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Posted: |
Sep 14, 2010 - 11:56 PM
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By: |
DeputyRiley
(Member)
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Deputy Riley's #2 favorite movie of all time...
Cape Fear (1991) -- 10/10
Probably the most terrifying movie I've ever seen. To me this is a true horror film in that it relentlessly scares me to the core, whether it's the first viewing or the twentieth. I'm certainly in the minority but there is no question in my mind that this is Scorsese's best film. And Nolte's. And DeNiro's, and Lange's, and Joe Don Baker's...this movie cuts to the bone and I am in awe at how utterly perfect it is -- the acting, the photography, the adapted score, the script, the camerawork, the editing, the sets, and more than anything else the pervasive sense of dread that infiltrates most every scene. Max Cady is probably the greatest villain ever portrayed onscreen IMO. The 1962 version is outstanding as well, my favorite film of the 60's, and seeing Gregory Peck, Marty Balsam and Robert Mitchum return for the remake is an incomparable thrill. Among the myriad strokes of genius in this film is the decision to adapt Herrmann's original score, slightly reworked by Elmer Bernstein -- easily one of the finest music-to-picture marriages known to man.
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Posted: |
Sep 15, 2010 - 1:48 AM
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By: |
DeputyRiley
(Member)
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Another thing about Cape Fear (1991) -- the end credits.
Fascinating.
The end credits start off with Bernstein's adapted Herrmann score, but for about 75% of the credits there is no music, only the sound of running water and distant thunder. I've never experienced end credits like this. Then, towards the end of the credits, you hear an extremely faint and short string statement of the main theme...almost inaudible. Then, as the credits conclude, coinciding with the final Amblin Entertainment logo, the orchestra slowly rises to a cacophonous sting. Then, there is about 30 seconds of blackness accompanied by the running water and thunder, and just before it completely ends, you hear the faint sound of women screaming. Very interesting indeed! What was going through the filmmakers' minds when they were crafting this? I love it.
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Posted: |
Sep 15, 2010 - 7:22 AM
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By: |
mastadge
(Member)
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John Rabe (2009) by Florian Gallenberger -- The story of John Rabe, a German businessman and member of the National Socialist party who had been living and working in Nanjing in 1937 at the time of the Japanese invasion and massacre of hundreds of thousands of civilians and POWs. Rabe was instrumental in creating a safe zone that ended up protecting nearly a quarter of a million Chinese. In that respect, it's a similar true story to Schindler's List or Hotel Rwanda. This movie looks good, and is often powerful and devastating. The acting is mostly good, but the script is uneven: every so often it really crackles, but there is also plenty of indulgence in cliché and a fair share of clumsy dramatics. (At one point we see a tank rolling in, only for a character to exclaim, "Oh my God, they're bringing in tanks!" For its occasional clumsiness, though, this is still a strong, compelling movie. Now I'm going to unfairly judge it for what it's not: The movie ends with John Rabe leaving Nanjing. Therefore we don't see any of his efforts to make the atrocities committed public, for which he got into trouble with the Nazis, nor the allies denying him De-Nazification. I feel like this could have been a much stronger movie if seen through the frame of his futile efforts later in life to bring the massacre to light. But as it is it's still not bad. (***½)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) by Mike Newell -- Slightly less slick and slightly more fun than Clash of the Titans, this is still awful. Should have been called Prince of Parkour, since roughly 87 hours of its 2-hour runtime are devoted to clumsily edited scenes of Jake Gyllenhaal kicking off walls and running on props and occasionally making even more clumsily edited physics-defying jumps. Gemma Arterton, who was charming in Quantum of Solace but is quickly losing her appeal, having apparently decided to appear in every bad movie ever, seems to have rolled off the set of Clash of the Titans without even changing her costume. The two exhibit very little chemistry; their banter is witless and charmless. The whole thing is a chase to secure a MacGuffin, a mystical dagger (why does it even exist in the first place?); they cross back and forth across Persia, which, despite stretching from China to the Mediterranean, is apparently structured that you can get from any place to any other place within a few hours. And despite having plenty of sun to get natural tans, almost everyone in this movie appears to have been painted orange. The action is horribly blocked -- the prince, at one point, is engulfed in a sandslide that carries him downhill for quite some time, only for him to appear to be on the same level at the end of it as he was at its beginning -- the fights are horribly unexciting, which is exacerbated by the whole time travel thing which is a get-out-of-trouble-free card, and basically the whole thing is just a pointless mess, despite Harry Gregson-Williams' musical attempts to convince us how epic the whole thing is. And of course it wouldn't be a Persian epic without unfunny jokes about high taxation and the absence of WMDs, would it? (*½)
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Posted: |
Sep 15, 2010 - 10:50 PM
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By: |
DeputyRiley
(Member)
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The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) -- 10/10
An enchanting, riveting, beautiful love story for the ages. Dreamy, magical, and heartbreaking. I often see recent films such as this and wonder how some can complain that great pictures aren't being made anymore. My only (tiny) complaint, which does not detract from the film but considers a possibility, is that the film went by too fast. As it was based on a book (one which I have not read), I felt like the pace and breathing of the narrative was a bit truncated -- I could have easily enjoyed this 107 minute film at a more leisurely pace and felt it would have held up well at even 160 minutes. The film was brilliant as is, but I'm definitely curious to experience the story in its lengthier literary form. Yes, I cried.
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Posted: |
Sep 16, 2010 - 10:23 AM
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By: |
DeputyRiley
(Member)
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The Perfect Murder - Great suspense thriller/drama. While I've never really liked Paltrow's acting, she was pretty good in this. Great performances all around. Very riveting - 10
Man I loved this film. I thought it was very slick -- the smooth camera movements, the impeccable appearances/costuming of the characters, the wicked score by JNH, the crackling dialogue, the vivid colors, the fast pace, Douglas' oily, slithery self, and editing that is tighter than size 30 jeans on a 300-lb man. A great lil' picture. I thought the ending was way too abrupt, however.
"How's that for wetwork, huh?" 
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