Saturday, March 10, 2018
Apocalypse Now (1979)
During the Vietnam War a captain is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe.
I remember: Due to the advance hype for 'Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam' movie the film did not fully live up to the expectations, but did provide unforgettable scenes and a feverish atmosphere of war madness.
On renewed viewing of the director's cut: The movie retains its feverish nightmare atmosphere (with satiric elements), but can be argued whether the additional scenes improve the original version.
Halliwell**: "Pretentious war movie, made even more hollow-sounding by the incomprehensible performance of Brando as the mad martinet. Some vivid scenes along the way, and some interesting parallels with Conrad's Heart of Darkness, but these hardly atone for the director's delusion that prodigal expenditure of time and money will result in great art. (The movie took so long to complete it was dubbed Apocalypse Later.)"
Maltin***1/2: "...a mesmerizing odyssey of turbulent, often surreal encounters. Unfortunately, film's conclusion - when he does find Brando - is cerebral and murky. Still, a great movie experience most of the way, with staggering, Oscar-winning photography by Vittorio Storaro."
The Bling Ring (2013)
A group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the internet to track celebrities' whereabouts in order to rob their homes.
Lively and obviously realistic reconstruction of actual events, but presented without any analysis or satire it seems nearly as hollow as its protagonists.
Maltin*1/2: "Comedic take on rather incredible real-life events make it hard to figure out who is more vapid, the teens or the victims...This is simply a shallow retelling of the tabloid-driven story. Genuinely pointless."
Toys From My Childhood
Hot Wheels is a brand of 1:64, 1:43, 1:18 and 1:50 scale die-cast toy cars introduced by American toy maker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997, when Mattel bought Tyco Toys, then-owner of Matchbox.
Many automobile manufacturers have licensed Hot Wheels to make scale models of their cars, allowing the use of original design blueprints and detailing. Although Hot Wheels were originally intended for children and young adults, they have become popular with adult collectors, for whom limited edition models are now made available. [Wikipedia]
Friday, March 9, 2018
First Lines: Thomas Berger - Little Big Man
I am a white man and never forget it, but I was brought up by the Cheyenne Indians from the age of ten.
Ink (2009)
A mysterious creature, known as Ink, steals a child's soul in hopes of using it as a bargaining chip to join the Incubi - the group of supernatural beings responsible for creating nightmares.
Unusual and innovative fantasy with a complex, and a bit haphazard, plot concerning parallel universes has a simple message and wins with some great scenes.
Blue Valentine (2010)
The relationship of a contemporary married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods.
A feast for the stars who deliver extraordinary performances, but there's not much coherence in the development of the relationship, and it certainly doesn't help by constantly switching time levels.
Maltin***: "Compelling look at the beginning and end of a relationship...Film seamlessly hops back and forth in time...Sparked by striking, emotionally raw performances from its stars in a Cassavetes vein. Longish but well done."
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Art: Alphonse Inoue
No biography available, other than that Alphonse Inoue is the pseudonym of a Japanese artist.
First Lines: Louise Fitzhugh - Harriet the Spy
Harriet was trying to explain to Sport how to play Town.
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Everest (2015)
The story of New Zealand's Robert "Rob" Edwin Hall, who on May 10, 1996, together with Scott Fischer, teamed up on a joint expedition to ascend Mount Everest.
Detailed rendtion of a major mountaineering tragedy is extraordinarily well produced with some breathtaking cinematography; large cast succeed in making the dramacredible.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
