Thursday, November 1, 2007

Films Viewed (October 2007)

Michael Clayton
Into the Wild
Stalker
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Cameraman's Revenge
The Heaven's Call
Eastern Promises
Ruslan and Ludmilla
Nanette et Boni
The Amphibian Man
Planet of Storms
Lust, Caution
The Darjeeling Limited
Hotel Chevalier
Gone Baby Gone
The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
American Gangster
House of Wax (3-D)

TOTAL: 18 (16 features, 2 shorts)

NOTES: This list may be impartial as it was made from memory retrospectively after the idea of CCC was conceived. Sorry if you saw me at a screening I did not note. The list is also out of the order in which the films were viewed, a "problem" I will correct next month.

In terms of impressive Oscar-caliber salvos, both "Michael Clayton" and "Gone Baby Gone" were at the top of the pile: smart, well executed, and compelling. "The Assasination of Jesse James..." was disappointing to me, but others loved it. I felt that there was a good movie in there somewhere amidst the stunning cinematography and Brad Pitt's acting (he had an otherworldly quality I associate with the depiction of Beowulf in John Gardner's Grendel).

The "Russian Fantastik" series at the Charles has provided any number of odd Soviet films to ponder and enjoy. At the top of that pile would be "Stalker" and "Ruslan and Ludmilla," although I cannot think of two more opposite films in any number of ways.

Tarkovsky's"Stalker" is a disconsolate meander through a post-apocalyptic landscape that is both pleasingly hypnotic and formally challenging. The beautiful decay of the abandoned hydroelectric power plant that was used as a set was mesmerizing to a boy from the wrong side of Baltimore's industrial tracks, and I am sad to learn that members of the cast and crew may have developed cancer due to the shoot. At the intermission, some of the young people behind me were mystified as to what the film "meant." I would venture to say it is about religion and faith, but I may be overstepping my bounds there.

"Ruslan and Ludmilla" was an over the top ersatz-Disney romp that was a glittering piece of cinematic candy. Once it got going, it was one wild ride well worth taking. Speaking of Disney, watching "Snow White" after having read Uncle Walt's biography this summer (know your enemy) was both fascinating and exasperating, like examining a crack rock in great detail (ruthlessly efficient, ingenious and deadly).

There is more to say about these films, and if you want to know more/have a conversation contact me via comment or e-mail. My e-mail is the name of this blog (one word) at gmail dot com.

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