Some Call It a Pastime: The Films I See

Combat!: I Swear by Apollo (1962) (TV)

2009-07-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

Saunders and his men take refuge in a convent when one of his soldiers and a French man are wounded. They force a German doctor to operate on the French man.

Seinfeld: The Rye (1996) (TV)

2009-07-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

Kramer overbuys at a market sale; he is left in charge of a horse carriage; George and his parents have dinner with his girlfriend's family; George's father takes back the loaf of bread he had brought; George plans to replace it. Elaine is dating a saxophone player who is reluctant to give her oral sex.

This is a marvelous episode of an excellent show.

When Time Ran Out... (1980)

2009-07-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

A volcano eruption wreaks havoc in an island visited by tourists.

A poor spectacle both in visual and in plot terms. Its madness bears a vestigial aesthetical value.

Rating: 33

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

2009-07-08T18:10:00.000-07:00

Two brothers in deep financial trouble organize the theft of their parents' jewel store, with tragic consequences.

As a showcase for Hawke's and Hoffman's dramatic talents (and Finney's too, come to think of it), this works well; otherwise it's a problematic film, with a conspicuously contrived plot in service of a clear ideological agenda of indictment of capitalism. Wallowing in its own bleakness, it comes short of being truly convincing.

Rating: 47

Combat!: Cat and Mouse (1962) (TV)

2009-07-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

Sergeant Saunders and another sergeant get trapped inside a German post. The synopsis for this episode and a lot (all?) others of this show are found in Christopher Mulrooney's page.

I am usually incapable of producing worthwhile commentary of TV shows, even though I like some of them (e.g. this one).

The New World (2005)

2009-07-08T17:53:00.000-07:00

A dramatization of the story of the first settlers in North America; Captain Smith's romance with Pocahontas is narrated; she marries another man after Smith goes on a long trip.

An interesting and mostly pleasant film. Malick's style is practically identical to the one he used in The Thin Red Line, with plenty of nature shots and voiceover to express a character's thoughts.

Rating: 69

The Craft (1996)

2009-07-08T17:46:00.000-07:00

This blog is not being updated as punctually as it should be, and consequently it becomes hard to remember the plot of the films being commented. This one is about teenage witches. They are four, and one of them is a newcomer to the high school where the other three study; the fourth one initially doesn't deal in witchcraft, and is invited to join the "circle".

90's trash, infinitesimally lifted by Balk's impressive performance.

Rating: 26

Combat!: Escape to Nowhere (1962) (TV)

2009-06-26T20:05:00.001-07:00

Lt. Hanley is made prisoner of the Germans and is put in charge of an officer who reveals to him that he is defecting. They face numerous dangers as they try to leave occupied France.

After only three episodes, I think I can surmise the eminently surrealistic universe engendered by this show. It's a real treat and I am sticking to it. (But on the other hand running out of things to say about it, perhaps.)

Combat!: Lost Sheep, Lost Shepherd (1962) (TV)

2009-06-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

After the landing in Normandy, a battalion is stranded behind enemy lines, and, when an ally tank manned by a disturbed soldier approaches them, they take a ride on it to the next village, which seems to be unpopulated except for a priest and some children.

Well, it seems I am hooked to this series. It is exceedingly entertaining and well made.

Funny Games U.S. (2007)

2009-06-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

Two young men invade a lake house and hold its owners - a couple and their small son - hostage, for no apparent reason other than the pleasure of torturing them.

A cinematic heir, in plotline, to The Desperate Hours, and Les inconnus dans la maison, and, in style, to A Clockwork Orange. Self-referential, 4th-wall breaking asides are inserted, which are apparently accounted for by a desire to imbue the film with a degree of reflexivity. The effectivity of such devices is questionable: the history of films which end up inducing the very same violence they purport to criticize is long - let's not remember them here - the reasons for that fact being intimately linked to the ontological status of the displayed image. Even the attempts at thwarting catharsis have no less unpredictable consequences. André Bazin's critical work, I am told, dealt first with some of these matters, although, in connection with theatre, it has been debated at least as far back as Aristotle. Judged merely as a conventionally fashioned horror drama - which, despite its metafictional presumptions, it is - its derivativeness stands out like a sore thumb; still, among the films I have seen by this director (Caché; Code unconnu) - and not counting the one based on another person's literary work, the relatively superior La pianiste - this is the least infuriating one. The film possesses a certain tragicomical consistence of tone which lends it a considerable degree of watchability; as for the plot's coherence, it could have done a lot worse, never mind the self-mockery displayed regarding this particular aspect of it. An intriguing interpretation of it as a political allegory has been proposed on the Internet Movie Database Discussion Forum, for which you should click here.

Rating: 48

The Bank Job (2008)

2009-06-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

In England, a car shop owner who is also a part-time two-bit thief is proposed a bank job by a woman of his acquaintance; the job consists in raiding the vault where the safety deposit boxes are; unbeknownst to him and his accomplices, she is being forced to do the job by a government person, who is interested in some compromising photographs of a member of the royal family which are in the possession of a drug-dealer and pimp posing as a black power activist.

Entertaining piece of speculative fiction cum thriller.

Rating: 65

The Syrian Bride (2004)

2009-06-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

A druze woman living in the Golan Heights is marrying a guy in Syria; all the family attends her wedding, some of whom come from other countries; the border crossing is problematic.

This has no interest; it is boring and amorphous and at times just does not make sense (e.g. she allegedly will "never see her family again").

Rating: 21

Combat!: Forgotten Front (1962) (TV)

2009-06-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

This is about World War II. Some guys are trying to locate a cannon, and have to enter a vacant house, and are blown to pieces; then a second group comes after them and find a German deserter hiding in it.

Good TV.

Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000)

2009-06-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Several female characters very tenuously connected, their common problem being loneliness: an abortionist, a palm reader, her terminally ill lover, a police detective, her blind sister, a divorced mother who takes an interest in her dwarf neighbor, a bank manager who gets pregnant of her married lover, her homeless acquaintance, and the corpse of a probable suicide.

Engaging drama with excellent performances, and a tendency toward romanticism (in its contemporary popular sense).

Rating: 63

Iron Man (2008)

2009-06-01T19:08:00.000-07:00

Based on the comic book characters created by writer-editor Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and artists Jack Kirby and Don Heck; Iron Man first appeared in issue #39 of Tales of Suspense (March 1963).

This is about a guy who develops a superpowerful metal suit.

Not really interesting, but if one manages to get into this warped universe, one may perhaps appreciate their efforts to produce a technological odyssey about the weapons market and how only an inside man may turn the tables, so to speak.

Rating: 35

We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004)

2009-05-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

Based on two novellas by Andre Dubus, We Don't Live Here Anymore (published in the collection Separate Flights, 1st ed. 1975), and Adultery (published in the collection Adultery and Other Choices, 1st ed. 1977).

Two middle-class couples who share an intimate friendship face some affective problems leading up to mutual infidelities amongst themselves.

Same old same old.

Rating: 49

Panj é asr (2003)

2009-05-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

English title: At Five in the Afternoon.

In occupied Afghanistan, there is a clash between women who want the end of Taleban oppression, and the conservative men who cling to the rules set up by that regime. An ambitious woman attends classes and wants to be the country's president one day.

There isn't much to say about this film; it isn't very good. The first 15 minutes are fine, and then it's just not anymore. Camerawork is first rate though, and one can sense the director's (or the cinematographer's, perhaps) eye for composition.

Rating: 33

The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

2009-05-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

A mother and her three kids move to an old house in the country. The kids make contact with fantastical beings and find a book which is supposed to contain precious information about those creatures, being therefore coveted by an evil monster.

I don't know why I keep watching this kind of film. I can't see the point in them; I guess kids can. I guess one could say this one is "visually stunning" and that it has an "exciting pace" or something of the sort.

Rating: 37

We Own the Night (2007)

2009-05-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

One brother is a nightclub manager and the other, following on the footsteps of his father, is a cop. When the latter brother is shot by a drug dealer, the former brother decides to do something about it.

It's rare that we see a movie about which we can say 'classic' right after we've watched it. Plus, one of the best car chases ever, albeit a short one. Gray seems to be one of the most reliable filmmakers in activity, and getting better. Phoenix is impressive in the leading role; as a matter of fact, the whole cast is fine. But be warned: this is not an ordinary thriller, as it is not really as engaged in 'thrilling' the viewer (which might explain its lukewarm reception among American viewers, and its warmer one among European ones) as it is in constructing a fatalistic fable involving kinship and identity.

Rating: 80 (a favorite; 2007's number 1)

CQ (2001)

2009-05-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

In 1969, a film editor (and second-unit director) working on a science-fiction film goes through a series of personal and professional incidents.

It doesn't really go anywhere, either dramatically ou comedically, but its evocation of a certain slice of time and its filmic iconography are well-done and entertaining.

Rating: 53

The Dark Hours (2005)

2009-05-11T04:26:00.000-07:00

A psychiatrist who deals with the criminally insane has a brain tumor which was stationary and now has resumed its growth. She shows up unexpectedly at the secluded cabin where her husband, aided by her sister, is working on a book.

Yet another film which mixes dream and reality. In the case of this film, one never achieves any sense of horror, since (as usual) things are so wrapped up in mystery that the viewer will only too late get a glimpse of what is going on behind the appearances. To be frank, I still don't know what exactly went on and I don't think the movie makes that much sense to justify a second viewing.
It borrows most conspicuously from the short story "The South", by Jorge Luis Borges, first published in 1953, and, on another level, from The Desperate Hours (1955), a reference made obvious by its title.

Rating: 25

The Hoax (2006)

2009-04-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

Based on the book by Clifford Irving.

Based on a true story. A writer pretends to be in contact with billionaire Howard Hughes, who according to him authorized him to write his biography.

Not a great film, but certain aspects of its story are too interesting to ignore. And it's competently done.

Rating: 51

Der neunte Tag (2004)

2009-04-28T10:09:00.000-07:00

English title: The Ninth Day.

Based on the memoirs of Jean Bernard.

A Catholic priest from Luxemburg is held prisoner in the Nazi concentration camp of Dachau on account of his activities of subversion against the racial policy of the Reich. He is released on a nine-day leave during which he is offered a deal.

One of those heavy, well-made conscience dramas which follow a predictable course but remain affecting despite of that. The dialogue is memorable and deep, offering a temptation-in-the-desert kind of dialectics. The main performance is remarkable.

Rating: 64

Adama Meshuga'at (2006)

2009-04-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

English title: Sweet Mud.

In a kibbutz in Israel, a boy is affected by the ordeals of his mother, upon whom the lifestyle of the kibbutz weighs. The arrival of her non-Jewish boyfriend will trigger a series of conflicts.

Critical portrayal of a kibbutz, seen as an oppressive environment. The political implication seems to be that there is always a trade-off between equality and freedom. The film is not very attractive, despite its interesting subject and story. It didn't seem convincing that the main character wouldn't just pack and leave before things reached a point of no return. Also, the mise-en-scene is too rigid and unnatural.

Rating: 43

Extreme Ops (2002)

2009-04-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

A team shooting a commercial at the Alps finds out the hideaway of a Serbian war criminal, and ends up being chased by his henchmen.

As a visual show of mountains and skiing (and probably as nothing else) this film deliver its goods.

Rating: 37