I've been embarrassingly absent in writing this month and lord knows the end of the month is going to be a wash. Stupid Christmas. Why must you interrupt my blogging!
If I'm going to keep doing Netflix Roundups, I'm going to have to change my methods. I'm not watching nearly as many movies a week as I used to so waiting to have a collection takes a while and I forget stuff about the earlier movies. For instance, I know I had lots to say about Seed People, but at this point, you're all going to miss out on those brain babies.
Fortunately, since I've finally pulled out of the horror onslaught, the movies got better. It's a shock, I know.
The Osterman Weekend -- Sam Peckinpah
My basic reaction to The Osterman Weekend is that it wasted an awesome cast: Rutger Hauer, John Hurt, Christ Sarandon, Dennis Hopper, Burt Lancaster, and Craig T. Nelson (for some reason, it's always weird for me to remember that he had a career before Coach). I'd mention the women in the movie, but it's Peckinpah and so they barely matter (I'm only half joking). The movie is supposed to be a conspiracy thriller, but there's little that's thrilling about it. Most of the time, people are just talking about the past. I'd rather see that stuff than the conspiracy stuff. It makes some sense that this is Peckinpah's last film since directors are rarely much more than serviceable at the end of their careers. I do wish that I'd watched the documentary about the making of the movie, Alpha to Omega: Exposing The Osterman Weekend, on the DVD. It sounds pretty cool.
Seed People -- Peter Manoogian
From Charles Band's (Puppet Master) production company Full Moon Entertainment and written by the man himself, Seed People is everything you'd expect. Bad acting, bizarre plot, and silly puppetry. There isn't much memorable about the movie (except I think I remember finding one of the actresses attractive). But, as with most of Band's movies, it seems like it was fun to make. Maybe it's the part of me that regrets not making my own special effects when I was younger and that's been fantasizing about working at Jim Henson's Creature Shop, but I had a lot of fun watching the seed people roll around and seeing the design of each one, which is really the only reason to watch Band's movies.
Bacchanales sexuelles -- Jean Rollin
I have no idea why I put this on my queue. The only thoughts running through my head were related to how pointless and ridiculous soft core porn is. Seriously, what's the point in having a seven minute sex scene where the man is thrusting into the belly button of a woman (because, god forbid they accidentally rub genitals while they are simulating sex) and everyone is seeming to have a good time with this except to pad out the run time to a terrible, nonsensical movie? It's watching movies like this where I think back to my thirteen year old self and wonder what his reaction would be to the movie and to my lack of interest. "What are you doing!?!?! BOOBS! Right there! Look at the screen, you fool! GAAAAAAAHHHHHH!' Something like that, I think.
King of New York -- Abel Ferrara
This is my first Abel Ferrara movie and I've got to say, I need to check out more. King of New York rules! This is the type of Christopher Walken I was hoping for in The Prophecy, constantly awesome and constantly present. The man is designed to play a king pin. The cast is stacked, but I'll let you be surprised by everyone who is in it who became incredibly well-known. I'm also very happy that the first link. It won't let me embed and there may be an add before you watch it, but this clip is when I knew I loved this movie.
Heathers -- Michael Lehmann
Heathers has a pretty substantial reputation (Entertainment Weekly ranked it #5 on its list of Best High School Movies). The cult is strong and I was afraid that since I didn't drink the Kool Aid years earlier, it might be too late for me to join (in this scenario, the Kool Aid is for initiation purposes [maybe they peed in it], not killing purposes [or killing porpoises]). There are definitely aspects about Heathers that drive me nuts. It feels like Diablo Cody cribbed some of her dialogue stylings from this movie and Christian Slater couldn't be more obnoxious doing his Jack Nicholson impression. But the satire is strong in Heathers. It's well-observed and the dreamlike style suites the subject matter. Nearly every character is a caricature, but not so much so that the viewer can't relate to the various high school experiences. In fact, the heightened level of reality goes quite well with the heightened teenage emotions. The ending kind of falls apart, but Heathers definitely deserves its reputation. Now, if only Stanley Kubrick had directed like writer Daniel Waters desired. I'd love to see his take on the high school comedy. Kubrick wouldn't have even had to drop another film in lieu of this one since his next movie was Eyes Wide Shut.
Together -- Lukas Moodysson
Fuck Together. Here's why. The movie starts off just like any other stupid personal drama except it takes place in a commune just after Franco is killed. There's a sister that comes to live at the commune with her children because her husband hit her. I hate this type of movie. Then, dammit, I started to care about what happens in the movie! Seriously, what the fuck? Together (Tillsammans in Swedish, which automatically became my favorite Swedish word) is basically plotless, following a large group of people who exist in one space and how their relationships with each other shift. I was set to hate the movie in the first ten minutes and I blame Gustaf Hammarsten for sucking me in because his portrayal of Goren is amazing. He looks like the kind of guy you just want to hug for being a sweetheart but you can see his true feelings in his eyes and it breaks your heart. Ultimately, Together is one of those movies that doesn't drag the viewer down to build them back up. It's realistic relationships that are like any other friendly relationships. Ups and downs, but overall, everyone understands each other's perspective. It's a movie that is designed to make you feel good about humankind with soccer being the ultimate sign of togetherness. You can't help but smile in the end. And I HATE soccer. Fuck Together. It made me feel... emotions.
United 93 -- Paul Greengrass
Speaking of feeling emotions... I'm one of those people who's more cynical about 9/11 than anything else. I see those "We Will Never Forget" stickers and whatnot and think "No shit. Way to be proud about not forgetting when the planes flew into the World Trade Center. Good for you." I hate that 9/11 became a political device and I hate the turn the country took in the aftermath. I didn't lose anyone on that day and if I know anyone who did, they haven't told me. Watching United 93 (and World Trade Center months ago), my reaction almost feels like a defense mechanism. It's hard not to get misty returning to that day, sitting in my dorm room watching the events unfold, talking on AIM with friends, before heading out to Organic Chemistry because they hadn't canceled classes yet (seriously, could the day get any worse). I'll always remember it was a Tuesday because I had my Extended Orientation class that day where we talked about it.
So yeah, United 93 is a tough watch, but it's amazing. I'm kind of fascinated by the structure because it's not at all about character or narrative arcs. Everyone knows what's going to happen even though you still hope the people on 93 will be able to pull up out of the dive at the last minute. The movie many of the points of view from before any of the hijackings to the crash. It's like watching a giant game of telephone where people hear tidbits at a time of what's happening and there's an ominous feeling when it cuts to flight 93 after the planes hit the World Trade Center and they don't know anything about it. This method of communication continues on the flight when they pass on information to each other a row at a time. It's thrilling to watch.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about United 93 is that it didn't make the hijackers into vacant bad guys. They are people and feel nervous before moving and don't have everything under control and are scared and paranoid. The viewer may not sympathize with them, but we can understand what they are feeling.
United 93 is terrific and intense. If I have one complaint, it's the score. I feel that they should have dropped it altogether to match the realism the image is going for. Scores enhance drama, but the drama here doesn't need that. A dynamic use of sound design could have done just as well. That's a minor complaint since the score certainly didn't detract from the movie. Definitely see it.
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