Little by Little

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For those clamoring for me to post more often (and you know who you are!), instead of doing a more thorough interrogation of some of the movies I've screened recently, I will instead do a quick, little mini-review of a few titles of interest. (And of course I'm willing to write more if anybody wants to engage in a discussion of any of these movies.)

La Vie en Rose: Yet another bloated musical biopic. It is often someone will say that real life is more entertaining and dramatic than fiction. I believe those someones are probably the idiots that also say that a movie is never as good as the book. Coming only a couple of years after the likes of Ray and Walk the Line, La Vie en Rose changes nothing of the genre, only inserts a different musical legend (legendary French singer Edith Piaf). In a year when both I'm Not There and Walk Hard were released, you'd think people would grow tired of this type of movie by now. If Dewey Cox were still alive, I imagine he'd try to cut the Gallic crooner in half.

Deep Water: It is often someone will say that real life is more entertaining and dramatic than fiction. Okay, in this case they may be right. One of the most stirring and involving documentaries of the past year revisits the 1968 competition which pitted nine men in a non-stop boat race to circumnavigate the globe. Focusing on one sailor in particular, Donald Crowhurst, the film is a meditation on ego and loneliness and the depths of desperation it can create in a human being. More than that, Deep Water also subtly (and sublimely) examines the things men do (because inevitably they must--if for no one else but themselves), while the ebbs and flows of their tragedies and triumphs leave their lives (and responsibilities) at home on the couch, watching and waiting.

27 Dresses: I know the topic of Katherine Heigl bad-mouthing Knocked Up for being sexist has been talked about at length for while now, but seriously, where does she get off? It's movies like 27 Dresses and the just-as-ridiculous Because I Said So, in which the only goal a woman should have in life is to get hitched that make movies like Waitress and The Big Bad Swim all the more important. It's a shame too because as it turns out James Marsden shows, as he did in Enchanted, that he's got the chops to be a real leading man.

The Savages: In the same way the earlier Away From Her dealt with the onset of Alzheimer's, The Savages deals with the onset of dementia. What's curious about both is that each examine the illnesses from the observer, from the perspective of the loved ones who have to manage the situation. And in a way I guess it would be difficult to do it any other fashion, seeing as it would be quite difficult to truly understand what's going on inside the head of the person who's actually suffering the disease. But the arrival of their father's disease force the two overgrown children, Jon and Wendy, to finally grow up and the tenuous sibling rivalry that surfaces as a result is both painful and painfully funny. Two great performances by the always great Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

L'Iceberg: There are a lot of movies these days that work at subverting a particular genre's conventions, or at the very least working as an homage withing that specific framework. Often they are the more clearly defined genre's such as the western or film noir. But the Belgian film L'Iceberg works within the rich, but nowadays almost instinct world of silent comedy. Like the works of Jacques Tati in the 50s and 60s, the film does have ambient sound and minimal dialogue, but it exists almost purely in the physical and visual. Like most silent comedies, even the works of the greats like Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd, when the gags fall flat, the film suffers along with it. But when they connect, they're as funny as anything you will see on screen. Like Chaplin did, the directors simply keep the frame still, letting the actors and the action do all the work within the camera's proscenium.

There Will Be Blood: Of all the movies here, this certainly warrants the most consideration, but I am aiming for brevity here, so we'll see how this goes. Based loosely on Upton Sinclair's Oil!, the film follows one man's desire to bring the industry of black gold to the masses, running over anyone and anything that gets in his way--family and friends included. At the center of the film is a chewy, over-the-top (in a good way) performance by Daniel Day-Lewis. In a way it's the typical story of the American Dream and the ambition displayed by Daniel Plainview (Lewis) is matched only by the film's ambition. The film is also the story of America--the strange bedfellows of big business and religion and the way it has shaped this nation both for good and for evil.


Quick note: as the Oscars are coming up soon, I will (finally!) post my year-end review and top 10 for those who are interested (again, you know who you are!).