Saturday, March 15, 2003
Yes, I'm back, so I'll spit out what I can while I'm here...
TRAILER OF THE WEEK
Willard - What happens when you cross George McFly, Norman Bates and Dr. Doolittle? Apparently this remake of the 1971 film of the same name. On a side note, Michael Jackson had his first solo hit with the title song of Willard's sequel, "Ben." Anyway, this unique, stylish-looking trailer had me interested until every review I've found thus far trashed it. Oh well. It opened today here in the Northwest.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/willard/
FIST OF LEGEND (1994)
I first read about Fist of Legend in The Art of the Matrix where it was mentioned as one of the inspirations for the kung fu sequences. I got my hands on it from this guy I've met named Richard who owns a martial arts school and has more than martial arts dvds than I have books. He's particularly a fan of Woo Ping, whose more namely involvment in American film includes the Matrix, as well as Crouching Tiger. Back to Fist of Legend (choreographed by Woo Ping)... On the kung fu end, it certainly doesn't disappoint. The fights are simply amazing, greater than anything I've seen in American movies with very little, if any wire work. The cinematograhy got a bit annoying with some comic book-style framing and slow-motion, speed-up. I got to thinking about it, and in the Matrix, Keanu and Co. are actors who had 6 months to learn kung fu. These guys on the other hand, have probably been doing it since the day they were born. They are truly gifted athletes and to them martial arts is an ART form. Incredible stuff. If you see it, make sure you find the disc with the original language track. I saw the dubbed version and we're talking camp material. It was horrible. The missus couldn't understand how I could watch it. The story, I thought, was pretty weak, but from what I've read it's once of the best in the genre. You don't these movies for character development.
THE CHRISTOPHER NOLAN TRILOGY
In course of the past month I've managed to see all 3 of Nolan's films, and I've got to say, he just might be my favorite young filmmaker at the moment.
FOLLOWING (1998) It's only an hour long, but it's great because then you've got time to watch the commentary, too, which is one of the best I've ever heard. In it, he gives a step by step course in Guerilla Filmmaking 101. It's a great companion to Rodriguez's Rebel Without a Crew. Nolan pretty much tells the same story. It's also seems to be Nolan's practice for Memento. You can see all of the techniques from Memento experimented with in Following: non-linear narrative, the use of key props to orient the audience, the trick ending. Like Memento, it's a completely different experience the second time through.
MEMENTO (2000) I've watched it now 2 or 3 times now since Christmas time, and I'm still seeing new shades to the character of Leonard. With each viewing, he becomes a much more sick, twisted and dispecable character. Yet, I find that the reason I love this movie so much is how I connect with Leonard. As much as I hate it, I can be pretty absent-minded. The missus says we've had conversations that I just don't remember. I can remember the situation of meeting someone 10 years ago to the minutest detail, but the location of my glass of water from 10 minutes ago eludes me. But I'm not unique, I don't have a "condition." I'm just forgetful. Then the thought occurred to me: What if Leonard is just a severely absent-minded person who's just making excuses, convinced himself that he has a true mental handicap? That certainly puts a different spin on things. He's a character who has taken his worldview and adapted it to fit his own needs. When faced with the truth of who he is, he instead manipulates it to a more palatable version. In reality, Leonard is an insane serial killer. In his own mind, he's a handicapped victim seeking justice. It's the same identity crisis of our society where everyone's a victim, where our world view is shaped by our fluid, shape-shifting memory of our limited experience. In religion, politics, science, every realm of life today reality is a la carte, reality is what we choose. Memento is an indictment of the humanistic world view where there is no concrete truth: "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie" (Romans 1:25).
INSOMNIA (2002) By far, the weakest of the trilogy. It's good, don't get me wrong. Just not great. I like the idea of setting a dark film noir in setting of perpetual light. Nolan has style out the wazoo. Al Pacino plays his typical cop role, though vulnerable, tortured with his own secrets and moral dilemmas. Robin Williams is creepy cast against type, and certainly makes a case to justify the criminal quite chillingly actually. Hillary Swank is in the throw away role as the straight cop. It's all a pretty intriguing story until a grinds to halt about 3/4 through it all and ends a cliche shootout. Again, as in Memento, Nolan gives the subjective point of view of a character on the brink of madness suffering from a medical disorder, sleeplessness in this case. He seems to be the Hitchcock of this generation, weaving tales of the darkness that lies beneath the faceless masses we pass on the street everyday.