I've been waiting to encounter a movie that I didn't really have much to say about. The Burrowers is a fine movie and I would never tell anyone not to watch it, but it just didn't give me much to think about story-wise or message-wise. It's an hour and half horror Western. Think The Searchers but instead of the Comanche killing the family and taking the girl, our protagonists assume Indians were responsible for the massacre and pursue them (I believe it's the Utes in The Burrowers) instead of the creatures that live underground. Maybe the moral of The Burrowers is "Never assume because it makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me.'"
Lost fans will be happy to see William Mapother in a major role. Genre fans will be excited to see Clancy Brown because Clancy Brown is awesome in everything and should be a huge star (and was also on Lost, come to think of it). There are times when The Burrowers does feel like an epic Western with impressive shots of people riding horses across the prairies and appropriately sweeping music playing. The movie loses that a bit towards the end, but it was nice to look at, though the whole look of the movie suffers from post-production tampering (why can't people just get the lighting right when they shoot it? This post-production color alteration must stop). Along similar lines, it may be easier to create CG monsters and use CG gore, but it looks terrible! Doesn't anyone care about the craft? There are methods that have been in place for 30 years that yield better results than crappy CG.
Even at 96 minutes, The Burrowers feels long. I attribute it to the fact that Clancy Brown leaves the film about halfway through and we're left without his awesome presence for the rest. There's a a sense that we're just running over the same old ground. Perhaps if the viewer was kept in the dark about what was really going on so we're trying to figure things out while the characters are the film would have had a stronger hook. As it stands... meh.
Showing posts with label western. Show all posts
Showing posts with label western. Show all posts
Friday, October 14, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Heaven's Gate
I probably would've been content never seeing Heaven's Gate and just referencing it as a historical mess. One that almost ruined a studio. But my workplace, The Hollywood Theatre, was showing a 35mm print the past few days, so I figured if I'm ever going to see it, on a big screen in 35 was the way to do it.
There's a good movie in there somewhere. Perhaps contained in what was shot. At its core, the story is quite arresting. Two men love the same woman, a madame who takes stolen cattle as payment for her and her girls services. She ends up on a hit list along with most of the town. One of her lovers has been tracking down people on this list.
There's potential for an awful lot of conflict there and in many ways I admire the film. There is a tremendous sense of place with the sets feeling authentic and, more importantly, bustling with life. Much like McCabe and Mrs. Miller (also shot by Vilmos Zsigmond), Heaven's Gate lacks the romanticized feel of many westerns; you feel like you have to wipe your feet watching everyone tromp through the mud. There's some beautiful imagery and nice performances, so why doesn't it work? I'm inclined to forget about the many controversies surrounding Heaven's Gate (discussions about animal cruelty and budget overruns aren't very productive when trying to evaluate a films merits) in trying answer that question.
First, I want to make it clear that Heaven's Gate isn't nearly as bad as its reputation. I think the critical reception has as a lot to do with people wanting to get their licks in on an already notorious film (interestingly, readers of Empire voted it the 6th worst film of all time, but on IMDb it has just under 5,000 user ratings suggesting that perhaps people are voting based on reputation alone). Christopher Walken's climactic scene is phenomenal. Actually, nearly all of the post-intermission film is worthwhile. It's getting there that's a slough.
The film opens at a Harvard graduation (note: there is a lot cut out from this scene) where we meet several of the men with whom we'll be spending quite a lot of time. This preface to the story reminds me a lot of the wedding in The Deer Hunter except without anything of importance being set up. The only thing really established is that Jim (Kris Kristofferson), Billy (John Hurt), and Frank (Sam Waterston) graduated from Harvard together. That and Jim liked a girl in college. The film takes around twenty or so minutes to set that up and it doesn't really matter much in terms of the rest of the story (apparently the studio let Cimino shoot it for $3 million in England after principle photography was finished, which is crazy to me). In fact, the only thing to come out of this is paid off in the equally useless epilogue where it turns out Jim was married the whole time to his college sweetheart. It adds a nice irony to his anger about Ella's (Isabelle Huppert) desire for two men, but that comes through pretty clearly with the photograph by Jim's bed. By excising the prologue and epilogue, the film loses about 30 minutes of run time without hurting the narrative remotely.
We head to Wyoming twenty years later and are introduced to a mightily impressive set and we ease into the action (and ease is a polite way of saying it). I'll admit to drifting in and out of consciousness during these scenes and frankly, I didn't miss anything. Bloated is the perfect term for why Heaven's Gate doesn't always work. Scenes go on well past their expiration date. Spectacle becomes the order of the day. As nice as this scene looks (followed up by the embedded clip), it doesn't really serve much purpose (and why is it in sepia?). We already know the town is close.
In the first hour and fifty minutes, there's probably around thirty to forty minutes of useful footage. As I said, the film picks up after the intermission and I'd be content to leave most of that in. Sure, it's still bloated, but at least it's action. The shootouts reminded me of Peckinpah, which is never a bad thing.
One minor annoyance was the use of The Blue Danube Waltz in the soundtrack (played by a lone acoustic guitar). That song is completely linked to 2001: A Space Odyssey in my head that every time I heard it, I was distracted, and you hear it a lot. I can't really fathom why composer, David Mansfield, would choose a song already associated with another film, especially one so popular. At least he was good at roller skating and fiddling at the same time.
Say whatever you will about the methods of Cimino (allegedly he tore down the town only to have it rebuilt because he thought the streets weren't wide enough), when the dust has settled, there's something remarkable about the accomplishments of him and his crew. A studio may have been nearly destroyed, but their craftsmanship stands as a testament to their incredible work. In the end, the film is the thing. If it doesn't get finished, then all was for nothing (the same can be said of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen). Studios have to keep their eyes on the bottom line, but trying to craft a motion picture purely for big opening weekends is missing the point. Films are not brief moments in time. They have a life beyond that weekend. Some age well, some don't, but playing it safe will never yield more than fleeting notoriety. Sure, Heaven's Gate is a mess, but that's what makes it interesting.
As a final note, I think it would be interesting to try to edit the footage available to see if one can make a good 1.5 to 2 hour movie out of it.
There's a good movie in there somewhere. Perhaps contained in what was shot. At its core, the story is quite arresting. Two men love the same woman, a madame who takes stolen cattle as payment for her and her girls services. She ends up on a hit list along with most of the town. One of her lovers has been tracking down people on this list.
There's potential for an awful lot of conflict there and in many ways I admire the film. There is a tremendous sense of place with the sets feeling authentic and, more importantly, bustling with life. Much like McCabe and Mrs. Miller (also shot by Vilmos Zsigmond), Heaven's Gate lacks the romanticized feel of many westerns; you feel like you have to wipe your feet watching everyone tromp through the mud. There's some beautiful imagery and nice performances, so why doesn't it work? I'm inclined to forget about the many controversies surrounding Heaven's Gate (discussions about animal cruelty and budget overruns aren't very productive when trying to evaluate a films merits) in trying answer that question.
First, I want to make it clear that Heaven's Gate isn't nearly as bad as its reputation. I think the critical reception has as a lot to do with people wanting to get their licks in on an already notorious film (interestingly, readers of Empire voted it the 6th worst film of all time, but on IMDb it has just under 5,000 user ratings suggesting that perhaps people are voting based on reputation alone). Christopher Walken's climactic scene is phenomenal. Actually, nearly all of the post-intermission film is worthwhile. It's getting there that's a slough.
The film opens at a Harvard graduation (note: there is a lot cut out from this scene) where we meet several of the men with whom we'll be spending quite a lot of time. This preface to the story reminds me a lot of the wedding in The Deer Hunter except without anything of importance being set up. The only thing really established is that Jim (Kris Kristofferson), Billy (John Hurt), and Frank (Sam Waterston) graduated from Harvard together. That and Jim liked a girl in college. The film takes around twenty or so minutes to set that up and it doesn't really matter much in terms of the rest of the story (apparently the studio let Cimino shoot it for $3 million in England after principle photography was finished, which is crazy to me). In fact, the only thing to come out of this is paid off in the equally useless epilogue where it turns out Jim was married the whole time to his college sweetheart. It adds a nice irony to his anger about Ella's (Isabelle Huppert) desire for two men, but that comes through pretty clearly with the photograph by Jim's bed. By excising the prologue and epilogue, the film loses about 30 minutes of run time without hurting the narrative remotely.
We head to Wyoming twenty years later and are introduced to a mightily impressive set and we ease into the action (and ease is a polite way of saying it). I'll admit to drifting in and out of consciousness during these scenes and frankly, I didn't miss anything. Bloated is the perfect term for why Heaven's Gate doesn't always work. Scenes go on well past their expiration date. Spectacle becomes the order of the day. As nice as this scene looks (followed up by the embedded clip), it doesn't really serve much purpose (and why is it in sepia?). We already know the town is close.
In the first hour and fifty minutes, there's probably around thirty to forty minutes of useful footage. As I said, the film picks up after the intermission and I'd be content to leave most of that in. Sure, it's still bloated, but at least it's action. The shootouts reminded me of Peckinpah, which is never a bad thing.
One minor annoyance was the use of The Blue Danube Waltz in the soundtrack (played by a lone acoustic guitar). That song is completely linked to 2001: A Space Odyssey in my head that every time I heard it, I was distracted, and you hear it a lot. I can't really fathom why composer, David Mansfield, would choose a song already associated with another film, especially one so popular. At least he was good at roller skating and fiddling at the same time.
Say whatever you will about the methods of Cimino (allegedly he tore down the town only to have it rebuilt because he thought the streets weren't wide enough), when the dust has settled, there's something remarkable about the accomplishments of him and his crew. A studio may have been nearly destroyed, but their craftsmanship stands as a testament to their incredible work. In the end, the film is the thing. If it doesn't get finished, then all was for nothing (the same can be said of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen). Studios have to keep their eyes on the bottom line, but trying to craft a motion picture purely for big opening weekends is missing the point. Films are not brief moments in time. They have a life beyond that weekend. Some age well, some don't, but playing it safe will never yield more than fleeting notoriety. Sure, Heaven's Gate is a mess, but that's what makes it interesting.
As a final note, I think it would be interesting to try to edit the footage available to see if one can make a good 1.5 to 2 hour movie out of it.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Weekly Film Rec: McCabe and Mrs. Miller
I've finally decided to class this place up. There's another film I had in mind for this spot, but it shall wait for another day. This week, I'm going with Robert Altman's revisionist (if there is such a thing) western, McCabe and Mrs. Miller.
Before I get started, I feel like I'm in the minority of people who neither loves nor loathes the works of Altman. I've been on all points of the spectrum, but it seems most fall on one side or the other. He's done films I'll never see (A Prairie Home Companion, mainly because I don't like the radio show), films I hate (Nashville. I know, it's a crime) and films I love (MASH).
McCabe and Mrs. Miller started out in the Nashville category, rambling and rather dull. The only thing of note was the excellent use of Leonard Cohen's music. At about the halfway point, the McCabe started hooking me in. A plot began to form and a started noticing the performances, particularly Warren Beatty's. I kind of admire him for taking his fair share of leading man roles where he has a fairly large and emasculating character trait. His "I've got poetry in me" soliloquy is pretty fantastic, too.
Altman does little to make the West look appealing. I put a sweatshirt on while watching looking at all of those people bundled up in giant fur coats walking around 3 foot high drifts of snow (OK, my house was pretty chilly, too). The mud practically cakes on the screen and one wonders why anyone bothered dressing nicely back then. And, of course, you've got the crazy people just itching to shoot you for any reason (there's one particularly gut-wrenching moment in mind, both for it's cruelty and I was sad to see the actor go).
The ending is perfect. Emotions run high and low. Altman's old West isn't about good guys and bad guys. It's about a town that goes on regardless of anyone's big plans. He hints at a hundred different stories that could've been told in this same town (OK, maybe a bit less than a hundred), but he told about McCabe and Mrs. Miller. And it's a bittersweet tale.
Before I get started, I feel like I'm in the minority of people who neither loves nor loathes the works of Altman. I've been on all points of the spectrum, but it seems most fall on one side or the other. He's done films I'll never see (A Prairie Home Companion, mainly because I don't like the radio show), films I hate (Nashville. I know, it's a crime) and films I love (MASH).
McCabe and Mrs. Miller started out in the Nashville category, rambling and rather dull. The only thing of note was the excellent use of Leonard Cohen's music. At about the halfway point, the McCabe started hooking me in. A plot began to form and a started noticing the performances, particularly Warren Beatty's. I kind of admire him for taking his fair share of leading man roles where he has a fairly large and emasculating character trait. His "I've got poetry in me" soliloquy is pretty fantastic, too.
Altman does little to make the West look appealing. I put a sweatshirt on while watching looking at all of those people bundled up in giant fur coats walking around 3 foot high drifts of snow (OK, my house was pretty chilly, too). The mud practically cakes on the screen and one wonders why anyone bothered dressing nicely back then. And, of course, you've got the crazy people just itching to shoot you for any reason (there's one particularly gut-wrenching moment in mind, both for it's cruelty and I was sad to see the actor go).
The ending is perfect. Emotions run high and low. Altman's old West isn't about good guys and bad guys. It's about a town that goes on regardless of anyone's big plans. He hints at a hundred different stories that could've been told in this same town (OK, maybe a bit less than a hundred), but he told about McCabe and Mrs. Miller. And it's a bittersweet tale.
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