Whole Lotta Reviews

I've been so busy lately, I haven't had time to do the normal blog thing of actually talking about my LIFE (which is the point of these things, isn't it)? For the record, life is good.

However, I do have a bit of time now to do a giant mandatory post about the various movies I've seen since my last entry. First on the list...

"Zodiac" is a GREAT, unsettling movie by David Fincher that more people ought to go out and see. What's neat about the film is that it is all based on facts, so anything that was not ever solved about the Zodiac murderer is left up in the air. It makes for a movie that, for all intents and purposes, shouldn't work, because it lacks a solid ending; and yet because you KNOW it's all real, it actually winds up being quite compelling. A friend of mine (I believe it was Jon Salmon, though I could be wrong) noted that, in fact, it was a modernist film, and he is exactly right (thank you Drew Casper...). Also, the actual murder scenes are some of the most chilling I've ever seen in any movie EVER. The hair on the back of my neck involuntarily stood on end during each of them.
"Zodiac" is also the first film to convince me entirely that, yes, film IS on its way out, and will be replaced by digital. I am told "Zodiac" is shot on the Vipercam, a digital camera that performs many of the functions of film within the camera, and the cinematography in the film is mind-blowingly good. It looks at the very least every bit as good as the best cinematography I've seen in the classic filmic features. And I hear that, even now, they are coming out with a new version of the Vipercam that is even more versatile than the one used here. Bye bye, 35mm shooting!

Also, like everyone else in America (even the female demographic, who surprisingly appeared in droves), I saw "300." While I can't rightly say it was a GOOD movie, it is certainly highly, HIGHLY entertaining. It was like being fed adrenaline and testosterone through a tube for two non-stop hours from beginning to end, and that's a good thing. It was just SO intense, and it didn't fail to disappoint with what I thought I was going to get--a rocking, awesome action movie full of non-stop ass-kicking by angry, yelling, screaming men. Aside from a weak sub-plot with the wife, the film actually improves on some of Frank Miller's cheesy, simplistic story-telling from the comic (which is not to say the movie isn't cheesy in itself--but it WORKS). Suffice to say, I came out of "300" more pumped than I've ever been in a LONG time. Dalton had to placate me from going too berserk on any random passerby unlucky enough to cross my path in the parking lot as we left. If I could travel back to my high school days, I think I would prepare for my mile swims by watching sections of "300" before every race. I'm sure I would have been than much faster when the race

I ALSO saw a couple IMAX movies at the Science Center across from USC. One of them, "Hurricane on the Bayou" was fairly weak. The film sets out to address what effects Hurricane Katrina had on the New Orleans ecosystem. Though vast expanses of the marshy landscapes are beautiful to behold on the big screen, the film falters because it has too much of an agenda on its hands. As anyone who knows me is well aware, I am all for environmental protection, but having the film hammer this message over and over again in its narration and through what interviewees were saying (some of which seemed suspiciously scripted) got monotonous. Also, since IMAX movies are aimed at families, some issues are skirted away from so as not to be controversial--yet it's annoying to see a movie about Hurricane Katrina without hearing one mention of global warming ("Inconvenient Truth" anyone?), and it's even worse for them to talk about the suffering victims of the hurricane, and how long they had to wait for help, without mentioning how incompetent our president was during the entire situation. As a whole, "Hurricane on the Bayou" had some great images (a mandatory for any IMAX movie), but its agenda, and its inability to CONFRONT its own agenda, crippled it from being an engaging documentary.

Yet, the other IMAX doc I saw, "Deep Sea 3D," was AWESOME. The images contained in this movie, combined with the 3D presentation, was absolutely stunning. The film begins with inky blackness, as the opening credits drift towards us with a ripple-like effect, coming closer and closer until they bubble away into oblivion. Then, out of the darkness, hundreds and hundreds of white specks appear...only they aren't white specks...they're jellyfish! Suddenly I was surrounded by jellyfish on all sides, so close that I could reach out and touch them! From there, the film only got better and better.
Groupers, manta rays, mantis shrimp attacking an octopus, and an enormous right whale are just a handful of highlights of the film. The best segment in my opinion was a sequence that takes place at night when schools of large squid come flying through the darkness to feed. They lunge at each other and the camera violently, flashing in and out of visibility as they change color in the black water; truly the stuff of Lovecraftian nightmares...AWESOME!!! There was also some fun showcasing of our own Santa Barbara Channel, which I have a soft spot for, and a sequence with some sea turtles in Hawaii, which reminded me of my time there also.
Kate Winslet and Johnny Depp are also well-cast as the narrators of the film. Generally I find the narration in nature programs distracting at best, and their banter back and forth could have felt contrived, but as a whole they add to the fun of tilm instead of detracting from it (though I did chuckle when Kate Winslet noted in her distinctly British voice, "Look at that! The coral polyps are releasing sperm!").
"Hurricane on the Bayou" could also learn something from "Deep Sea 3D," since it does a good job of presenting its message of conservation subtly. Anyone, even the staunchest right-winger, would come out of this gem of a doc believing we ought to save our oceans, simply because the glorious bounty of nature on display makes us WANT to do so!
As good as "Deep Sea 3D" was, I do have a few gripes. One problem is that the movie jumps from locale to locale without much explanation or focus. Hawaii...the Caribbean...California coast...the East coast...why are we moving around so much? This wasn't SUCH a big deal, but it was slightly misleading and bothersome. I also thought masterful film composer Danny Elfman sort of phoned it in with a generic score that sounded like material left on the cutting room floor of "Edward Scissorhands." Likely he was busy with other projects and didn't have time to waste with some silly "documentary" (his loss). Still, these slip-ups are forgivable--I have seen a handful of IMAX movies in my life, but "Deep Sea 3D" is likely the most engaging one I've ever seen. I'm hoping the upcoming dinosaur IMAX movie this weekend will give it a run for its money, since as cool as the ocean is, dinos are even cooler.

Lastly, I finally watched "Full Metal Jacket" (yes, I'm a bad film student for not seeing it until now). Gotta say, I was slightly let-down. While I think that "2001" is a masterpiece, and "A Clockwork Orange," though not entirely my cup of tea, is also a masterful piece of work, I've been less impressed with some of Kubrick's other stuff. "The Shining" while terrifying, is little else--there is no underlying point or meaning to the movie other than to scare the crap out of you, and "Barry Lyndon" was boring as heck (hang on...I forgot "Dr. Strangelove...that one's quite good).
"Full Metal Jacket" is good, but not THAT good. Certain scenes go on for too long, and there's much about it that I just didn't feel worked. And I'm not sure I can say why. It is interesting to note that the film feels disjointed because it only contains two acts (thank you Brian): boot camp, and then the war. I think what the film was missing most of all was some catharsis--we don't see the aftermath of the war...the third act. As a whole I liked the film quite a bit, and I'm glad now that I think I've seen what everyone considers the "top three" Vietnam movies. "Full Metal Jacket," "Apocalypse Now," and "Platoon." "Platoon" I'd probably rank as my favorite, which is strange because just about everything else I've seen of Oliver Stone's is awful. "Apocalypse Now" starts out GREAT, but blows it's wad too early. "Full Metal Jacket" is nice but, I don't know...not Kubrick's best...it gets spot #3.
However, having seen "Jarhead" before, I now hate THAT movie even more, because it is quite obviously just a rip-off of "Full Metal Jacket." AND for some reason, even while ripping off "Full Metal Jacket," "Jarhead" still didn't get much right. So kudos to Kubrick for getting it right the first time out.