I've watched 3 movies on DVD this week, but didn't have time to post.
The Game - B+. Director David Fincher's follow-up to Seven was brilliant in my memory, but only pretty good upon a repeat viewing. Michael Douglas is perfectly cast as the hollowed out billionaire who has everything except happiness. His father committed suicide at 48, and for his 48th birthday, his little brother (Sean Penn) gives him a gift of 'the game.' The game is an elaborate role playing game simulating reality that pushes Douglas to the brink and ending in what he thinks is his suicide. Stylish and smart.
Iris - B-. Kate Winslet, Judi Dench, and Jim Broadbent star in this uber-English tale of a famous English writer, known for her brilliant mind and unconventional approach to gender roles and sex. The film focuses on her descent into a fog of alzheimers, with Dench playing the old Iris and Winslet portraying her in her prime, the two are intermixed throughout. Broadbent is the bumbling but loving husband. This movie wasn't for me, although the performances were strong. As for alzheimer's movies, this year's Away From Her (B+) is much better.
Fight Club - A-. Doc's pictorial spread made me want to watch this Fincher classic again. I have a much different perspective on it than I did when I last watched it 4 years ago....I am the worker drone, and so Ed Norton's numbness and disdain hit close to home. The film is cosmic and philosophical, with great performances by Helena Bonham Carter, Edward Norton, and Brad Pitt.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Quick Hits
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Fincher's films hold up very well. There's a little too much suspension of belief with The Game (B+) but it's still a well-made film. Like all great films, Fight Club (A) is so dense that there's plenty to see and interpret no matter what your age is. What seemed anti-God a few years ago now seems like an assault on fathers who abandon their families. It also squeezed the entirety of American Beauty into 30-40 minutes and added messages about disenfranchised youth and their predisposition for destruction and mayhem - all the more interesting and profound when taking into account young Muslims and crumbling buildings. Oh, yeah, it's also brilliantly directed and edited, one of the best put together films of the last 10 years.
As for Iris (B-), it's watchable enough, but I just didn't buy young Kate Winslet turning into Judi Dench. Great acting though.
i watched the game again a couple years ago and had the same experience. good, but not as good as i recalled. fight club gets a A from me as well. i'd have given it an A- or B+ when it came out, but it seems almost prescient looking back. Probably the most important film of this decade (and as i look over at the doctor's comments, i see that he's already said all that better...).
Post a Comment