Emma's Talk

Doubt

Singin' in the Rain

I don't like musicals. They never made any sense to me. Don't get me wrong, I love music; it's an important part of my life. I love movies also, and while the two often compliment each other, sometimes I'm repelled. It's probably the dancing. A person breaking into a complicated dance number, seemingly unaware of their surroundings, or worse yet, in complete synch with a complete stranger is like making fun of the movie, as if to say, "Please don't take us seriously, we like to sing and dance." Or even more ridiculous, "Let's not fight, let's settle this dispute with a song and dance." Forget about suspension of disbelief.

This film however, I manage to enjoy. I once was given the task of my film teacher to watch the film and keep track of all the cuts in the film. Well, sometime after ten minutes I lost track because I was so wrapped up in the story. It really is an interesting period in the history of cinema, told well, and with well placed song and dance numbers that at times drag on, but that seems to be more of an excuse to show off the technicolour than anything else. They build you up to it slowly. The first few numbers don't break out at an inappropriate time. It doesn't last though, but by then they've got you.

With such memorable tunes as these, it's hard to imagine them going wrong. When Gene Kelly sings the title piece, somehow time stands still as you're swept up in one of the most memorable scenes in film history. Just reading the title in print has likely caused you to hum a few bars, or sing a few words. Or maybe, just maybe, walk out without an umbrella when you know it's raining. One thing's for sure, if all Gene Kelly did was choreograph the dance numbers, he more than deserves the co-directing credit he has.

Brain Donors

This movie makes you cry you're laughing so hard. I've seen it countless times, and it just gets better and better each time I see it. The writing is brilliant and the acting is just as good if not better. John Turtturo was born to play this part, just like all his other roles, but excellent in this one in particular. A take off on the Marx brothers' Animal Crackers (1930), it captures a more modern feel

So many great moments and lines it's hard to pick a favorite scene or dialogue. I think that my favorite part of the movie if forced to choose would have to be one of the last scenes, when they are at the ballet and the two guys come out on stage and start hunting swans and ducks with rifles and blood hounds! Every time I see that I think I'm going to faint I'm laughing so hard! One of the best all time movies ever made, and should have one an Academy Award for best comedy of it's time. A classic that will most assuredly go down in history!

I give this movie a 5 out of 5

Screamers: The Hunting

a pretty awesome sci fi / horror movie,
good plot, good acting and good effects.
theres plenty of action right from the start which keeps going throughout the entire film

Valkyrie

I really enjoyed this movie and I maybe one of the few that was not annoyed by Tom Cruise. Well as I'm sure most people know this movie is about the failed assassination attempt of Adolf Hitler.

The acting was very good throughout. I actually enjoyed Tom Cruise's performance but he did not take the lead as strongly as he should have. He did what had to be done but he could have elevated this movie like he has done to others in the past. His role needed that maverick type attitude like he provided in Born On the Fourth of July. His non-German accent was not an issue it was the strength that he displayed in his performance that was disappointing to many. This movie was certainly a chance for him to build his career back up to a more serious level but he clearly did not impress too many people with his role as Stauffenburg to do that. Still, he was enjoyable to watch for me.

The supporting cast though was great. Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson were all pivotal in the success of this movie and they certainly filled in perfectly. All around they were great performances but who I especially liked was Christian Berkel who I haven't heard of before as well as Jamie Parker.

The directing of Bryan Singer was superb. He provided an amazing amount of suspense to a movie that everyone knew the ending to. For a good half hour I was totally frozen watching as the plot unfold. I also thought the movie was paced very well and he brought the best out of the supporting cast. Of course it was shot very well with a great production throughout. The movie was written very nicely but as many people have said, it would have been great if there was more emotional depth added to the characters to make the audience feel more attached them.

This movie certainly had a lot of potential but it stayed within the realm of mostly a suspense action movie. Valkryie reminded me of a WW2 movie from the 50s and 60s with its style and pacing. It's very interesting to think about what ifs' and its kind of funny to think they almost pulled off the impossible without killing Hitler. Valkryie perfectly illustrates how the smallest of things can have the biggest impact.

The Killing

'The Killing' has been overshadowed by Stanley Kubrick's subsequent better known and better made movie masterpieces. Films like 'Dr. Strangelove', '2001' and 'A Clockwork Orange' are much more flamboyant and intellectually exciting than this early hard boiled crime thriller

one of his most entertaining movies, and in its own modest way just as brilliant as his more talked about films. 'The Killing' is still one of the greatest crime thrillers ever made, and one which influenced many film makers working in this genre, not the least of which Quentin Tarantino, who obviously worships this picture, and used its innovative structure as major inspiration for 'Pulp Fiction'. Kubrick wrote 'The Killing's script as well as directing, but made the smart move of asking "the Dime Store Dostoevski" Jim Thompson, author of pulp classics like 'The Killer Inside Me' and 'The Getaway' to supply the fresh and memorable dialogue. Sterling Hayden, who later achieved screen immmortality as General Jack D. Ripper in 'Dr Strangelove', is perfect as ambitious small time crook Johnny Clay. He is surrounded by an almost flawless supporting cast. I qualified that because I wasn't totally convinced by Coleen Gray who plays Johnny's girlfriend. However she only really has one scene, and the rest of the cast more than makes up for her. Especially memorable are the mis-matched husband and wife played by Elisha Cook, Jr ('The House On Haunted Hill') and the sultry Marie Windsor (noir classic 'Narrow Margin').

Their scenes together are simply terrific. Also noteworthy are the two scenes featuring legendary crazy Timothy Carey ('The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie'). Carey was one of the most extraordinary performers to set foot in front of a movie character, and is unforgettable. Kubrick obviously thought highly of him as he subsequently cast him in his anti-war classic 'Paths Of Glory', a move which antagonised the movie's star Kirk Douglas. Even if 'The Killing' didn't feature such a strong performance from Sterling Hayden it would be worth watching just to catch Cook, Windsor and Carey.

On top of that you have some other great actors such as Vince Edwards, an innovative script, hip dialogue and some brilliant directorial touches. This exciting heist movie can't be recommended highly enough, it's a real treat for film buffs. A brilliant film that still packs a punch after almost fifty years, something I doubt you will be saying about many movies currently showing in today's theatres. 'The Killing' is a super cool suspense movie and not to be missed!

Spider Baby, or The Maddest Story Ever Told (Attack of the Liver Eaters)

Jack Hill creates a weird story circling about the strange Meryee family which suffers from some strange disease, causing their members to degenerate into primitive pre-human lifeforms

or as Lon Chaney puts it out "rotting of the brain". Chaney himself, of course, is - in a fine performance - the loyal caretaker who suddenly has to deal with the fact that some relatives are trying to get their hands on the family estate (and heritage).

Besides great cinematography (under the given budget) and the genuine storyline one has to admire the characters, making the viewer think of something like "Addams Family" on Crack.

Classic stuff, with some bits which really are memorable (e.g. Chaney's groan "It's going to be full moon tonight" when the nerd hero and his love interest are discussing horror films in general and "The Wolfman" in special). And, last but not least, there's always Sid Haig...

A Clockwork Orange

I would say that the movie is really a gem of an art piece. The use of excellent imagery coupled with pretty out-of-the-place background score tells us about the uniqueness of this movie. Stanley Kubrick has really applied a lot of thought into this.

The director wants the audience to feel something as bad not because he is showing it as bad but because it really is bad. The background music accompanying the ultra violent scenes is comical, and not dramatic or anything else that is commonly associated with such scenes. This gives the viewer an opportunity to feel the bitterness not because the music hints so but because he himself feels so. Viewer's emotions should arise irrespective of what the director is trying to show, and this is one of the greatest successes of the movie.

Another glorifying feature is the central idea of the movie. If a human is striped of the choice to choose from good and evil, he no longer remains a human, he becomes a clockwork. When Alex is brain-washed and "programmed" to choose only good, he wasn't accepted by the society and this shows the irony in the objectives of the British Government. The word Orange from the title presumably comes from the word "Ourange" that loosely means man. And hence the title is so appropriate to the movie.

The artificiality in dialogues and sets give the movie a unique feature and enhance the grip on it. This also means that the viewer has to get more involved. This is definitely one of the best technically shot movies, another masterpiece of Kubrick like the Space Oddessey.

For the uninitiated, set in near future Britain, the movie shows Malcom MacDowell as the head of a group of youngsters involved in sexual violence. Turn of the events leave the protagonist in the hands of the police. Worried by the growing number of prisoners the British Government devises a method of "programming" them so that they always choose the good. Alex is chosen as one of those on which the new system is to be tested. The rest unfolds as a saga of the very human characteristic.

Lastly, I would like to say that you may be compelled to leave the movie in between, but if you are watching it for art and cinematic experience, I recommend you to sit through.

If....

was aware of Malcolm McDowell having previously seen him as Alex delarge in Clockwork Orange. This film is a perfect surreal study of teenage rebellion and should be seen by everyone who is able. The direction is brilliant the supporting cast shine (Arthur Lowe etc)and the film as a whole is made up of memorable images that you'll take to the grave. Lindsay Anderson is one of the most important director geniuses of an era and i was very sad to hear of his demise. The memory of him lives on through this film and its two "Mick Travis" sequels!!


Mick Travis: One man can change the world with a bullet in the right place.

Mick Travis: The thing I hate about you, Rowntree, is the way you give Coca-Cola to your scum, and your best teddy bear to Oxfam, and expect us to lick your frigid fingers for the rest of your frigid life.

Mick Travis: There's no such thing as a wrong war. Violence and revolution are the only pure acts.

The Girl: Go on. Look at me. Look at my eyes. I'll kill you. Sometimes I stand in front of the mirror and my eyes get bigger and bigger. And I'm like a tiger. I like tigers. Rrrrah!

Peanuts: Paradise is for the blessed. Not for the sex-obsessed.

Mick Travis: When do we live? That's what I want to know.

Changeling

An alright movie, reminded me very much of "Capote", with the villain being way more impressive than Jolie who just seems to be a hysterical thin woman with no other characteristics. Though everything is pretty and Jolie herself is very beautifully styled and wathching her I can't help thinking of that painting by Ed Hopper "Automat".

Mammoth (Mammut)

Never been a fan of Moodysson's previous work so I did not expect to like this very much - BUT surprisingly enough I really enjoyed this film! It's very "Babel"-esque and there's no real plot per se, but more a film of the voyeuristic kind where you get glimpses of people's live just for a few days. Both Williams (who was in Sweden shooting this when Ledger passed) and García Bernal are great. Great flick!

The Fall

Absolutely breathtaking - a masterpiece.

Rain Man

Brilliant Oscar-winning Best Picture film about quick-tempered exotic car salesman Charlie Babbitt (superlatively played by Cruise) who finds himself bilked out of his estranged father's inheritance and discovering an older brother, Raymond, (Hoffman flawlessly brilliant, Best Actor), an institutionalized autistic savant, and 'kidnaps' him in their dad's Buick Roadmaster for a cross-country odyssey of self-reflection and genuine sibling bonding. Poignant, funny, and moving character study with expert direction by Barry Levinson (Best Director and appears as a mental health envoy). Ethereally Oscar nominated haunting score by Hans Zimmer. Best scene: Cruise learning why Hoffman was "sent away." Life-affirming.

Charlie: Listen... Ray, I don't know if I'm gonna have a chance to talk to you again. Because you see, these... Dr. Bruner really likes you a lot, and he's probably gonna take you back. You know?
Raymond: Yeah.
Charlie: What I said about being on the road with you I meant. Connecting. I like having you for my brother.
Raymond: I'm an excellent driver.
Charlie: [smiling] Yes, you are. I like having you for my big brother.
Raymond: C-H-A-R-L-I-E. C-H-A-R-L-I-E. Main man.


Charlie: Hey, who is this guy?
Susanna: He just jumped in the car.
Charlie: Yeah well he can jump out. Come on!
Raymond: I'm an excellent driver.
Charlie: That's good. Come on! Susanna, why'd you let him get in this car? It's not a toy.
Susanna: He says he drives this car.
Raymond: Dad lets me drive slow on the driveway every Saturday. 'Course the seats were originally brown leather now they're a pitiful red.
Charlie: [surprised] Hey, these seats were brown leather. You know this car?
Raymond: I know this car.
Charlie: How do you know this car?
Raymond: It's a 1949 Buick Roadmaster. Straight 8. Fireball 8. Only 8,985 production models. Dad lets me drive slow on the driveway. But not on Monday, definitely not on Monday.
Charlie: Who's your dad?
Raymond: Sanford Babbitt. 10961 Beachcrest Street, Cincinnati Ohio.
Charlie: That's my address. Hey, who's your mother?
Raymond: Eleanor Babbitt. Died January 5, 1965 after short and sudden illness.
Charlie: Who the hell are you?
Raymond: Uh oh, fifteen minutes to Judge Wapner.
[Raymond proceeds back to Walbrook, ignoring Charlie]
Charlie: Wait, I wanna ask you a question! Hey! Dr. Bruner, who is he?
Dr. Bruner: Raymond is your brother.


Charlie: Hey Raymond, remember today when the doctor was asking you those questions? How'd you know the answers?
Raymond: [while brushing his teeth at the same time, Charlie can't make out what he said] I see it.
Charlie: What? Stop that for a second.
Raymond: I see it.
Charlie: Raymond!
[Grabs tooth brush from him]
Charlie: When I say stop it, why don't you stop it? Why do you always have to act like an idiot?
[Raymond begins to laugh]
Charlie: You think that's funny?
Raymond: Yeah funny Rain Man, funny teeth.
Charlie: What'd you say? Funny teeth? What?
Raymond: I didn't say funny teeth, funny Rain Man.
Charlie: You? You're the Rain Man?

Bolt

I have been anticipating the release of Bolt for several months. I had an opportunity to see a screening of it and it exceeded all my expectations. Bolt is a wonderful movie with a good story and heart, something that Pixar has done well but Disney has struggled with. I believe the addition of John Lasseter to Disney Animation has made a significant impact on the quality and continuity of this film. Yes, it is CGI. You may ask, "Why is Disney doing CGI when Pixar already does?" All the studios are doing CGI right now. I have been very impressed with Pixar's CGI detail, however the detail in Bolt is even better. Creating a dog with fur that gets dirty, wet, wind-blown and looks real is very impressive (at least it is to me). In addition to better detail, the color and light of this film is so true to life, you'll think it's the real thing.

Vinnie: You know, I gotta say something, if I could say something here. You look familiar. Joey, look at this guy's mug.
Joey: Yeah, you know, I could've sworn I've seen this guy before
Bobby: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Vinnie: I gotta tell ya, I never forget a face.
Joey: He never does.
Bobby: Oh yeah, yeah.
Joey: Never.
Bobby: Yeah, yeah. He's really good with the faces and such.
Bolt: Listen, listen! The man with the green eye. Tell me what you know, birds!
Vinnie: [pause] I know this dog.
Bobby: Yeah, yeah, me too!
Vinnie: I gotta remember, it's gonna kill me. Hold on.
[a bus stops beside them showing a poster of Bolt]
Vinnie: [pause] No, I don't know. I, I, I thought I know.
Bobby: Hey, you ever hang out down on 14th Street with a stray named Kelvin?
Joey: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Kelvin, the Labrador.
Bolt: What?
Vinnie: You gotta gimme something here, cause this is redonkulous.
Bobby: Absolutely redonkulous!
Vinnie: Capisch redonkulous! Ya know what that means?




Louie: Mark my words, Mittens. One day, someone's gonna stand up to you! Someone's gonna teach you a lesson!
[flies off]
Mittens: Yeah, I'm really scared now-
[Bolt jumps in and pins her to a garbage can]
Bolt: You should be!
Mittens: Aaah! Okay! You...!
Bolt: Where is she?
Mittens: Aaah... Who?
Bolt: You know why I'm here!
Mittens: Aaahhh...
Bolt: Where is she?
Mittens: Okay, okay! Look buddy, I- I don't know what you're getting at, but...
[she looks up and sees Joey, Bobby and Vinnie laughing on a telephone wire]
Vinnie: Come on, Mittens. Just tell the guy where she is. Tell the dog, make him happy.
Bobby: Yeah, yeah, come on, Mittens! Tell him!
Mittens: [chuckles briefly] Joey, Vinnie, Bobby, my boys! Would you tell the crazy canine that he's got the wrong cat?
Vinnie: [pause] You got her, pal!
Joey: That's her!
Vinnie: She's the one!
Joey: That is definitely the right cat!
[Mittens looks back at Bolt and laughs nervously]
Bolt: Looks like we're gonna do this the hard way.
[cuts to Bolt hanging Mittens over a busy highway]
Mittens: Whoa! Aaah! You're crazy, man!
[cuts to the pigeons, looking shocked]
Vinnie: Hey Joey, did we go to far on this?
Joey: You kidding? This is the best day of my life.

Sanjuro

Akira Kurosawa is probably the best Director in the entire History of film-making. He has not been that prolific given the amount of time he has spent making films, but many of these have subsequently been remade - Seven Samurai became the magnificent seven. Yoijimbo (the prequel to this one) became A fistful of dollars - and more recently last man standing. The hidden Fortress became Star Wars. Sanjuro marked the return of Toshiro Mifune as the Sardonic Ronin from Yoijimbo. Yet again, the photography is excellent - the period costumes and buildings beautiful to look at even in black and white. From one of the first scenes, in the grounds outside the Shrine, Mifune shows a 500% improvement in the art of Kenjutso - he must have been practicing night and day! But it is the character of Sanjuro itself that makes the film so absorbing. He is on the surface, a dirty, disrespectful abrasive man - but his deeds portray him as a hero - someone who once was a shining example of a Samurai and despite being put through the ringer still holds to a deeply rooted code of honor. When this shows however, he is most anxious to cover it up again..... The film involves a power struggle within a small city in Japan between the old faction and the new power-hungry one. It deals with false perceptions and truth. Two of the tenets that are at the heart of Kurosawa's films. This is a Gem - rent it - if you can, Buy it!

Blood Simple

Blood Simple is pure Coens. There are the usual bag of cinematic tricks, the twisting storyline, the seamy characters, and the occasional droplet of dark humor. The story concerns a bar owner who thinks his wife is cheating on him. He hires a sleazy private investigator to find out, and when he learns the truth, he wants them dead. Trouble is, things get kind of complicated when a murder occurs. The film creates a palpable feeling of tension, where you don't know what to expect next. Half the fun of this film is trying to figure out what will happen. A true testament of the well sturctured nature of the film, is the fact that there are only four main characters, and they hold your attention till the very end. And in traditional film noir fanfare, all of these characters have some sort of sordid business to attend to. The Coens drew on their experiences on Blood Simple and made the similar, but very different, Fargo. Watch Blood Simple for a good old fashioned film noir that will keep you guessing

Marty: I got a job for you.
Private Detective Visser: Uh, well, if the pay's right, and it's legal, I'll do it.
Marty: It's not strictly legal.
Private Detective Visser: [Thinks for a second] Well, if the pay's right, I'll do it.


Meurice: Marty. Thought you were dead. You goin' home?
Marty: No. I'm staying right here in hell.
Meurice: Kind of a bleak point of view there, isn't it, Marty?
Marty: Meurice... I don't want the asshole near my money. And I don't want him in the bar.
Meurice: [pause] We get a lotta assholes in here, Marty.


[Marty gives Visser his money]
Marty: Count it, and go.
Private Detective Visser: Naw, I trust you.
[Visser shoots Marty]

The Wicker Man

"OH GOD, NOT THE BEE'S NOOOOOO.....MY EYES!"
lol Mr. Cage may never recover from that movie.