Douglas Sirk
1956
The boy picked this out, having wanted to see a Sirk picture since he saw Far From Heaven, which I just watched last week.
You can see why Todd Haynes would want to imitate the guy. From a director's perspective, this was just gorgeous. It's classic Hollywood-auteur style. He's working within the dominant style system, but you won't mistake it for anyone else's work.
That Rock Hudson was in it was interesting given Far From Heaven's whole gay husband plot. But the Robert Stack character was closer. Just like the Dennis Quaid guy in Far From Heaven, he started drinking because of anxiety over being the proper husband/father figure. Only with the possibility of sterility substituted for the homosexuality.
Although, his relationship with the Rock Hudson character felt a little bizarre. They were "like" brothers and they travelled together and stuff. And Rock Hudson is totally jealous when he gets married. He says because he's in love with Lauren Bacall. But it would make more sense that he's upset about losing his childhood companion. And also explain why he never leapt into the waiting, slutty arms of Robert Stack's sister for solace.
But then, even a gay man could love Lauren Bacall.
Posted at 05:14 pm
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Michael Mann
2004
What a really excellent movie.
There are so many shitty thrillers out there, I didn't really want to see this until about 1,000,000 people (or two) told me it was good.
Tom Cruise was a good bad guy, but I've always privately believed he's an asshole anyway.
Posted at 09:18 pm
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Zhang Yimou
2004
I loved every individual sequence of this movie but I'm not sure it came together as well as it could have.
Also, the let-tyrants-live-so-they-can-kill-lots-of-people-for-their-goal message? Dicey.
But I was too busy thinking either how pretty or how cool everything was to worry til the end.
Posted at 09:14 pm
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Frank Oz
2004
I love when you and friends are the only people in the theatre laughing.
But it totally falls apart at the end, so you can't think too hard.
Which sucks.
Posted at 09:04 pm
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Charlie Chaplin
1947
I like it more in retrospect the more I think about it.
Its subject matter was really no darker than other Chaplin ones - he always dealt pretty frankly with poverty and the general horribleness of the world - but its attitude was different.
Even The Great Dictator had this giddy spirit of defiance. The speech at the end was a call to arms, it was stirring. The Little Tramp was all about survival. He always kept going.
The Monsieur Verdoux outlook is more like polite resignation.
It's sad.
Posted at 03:07 am
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Zach Braff
2004
I really liked it up until the last few scenes when it got so cheeseball that even I wasn't buying.
Zach Braff is a funny guy and has a lot of confidence - maybe too much - and a great sense of telling stories visually, but my movie won't get resolved by so many characters talking about their feelings.
In conclusion, I liked it.
Posted at 02:11 am
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Patty Jenkins
2003
Very human serial-killer movie. She really isn't a monster. Jenkins wants the audience to sympathize with this woman, and it's not all Hitchcock/Silence of the Lambs, ooh, serial killers are evil but still somehow appealing because they're so clever and charming.
It's a fairly real-feeling story of someone going over the edge. (Charlize Theron absolutely deserved all the praise she got for this.)
I don't know if this kind of movie would have gotten made about a male serial killer.
Posted at 01:53 am
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Todd Haynes
2002
So, this was really good.
Sad, but lovely.
In the making-of deal Tood Haynes talked about how the reference point wasn't reality, it was other movies. I love when artists take old styles and rules and make them modern.
Also, the art direction was amazing. And the costumes. I've been rocking pearlized buttons ever since I saw this.
Posted at 04:24 am
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He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
Laetitia Colambani
2002
I really liked this, it was described to me as the anti-<i>Amélie</i>, fairly aptly.
I liked the structure, with the perspective switch halfway through.
Good times.
Posted at 03:49 am
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Morgan Spurlock
2004
Man, I've got to start eating more vegetables.
Posted at 12:38 am
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