Category Archives: movies

Setter’s ‘Spectives: Now I Can Die in Peace After Seeing ‘Godzilla’

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Setter Drawing for Blog 082613It took me a while, but I finally watched Godzilla, King of the Monsters! all the way through last night.

I’d never seen it straight through before, so this was important. It’s surprisingly effective, despite the fact that special effects have come a long way since the days of destroying model sets. A little slowly paced, but for the most part it was well done. It also provided an interesting comment on Japanese and American post-war relations.

Of course, there was the creature Godzilla, too.

I think it’s easy to see why this flick was so influential. You do see the monster, but it’s almost always in shadow, so you never get a true close-up of all the scaly details. Leaving a little bit in the dark when it comes to monster movies is always a good idea, methinks. The mayhem was also well photographed, though I was a bit dismayed that Takashi Shimura was so underused. C’est la vie.

Good movie. I’m not gonna run to see it again, but I’m glad I have it under my belt.

Setter’s ‘Spectives: Thinking About ‘Ugetsu’ and Other Flicks

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Setter Drawing for Blog 082613I like Kenji Mizoguchi’s films. I think he’s a top-class director.

Is he greater than Akira Kurosawa, though? I’m not sure. I will admit, I’ve been thinking about Ugetsu more than The Seven Samurai recently, and I don’t know why.

There’s a haunting moment in the former flick that has stuck in my mind. After the potter Genjuro escapes from the clutches of the ghost of Lady Wakasa, he finds himself in a field bestrewn with the ruins of her mansion. A song she once sang for him is played as he wanders, stunned, among the skeleton of the house.

What a sad, wonderful, evocative moment. So eerie. It’s part of what makes Ugetsu the best ghost story put on film … next to Masaki Kobayashi’s Kwaidan. But where the latter movie was daring in its use of color and sound, Ugetsu is relatively conservative, using stately, composed shots and wistful music to move the action, as well as provide tangible atmosphere.

I’ll be debating for a long time whether Mizoguchi is better than Kurosawa. With pictures such as Ugetsu, however, I wonder if there really is any debate.

Skip’s Quips: Should Movies Be Free?

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Blog Sketch 082813I think so. Why not? Sure, it would mean the collapse of an entire industry, but it might spawn others. Concession sales would boom. More people would go to the theaters.

If only movies were free.

I’m talking about movies on cable, too. You shouldn’t have to pay for anything – even good movies. Make that especially good movies. Quality should be gratis. No one should have to pay to improve his or her life cinematically.

My feeling is that everyone should have the right to enjoy a good movie … and not be prevented from doing so by cost considerations. Great films are one way we make society better. They should be distributed like medicine is in some countries.

Free.

Now, I’m not saying we should go ahead and download movies illegally. Far from it. We have laws, and we need to abide by them. But ideally, we shouldn’t have to pay for great art. It should be provided to the public, like the Smithsonian museums in Washington, DC, do. Everyone should be able to have access to cinematic masterpieces.

It’s not the case now, and I don’t think it will ever happen. It should, though. It would make the world a better place. It would make everyone a lot happier.

If only movies were free.

Setter’s ‘Spectives: Does the World Really Need ‘Iron Man 3’?

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Setter Drawing for Blog 082613I don’t. I can safely say that after seeing it yesterday.

It had little of the wit and charm of the original Iron Man. Lots of confused, slam-bang “action,” though. Not as much heart.

There were some reliably good turns in Iron Man 3: Robert Downey Jr. as the titular superhero, Gwyneth Paltrow as girlfriend Pepper Potts, Ben Kingsley (who nearly steals the show) as an evil terrorist who’s not what he seems. But it all felt like stuff I’ve seen before, and there wasn’t as much of a focus on Downey’s character’s own demons … his alcoholism, for example. So there’s no real growth or arc. He doesn’t really change.

OK, I’m not expecting a kind of Shakespearean transformation here. It is a superhero movie, after all. Still, the strength and smarts of the first Iron Man made me expect something a bit larger-scale, from a psychological perspective, than what Iron Man 3 turned out to be – which was merely modest entertainment. A good superhero flick can transcend its genre. This one didn’t.

I’m assuming this franchise will continue to churn out additional installments. So be it. Do we need them, though? I say: Only if they approach the quality of the original. And I’m not sanguine about the prospects of that.

Skip’s Quips: Picking Apart ‘The Oranges’

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Blog Sketch 082813There’s a lot of good stuff in The Oranges – so much that I wonder why it got such a low rating on IMDb.

This tale of adultery with your New Jersey neighbor has a pretty tight script, some good direction by Julian Farino and fine casting that results in sparkling turns by the likes of Hugh Laurie, Oliver Platt, Alia Shawkat, Catherine Keener and Allison Janney. The plot features some not-so-credible points, and I feel everything wrapped up in an all-too-pat manner, but there’s humor and drama in hefty amounts along the way, plus sensitive treatment of a familiar subject.

And no, I didn’t turn it off halfway through. That’s something in itself.

OK, it’s not a great film. I don’t think it tries to be, though. Surprisingly, it’s quite unpretentious; I think that’s partly why I enjoyed much of it.

Director Farino has done a lot of TV work in the past. Perhaps that’s one reason why it felt so crisp. Maybe the ending was a little TV-esque, too, but there’s potential here.

Good show.

Setter’s ‘Spectives: Revisiting ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ Is Still a Pleasure

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Setter Drawing for Blog 082613Some things stay fresh centuries after they’ve been created. I have a feeling Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night will be one of them.

I caught it on TCM yesterday, and it was as good as it ever was – and possibly better. I marveled at the quick editing and snappy cinematography. I chuckled at the charming script and deadpan performances. And I tapped my feet to the sounds of The Beatles’ John, Paul, George and Ringo.

This never gets old, in my opinion. It’s a seminal rock film constructed like a music video with virtually no plot and one-liners zinging around. Everything has a “you are there” feel, which adds to the intimacy of the picture. And it retains an off-the-cuff feel, though it was scripted (well) by Alun Owen.

This is really the benchmark for all such rock ‘n’ roll pictures. In its genre, it bests Elvis and everything that came after it. It’s so good that it transcends its category, becoming a comedy to be placed with the likes of The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy and other comedy teams.

It’s true: Some things always stay fresh. Fifty years after it debuted, A Hard Day’s Night still rings true.

Skip’s Quips: Another Day, Another Film Not Finished

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Blog Sketch 082813I don’t know what’s going on, but these days, it’s hard for me to watch a single new movie straight through.

The latest cinematic example of this was In a World…,  Lake Bell’s mildly diverting comedy about a young woman trying to succeed in the movie trailer voiceover industry. Much of this flick didn’t ring true; perhaps it was too self-conscious for its own good. But I was able to view a couple of amusing moments before I lost interest and went to immerse myself in fantasy baseball.

That’s right. I gave up a night of movie viewing for a fake baseball game. Nothing says “this picture’s blah” more than that.

I think it was the script. There was something about it that seemed a little flat, as if there were potential joys it missed. It certainly was well cast, with actors such as Demetri Martin involved. I, however, just couldn’t get into it.

Perhaps the next one I’ll sit through fully. I think I’m on some kind of streak here.

Setter’s ‘Spectives: To Leave or Not to Leave

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Setter Drawing for Blog 082613If a movie isn’t compelling in the first 15 minutes, then you don’t need to see the rest of it.

That’s my opinion, and I’ve held it for a while now, as well as lived by it … for the most part. Viewers shouldn’t force themselves to watch terrible flicks because they a) paid for them or b) are too polite to walk out on them. If they don’t grab you right away, chances are they won’t do so an hour into them.

Nowadays it’s easy just to change the channel on TV. It’s a lot harder to leave a theater in the middle of a picture, and I admit I haven’t always had the guts to follow my own mantra. Still, having the right to exit is enough for me.

I just wish I could’ve done so while viewing Watchmen. Oh, well.

Skip’s Quips: Disliking ‘The Comedians’ Is No Laughing Matter

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Blog Sketch 082813Well, I tried to watch The Comedians. It was a valiant effort.

Unfortunately, it failed.

I’m not sure what the issue was. The pacing seemed off. Direction, by Peter Glenville, was a bit plodding, especially during the scenes involving Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who have never been my favorite acting team. It certainly was a powerful subject – Haiti during the reign of “Papa Doc” Duvalier – and it had some terrific performers, including Alec Guinness, Peter Ustinov, James Earl Jones and Lilian Gish, but the components didn’t really fit together. The movie felt like an unfinished jigsaw puzzle with inaccurately measured pieces.

Oh, well. I do like trying new things, but this picture didn’t grab me. Perhaps it’s one of those films that deserves to be remade. Better direction and a tighter script might serve it well.

Setter’s ‘Spectives: The Horror, The Horror!

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Setter Drawing for Blog 082613I’ve always been afraid of decomposing bodies.

Not that I’ve seen any up close, thank God. I’m talking about in the movies, where they’re as prevalent in the horror genre as chatty friends in terrible rom-coms.

So that’s why I don’t watch many horror flicks. Oh, sure, I’ll turn to them now and then if they’re on TV, but I invariably shield my eyes. It doesn’t even matter if the picture is lousy cinematically; I don’t enjoy watching zombies or any other being made up to have putrified flesh jump out at me.

A long time ago, I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark over and over again to make sure I could stand the scene where Indy and Marion are trapped in a tomb with a host of dusty mummies. Nowadays, it seems pretty tame, but at the time, it scared me out of my wits. There’s something about rotting corpses that makes me want to say, “Zoinks, Scoob!” I don’t like ’em.

I’m probably not alone. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s like “Hey, I really enjoy seeing flicks with a whole lotta decomposing bodies.” It’s not exactly an audience-pleaser, is it? Still, some movies can’t do without them, and I suppose they’ll always be a fixture of horror pictures … coming out of nowhere in the dark, with a crash in the soundtrack.

Maybe it’s the jolt I really can’t take. Whatever it is, I’m not down with rotting corpses in my films. You can keep ’em.