Movies:
Margot at the Wedding - Thumbs down. Already said enough about it here.
No Blood For Oil - You can read my earlier review here. When I picked my wife up from the airport this morning she asked how it was. I said, "Good. I'll see it again with you. It doesn't really pay off on all its promise."
The Scar - Kieslowski's first film is about a factory being built in a Polish town. It's very good. The beginning of his hybrid of documentary and narrative techniques. I was very interested in the party politics and its intersection with the main character's family. Kieslowski is such the master of interweaving the external world and the personal.
Control - I've gushed about this film before. I found myself a little bored in some of the relationship scenes the second time through. I wouldn't say that's a fault of the film, but my own lack of patience. Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed it nearly as much as the first time.
Treasure Island - Charming. Watched it with my son. The actor playing Long John Silver was awesome.
Young Mr. Lincoln - For as stilted and formal as this John Ford historical biography was, it was captivating. I got a little caught up in the courtroom drama. Henry Fonda really looked like Abe Lincoln and was charming.
Return of the Secaucus Seven - The acting in this film as so incredibly mannered. The actors shouted and talked at each other relentlessly. I liked the look of it. The DVD was damaged and kept skipping so I gave up on it after awhile.
The War Photographer - It's a doc about acclaimed war photographer James Nachtwey. The two really annoying things about it in the first ten minutes are the cheesy composite effect where they put his camera and finger in front of the movie camera and the coverage of the German news magazine editors that are essentially marketing the war coverage. Both are pretty appalling and make the film almost impossible for me to watch at first. But I stayed with it and went on the journey from Kosovo to Rwanda, on to Indonesia, to Palestine and to the US.
He claims that many of his strongest images don't make it into mainstream publications because advertisers don't like their products appearing to such grim images.
Nachtwey seems more interested in the effects of war on civilian: famine, catastrophe, brutality, poverty. I appreciate that perspective. Overall the film is an intimate portrait of a storyteller that's been on the front lines for twenty years capturing both the story he tells and the effect on his psyche.
One-Eyed Jacks - Marlon Brando stars in the only film he ever directed. It's long. And yet incomplete. It has its moments of brilliance. It has many more moments of mediocrity. You can't go wrong watching the performances of Brando and Karl Malden. The DVD transfer was awful, making for a washed-out, grainy picture.
The Good German - I heard this was a stinker and if it weren't directed by Soderbergh, I wouldn't have bothered. My overall impression was like, Oh look Soderbergh does Classic Hollywood style, too! He's such the film geek pasticher. And that's about it, a style exercise. That said, I love Cate Blanchett. I'm totally hot for in her in a lusty way, yet she eludes my crush by disappearing into role after role. Maybe its her artistry that turns me on. Clooney, on the other hand, is blessed and cursed with that voice and that manner. I like him, but I almost always know he's George Clooney. (I think that's why I loved Michael Clayton so much.) And Tobey Maguire. Ugh. Unless I'm taking my son to see SpiderMan, I don't want to see that guy.
Books:
I didn't read much this past week as I had my hands and head full of parenting. I started The Rest Is Noise - Listening to the 20th century by Alex Ross. It's a very good music history book with lots of political and cultural history. I appreciate the explanations of music theory.
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