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twistedhooch

Joined Mar 2006
Welcome to the new profile
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twistedhooch's rating
I'm Not There

I'm Not There

6.8
8
  • Jan 11, 2009
  • Captures The Spirit Of A Man They Call Bob

    In the foyer of a local cinema I heard a person refer to I'm Not There as a 'hagiography' of Bob Dylan; sure, this film celebrates the music and the shape shifting character of Dylan but it is also critical of the legendary figure. Todd Haynes' refreshing biopic explores Dylan through six actors and seven characters, not one of whom is explicitly called Bob Dylan. Like Haynes' earlier music biopic Velvet Goldmine which was about a Bowie-esquire figure, this story plays loose with truth and biopic conventions.

    Narrated loosely by the poet-Dylan 'Arthur' (Ben Whishaw) and framed around the death of film star-Dylan 'Robbie' (Heath Ledger RIP) in a motorcycle accident, Dylan's story begins with 'Woody Guthrie' (the young black Marcus Carl Franken), painting Dylan as a pretender with boxcar blues aspirations. Folk star 'Jack' (Christian Bale) becomes a counter culture folk icon, which he'll eventually reject by going electric. Bale later reappears as 'Pastor John', a born again Christian. Aforementioned 'Robbie' is a star burning too bright, in a touching and painful relationship with Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Cate Blanchett is electric period pop star Dylan, who is seen toying with the British pop establishment. Finally Richard Gere's 'Billy the Kid' portrays Dylan as an outlaw.

    You'd be forgiven thinking that there is little to link them in outside of their inspiration and you'd be right; I'm Not There tells the story of each Dylan in a unique cinematic style, reflective of the time they represent, and without a plot thread linking stories, but this wonderfully serves the purpose of portraying Dylan as chameleon figure he is and lifts this above the staid biopic style. Each of the actors is suited to their roles, with special mention belonging to Cate Blanchett, who is utterly convincing in her portrayal of Dylan. This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but Todd Haynes should be commended for his adventurous and excited approach. Great soundtrack too.
    À bord du Darjeeling Limited

    À bord du Darjeeling Limited

    7.2
    8
  • Jan 11, 2009
  • Another Enjoyable Wes Anderson Film

    To say Wes Anderson films are idiosyncratic is like saying David Lynch films are surreal or that Alfred Hitchcock films are suspenseful - it's kind of a given. Anderson's oeuvre thus far consists of unusual comic drama hybrids featuring inept criminal capering (Bottle Rocket), a high school student's fall and rise (Rushmore), a deeply dysfunctional dynasty (Royal Tenenbaums), and a father-son reunion set on an undersea search for vengeance (the under-appreciated Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou). It's the details, though, that make his films wonderfully fresh and original; such as Max Fischer's (Jason Schwartzman) plays in Rushmore or the Adidas tracksuit wearing family unit in Tenenbaums or Seu Jorges Portuguese covers of David Bowie in Life Aquatic.

    From the first shot, The Darjeeling Limited stands far and wide from most modern Hollywood cinema, beginning with the short film Hotel Chevalier, the story of a fractured encounter in a hotel room with Jack (Jason Schwartzman, an Anderson regular and a Darjeeling scriptwriter) and his ex-girlfriend (Natalie Portman). The short film is separate from Darjeeling (it even has its own credits), though it features one of the main characters; it's referenced in the film, but doesn't having an overwhelming bearing on the plot. Though it may be confusing for some, Hotel Chevalier remains a nice touch for the fans, comparable with the Cousteau-esquire underwater film within a film that opens Life Aquatic.

    The main feature continues a theme of Anderson's latter works – the family reunion. The brothers Whitman - a heavily bandaged Francis (Owen Wilson, who has worked on all the Wes Anderson's films), Peter (Adrian Brody), and Jack - meet up in India after a year apart to try and reunite with their estranged mother Patricia (Angelica Huston, an Anderson matriarchal character again). All three brothers, who last saw each other at their father's funeral, are on the run from something in their lives, as they travel by train – the titular Darjeeling Limited - across the country. En route they aim to have a 'spiritual journey', with clumsiness akin to Homer Simpson's vision quest. The brothers can function when engaged in activity or exchanging prescription drugs, but tellingly, two given brothers will talk behind the other's back. Unsurprisingly, things deteriorate to the point that they get into a fistfight, thrown from the train, and inadvertently find the heart of India.

    Anderson, Schwartzman, and Roman Coppola's script shows great attention to the character quirks, leading to funny personality clashes, and the actors are each suited to their roles. Francis is controlling and dominant, even taking to ordering his brothers meals and having his travelling personal assistant write up their laminated schedules. Peter makes it seem like he's their father's favourite, by appropriating a lot of the dad's possessions after he died. Jack is obsessive about his ex and is making plans to abandon his brothers on the journey. As with earlier works, Anderson uses an unconventional narrative structure and tone, and mixes comedy with drama. After the short film, the first half of Darjeeling is often a hilarious travelogue of the journey. This contrasts with the slightly tragic second half, after the brothers witness the death of a village boy. Although this does have an initial jarring effect whereby you can note the exact point the film changes, the two contrasting halves work together through Anderson wisely sprinkling the sombre scenes with light comic touches.

    Anderson again uses the soundtrack to great effect, mixing sixties pop, like Kinks and Rolling Stones, with soundtrack music from Indian films: that said, I personally didn't need to hear Peter Sarstedt's 'Where Did You Go To (My Lovely)' three times; a song that shares a gene or two with the Father Ted Eurovision song 'My Lovely Horse'. There are other Anderson trademarks on display here, such as the use of slow motion and panning shots from the side of the moving train, reminiscent to cross section shots of the boat in Life Aquatic. Design details like the jungle patterned luggage and the skull and bones box further heighten the sense that you're watching a Wes Anderson film, whilst Robert Yeoman's cinematography is beautiful, capturing the vibrant colours and dustiness of India. And there are cameos from actors in previous Anderson film, like Kumar Pallana (Pagoda in Tenembaums, amongst others) and Bill Murray.

    Along with fellow Indiewood successes Quentin Tarrantino and Kevin Smith, Wes Anderson has created a unique cinematic world, has an individualistic cinematic voice, and consequently is loved and hated in equal measure. The Darjeeling Limited is a stunning and original piece, which stands well in Anderson's body of work. Darjeeling may prove challenging to mainstream audiences but is set to be adored by his not inconsiderable amount of fans.
    Clerks II

    Clerks II

    7.3
    8
  • Oct 14, 2007
  • Not exactly Empire Strikes Back, but a welcome return of the Clerks

    The original Clerks is a seminal film to me and has probably influenced me more than any film I can care to name. Clerks showed me the nature of independent cinema – to represent what the mainstream won't – and influenced my preference for low key, off kilter, and subversive films. Clerks embedded into me the importance of good writing and dialogue in films; a film that can be smart and crude about subjects like necrophilia and pornography, make reference to Star Wars in a naturalistic and humorous way, contain rants about idiot customers and from fascist anti-smokers, and also wax lyrical about relationships is indeed a wondrous film. Most importantly, Smith's protagonists Randal (Jeff Anderson) and Dante (Brian O'Halloran) are likable characters who are separately amusingly flawed but together just about make up one rounded individual. Dante's knack for making the wrong choices, with regard his life, job, girls, is counterbalanced by Randal's frankness to his friend. Where Dante can be compliant but dissatisfied, Randal is insubordinate and angry – and where Randal's attitude can alienate himself, Dante is always, if slightly grudgingly, there for him. And in Jay and Silent Bob, Clerks introduced two fantastic comic foils who've stayed with him ever since. Clerks is a bit charmingly rough around the edges and Chasing Amy is probably a better film, but for the above reasons Clerks remains my favourite Kevin Smith film.

    Which is why I was filled with no small amount of dread when I heard about Clerks 2. I was one of the self-righteous fan-boys. The thought Smith making a vain attempt to recapture his glory days made me cringe at first, and sullying his masterpiece with a superfluous sequel? Blasphemy. Hadn't Smith already reprised his characters enough in various other form? A comic book, cameos in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, a wealth of merchandise, and even an animated series. For reference, I am a fan of these by-products of the original Clerks, but I needed some convincing over the necessity of another movie. It wasn't until I saw the trailer that I had a reluctant change of heart.

    Plot wise, the film still follows the exploits slackers Randal and Dante through a day in their lives, albeit in a new fast food joint setting after the Quick Stop burns down; both protagonists are on the verge of change and neither are really up to it alone. Randal is loosing his best friend and his liaison to the conventions of society. Dante is stuck in another love triangle with his fiancé Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith) who he's not that into, whilst leaving behind Becky (Rosario Dawson) whom he likes. Dante is still all about the bad choices and Randal is still looking after his friend.

    What Kevin Smith has achieved with Clerks 2 is a successful progression of the characters stories from the original; Dante carried on along the Mac-job path, despite saying he would 'make change' in his life, and finds himself in a similar state as before. Smith wisely develops Randal into a more sympathetic character, and a man on the verge of an empty future; 'sometimes I get the feeling the world left us behind a long time ago.' Randal may be in a worse place than when we first saw him a decade ago but he is still the source of most of the films biting humour, be it ranting against the Lord of the Rings ('Three movies of people walking to a f*cking volcano'), referring to an online disabled person as a 'crippie-boy', and espousing the virtue of going 'ass-to-mouth'. New guy Elias (Trevor Fehrman) provides Randal a fine whipping boy, even if he is a bit too much of a goof-ball at times (I refer to talk of Elias' girlfriends orifice trolls). As Dante's love interest, Becky fits well into the Clerks universe.

    Looking at both Clerks back-to-back, it's interesting to see how they compare. Both share a similar structure and moments of Randal and Dante abandoning their positions. There's even a rooftop scene and Randal teaching his friend an important life lesson. The original, though, is grunge cinema-du-jour, not only on a base soundtrack level, but in an aesthetic and spiritual way (note how Clerks developed from its humble beginnings into a merchandising behemoth, not dissimilar to certain bands of the era). Clerks 2 gains a cinematic sheen lacking (but not missed) in the original, but works well in this sequel (the thought of Smith shooting this in black and white seems a bit pretentious). Clerks 2 probably has as much in common with Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back as it has its forbearer, being more self-referential and celebratory of his cinematic world, and there's cameos aplenty from Smiths prior films (Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, and Ben Affleck). And where the original successfully operated on a tell-not-show basis with regard to its rude set pieces (Julie Dwyers casket being tipped over and the necrophilia in the bathroom), the sequel is more explicit and willing to revel in the disgusting bits (inter species erotica).

    Clerks 2 marks how Kevin Smith has progressed as a director, confidently handling an excellent (and OTT) dance set piece, and an affectionate scene round a go kart track. Clerks 2 doesn't really match the quality of the originals writing, and can occasionally come across as silly whereas the original was definitely smart. Clerks 2 does prove a good accompanying piece, and certainly the best film Smith has done in a number of years. One thing though; please, please, please Kevin, no Clerks 3.
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