I'll probably being going easy on the movie-watching and blogging this week. Computer problems? Major surgery? Post-moving stress disorder? No, I found an old Super Nintendo during the move, and I hooked it up and am now attempting to complete The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, a game I've never played.
Sad, really.
Secret Fest #4 (can't say, won't say) (f) 80
Frankly, this is better than anything I could say.
The Saddest Music in the World (2004, Guy Maddin) (f) 80 (downgraded from 81)
Amazing how a movie with such a frenzied editing style can still feel so slow, hence the lowered rating. I thought maybe I just hadn't been acclimated to Maddin's surreal vision in a theater setting, but unfortunately, the truth is that the melodramatic plot is always a step behind the audience. Still: One of the coolest movies in a long while, and great performances from Mark McKinney, Isabella Rossellini, and especially Ross McMillan, he of the haunted stare and mellifluous voice. Also, as a screenwriter with a prediliction for realistic scenarios, its opened my eyes to the potential for the bizarre plot in film.
Badlands (1973, Terrence Malick) (v) 78
Starting to think that Malick doesn't give a fuck about Starkweather, Texas farms, or WWII, but is only interested in how modern man relates to the natural environment, whether it be (in this case) driving a car off-road through the badlands of the Dakotas or building a Swiss Family Robinson-style treehouse just outside the city limits. If this was patently obvious to everyone else, my apologies.
Atlantic City (1980, Louis Malle) (v) 78
Starts off as a great character study, but felt like it became more stylized and plot-driven by the end (just after the "I watch you" monologue), and it felt a bit like a betrayal. Burt Lancaster is awesome as ever, though.
Blow-Up (1966, Michelangelo Antonioni) (v) 66
Saw this a long time ago, and thought I'd forgotten most of it. On revisiting, realized that not a shit-load happens in the first place. Baby-faced Hemmings is great as the wholly contemptible Photographer, and, interestingly, takes a journey that is not unlike his role in Deep Red. Always feels like a maestro is behind the camera, and the ending is still fantastic, but ultimately feels like a path (trail-blazed, admittedly) that Eyes Wide Shut paved with gold.
The Beyond (1981, Lucio Fulci) (v) 58
Another example of either incredible stupidity or demented genius: the bloody, physical death of a character who (unless I misunderstood) is a freakin' ghost, fer chrissakes.
Knife in the Water (1962, Roman Polanski) (v) 50
Awesome Wellsian on-the-water cinematography, but not that insightful, kinda boring.
The Fury (1978, Brian DePalma) (v) 19
Two positive things about The Fury: 1) The affable Charles Durning was an inspired choice to play the head of a psychic research institute. He can go on about a "bio-plasmic universe" and make it sound reasonable. 2) This movie helped finance Opening Night. And I'm out.
Good luck, man -- "Link to the Past" is one of the few video games I've ever beaten without any kind of help. Took me the better part of a year, too. (Of course, maybe that's because I didn't own it... it belonged to a friend of mine and I'd play it whenever I went to his house...)
Posted by: Steve at June 20, 2004 08:22 PMAnd come on... "The Fury" may be shit, but it's extremely well-made shit. The slow-motion scene with the car accident almost makes me want to tell people to see the film. (As does the scene where John Cassavettes explodes.)
Posted by: Steve at June 20, 2004 08:24 PMOh shit, you beat it without any help? I've got a walkthrough bookmarked, and I've had to consult it a couple times so far. When I couldn't find the Wishing Waterfall or whatever the hell it is, I checked the walkthrough, and realized that I would never have found it by myself in a million freaking years. Video games, I was sad to realize, are for kids and autistic people.
Not that that's gonna stop me from continuing, or pre-order Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Oct. 17!).
Posted by: Kza at June 20, 2004 08:51 PMOh, and sorry, but just not buying it re: THE FURY. Everything in it, De Palma did better at some other point. Maybe if it had a decent story, or good acting, or *something*...
Oh, btw, I've had a rebuttal re: BUFFALO BILL half-written for over a week now, but I can never get around to finish it. Maybe this week'll be the one...
Oh... just wanted to say, regarding Burt Lancaster? Yeah. I saw "Sweet Smell of Success" for the first time the other day, and he blew me the fuck away.
Posted by: Steve at June 25, 2004 01:03 AMAint that movie awesome? Not sure if ol' Burt won anything for it, but he sure should have. I also was fortunate to see it on film at...last year's SIFF, I think. (My memory's shot.)
Posted by: Kza at June 25, 2004 08:12 AM