Director: Andrew Niccol Writer: Andrew Niccol Cast: Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto
An arms dealer confronts the morality of his work as he is being chased by an Interpol agent.
The film starts with the following line:
"There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other 11?"
Then in the opening credits it traces the life of a bullet from its factory to its final resting place, the head of an African child. The film is largely narrated by the Orlov (Nicolas Cage) which bears some resemblance to Goodfellas. The character is based out of several real life figures who profited largely from the breakup of USSR with all the cold war inventory smuggled out from the former USSR countries. It was interesting to see Ukraine playing an important role in the film and, because of the recent events, Crimea and Odessa meant something.
I think the main problem with the film is that Andrew Niccol, whom I greatly admire, is mindful of the fact that he cannot glamorize it as much as say in Goodfellas because of the subject matter and the film comes off as a bit drab. The other characters apart from Orlov are poorly written or not well developed enough to make an impact. This is especially true for characters played by Jared Leto and Ethan Hawke and they were just wasted. The film just comes off as lots of information they are trying to fit into as a film. It is watchable but not very good. A R Rahman's Bombay theme music is used in one scene.
Writers: Jose Saramago (Novel), Javier Gullon Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Melanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon
A man seeks out his exact lookalike after spotting him in a movie.
Denis Villeneuve is a director who uses the color tones well to add to the visual story telling. 'Incendies' had a blue tint whereas 'The Prisoners' had a grey one conveying the grim nature of the story. I liked Incendies but thought the prisoners had glaring plot holes. He is one director who is not afraid to depict really outlandish plots hoping to carry it through how well immersed the viewer can be in the viewing experience. So how much you rate the film will depend a lot on how well you enjoyed whilst watching it so that you could suspend your disbelief which is needed very much.
Enemy is also no different with him going for the color tone similar to another one of Jake Gyllenhaal film 'Zodiac'. It is a twist on the multiple personality disorder which is a genre in itself in film industry. Contrary to most other films in this genre we as audience realize pretty much from the get go what is going on. When it happened I was going like 'Oh no! Not another one of these'. Then my focus went on to keeping a watch on which all characters are together in a scene, when one interacts with another whether the third one is present on the screen and so on. I was sincerely hoping that the director would add another twist to show they are different people which I think is fair to expect from a Denis Villeneuve film if you go by the twist in 'Incendies'. The director takes this twist and finally does a reverse flip by ending it again on the Schizophrenic reality of the situation. The ending which alludes that it was all in his head might be disingenuous to many viewers going by the reviews, but I thoroughly enjoyed as it is a self aware play on the genre. I also loved the end credits.
It was good to see Melanie Laurent in it (Shohsanna from Inglorious Basterds) and Jake Gyllenhaal picks good solid films to act in.The film was adapted from Jose Saramago's novel 'The Double'.
Director: John Landis Writer: John Landis Cast: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
John Landis is known for directing comedy films like Trading Places and National Lampoon's Animal House. The initial draft of American Werewolf in London was written by him in the late 1960s which was then shelved for a decade. It can be described as a horror comedy with more stress on the comedy parts which makes it very watchable even now. The make-up effects during the transformation are really great and the horror moments are really edge of the seat stuff which cannot be said about many other horror films where the directors don't know how to build an uneasy tension. Evil Dead which also came out in 1981 is also supposed to be an horror film with plenty of humor about it but I wouldn't know about that since I watched it when I was around 11 years old and was proper terrified. John Landis went on to direct Michael Jackson's legendary Thriller music video and by watching this film I know where it came from.
The ending would have been funnier if he had killed off his girlfriend too instead of going the King Kong way. The relationship between them is done pretty well. John Landis is an American but he manages to give the film a characteristically British humor. My only prior exposure to werewolves were through the character Professor Lupin in the Harry Potter series. The final werewolf attack happens in a Porno theater with a porn film running in the background. That film from what is shown is also as odd as this one.
A sequel to film came in 97 titled 'An American Werewolf in Paris' and it didn't do very well. I haven't seen it but looks like Julie Delpy was in it. Film follows the adventures of the child conceived by the werewolf in first film and his nurse girlfriend.
Director: Jeremy Saulnier Writer: Jeremy Saulneir Cast: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves
A mysterious outsider's quiet life is turned upside down when he returns to his childhood town to carry out an act of vengeance. Proving himself an amateur assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.
Film was crowd-funded through kickstarter and was screened at the Cannes where it won the FIPRESCI prize. Macon Blair plays the awkward assassin and the fact that he is not a well known actor helps us to relate to him imagining it to be how we will also behave if we dare to do it. I was reminded of the Malayalam film 'Thazhvaram' which was also a revenge film. I liked Thazhvaram but thought it would have been a greater film if they hadn't shown the flashback to justify the revenge act.
In Blue Ruin the back story is not shown but alluded to by the characters in their conversations. The film loses its steam in terms of the intrigue as it progresses with the characters and their motivations established. Still its a great watch. The great thing about it is that even though the protagonist has a noble end, if we think about it, we will realize that he fucked up big time by creating a needless shitstorm. To be fair he had no way of knowing.
Creators: Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld Cast: Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards
I had finished my second time watching of the entire series in order, around 4-5 months back. I was meaning to write about it at that point but 'Yadda yadda yadda' and I missed it. See what I did there. Now am on fourth season in my third time watching. I guess it is never late to write about it amidst plethora of articles coming about the show's 25th year anniversary.
First of all I don't rate Seinfeld as my favorite sitcom. It is 'The Thick of It' for its sheer genius in all its episodes. Maybe it is not fair to compare Seinfeld which had 180 episodes to 'The Thick of It' which had just 24 episodes in which it had to maintain the quality. Well that is generally the difference between US shows which tends to go for over 10 episodes a season whereas 6 is the norm in British TV. But Seinfeld is more of a British show with its sense of humor and maybe one of the reason why I like it a lot.
As they themselves describe in the show 'It is a show about nothing' and that is why it is so timeless. The show really gets its identity from the third season onwards with the creators getting bolder and bolder and having a clear idea about where they want to take it. First season is quite ordinary and their interactions almost unrecognizable from how they are later on. It would seem like just another show about relationship troubles. Jerry's father is played by a different actor and Kramer is named Kessler in the pilot. Still it has its moments with the second episode 'Stake Out' establishing 'Art Vandelay' and George's desire to be a architect which is a running theme throughout the series. I had seen many random episodes of Seinfeld before I got all of them together and watched it in order. You will miss so much if you don't watch it in order because you won't get many of the in-jokes like Kramer's friend whom we never see 'Bob Sacamano', imaginary erotic film 'Rochelle Rochelle', Kramer's sharp lawyer 'Jackie Chiles' etc.
Many articles have referenced the fact that it was the first popular show with despicable characters as protagonists and laid out the path for characters like 'Tony Soprano' and 'Walter White'. But the genius of it is that I don't find them despicable maybe because I find plenty of it very relatable with my nihilistic, narcissistic attitude towards life. Plenty of us will relate most to the neurotic George Constanaza, the self proclaimed Lord of the idiots who will drape himself in velvet if it was socially acceptable.
I normally prefer sitcoms without laugh tracks but the Seinfeld is different from other shows in its usage because they perform in front of a live audience during recording. That is why we can see them waiting for the laugh to subside especially during Kramer's entrances. We can also see them clearly being not able to hide their laughter during performances and this would normally constitute bad acting. But when they do it it is endearing and we love the show more because of it. Plenty of hoopla was around the finale which I found to be quite crap on second viewing. But that really doesn't matter because it is not a drama where the finale would change the way we view the previous episodes. When they decided to stop the show while it was at its peak, Bill Gates was offering Jerry more than one million dollars an episode. It has now earned more than $1.5 billions through syndication and both Jerry and Larry are about $500 million rich. Certainly I wouldn't cite financial success for quality of the product as can be evidenced by my disdain towards 'Titanic' and 'Avatar'. But for Seinfeld since it is success is earned though a long period of time justifying the timeless nature of it, the financial success is indicative of its quality.
Larry David went on to make Larry David starring sweary HBO's 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' which is also among my favorites in my top 5. It is largely improvised but there is some predictability to each episodes in the way they structure it. For people suffering from Seinfeld withdrawal symptoms it is a sure shot remedy.
Director: Claire Denis Writers: Claire Denis, Marie N'Diaye Cast: Isabella Huppert, Christopher Lambert, Issach De Bankole Language:French
A white family which owns a coffee plantation in an unnamed post-colonial African country finds themselves in the midst of a civil war. The husband is trying to get his family out of the country whilst the wife (Isabella Huppert) is worried about the unharvested coffee beans.
If you read the synopsis you kind of expect a predictable film along either of the following lines: 1) Africans cannot run things without their white masters and it is really a case of white man's burden 2) White people in the film is caught up in the violence with the rebels justified in the actions against the post colonial ruling elite. Since Claire Denis is behind the film it does not fall in either of these categories. It doesn't have a big message. All the three sets: White Family (Referred to as White Material in the film), the rebels and the ruling elite militia are kind of neutral in the sense that all of them are equally despicable.
Isabelle Huppert's character is running the plantation and that is the only life she wants. She refuses to see the warning signs willingly. It was funny to see Roger Ebert in his review describe her as a courageous fighter whilst throughout the film I was wondering how incredibly naive she was. One will be reminded of the hippies, anti-capitalists, humanitarians who naively think that people left to their own devices are capable of living in a communal way with equality for all. The only character for whom I felt some degree of sympathy was the husband played by Christoper Lambert.
It is a great watch but might not be suitable for everyone. If you are expecting something conventional where you are told whom to sympathize for, then its not for you. For the very reasons that I like this film, some people will hate it.
Director: Richard Linklater Writer: Richard Linklater Cast: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck
The film follows the various groups of teenagers during the last day of school in the summer of 1976. The incoming junior high students are given the initiation along the expected lines with them being given a backside thrashing and other lame hazing rituals. As in real life, only some of the seniors are overly enthusiastic about this with the character played by Ben Affleck being the prime candidate for the alpha dickhead. His character also reminded me of the one he played in Mallrats.
This was Linklater's second major film and it shares some similarity with his debut feature 'Slacker' in the sense that there is no large narrative or story arc about it. It is just a bunch of high school kids doing some random stuff. If you are to call one character central it would be Floyd (Jason London), the school team quarterback who is pissed off with his coach and authority. Film was a moderate success upon its release but is now a cult classic with even Quentin Tarantino naming it quite high up in his list of best films of all time. Linklater is quite an underrated director and I never think of him when I list my favorite directors but the sheer number of his films that I found to be great should warrant him to be in the list. Before Trilogy, A Scanner Darkly, Waking Life, Bernie, Dazed & Confused- that is some real good filmography he has got there. His latest one 'Boyhood' which was shot over a 12 year period is also getting rave reviews and one reason I watched Dazed & Confused again is due to my frustration about not getting access to watch Boyhood. Lets hope it turns up in the usual places soon.
This was also Matthew McConaughey's debut film and the role is quite memorable with his characteristic opening line of 'Alright, alright, alright'. He plays a creepy guy who dropped out from school long time back but likes to hang out with them. His line in the film about schoolgirls is also quite legendary: "That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age. ". He reminded me of Mohanlal's character in 'Sarvakalshala'. Shame that he wasted his career over the next two decades doing shitty rom-coms, none of which I have watched.
Dazed and Confused is one of the best films of its genre along with 'Stand by me' and 'Breakfast Club'.
