Tuesday, May 3, 2011
DAY 16, MOVIE 1:
In the Name of the Father (1993), directed by Jim Sheridan. This is based on the true story of an Irish man who is falsely imprisoned for the bombing of a pub. He spends 15 years in prison with his father, as they try to prove their innocence. The movie stars Daniel Day-Lewis as the falsely imprisoned, and as always he gives a great performance. He plays Gerry Conlon the he should have, by portraying him as the far from perfect man he was prior to his conviction, and as a strong fighter for justice once he is thrown into prison with his father. This separates In the Name of the Father from other courtroom dramas about a falsely accused, most times the portrayals of the accused are watered down, in an attempt to make the audience like them (The Hurricane comes to mind), but director Jim Sheridan and Daniel Day-Lewis do not shy away from the fact that Conlon was not a good man before he was a prisoner. The first half of the film was the most interesting, as it followed Conlon in his daily life as he runs from the police, hangs out with hippies, and steals. Then he is suddenly captured by the British police, and is tortured until he confesses to a bombing he didn’t commit, and is sentenced to thirty years in prison. That whole half was very engaging, because the story spent time with this man who delved into who he was. However, once he and his father were sent to prison, that’s where the entertainment value hit a snag. The movie became more like every other prison/courtroom movie. Conlon’s life in prison felt explained, rather than shown. And the courtroom scene at the end was exactly the same as every other movie about a person being proven innocent (lawyers shouting, the judge’s oh-so-dramatic freeing of the defendant, etc.). This was a good movie, and I will say it did deserve its seven Oscar nominations, but due to the lack of going the extra mile in the second half, I’m not surprised it didn’t win anything.
DAY 16, MOVIE 2:
Network (1976), directed by Sidney Lumet. This is one of Lumet’s three best films, as well as one of the greatest films of all time. Network is about a TV news anchor who goes mad, and the network he works capitalizes on his rants and ravings. Even though the events portrayed in this movie are rather fantastic, this movie is not too far from the truth. If you’ve ever wondered the thought process behind TV networks and the news, then just watch Network. Every day this movie becomes more relevant to our time. There are so many aspects of the media that this movie addresses, including: using shock value to grab viewers, overnight successes, squeezing every bit of profit out of a hit, sacrificing actual news for entertainment, disguising corporate agendas as news or entertainment, and of course the influence of the media on the public. This movie blatantly explores society’s enslavement to television, and does a good job at it. When news anchor Howard Beale becomes a raving lunatic ranting about society, everyone listens to what he says. Why? Because he’s on television. One of the most powerful lines in this movie is Beale’s rant about television itself, and how there is an entire generation that gets their “truth” entirely from TV. But as he says, “Television isn’t the truth, it’s an amusement park.” What I’m amazed by with this film is how its still relevant today. The way Beale shouts his political and social viewpoints can be compared to the radio’s Rush Limbaugh. The way people blindly accept Beale’s viewpoints can is very similar to Oprah’s following. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg; I am positive there are hundreds of other parallels between this movie, and people in the media today. So now I think I’m going to end my blogpost of the day with a question to those of you have seen Network: What are some parallels you see between this movie and our society today?
Showing posts with label Sidney Lumet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sidney Lumet. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Day 15: Murder and Drugs
Monday, May 2, 2011
DAY 15, MOVIE 1:
Murder on the Orient Express (1974), directed by Sidney Lumet. This is a Sidney Lumet film I’ve wanted to see for a while. As I said before in a previous blog post, Sidney Lumet is one of my all-time favorite directors, and I hope to see all of his films at some point. Murder on the Orient Express stars Albert Finney (one of my favorite actors) as a detective who investigates a murder on a train. I love a good murder mystery, so watching this seemed like a natural choice. The main plot of the movie is mostly confined to the train, which was fine with me. Lumet has proved once before that he can make an exciting story in a single location with his masterpiece, 12 Angry Men. However, the storytelling was rather basic, and even felt repetitive in the middle. The story consisted mostly of Albert Finney interviewing suspects, and coming to a conclusion of who the murderer is. It’s straight forward, and everything we’ve seen before. The real highlight of this movie is Albert Finney as detective Hercule Poirot. Last week I had said that The Dresser was probably Finney’s best performance, but now I retract that statement. Finney gives a performance unlike any of his other work in Murder on the Orient Express. It is an over-the-top performance, with the accent and loud speaking voice, but that’s what I liked about it. It was Finney’s ostentatious portrayal of the detective that got me through this movie, and I can’t help but think that the film would have been extremely drab without him in the lead role.
DAY 15, MOVIE 2:
American Gangster (2007), directed by Ridley Scott. In my opinion, American Gangster is Ridley Scott’s last good movie. I’ve been a fan of some his work, and he is definitely talented, and I hope he will soon redeem himself from his last two movies. But despite his recent missteps, American Gangster is a very solid film. And even though this film doesn’t add anything new to the crime genre, it is still an example of excellent storytelling and was one of the most entertaining movies of 2007. This movie is based on the true story of drug kingpin Frank Lucas, and the cop trying to bring him down. Director Ridley Scott extracts superb performances from both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe; Washington giving what I think is his best. Much like The Departed, this movie follows two characters on opposite sides of the law, until they meet up at the end. So what we have here is a dual-edged story with some fine performances. As for Scott’s direction, his films are usually highly stylized, but without sacrificing the impact of the story. This time Scott brings his style more down to earth, making for a grittier, truer to life experience. He lets the characters inhabit their characters, so they can give the story the personal touch that’s so important to the overall impact.
DAY 15, MOVIE 1:
Murder on the Orient Express (1974), directed by Sidney Lumet. This is a Sidney Lumet film I’ve wanted to see for a while. As I said before in a previous blog post, Sidney Lumet is one of my all-time favorite directors, and I hope to see all of his films at some point. Murder on the Orient Express stars Albert Finney (one of my favorite actors) as a detective who investigates a murder on a train. I love a good murder mystery, so watching this seemed like a natural choice. The main plot of the movie is mostly confined to the train, which was fine with me. Lumet has proved once before that he can make an exciting story in a single location with his masterpiece, 12 Angry Men. However, the storytelling was rather basic, and even felt repetitive in the middle. The story consisted mostly of Albert Finney interviewing suspects, and coming to a conclusion of who the murderer is. It’s straight forward, and everything we’ve seen before. The real highlight of this movie is Albert Finney as detective Hercule Poirot. Last week I had said that The Dresser was probably Finney’s best performance, but now I retract that statement. Finney gives a performance unlike any of his other work in Murder on the Orient Express. It is an over-the-top performance, with the accent and loud speaking voice, but that’s what I liked about it. It was Finney’s ostentatious portrayal of the detective that got me through this movie, and I can’t help but think that the film would have been extremely drab without him in the lead role.
DAY 15, MOVIE 2:
American Gangster (2007), directed by Ridley Scott. In my opinion, American Gangster is Ridley Scott’s last good movie. I’ve been a fan of some his work, and he is definitely talented, and I hope he will soon redeem himself from his last two movies. But despite his recent missteps, American Gangster is a very solid film. And even though this film doesn’t add anything new to the crime genre, it is still an example of excellent storytelling and was one of the most entertaining movies of 2007. This movie is based on the true story of drug kingpin Frank Lucas, and the cop trying to bring him down. Director Ridley Scott extracts superb performances from both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe; Washington giving what I think is his best. Much like The Departed, this movie follows two characters on opposite sides of the law, until they meet up at the end. So what we have here is a dual-edged story with some fine performances. As for Scott’s direction, his films are usually highly stylized, but without sacrificing the impact of the story. This time Scott brings his style more down to earth, making for a grittier, truer to life experience. He lets the characters inhabit their characters, so they can give the story the personal touch that’s so important to the overall impact.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Day 4: Before the Devil Knows You're Red
Thursday, April 21, 2011
DAY 4, MOVIE 1:
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007), directed by Sidney Lumet. As you may know, director Sidney Lumet has recently passed away. He was one of my favorite directors, and has given us some truly great films in his lifetime. One of those great films was also his last, it is a smaller movie called Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, about two brothers who rob a jewelry store. I saw this movie when it first came out in theaters, and I’m glad I did. The story kept moving, and the acting was excellent all around (especially by Philip Seymour Hoffman). Once the movie starts, it doesn’t stop, the first 90 minutes literally only feel like 45. This is one of those movies really is better when you go in knowing very little about it. My feelings about this movie haven’t really changed over the years. I still think the story is engaging and the acting is top notch. My only complaint with the movie is the ending. Without giving it away, I felt the writer took the easy way out with the ending, especially considering everything that came before it. The ending wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t live up to its fullest potential. I thought the writer and director really wasted an opportunity with the final conversation between Hoffman and Albert Finney. I can’t help but think if they had taken the time to really go into what these characters were thinking, then this great movie could have become a modern classic. That’s unfortunate, but you shouldn’t let that keep you from seeing this movie.
DAY 4, MOVIE 2:
Red (2010), directed by Robert Schwentke. I like Bruce Willis action movies, and I like good action-comedies, but I feel this one doesn’t quite hit the mark. The premise itself is nothing new; a retired black-ops agent must reassemble his old team when their lives are threatened. But with the right director behind the camera, and the right chemistry between cast members can give these tired old premises a fresh energy. Red meets one of those two requirements. The cast is great. Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, and especially John Malkovich are all funny in their own separate ways, but they still all blend together nicely. However, the plot itself feels thrown together; there aren’t any plot twists here that I haven’t seen anywhere else. And the quality of the movie pays for that after all the main characters are introduced. Good chemistry between actors can only keep a movie flowing for so long before weakness of the plot causes the story to cave in on itself. This is a movie I wanted to really like, and I did enjoy it, but there isn’t anything in this movie to make me want to revisit it multiple times.
DAY 4, MOVIE 1:
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007), directed by Sidney Lumet. As you may know, director Sidney Lumet has recently passed away. He was one of my favorite directors, and has given us some truly great films in his lifetime. One of those great films was also his last, it is a smaller movie called Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, about two brothers who rob a jewelry store. I saw this movie when it first came out in theaters, and I’m glad I did. The story kept moving, and the acting was excellent all around (especially by Philip Seymour Hoffman). Once the movie starts, it doesn’t stop, the first 90 minutes literally only feel like 45. This is one of those movies really is better when you go in knowing very little about it. My feelings about this movie haven’t really changed over the years. I still think the story is engaging and the acting is top notch. My only complaint with the movie is the ending. Without giving it away, I felt the writer took the easy way out with the ending, especially considering everything that came before it. The ending wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t live up to its fullest potential. I thought the writer and director really wasted an opportunity with the final conversation between Hoffman and Albert Finney. I can’t help but think if they had taken the time to really go into what these characters were thinking, then this great movie could have become a modern classic. That’s unfortunate, but you shouldn’t let that keep you from seeing this movie.
DAY 4, MOVIE 2:
Red (2010), directed by Robert Schwentke. I like Bruce Willis action movies, and I like good action-comedies, but I feel this one doesn’t quite hit the mark. The premise itself is nothing new; a retired black-ops agent must reassemble his old team when their lives are threatened. But with the right director behind the camera, and the right chemistry between cast members can give these tired old premises a fresh energy. Red meets one of those two requirements. The cast is great. Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, and especially John Malkovich are all funny in their own separate ways, but they still all blend together nicely. However, the plot itself feels thrown together; there aren’t any plot twists here that I haven’t seen anywhere else. And the quality of the movie pays for that after all the main characters are introduced. Good chemistry between actors can only keep a movie flowing for so long before weakness of the plot causes the story to cave in on itself. This is a movie I wanted to really like, and I did enjoy it, but there isn’t anything in this movie to make me want to revisit it multiple times.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
