July 28, 2011

Getafilm Gallimaufry: Midnight in Paris, X-Men: First Class, The Tree of Life, Super 8

Midnight in Paris (A)

Having never been to Paris, I've enjoyed exploring the city's iconic setting in various films, from The 400 Blows (which I saw recently for the first time) to Amelie, Band of Outsiders, Ronin, Before Sunset, 2 Days in Paris, and even European Vacation and Ratatouille, to name just a few. I can see why it makes for such an enchanting setting for movies, and Midnight in Paris hit all the right notes for me again. The smells and spells of the city were a terrific complement to a dream-like fantasy story. Owen Wilson played essentially the same version of the same character he's played in every movie from You, Me, and Dupree to Shanghai Knights, and while I wouldn't have expected that character to fit here, it was a near perfect fit for the quirkiness of the narrative. I didn't buy the chemistry between his character and Marion Cotillard's, but then Midnight in Paris is not a love story between characters but between a director, a city, and his cultural and literary influences. I like that Woody Allen doesn't go to really any length to explain why particular characters are where they are, when they are. The charm of this movie is easy to succumb to, and that it's Allen's highest-grossing film to date speaks to the appeal for mature, original, simple cinema in the midst of the year-round blockbuster bonanza.


X Men: First Class (B+)


Here's a movie for which I couldn't explain my interest ahead of time, other than that some aspect of the original X-Men movie and the story has always intrigued me. It involves the fact that this series is set in the real world and involves real people and places, unlike Batman, for example (why the endless fawning over and praise of that story, I still don't know). You could say Watchmen is also set in the real world, and while those graphic novels may well be interesting (I haven't read them and hated the movie), I still find X-Men to be among the most socially relevant comic book series around. Mutants are, of course, a metaphor for any marginalized minority group in history, which makes the films both relatable and actually much more emotional than Spider-Man or, good grief, The Green Hornet. Lending to the realism in this latest film is the excellent acting from Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, and Jennifer Lawrence. Casting seasoned dramatic actors in comic book movie doesn't always work (Ed Norton as The Incredible Hulk?), but it definitely did in First Class, and if the cast stays on for the next installment, I'll follow along as well.

The Tree of Life (B+)

Up until a few years ago, I had no idea Terrence Malick was so revered by 25-40 year old male movie buffs. Among my peers in the blogging world, Malick's The New World was far and away considered the best film of the last decade. I remember quite well seeing it in the theater and shrugging my shoulders on the way out, so the devout praise for the film has always escaped me. Not baffled me, because I didn't think it was bad, but escaped me, because...I don't know, maybe I just didn't get it, or know what I should have been watching for, or have enough patience and thought to consider its deeper meanings. I never did give it a second watch, but needless to say the hype around that film made me quite anxious to have a third shot at understanding Malick (I'd previously seen The Thin Red Line). My verdict on The Tree of Life? A visually captivating and ambitious meditation on the meaning of life and nature of family, but a somewhat emotionally dull one at that. Really the only emotion I felt, other than an utter sense of awe at the cinematography and visual effects, was an unnerving fear. Brad Pitt's character was terrifying and his presence was palpable even when he wasn't on screen - maybe that was the point (Sean Penn, meanwhile, seemed absent even when he was on screen). The father-son relationship is one of about a million things that Malick lays out for interpretation and analysis. Over the next few years, as that is sure to play out again online, at least I won't be as confused. And besides, I'd much rather people spend years discussing a film like The Tree of Life than a film like The Dark Knight. (That's two digs now at TDK, if you're keeping score at home.)

Super 8 (C+)

When is a remake not actually a remake? When everything about the new movie is identical to a previous movie, other than a few plot devices. Of course we know by now that Super 8 is J.J. Abrams' homage to the films of Steven Spielberg, but instead of being merely influenced by Spielberg's films (E.T. being the easiest comparison), Super 8 plays like a lesser version of one. Sillier dialogue, a plodding pace, and hardly a speck of originality (to say nothing of logical gaps - how did the camera and the car and the kamikaze teacher come out of the train crash essentially unscathed?). Watching Super 8, I felt like I'd seen it before: the rowdy dining room table, the same-looking alien with the same-sounding guttural growls and high-pitched chirps, the placid suburban neighborhood predictably thrown into chaos. Of course I realize that this criticism, besides making me come off as a total grouch, can also be applied to countless movies. Filmmakers are influenced by filmmakers throughout history, and I expect my issues with Super 8, rather than being based on the movie's own merit, actually just stem from my nostalgia for "the real thing" - Spielberg's films.

8 comments:

  1. Watching Super 8, I felt like I'd seen it before: the rowdy dining room table, the same-looking alien with the same-sounding guttural growls and high-pitched chirps, the placid suburban neighborhood predictably thrown into chaos. Of course I realize that this criticism, besides making me come off as a total grouch, can also be applied to countless movies.

    Daniel, if you're a grouch, then that makes two of us. This is exactly how I felt about this movie - and I'm glad you mention the ridiculously "rowdy dining room table," a poor imitation of a typical Spielberg element that was even irritating when Spielberg did it!

    When this came out, I cut into this movie and found myself in the minority. I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one to be very unimpressed by this mishmash.

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  2. Hi Daniel - How've you been? I just saw Midnight in Paris, and I don't know how familiar you are with Woody Allen, but Wilson was playing the character Woody Allen always plays in his own films. I agree that the director was playing out his own fantasy of Paris, but it might have helped the film if he had actually created some interesting characters and slightly believable situations in Gil's real life. The popularity of the film probably has more to do with everyone's fantasies with Paris than it does with a simple film told well, which in my opinion, it was not.

    I also very much liked X-Men First Class, and thought McAvoy gave the most selfless performance in years channeling Patrick Stewart so that character continuity could be maintained across the films.

    Haven't seen the other two, don't know if I will.

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  3. Hi Hokahey, and Marilyn - always appreciate your thoughts in this corner of the internet, even if I'm not always around to keep the lights on.

    Hokahey, "mishmash" is an accurate descriptor. I think Super 8 will fade down and out over time, existing as a lesser-Spielberg film forevermore. At least that's how it will live on in my mind. Also, why not throw in another dig here - I really disliked the super 8 film over the end credits, so much so that I walked out before it wrapped.

    Marilyn, I've seen Manhattan, Annie Hall, etc., but certainly not Allen's entire filmography. Which would explain why I may have missed Wilson has a stand-in for Allen - that makes a lot of sense (and yet on paper it's still a bizarre casting choice). Fair critique about Paris as a setting dominating the story as well. Maybe you can just make any film in Paris and people will love it?

    I expect you'd have some very interesting thoughts/critiques on Tree of Life, while Super 8 is not worth catching up to.

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  4. "A visually captivating and ambitious meditation on the meaning of life and nature of family, but a somewhat emotionally dull one at that."

    I never found this one dull; I always found it captivating, and not just visually so. I felt a lot of emotional connection to this family and the three boys. I saw it twice in NYC before the hype; then I saw it twice more. I've posted extensively on it and I have stated that the film is sometimes trite and inscrutable, but I found a lot to love about this movie.

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  5. I've just read your review about this Hokahey and I think I identified part of the emotional split that we have over it. As I said, though, no matter my thoughts on this film (and I should clarify that it really did impress me on first viewing more than The New World), I'd much rather see it discussed endlessly than so many other movies that take up ink and digital space these days.

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  6. " unlike Batman, for example (why the endless fawning over and praise of that story, I still don't know)."

    That story was full of more holes than Batman Begins but Ledger's performance was fantastic. Plus the unexpected happened, multiple good guys were killed. Then their was the moment when the criminal makes the moral decision on the boat with the bomb trigger.

    The Watchmen movie had many issues, many due to its divergence from the graphic novels but parts of the film I did enjoy.

    I liked elements of X-Men: First Class as well but not for the reasons you listed.

    "Casting seasoned dramatic actors in comic book movie doesn't always work (Ed Norton as The Incredible Hulk?)"

    Ed Norton worked for me in The Incredible Hulk.

    I found Super 8, in its second and third act, to be over rated but its first act was enjoyable: Good acting, better than I was expecting visuals (the train crash), and drama. Hackneyed but not terrible.

    "(to say nothing of logical gaps - how did the camera and the car and the kamikaze teacher come out of the train crash essentially unscathed?)" That teacher hit the train head on and was only bleeding afterward. AHAHAHAHA. Right.

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  7. Mentioning Ed Norton in The Incredible Hulk - maybe you're right in that he wasn't really the problem with that movie. It had its own flaws that had nothing to do with who was cast in it.

    Yeah the train crash in Super 8...as surprising as the teacher's survival was, I was also impressed that the camera was untouched as a train car plowed through the depot. Two square miles of destruction and the camera is tidily sitting exactly where they'd left it. Nice.

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  8. The third act of The Incredible Hulk, the CGI final fight, was bad.

    Yeah, the camera being in the same position was dubious.

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