My Own Personal Film Festival

Good Friday was indeed good for me. I had the day off from work and a chance to get caught up on some movies in "the stack". Here are some quick hits on some flicks I watched:

THE WEATHERMAN:

This film surprised me. I was not expecting such an honest depressing movie about life from Hollywood. It was not over the top, and not very sugar coated. I guess that's why it never came out for so long and why ultimately no one saw it. I think that over time this will become a nice little cult flick that people will discover and latch onto. The film is about Nic Cage who is a successful weatherman in wintry Chicago who while dealing with his divorce finds his kids in all sorts of deviant trouble. His father played by Michael Caine is hilarious as a man who is even more successful than he is, and although he doesn't shove it in his son's face, you can feel the tension when they are together. Nothing ever goes right for Cage's character, and it's primarily because nothing in his life is real. He is not really a "weatherman" per se. He just reads what the teleprompter says from the meterologist. And that is pretty much the way he spends his life and people take advantage of that making his life less than bearable. But by listening and interacting with his kids he finds himself and his confidence again. For a a Hollywood movie this is a rare kind of film. Check it out if you get a chance.

DOMINO:

Well this is maybe the opposite of the above mentioned film. A good attempt, but considering the subject matter a failed one I think. Domino is a Tony Scott film that tries for over the top greatness, but just never quite makes it. This is a violent almost comic book style film about actor Lawrence Harvey's model turned bounty hunter daughter named Domino Harvey. The focus here is about her times with the bounty hunters, and their adventures. But where this movie lost me was its attempt to bring reality into the mix with making it a reality TV show and bringing in people from 90210 playing themselves. I was really into Mickey Rourke's character and that just got shelved for a Lifetime movie subplot to be honest. I fast forwarded through the Jerry Springer part. It added nothing. And for all the cool shots and quick editing I was all but pretty much disappointed. I think the Domino character was fascinating as well but she gets lost in the subplots. What a shame. I have heard that she was quite upset about the movie before she died last year. I think that reason may have made the better flick.

CRY_WOLF

Hommie Jon recommended this to me, so I gave a spin. I think I saw the Unrated version, but I'm not entirely sure. And I must concur with Jon that although I don't know if I liked it as much, it was not half bad. As far as low-budget Scream-esque teen stalker flicks go, this was pretty decent. I'm not going to spend too much time on it, just check out Jon's review here.

RUNNING TIME

A friend at work gave me this to check out a few months ago. It's a film shot in real time about a guy Bruce Campbell who gets out jail and immediately goes to rob a bank. Then of course things go bad and Bruce has to sort things out. I liked the concept and the Black and White photography. It reminded me of a Sam Fuller movie with the dialog. It's short running time at about 63 minutes I think is what ultimately hurts it. I wish they had tried to go all in one take like Figgis did in Timeode and Hotel. They give you the illusion it is, but there are cuts to be found as you would expect in film. Overall its a nice little flick and kudos to Ash Campbell for doing it. At times it has the charm of a student film, and its nice to see Bruce helping out the little guys again. So I would recommend this only if you are looking to watch some good experimental old school heist flicks. And who isn't!

THE WARRIORS: DIRECTOR'S CUT

Never seen this before in my life. And I am a major fan of director Walter Hill's work. I dug this movie, and I am kicking myself for not seeing it earlier. This is about a bunch of gangs that all band together in New York to take over the city. However the main leader is assassinated during the gang rally as it were, and in all the hoopla following the gang known as The Warriors are blamed. So now with not only the cops after them they have 60,000 gang members on their tail as they make there way home to Coney Island. Considering when this was made, its a pretty bold film. Hill chose to do it in a slightly futuristic over the top style. It feels like a graphic novel, and in the new directors cut he ups that feel substantially by transistioning the scenes with comic book panels. Fluid move that felt like Death Wish apocalypse. I really feel in love with this classic, and I can see why it has stood the test of time.

THE BROTHERS GRIMM

Ah new Terry Gilliam! Rejoice. I think like The Weatherman above that this film over time will indeed find it's audience. It's not true Gilliam I guess, but it's a nice little film. Gilliam feels a little restrained here as he tackles all the Grimm fairy tales and tries to tie them all together. Maybe not the best idea, but a good attempt at best. Matt Damon and Heath "Bar" Ledger play the Grimm brothers who run the country scheming local villagers as real life Ghostbusters if you will that will writes down in his story book as a potential book of tales. One day they come across a real life haunting and have to utilize all there skills that have to this point been only for show. The effects here are a mix of traditional and CG. Some of the CG effects leave a lot to be desired. Monica Belucci plays the evil witch they do battle with at the end. And in the Gilliam world it's hard to see where this one fits in. At times I would say Damon is horribly miscast. Ledger is fine, but they both seem out of place in the usual ugly world of Gilliam. Jonathan Pryce is great a French general in occupied Germany. And look for Garreth from the BBC version of The Office as the Grimm's assistant. There are some classic Gilliam visuals here, but it feels like half a Gilliam movie. There is a commentary track on the disc, that I flipped on here and there. It might be more interesting to watch this movie again with his commentary to get his take on it. Overall if you are Gilliam fan or Grimm fan go for it!

INITIAL-D

This is a Hong Kong flick I've had laying around for a while. It's based on the popular manga from Japan of the same name. For all of you that don't know what Initial D is, the D stands for drifting. Drifting is a popular form of street racing in Asia, and will probably be here too after Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift comes out. In the meantime we have the greatness of Initial D to keep us company. You see Drifting is when you take a sharp turn at say 100mph and slide successfully through the turn. Brilliant. But hey the kids are all doing it, why can't we? So Inital D is about a kid who works at a gas station and delivers Soy at night down this long twisty mountain favored by kids in street cars into drifting. His dad a former racer hooks him up with this great car for drifting and he begins to race pro drifters. I think you know the rest. Although the Adrian of the "Rocky" formula here turns out to be a prostitute for reasons beyond my comprehension. So if you are into "drfting" get this movie now. Seriously though themovie does have some incredible race sequences. Cars were not meant for this, but somehow they are. McQueen would be a fan.