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Not having work and still on vacation from school yesterday, I decided to spend the day at the movies. This was made financially convenient by having a sister who is employed by a local theater, and one of her perks is that relatives get in for free on weekdays.
With snacks bought from 7-11 in my car for intake between the movies, I was ready to begin my self-indulging, cinematic adventure!
First there was PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Boy was this movie good! It had the sort of colorful, campy and over the top look most of Joel Schumacher's films have that should be experienced in the theaters...but the real delight was the music, which is a sort of marriage between pop and classical. It isn't necessarily always catchy...and this has been something several prominent critics had against the film...but who says good music has to necessarily be catchy, anyway? It's effective and goes well with the action. At any rate, see this one if you have the chance!
Next on my to see list was Lemoney somebody's A Series of Unfortunate Events. I consider myself a bit well read but man, I didn't even know this was a book. At any rate the film looked gloomy and interesting but I walked out after 10 or so minutes, not because I thought it mediocre or anything but I just wasn't going to see a film like that without my little bro.
This meant I had time on my hands...so I went into The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. This is yet another "quirky" comedy from Wes Anderson & friends. If you've seen "Rushmore" or The Royal Tenebaums" you'll know the type of film this is...absurd and humorous in one instant and brutal and sad at another. What surprised me was just how violent this film was for a quirky comedy. Somebody gets shot in the neck. A lot of people die. This was dark stuff. I could hear strained and forced laughter frequently erupting from the unsure, small audience. But there was dozens of moments that made me smile, and so I walked out of it unsure whether I liked it or not. The cast was excellent, though, but I simply have to wonder what Wes Anderson & friends were trying to do.
Then I took a break at Barnes & Nobles and looked around for a copy of "Sin City." They didn't have it! I did however manage to catch its trailer in my final film for the day, THE AVIATOR.
When I was first started watching the films of Martin Scorsese he didn't impress me one bit. His films seemed to meander and I could rarely find an overall story or plot in them to latch onto. The first film of his I saw was "Goodfellas", and this after having seen the glorious "Godfather." Instantly I thought--how could people consider Goodfellas to be as a good a gangster film as Godfather? It's story is weak and it's just about gangsters doing gangster stuff randomly! With similar lukewarm reactions to "Casino" and "Raging Bull" I had declared Martin Scorsese an under whelming film maker...
Until I realized that his films weren't about stories, but about people as they just go about their lives. To him the moment is just as important as the overall arc--typically a rise and fall structure. Once I realized this about the film maker his films became accessible to me and I grew fond of them. I saw why Goodfellas, Casino, and Raging Bull were good movies.
"The Aviator" is Scorsese's greatest film since Casino. He has returned to the biopic. As said earlier most of his greatest films have that rise and fall structure--except for this one. The film ends on a high note and a victory for the main character, the eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes, though the final shot is a grim one that hints at Hughes' sad and pathetic life after the 40s. The film covers some 20+ years in the man's life as he single mindedly makes movies, pursues famous movie stars, designs planes and struggles with his OCD. You won't find any story in this film besides us observing the eccentricity of Howard Hughes and his glories, thought the final scenes in the senate hearings do sort provide a climax.
The cast is wonderful. First of all, Leonardo DiCaprio is simply doesn't get the respect he deserves. Here is charming, obsessive and pitiful seemingly without effort, much like that younger De Niro was in Raging Bull. Also, Cate Blanchett is simply funny as Katharine Hepburn. Alan Alda and Alec Baldwin shine as the powerful men who desire to crush Hughes. Hell, everybody is in this movie, even Bilbo and Data!
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