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nicolopolo77
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Watchmen (2019)
No more Watchmen, please
If you get Watchmen you kind of know it is self contained: it does not need further nor complementary narrations, nor any adaptation to other medium. Yet, they keep triying; God knows it's useless, but they'll just keep trying.
This series almost make me change my mind but ultimately fails as just another intent to appropriate something that should be left alone.
Positives: well produced, good cast and a couple of interesting new characters. The premise, that of the smartest woman's lust for power, it's kind of a good reveal. Nevertheless:
Negatives: anything good is a rift from the comics. Most "new" themes are derivative of the first season of Westworld and It's Hard to be a God. When all that stuff is filtered you get the only piece of originality which is politics. Yes: politics.
All this stuff only to have Dr. Manhattan recreated as a black man, and the themes derived from it. Not for amy reason that is consistent with the original, but it is what they think it should be.
It's as is some writer would be writing a sequel Moby Dick, inserted some Sartre "themes" and all to tell you how you ought think about the world.
Can see how this series could be interesting to those who haven't read the comic book. I'd sugest you just read that.
At Land (1944)
The original shared dream captured in celluloid.
At Land is first and foremost a dream projection. Meaning that, while if it's either surreal or not, what we see is a not the narration of a dream or even the interpretation of a dream; it's the shared experience of a dream. Like, in dreams, you change from one location to another, or the person you are talking to suddenly become somebody else, or a Walt Disney look alike in a bed may be creepy, without any logical reaction to the strange nature of it because while you are dreaming you are just experiencing it, not trying to understand it. I strongly suggest that with this film, in fact, most of Deren's films, to let got to the rational function of "understanding" and just flow with it.
I don't think that most of Lynch or Buñuel's films are really onirical, maybe they are surrealistic on an absourdist level or rich on Jungian symbolism, but in the end, they have a basic narrative structure and usually bring a closure to whatever the film is about. Maya Deren's At Land is not based on rethorical figures or a discernible point; I don't even think there is no explicit symbolism to it (maybe Deren has explained it in some essay, but I haven't read her yet). It's experiencing the whole thing as if we are in Deren's head while she is dreaming. Of course, this implies the alienation of most viewers who may be in need of closure. Few films are successful as shared dreams, Malle's Black Moon or Jean Cocteau's Blood of a Poet come to mind.
Comercially, Kubrick tried and achieved to some extend the share dream with Wide Eyes Shut, but it's only last year's blockbuster Inception the one which has nailed it. Of all the references that are to be found about the excellent Inception, At Land it's the most clear influence, from the beach opening to the dream experience to the search of the totem and getting back to the first "dream layer".
So, even 60 years and something later, Deren is still a truly influential filmmaker
Memorîzu (1995)
The surreal masterpiece of anime
Memories conveys three of the best anime segments ever done, even if so many anime fans don't know about it. The first time I saw Memories in a film festival in 1998 left me with such an impression that I never forgot about it. Now that finally I own the DVD, I can say that it's the same as I remembered: magnificent.
The "Magnetic Rose" segment feels at times like an homage to Kubrick's "2001 : Space Odissey", and now I could say it's a straight antecedent of the sci-fi tendency about the human mind in a simulated space which we have seen in "Dark City", "Matrix", etc. How a simulation program triggers the memories of the explorers and gets mixed with synthetic memories is done in a very intriguing form. The opera music plays a most important role, since it's the soundtrack what gives depth to the happenings here told.
"Stink Bomb" is funny as hell, taking the typical idiot hero in the Nintendo kind of plot (thhink Koji in Mazzinger, or Seya in Knigths of the Zodiac) as for what he should be (an idiot, every day man with the flu) , the story revolves around on the accidental creation of a human stinking bomb who treat hens the whole island of Japan. Real funny in a way most kid's animes aren't.
Finally, "Cannon Fodder" is the segment which I feel is the true masterpiece in this little anthology. A metaphorical world where a country is in a war against an unknown (and probably inexistent) enemy, and how the cannons are not only weapons, but the complete essence of the cultural, economical and social layers of this surreal "totalitarian" country. Some reminiscence of Orwell's 1984 is present, but the execution is really like anything I have ever seen or read before. It's a one shot segment, so I can hardly imagine the size of some background panels and the animation logistics of this. The music accentuates this strange feeling (very much like in Aeon Flux), and the unusual rendering style makes this a little strange jewel, not only from anime, but from all styles of animation.
As I said before, most movie and anime fans don't seem to know, or don't have any memories about this surreal collection of animated storied. I'm glad I'll never forget them.
AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Crap!
The Alien series had a nice symbolic resonance of Joseph Conrad's work, hence the Nostromo and Sulaco references, in which you understand that the Alien is not evil, the Company is the evil and driving force while Ripley is an apostle against the Dragon, as it was referred in the underrated third film. I disliked Resurrection, but it had it's moments, courtesy of resurrected Ripley.
Predator movies don't have that symbolical charge, but they where good in narrating a entertaining suspense/action flick, specially the first one. In comics, both Alien and Predator mythos have been studied and amplified always keeping in mind the scenes of the films.
So...Alien vs Predator: Whatever knowledge,talent and art that Riddley Scott, Dan'Bannon, H.G.Giger, Sigouney Weaver, James Cameron, David Fincher and, heck, even Mcthiernan,( plus lots of talented comic book artists and writers) have aborted to the Alien/Predator mythos it's been reduced to a movie witch most brilliant piece of character thinking is: "Enemy of my enemy...my friend!" Duh.
Not to mention that one of the most terrifying film monsters of all time, the Alien Queen, is put in a Scooby Doo cartoon chase. Studio executives and a very bad director has deliberately killed two of the greater monster/sci-fi pieces of history in exchange for a few bucks.
If you care and admire the work on the geniuses here, DON'T SEE THIS PIECE OF CRAP, because it doesn't even come close to a very unfortunate bad fan copy of their work.
The Longest Day (1962)
Fairly good
Surprisingly, this is a remarkable film. At the begining of it there are
some really dull editing, some efects that just look old and preachy
patriotic and moral discourses. But as the film starts to move into
Normandy, it starts to develop as an inspired epic with tons of
remarkable film making. Some of the happenings decipted here, by their
nature, seem to be real stories of veterans. I hate John Wayne, but even
in this film he fits rigth. The stealer of the show is Richard Burton,
with a great closing dialogue.
Not to be taken as an history lesson (no movie, specially from
Hollywood, should be taken as a such), but instead a great little
ilustration of the incredible and most bloody invasion of modern times.
Equus (1977)
Truly amaizing
Have never seen the so talked about play but for what it´s worth, I think this film is very well done. The intesity of the main character, Alan, and the way it´s portrayed by Peter Firth, is quite disturbing and sometimes it was kind of hard to keep waching the film (the only film I can remember getting me that feeling is A Clockwork Orange, when I was a teen). Not anyone dares to script something like this, futhermore, not anyone dares to act it. The harsh opinion of some people on a work like this is expected, since most people are afraid to have their sterile brain shaken once in a while. After all, this is a very daring film and it demands a reaction from its audience since it deals mainly, I would say, with passion.
Both Peter Firth and Richard Burton give a lesson on acting that every 20 million hollywood superstar should pay atention too. So, if you want some entertaiment that have a warm feeling and makes feel you good, go see Pirates of the Caribean. Equus has the power to disturb and transfixate its audience, this is truly an art film.
Baba Yaga (1973)
Understand`s Crepax work, but executed in the worst way.
First, I must say I`m a big fan of the recently deceased Guido Crepax`s work and have readed and studied most of it, including the storyline Baba Yaga for the Valentina saga. Just after I have seen the movie for the first time, I´m a little perplexed on how wrong an adaptation it turned out to be. Farina (in "Valentina and I", included in the DVD) tells he was a very good friend of Crepax himself, he really seemed to understand the linguistical narrative that Crepax does in his fumettos, and he had the firm intention of doing the best adaptation posible of the Baba Yaga storyline (trying to avoid bad results as Modesty Blaise and Barbarella). Then, how in hell has the movie ended being so bad (as those same movies he refers to)? While there are some interesting aproximations (the photomontage used directly from a layout of the fumetto) and intertext to the work of Crepax (some pages of Bianca are readed by Valentina and Arno, or the including of Crepax himself as a character) the feeling of it all its just wrong. First, athmosphere is not that of a terror movie as is promoted, but is more like a campy pop sixties feel, including music and the cinematography. Second, Isabelle de Funes was the worst actress they could have choosen to play Valentina: she´s not sexy nor ludic nor naive; she inspires boredom, not seduction. Tough the plot is faithfull (most part of it, anyway, Rembrant, the long time and true Valentina`s lover, is replaced by Arno Treves, a existing character in the saga but from another storyline), it is rendered in the most boring and unimaginative way a director could. I conclude, that tough Farina understand´s the linguistic mechanics of Crepax`s fumetto, he is a bad director and can`t help it (prove is, that he only did two feature films, this being his second). R
Dragonslayer (1981)
Best stop animation ever done
I remember waching this movie as a kid, and I always remembered it a simple story of the people in need for a wizard to take down a dragon. I also have always remembered the dragon as the most asthonishing creature I ever seen in a move. Now, that I got to see it again, I found myself surprised by two facts: 1) The plot is fairly simple, but the connotations on it are far out complex. It beats me its a dragon and wizards tale in a cristhian world. It plays for interest contrast, the most would be the priest who is telling the dragon is no beast, its Lucifer himself (and shortly after been burned by him/it). Another scene shows a priest preaching the faith of the lord and asking him to destroy their sworn enemy, the dragon. 2) The dragon is by far the best stop animation creature ever created and as a creature itself is better than other modern incarnations of the beast like the ones seen in "Dragonheart" and "Reing of fire". Phil Tippet really outdid himself doing this dragon. Each scene the dragon apears is compeling, gripping and unforgeteable. In comparision, I enjoyed a little bit more Dragonheart because of its richer characters and more mythologic aproach to the dragon, but Dragonslayer is a real classic on wizards.
Repo Man (1984)
Best punk movie ever
Today most part of culture is based in consume: we are what we dress, what we drink, what we eat. The punk scene started more that twenty years ago because the young and bold realized this, unfurtunately, we still are what we consume. Repo-man is the best picture I´ve seen that resembles the punk sesibilities of "no future" and "anarchy" and its no wonder Alex Cox later directed Sid and Nancy. In this movie you can find that ugly stetic, nihilistic breath and the wasted youth of the young people who crashes to the capitalistic jaws of a system understood by few. This is one hell of a movie, and 18 years later after being being made, it ended being profetic. In fact,1999`s Figth Club seems to me like Repo Man updated, and the X-files and MIB are previewed here. Repo Man is a brave masterpiece on the "no future"
Bravo Two Zero (1999)
precursory for Black Hawk Down
For being a BBC tv movie, Bravo Two Zero is remarkable in capturing the extreme situation of eigth SAS british soldiers in Irak during Desert Storm. One could think this movie was done after Ridley Scott`s Black Hawk Down since there are lots of similarities in the aproach of filming a very desperate war situation, wich is based on a true history, but this one was made first, and I dont have any doubts that Ridley Scott saw this one a couple of times for reference. Sean Bean´s role as Andy McNab is awesome, he delivers as usual. I´m still surprised that this is a tv movie.