Ten years back a marvelous film called The Dreamlife of Angels hit me like two tons of bricks. That director is going places, I said. Then he vanished. I heard rumblings about this film (if I may drop names) when I was shmoozing with Tilda Swinton on the red carpet for Michael Clayton (yeah, I’m a dick sometimes.) Anyway, the movie is a doozy. It’s not all good, but it is big.
If Swinton didn’t already win the Oscar for Clayton she’d be a shoo-in this time. Frankly, she still may have a solid chance. Channeling Gena Rowlands (Julia is a kinda-sorta update/adaptation of Gloria, although the performance is more A Woman Under The Influence) Swinton’s drunk floozy with the flat American accent is an absolute joy to watch. Even though there are no jokes, it is funny stuff.
No jokes, indeed. Julia plays like Fargo but straight. It’s the world’s most inept kidnapping job that devolves into utter chaos. The last act featured just one too many reversals (or symbolic crashes through boundaries) for my taste, but it is this far-fetched element that makes the movie truly epic.
It’s annoying at times – and slow at the beginning – but a movie worth seeing.
Here’s one I have not seen in close to 20 years. No, it does not hold up to memory, but it is hardly a failure either. So much of what I remember being cool about this movie was actually derived from the short lived Fox series that came after. This is a fairly standard 1980s police yarn (with the electric guitar licks to prove it) but James Caan (!), Mandy Patinkin (!!) and Terrence Stamp (!!!) are all fairly great in their roles.
Since Angels & Demons is about to come out, I thought I would be a good movies editor and actually see this damned thing. I expected it to be bad, but I did not think it would be THIS bad.
Lumbering, awkward, completely idiotic and about as subtle as a metal chair pounding you in the face. It’s a shame, because I love Catholic stuff. A movie where the Council at Nicaea is a major plot point? Sign me up! But. . .alas. . .this just blows. Really embarrassing for everyone involved. Akiva Goldsman, you remain an infected boil on the hairy ass of our culture.
Okay, just in case I’m ever accused of automatically liking everything Trek, please take notice. This collection kinda blows. Even Peter David can’t keep it from being corny. The tale of the lost, fabled adventurers brought back to (hopefully) inspire their own comics run is. . .uninspiring. The dialogue is lame and the scenario is, if I may call it thus, a little gay. The additional stories in this collection could be similarly described.
Peter David’s awesome DC run that is collected in Death Before Dishonor goes straight into this collection. The trial itself, as made evident by the above shot of Bela Oxmyx, is fan service to the nth degree. David never met an obscure TOS character he didn’t like to resuscitate. And bless him for it. This is definitely on the higher end of pre-IDW Trek comics.
The only truly great new movie I’ve seen in 2009 has been Moon. It comes to theaters in June (Moon in June?) and I’ll be crowing about it more then. I can’t imagine it not being in my top 5 for the year.
Do yourself a favor – DON’T WATCH THE TRAILER! DON’T READ ANY REVIEWS! DON’T EVEN LOOK AT THE POSTER! Go see Moon when you can and thank me.
A chore of a film to sit through, but a great one to think about and discuss on the street afterwards. I greatly wonder what Jurgen Fauth will think of this movie. A fuller review (and perhaps an entirely different grade) is coming on UGO shortly.
The global economy, plugged right into your central nervous system.
Damned fine movie, imaginative, well acted and finely told. Full review loaded with high praise and advocacy on UGO on Thursday.
Baby pandas, swimming elephants, cranes vs. the Himalayas. Some of the best nature photography I’ve ever seen, ever. Some of the narration I found annoying, but it wasn’t aimed at me. That’s Disney hedging their bet. . .and that’s fine. Damned good film. Full review to come.
It has taken me a while to get my head around this movie. Even though there’s not much happening new (or otherwise) in the story, I am so blown away by the look and tone of the piece that I give it major thumbs up. My full review is under embargo, but will be on UGO soon.
I love movies about JC and this may very well be the best of the bunch.
All your favorites are here: from the big guns like Pontius Pilate and Peter, to the deep cuts like Simon of Cyrene, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.
The Sermon on the Mount lasts 20 minutes alone, with aphorisms flying in every direction.
It is a very direct movie, but Jeff Hunter is gorgeous, Salome’s dance shows lots of leg, Barrabas’ battles are bloody and the music swells. Technicolor 70mm glory. Damned fine stuff.
Maybe they go a little heavy on the Italian thing. Maybe old men babbling to one another about “La bella luna” is far-fetched. The old Italian men that I know of hang out at the Bocce court and complain about the Blacks and Koreans and Arabs and Con Edison. Still, it’s a great script and a terrific movie.
I think it is fair to say that The Wire is the best long-form drama that has ever broadcast on television. Tied for second place would be I, Clavdivs, Battlestar Galactica and, of course, The Sopranos.
Now, just because The Wire is the best, doesn’t mean it is the most fun to watch. I’d definitely put all three of the other shows mentioned ahead of The Wire for strict pleasurable entertainment. But no other show is as well crafted, well written, well acted. There are no loose ends, stray parts, underdeveloped storylines. The Sopranos is a free-for-all mess, compared to the tightly bound book that is The Wire.
Of all the Seasons, I think #4, with the young uns, got to me the most, although #3, with Hamsterdam, probably gave me most to think about. #2, with the Stevedores, was the closest this came to flat-out “entertainment.”
Season 5 gave me the most stress. I literally lost sleep over McNulty & Freamon’s serial killer ruse. Also, the further decline of Carcetti made me want to strangle someone. And while I would never call the place I work a news organization, finding the similarities between my place of employ and the shenanigans at the Sun did nothing to quell my acid reflux.
I’m so effing glad I’m done with this show. It’s an emotional roller coaster. Bubbles’ final meeting speech makes my eyes well-up just thinking about it. And don’t even get me started on Duquan. In the hole, in the hole, indeed.
The effects, matte paintings and (especially) music as dated this movie, but when a story works, a story works. Haven’t seen this since the time it came out, and perhaps it isn’t quite as epic as I remember it, but the acting and dialogue is (mostly) strong. It’s a little patchy at the end – like the narrator who comes in out of nowhere to wrap shit up – but the bulk of the film, the reason this movie was as respected as it was when it first came out – remains true.
This curious sci-fi/horror hybrid wins extra points for being so brazenly baffling. At 84 minutes, there simply isn’t time to explain away everything presented in the setup. And thank God. Dante 01 works best as a B movie, even if it is in French.
A psycho ward in deep space, orbiting a ball of fire. No reason is given as to why this gigantic ship should be there as opposed to, say, Nantes. No explanation as to why everything is lit purple like the First Class cabins on Virgin American. . .but it looks cool.
Many evil injections and gaseous knockouts later, it is realized the jailers and jailees must work together if they are too survive. Lots of painful yelling in pain follows and gross shit happens (like the eating of mortality, represented as glowing yellow crustaceans.)
I imagine that Dante 01 is a blast if you are high. I can respect that, even prefer that, seeing as how the movie hardly makes sense, but yet is also somehow predictable.
Peter David’s first Trek run with DC in the late 1980s is truly fun. There’s a renegade Federation ship cutting down Klingon targets, interspecies love on the Enterprise and mass hallucinations leading on a trip…to…HELL!!!
There is some wonderful fan service with a return of Finnegan, Garth of Izar and references to the Melkots. Also, M’Ress! (And, fun comics-only characters like Konom, Bearclaw, Bloemker, Castille and Sterno.)
You probably don’t need me to tell you that Kirk doesn’t die, but an attempt is made on his life by someone on the crew. . . .or are they!?!!?
I am a tremendous fan of Philip Glass, so I enjoyed this on a level of just wanting to know more mundane shit about the dude. What does his office look like, for instance. So, that was cool for me.
The rest of this is completely….just okay, I suppose. I gained no new insight into the man, nor did Hicks make any sort of case as to why he should be considered important. If all anyone knows about the dude is that he makes repetitive music, then you’ll come away thinking the same thing. Scott Hicks has never impressed me with his movies. (Scott Hacks might be more like it … oh!)
There are a couple of moments where you see him actually doing the work that are interesting. The rest is just celebrity nonsense. While I wouldn’t match them musically, the documentary on Anvil is a billion times better.
Also: using context clues I was able to figure out exactly where Glass’ building is. Like, precisely. There are shots out the window that, if you really know your New York shit, make it pretty easy. It isn’t *that* nice of a block frankly. (The side street is nice – that section of the avenue is so-so – and this is on a corner.)
Disc 2 of the DVD comes with over an hours extended performance footage far better than the film.
