lotus49 Reviews

Breakdown (I) (1997)

Routine road movie, the movie that inspired it was far better

[1 February 2005]

This film is very, very loosely based on a French film called Spoorloos, done in 1988. In that film the fiancé of a man is abducted from a roadside stop, leading to his frantic 3 year search and public campaign to find out what happened to her. It is a haunting tale of loss and random evil, mixed in with obsessive guilt and fixation. By watching Breakdown and Spoorloos you can see the difference between the European genre of exposing human frailties, without redemption, and the American genre of righteous retribution. The American film is by far the less intriguing.. being no more than a little nuanced potboiler of good over evil, with the usual facile stereotypes you find in Hollywood films, and of course, car chase. Spoorloos delves into the complexities of the human condition Breakdown can only poorly imitate.

Sex & the Other Man (1995)

an ambitious if underachieving look at sensuality

[15 March 2002]

An unusual piece of film work that was better conceived than executed. The narrative storyline belies and ambiguous framework that penetrates the interplay of marriage and subliminal sexual longings. Kari Wuhrur is outstanding and gorgeous in the character of the wife with the heart of gold -- driven by love, lust and the need to compensate for (or complete) her husband's distorted sense of priorities. Don't take the overt story to narrowly and a host of deeper purposes present themselves.

The Hill (1965)

great drama with minimal cinematic distractions

[10 April 2001]

This film quickly disappeared with little notice after its release in 1965, but has a number of memorable of scenes. A theatrical movie, propelled by strong performances by the entire cast, it all takes place in military prison, in the drenching heat of the Libyan desert in WW2. The central icon of the film is a man built punishment hill, which prisoners are required to climb repeatedly with full pack. There is a great deal of ambiguity and irony in the film, a most difficult task for a director appealing to a modern audience. The clearly cut boundaries between good and evil are obscured by the sense of righteousness of all the characters. leading to a collision of irreconcilable intentions. No one is really a hero, and the villainy of the prison guards, even the most sadistic, seems contained by the proper British regard for 'reforming' these wayward people into proper soldiers. But as one of the prisoners states, everybody is serving time in this outpost. The most remarkable moment amongst many in the film comes when the the Regimental Sargeant Major (played by Harry Andrews), by far the most complex of the characters, quells a prison riot by sheer force of personality and graveyard humour. The competing forces of discipline, frustration, compassion, fear makes for compelling drama.

Touch of Evil (1958)

so good- it ended the genre

[9 July 2000]

Film noir of 40's and 50's might have taken the film making to a level of stark realism and nihilism that has never been equaled. The genre reached an apex in this film. You can argue unproductively whether this superceded Citizen Kain as Welles's masterpiece, but it's almost impossible to compare them. It's fair to say that A Touch of Evil is positively corrosive in its evocation of corruption in a squalid border town. When you see that banner of 'In Glorious Black and White' it's never been more appropriate than for this film, where it produces an almost surreal panorama of contrast, shadows, tension, moral ambiguity and desperation. The whole cast is great, but outstanding are the coolly diabolical Welles as the corrupt cop; and the ghostly and ethereal Dietrich as the gypsy. You might well wonder if you'd entered the underworld, crossing the river Styx rather than Rio Grande. It is a superbly detailed exploration into the dark side of human contradictions.

Gladiator (2000)

Yeah lot's of problems- but on the Big Screen- Total Entertainment!!

[2 June 2000]

A quite impressive take on the Roman epic, but very Hollywood. By that I mean it uses cliches of celebrity heroes pandering to cheering audiences and slimey bad guys, both without much complexity or shading, and a fairly predictable plot. Ridley hasn't really tested our intelligence since Blade Runner (if you don't include the 1984 Mac Intro Super Bowl Commercial). Still the visuals are stunning, the dialogue at least bordering on eloquence at times. The battle and forum scenes are terrific even with the enervating slo mo's and some apparent computer generated enhancements. It's the type of film that you can see with your father as a kid and remember for the rest of your life, which makes up for whatever it lacks in sophistication. ABSOLUTELY necessary to see this on a large screen, with a 'big' sound system.

Swimming with Sharks (1994)

i'd have changed the ending

[20 January 2000]

I actually had a boss who was worse than Buddy. A psychotic hatchet lady with a big bad grudge against whole scheming male dominated world. The powers that be finally gave her one more reason to take proper vengeance when they unceremoniously sacked her one Friday afternoon. But I know she was hired again, to wreak fear and havoc elsewhere. Anybody who's had a boss from hell, will probably watch this film with some guarded laughter. It's really not much fun at all to be Guy. In fact it becomes the one overriding and homicide inducing element in your miserable life. I relished every little paper cut inflicted on Buddy's sneering face, and I would have taken an all together different route if presented with Guy's murderous decision.

Grand Prix (1966)

a period piece-- but of a great period

[17 January 2000]

It's hard to rate this film. Its got a soap opera plot pasted on to some really fine cinematography, editing, music and racing sequences. The real stars of this film are the cars, the beautiful F1 'cigar' cars of the 60's with their exposed engines and elegant lines. Within a handful of years aerodynamics and advertising would change the look of racing forever. Even the plot hints at the change taking place at the time-- from the gentlemen's league of the 50's to the ravenously commercial and brutally competitive environment that Formula 1 was to become. Frankenheimer followed the tour through a season, to the storied old tracks such as Nurburgring, Spa and Monza (before safety and television considerations changed them to much shorter, less idiosyncratic shadows of their former selves). There are cameos by Graham Hill, Bruce McLaren, Jim Clark and Lorenzo Bandini, names tinged with tragedy in retrospect. Technically this film is quite an achievement. Many of its developments, however, did not really take, such a multiple images, and the splicing of soft music to intense action scenes. The film, then, is not one of great importance in movie history. But there are a lot of racing fans who hold a special, if not top, place for Grand Prix in their lists of favourite films.

How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989)

pimple cream and purple haze

[19 December 1999]

I saw this movie for the second time and enjoyed it more than the first. It's all about pimples, stress, advertising and hallucinations. At least I think it's about hallucinations. A crisis of conscience has apparently driven poor Richard quite off the old rocker. He's having a contest of wills with a boil which is incarnating into his alter ego-- and the boil is winning. It's an ugly, evil, nasty boil who wants to use Richard's position in advertising to start of revolution of boilheads in England. What's more he's obsessively shagging Richard's wife (the luscious Rachel Ward), as Richard has been reduced to boildom himself and a mere spectator of his nemesis's manipulations. The speech at the end is positively Shakespearean in eloquence, in a twisted kind of way.

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

Life of a Salesman

[11 September 1999]

The plight of the salesman has been a recurrent theme in American drama (Death of a Salesman, The Iceman Cometh-- ). Suspended in the feeding chain between the insatiable material lusts of the American dream and the voracious appetite for profit of American industry, his predicament as martinet and professional huckster seems custom made to produce exploited and tragically deluded individuals, preyed on and preying on others. They can become constructs out of touch with any grace or meaning in their roles and their lives.

Into this pathos-laden environment David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross places a coterie of superb actors in a brilliant bit of melodrama. The context of the planning of a robbery to get the 'leads', reserved for 'closers', provides a touch of mystery that works to alleviate the atmosphere of exhausted purpose and the claustrophobic entanglement of the characters with a manipulative sales promotion. The sales group is forced into a bitter struggle for survival at the behest of some anonymous corporation whose only face is that of their top salesman, a vicious, sneering, greasy character played with cool malevolence by Alec Baldwin. Juxtaposed against this is the human element of these small fish in this small pond, afflicted with personal aspirations and tragedies.

It is this dialogue between the all too human and the inhuman, among and within all of the players, that gives this movie its force. Jack Lemon and Baldwin are outstanding representing the opposing ideals. Kevin Spacey as the cynical go between sales manager and Al Pacino as the one salesman who seems destined to succeed by rejecting all ethical standards are also great. Ed Harris, Alan Arkin and Jonathan Pryce play their character parts to perfection. I doubt you could have made this film work at this depth and to this effect without this ensemble of some of the finest actors in today's cinema. It's tough to class this as entertainment, but quite easy to categorize it as excellent, gut wrenching and thought-provoking drama.

Metropolitan (1989)

A great and unique film for this genre

[10/10 · 9 August 1999]

Whit Stillman's movies are dialogue driven, which is not everyone's cup of tea. This is the first of a trilogy, all of which take a slice of life of young people coming of age, but in the cusp of a dying culture, with a new order and new responsibilities baring down on them. Here it's the prep and prom culture of New York's Upper East Side, sometime in the 70's. The participants dutifully go through the rights of Christmas Balls and 'orgy' week, act sophisticated, and generally do things and say things which are expected of them. An outsider, Tom, with radical social and intellectual ideas, enters their midst and becomes a catalyst of change here as a romance develops with Audrey. Tom, idealistic, insensitive and naive is embraced by Audrey, emotionally more mature but more vulnerable, accepting his sometimes preposterous social and literary speculation as a sign of substance in comparison to the increasingly jaded and cynical world of her preppy friends. A friendship develops also between Tom and Nick, the most cynical and pessimistic, but also the most aware and responsible, of the group. The conversations are lively and filled with insights into character and maturity. Nothing much happens in this film, but the intricate interplay of characters, dialogue and ambiance make for a fascinating and penetrating look at these young people's lives. It unfolds like a ballet. This is a fine film which doesn't rely on angst or melodrama-- and maintains a humor, poignancy and charm which makes it a rare achievement for the genre. Stillman's other two films in the trilogy are also highly recommended.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Preserving and Protecting our Precious Bodily Fluids..

[18 July 1999]

I would not have expected this film to age well, since its vocabulary and characters are so quintessentially made of Cold War material. It takes a bit of suspension of current reality and a good memory to get all the gags, but Kubrik's consummate attention to detail and methodical plot and character development still makes this a completely enjoyable black comedy. The humour in this movie is attended by a chill, as one realizes how very close to reality the fanatic red baiting of General Ripper or the clinical warmongering of General Turgidson are to the fact of the times. Strangelove himself is a peculiar dramatic construct reflecting the outrageous rationalizations of the Cold War gone completely over the deep end. The film is a little overextended in its comedy in parts, moving from intellectual satire, to sight and name puns, to some really obtuse character sketches. The great scenes inside the B52, though, or the battle sequence, which look like completely authentic newsreel footage, and the stark cinemetography of the War Room, shows you what a perfectionist and what a finely crafted product this great film maker put out.

Paths of Glory (1957)

A milestone of film history

[18 July 1999]

I'm not sure Kubrik ever surpassed himself in this passionate, angry indictment of the absurdity of war. The slow methodical unfolding of the inevitable tragic conclusion of this film.. in order to protect the vanity and careers of the incompetent generals is dense in its portrayal of human failings and cruelty in the commission of war. General Mireau's response to Dax's ultimate outrage and accusation of the injustice is so stunning in its brevity, sophistry and sheer careless self righteousness that one feels at a loss to answer it. The final scene of the young German girl singing in the tavern to Dax's troops before they are sent back to the front is among the most moving in all cinema.

The Thin Red Line (1998)

ingredients are there.. maybe too few cooks spoil the broth

[8 July 1999]

There were times, while i was watching this film, that I thought it was going to break through into a truly great, cerebral and subjective perspective on War.. in a class with Das Boot. It somehow got a little too wrapped up in its poetic aspirations, though. The acting is very good, the cinematography is great, the characters are interesting and authentic, but somehow the chemistry just doesn't mix. A better editing job (shortening and simplifying it) would have helped, a more cohesive plot line focussed on fewer characters. The final scene of the defeat of the Japanese, showing them begging and pleading, looks ridiculous to anyone who knows of the grim and stoic determination of the Japanese soldiers in the Pacific theatre. It does, I think, capture the fog of war for the common grunt, its story line is not contrived like Saving Private Ryan, it really is an idea and film that could have worked, but missed..

Das Boot (1981)

ode to the wolfpack

[8 July 1999]

Das Boot set out to show with gripping realism, the life aboard a U Boat during WW2. The film makes no concessions in portraying the claustrophobic, suffocating atmosphere.. the boredom.. the terror of existence aboard one of these vessels (barely 25% of submariners would survive the war). This is not primarily an action movie, it masterfully displays the character and emotions of men put into this alien and forbidding environment, how they cope or fail to, the dynamics of leadership. The bitter irony of the ending also makes it one of the great antiwar (as well as 'war') films of all time. Definitely should be scene with subtitles.. not dubbed.

Three Colors: Red (1994)

the Tour de Force of Kieslowski's Great Trilogy

[6 July 1999]

Although all three films of Kieslowski's trilogy can be watched as a stand alone feature, it is best to watch them in the order he made them.. Liberty (Blue), Equality (White) and this one, Fraternity (Red). They explore the gamut of the human experience of love. Although you are watching film making at its finest, masterpieces.. and these are 'art' films, they need not be dense and inaccessible intellectual ordeals. They can be best understood in the emotional realm within the complex, interweaving relationships that thread each individual together and the trilogy together as a whole. Loss & homage, betrayal & revenge, seeking & salvation are the epic dramas of love, universally understood. Red should be saved for last because it is the one with the happy ending.. the sweetest and the saving grace, yet clearly the most personal to Kieslowski's message and the most moving.

Hurlyburly (1998)

Why would anyone make this film?

[26 June 1999]

When Sean Penn was profiled recently on 60 Minutes, the interview started with him in a funk because he and Hurly Burly hadn't been nominated for any awards. After seeing this film its not hard to see why, though. Penn seemed to have some creative control of the movie since his patently over acted and obnoxious character takes up a good part of the film, even though he was totally outclassed by Kevin Spacey and Meg Ryan. It's surprising to me a studio head would even give the go ahead to such a pointless, inane drama and how they roped in such expensive and usually circumspect performers. It's kind of a middle aged buddy movie, but what exactly motivates or keeps these characters in a permanent adolescence is left a mystery. Penn's character runs on a cocaine, has group sex with a 16 year old girl, strings along his girlfriend, unable to make a commitment.. and blathers and obsesses about not 'loving' himself.. well.. come on bud.. what's to love. I guess they're trying to appeal to Boomers and Gen Xers mid life crisis meets guy sensitivity group with girl hangups or something, but it really sputters and confuses from the opening credits.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

4 Down, 5 Still to Go.. Give me Strength, oh Dark One!!

[14 June 1999]

You'll have to take these comments with a grain of salt, because I was one of the only people I know my age who didn't like the first Star Wars when it first came out. I'm therefore no longer in the target age group nor among the nostalgia seekers that Lucas is counting on to make his mega billions to finance 2 more of these fiascos (obviously he got my money anyway!). Every generation needs myths but even myths should be coherent. There are lot of good small sci fi movies that came out in the period of the first trilogy (Silent Running, Blade Runner, Alien come to mind), which provide the homage and class to the dark prescience displayed by the best of this genre. This movie is pure fantasy, propelled by pretentious moral overtones and special effects overdone to point of pure monotony. An earlier reviewer proposed this film should be viewed as an old Saturday Matinee Serial, with a complete suspension of belief, but even the Republic Serials had a tongue in cheek, self deprecating humour and irony about them. That's all lost in the sheer pompous self delusion of this movie. I wouldn't be so critical if it weren't for the fact that Star Wars and the other money besotted megaliths have skewed the business and dried up the funding for smaller sci fi films which engage the intellect instead of plastering the senses.

She's the One (1996)

More than your average Romantic Comedy

[15 May 1999]

I'm not sure why I've rented this film 3 times in the last couple of years. The characters are well developed, Tom Petty's sound track is very good and there are the gorgeous gals of course (Diaz, Anniston, Bahns), but there's more to it. This is an excellent, but perhaps not classic, drama posing as a romantic comedy. It's about morality and responsibility in a time when there is no morality and responsibility.. about love and family in a time when the definition of these words has become blurred. It cuts pretty close to home at times.. and there are those beautiful women.

Bullitt (1968)

Read, Shoot, Aim

[25 April 1999]

This stylish action thriller is best known for the scintillating car chase through the streets of San Francisco between a purple Dodge Charger 440 Magnum (the bad guys' car) and the green Ford Mustang 390 G.T.. The film has stood up well, though, long after the age of the muscle car has passed. There are wonderful bits of dialogue (notably by McQueen and Robert Vaughn.. bravura performances both) and plot twists, turns and subtext. I wish some of the modern directors who spend tens of millions on special effects would take this as an object lesson on how a nice balance of plot complexity, believable and sometimes vulnerable characters, and, action scenes that don't have to be shown in slow motion to enhance the (surreal) effect and aren't thrown at you every 5 minutes can work together to make an outstanding motion picture.

City of Hope (1991)

Dramatic mastery

[10/10 · 12 April 1999]

I've seen several John Sayles films and have been more or less impressed with all of them. This finely wrought and under appreciated little treasure though is probably his most complex and evocative. It's a formidable task tying together the loose ends of lives Sayles starts with into a coherent drama. All this done in the milieu of a corrupt city, tangled relationships and madness. Even the humour is bleak. There's nothing here that employs maudlin sentiment or melodrama, though. Somehow the tragedy is alleviated by a pervasive and dramatically ironic atmosphere of hope. It's in the pours and veins of this movie.. there's a human quality to it that's difficult to pin down but once detected transforms it into something special.

Goldfinger (1964)

The Best Bond (which is usually your First Bond)

[10/10 · 20 February 1999]

The first and still the best Bond I have seen. It catches 007 before the genre became purely formulaic. I'm sure contemporary audiences will quickly note the politically incorrect temperament of the film, which makes it all the more enjoyable. Connery as Bond was never better. Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) fills the villains role with typical malicious calculation and sang froide. Oddjob as enforcer is a throw back to the inscrutable Asian bad men of the Republic serials. Shirley Bassey's theme song and the wonderful Bond Aston Martin DB5.. M, Q, Moneypenny and the inimitable Pussy Galore.. the whole thing is a treat.

Goodfellas (1990)

A gangster film with a definite element of reality

[30 November 1998]

The Godfather series never rang completely true, with its glamorized portrayal of noblesse oblige within the criminal underworld. GoodFella's does with its portrayal of petty criminals and psychopaths who's noblesse is completely self serving and without compassion in dealing with anything that comes in their way. Deniro and Pesci are brilliant in their roles as wise guys (sociopath and psychopath respectively). Ray Liotta is good as a small time hood with a bit of heart who deals drugs and turns informer. His role is probably more sympathetic than is the real Henry Hill on whom the character is based, but it does provide an emotional bridge for the audience into a world of brutality, retribution, greed and treachery. A very well constructed movie.

Predator (1987)

An action film that is both simple and fun

[30 November 1998]

Somehow this pared down to basics action flik works. It builds on a very simple premise of hunted men and keeps a steady tension, good visual effects, some great action and one liners. It shows that you need not have a convoluted plot or over the edge fireworks to produce a completely enjoyable action film.

Freeway (1996)

A Funny and Poignant Story Under a Gritty Exterior

[9/10 · 31 October 1998]

This film is somewhat deceptive, in that the characters seem so outwardly stereotypical of the kind of the sub class of the under-educated, drug or sex addled teenagers and the people who prey on them, which makers of slasher films have doled out in the last couple of decades. But Witherspoon brings a fighting charm to the lead character, Venessa Lutz, who has just about everything bad thrown at her that a young person can have thrown at them while growing up. She survives and prevails with grittiness, will and humor. As far from an angel as you can get she becomes vigilante and enforcer of her own brand of justice to a particularly malevolent form of evil visited on by Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland) and an uncaring and unbelieving law enforcement system. It's really a small classic and should be viewed without any predjudice of youth crime. It then becomes an eloquent statement for better and more rational treatment of young offenders.