On the plane ride to South Korea I had many wonderful choices of films to choose from. Toy Story 3, Cyrus, and other legitimately good films were at my fingertips. So, with so much to choose from I decide to take a chance. I completely missed Knight and Day when it was in theaters earlier this year. I am willing to out myself as a Tom Cruise fan. I still remember the days when Cruise wasn't a gamble, but a guarantee. He takes a lot of shit from the critics and the public for his personal life and his somewhat manic personality, but I don't care. I have been able to keep Tom Cruise the man seperated from Tom Cruise the actor, but its been a couple years since he has repaid my loyalty with a good film. Sadly, Knight and Day does nothing but add more strain on my already streched thin loyalty.Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise promoting Knight and Day
I am not going to waste my time with the plot. I didn't expect this film to be original, because I am sure we have seen 1000 versions of this film before, but I did expect it to at least be fresh. James Mangold is a great director (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma) so I thought this movie would at least have some great action set pieces... nope.
Two years ago man known only by the name Tarsem released his visual masterpiece of celluloid known as The Fall. Four years in the making, this imaginative acid trip works as a re-imagining of the Wizard of Oz but plays more like an artist with multiple sets of hands painting on an endless canvas. Claiming to have not used any computer graphics, the images presented in The Fall are so stunning no modern day eyes will believe it. Tarsem and his cinematographer Colin Watkinson were able to produce landscapes and colors that at times appear to be physically impossible to manufacture on film.Tarsem's The Fall poster
The story of The Fall can appear contrived but ultimately ends with satisfaction. With the main plot line taking place during World War I, the main characters are both patients trapped in their injured bodies and in a small California hospital. The main protagonist is Alexandria, a young immigrant with both a broken arm and a natural precociousness that has not been seen in a child since Shirley Temple. The second lead role is Roy Walker, a stuntman for the Hollywood “flickers” that had been disabled while on the set of his latest film. Becoming suicidal after his girlfriend had left him for the star of the picture, Roy captivates Alexandria’s imagination with a tale of five heroic men who seek revenge against the man that did them all wrong. An ex-slave looking for his old master, an Indian searching for the man that kidnapped his wife, a mustachioed Italian bomb expert scouring the world for the man that had him exiled, a fictitious Charles Darwin and his monkey sidekick that dreams of killing the man that sent him a dead exotic butterfly, and finally a dashing masked bandit wanting retribution against the man that killed his brother. Between Roy’s enthralling story telling sessions he convinces Alexandria to break into the pharmacy to bring him morphine, which he hopes to use to facilitate his own death.
By following the five fugitives, the viewer is transported on an eye-popping expedition through beautifully exotic locales. In the beginning of their story, the men are trapped on an ocean oasis at least a mile from any shore. In an act off screen, Darwin is able to conjure a large African elephant to aid the masked bandit to land, because he is the only one that cannot swim. By employing underwater, aerial and level shots, Tarsem ably captures a scene of such ocular tranquility it can almost not be considered real, but instead somehow conjured up in the director’s mind, mystically projected onto the screen. Generously the movie is filled with these panoramic spectacles. There has never been a film like this, completely dedicating itself to having random outbursts of beauty in every scene, but never so much as to make a disturbance. The critic Roger Ebert said it best in his review: “You might want to see The Fall for no other reason than because it exists. There will never be another like it.”
Because I am leaving for Korea tomorrow, I want to at least post the movies I have watched before I leave. However, some films, like Buried, The Social Network, and IP Man require more time and thought than I can provide. So, #28-30 are going up, I promise when I get back I will right a detailed reaction to each film.
Because I am leaving for Korea tomorrow, I want to at least post the movies I have watched before I leave. However, some films, like Buried, The Social Network, and IP Man require more time and thought than I can provide. So, #28-30 are going up, I promise when I get back I will right a detailed reaction to each film.
Because I am leaving for Korea tomorrow, I want to at least post the movies I have watched before I leave. However, some films, like Buried, The Social Network, and IP Man require more time and thought than I can provide. So, #28-30 are going up, I promise when I get back I will right a detailed reaction to each film.
Dead Snowshould not be as fantastic as it is. The over-saturation of the zombie genre is quickly becoming a bore, but this isNAZIZOMBIES, so it’s kind of all right. Its funny, but not a comedy, which is important to anyone growing tired of inaneEvil Deadrip-offs. The story plays second fiddle to the refreshingly original deaths (how many ways can you kill a zombie with a snowmobile?) and the superb make-up design. This may not be horror at its absolute best, but if you are interested in a gorefest, this is one of the best on Netflix Instant Streaming. Definitely check it out.
Stalag 17 minimalist poster All I want to say about Stalag 17 is that this is a great introductory film to "classic cinema." What I mean is, most people are intimidated by old films, especially black & white films that are directed by someone like Billy Wilder. Someone who does not study film may not be aware of the entertainment value in a Wilder film. If you are someone who wants to develop a more refined film knowledge, not only is Wilder mandatory with so many amazing films (Sunset Blvd, Some Like it Hot, Double Indemnity, I can go on) Stalag 17 is a great place to start. With a relatively simple story of American POW's trying to sniff out a rat in their barracks, this war film is not as silly as something like Hogan's Heroesbut is no less accessible. It is a fun WW II movie made by a German emigrant... think about that!
Friday, October 8, 2010 at 8:29PM 
Knight and Day poster / banner
Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise promoting Knight and Day
