Life of Pi

We ventured out to see Life of Pi tonight. Boy was I surprised when we were handed 3-D glasses. I suggested to Tuffy P that we see this one, but had I known it was in 3-D, I would have chosen a different film. I don’t like wearing 3-D glasses, at least in part because I have to wear them over my normal glasses. As well, I find the 3-D effects to be strange and artificial, at least some of the time.

In the case of Life of Pi, felt it would have been a better film if the filmmaker had made the commitment to make it without 3-D. It would have been a shorter film, and would not have taken the time to languish in filmic effects, and I would have been fine with that. On the whole, my biggest criticism of the film is that it was too long in any case. I think a full half hour could have been edited out and the film would have been stronger.

Still, it is a beautiful work and a fantastic story and it’s well worth seeing.

The Train

Yesterday was a very unusual day for us in that we watched two films. We saw Skyfall at the cinema, and late last night, we watched The Train on television. The train is a 1965 film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield. It’s set in France in 1944 and it’s about the attempt by a Nazi Colonel to steal a trainload of paintings – French national art treasures – and transport them to Germany. Scofield is the Colonel and Burt Lancaster is the train man who also happens to be part of the French underground.

Can paintings be worth dying for? What if they’re really really good paintings or really important paintings?  Would it matter if the paintings were antiquities or modern? In The Train, the paintings appear to be mostly modern or at least painted within the last century. What if those paintings are symbolic of a world free of fascism? The German Colonel claims to have some special appreciation for the paintings even though he acknowledges that to the Nazis their value is only in their cash value to Germany. Labiche, the Lancaster character, initially is not interested in saving the paintings. He doesn’t know these paintings and they hold no special meaning for him. He’s much more focused on helping the allies blow up a train yard full of armaments. However, along the way he changes his attitude and resolves to save the paintings.

The Train is beautifully shot in black and white. Without all the technical wizardry we saw in Skyfall earlier in the day, Frankenheimer created a film as visually satisfying as it is riveting. Performances are very solid throughout. It’s really a fantastic film. Last night was the first time I watched The Train. In fact, I knew nothing about it going in. We happened to see the teaser for the film earlier in the evening on TVO and resolved to try to stay up for it. It had a late start (for us at least) and I was tired after a long and difficult week. I’d love to watch this one a second time to take in more of the detail. Great film.

Gloria

We watched the 1980 John Cassavetes film Gloria tonight on television (TV Ontario). I knew nothing about this one going in except that it starred Gena Rowlands and was written and directed by Cassavetes, who was her husband. It is quite an engaging film, and Gena Rowlands gave a terrific performance as a former mob moll who protects a child whose parents were gunned down by the same mob.  I enjoyed the matter-of-fact style  of this movie, not to mention the surprising shooting scenes. If you haven’t seen this film, it’s well worth watching if you get a chance.

Looper

They didn’t eat the steak and eggs. There was a scene in Looper in which the two protagonists, who are the same person but not the same actor (it’s a time travel thing), sit down together at an unlikely diner seemingly in the middle of nowhere. They both order steak and eggs. The waitress brings the steak and eggs. There’s a nice overhead shot of the steak and eggs. And then they don’t bother to eat them. That’s just not right.

Looper is a sci-fi time-travel shoot-em-up Bruce Willis actioner with a hint of bad horror flick (yes Mr. Willis even does the tiresome smirk). There are a few problems, such as writing, acting, characterization, and believability. In a generous mood, I might call Looper an “OK timewaster”. And yet, this film gets 93% on the tomatometer. You go figure. Richard Roper wrote: “Writer-director Rian Johnson establishes himself as an original talent who clearly believes storytelling must prevail.” Clint O’Connor from the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote: “Looper’s super. An action-thriller that bothers to have a brain.” John Wirt from the Baton Rouge Advocate wrote: “A just about brilliant sci-fi crime-drama-thriller mostly set in the years 2044 and 2074. Rian Johnson is a rare director who creates entertainment with depth.” There are lots more.  You can take their word for it or you can take mine.

Fortunately there are plenty of other good films at your local cinema to enjoy.

By the way, in the future of this film, they have the technology to drive around in vehicles that resemble motor-bikes but have no wheel and instead fly, like something out of the Jetsons. They also have Ford F150s.

Seven Psychopaths

We went out to the local cinema to see Seven Psychopaths tonight. Here’s how IMDb describes the film… A struggling screenwriter inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends kidnap a gangster’s beloved Shih Tzu. Peculiar? You bet. Goofy? Sometimes. Funny? Sometimes, yes. Violent? Yep.  Highlights for me? A brief non-speaking role for Harry Dean Stanton, who is now 86.  Also, Tom Waits has a role in the film.

I think I liked this movie, but I’m just not sure exactly why. As I mentioned, it’s peculiar. Do I recommend it? Well, um….yeah sure. I think so.

End of Watch

Off to the movies again. This time we watched End of Watch. I guess you’d call it an action thriller with obsessive use of handheld cameras. What can I say about this film?

• It is not the feel-good movie of the year
• Most  used word in the film = fuck
• Police work is not for everyone.
• Toronto is a way better place to live than Los Angeles.

It’s well done, very well done, but I left the theatre with my senses dulled by the excessive violence.

The Master

This afternoon we trundled out to our local cinema to see The Master, the new Paul Thomas Anderson film starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. Joaquin Phoenix plays Freddie Quell, a shell-shocked, hard-drinking WWII veteran lost after the war, who wanders onto a yacht captained by a charismatic cult leader played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. The film tells the story of the The Cause, as the organization is called, and we can’t help but be reminded of Scientology, but its focus is more on the two key figures in the film. The Master attempts to use his “methods” to help Freddie, but Freddie is not so easy to help. Is the Master a “genuine mystic” as one character suggests or a fraud, as his son tells Freddie, saying Hoffman’s character makes it up as he goes along.

The performances by Phoenix and Hoffman elevate this film. These guys do a fantastic job playing complex and enigmatic characters in a film that provides a glimpse at a cult-like organization in a way that avoids any definitive resolution. It adds up to a top-rate film.

 

M. Lazhar

Tuffy P bought a DVD copy of a film called M. Lazhar and tonight we watched it. It’s a Quebec film in French and we watched it with English subtitles. M. Lazhar had a limited run in theatres in the spring. Here’s a synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes:

In Montreal, an elementary school teacher dies abruptly. Having learned of the incident in the newspaper, Bachir Lazhar (Mohamed Fellag), a 55-year-old Algerian immigrant, goes to the school to offer his services as a substitute teacher. Quickly hired to replace the deceased, he finds himself in an establishment in crisis, while going through his own personal tragedy.

M. Lazhar is a lovely film. The interplay between Bachir Lazhar and the students (who are understandably freaked out by the suicide in the classroom) is very well worked out. His reaction to the kids and the situation is highly informed by his own difficult personal situation and as much as he helps the kids, they help him. The whole film is very well-written and well acted (by both the adult actors and the kids).

I’ll take a film like M. Lazhar over most of the action superhero type films that seem to dominate at the theatres these days. Highly recommended.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

I remember the paperback on my father’s nightstand, binding bent back, pages frayed. He loved to read, and especially he loved to read these spy novels.

We ventured out to see the film adaptation this afternoon. The first thing I noticed was the colour and the atmosphere. It’s drab and ugly and nothing in the background is clear. All of this, I suppose, is much like the film. Very little is clear.

It’s a really good film, better than I expected. We’re not used to this kind of spy film. These days, spies look like Matt Damon or Tom Cruise and they do a lot of stunts and shoot a lot of guns and get involved in a lot of chases. Tinker Tailor is populated by unattractive middle aged guys who don’t do a lot of anything. It’s all about information and loyalties. Everything is tied together. Nothing is clear.

Although there is little action, there is plenty of suspense, a slow building kind of suspense, punctuated by occasional acts of violence. This is the cold war, and it seems a million miles away. Still, the writer of the original book, John le Carré, worked for British intelligence. He knew what he was talking about, knew what this world was all about.

If you’re looking for a mindless actioner, this isn’t the film for you. For that, we’re thinking of going to see the latest Mission Impossible tomorrow. If you want a complex film rich in atmosphere, check out Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. It’s a good one.

Super 8

*spoiler alert*  On the strength of mostly excellent reviews, we trundled off to our local movie house to see Super 8. There are some positives. The kids were well cast, and the first half hour or so of the film was nicely done. Beyond that, Super 8 is a cheesy monster movie. The monster-alien plot (the air force just doesn’t understand) takes over and the characters stop developing. Stuff gets blown up and the female child-lead gets rescued. The alien gets to reconstitute (?) his ship and take off for home. The end. Save your money.