Funny you should mention the Life Aquatic, because that was the last film I watched. I enjoyed it, but sorry to say didn't find it up to Anderson's previous efforts. It did have it's moments, but I didn't see much different in the Bill Murray here of the one in Tenenbaums or Rushmore, basically playing the same role. Figured it'd have good music, and classic Bowie in Portugeuse worked for me. Still good, but well his last two films were amazing.
Funny you should say all that, but that's the opinion trend on this site and in the world at large, according to our online criticism summaries, RT 50%, MC 62%. I don't happen to agree. I think it's timing, the public reaction arc determined by what's been praised before. If you're right and Murray is just reprising the same role all the time, I wonder why Jarmusch chose him for his latest release and what hoops people are going to go through on that one.
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Okay. I think it's time to move on from Jennifer Connoly.
Also, I think the two Anderson films are more than just Bill Murray. So, perhaps some of their other aspects also need to analyzed.
MC?
anyways, what I mean is the Murray of Rushmore, RT, and the Life Aquatic is the same Murray. I love the man, but I see no difference in what he did for those three films. As far as he and Jarmusch go, his sequence in Coffee and Cigarettes was the highlight of that film, but I'm also a Wu Tang fan.
I still think "Bottle Rocket" is my favorite Wes Anderson film. I felt he was trying a little too hard to be clever in some of his later efforts. Owen Wilson's debut in "Bottle Rocket" was the best debut for a comedy actor/writer since Woody Allen in "What's New, Pussycat?"
Bill Murray is great in Anderson's movies because he clearly "gets it". But Murray is also good in other types of films.
Story of a Prostitute (1965) - Seijun Suzuki
Interesting, but not quite as up to Gate of Flesh. Suzuki was great with color, so for that lone his films in black and white seem to suffer a little bit. Still an interesting film, and had many similarities to Mizoguchi at least in terms of it's melodramatic plot, but shot with a hell of a lot more flash than Mizoguchi ever showed.
The Accidental Tourist (1988) - Lawrence Kasdan
Well seven years after Body Heat William Hurt and Kathleen Turner are reunited by director Lawrence Kasdan. The result is a film nothing like Body Heat, and not as good either. Sure marital problems are at the heart of this film, as they were to some degree in that earlier picture, but whereas that was modern noir, this is more interpersonal drama. It continued Hurt's impressive streak of Oscar nominated performances in Oscar nominated films, and would be the last of his golden 80's films.
So if you're asking why I watched it, you guessed it, it was nominated for a best picture Oscar in 1988. This film gets me to cross off that year on my list, because I've now seen all the nominees. Sadly enough Rain Man is by far the best of the nominated films from that year. By no means the best film of the year, but compared to this, Dangerous Liaisons, Mississippi Burning, and Working Girl, well it's the best. In a perfect world Last Temptation of Christ and Who Framed Roger Rabit would have been nominated, but we're talking about the Academy here.
Geena Davis won a best supporting actress Oscar for her somewhat annoying role here. Now I've never been a fan of her's so I cna't tell if I'm just prejudiced to her performance, but well it's not that good. A film to see only to cross it off your list.
Re: Suzuki's Gates of Flesh.
Definitely amongst his best work, some great subtext too concerning the US occupation of Japan after WWII. Unfortunately my review was lost with a lot of foreignfilm.com's data after the recent attack on ezboard.
Cheers Trev.
The more I learn the less I know.
I know what you mean, both about the subtext and the lost data. I can one up you by having lost all my reviews on my computer, including my 8 page analysis of Vertigo, damn that one makes me cry.
Gates of Heaven (1978) - Errol Morris
Today is dedicated to Errol Morris, because I have four DVD's to watch, and they're all from him. Decided to start with his first film, and I'm not quite sure what the attraction is to it. Roger Ebert has some strange favorites, and I'm yet to read his review of the film, which he voted one of his all time top ten favorites. Morris' ability lies in his subject choices, and maybe I thought that the process of pet burial wasn't quite as interesting as Fred Leuchter. I'll keep you posted as to the rest of his films that I watch today.
Vernon, Florida (1982) - Errol Morris
Still working on First Person, but in between episodes I'm watching his films.
This was his follow up I believe to Gates of Heaven, and it is very similar in style to it. The film is comprised of all interviews, and much of it doesn't seem to have too much purpose. This approach was later simplified to focus on just one key speaker, as he did in Mr. Death and Fog of War. Perhaps I like that later style more, but I didn't get too much out of this film. Basically just a bunch of old rednecks talking about life. It doesn't help that I hate rednecks, so who knows. I still have The Thin Blue Line to watch, but I'm a little apprehensive, because my expecations for that film are enormously high.
Thanks for the info on Steamboy arsaib.
The DVD is out here on tues. and I plan on buying it sight unseen. Akira is arguably the greatest animated film ever and my expectations are very high.
Will post about it when I've got the DVD in my hot little mitts.
"Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd
I just purchased "Open Range" on DVD. I enjoyed this western in the theater and feel that Costner and Duvall make a good team. Watching it again, I feel the story is a bit cliched but acting and production values are top notch
I have an affinity for Costner westerns.
1994's "Wyatt Earp" (especially the extended director's cut) was a minor masterpiece and in my opinion, far better than "Tombstone" (1993).
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No problem, J. I think you're gonna like it for many reasons. Akira is certainly one of the best; it brought respect to Japanimation.
Open Range is as good as westerns get nowadays. I agree with you regarding Costner and Duvall.
Akira seems like the high point of anime. Open Range was worth taking seriously despite cliched elements.
My last films have been Hustle and Flow (good), Last Days (excellent),
Wedding Crashers (very funny), and Ma Mère (bad).
The Thin Blue Line (1988) - Errol Morris
Well I actually finished this last night, but for various reasons couldn't give it a write up. I now feel I have a pretty fair understanding of Morris' work. I do wish that at least one of the six DVD's I have of his contained some audio commentary, but the films themselves are enough for now. Lord knows I've waited for years for this particular film to come out. To me Thin Blue Line is a dramatic turning point in Morris' work, where he began to shift from observational quirky people (as in Gates of Heaven and Vernon, Florida) to more serious social critique, including his first use of re-enactments and image enhancing visuals (like Fog of War and Mr. Death). I enjoy the later Morris more, and this film is the hybrid between the two phases, most likely why it is considered such a masterpiece from him. It is also a landmark film in the changing face of documentaries, so no surprise why the Academy ignored it, like they did all Morris films prior to The Fog of War. I was a little bored to read "From Oscar Winning Director Errol Morris" on every single DVD cover, I mean big whoop. I plan on giving a more thorough write up of Morris as a retrospective, but there are still one or two films of his I haven't seen.
Despite the complete absence of special features on his DVD's, this one is still worth watching, and I'd recommend picking up the Morris collection from MGM.
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