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CinemaHound
Reviews
Colour Me Kubrick: A True...ish Story (2005)
Could have been, Should have been ...much better.
Malkovich gives a performance that carries the picture. But the picture goes nowhere! I wasn't offended by all the gay stuff in it. but I might have been were I gay. It's a bit much.
While there are a lot of references to Kubrick movies, there are few, if any, attempts to include any of his cinematic signatures; i.e. the tracking shot, the bathroom scene, the sullen stare into the camera. There are repetitive inclusions of music associated with this movies, Zarathustra, Thieving Magpie, Sarabande, snippets from Wendy Carlos' Clockwork Orange score. These become tiresome.
The movies fails, because the Alan Conway character is never explored in any way. This is Brian Cook's fault, not Malkovich's. Here's and example: The high point of this long-running con occurs in a restaurant, where Conway takes in super sharp Frank Rich of the New York Times. Now, regardless of Conway's background or motivation, this should have been a great moment for him. Was he scared? Was he challenged? Was he so into the con that it was inconsequential to him? He did go to the trouble of verifying Rich with the maitre'd. The script thought it was important. But the scene tells us nothing.
It's worth seeing, I suppose, for Kubrick fans like myself. But it adds nothing to the canon. The screenplay is fine, probably hits the right notes, but the direction is fatal.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
A Movie for Grownups
I can't imaging anyone who is not married, or who has never been in a serious, long term relation ship, "getting" this movie. Not for kids, nor the action movie crowd, or those looking for an erotic thriller, it is one of the finest films ever made. Visually stunning, and very sure of itself, it either speaks to you...or you will be bored stiff. The key to understanding this movie (if understanding is the right word) is the line that Alice delivers very near the end, after Bill's confession to her. She says something like, "We are all fortunate to survive all our adventures, whether they are real or imagined". I can't think of a more profound statement in any film.
It is most interesting to view this film beside "Letter from an Unknown Woman", by Max Ophuls,the only other filmmaker Kubrick cited as an influence. There, Joan Fontaine chases after Louis Jourdan, a pianist(hmmm). She follows him, fantisizes about him, gives up her family and honor for him...and he barely remembers her name. EWS can easily be seen as another take on a similar theme. Dr. Harford figures out in 48 hours, what it took Fontaine's character a lifetime ... <WARNING: This is only a spoiler for "Letter from an Unknown Woman>... and neither she, nor the pianist survive their adventure.
If you don't think you will enjoy this movie, you probably will not, so don't bother. But one day, after you have (hopefully) lived through an adventure or two, you will likely stumble over it and it WILL have some meaning for you. Trust me.
Falling Down (1993)
What movie did YOU all see?
I dunno. I guess I saw a different movie than everyone else here did. The movie I was derivative (the opening sequence with our hero stuck in traffic was stolen from Fellini, except there he was transported to heaven, as I recall. Also, everything this flick had to say was said in Scorsese's Taxi Driver. And said better), exploitative and cartoonish. Firstly, and I don't think this is a "spoiler" (but I don't want to be blacklisted), the movie undercuts it's own intentions by revealing fairly early on, that D-Fens is (as Brad Pitt says of Kevin Spacey in yet another, better movie) a nutbag. I could not find any common ground with this character, because he is insane. Perhaps he was only borderline psychotic before the unfortunate events that precipitate the events in this film, but he is NOT any kind of everyman. If he were, this would be a better movie. Also, I find most of the characters he interacts with drawn with a crayon and sledgehammer. The Gangbangers, the Oriental shopkeeper, Fredrick Forest's Nazi army/navy store owner...not real people at all. And D-Fens simply walks away each of his confrontations, carrying a huge bag full of weapons. Imagine, a nerdy, white guy with a pocket protecter, brittling with firepower, walking away from a huge car crash (where he shoots a defensless gangmember who is spraled on the sidewalk), in what appears to be South Central in LA...and NOBODY SEES HIM! I could go on, but this movie is a waste of time. See Taxi Driver for a real treatment of this concept. A waste of great performances by Douglas and Duval. For their work alone, I give this movie 4 out of 10