Against The Hype » One-Liner Reviews http://www.againstthehype.com Holding good movies to greater standards Sun, 04 Jul 2010 03:37:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Tweeting the Movies http://www.againstthehype.com/2010/01/tweeting-the-movies/ http://www.againstthehype.com/2010/01/tweeting-the-movies/#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 04:34:53 +0000 Colin Low http://www.tinyepiphanies.com/?p=688 Here are my Twitter posts on some of the movies I caught in the past year:

District 9: Bracing as a quasi-documentary on alien immigrants, and as a horror film on unwanted transformations; opaque as an action flick.

Double Indemnity: I just don’t get classic actresses playing hysterics. c.f. Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire, Hepburn in Long Day’s Journey into Night

Fighting: A formula film without the formula’s best parts: the sweat-soaked anticipation, the thrill of the win, or, y’know, the actual fighting.

Funny Girl: Nearly a revue meant to showcase Streisand’s talents at belting and rapid-fire line delivery; Streisand redefines stardom.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Potter fatigue has caught up to me; all of J.K. Rowling’s missed dramatic opportunities keep thwacking me in the face.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Sturdy pulp movie, with stars (Ford, Connery, Phoenix) that knew they were stars, and how to act as stars.

Katong Fugue: How is it that celluloid pianos so readily channel their player’s inner desires? (c.f. The Piano)

Moon: “Thoughtful scifi” for beginners: promising premise, predictable plotting.

Paper Heart: Shades of When Harry Met Sally, with clever, disciplined use of the handheld trope.

Paranormal Activity: Oscillates like Julie & Julia between its annoying and gratifying plots, but with demons (actual v boyfriend) not cooks

Public Enemies: Retreads Bonnie and Clyde, laced with the irony that even America’s Most Wanted doesn’t beat its citizens’ self-absorption.

Ratatouille: Anyone (who can reconstruct whole recipes from scratch with just a whiff) can cook.

Silkwood proves that horror movies are scarier when they feel like a part of life, especially one you haven’t the means to escape.

Taken: dooming teenagers worldwide to clampdowns on travel by their paranoid parents, who believe that kidnappers lie at every foreign turn.

There Will Be Blood score is such a keeper: each track is flavorful and distinctive! If it didn’t fit the images, that’s the movie’s fault.

Up: Apart from the vignettes of lifelong marriage… eurgh. Eurgh. Pixar at its most infantile.

The Wedding Banquet: Queer domesticity warms my soft heart.

West Side Story: (Romeo + Juliet’s plot) – (Shakespeare’s poetry) = Awful book scenes. Rita Moreno sets her scene ablaze; other songs nowhere as fiery.

You Can Count on Me: Exactly what the title says.

]]> http://www.againstthehype.com/2010/01/tweeting-the-movies/feed/ 0 Top Movies of the Decade http://www.againstthehype.com/2009/11/movies-of-the-00s/ http://www.againstthehype.com/2009/11/movies-of-the-00s/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:45:36 +0000 Colin Low http://www.tinyepiphanies.com/?p=708 Unlike most critics, I don’t get to watch a whole slew of movies as they are released. I have the luxury, though, of knowing critics whose tastes dovetail with mine enough that I tend to watch good movies (or at least interesting ones) whenever I rent them. So while most critics are now gearing up to write their personal Top 100 lists for this decade’s movies, I’ll be taking up the opposite challenge of watching all the movies listed by the critics I trust most, and writing one-liner comments on each. Beginning with Tim Robey of the Telegraph, and adding other critics as they post their lists, I’ll slowly make my way through their recommendations and rank them by my own tastes. To start:

Movies I’ve seen so far from these lists (ranked in descending order):
eternal-sunshine

  1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (‘04): A patchwork quilt of relationship truths and clever scifi, culminating in the wisest romantic insight since Annie Hall
  2. The Incredibles (‘04): Deft, rocket-paced flexing of superheroes into crises of identity and family (full review)
  3. Erin Brockovich (‘00): Finally, a star vehicle that fully capitalises on Julia Roberts’ prickly edges
  4. Julia (‘08): You won’t find a more sober and disciplined director-actor pair playing so drunk, desperate and out-of-control
  5. Birth (‘04): Nicole Kidman thrives in close-ups and in being profoundly disturbed; this movie indulges her
  6. The Bourne Supremacy (‘04): Whip-smart, breakneck spy thriller that sustains Jason Bourne’s clear-headed urgency while suffused with the pain of his loss
  7. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (‘01): Epic worldcrafting, with actors and designers attuned to the demands of old-school myth
  8. In the Mood for Love (‘00): Aestheticised within an inch of its life, which fits brilliantly its tale of yearning and suffocation in ’60s Hong Kong
  9. Before Sunset (‘04): Sadness and self-absorption jostle in this narrow Parisian sequel to the gloriously expansive and romantic predecessor
  10. Synecdoche, New York (‘08): A heartfelt meditation on self-centredness and ageing; relies on your capacity for deadpan humor, sadsack-watching and between-the-lines editing
  11. Kill Bill Vol 1 (‘03): Candy-coloured pop fantasia of actresses and Japanese action movies, with a drop in mid-film momentum from Uma’s ineptness with bimbo humour
  12. The Hurt Locker (‘09): More realistic, tense sequences of warfare than you’ll find elsewhere, though the soldiers teeter a bit towards broad enigma
  13. There Will Be Blood (‘07): Fiery tempests wrought from the earth’s depths, Jonny Greenwood’s alien strings, and Daniel Day-Lewis’ oil baron. But things can get un-illuminatingly loud
  14. Memento (‘00): Gimmicky collage of noirish scenes, blank-slate grieving and emotional manipulations held fast by a punchy existential twist
  15. Sideways (‘04): Depends on your mileage for sadsacks, especially when they’re insulated by narrative perks, e.g. sex with the luminous Virginia Madsen
  16. Adaptation (‘02): Depends on your mileage for sadsacks, especially when they’re insulated by narrative perks, e.g. being fictional
  17. No Country for Old Men (‘07): Cleaves too easily into standalone scenes of well-edited tension and recycled caricature-humour to truly earn its mopey “bleak” ending
  18. King Kong (‘05): Fanboy-wank remake bloated with CGI, wrapped around a cross-species romantic core that should have ventured beyond mere gestures at empathy
  19. Mysterious Skin (‘04): Alternates between its boring and its exploitative plots, though Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s hustler gets a few emotionally raw/tender encounters
  20. Hunger (‘08): I’m tired of arthouse exploitation as an excuse for male nudity, or vice versa; hurling shit-stained walls and clichéd police brutality at me doesn’t help

(The movies I have yet to see, or don’t remember enough to write about, can be found after the jump.)

Unseen movies from Tim Robey’s list (ranked in ascending order):

100. Dogville (‘03)
99. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (‘01)
98. Tropical Malady (‘04)
97. Monster (‘03)
96. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (‘05)
95. Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner (‘01)
94. Last Resort (‘00)
93. Sugar (‘08)
92. In this World (‘02)
91. The Last Victory (‘04)
90. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (‘07)
87. A Time for Drunken Horses (‘00)
86. Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (‘02)
85. The Fountain (‘06)
84. Gerry (‘02)
83. White Material (‘09)
81. Frozen Land (‘05)
80. The King of Kong (‘07)
79. Johnny Mad Dog (‘08)
77. Les petites vacances (‘06)
76. Abouna (‘02)
75. We Own the Night (‘07)
74. School of Rock (‘03)
73. The Night of the Sunflowers (‘06)
72. Yella (‘07)
71. Red Road (‘06)
70. Downfall (‘04)
69. Summer Hours (‘08)
68. Deep Water (‘06)
67. Secret Sunshine (‘07)
66. 13 Lakes (‘04)
65. Requiem (‘06)
64. Bright Star (‘09)
63. Uzak (‘02)
62. Capote (‘05)
60. Modern Life (‘08)
59. Nationale 7 (‘00)
58. The Corporation (‘03)
56. When the Levees Broke (‘06)
55. I ♥ Huckabees (‘04)
53. The Wrestler (‘08)
52. Lady Chatterley (‘06)
51. The Fall (‘06)
50. Bus 174 (‘04)
49. The Circle (‘00)
48. Adam & Paul (‘04)
47. Y tu mamá también (‘01)		 Mulholland Drive
46. Kings and Queen (‘04)
45. Couscous (‘07)
44. The Company (‘03)
43. Punch-Drunk Love (‘02)
40. The Son (‘02)
39. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter… and Spring (‘03)
38. The Holy Girl (‘04)
37. Solaris (‘02)
34. Los Angeles Plays Itself (‘03)
33. The Sun (‘05)
31. Songs from the Second Floor (‘00)
30. Amores perros (‘00)
29. Far From Heaven (‘02)
28. Code Unknown (‘00)
27. Donnie Darko (‘01)
25. Morvern Callar (‘02)
24. What Time is it There? (‘01)
23. Talk to Her (‘02)
22. The House of Mirth (‘00)
21. Eureka (‘00)
20. I’m Not There (‘07)
19. Our Daily Bread (‘05)
17. Spider (‘02)
15. A Prophet (‘09)
14. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (‘07)
13. L’emploi du temps (‘01)
12. Black Sun (‘05)
11. The Piano Teacher (‘01)
9. Junebug (‘05)
8. INLAND EMPIRE (‘06)
7. Yi Yi (‘00)
6. demonlover (‘02)
5. The New World (‘05)
3. The Death of Mr Lazarescu (‘05)
2. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (‘03)
1. Mulholland Dr. (‘01)

Unseen movies from the Skandies Top 20 list (ranked in descending order):

1. Dogville (‘03)
4. Mulholland Dr. (‘01)
6. The New World (‘05)
8. 25th Hour (‘02)
9. Yi Yi (‘00)
12. Silent Light (‘07)
14. Werckmeister Harmonies (‘00)
15. Irreversible (‘02)
16. Zodiac (‘07)
17. Ghost World (‘01)
18. The Man Who Wasn’t There (‘01)		 dogville
19. Trouble Every Day (‘01)
20. Gerry (‘03)
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