character. Martin Sheen is treated like celebrity, and is well liked by the cops who eventually arrest him. He seems unfazed by everything he’s done. It’s a strange movie. Sissy Spacek is very good, but, overall, it isn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be.
Darrell says: The whole time I was watching Badlands, I was distracted by the obvious comparison to movies like Natural Born Killers and Kalifornia. It’s obviously a film that’s influenced many of the movies I’ve seen and enjoyed. Wendy nailed it above, what makes the killers in this movie so creepy and unnerving is their detachment from their own crimes. The movie even forces the viewer to observe the crimes in an almost clinical way; there’s no overt clues as to how we should feel in regard to musical score or cinematography. We’re asked to make up our minds about the crimes ourselves, and given only an emotional view of the crimes as their committed and the blank-faced reactions that the killers have in retrospect. Badlands is a stark, upsetting movie… and it should be, considering the subject matter. However, if you’ve seen the later movies I’ve mentioned above before you see this one, your appreciation of this film will be muted by the heavy influence it’s had on other films over the years.
The French Connection
Wendy says: This is one of those movies that I’ve always heard about but had never seen. I knew that people liked it, but I didn’t really know anything about it. It starts out like a “cop movie.” And, I guess, it is a “cop movie,” to some degree. However, more than being a “cop movie,” it’s a character study of a man who is obsessed with bringing criminals to justice, in particular, drug related criminals. He’s obsessed, he’s flawed, he’s racist, he’s ruthless. The movie never tries to change him, but rather studies him in his downward spiral. Today, so many movies feature flawed people, racist people, and then try to redeem them at the end. This is not that kind of movie. There is no redemption for Gene Hackman’s “Popeye” Doyle. He’s not a nice guy, and the movie never tries to present him otherwise. This is the most unconventional of any cop movie that I’ve seen. At first I thought the movie was kind of conventional, but by the end, all conventions were lost for the sake of an honest representation of the character, who is based on a real-life cop. It’s a tremendous piece of work on Hackman’s behalf. He thinks that locking up dime-bag criminals by the hundreds is honorable, but he’s always looking for the case that will really make his name. With older movies, it’s hard not to know too much about them going into them. I knew that people love The Godfather, but I’d heard so much about it that by the time I saw it, I wasn’t blown away. Going into this movie not knowing as much about it as a lot of older movies really worked to my benefit. I was able to appreciate it on it’s own merits. If you haven’t seen it, go out of your way to find it. It’s really worth it.
Darrell says: The French Connection was, by far, the best movie Wendy and I watched during this three week movie spree. Like Wendy, I’d always heard it described as one of those “classic movies,” but didn’t know much more than that it contained a famous car chase scene and that Hackman’s “Popeye” Doyle was a legendary cop character. The car chase really does live up to the hype, and Hackman’s performance was really astonishing. Wendy mentioned The Godfather, and for both of us, the comparison is obvious. Neither of us saw The Godfather until relatively late in life, and we both appreciated it, but didn’t love it. It couldn’t have possibly lived up to the hype of being “the greatest movie ever made.” I saw The French Connection knowing little about it, and it blew me away. I wasn’t expecting a character as intense and compelling as “Popeye” Doyle, I suppose I expected a “Dirty Harry” type of anti-hero… or else, a conventional action hero. I didn’t realize I’d be seeing such a gripping performance. It’s amazing to watch. Early in the movie, “Popeye” stares at a potential bust with what I can only describe as lust in his eyes. This is a guy so driven by a deep need to make arrests that he is immoral and relentless about it. The end of The French Connection seems to be anti-climatic… but in retrospect, I realize that the movie ends with one of the most quietly devastating scenes I’ve ever seen. The way that scene is filmed, too, is amazingly artful… as “Popeye” walks away from the camera, and, for the first time, the camera doesn’t follow him. The camera, and the viewer, stays behind. “Popeye” is lost. Where he’s going, no sane person can follow. When we sat down to watch this movie, I was prepared to like it, but not to love it. I did love it, though, and I’m going to have to re-examine my list of favorite films because of it. It probably belongs in my personal top twenty. It’s not even unreasonable to say that, with repeated viewings, The French Connection might find it’s way into my personal top ten. It's that good.
¶ 8:36 PM
Comments:
Hey! You guys watched Shaun of the Dead! Neato. The first time I watched it, it was less funny than I was expecting and I was pretty bummed out afterwards as I had become very involved with the characters and didn't like how it all turned out. I probably would've rated it about the same as you did the first time around. However, I tried it again a few months after it came out on DVD and absolutely fell in love with it. There's alot going on in the film that I didn't catch in the first viewing. I'm usually not into commentaries, but I loved the one here with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. They're just having way too much fun. And those plot hole comics are great!
"We're not using the zed word!!" Heh.
Ah, I didn't even realize that Sense and Sensibility was an Ang Lee film! Interesting. I saw it years and years ago and just got caught up in the beauty of the filming and the slow laziness of the film. I thought it was quite good but at the end, when everyone paired off, I was blindsided. I had been barely paying attention to the plot. :-) Rewatching it a few months ago, I still think it's beautiful and, although the plot is slow I appreciated it a bit more. It was great to see Rickman in a "good guy" role. I didn't like Hugh Grant here, although I like when he plays cad-like characters. I used to be annoyed by him, but after seeing him in a few interviews, and how he takes the whole star status thing with a grain of salt, well, I had to at least admire him for that.
Gee, I'm sorry things have been so hectic and painful for you folks the last few weeks, but it was great getting all these reviews!
"We're not using the zed word!!" Heh.
Ah, I didn't even realize that Sense and Sensibility was an Ang Lee film! Interesting. I saw it years and years ago and just got caught up in the beauty of the filming and the slow laziness of the film. I thought it was quite good but at the end, when everyone paired off, I was blindsided. I had been barely paying attention to the plot. :-) Rewatching it a few months ago, I still think it's beautiful and, although the plot is slow I appreciated it a bit more. It was great to see Rickman in a "good guy" role. I didn't like Hugh Grant here, although I like when he plays cad-like characters. I used to be annoyed by him, but after seeing him in a few interviews, and how he takes the whole star status thing with a grain of salt, well, I had to at least admire him for that.
Gee, I'm sorry things have been so hectic and painful for you folks the last few weeks, but it was great getting all these reviews!
Wow...so much to comment on...The French Connection is one of the huger missed movies for me; I have to add that and a few of the others on your list. I loved Black Hawk Down too, and when i finally saw it, I couldn't believe the cast. A lot of good people in it, and I too liked the gritty camerawork and the heroic soldiers in a tough spot. Liked Interview and Ripley--heard there was a sequel to Ripley with Malkovich in the lead. Straight to video, so I'm wary. I still haven't seen the Interview sequel Queen of the Damned.
What did you think of Closer? I watched it this weekend and kind of hated it, which is more disappointing given the caliber of actors. I like Jude Law. I like Natalie Portman. Clive Owen is damn cool. And while I blasphemously never got the appeal of Julia Roberts and have avoided Pretty Woman based on her "horse laugh", I have liked later works like The Mexican and the Oceans movies. The thing is, the characters in Closer were so screwed up and stupid and selfish that there wasn't a single character I was sympathetic to. I NEEDED to like at least one of them to like the movie, and I couldn't. He cheats on her she cheats on him but it's ok because he cheated and throw in some dirty talk and a somber theme to make it seem deep, and bam, movie. I'd be curious to hear your impressions.
What did you think of Closer? I watched it this weekend and kind of hated it, which is more disappointing given the caliber of actors. I like Jude Law. I like Natalie Portman. Clive Owen is damn cool. And while I blasphemously never got the appeal of Julia Roberts and have avoided Pretty Woman based on her "horse laugh", I have liked later works like The Mexican and the Oceans movies. The thing is, the characters in Closer were so screwed up and stupid and selfish that there wasn't a single character I was sympathetic to. I NEEDED to like at least one of them to like the movie, and I couldn't. He cheats on her she cheats on him but it's ok because he cheated and throw in some dirty talk and a somber theme to make it seem deep, and bam, movie. I'd be curious to hear your impressions.
Hey, MCF, we reviewed Closer in April... short version, I appreciated the movie, but I hated the movie.
That's a great observation about their professions and their personas; I didn't even catch that.
Powerful performances all around--too powerful. Once is definitely enough.
Powerful performances all around--too powerful. Once is definitely enough.
Awesome reviews guys. At one point, Darrell said Jerry Macguire was sorta his ideal of a romantic comedy. For me, it's Notting Hill.
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