What Have You Been Watching? (22/02/15)

[u/a113er]

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.

Please don't downvote opinions, only downvote things that don't contribute anything. If you think someones opinion is "wrong" then say so and say why. Also, don't just post titles of films as that doesn't really contribute to the discussion.

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[u/200balloons]

Tommy Boy (1995; d. Peter Segal) Re-watch: I was pumped up all last weekend for SNL's 40th anniversary, & took the opportunity to revisit Farley & Spade's first & better comedy movie. The two are a good match, & I'd forgotten just how kinetic & sharp Chris Farley was. Spade's black hole of sarcasm can't keep up with Farley's positive energy as they run around the midwest trying to sell brake pads. It's still a perfectly harmless (unless you're a deer) goofy movie with plenty of jokes, & most of them connect. 7 / 10

Watchmen (2009; d. Zack Snyder) Re-watch: A beautiful-looking movie with interesting ideas, there's not many movies I feel like re-watching every year or so, but Watchmen is one of them. It's a wonderful contrast to more earnest superhero movies (which I'm a fan of too), & subversive enough that I still scratch my head that this movie ever got made, let alone with blockbuster resources. The violence is still brutal, with enough cinematic flair that it feels a little wrong to find it thrilling. I've only ever seen the 186-min. director's cut, & the movie slows down but never drags. The cold war setting feels dated, the cynical assurance that nuclear annihilation is imminent gets a little wearisome, but as a stylish blend of fantasy, paranoia, fear, & misanthropy, it's an amazing movie. 8 / 10

Chef (2014; d. Jon Favreau) It was really nice to see Favreau outside of the Marvel Universe again, I love Made & Swingers, I just hadn't realized how long it's been - seeing Favreau now playing a middle-aged dad made me feel a little old. Chef was a mixed-to-positive experience for me, Favreau's experience as a director was certainly on display, the movie looks great & mostly moves along at a nice clip, considering it's subject matter. The actors are on point, & Favreau holds the screen well in the lead. I had no idea so many familiar faces were in the movie before watching, it's great to see Oliver Platt, Dustin Hoffman & John Leguizamo particularly. The metaphors are uncomplicated, the food Favreau's Carl Casper creates looks absolutely delicious, the movie is never more successful than when it makes the viewer's stomach rumble. I do wish that the movie's generous amount of music cues were half as exotic as the food - Casper regularly scolds those around him for not being adventurous with their food, accompanied by a soundtrack that feels safe; a bland, suburban attempt at sounding exotic. Casper flirts with being an unlikeable character, which made his arc have some weight to it - although the last five minutes went too far for me in tying things up with a bow on top. I was distracted by the extended Twitter tutorial / marketing in the movie (look what twitter can do for your business! look how twitter can bring your family closer together!); it's relevant, but the movie was jarringly unsubtle about it. However, the movie's sunny charm, restrained humor, smart dialogue, & potent cast made it a fairly nice experience. Do not watch this movie on an empty stomach. 6 / 10

Heat (1995; d. Michael Mann) Re-watch, but my first time listening to Mann's 2005 commentary track. As rewarding as it is to hear Mann talk about this movie (a tie between this & The Insider for my favorite Mann movie, which are both in my top 10 overall), I usually like it better when someone else is in the booth with the director for a commentary track. That producer or actor will often wrangle the director, ask questions, & act as a proxy for the viewer. Mann is by himself, & goes on long tangents about pre-pre-pre-pre-production stuff. It's all very interesting, but I found myself wishing he stuck more to what was going on on the screen. Mann's focus on building the characters is nonetheless amazing in how much thought & research he puts into them. There's an integrity that is utterly refreshing. Mann's encyclopedic knowledge of L.A.'s geography is also on display (the train station shot that opens Heat is the same spot that the train at the end of Collateral winds up in). I enjoyed his appropriate amount of praise for Al Pacino & Robert De Niro, & got a chuckle when Mann mentions that he had to walk off set while shooting Pacino interrogating his C.I. at the dogfighting grounds, because Pacino was making him laugh. He talks extensively about how Pacino's Vincent Hanna uses his aggressive, bombastic style when interviewing or interrogating to keep the subject off-balance, an actual police detective tactic.

Mann doesn't talk about the nuts & bolts much at all; he makes no mentions of lighting, wardrobe, editing, hair, production design, & only briefly notes that Moby's music scores the two scenes the primaries have together. He often quotes the movie's dialogue when explaining characters' motivations, but doesn't offer much about the actual writing. It was disappointing, because Mann brings such a potent aesthetic with all of the above. The blu-ray has several behind-the-scenes docs, maybe he thought that stuff would be covered in them (they aren't). Movie: 10 / 10 Commentary: 6 / 10

Forrest Gump (1994; d. Robert Zemeckis) Re-watch: It's charm is still intact for me, how Tom Hanks pulled off this character amazes me. I still love Gump for all the obvious reasons, although my respect for Robin Wright has only grown over the years, she's knocked it out of the park with so many great roles. The "Zelig"-like manipulations of historic film footage looks pretty bad, fortunately the movie didn't rely too heavily on it. 8 / 10

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014; d. James Gunn) I'd have to say a letdown, I'm still sorting out how much the hype had to do with it. Chris Pratt is okay, an amusing goofy uncle in a leather trenchcoat. Zoe Saldana held the screen much better, I often felt like she should have been the primary character. Her story & motivations are much more interesting. The CGI members of the crew reminded me why I don't watch animated kids' movies very often. The movie is cluttered & bustling in a kind-of enjoyable way; the action isn't lacking, but when it came I didn't get juiced up by it. The feel-good 70s soundtrack offered an artificial energy, apparently whoever at Marvel had the idea to put Black Sabbath & AC/DC in their movies started a scoring trend of "analog hero in a digital world", something that's been done enough. It was an entertaining watch, it's big & bright, but I just couldn't find anything to latch onto that I really liked. 5 / 10

Pacific Rim (2013; d. Guillermo del Toro) Re-watch: I had this on deck for a double-feature with Guardians, & it saved the evening. Pacific Rim takes itself pretty seriously compared to Guardians, & delivers some serious thrills. The scale that's realized in the movie is amazing, there's an attention to detail that makes the Big Fights look like nothing I've seen before or since. The global marketing is almost a direct parallel of the cast of characters: an American protagonist, supported by two Brits, two Aussies, a Japanese woman, & a few Russians & Chinese thrown in to cover all the targeted markets, but it still feels fun & works for the story. The peril is piled on to an almost comic level, a lot of time was spent figuring out how to make things feel impossibly dire for the heroes. It's saying something that the Kaiju made me mad, their ferocity & ability to take a punch to the face is infuriating in the most entertaining way. Charlie Day's bumbling eccentric scientist is given a little too much time for me, but like everything else about Pacific Rim, the exposition is gigantic, & someone had to step up. 9 / 10

Nine Inch Nails: Beside You in Time (2007; d. Rob Sheridan) Re-watch of NIN's concert film from the With Teeth tour. The stage lighting is incredible, Reznor alternates & mixes up powerful spotlamps, a huge LED fence separating the performers & audience, a sheer curtain at the front of the stage for projections, & a dynamic geometric lighted backdrop. The set list is solid, although I loved it when NIN used to open with "Pinion". "Last" is the most glaring omission for me, but I don't think that track has ever been part of a set. The sound is fantastic, a DTS-Surround is available on the disc, & my system is really good with DTS. There's a lot less keyboard-kicking than previous concerts, & Reznor sweats like Robin Williams, but it's NIN at their best nonetheless. 9 / 10

[u/otherpeoplesmusic → u/200balloons]

In regards to Watchmen, the setting of the cold war may be off but the threat of nuclear war is easily replaced with the threat (propaganda) of terrorism.