Author Topic: Bondo's Great Directors  (Read 70514 times)

1SO

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #140 on: June 30, 2010, 10:24:55 PM »
At this point it's a waste of people's time to hear how much I agree with that opinion.  This was the first film of the 00's that I watched after my Top 100 marathon and it went from #14 to #9.  I agree with everything you say, and while I love Shaun of the Dead this is a noticeable improvement.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2010, 10:26:42 PM by 1SO »

tinyholidays

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #141 on: June 30, 2010, 10:39:00 PM »
Definitely in the top 5-10 pure comedies of the 00s and would make a real good argument for top 100 of the decade.

Of course I agree. Hot Fuzz is brilliant and then is more brilliant. One of my absolute favorites.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #142 on: June 30, 2010, 10:40:51 PM »
Hot Fuzz (Edgar Wright, 2007)

This is just a perfect comedic/action film. Every joke it attempts lands.

Rating: 5/5
Too bad it's not that great of a spoof.  :P

zarodinu

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #143 on: June 30, 2010, 10:42:00 PM »
Hot Fuzz (Edgar Wright, 2007)

Rating: 5/5

You are wrong Bondo.  I am not sure HOW you are wrong, because I agree with every single thing you write, but I am sure you are wrong in some subtle and hard to detect way...
I’ve lied to men who wear belts. I’ve lied to men who wear suspenders. But I’d never be so stupid as to lie to a man who wears both a belt and suspenders.

Bondo

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #144 on: August 01, 2010, 01:11:59 PM »
Well, I guess I’m going ahead with my Danny Boyle marathon now, as I’m about to finish the first round of my classics marathon and happened to have Sunshine available (and thus putting the marathon out of order, but so it goes).

Sunshine (Danny Boyle, 2007)

The opening shot does such a great job establishing this movie. You see the sun, slightly dim, as it is explained that the sun’s power is fading leaving Earth in a solar winter.  But then the camera pans, revealing that we were looking instead at the ship’s protective panels reflecting the sun’s light, ultimately revealing the much brighter sun. This contrast between the full power and danger of the sun and the various muted, benevolent versions we see, is such an efficient establishment of the perilous balance of the whole film.

Ultimately, this is an exploration of human weakness. The inability, even under perfect conditions, to create a perfect plan due to uncertainty. The way each decision reacting to events brings in that much more potential for error and disagreement. We also get a bit of the effect of a kind of drug/religion (one in the same, so Marx would say) effect in the allure, seen immediately, in the power of the sun.

The tension this film builds is pretty incredible. As it enters the second half you get these one-frame flashes of scenes out of context with the film. Something you barely notice but are unsettled by. This creates a certain paranoia as things spin out of control. But I feel like things spin a bit too out of control. The last half-hour of the film is where Sunshine falls out of the top-100 for me. Things move a bit too quickly without enough sense of geography. I guess this is a concession to a certain horror film aesthetic, but it just doesn’t work as well for me. Still, Sunshine qualifies as a top-5/10 level sci-fi film that everyone should see.

Rating: 4/5

Bondo

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #145 on: August 01, 2010, 11:44:18 PM »
Shallow Grave (Danny Boyle, 1994)

There have been better feature film debuts than this one from Danny Boyle, this marathon has already featured one in the form of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, but this is an impressive effort nonetheless (admittedly from someone who had a decent amount of TV experience already). The film starts funny with three roommates rather pranking people seeking to rent their fourth room, and I guess it could be considered a dark comedy. When the roommate they do pick dies the first night there, leaving suitcases of money, they are left with a choice. As is always the case with these things, it is never so simple as that first task.

However, the film takes a few less expected turns on the back of a terrific performance from Christopher Eccleston as the more mental of the roommates. He provides a mysterious presence to the seemingly more conventional motivations of the roommates played by Ewan McGregor and Kerry Fox. I don't dare say more about the plot and characters. Basically this is a film that certainly has some evidence of being an early effort from a director who would get more confident (and more well financed) as he went on, but on the whole it pulls it off with style.

Rating: 4/5

Bondo

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #146 on: August 02, 2010, 12:54:09 AM »
Vacuuming Completely Nude In Paradise (Danny Boyle, 2001)

I'm just gonna assume that this was a paycheck film Boyle made for BBC TV. It is a comedy following two vacuum salesmen, the arrogant, immoral top seller played by Timothy Spall (who has shown his talent in The Damned United among others) and the soft, newbie. The film is just so broad and obnoxious that none of the characters ever come close to meriting emotional investment. It just seems out of keeping with Boyle's filmography. Pretty much dreadful.

There is a certain element of a man on the cusp of being made obsolete, which could be interesting in an Up In The Air way, but it doesn't really go there.

Rating: 1/5
« Last Edit: August 02, 2010, 01:22:25 AM by Bondo »

1SO

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #147 on: August 02, 2010, 01:47:54 AM »
I like this film.  In fact, I own it.  Spall is hypnotic, mainly because he is so thoroughly unscrupulous.  He is a complete moral black hole, which may not be everybody's cup of tea but I think it's one of his best performances.  Boyle wisely doesn't dwell too much in this world.  The film clocks in at around 75 minutes I believe.  This also wasn't a paycheck, but a test run for the cameras he would use to film 28 Days Later.  As with all his movies, the lens often pops up in some unexpected places, yet the placement perfectly matches the film rather than draw attention.

Bondo

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #148 on: August 02, 2010, 09:20:13 AM »
As with all his movies, the lens often pops up in some unexpected places, yet the placement perfectly matches the film rather than draw attention.

Yeah, that does seem an accurate description of his style...I noticed it in all of the films I watched yesterday. And if I'm being honest, Spall's character here is the kind of pure unlikability that is one of my filmic pet peeves. So that is kind of a disclaimer on this film. It falls into the gaping abyss that is that particular nit.

Still, if this film helped prepare for 28 Days Later, that is more than enough reason to appreciate it by association.

Bondo

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Re: Revisiting Great Directors
« Reply #149 on: August 03, 2010, 02:14:11 PM »
A Life Less Ordinary (Danny Boyle, 1997)

As with Shallow Grave, takes a few very common themes (kidnapping, Stockholm Syndrome, rebellious daughter) and puts a twist on it. Early in the film we are presented with two elements. We've got a bureaucracy in heaven where two angels, played by Delroy Lindo and Holly Hunter, are tasked with making people fall in love. Due to failing success (a comment on rising divorce rates and the like) God is cracking down saying that failure means no return to heaven. So they set out. We also see a recently fired, recently dumped, recently evicted janitor Robbie (Ewan McGregor) decide to go force the head of his company (Ian Holm) to give him his job back. Through a turn of events he ends up shooting his boss in the leg and running off with the very willing hostage (Cameron Diaz) whose had recently been cut-off for failing to go for her dad's desired pick to marry her (Stanley Tucci), who SHE accidentally shot in the process. Oh, and there are also cameos from Tony Shalhoub, a young Timothy Olyphant, and the recently deceased Maury Chaykin. It doesn't have an all-star cast exactly but it is still a deep cast of people you'll recognize.

As one can tell from the plot introduction, it is an odd, kind of twisty film. The film's great strength is the comedic moments that abound, such as when Robbie calls to make his ransom demand, threatening to cut "your daughter" into pieces. Only he's called the wrong number so he starts apologizing to the woman on the phone, who proceeds to try to set him up with HER daughter. This humor and the novel aspect of the plot and its unconventional take on the topic of destiny is certainly reason enough to see the film.

But I'm not sure it really is a great film. Cameron Diaz isn't really able to carry her weight here next to Ewan McGregor (who I will be an apologist for until the end of times). I could see the film being better with better casting of Celine. Also, the film gets really treacly toward the end and just rather a mess. I do suppose, given the nature of the story, that you cannot accuse it, negatively, of a deus ex machina, though it certainly features something that would qualify, as that is entirely the point. But I guess even when justified, the deus ex machina isn't an emotionally resonant device.

Rating: 3/5