Golgot's Reviews
Thought it was time i proved i really do post in the movie forums occasionally ;)
--- EDIT: 5 star ratings added for new Mofo review system - but i never do know how much popcorn a movie's worth... :) --- EDITEDIT: Added titles to all the ones that lacked em (might even fix the format n pics again one day ;)) --- |
Buffalo Soldiers
Buffalo Soldiers
This film suggests all kinds of shenanigans go on amongst peace-time soldiers (in this case, ones based in germany as the berlin wall was falling). They also cover some of the So over-all: Good fun hard knocks. Won't knock your socks off but should tickle your feet some. |
In the Mood for Love
In the Mood for Love
Oh my god what a beautiful film. The two main characters live next door to each other in a slightly delapidated building. Married in traditional Hong Kong society, the woman's clothes may be striking sixties, the man's work-clothes a sharp shirt and tie, but the values are back-room whispers, the norms that clasp any society to their brest, no matter how progressive it all might seem. A friendship of sorts strikes up between them. They both share a love of films and script-writing, though you wouldn't know it at first from their oriental evasion and conceits. Their partners unseen for different reasons, the two strike up a shy kinship. They write together, but nothing is happening of course - yet they take every step to hide their meetings. But this is no self-referential film about film-making. It's a sumptuosly filmed story, yes. The editing echoes actions, the characters are self-conscious, the translations seem to fit perfectly with mood and context, and the wording is exquisitly balanced. But this isn't about what you write on the page. It's about the spaces inbetween. And these two actors draw round those spaces beautifully, draw through them and dissect them, and so have no need to spell it out. This is an exquisitely acted film. I really really recommend it. (i must admit that i missed the very beginning of it, but there's something about the elongated tone of this movie that, despite the twists and turns that rise up from its yearning, that you can't help but feel you knew it all along) |
Captives
Captives
As a tentative and then passionate relationship evolves, Ormond's fears There are gangsters and empathies, dangers and vagueries, and all of it makes for some claustrophobic exposure amongst the prison's sterility. I recommend this piece of long-drawn forlorness, and love-shoot exploringness. A good, stark, rich, short piece of "life". (sorry for the rhyming - but alcohol's been rife tonight ;)) |
Copland
Copland
But underneath the sleepy safety which the sheriff would happily perceive, there's a whole den of thieves and murderers running around without reprieve. On this particular night most of the cops are off celebrating a stag do, and it's only when a young nephew of an important cop drives off drunkenly that things start to go awry. After an unlawful killing the cover up begins, which by the end will have whole struts of certainty caving in. A swathe of familiar swarthy faces crowd round this homely NYPD town. As Sylvester Stallone casts his droopy eyes over the smokey bar, Harvey Keitel runs the whole house of cards, with Robert Patrick and Ray Liotta playing structural parts. Robert Deniro is the fierce Internal Affairs officer doggedly on Keitel's case, and fresh-faced Michael Rapaport the nephew who causes complacency to be displaced. The sheriff lumbers to the conclusion that all is not well in a way not dissimilar to Stallone's over-weight on-screen wanderings. And in this sense, what the plot somehow lacks in acceleration, it makes up for with a type of muffled anticipation. His partial deafness, from a past act of kindness, is used to good effect to both remind him of what he's lost and to mimick the blindness he's shown in his life. Perhaps it's all a fair representation of the ponderous fights which the sheriff's life evolves through. "Being right isn't a bullet proof jacket" he gets told, but that innocence is the gold in his heart we have to respect. It wasn't deep, but it was kind of replete in it's own "small-town" way. I give it: one shotgun, two bushy frowns, and a big okay. |
The Man Without a Past
Man Without a Past
Ahhh, dark serendipidous Finnish life-comedy. Where would we be without it eh? Despite the slightly cartoonish handling of these opening scenes, a new form of dark-tied-to-light interactions starts from now on. The first thing that happens is that he falls asleep on a rocky river-bank, and a tramp promptly exchanges shoes with him (plimpsoles for good leather boots). Now all that the nameless man has left is the clothes he lies down in, and the hospital bandages covering his head and face. When two kids run off on seeing he's not dead, it's a pleasant surprise that they return with their father, whose determined wife then nurses him back to health. The family live in a large metallic container, as do all the people on this rubbled wasteland by the city limits. The nameless man now strikes up a Many enjoyable twists and turns follow the name-less man's motivated attempts to get on with his life. This is a wonderfully quirky tale, and feels all the more realistic for it, steeped as it is in cold hard realities as well. I won't tell you how he proceeds from here. I won't tell you about the jibes at the state, the interjections of faith, the love and the hate. I wont tell you about the security guard called "The Whip of God", the Salvation Army band, the nameless man's potato harvest, or the effects when a company disbands. But I will tell you to watch it. It's very very good. |
Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead
A little bit of fun from some sitcom comedians...welcome to the first "romcomzom" movie... Once it gets going, the first section of the film is spot on. The jokes revolve around the zombie-like aspects of modern life, and how a sudden plague of undeadness might be hard to spot if it happened. From the agonizing "schwip" of Shaun's regulation salesman's tie, to his gormlessness on the early-morning commute to work, the mundaneness of his unambitious life is laid out for us with farcical frivolity. When zombies turn up, and Shaun barely notices, it's the playful bits of social commentary, and the absurdity of it all, that pull out the biggest laughs. Rating: Some Gremlin titters, one exploding belly laugh, several chunks of nostalgia cut into neat brain pieces, and a brimming pint glass. |
Man with a Movie Camera
Man With a Movie Camera
Basically, this film contains marvellous naturalism of subject matter combined with "state-of-the-art" 30s camera trickery. It's a bizarre mixture. One minute the filmmakers are transporting you with their finely crafted shots, the next they're showing you a cameraman amongst the scene. One minute they're creating a hypnotic tempo with their editing, the next they're showing you the editor at work, splicing the shots. And the playfulness and contrasts continue....We are reminded of the "magical" abilities of the camera (by slowing events down to single shots, playing with time, entrancing the viewer in various ways)...only for this miraculous output to be used to extol the magical abilities/effects of modern tools around us, as the editor is compared to a woman using an industrial sewing set-up etc. I think they really just wanted to extol Russia and Russian filmmaking. I think they did a good job of that, and ended up exploring the nature of people, perception and film in general too. |
Hey Golgot, nice to meet you for once.
I read a few of your reviews and i think i must check out Buffalo Soldiers, In the Mood for Love and The Man Without a Past and i've already saw Shaun of the Dead and loved it. I've been meaning to rent The Man Without a Past ever since Sam did a review on it. Well, i have something to rent tomorrow when i go to the Video Store. Im usually don't know what to get. Great reviews by the way. |
White Chicks
White Chicks
Here's a brief plot summary: Two black FBI agents keep messing missions up by trying to do everything themselves. When they crash a car while transporting two spoilt rich white girls who are targeted for kidnapping, they decide to take the places of their bruised charges at a high-profile gathering. Cue pisstakes of priviliged society, racial stereotypes and other easy targets. And here's my reactions: -The general generic comedy is pure ****e. Animal stunts. Fart jokes. Slipping on spilt beads. Animal infatuation. Laughing at unfunny jokes in the hope that they become funny. The Wayans brothers's stuff at its worst. -Some of the all-purpose parodies of race and 'class' are kind of amusing. Whether it's the white airhead heiresses or the black football 'turncoat', there are some good performances and occasional spot-on jokes. -And now the big problem.... What i'm saying is: the imaginary, unifying, perception of a skin-tone/broad group (Whiteness - as in the Blackness that was parodied in Bamboozled) was aligned too closely with realities that are only true for a minority. I got a feeling that, beneath the shallowness and simplicty of much of the presentation and humour, there was an assumption that it's ok to lump all whites in with the white-dominated power-structures of many multi-'cultural' countries like the US and UK. I feel, as distance from this mainly derivative and only-occasionally-creative comedy-lite takes hold, that i may just be reacting to the novel situation of my skin-tone being the main focus of broad-stereotypes (the black characters were much more diverse and potentially-intelligent in nature than all the other characters). But i still question whether there isn't a negative trend going on here, that reinforces stereotypes that cut deep, under the broad fluffy fleece which was presented to us. Thoughts? Is it ok to lump an idea of what 'Whiteness' is in with the fact that white races still hold majority priviliged positions in the biggest english-speaking societies - and have been responsible for great oppresion of black races? Is that ok? Or is that damaging? This was a throw-away comedy. But i think that that particular issue pulsing beneath it's skin can do more long-term harm than good. Especially when it's blurred amongst easy-access/rough-and-ready comedy veneers. (it gets that for making me experience what it's like to have my whole 'race' sweepingly belittled) |
Originally Posted by Zzat
Hey Golgot, nice to meet you for once.
I read a few of your reviews and i think i must check out Buffalo Soldiers, In the Mood for Love and The Man Without a Past and i've already saw Shaun of the Dead and loved it. I've been meaning to rent The Man Without a Past ever since Sam did a review on it. Well, i have something to rent tomorrow when i go to the Video Store. Im usually don't know what to get. Great reviews by the way. They're all quite distinct. I'm really looking forward to 2046, the next one by Kar Wai Wong, the maker of In the Mood for Love (using the same cinematographer again, Christopher Doyle, who did such good things on Hero too) . His work just seems to get better and better. If you like Buffalo Soldiers you'll probably like Two Hands as well. |
Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark
Selma is a Czechoslovakian immigrant who claims a musical star for a father, and holds a stern but passionate love for her only son Gene. Despite her failing eyesight, and the troubles When we first see Selma she is rehersing her starring role in a local production of The Sound of Music. Music and dance are what keep her steps so light even amongst her heavy workload and life. Living almost like a pet dog in her modest shack on the land of a local police officer, she takes the patronising treatment of his wife, and the privations of her poverty, with positive equanimity. One day her friend the policeman shares a secret with her, and she returns the favour. He has squandered his inheritence and is unhappy in his marriage. She has been squirriling away a large amount of money, not sending it to her father as she'd claimed. The story is now set for trials and tests, driven by the rhythm of life's constant quirky steps. I thought this was a great film. I had reservations, and they were won over. I didn't think it was perfect, but i think a flawless version might have killed it. Even the well-worn sources of Selma's inspiration were well used. The use of factory and train rhythms might have made me groan, if they Previously i've been annoyed by Bjork's apparently limited style, and at first i was thinking her london-influenced accent was going to ruin the film for me. By the end she'd taken me fully in escapism, and back again, grounding it in something real. By the end she'd shown a voice that could be startling on its own - ferocious, powerful yet clear. She did herself exceptionally proud, and made this film come alive. Beyond those criticisms, that turned into compliments, i thought this was beautiful sadness, made joyful, made real. There was criticism and celebration. Castigation of greed, and a planting of seeds. Von Triers dancing camera still steered me to where he wanted me to be. Which is in the wide-open space of interpretation, but aware you can't really roam free. "They say it's the last song They don't know us, you see It's only the last song If we let it be" |
Kitchen Stories
Kitchen Stories
Plotty bit: A set of Swedish scientists have been examining the movements of housewives going through their average routines, with the aim of organising kitchens more efficiently. All has gone smoothly with the first stage of their clinical plans, but things are about to go awry. A small entourage of objective observors pack up their clipboards and sliderules and observational high-chairs (which allow them to watch the kitchen scurryings of their subjects from a God-like distance), and head off to Norway to monitor some willing male kitchen-users. The investigations are immediately left in the hands of a dour deputy when the project's leaders disappears to lead the academic high-life (which involves a private plane and some non-kitchen-bound female groupies). Isolated by a desolate and wintery Norweigan landscape, the project grumbles into life. An observor named Folke is given a difficult charge named Isak, and it takes him a long time to even gain admission Review-ish bit: There's a slightly ambiguous homoerotic undertone to it (or at least i thought there was. But then again, i thought Isak might've been romantically involved with his horse before Folke came along). It would've been nice to see the same themes explored (isolation, companionship, inter-connectedness, the impossibility of true objectivity, modern-vs-rustic, crossing boundaries etc), but with a strong female presence too. But that's the only criticism i could level at this clockwork fruitcake of a film (if criticism it be). I give it: A caravan's worth of Sixties silliness, four golden silences, and a big jar of ice-melting roll-mop herrings |
How did I miss this?
Someone has been hard at work it seems... Clever stuff, these reviews. :yup: |
Hey, these are great, Gg! :up:
Nice writing and I'm enjoying your observations. Agreed, every word, on In The Mood For Love. That is such a beautiful film. |
Cheers guys :)
They were all sort of hanging around the place (from back when i had more time ;)). Fortunately, i found some compressed time in a small box under my desk, and used it to string 'em all together and add pictorial delights (and then felt fully justified in going off and mauling the miscellaneous forum again ;)) |
Holy ****! I had no idea...the next half hour of my life is planned out. Bask in the glory of the man named...Golgot?
What kind of friggin' name is that anyway? ;D I rarely see you around, my friend. I'm glad you gave these to us. |
Comandante
Comandante
Step through the looking-glass and enter Fidel's 'Wonderland' The Pitch: Oliver Stone wants to give Fidel Castro the chance to express himself emotionally, politically and philosophically in front of an eager camera. His ideal is to watch Castro going through his daily life. His pitch is that Fidel gets to be both an actor and a documentary subject - but there-in lies the catch. Fidel can both expound and emote, he can justify his life's work for the camera, but he must also be at Stone's beck and call - he must answer the wide-ranging questions put before him. Review-ish bit: Fidel proves adept at doing all of these things. He has one other power granted too him though, beyond his existing ability to intimidate Stone with his physical presence, and to entrance him with his renowned charisma. Fidel can call cut at any time, just as Stone can. But he never chooses to. No one could accuse Oliver Stone of being the most accute of political commentators, and his questions prove that, but his unfettered pursuit of understanding, his appreciation of the dynamics of conflict, and his respect for strength amongst uncertainty all combine to make this an effective documentary. His questions are sometimes wayward, but they do prompt an intriguing bredth of responses from Fidel, and manage to discomfort him and catch him off guard, without ever losing his consistant participation. Stone filmed for three days. During that time he overcame his feelings of intimidation, asked the questions he wished to ask, and got part of his wish fulfilled to see the ageing idealist-authoritarian in action. All of this becomes clear on Stone's expansive commentary contained on the DVD version of this semi-supressed gem. You get some sterling insights into some forgotten aspects of Cuban history and progression, and further insights into Stone's nature as well. From the fact that he went out and partied some nights (and was in a right state during the 'spontaneous' tours the next morning) you gather that he's not the most rigorous or dispassionate of men or documentarians. From his human connection with Fidel, you see why he's also brought out genuine responses from actors, audiences and dictators, and will most likely do so again. It's frustrating that Stone doesn't really push Fidel on certain points, but instead launches into tangental lines of pursuit just when things look promising. He assures us on the commentary that he takes a harder line in a later documentary, Looking for Fidel, which focused much more rigorously on recent incidents and political history. Stone's obvious regret at having offended Fidel during this later meeting shows that he has become emotionally involved with his subject, but his overall If anything, Stone is an anti-apologist for the US, and for other nations who he sees as overly aggressive in the pursuit of profit over the national-spirit and social-care that he does seem to hold in high esteem in Cuba. He provides plenty of welcome refreshers in both the film and commentary on intriguing events like: the embargoes which pushed them into alliance with Communist USSR; the Cuban's non-profit defence of Angola against South African invasion; and recent Bush-admin attempts to paint Cuba with the WMD brush. Make what you will of these and other examples of what drives and forms Cuba to this day. Fidel is a prolific and unremitting publicist for 'The Revolution', but it's fascinating to see him 'embody' it, striving to justify, or at least explain, every action, all apparently in the name of ensuring its legacy (in the eyes of Stone, the camera, and posterity). Stone may have an agenda too, but it's fascinating to see him letting it evolve. My Verdict: Who wouldn't pay to see two bulls in a pen - if they've paid their own admission, and are discussing life and politics as well ;). |
Is it just me, or does Fidel Castro bear a striking resemblance to Don Quixote (as played by Jean Rochefort in the film Lost in La Mancha)? Check it out:
http://www.cinemazone.dk/images/image7240.JPG http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo...t/lamancha.jpg |
Originally Posted by darkhorse
Is it just me, or does Fidel Castro bear a striking resemblance to Don Quixote (as played by Jean Rochefort in the film Lost in La Mancha)? Check it out:
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