If you are having trouble understanding my last post, don’t feel alone. I don’t really get it either.

Also, before I get to the reviews, the trailer for The Matrix Revolutions that was after Reloaded is finally on the internet. Took me all day but I downloaded it. Man it looks so kick ass. I can’t wait!

——Open Range——

The Film: (B)
The Gunfight: (A)

Although I found this to be a completely enjoyable movie, it’s not without its flaws. I found a lot of comparisons with this film and Unforgiven, which I saw last week, comparisons that helped me appreciate what Clint Eastwood was doing a whole lot more. Kevin Costner’s film seems to meander a little more than it should, hitting just about every Western convention he can, some times effectively and some times not. For instance, the romance subplot works itself in a little too conveniently and also totally fucks up the pacing of the film. I’m of the general opinion that after the big climatic gunfight there shouldn’t be too much more film after that. The hero usually leaves town after saying or doing something, and that’s that. In Open Range Costner leaves like he’s suppose to, and then COMES BACK for a few more scenes before once again making his exit. It’s the weirdest fucking thing. Sometimes I wish Costner would just get down to the point.

Another example. I read in an interview that in this film Costner wanted to extend the little moments to really enjoy them. That’s what he really liked in a film, and what he tried to add to this one. But I don’t think he did a pretty good job at it. To draw out those moments he adds extra scenes and extra dialog that doesn’t really need to be there, and uses more fades than I ever care to see in a film post-Lawrence of Arabia. Costner doesn’t deal well with silence. Maybe he should take a lesson from Sergio Leone. Leone usually used like a 90 minute script in a three hour long movie and still was able to keep the film as intriguing as all get out. Costner does the opposite, which doesn’t work as well.

Also, could there be any more lame a sympathy card as a dead dog and a drowning puppy? Give me a break.

That said, the film was extremely engrossing. For every scene that annoyed me there was at least one to juxtapose against it that was very well done. Costner’s character really interested me (DuVall’s was a little too happy for my tastes) with the whole subdued killing instinct back-story. The scenes in the café and the saloon were really good. The plot for the most part was really good too. All of which built up to the final gunfight, which was probably the coolest, most impressive gunfight I’ve ever seen put to screen. It takes its time, it’s filled with style that doesn’t distract, and is extremely realistic, which is a real plus for me. The movie is worth seeing if just for this one section. It was amazing.

Overall I’d call this a very enjoyable film with a few distracting flaws to it.

——The Last Picture Show——

(A)

This is one of those films that you know is great, and that you enjoy right from the get go, but you can’t really pinpoint why that is. Sure, there are the obvious good screenplay, good direction, good acting arguments, but there is something a little deeper there that’s really enthralling. I think that for me it was the fact that the film seemed almost documentary-like in its realism portrayed on screen. All of the characters felt real and information is given to the viewer in a more realistic style. When something is bothering someone, you don’t find out what that is immediately, and you end up having to piece the story together by yourself as the movie progresses as if you really were learning the stories of people in a small town.

Also interesting was the tone of the film, of an old town decaying and becoming barren, and taking down the main character with it. The film begins quite slowly, starting first with a long shot of a seemingly empty town where dust blows up the main drag as if it had been abandoned for a long time. The film on the whole seems to be about a lack of options, especially in the areas of romance, one of the key points being the scene where Cybill Shepherd’s character and her mom scheme together to find her a husband after watching all good options disappear. Everyone in a committed relationship is miserable as if the town and its people are being tied down for the long haul. The movie theater closing down is thus one more option disappearing, especially for the main character who ends the film in a state of catatonic shock after watching one more thing disappear from his life.

I think where the film succeeds is in taking such depressing subject matter and making the film extremely funny and entertaining. That’s why I enjoyed it anyway.

——The Apartment——

(A)

I can’t believe MGM is giving away such a great movie for so cheap. The DVD is only 12 bucks, and it is well worth more than what they are giving it away for. Billy Wilder had done no wrong thus far in my eyes, and this film is no exception. Wilder takes a pretty boring genre (the romantic comedy) and makes it into something so sublime that it is no wonder that it won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

This film is not only brimming with good ideas (the idea that Jack Lemmon lends out his apartment (and his life, it turns out) in order to procure a promotion is so great that I really wish that I’d thought of it first) but also with some of the most excellent pacing I’ve ever seen in a studio film. Wilder focuses so much time on developing and nurturing the little moments that the big ones seem minor in comparison. Although I think this is technically a comedy it feels much more like a drama since the characters are so well drawn out and excellently played by Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. (I’m shocked that Lemmon didn’t get an Oscar for his role in this film.)

This is one of those films that’s infinitely touching, and damn well worth every penny.

——Rosemary’s Baby——

(A-)

This is one of those films that are merely OK at the beginning, but as the story begins to move forward you get drawn deeper and deeper into it. The second half of this film (and especially the final scene) are creepy as hell. Rosemary makes the perfect helpless victim; isolated from all of her loved ones, unable to trust anyone, and even more susceptible to harm because of her pregnancy. You can’t very well run away when you’re nine months pregnant, especially with Satan’s baby inside of you.

What’s most frightening about this film though is that until the very end you aren’t really completely sure if Rosemary is on to something or just plain crazy. The feelings of isolation and abandonment are very real, and her husband’s growing distance from her is scary enough as a domestic drama, never mind the whole Satan’s baby stuff. It builds on that paranoia we have when seeing a doctor we don’t know and when taking something when we don’t know what it is. That for me is the high point of this film.

——High Noon——

(A)

As a general rule the older the Western, the more likely it will be that I don’t like it. High Noon is a delightful exception to that rule. Here instead of the usual Monument Valley, Good Guys versus the Bad Guys, unhesitating hero Western more typical to the genre, we’re treated to something more akin to a Shakespearean morality play. Here Gary Cooper plays the good guy, but the right thing for him to do isn’t as clear as black or white. No one will stand with him against the Bad Guys. Most people just wish he would leave town like he planned to anyway (more than once Cooper actually considers doing just that). Here is a Western hero that’s actually really afraid to die, especially now that he has a new Quaker wife who is against killing of any kind (the amazingly stunning Grace Kelly). Cooper wants to leave town but his morals won’t let him do anything but the right thing, even if he has to do it alone.

What’s great is the whole 24-esq real time film making, increasing the tension of inevitability even more. The editing, directing, writing and soundtrack are all superb. Cooper is great as the reluctant hero. Of all of the Western’s I’ve seen this one left one of the best impressions on me. It well made, to the point, and extremely interesting all the way to the final scene where Cooper throws off his tin star into the dirt, almost spitting on the townspeople that abandoned him. What a great movie about doing the right thing even when everyone’s against you succeeding.