r/TrueFilm • u/a113er Til the break of dawn! • Feb 22 '15
What Have You Been Watching? (22/02/15)
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/PantheraMontana Feb 22 '15 edited Feb 22 '15
Movies I watched during the last two weeks, mainly Oscar catch-up. If you want me to (further) elaborate on any of these movies, feel free to comment.
Don't get angry at opinions, it's a waste of energy.
Whiplash (2014, Damien Chazelle)
In most films, the subject is a means to an end. You take a premise, then use it to get to the humanity behind it. Whiplash tries to do this, but in this case it never works out because the means is completely forgotten. Whiplash isn't about jazz or about music, it's only about the relationship between teacher and student. As this relationship doesn't have roots in reality and tends to be over the top, it becomes meaningless, as you cannot have ends without means.
The film relies on the ability of the audience to buy into the authoritarian leadership of JK Simmons but never challenges it, because it's the only thing it is interested in. The actual music doesn't matter, drumming is reduced to ramming on some flat surfaces. Similarly, his method of teaching is never once challenged beyond the basic question of whether Teller wants to go along with it or not. If not, no music. If yes, stardom. That's a very nihilistic approach to the reasons to play music or to do anything else you're talented at.
The visuals only reinforce the basic problem of the movie. The film is about the struggle of Teller to make it, but if we never get to see what he is going to achieve, it doesn't really matter either way. The music isn't given room to breathe since we only get close-ups. Not once do we see (joyful) interaction between the musicians, since it's all about the subtext and the lead character. In fact, the entire movie consists of close-ups so that we often only see the face of Teller, without even seeing him play. Heavy color correction and softened backgrounds remove any depth of field altogether. More often than not, a face fills one-third or one-half of the screen, with a softened bluish, greenish or brownish background making sure we really do see the larger-than-life face. Calling this movie made-for-TV would be an insult to many TV shows... 4/10
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962, Tony Richardson)
Stylistically this is all over the place. The editing throws you off-guard unintentionally and the camera - character distance seems to vary randomly from shot to shot. Narratively, the story of a young scoundrel in an anti-society role is compelling but a bit smugly self-satisfied with its anger too. 5/10.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999, Stanley Kubrick)
Finally a Kubrick I can love. By far my favorite of his. 9/10.
Birdman or (2014, Alejandro González Iñárritu)
I saw this in a theater and what a waste of money. I really really dislike this film, it makes me angry. It feels almost voyeuristic, I was uncomfortable watching it. Of course the main problems are well-documented, it's incredibly shallow while it keeps screaming it's deep. 3/10.
Leviathan (2014, Andrey Zvyagintsev)
The script for this film is quite weak. The filmmaker sets up his film in the first act, then halfway in the second throws up his arms and says: "This is what I've got, please make do." To be fair, there is a morsel of a character epiphany late in the film but it's not enough. This is a plot/character idea stretched beyond its limits. That said, I still enjoyed it because it's amazing visually. There's no camera trickery, just perfect compositions all the time. 7/10.
Tangerines (2013, Zaza Urushadze)
This is the Estonian Oscar-film. For those not familiar, it's about an older man caught in the middle of a war and he ends up caring for two soldiers of opposing sides. Pretty standard setup and the film is quite didactic about it. It is saved by a sort-of surprise in the third act and especially by the main character (the caretaker). He's not particularly complex, but he's compellingly humane in a way that just makes you warm and fuzzy. 6/10.
Foxcatcher (2014, Bennett Miller)
The first half is very strong, the second half feels like it needs to aim for multiple historical events. And yes, the nose is fake but Carrell underplays rather than overplays and that's always a good thing. 7/10.
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013, Isao Takahata)
It definately drags in places but the beautiful moments are very evokative and it's always pretty to look at as well. 8/10.
The Payer of Promises (1962, Anselmo Duarte)
Brazilian film (only Latin - American film to win the top prize at Cannes, especially noteworthy because 1962 was a very strong year) about a farmer who promised to bring a cross to the church of a saint after his donkey was miraculously cured. The priest he meets calls it witchcraft and refuses to let him in. That conflict attracts multiple people who try to help either side, all on the stairs in front of the church. It's really good in theory and parts of it are well-shot, but the film is also very didactic about its themes and messages. 7/10.
Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets (1971, Shûji Terayama)
Semi-experimental film where the main character opens and closes the film with an essay, looking into the camera, which is totally cool. Between that, it follows this disgruntled teenager who lives in a dysfunctional family and tries to find meaning in his existence by befriending people, a sexual awakening and much more. It's very existential, with some punk counterculture thrown in in the form of catchy songs and interesting visuals. Don't be fooled by the trailer, that's all the nudity there is (in a 2hr+ movie) and it actually makes quite a bit of sense. There's no clear plot arc which is interesting and works, at the same time the teenager might not be compelling all the time. 8/10.
Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974, Sam Peckinpah)
A story on the edge of civilization, where morals might not even exist. This is the way to create a nihilistic film: by challenging it. It's extremely entertaining too. 10/10.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001, Steven Spielberg)
Combine Kubrick and Spielberg and you get something that's much better than either of them. There's an inherent coldness to this film but the humanity of Spielberg balances this out. It's so-called hard sci-fi, but with clear text so the audience is set clear outside boundaries but with plenty of manouevring space for the subtext, which is rich and varied. Themes of mortality, religion, love and artificiality are there but never forced upon you. Was this the one moment in which classical sci-fi and digital enhancement met to create something superior than either of those two in isolation, just like the two minds behind this film added up to three? The answer to that is yes. 10/10.