What's John watching?

Battlestar Galactica - Season 1: Episode 7: Six Degrees of Separation: Wow! One of the best episodes to date. I loved that scene in CIC: Gaius' flippant comment about Number Six as Godfrey's button, his "Where is she?" looking around her. :-) Great stuff!

His descent into madness could be done so poorly, has rarely been done well; it's refreshing to see this cutting between sane scenes, only to realize in the grand scheme he often loses his frame of reference, and that's all some peers need to label madness. Mix that with his guilt... Oh, it's a horrid, delicious brew.

Finally, gotta mention Donnelly Rhodes again. His first appearance was great, and his second didn't disappoint. In fact, only the intimate scene on Caprica between Boomer and Helo disappointed. Red light visible through her skin? Come on! There's your Cylon detector. *sigh* ¶ 2:16:00 p.m. (0) comments

The Punisher (2004): Normally, I try to avoid the comments on IMDB, at least until I've finished my post, but the subject of this one was hard to miss, and it's a good segue for my thoughts: I had no expectations for this movie, beyond its comic book feel. While I'd bumped into the Punisher in my reading, I didn't read any of his books, and knew little about him beyond the outline of his story.

With that in mind, the movie was fantastic. The opening sequence was amazing; my favourite of the Avi Arad funded movies to date. The music would've suited the Terminator well, the perfect choice for the Punisher, I felt. The tone was spot on. I mean, it was like the cast was in their own world. Yes, there were some bystanders for the raining money incident, but beyond that, did you see many extras? The perfect, tellin' a comic book story setting.

Note: spoilers follow...

Everything this movie did, it did well. There were no half-baked scenes. Quentin (Will Patton) is a sadist? We're going to showcase it in a lengthy, uncomfortably realistic scene. Frank Castle (Tom Jane) must be executed? We're going to shoot him four or five times, once at close range through the chest, and then blow his body to bits; it's one of the few movie executions that's left me feeling, "Yup, that guy's worm food. If I was in charge of that job, I'd say it's done."

And it didn't stop there: the execution of Castle's family - his whole extended family - was as you'd expect. Short bursts of fire, dropping women, children, everyone. It was horrible, and I found myself wondering who could complete such a job; a very real response to an incredible scene. And then there's the hitmen they send after Castle: many, many times, this is where a one-man army movie gets repetitive. The "That guy's supposed to be one of the best? The hero made mincemeat of him!" stuff starts. This time, I believed, truly believed, that Harry Heck (love that name!) :-D (played by Mark Collie) was going to kill him; that Castle was lucky to be alive.

Then there was Kevin Nash (a.k.a. Diesel) as the Russian. Again, didn't you think Castle was toast? To barely survive a grenade detonation, only to be hit with a toilet? These guys knew what they were doing, and they were good at it. It's the name of the game with this movie: if you're going to do it, do it well.

*sigh* A final comment about Travolta: he's played some horrible villians, and I don't mean that in a good way - Swordfish anyone? - but as Howard Saint? Oh, the man was in his element. Over the top in every single scene? Yup, and the comic book audience is lovin' it. ¶ 11:37:00 a.m. (0) comments

Hitch (2005): It had its moments, certainly, and not all of them were ruined by the trailer - although many were - but, overall, the script was too convoluted and Eva's acting too awkward to call it a success.

Note: spoilers follow...

The story had too many characters, first of all. Normally you can have a large cast, with many bit parts, but this movie required feeling and meaning from at least two such characters. Predictably, both failed miserably.

The bizarre part was how Tennant, the director, seemed to think that cutting back to the faces of these characters over and over again would make the scene more meaningful: yes, we've seen Maria's (Mercedes Renard) face many times now, with that "Ah, aren't they a cute couple" expression on her face, but, you know what? We just met her! This five-minute scene isn't communicating their sisterly bond, as you're clearly hoping it will! Maggie (Austin Lysy) was the other "important" bit character, and again, his scene? Empty.

Will Smith was very natural as Hitch, but he couldn't make up for some of Eva's awkward moments, especially in the last half hour of the movie. Admittedly, the convoluted script probably had a lot to do with them - did anyone really believe that a reporter would get so upset without investigating a little further? - but it made for a really wobbly ending. ¶ 12:49:00 a.m. (0) comments

Battlestar Galactica - Season 1: Episode 6: Litmus: Well, this one was better than the last. That whole Caprica line just annoys me, but the tribunal was interesting, if for no other reason than it might have fulfilled its mandate had it been allowed to continue. These "witch hunts" are a common theme, but rarely do we see them going down the right path, only to be cut short. ¶ 10:17:00 p.m. (0) comments

Battlestar Galactica - Season 1: Episode 5: You Can't Go Home Again: *sigh* I never seem to like two episodes in a row; I found most of this one wooden, save Starbuck's hospital scene. And did I miss something? When did she mark up the underbelly of the Cylon Raider?

Other than that, boy, Gaius is sure conjuring up some skimpy outfits for Number Six; oh, and the toaster scene just didn't compare to the Pop-Tarts scene in Pulp Fiction (1994). ¶ 9:06:00 p.m. (0) comments

Ong-bak: O.K., remember when I talked about how excited I got just watching the trailer for this movie? Well, believe it or not, it was even better than I expected. And for once I'm glad I watched the trailer before the movie, because otherwise I never would've believed Tony Jaa (who's real name is Panom Yeerum) did it all himself, with no stunt doubles, props (beyond weapons), or safety equipment.

The guy punched and kicked a fridge a good distance, jumped over moving cars, did the splits and slid under another, jumped up on and ran along the shoulders of half a dozen guys from a standing position... The list goes on and on. And there were none of these quick cuts between moves to make you sick to your stomach; just well-placed instant replays, in case you missed something. I couldn't have asked for anything more. ¶ 6:24:00 p.m. (0) comments

Cast Away: You know, I talked about Broyles Jr. the other day re: Unfaithful, and whether he and the other screenwriters got Connie right. This movie - well, the script and Broyles Jr.'s writing process - gives me more confidence in their attempt; he really lived like Chuck (Tom Hanks) for a week, and that's one heck of a long time to count each minute.

I don't know how I feel about this movie; it's certainly disturbing material. And I guess that's a testament to its realism: it's more like you're witnessing horrors than watching a movie; I couldn't distant myself. Apparently, Zemeckis wanted all of Chuck's leaps of intuition to ring true with the audience; he didn't want to leave them behind or have them questioning the logic of any moment. Speaking for myself, as I'm known to do, :-P Zemeckis et al. passed with flying colours.

Note: spoilers follow...

One of the premises that seems to hound a lot of movies is the idea that everything has to be explained to the audience as it occurs. It bugs the heck outta me because: 1) it's so prevalent, and 2) it presupposes we're all idiots. This movie is a perfect example of how the premise is not only incorrect, but also deprives the director of some great storytelling devices.

The biggest example is the plane crash: what happened? Why did the plane depressurize? Well, we find out, but only in the last half hour of the movie. So many movies would've cut to the flammable package in the back while Chuck was in the washroom; so many! You know it! It builds suspense, right? Wrong! It takes the audience out of the moment. Chuck is none the wiser, so neither are we in Zemeckis' vision; beautiful.

Another great example is Chuck's suicide attempt. I had no idea what he was talking about with Wilson, the volleyball; probably because it wasn't really a conversation, but, again, it didn't matter. It makes for an incredibly powerful scene near the end as Chuck recounts the event and his emotions at the time. An incredible device, made possible by shuffling the sequence of events and leaving the audience guessing for a bit. ¶ 11:03:00 p.m. (0) comments

Immortel (ad vitam) (2004): Immortal, for life; it suits the film to a tee, no question. Very arthouse (at least as I understand the word).

Note: spoilers follow...

I'm glad I knew nothing about this movie prior to seeing it. A coworker asked me whether I wanted to go and that was that. It made that first shot of a future New York cityscape so powerful. Of course, by the same token, it made for a lot of confusion and guessing; I don't know whether reading Bilal's La Foire aux immortels would've mitigated that, but I doubt it.

Bilal experimented with a few art forms in the movie, most often to great effect. For instance, the humanoid hammerhead bounty hunter - a synthetic dayek, I believe it was called - was all the more menacing because its metal teeth scraped as it moved and breathed. Put that character beside the computer-generated imagery and it really stands out.

And that brings me to the form that didn't always work: some of the CGI characters. The gods looked pretty good, but any of the more animated - in the excited sense of the word - humans looked stiff. As my coworker said, it was like watching a video game trailer at times.

That aside though, it was a fantastic film, in the best sense of the word. Really beautiful and alive. Bilal's wonderful imagination more than made up for the disjointed story and sometimes inadequate animation. ¶ 12:03:00 p.m. (0) comments

The Saint: The Man Who Liked Lions: *sigh* I don't know. I like Sir Roger Moore (he's the Bond I grew up with), but I don't know about this one, even if it was 1966. Still seven years is a good stretch for a TV show, so I won't judge it too harshly on the strength of just one episode.

I certainly liked the opening; very Bond-like, with the silhouettes. And the title is definitely catchy, even comic book. Maybe I'll try to track down another episode at the library. ¶ 7:43:00 p.m. (0) comments

Good Morning, Vietnam: My first time watching it all the way through. I liked it. All the Vietnam movies I've seen tackle different aspects of the conflict, and this one was different again, showing life in Saigon earlier than, say, Apocalypse Now.

I've always been a fan of Robin Williams, but I have to say, he looked terrible in that uniform. Can you say old man pants? I can just see him smacking his gums, sticking his chin out. Seriously, though, that was some good material on Cronauer's (Williams) radio show: Cronkite's weather forecast - "Hot and s**tty" - had me in stitches. ¶ 8:50:00 p.m. (0) comments

Unfaithful (2002): The heaviest movie I've seen in a long time. We watched it last night, but there was no way I could collect my thoughts on it in the hours afterward. Now what fills me is the beauty of it. The wind storm in the opening sets the stage, and the rest of the movie doesn't disappoint.

And then there's director Adrian Lyne's attention to detail: just as Connie (Diane Lane) decides to go up to Paul's (Olivier Martinez) apartment, an available cab drives by. Later, when he asks her - over the phone - if she would like some coffee, she falters and puts her coffee on top of the payphone before replying that, yes, she would (since she doesn't have one now, you can see her telling herself).

I see that Diane Lane was nominated for Best Actress, and for that I'm happy. (I can't speak to Nicole Kidman winning for her performance in The Hours; I haven't seen it.) Connie Sumner's conflicting emotions were uncomfortably clear, without a word being spoken. The audience was a voyeur as I rarely feel these days. (Yes, moviegoers are always voyeurs, but doesn't it often feel more like your own private performance? Sad really.) Uncomfortably real, I say, because I must be doing something naughty to witness such expressions on the face of a woman who isn't my wife (or so my thoughts go). And that was just the train ride. :-)

In looking at the writing credits, my thoughts drift back a few years to Eyes Wide Shut, and, specifically, men writing women. While Eyes Wide Shut still puzzles me, it's Alice's (Nicole Kidman) pot-laced monologue that still haunts the married man in me (taken from The Kubrick Site):

ALICE: That afternoon you and I made love and talked about our future, and our child. Later we were sitting on the balcony and he passed below us without looking up. Just the sight of him stirred me deeply and I thought if he wanted me, I could not have resisted. I thought I was ready to give up you, the child, my whole future.

And yet at the same time - if you can understand it - you were dearer to me than ever, and I stroked your forehead and kissed your hair, and at that moment my love for you was both tender and sad.

At dinner I wore a white rose and you said I was very beautiful. It might not have been just an accident that he and his friends sat near us. He didn't look up but I actually considered getting up, walking over to him and like someone in a movie, saying, "Here I am, my love, for whom I have waited - take me."

Well, it was about then that the waiter brought him the envelope. He read it, turned pale, said goodbye to his friends - and glancing at me mysteriously, he left the room.

ALICE stops for a moment.

ALICE: I barely slept that night and woke up the next morning very agitated. I didn't know whether I was afraid that he had left or that he might still be there... But by dinner I realised he was gone and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Long silence

BILL: And if he hadn't left?

ALICE doesn't reply.

ALICE: I don't know.

Those who've seen Unfaithful (2002) can see the similarities: a woman so consumed by a man that she forgets to pick up her child after school, introduces so much stress in her family that he starts wetting the bed. I find myself wondering whether this could happen, more because it's men writing these women than anything utterly fantastic in their actions; do these men - Raphael and Kubrick in the case of Alice; Chabrol, Sargent and Broyles Jr. in the case of Connie - have it right? Or are they writing the women they'd be, the ones they've loved, listened to, questioned, the ones they've read?

I don't have any answers to these questions. I do know women who liked this movie a lot. Certainly another of Lyne's movies, Nine ½ Weeks, has been recommended to me by both men and women, and seems to deal with the sexes. (Again, I haven't seen it, so I can't comment further.) Am I making too much of the mothering instinct? Children are abandoned, neglected and worse every day. Comments? ¶ 12:12:00 p.m. (0) comments

Battlestar Galactica - Season 1: Episode 4: Acts of Contrition: Well, that's the way to do it: watch the cliff-hanger partway through the week so you have less time to wait for the conclusion. (Well, other than waiting for the DVDs, I guess.)

I'm happy to say that this was a great episode; on par with the first one, in my mind. Not a lot of action, true, but lots of real, raw emotion, especially on the parts of Edward James Olmos, Katee Sackhoff and Jamie Bamber. I really believed that Commander Adama could barely contain his disappointment, rage, loss, upon hearing that his son, Zak, shouldn't have died in a Viper.

And let's give it up for good ole Canadian-born Donnelly Rhodes as the memorable Doctor Cottle! I think that was my favourite scene of the series: him lighting up a cigarette mid-diagnosis! :-D Man, I guess the last TV show I saw him on regularly - yes, he's made many guest appearances - was Danger Bay. Now there was a Canadian production in the great tradition of, say, The Beachcombers. :-) Ah, nostalgia. ¶ 8:58:00 p.m. (0) comments

Super Size Me: Ugh. Man. We went through the DVD in order, finishing with the Smoking Fry feature. I almost lost it, watching that Chicken McGrill become ooze as the weeks passed. :-/ For me that was even worse than seeing him puke after getting the McChills and the McSweats - he's a funny guy - :-) on... Day 3, wasn't it? Really early on, anyway.

Assuming he was on the up 'n' up, the idea of food failing to decompose after ten weeks, under normal circumstances, really horrified me; those fries did look like he bought them yesterday. But that wasn't the only thing that really hit home. Sodexho runs our cafeteria at work - Think clients first my a** - and seeing those kids line up for fries, what they had at their tables, I just kept thinking, "How can they learn with that in their stomachs?" And right after that, about how many people grab an order of fries and head back to their desks at work.

And let's not forget how Morgan rocked his body in just 30 days. The fact that the GP he was seeing compared his liver damage to Nic Cage in Leaving Las Vegas shocked the crap outta me. I mean, that's nuts! Oh well, he seems to be in good spirits now, so hopefully no permanent damage was done. ¶ 11:28:00 p.m. (0) comments

O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Well, I can safely say I knew nothing about this movie prior to watching it, save that it was of the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan). Thank goodness I caught the writing credit at the beginning, or I would've been completely lost: even though I haven't read the Odyssey, it still gave me a point of reference; the epic nature of the story, if you will. Incidentally, I don't think they had to give Homer credit. Given that the work is in the public domain, I think they were free to use it as they saw fit. Again, though, glad they did.

I have got to buy that soundtrack! Holy Hannah, what a beaut! Unlike the digital effects of postproduction, I was completely aware of the soundtrack's making the movie; it was the heart of so many scenes. Once I watched the feature on the film's postproduction - included on the excellent DVD - the colouring's essential role in the movie also became clear, but only afterward. I think that speaks to a job well done - that it wasn't jarring or out of place - but, at the same time, clearly shows me I'm no director. :-P Not even an armchair one.

Now, I've said it before, and I'll say it again: George Clooney is one hell of an actor. He had me in stitches more than once, and while, yes, the writers deserve a lot of the credit for that, his delivery of those oft-complicated lines, his timing, everything was spot-on. The whole cast should be praised; heck, I barely recognized John Turturro, who apparently derived great inspiration from the fake teeth he had to wear. :-)

Just a treat all round; truly. I know a lot of people give the Coen brothers a hard time over Fargo (1996), but I have to say, I really like their style. (I can't speak on Fargo; frankly, it's been too long. I hardly remember it.) ¶ 10:24:00 p.m. (0) comments