Before the reviews I just had to note that this weekend officially started this leaf peeking season. If you’ve never seen a REAL Fall (Bard foiliage doesn’t even come close) then you really should seriously consider giving me a visit up here. It’s amazingingly beautiful. But on to the show:

——Belle de Jour——

(B)

Honestly, I was a little disappointed with this Bunuel film. Although this film has the same surealist critiques of sexuality and the banality of the bourgeoisie as all of his other works, Belle de Jour didn’t have the high level of humor and satire that I look forward to in Bunuel’s works. Instead this is a more sober and dour drama about a woman who needs the bourgeoisie lifestyle and yet can’t stand its repression and blandness sexually, and to fulfill her needs she turns to a brothel to let loose and attain her basest urges. While this is an excellently put together film showcasing Bunuel’s mastery of the medium, I at the same time didn’t really get into it too much and didn’t find it nearly as entertaining as I had hoped it would be. Perhaps I was expecting something more titillating, or perhaps I wanted something with more humor akin to L’Age D’or or The Land Without Bread, but either way this film failed to impress me in the way that I had hoped.

——Wall Street——

(A-)

I didn’t really expect to enjoy a movie about finance as much as I did, nor did I think that a movie that so thoroughly “got” the eighties would be something I would enjoy, but yet again Oliver Stone proved he could make interesting something I probably wouldn’t have otherwise wanted to see. Since this movie came along early in his career, just after he won the Oscar for Platoon, it lacks some of the technical artistry that he will develop in his later films, and the line between good and evil in this film is probably a little too clearly defined, and yet I was utterly enthralled by the whole film. Michael Douglas gives a great performance as Gekko, and his “Greed is good” performance is so well done you almost believe him, and probably would fall for him completely if it weren’t for the liquidation he tries to pull on Charlie Sheen’s father’s (played by Martin Sheen!) airline at the end of the film. This is just one of those films that makes a boring subject exciting, and evil more appealing than good (in the best way possible, of course).

——Scarface——

(A-)

Scarface is probably one of the greatest movies about a dickhead asshole loser you will ever see. Tony probably wouldn’t be as much of an ass if you only exhibited a little self-restraint. But this movie is anything but about self-restraint. Everything is delightfully over the top–Oliver Stone’s story, Pacino’s acting, De Palma’s direction–all the while keeping an anchor in reality so that the movie doesn’t fly away in the breeze. Pacino’s acting is anything but subtle, but it is also original and not mannered, so that no matter how absurd he gets we can still see him as a real character. When he is snorting from a mountain of coke we don’t lose base with the movie since everything leading up to it has prepped us for such excess, and the ending has built to such Shakespearean proportions that little can rattle us at that point. The film is all about excess and how a lust for money can get in the way of any meaningful relationships in life. Tony is an animal out of control, so much so that he thinks that bullets can’t even harm him.

Aside from the obvious influence on rappers everywhere, I also noticed that this movie had a huge impact on GTA: Vice City. The cars, the music, the hotels, the club, the mansion, and even some of the missions look like they stole directly from Scarface. I felt like I was watching Vice City the movie. It was kind of funny.

It’s not exactly a perfect movie (if only for the weird synth music that comes on every time Tony sees his sister with another man) it does make for a perfect B-movie, or cult film. I can definitely see why so many rappers like it (although I’m confused as to why they would identify so well with such a moron. Yeah, he rose from the streets and made a name for himself, but he was also a bumbling buffoon. What’s up with that?)

——Strangers on a Train——

(A)

So I just watched this movie, right? And it is called Strangers on a Train. And if is fucked up and absurd to the extreme. And it is FANTASTIC!

How could you not love a film where the thrilling climax is a fight that takes place on an out of control merry-go-round? How could you not love an antagonist who looks like a deranged Bill Murry? How could you not love Alfred Hitchcock’s daughter as the spunky and yet morbid comic relief? This film is so funny, so absurd, and so macabre in its extremes, and also so typically Hitchcockian thrilling (who else could cross cut a tennis match with a guy trying to fish a lighter out of a storm drain, and make it the most thrilling thing you’ve ever seen?), that you can’t help but love it. And don’t forget that merry-go-round. I’ve never quite seen anything like it; I don’t even know how to put its amazingness into words. The absurdity of it all is just amazing. What a spectacular film!

——Kill Bill: Volume 1——

(A)

The only problem I had with this film was the fact that I could have sat through another two hours of it, and I felt cheated that I didn’t get to see the whole thing. This was pretty much the general consensus of all of those I went with. This movie kicks some major ass, and although it ain’t for everybody if you are even mildly interested in seeing this film you’ve got to go check it out.

Kill Bill always feels like it is borrowing from a million things at once, including other Quentin Tarantino movies. This film actually starts off by telling you that you are watching the 4th film by Quentin Tarantino, which I thought was pretty ballsy in the first place, and then seems to make constant homage’s to his first three films, as well as the Shaw brother films, spaghetti Westerns, and everything in between. It is no coincidence that the VIPERS assassination group that is headed by Bill sounds a lot like Uma’s Fox Force Five from Pulp Fiction, nor is it then surprising that some aspects of Kill Bill feel like a cheesy television serial show. Everything seems put together for a reason and all the different pieces fit together perfectly.

And the action is simply spectacular. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this outside of some anime I’ve seen. Blood gushes to extraordinary degrees when someone looses a limp, and it is awesome. That’s it, just awesome.

Finally there is one thing Quentin has always been good at, and that’s compiling his soundtracks for his films. This film is no exception. The soundtrack kicks major ass. The songs are great, and the surfer rock/spaghetti Western score that runs throughout feels oddly at home in this mostly Asian cinema influenced film. This movie is one big melting pot of genres, and when all is said and done it all works together perfectly. I can’t wait for Volume 2.

——School of Rock——

(A)

This, along with Finding Nemo, is one of the best, most accessible to all ages films that’s come out in a long time. This movie, simply put, rocks (say really loud like you’re rocking and sticking it to the Man). The film takes a fairly basic concept full of cliches and manages to make something out of that that is insanely fun, original, and not derivative in any way like just about any other Hollywood movie you can think of that followed the same model.

The message to this film is great. It’s all about how we shouldn’t stick to conformity because it doesn’t allow our true gifts and talents to come out and shine. I love the lead guitarist whose dad browbeats him so much that he doesn’t realize, as Jack Black puts it, that he’s the next Hendrix and he’s only ten. I love the Asian keyboard player who doesn’t think he should be in the band because he’s not cool. I love the fat black girl who is too shy to sing in front of people even though she has an amazing voice. I love all of these kids and all the others because I especially love the fact that Jack Black teaches them all that it doesn’t matter what society thinks of you because once you start really rocking everyone will love you. And the film manages to pull off this point without forcing it down our throat or forcing something that isn’t already there. Everyone just has their own particular place in the band and they are all needed. Even Summer, the know-it-all teacher’s pet, becomes a useful part of the band as band manager and isn’t just some throw away character. Everyone and everything feels just right (well, OK, the gay kid was a little too over the top) the film rocks, Jack Black is awesome, and you walk out of the theater with a stupid grin on your face, which really is all one should really ask for when watching a movie.

——The Birds——

(B+)

From the scene where the birds attack the school children on this film is an A+ of suspense and terror, but unfortunately the film takes way too much time in getting to that point.

The first half of this film kind of sucks, as we are introduced to this kind of screwball comedy/drama where nothing is resolved even though way too much time has been invested in it, nor does it really make a whole lick of sense. One gets the feeling that the screenwriter and Hitchcock (and the documentary does nothing to prove otherwise) simply made up scenes to fit specific purposes with no real look at the big picture. And why should they, since the movie isn’t really about the main characters but about bird attacks? Still, this film feels way too long at two hours, and I think could have easily been trimmed down to a 90+ running time. The basic plot is just stupid and not really interesting, and one gets the feeling that if the seagull hadn’t flown into the girl’s head there would be no movie. Also, although I approve of the lack of soundtrack for the bird attack scenes, instead using the sounds of the birds as the soundtrack, the film could have used music elsewhere to make the movie a little less boring in parts.

That all said, the end of the film freaked me out so much that when I opened my bedroom door to go to the bathroom, I half expected to see hundreds of birds waiting for me in the hallway. Definitely an awesome movie, but perhaps the fast-forward button should be liberally made use of in parts.

——Intolerable Cruelty——

(C+)

The intolerable cruelty of the title refers to the fact that while you are watching this movie images of how awesome this movie could have been flash through your mind while you are stuck watching something very mediocre. It’s torture. You think of George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones together. You think of how cool the Coen brothers are. Instead all you are left with is some could of beens and a trailer that looked really sweet.

Watching this movie is like those weird dreams you have when you eat something really spicy right before bed. Everything seems normal, and yet everything is extremely bizarre at the same time. This movie is filled with lines that probably sounded really clever on paper, but don’t really translate as well onto the big screen. The screwball comedy aspect of it just doesn’t work right. The chemistry is there, but the story doesn’t meet it in credibility. The whole thing feels all zing, zang, zoom without any substance to support its goofy structure. I think perhaps the problem was that they should have stuck with a single direction with the film instead of trying to balance more than one thing at once. In any matter, although I found the movie somewhat entertaining, I didn’t really leave the theater all that thrilled.