Since I have seen so many movies, and have so much work out there in reality to avoid, I have returned with even more miniaturized movie reviews. Remember these aren't here to summarize the plot or give you some kind of rating, I only aim to share the most original insights I can bring for any and all of the films below.
The Last King of Scotland-
- This film serves as a great example of how to film female nudity (of various degrees and in an assortment of contexts) without ever stooping to exploitation. It has been said that the history of film is the history of men photographing women. In most cases that act of photographing seems to objectify or degrade the women being pictured. The twin engines of cinema as an art film accomplish this through an oddly paradoxical process. First the camera has the strange power to invade their intimate secrets and inner lives by getting closer than most men would dare to capture the woman's essence and trap here essence. Then the projector dehumanizes the woman by inflating her image to stretch across the theater screen and keeping her a safe distance from the leering audience. The process has happened in countless films and every time it reaffirms the traditional power structure between the genders that has made women feel oppressed and abused for so many centuries. This film however treats the women it photographs with respect. The camera keeps its distance the director gives each woman filmed a personality and each shot a meaning deeper than flesh. Those few seconds of the movie offer great insight into the art of filmmaking for any serious aspirant or scholar.
- Conversely I felt the film really mishandled its portrayal of violence. The violence I felt the most emotionally affected by all came either directly or indirectly through the action of our supposed protagonist, a young Scottish doctor who has traveled to Uganda and gets caught up in Idi Amin's rise to power. Though the audience knows Amin to have been a brutal dictator and the film acknowledges as much, Amin's tyranny is never given the same weight on screen as the Scot's blunders and misfortune's. In a strange way I feel the way the film treats the two characters is more responsible for the praise Forest Whitaker has received for this film than the actor himself. The movie honestly makes you feel more sympathetic to the most evil character in the picture than the hero we follow from start to finish.
- Forest Whitaker definitely acts his socks off though. His inspired use of an Ugandan accent makes me wonder if we could dub him the Hefty Black Male Meryl Streep. So long as that title hasn't been taken yet.
Little Miss Sunshine-
- Ensemble pieces must be difficult for the actors involved . Learning to share the screen can be difficult to those used to demanding the spotlight, but the reverse can be even more so. Yet countless actors throw themselves into these crazy little movies every year in the name of art, in the hope of having a good time, and possibly just to steal food from craft services. Usually making the sacrifices involved in an ensemble film have two affects on the actors involved: 1) They clearly demonstrate they can put their egos aside to focus on making the best movie possible; and 2)They give up any hope of being honored with an award. Sorry but awards go to people who chew up the scenery and put on big showy performances, and there's no room for that in a little art house ensemble piece like Little Miss Sunshine. This is a real pity because I believe of the eight best performance I saw in a movie last year six of them were in this film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, or the Oscars, have concurred to a limited extent by granting nominations to child actress Abigail Breslin (because cute kids always get a nod) and to seasoned vet Alan Arkin (almost surely as a way of saying "we care about old actors too"). I think it's a shame they couldn't have acknowledged the far superior performances of Steve Carrell, Greg Kinnear, and my personal favorite, Paul Dano. Sadly that's just one of the difficulties involved in an ensemble picture.
- The yellow Volkswagen minibus that you've seen in the trailers and on the film's poster should win an award for Best Symbol/Metaphor in a Feature Film. Much like the Hoover family it carries it is a dysfunctional oddity. Out of place among traditional cars, it can barely run, it needs to be pushed to do anything at all, it looks and behave abnormally most times and occasionally it screams out for attention. Yet when you step inside you find just enough privacy and stability to develop some peace, happiness and hope.
Pan's Labyrinth-
- Many have referred to this film as a dark or adult fairy tale simply because it contains elements drawn from fantasy and folklore. Trust me when I tell you the bulk of this movie is focused on more earthly affairs of a sad and gruesome nature. The fantasy elements may even be nothing more than a clever coping mechanism by the protagonist. You will leave the theater discussing the complex moral and psychological issues that form the basis of this film and not the visual wonders that make a world of (sometimes morbid) wonders come to life. This is not to diminish the literary merits of some fairy tales, simply to let U.S. audiences know they should expect little of the fell-good buoyancy or simplistic moralizing you may be used to after Disney raised three separate generations of children on watered-down treacly versions of classic fairy tales.
- The original Spanish title translates as "The Labyrinth of the Faun", referring to the mythical creature exemplified by Pan and Mr. Tumnus. The character of Pan is neither seen nor mentioned in the film itself. I normally wouldn't mind that sort of misnomer as occasionally artist's suggest additional layers of meaning in their work through a title that refers to a larger concept or idea (The West Wing writers used to love doing this). However in this case I and my film going companion's spent most of the movie trying to guess when Pan was going to show up. When we realized Pan was not involved just another nameless faun, it left me a little upset. More upsetting was my eventual realization that the only reason the English title refers to Pan at all is because the filmmakers assume Americans are too stupid to understand what a faun is, or that they will assume its a movie about deer hunting.
The Da Vinci Code-
- With all of the controversy stirred up by this film for some of the implications it makes about religion, I wonder if anyone has ever bothered to mention how staunchly feminist this movie is. Of all the messages to resonate most from this movie, the idea of women deserving equal treatment and status to men. Given that all the Sturm und Drang has focused on particulars of Jesus' life which one either accepts or rejects on faith alone, I can only assume this means that everyone agrees women have been oppressed by Christianity for centuries and deserve a more prominent place in the religion. It will be good news to many that all of the Catholics who protested the movie's portrayal of Christ have decided to support the ordaining of women from now on.
- Dan Brown author of the Da Vinci Code novel has come under scrutiny for lifitng some of his historical theories from other books about the hidden history of Christianity. I am surprised Kevin Smith hasn't sued over all of the clear thematic and dramatic similarities between this story and Smith's Dogma. Both films mostly focus on ways the Catholic church has hidden the true history of Christianity. Both films feature women in crisis who enter quests involving Jesus' bloodline. Both films claim that Jesus had a close relationship with someone other than the twelve apostles and that relationship reveals a hidden aspect of Christ's life. Both films have killer angels. Both films feature a high ranking Catholic who is out to deliberately deceive the public. Both films feature some truly disgusting greasy mullets. It's downright creepy ow similar the actually are.
- The filmmakers had to realize it would be risking making this movie. After all its best hope is to be the third best movie ever made about the holy grail. Right out of the gate they had to know they could never top Indiana Jone and the Last Crusade or the even more brilliant Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In fact watching The Da Vinci Code movie mostly made me want to go back and watch these movies again. I don't believe it's a good sign when your movie makes people think about movies they would rather spend their time seeing.
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