Category: Film

What a way to wrap up the trilogy. The 3rd film brings back the punch and grit of the 1st film. The expected wide shot of Stockholm ends the trilogy. Again, the title of the film has been interpreted rather than translated; a literal one would be “The Hornets Nest that Was Stirred”. And it makes sense in terms of the film because as much as Lisbeth finds redemption and freedom, the story ends more about the shitstorm that ensued over her story.

More superior acting from Noomi Rapace in showing the resurgence of emotions in Lisbeth’s character. All the characters are three-dimensional and developed. The cinematography was uneventful, but not weak in any way. Again, we were spoiled in the 1st film.

We get a far richer experience of the Swedishness of the story in the 3rd film than the others. We see Sweden’s answer to the British stiff upper lip in the courtroom in the non-dramatic exit of the prosecutor, in the measured strain of the judges, and in showing a bit more about the country’s demographics through exploring, temporarily, the various immigrant characters involved in the plot. But the real testament of Swedishness is the ending, the final interaction between Salander and Blomkvist. It’s far from wordy, melodramatic, or emotional. Lisbeth finally thanks him, letting down her guard, and Micke just takes it for what it is.

A trilogy to be watched again and again, and owned.

I’ve been wanting to see this since I watched a Anatomy of a Scene episode on NYTimes.com. It was well worth the wait and viewing.

Three great actors – Seymour-Hoffman, Streep, and Adams – along with a silent fourth, the unassuming photograpy, make this film truly masterful. The exchanges between Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius were just gripping and mesmerizing, watching one character take charge for a while, then the other conquer, then the same fall. From an actor’s perspective, there’s so much to learn from, watching Meryl Streep take in Seymour-Hoffman then pounce then retreat.

This film is jarring because you never really know. It doesn’t give it away early in a flashback and I’m so glad it didn’t resort to some childhood memory or some psychologizing. You’re left to interpret every scene and encounter; is he right? is she right? is she delusional? is he a liar? You never know until the very end when it hits you not like a hammer but like a needle. And you feel the fluid go up your veins and soon enough it hits your brain. It’s that subdued yet incredibly powerful.

The power of suggestion, of gossip, of suspicion is often much more powerful than flat out fact or evidence, shown in Aloysius’ exclamation: “But I have my certainty!” And as much the film is a quiet commentary about the state of the Catholic church and the distrust sowed by the paedophile scandals, this film is also about the real people caught up in it, without weepy dramatization or sentimentality.

The photography is measured and controlled and in a few places, takes inspiration from still photograpy and art. The image of Sister Aloysius swept up in the wind, after her conversation with Miller’s mother, is truly beautiful. Also, the lighting and set design in this film also had a powerful impact. The contrast between the warm reds in the boisterous dinner scene with the clergy and the staid beige and black of the nuns tells you something.

A film to be owned, watched again, and to learn from.

There’s just not enough story and plot to really make this film stand out or even memorable. You get to the end of it, at the unexpected climax, and you can’t help but wonder if there’s more. It can’t be just that, can it?

“August” is flashy yet true to the dotcom era in the excessively empty tech jargon, the news bites, and the bravado of tech types at the time. Josh Hartnett is fairly solid and doesn’t rely on neither melodrama nor Swedish ice. He does manage to bring about some vulnerability in his performance. However, his supporting cast wasn’t that strong, barring his brother Joshua played by Adam Scott. More grit and substance was found in the family scenes and in the side stories of Josh’s relationships than the main story of LandShark.

Not appalling to watch, yet just not memorable or impressionable in any way. This film just needed more meat on its bones.

“Annie Hall” seems to me to be the grandfather of most romantic comedies, even the true womb from whence “When Harry Met Sally” came.  It’s fast and acid-talking, it’s hilarious, and it’s wry in its commentary about actors, relationships, and society. Alvy’s running commentary about LA is priceless. Again, none of the striking photography of  “Manhattan” ,  but it makes it up for its ample of use of off-screen dialogue, wide shots of characters talking until they come closer to the camera, and the tight two-shot while walking. In short, Woody Allen-ness.

It was sad to see Alvy create the woman he wanted in Diane Keaton’s character, and then lose it. But that’s how life is.

To own and watch again and again.

This is an engrossing, jarring, and deeply thought-provoking classic by Martin Scorcese.

I had heard a lot about this film as I was growing up and I’ve only watched it now. I think this was a wise choice, having gone through some Christian theological studies and looked the other way when the Da Vinci Code hysteria was swallowing up the masses. I thought this film would be the precursor to Dan Brown’s obsession with making Christ seem as human as humanly possible, but the opening credits of Last Temptation took care of that. As I realized that this is supposed to be an alternative exploration of the Christ story, I was at ease for some reason, although I’m never one to stop watching a film because it’s critical or uses artistic license of something to do with Christianity. I’m not that serious of a believer or practitioner right now.

The film has the landmarks of Scorcese’s style: the sudden splatter of blood, the tight beautiful photography, really natural and potent acting. The quick cuts, the slow pans and tilts.

All those technical notes aside, the most powerful aspect of this film is that it’s free. It explores the story of Christ freely. It doesn’t bow down or feel that it has to say something because the Synoptic Gospels said so. Kazantzakis’ disclaimer at the beginning of the film sets that up anyway. So, Scorcese does go wild with the material.

As someone who grew up reading the Bible over and over again, it was really exhilarating to see this story told in a starkly realist way. It didn’t have to go through the Christian Bleak test, where everything has to be dumbed and toned down because you’re talking about the Bible. Mary Magdalene’s prostitution is stark, smelly, sweaty; the silence and indifference is jarring. The detail in the weddings shown in the film – the music, costumes, food – is really engrossing. It really does show you that beyond the rendition of Wycliffe’s Scriptures, there were actually people in the times of Christ.

The dialogue is a bit flat and over poetic. I kept on thinking of Paolo Coelho but I realize that this may be taken from the novel. Aside: I do need to read the novel. But putting the stylized language aside, seeing Christ be so human and it done by Defoe in an engaging way that avoids melodrama is also very illuminating.

There are some really intelligent and dry twists in the film, like the meeting between Paul and Jesus. Very tongue in cheek and I’m sure legions of biblical scholars loved that bit. And the part, especially, where Christ gets old and Judas berates him for not having fulfilled the mission. Even the spin of Judas’ betrayal is interesting.

Coming to the movie with all the crap I’ve heard and read by Christians, I thought the last temptation was to be purely the sexual relationship with Mary Magdalene. It was really refreshing to see that it really was as Kazantzakis said it would be: the conflict between spirit and body. And to the dismay of many Christians, the last part of the film deals with Jesus’ sexual activity in the context of marriage and family, not lust or whoring. It’s interesting and mind-opening.

The music is visceral and I playfully made myself ignore that they were singing Arabic mawaweel (a poetic form set to song, usually in the Saba scale, that usually talks about lost love or sadness) in the 3rd century. 🙂 Overall, it’s well picked, performed, and adds emotional intensity to the film.

Definitely a film to own and learn from. It exemplifies taking a very sensitive subject and making something honest, according to a vision, not caring about its reception. It’s really important to Christians, no matter how blasphemous we’ve been conditioned to think it is, that Christ was after all human. This film just takes that to the logical limits of what it means to be human and what it means to make a choice willfully, mindfully, and with no excuses.

“Manhattan” is hilarious, well-written, wryly acted, and beautifully shot. Inspirational to watch and learn from.

“Hollywood Ending” is big on witty dialogue, but lacks the striking yet simple photography of earlier Allen films. Funny nonetheless. Tea Leoni and Treat Williams kind of dissolve int the frenetic acid of Allen’s neuroses.

This film is no way as striking and powerful as the previous, neither in acting nor in photography nor overall direction; it actually retards back into arthouse mediocrity, barring the one beautiful shot of the burning warehouse. The faceoff between Zala and Lisbeth is weak and forgettable; not even revealing the identity of the blonde tank brings anything to the screen.

However, the entire film redeems itself in the final moment of tenderness, when Lisbeth reverses Armansky’s curse, that she doesn’t care about anyone else,  and actually lets Blomkvist in. She’s vulnerable, she’s no longer steely-faced, she’s glad to see him.

Look forward to how this is going to be wrapped up in the final film.

“Cadillac Records” is “Ray”, but multiplied in acting prowess and deft direction by a first-rate ensemble cast. Intense, quirky, precise characterization of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, my two great heros of the howl. Watch out for Gabrielle Union and Beyonce bring real performances to the screen. Excellent film. Hoochie coochie seed, baby.

“Green Zone” is another film about Iraq. It’s given a voice though to the Iraqi people, no longer just wailing women in black or caricatures of brown people. They got the accents right apart from the one Egyptian (I think) guy trying to be Iraqi. Nod to the guy from the Channel 4 series, who played Sadam, who plays Al-Rawi in this film. Average film.

“Sex, Lies, and Videotape” is a dark, dark affair. A real classic. Really great performances by all involved. James Spade is raw, just almost effeminate. What we create, especially involving other people, almost becomes progeny, a child, having traces of us, but can longer be called solely your own. Agree/disagree?

Actor’s note: nice to see Andie MacDowell’s character flourish once she was given that emotional compost.