Scribe & Green on the BIG screen

There are far too many people out there writing “reviews of movie-films & articles about them with absolutely no clue what the hell they’re talking about." Here are 2 more of them! (Well, one of us knows what the h___ we're talking about, but we'll leave it up to you to decide who that is...) Ultimately, can two people as opposite as Scribe and Green agree on anything?? That's where the fun begins. Won't you join us? (Every now and then we'll add a guest review, just for kicks.)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Magnolia


GREEN‘S TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR OF FROGS REVIEW:

This has got to be one of the most eclectic and bizarre films I have seen in a long time. I had never seen it prior to a few days ago, in order to write this review. My friend at work also suggested this movie for us to review.

The movie has a run time of just over three hours and about an hour into it, I’m thinking, "What the heck kind of movie is this? What did my friend get me into?"

What you have with Magnolia is a bunch of scenes that all take place in the span of a single, rainy day. The characters are every day people: a police officer, a television game show host, a young brainy kid as a game-show contestant, a former child game-show contestant winner thirty years later living off of his game show fame, a bed ridden dying man, his much younger trophy wife, a visiting male nurse, a cocaine addict and a sexual self help guru. At first these scenes don’t seem to be related, but as the film goes on the connections become more and more evident. What makes these characters so compelling is that every one of them is brilliantly flawed.

The ensemble cast, for the most part, is excellent and includes Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. O’Reilly, William H. Macy, Jason Robards, and Melora Walters. In my opinion, the weak link in the cast is Julianne Moore, of whom I’ve never been a fan.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson does a skillful job weaving these stories together. However the film teeters on having too many story lines with too many characters, so many that I almost gave up on the movie. My other complaint largely has to do with the run-time of three hours and eight minutes. Easily this movie could have accomplished the same thing in less time. The movie is about 30-45 minutes too long.


Oh yeah, one more thing. What gives with the freaking frogs?

My friend suggested that they needed some catastrophic thing to happen at the end of the movie to tie in to the narrative piece at the beginning and end of the movie. He suggests the raining of frogs was foreshadowed earlier by someone in the game show audience holding up a sign with the Bible reference of Exodus 8:2, which speaks of the plague of frogs God brought upon the Egyptians for Pharaoh’s continued refusal to free the Israelites from the bonds of slavery. However the Biblical plague entailed live frogs coming up out of the Nile River and infesting everything, not dead frogs falling from the sky like extremely large chunks of hail. Nice try but I don’t buy into that explanation.

Unfortunately I had to return the library copy of the DVD, so I didn’t get to watch any of the bonus features on the 2nd disc.

Loathe as I am to suggest it, this is a film that screams, (gasp) “potentially better with a second viewing!”


***½ out of *****

SCRIBE'S BEST MULI-STORY ARC EVER REVIEW:

It is rare that a film can be both an ensemble piece and move with balletic grace for a running time of nearly three hours, yet “Magnolia” pulls it off.

This was Paul Thomas Anderson’s eagerly awaited follow-up to “Boogie Nights” and it was met with a mixed response. People expecting another descent into glorious sleaze as with the previous film were left cold by the more philosophical and grown-up Magnolia. But those who appreciated brilliant writing and acting were stunned by this film’s grace and deep emotional core.

This is a film for anyone who’s lost a parent or felt disconnected from the things other people seem to take for granted. Featuring a veritable who’s who of acting, the film showcases the various lives of a cop, a motivational speaker for men, a hospice nurse and a trophy wife who has suddenly discovered that she loves her dying husband.

This isn’t an action film; Anderson keeps the narrative moving with brilliant editing. Long before “Traffic” and “Crash” gave us the multi-story arc, Magnolia lets us see inside these peoples’ minds and hearts as they are bared for us in ways that are both revealing and uncomfortable.

Many criticized the film’s bizarre conclusion because they didn’t understand it. Analytical types were left completely baffled by it. Perhaps because it hints at if not divine intervention then certainly divine revelation, some felt the realism of the earlier portion of the film was sacrificed. They are wrong.

This is one of the great underrated masterpieces.


***** out of *****

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Saturday, July 11, 2009

Looks like we need more MOVIE TRIVIA!

Unbelievable the support and enthusiasm I had for the last movie trivia post I did back in April. Unbelievably lame, that is.

Come on people! I know those questions were not easy but at least y'all could have given it a shot!

OK. Here's 10 more questions this time (instead of 20) plus a bonus question.

1) What is the name of the secret candy Willy Wonka created that Charlie wouldn't accept from him?

2) What actress appeared in all of the following films: Dick Tracy, A League of Their Own, Body of Evidence and Shanghai Surprise?

3) Name the film whose tag line stated, "You won't believe your eye."

4) Name the rocker who played the Acid Queen in the Who's Tommy

5) Name the film that Matthew McConaughey did not appear in: A Time to Kill, Gangs of New York, Contact, Amistad or Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

6) Spencer Tracy won the Oscar for Best Actor two years in a row, in 1937 (Captains Courageous) and 1938 (Boys Town). Name the only other actor to do it and the films for which he won.

7) A tagline for this 1984 film exclaimed, "The Heat Is On!" Name the film.

8) Name the actor who appeared in all of the following films: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Return of the Jedi, Leprechaun, and Willow.

9) What was the name of Humphrey Bogart's character in "The Maltese Falcon?"

10) In what film did Robin Williams make his big screen debut?

bonus) Name the actor who has appeared onscreen with Jennifer Aniston, Rachel Weisz, Jennifer Connelly, Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jennifer Garner.

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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Spirited Away

SCRIBE'S...UM...I GOT NOTHIN' REVIEW:

One thing I love about this blog is that it often forces me to watch films I’ve wanted to see for years but have never been in the mood to actually watch. “Spirited Away” actually played in an art theater not far from my house but I could never get anyone to go see it with me and, eventually, I forgot about it. It sat on the shelves of my video store and my library but I never took it home until I was challenged to review it.

What a great film. For those unfamiliar with Miyazaki’s work, he is often referred to as the Walt Disney of Japan, although I find that to be a highly insulting comparison. Miyazaki is a true artist, an originator of images and concepts that Disney would have disregarded in favor of profit and exploitation of children, whom he secretly despised.

The film’s plot concerns a young, whiny girl whose parents are forcing her to move to the country. On the way to their new home, they stop briefly at a place that looks like an old, abandoned amusement park. They soon discover piles and piles of apparently fresh prepared food and start eating…and eating…and eating until they are turned into pigs.

From there, the girl finds herself thrown into a whirlwind of other dimensional creatures and customs that make absolutely no sense to her. Just being a human in this place is like bringing a new disease and so she must seek out work for protection while trying to find a way to rescue her parents.

Miyazaki’s animation runs wild and free of the physical constraints he imposed upon himself in “Princess Mononoke.” Here he creates a vivid world entirely different from our own that seems to never stop building into newer and more fascinating images of three-dimensional weirdness. And through it all, the human component is never sacrificed or lost.

When I found out Disney was the U.S. distributor for this film, I blanched. Then I shuddered, vomited violently and passed out for hours. However, their involvement is actually a good thing. The voice actors are phenomenal, no surprise since Disney uses only the best when it comes to that. One of my chief gripes about great anime' films has been the mediocre voice-over work.

Some parts of the film get a little slow, but each time you might think you’re growing bored, some new development occurs that breathes new life into the story. The arrival of the character known as “No-Face” alone is worth the entire movie! If that part doesn’t grab you, there’s also the train ride sequence, which is stunningly rendered.

I’m not sure I’d recommend this one for small children, though. Unlike Japanese kids, American kids are sheltered from everything to the point where the mere sight of blood can cause lifelong trauma. Sure their video games are gory but there’s no personal involvement in what’s going on like there is here.

See this one!


***** out of *****

GREEN’S BEING HUMAN IS LIKE HAVING A DISEASE REVIEW:

The first time I watched “Spirited Away“ was about four or five years ago. It was being shown on Cartoon Network and my daughter wanted to watch it. Previous to this, I had never heard of director Hayao Miyazaki or seen any of his other films. Since then I’ve seen this movie many times. Thanks to my daughter, this and several of Miyazaki’s other films are a part of my DVD collection.

The story is about a ten year old girl named Chihiro, whose parents are forcing her to move to a brand new house in a brand new town with a brand new school. And she’s not very happy about it at all. On the way to the new house, they take a wrong turn and are forced to stop at the end of a clearing in the woods. At the clearing there’s a building with a solitary, tunnel-like doorway.

Out of curiosity and due to the smell of food, Chihiro’s parents wander through the tunnel and across a field and end up at what looks like an abandoned amusement park. Chihiro reluctantly goes with them.

Walking through the empty streets of the park, Chihiro’s parents find mounds of steaming hot food at one of the restaurants and begin to eat and eat and eat and eat. Chihiro refuses to join in and runs away. As the sun goes down, the abandoned theme park comes to life with spirits of all kinds. When Chihiro returns to her parents, she discovers that they have been turned into large, ugly pigs.

Chihiro must now discover why her parents were changed into pigs and try to rescue them. She is befriended by a boy named Haku who tells her to insist on getting a job in the bath house, so she can continue to look for her parents in the spirit world. The bath house is run by an evil witch named Ubaba who controls the creatures who work there by stealing their names so that they forget who they are. Humans are not looked upon fondly in this spirit world. Chihiro is given the new name Sen.

There’s more to the story, but you’ll have to watch to find out more.

Yes, this is an animated movie, but please don’t let this hinder you from watching it. In comparison to the more familiar Disney or Warner Bros. styles of animation which we‘re used to, Japanese animation has the look of moving artwork rather than a cartoon. Miyazaki’s characters have depth and his storytelling ability is excellent. Disney has cultivated an excellent working relationship with Studio Ghibli to bring Miyazaki’s movies to the United States. They’ve done a masterful job with the English language version of this and other Miyazaki films, making them more appealing to American audiences by using well known English speaking voice talent. This is much better than keeping the original Japanese and using English subtitles.

This film is just over two hours long but you wouldn’t know it because the story is engrossing. This movie is not just for kids, adults will enjoy it too. If you haven’t experienced a Miyazaki film, you are missing out. “Spirited Away“ is an excellent choice to start with.


***** out of *****

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