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Sunday, March 20, 2005 |
Martin Scorsese had me wrapped around his multi-million dollar finger when he depicted Howard Hughes filming a dogfight scene for his film Hell's Angels hundreds of feet above the ground, strapped standing up to a plane so he could film the embattled planes whizzing around him. This scene would be Scorsese's visual representation of the type of man Howard Hughes was -- driven, obsessive, demanding, compulsive, risky, adventerous to the point of recklessness, and visionary to the point of genious.
Everything about The Aviator is larger than life, from the elaborate and expansive sets, the throngs of extras, the detailed costumes and hair styles, to the depiction of Hughes' mental meltdowns.
Scorsese orchestrated phenomenal performances from Leonardo DiCaprio (who in my opinion was only bested by Jamie Foxx this year), Cate Blanchett (whose Katherine Hepburn was a pure delight to behold and will remain timeless), and Kate Beckinsale (as the seductive Ava Gardner).
The Aviator is a masterpiece in grand-scale size. When your subject matter is the legendary Howard Hughes, it could not have been anything less.
12:40:46 PM  | |
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Yimou Zhang's The House of Flying Daggers is a masterpiece, replete with some of the most visually artistic sets, costumes, choreography, and cinematography you will ever cast your eyes on.
Precision sound editing throughout the film is also exceptional, but is especially evident during the amazingly exquisite Echo Dance and Battle in the Bambo Forest scenes.
The soundtrack too demands attention; it's mixture of drums and flute is richly evocative and powerfully moving. The theme song "Lovers" sung by the soprano Kathleen Battle is one of the most captivating and Oscar-worthy theme songs I've ever heard.
With a love story so dynamic, tragic, and memorable, I dare say that if the Bard were alive to see this, he would be green that he was not the one to pen it.
12:35:48 PM | |
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Hero is the feng shui of film, the Gold Standard.
The cinematography is replete with sweeping desert landscapes, majestic stone palaces and courtyards, and exquisitely choreographed battles amidst falling autumn leaves, jade-colored scrims within the Emperor's Hall, and atop the shingled roof of a desert school (while defending it from an onslaught of a million arrows). These scenes stand out as some of the most breathtaking moments since Crouching Tiger. Hidden Dragon.
The use of color in the costumes and set design are remarkable, not only acting as a method for distinguishing each tale but adding an artistic element that is an incredible visual spectacle.
But it is Yimou's richly layered script that wins me over. He's our new master of tragic love stories. In fact, I'll be so bold to say that one of the closing scenes amidst desert sand and buttes might be the one of the most astounding scenes of tragedy between two lovers you'll likely ever see or forget.
12:30:35 PM | |
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Clint Eastwood has created another film that resonates long after the credits roll and the lights in the theater turn on. Million Dollar Baby seems like a labor of love.
In a few places, the script wears its heart on the surface but for some reason it's hard to be critical of it-- its reflective, somber, quietly methodical, yet powerful manner is alluring and touching. The performances are riveting in their likewise quiet, far from flashy way -- they ring true to the plight of their characters -- we believe they've walked their life and lived their hardships.
The photography and editing is amazing. The use of light and shadow is like another character, adding a fascinating touch of symbolism to a captivating story about a strong-willed woman going after her dreams and a man who is searching for redemption from his past.
Life is a school of hard decisions, hard work, self-mastery, introspection, realization, opposition -- the struggle for improvement and redemption. Million Dollar Baby succeeds because the underlying current of hopes and dreams of becoming something more runs within each and every one of us. To deny this would be unhuman.
12:25:27 PM | |
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Charlie Kaufman is a genius! Period. It’s totally irrelevant that he has the best track record in Hollywood--two of his last three scripts have been nominated for Oscars -- Being John Malcovich and Adaptation. Nonetheless, this is a fact that has to be admired (and envied if you are a screenwriter) -- count on his ingenious script for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to win him yet another nomination.
Michael Gondry's direction of the film is nothing more than brilliant. Gondry amazingly depicts the erasing of Joel’s memory in frenetic flashes of nightmarish, labyrinthine-like scenes -- crumbling sets, people's features disappearing, and black nothingness swallowing up memory. He creates an unsettling and sad picture of a man on the verge of losing not only his memory but his identity, free will, and the love he decides he doesn't want to forget.
As Joel and Clementine run from memory to memory trying to escape the crumbling moments of their existence together, one can’t help think this is one of most remarkable stories ever visualized on film.
12:12:30 PM | |
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What happens when you place two men with personalities as similar as the North is to the South pole in the same car and send them up into the wine country of California for one week? One hell of a funny movie!
Written and directed by Alexander Payne, Sideways truly is a masterpiece of exceptional writing and acting. Paul Giamatti is extraordinary as the self-loathing, manic depressive secondary school teacher, writer wanna-be who is awaiting word on whether his 750 page novel "The Day After Yesterday" will be published.
Thomas Haden Church, also, is extraordinary as the washed out daytime soap opera actor with a one track mind. Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh give wonderful performances as the women the men meet and fall in love with on the trip.
But more than anything, it is Payne's script that most impresses--it's intelligent, witty, and unpredictable. Sideways is completely and delightfully intoxicating!
12:00:48 PM | |
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