MandyWho The Hell Is Keyser Soze?
March 29th 2008 02:46
Step Up. A Cinderella Story. High School Musical?? Sadly, I'm part of a generation that has all but forgotten the importance of classic pop culture. So about a year ago, I took it upon myself to get educated. I went down to the local Civic Video shop, and commenced Pop Culture 101: Film Studies.
Mulholland Drive: A strange, meaningful film, tricky and with as many twists and turns as the real Mulholland Drive in Hollywood. Part murder mystery, part lucid dream, this film details the spectacular downfall of Diane Selwyn, wannabe actress. Naomi Watts carries the film, ably assisted by Laura Elena Harring as Rita. See previous post for my feelings on this incomparable film.
The African Queen: A cracking comedy with a hysterical performance from Humphrey Bogart (his hippo impersonation just kills me). Compare Charlie Allnut with Sam Spade or Rick Blaine or even Harry Morgan, and you'll see how talented Bogie was. I also walked away very impressed with my first encounter with Katharine Hepburn.
The English Patient: An exercise in boredom. This film is a run-of-the-mill romance masquerading as high literature-turned-Oscar winning movie. Even the excellent Juliette Binoche can't redeem the slow, obvious story. I finished watching the film, but grudgingly. I would class myself as a romantic, but I was unmoved by this clunker.
American Beauty: An intriguing and thought-provoking film, dark but with laugh-out-loud moments, most provided by Kevin Spacey. Somewhat cliched characters (gay ex-Marine, screechy dominating housewife, smarmy grey-haired real estate guy, misunderstood Goth-y teenage girl) are kept interesting by the smart script and honest performances.
The Usual Suspects: Another film driven by the performance of Mr Spacey. A devilishly clever thriller with a shocker of an ending. "There is no Keyser Soze!" A fascinating character portrait of Verbal Kint, an incredibly smart guy. Better seen more than once to make sense of it all.
Clerks: I found it hard to concentrate on this limply amusing, lo-fi film. The acting is wooden, while the dialogue is fast-paced and rather stream-of-consciousness, which I understand is one of the film's most beloved aspects. However I was bored, and turned it off halfway through. I'm not averse to giving it another try, though.
Dogma: Well, Kevin Smith may have left me unimpressed with his freshman effort, but Dogma was a delightfully reverant (no, that's not a typo) kick in the pants. The film filled my young mind with ideas not dreamt of in my philosophy. I adored the urban fantasy kind of story and the moral questions it threw up, I loved how it cut through the morass of Catholic faith and left us with the simplicity of faith, trust and love, and I laughed out loud at the John Hughes reference from Jay and Silent Bob.
To Have and Have Not: Sharp and sizzling adventure with plenty of sly jokes. A rather odd soundtrack adds an extra edge to the film. The now-legendary sparks between Bogie and Lauren Bacall inject the film with a zing lacking in its more famous predecessor, Casablanca. Which is a more polished film, heavy on the romance and a well-deserved classic.
The Breakfast Club: A quiet, honest story of what it means to be a teenager. I excitedly recommended it to my younger friend, who found it impossibly boring. I'm not sure if it's a symptom of her generation or personal taste, but I couldn't see her point of view. Sure, it is a character-driven film, but the characters are so well-developed that I never felt tired of them. Sure, it falls into cliche every now and then, the music and clothes date it horribly, and the ending falls flat, but what shines through is the honesty and timelessness and universalness of the story. And excellent performances from all five actors.
Mysterious Skin: A hard to stomach story about child molestation, which is softened somewhat in the original novel by beautiful writing. However the film came across as alternately coarse and dreamy, with all the puch and none of the beauty of the novel. Joseph Gordon-Levitt leaves his sitcom background (3rd Rock from the Sun- funny!) behind him in an amazing performance as teenage hustler Neil.
Schindler's List: I was underwhelmed, and have not finished the film yet. I can look past the monochrome film (period piece, it's forgivable) however the first 45 minutes meandered around and failed to hook me. Liam Neeson is imposing as Oskar Schindler, though his German accent slips horrendously, but no other characters stand out as yet. I'm also willing to try this one again, based on it's accolades.
Traffic: A harsh, artful film, with great use of colour. I was mildly interested, mainly in Catherine Zeta-Jones's and Erika Christensen's characters, however the plot failed to grab me. The acting was pretty consistently good, it's a hard (I'm trying to avoid the word "gritty") and (I assume) realistic portrayal of the way drugs affect many lives, but... I was bored.
21 Grams: I watched this mainly based on Naomi Watts' performance in Mulholland Drive. I wanted more. But while I was touched and horrifed by her character in Mulholland Drive, I was irritated with her in this film. As far as I know, Watts is a method actor, and while she is undeniably good at screaming and sobbing hysterically, I wonder where she gets the emotion from. In this flim, all she does is scream, cry and angst, and it gets old fast. Benicio Del Toro was great, his character was sympathetic, while Sean Penn's character was a bastard. Penn was good, as usual, not ground-breaking but then he rarely is, in my opinion.
I'm know there are more films I've watched in the past year, but these are the ones that stood out for better or for worse. But even the disappointing ones were worth my time. At least I know what everyone's talking about.
Oh, and I really do like Step Up. Movies about dancing are my weakness
Step Up: dancing, hot guys, not much else
Mulholland Drive: A strange, meaningful film, tricky and with as many twists and turns as the real Mulholland Drive in Hollywood. Part murder mystery, part lucid dream, this film details the spectacular downfall of Diane Selwyn, wannabe actress. Naomi Watts carries the film, ably assisted by Laura Elena Harring as Rita. See previous post for my feelings on this incomparable film.
The African Queen: A cracking comedy with a hysterical performance from Humphrey Bogart (his hippo impersonation just kills me). Compare Charlie Allnut with Sam Spade or Rick Blaine or even Harry Morgan, and you'll see how talented Bogie was. I also walked away very impressed with my first encounter with Katharine Hepburn.
The English Patient: An exercise in boredom. This film is a run-of-the-mill romance masquerading as high literature-turned-Oscar winning movie. Even the excellent Juliette Binoche can't redeem the slow, obvious story. I finished watching the film, but grudgingly. I would class myself as a romantic, but I was unmoved by this clunker.
American Beauty: An intriguing and thought-provoking film, dark but with laugh-out-loud moments, most provided by Kevin Spacey. Somewhat cliched characters (gay ex-Marine, screechy dominating housewife, smarmy grey-haired real estate guy, misunderstood Goth-y teenage girl) are kept interesting by the smart script and honest performances.
The Usual Suspects: Another film driven by the performance of Mr Spacey. A devilishly clever thriller with a shocker of an ending. "There is no Keyser Soze!" A fascinating character portrait of Verbal Kint, an incredibly smart guy. Better seen more than once to make sense of it all.
Clerks: I found it hard to concentrate on this limply amusing, lo-fi film. The acting is wooden, while the dialogue is fast-paced and rather stream-of-consciousness, which I understand is one of the film's most beloved aspects. However I was bored, and turned it off halfway through. I'm not averse to giving it another try, though.
Dogma: Well, Kevin Smith may have left me unimpressed with his freshman effort, but Dogma was a delightfully reverant (no, that's not a typo) kick in the pants. The film filled my young mind with ideas not dreamt of in my philosophy. I adored the urban fantasy kind of story and the moral questions it threw up, I loved how it cut through the morass of Catholic faith and left us with the simplicity of faith, trust and love, and I laughed out loud at the John Hughes reference from Jay and Silent Bob.
To Have and Have Not: Sharp and sizzling adventure with plenty of sly jokes. A rather odd soundtrack adds an extra edge to the film. The now-legendary sparks between Bogie and Lauren Bacall inject the film with a zing lacking in its more famous predecessor, Casablanca. Which is a more polished film, heavy on the romance and a well-deserved classic.
"You know how to whistle, doncha Steve?"
The Breakfast Club: A quiet, honest story of what it means to be a teenager. I excitedly recommended it to my younger friend, who found it impossibly boring. I'm not sure if it's a symptom of her generation or personal taste, but I couldn't see her point of view. Sure, it is a character-driven film, but the characters are so well-developed that I never felt tired of them. Sure, it falls into cliche every now and then, the music and clothes date it horribly, and the ending falls flat, but what shines through is the honesty and timelessness and universalness of the story. And excellent performances from all five actors.
Mysterious Skin: A hard to stomach story about child molestation, which is softened somewhat in the original novel by beautiful writing. However the film came across as alternately coarse and dreamy, with all the puch and none of the beauty of the novel. Joseph Gordon-Levitt leaves his sitcom background (3rd Rock from the Sun- funny!) behind him in an amazing performance as teenage hustler Neil.
Schindler's List: I was underwhelmed, and have not finished the film yet. I can look past the monochrome film (period piece, it's forgivable) however the first 45 minutes meandered around and failed to hook me. Liam Neeson is imposing as Oskar Schindler, though his German accent slips horrendously, but no other characters stand out as yet. I'm also willing to try this one again, based on it's accolades.
Traffic: A harsh, artful film, with great use of colour. I was mildly interested, mainly in Catherine Zeta-Jones's and Erika Christensen's characters, however the plot failed to grab me. The acting was pretty consistently good, it's a hard (I'm trying to avoid the word "gritty") and (I assume) realistic portrayal of the way drugs affect many lives, but... I was bored.
21 Grams: I watched this mainly based on Naomi Watts' performance in Mulholland Drive. I wanted more. But while I was touched and horrifed by her character in Mulholland Drive, I was irritated with her in this film. As far as I know, Watts is a method actor, and while she is undeniably good at screaming and sobbing hysterically, I wonder where she gets the emotion from. In this flim, all she does is scream, cry and angst, and it gets old fast. Benicio Del Toro was great, his character was sympathetic, while Sean Penn's character was a bastard. Penn was good, as usual, not ground-breaking but then he rarely is, in my opinion.
I'm know there are more films I've watched in the past year, but these are the ones that stood out for better or for worse. But even the disappointing ones were worth my time. At least I know what everyone's talking about.
Oh, and I really do like Step Up. Movies about dancing are my weakness
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