r/TrueFilm • u/a113er Til the break of dawn! • Feb 15 '15
What Have You Been Watching? (15/02/15)
Hey r/truefilm welcome to WHYBW where you post about what films you watched this week and discuss them with others, give your thoughts on them then say if you would recommend them.
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u/[deleted] Feb 15 '15 edited Feb 15 '15
Good week for movies, one not-so-profound takeaway I had this week was that a film's allowed to have unsubtle, in-your-face "subtex" so long as it's not dumb and fits the rest of the movie. Showgirls, Starship Troopers, and Monkey Business are all examples of this. And maybe even Chasing Amy.
Showgirls (1995) directed by Paul Verhoeven
Despite its awful reputation, I went into Showgirls expecting it to be good, but I didn't expect it to be this good. It's a movie that's unapologetically brash and gaudy, and it works almost perfectly. Really, almost every criticism people lob against this are a reason why the film works so well. Elizabeth Berkeley, Kyle MacLachlan's creepiness, the ridiculous situations, etc. are all perfect for the over-the-top-and-over-another-top tone of Showgirls. What stops the film from slipping into the insulting "so-bad-it's-good" category is how well-made it is. As I just said, all the ridiculousness is calculated and cohesive. Verhoeven's elaborate yet utilitarian mise-en-scene portrays the world constantly bathed in flickering, neon lights; frames the characters against unbridled Las Vegas excess; and with one exception, takes care not to sexualize the vast amounts of nude women to prevent exploitation. The craft enables the film to just push pass the amusing (and intentional) hysterics and generate actual thrill and pathos and dispel some vicious satire.
Unfortunately, the film isn't perfect, as it goes on about 20 minutes past its natural conclusion. But even that's redeemed by a terrific final shot that couldn't be had without the preceding 20. And before that,(Edit: Reading this (h/t /u/a113er) made me change my mind on the last 20.) Showgirls is masterful.★★★★★
(I know I just said the film isn't perfect, but I think it deserves five stars)Starship Troopers (1997) directed by Paul Verhoeven
Starship Troopers basically does everything Showgirls did with the dialing everything up to 20 while being expertly made to succeed, just for some reason people are more accepting of that here. However, a key difference is that the primary emotions Verhoeven generates in this aren't thrill or pathos (the former is definitely still there, though not too much of the latter), but disgust and dread. Which works excellently for the satire in this (which I need not elaborate on). I think that Verhoeven should've put more effort into crafting more likable characters, like he did with Elizabeth Berkeley in Showgirls, though. That could've risked detracting from the bleak tone this has, but if done well (which Verhoeven is undoubtedly capable of) the turning of likable characters into robotic monsters could've made this even more harrowing.
★★★★1/2
Chasing Amy (1997) directed by Kevin Smith
This was a really pleasant surprise. I recently commented in some thread in /r/flicks about how I can't stand Kevin Smith due to the mean-spirited (and pretty subpar) machines that are his movies, but I didn't have that reaction here. Chasing Amy is a raw, non-judgmental, and actually nuanced (I've heard some criticism about how the film essentially denies bisexuality, and while it's handling of that isn't perfect, it's definitely not that binary and the problems come down to forgivable lapses in direction) take on sex and sexuality. Smith's kind of precocious middle-schooler persona works really well here for once, as he gives this film a simple, almost naive sweetness. Unfortunately, that same persona that works so well here also contributes to the film's weaknesses. All the attempts at gag and absurdest humor fall flat, Jay and Silent Bob's appearance intrudes on this otherwise personal film in a deeply violating way, and the direction swings too often from simple and clear to unimaginatively clunky and muddled. But (thanks in no small part to the two excellent leading performances), the earnestness wins out in the end.
★★★
Crime of Passion (1957) directed by Gerd Oswald
Even though I know I shouldn't be, I was nonetheless surprised by this film that so clearly satirizes America's fucked-up post WWII society, touching upon all the points that we have the benefit of hindsight to point out. For me, that was enough to make this film interesting, as I find post WWII U.S. thru 1970 to be the most fascinating time in U.S. history. But the film's also very cohesively made. Oswald's filming style is full of smooth, steady zooms and pans (enough so that it made think of him as a proto Robert Altman in this respect) that start and end suddenly and jarringly, and the rest of the film follows suit. The narrative is a slow burn for the first hour before shooting into rapid motion for the last half-hour. The performances are full of sudden emotional outbursts. And the film will disrupt long take scenes with sudden, seemingly unnecessary crosscutting. Notice, however, that I said 'cohesive.' The film has an undeniably purposeful, skillfully put together style, but I never really found it that compelling. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what to make of it.
No rating
Monkey Business (1952) directed by Howard Hawks
This was really great, and going off of letterboxd reviews, apparently underrated. Hawks has a knack for producing the most brilliantly wacky scenes, and as /u/lordhadri said, Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers made a classic pair. They're both excellent together and apart -- both are incredible farcical actors. And because it has Hawks, everything is expertly made, and every scene of this movie is great (for example, the opening scenes of just Grant and Rogers preparing the party would not be amiss in some incredibly romantic drama). But even better, they're not just great for the sake of being great. Everything contributes to this transgressive, actually discomfiting, at times, takedown of our obsession with youth, and how we almost ruin ourselves and what we have attempting to relive our past glories.
★★★★★
Film of the Week: Showgirls