I watched a good movie last night about the romance of John Keats with the seamstress. It was called Bright Star. The cinematography was beautiful. The poetry was also to the forefront and that was very nice and it carried the film along. I was exhausted and I stayed awake through the entire movie.
Recently, I’ve seen a bunch of movies.
I also saw Il Divo. That was about sort of a notorious leader in Italy with probable ties to the mafia. Movies are running together these days. Anyway, it was done fashionably hip and it was exciting, but its flashbacks and in-continuity in time were difficult to follow. Otherwise worth seeing, especially if you’re interested in Italian politics.
yeah
I want to pick a bone with Tim Burton produced animated film 9. What I can remember is that the whole movie was kind of a lack of plot. It was more just like one big action sequence with a bunch of weird-looking animation like that’s all it takes to make a movie. There was really no rising action. There was no getting to know any character–they were all stock characters, I mean even the main character was kind of a stock brand throughout the film. And it was a disappointment because I tend to enjoy most of Tim Burton’s movies, if not all of them. I was introduced here to the film What Is It? by the guy from Back to the Future, Crispin Glover. That was probably the best thing about 9–the emergence of Crispin Glover.
Shutter Island was wonderful and I’ve been waiting for it since I saw the preview probably three months ago, and although it took a long time to finally come out it was worth the wait. It was kind of a film noir, but it was good stuff. I’m proud of Leonardo DiCaprio because unlike most child stars, Leonardo has managed to stay in good shape. I mean look at the Coreys from the 80’s, look at Edward Furlong from Terminator 2, all of them look like washed up fatty has beens that look suicidal in every picture that comes up on google, and it’s disappointing. But not Leo. Leo is still putting out good work and Shutter Island was pretty creepy. It had twists and ties and overall a well written script. Well performed, the cinematography in that film was also spectacular.
Videodrome was a David Cronenburg film that made into the Criterion Film Collection that just happened to be on (skin)emax late at night because it’s kind of sexy and gruesome. It’s kind of got a philosophical message about violence and virtually what you’re watching on television and how it effects you subconsciously. Aside from being a pretty cool psychological thriller with great special effects I think for its time (1980 or so), it also has spiritual implications and other things that projected David Cronenbug’s career (The Fly). That was kind of a treat to see on late night television. James Woods rocks.
Russian Ark is a very famous film, if for nothing else known for being the longest single shot in history. It’s a spectacular film about Russian politics and culture and art, and it’s captured gracefully and humorously in one long shot through a famous museum in Russia. We picked it up on DVD. I’d try watching it with a cup of coffee. Information overloaded since I’m practically Greek to anything Russian.
8 1/2, the Federico Fellini autobiographical film that basically deals with the idea of how a movie comes to life from the writer, the creator of the film, and it’s a classic that I’d suggest to anyone. Although it’s in black and white it’s very sexy and stylish, and timeless. Also a Criterion film.
Mammoth was kind of–actually it was a really neat film because I believe it was shot on location in the East. By that I mean Thailand (at least it’s set in Thailand) and it switches back and forth from Thailand to New York City. It’s about a video game Web site designer who has struck it rich and is traveling across seas for a few weeks to sell his Web site while his wife works as a surgeon in a high stress environment in New York. It’s really kind if about how life touches us. It’s very intense with how we cope with death, and there’s also child rape at the end of the film, there’s infidelity. In a sense, I thought maybe it had gone overboard at some point, or just that the universal truths of the film could have been portrayed without all the shock and awe, to be honest.
Oh, Couples Retreat sucked! Couples retreat was really, really shitty and if there was any indication on any preview 
that I saw (besides a bunch of women in bikinis) that Vince Vaughn was gonna have a pseudo-dramatic Guitar Hero playoff against the manager of the hotel that they are staying in I would’ve never rented it, wasted my money or time. There’s too many relationships that need tying up, and so there becomes a point where you realize, wait, I don’t know enough about any of these people to actually give two shits about their relationships anymore, or whether or not they tie it up with their significant other. I really don’t care anymore because there is no central character in the film.
I know, I like Vince Vaughn too.
Cinema Paradiso 