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Reviews
Munich (2005)
Paging Dr. Rorschach?
Well, I haven't asked Mr. Spielberg what his intent was in Munich. When I've discussed it with friends, I feel like I'm on the outside of an in-joke--they all seem to believe that, like Catch-22, Munich was made to show that the Israeli response to the murders of their athletes was somehow wrong.
I didn't see it that way. When Golda says words to the effect that they will now send the world a message that it's not OK to go around murdering Jews any more, that summed up the essence of the issue for me: there is now negative feedback in the system. No more "Pull!" and murderers get to shoot Jewish skeet. Now the skeet shoots back. Accurately.
Then again, maybe I missed Mr. Spielberg's point. He hasn't enlightened me.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
so bad/good, it was good/bad
Deadpan to the max. In overall tone, it reminded me of some of the Monty Python skits that I watched, thought about, and decided was stupid. Stooopid. But that doubtless Brits would find it hysterical.
That said, there were lots of little touches that were throwaways--or fiendishly clever ploys that will make me buy the DVD when it comes out. Example (not sure whether this qualifies as a spoiler, but is definitely something to be on the lookout for): a list of coordinates-- latitude, longitude, and total. Total??? You see it for maybe three seconds, and no re-peeks. A letter seems to fall under the same treatment. Gotta get the DVD.
The early Firesign Theater albums were weird. But when one listened to them enough times, they started to have their own inner logic. I suspect that Life Aquatic is similar. Let you know after the DVD is released.
De-Lovely (2004)
Fusion
The movie is basically an enactment of You're the Top. In fact, it's YTT meets All That Jazz, with Jonathan Pryce's "Gabe" playing Jessica Lange's Angelique. In YTT, Porter's friends describe his life, both the highs and lows; here we see them. The movie goes farther than YTT, though, in that it also depicts his marriage--with *it's* highs and lows--and explains it.
I find Porter's lyrics to be among the cleverest I've ever had the pleasure to hear or read. And I'll listen to or go see almost anything dealing with his life and work. That said, I recommend the movie to anyone who is as big a fan of Porter as I am, but I won't see it twice. But I'm glad I saw it once.
Just Tell Me What You Want (1980)
Funny caricature
Saw this years ago when it came out. Now seeing it again through older eyes makes it even better. While the relationships depicted are predatory--eat or be eaten--they still have a certain sweetness to them. It's a uniquely well-done commentary on the rich. Fitzgerald was right: they're different.
Can't understand why there's no "memorable quotes" part of this entry.