Subject: How Los Angeles is portrayed in movies
Director: Thom Andersen
Los Angeles Plays Itself is a remarkable chronicling of Los Angeles's history through the films that are set there. What do directors focus on about the LA landscape? What do they tend to leave out? What landmarks are often shooting locations? What kind of sociopolitical commentary can we gin up from their choices?
Los Angeles Plays Itself has the difficulty of overcoming its idiosyncratic narrator - it's unclear exactly what his thesis is or how much of his documentary's opinions we should attribute to mere taste. There's a lot of interesting points made about life in LA through film - the fact that there are several locations around town that appear from the outside to be regular businesses but that function only as film sets is certainly an unnerving commitment to unreality. With his final conclusion built around the greatness of Los Angeles set Neorealistic films - a genre I certainly enjoy, but I recognize its fundamental boringness - it's clear that this person wants something different out of film than most of us.
Friday, December 25, 2015
Django Unchained - 2012 - 3 Stars
Actors: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz
Director: Quentin Tarantino
It's neat to see a film where you think 'Only one person could have made this movie.' Django Unchained is a singular vision, a whirlwind of constant motion and violence. Beyond that, Tarantino is still a master of creating tension through dialogue and dramatic irony. He is also not a master of reining himself in - 150 minutes of this near-mythical story hung on characters who are barely 2 dimensional is certainly a nod to Leone and Peckinpah, but not a good one. The film loses all tension in the final 20 minutes as the film glories in its own ethos some more.
Part of me finds Quentin Tarantino the person so amusing that when I see a really creative setpiece in one of his films, I just imagine him excitedly explaining it to whoever's around him.
Director: Quentin Tarantino
It's neat to see a film where you think 'Only one person could have made this movie.' Django Unchained is a singular vision, a whirlwind of constant motion and violence. Beyond that, Tarantino is still a master of creating tension through dialogue and dramatic irony. He is also not a master of reining himself in - 150 minutes of this near-mythical story hung on characters who are barely 2 dimensional is certainly a nod to Leone and Peckinpah, but not a good one. The film loses all tension in the final 20 minutes as the film glories in its own ethos some more.
Part of me finds Quentin Tarantino the person so amusing that when I see a really creative setpiece in one of his films, I just imagine him excitedly explaining it to whoever's around him.
The Kid Stays In The Picture - 2002 - No Rating
Subject: The life of producer Robert Evans
Director: Nanette Burstein, Brett Morgen
Is the Robert Evans documentary good? You betcha. Does it rely too much on Robert Evans ridiculous narration style? Oh yeah. Is it still fascinating because it covers a rise to prominence that is probably impossible in today's corporate, dollars-first cinema world? Can't say that it doesn't.
The Kid Stays In The Picture assembles a impressive amount of photos, newspaper headlines, and archival footage to build around Robert Evans' absurd narration of his own life. Some of the stories are both amazing and amazingly told - if you want to hear about film in the 1970s, this is a good place to start. Are some of the stories here clearly false? You know it. Do you enjoy hearing them anyway? You betcha.
Director: Nanette Burstein, Brett Morgen
Is the Robert Evans documentary good? You betcha. Does it rely too much on Robert Evans ridiculous narration style? Oh yeah. Is it still fascinating because it covers a rise to prominence that is probably impossible in today's corporate, dollars-first cinema world? Can't say that it doesn't.
The Kid Stays In The Picture assembles a impressive amount of photos, newspaper headlines, and archival footage to build around Robert Evans' absurd narration of his own life. Some of the stories are both amazing and amazingly told - if you want to hear about film in the 1970s, this is a good place to start. Are some of the stories here clearly false? You know it. Do you enjoy hearing them anyway? You betcha.
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