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Top 35 Most Imaginative Films Ever
Top 100 Documentaries Of All Time
Top 50 Visual Postmodern Movies
Top 30 Dramas/Thrillers Of All Time
Reviews
Cremaster 3 (2002)
Mulholland Drive meets a Marilyn Manson video
Giant orges on an island. Punk bands dueling in the Guggenheim museum . Secret orders in New York's Chrysler building. Welcome to the ornate world of Cremaster 3, the third act in the `Cremaster Cycle' that plays out like a David Lynch film on crack. Or I should say reallllly drawn out David Lynch film on crack, as molasses would move faster then a lot of these scenes. At 3 and a half hours; with no dialogue, the pacing of a glacier melt, and some of the most jarring and horrific scenes ever captured on film
this one is definitely for the more patient art house film buffs. Directed and conceived by avant garde artist Matthew Barney, this film gives new meaning to the word cryptic. Think Mulholland Drive, Lord Of The Rings, and Koyaanisqatsi meets The Cell, From Hell, and a Marilyn Manson video. With some of the most rich cinematography ever, beauty is juxtaposed with labor and shock. Cremaster 3 is at once grotesque yet intriguing
a film that I found at times to be both hypnotic, funny, tedious; yet at other times downright frightening. Using a highrise as a metaphor, with each layer revealing yet another painstaking piece of the aria, the film comes full circle. And at completion, it cannot be denied; yet baffling, cryptic and exhausting would be more of the right description.
Adaptation. (2002)
From portals to orchids, Jonze and Kauffman strike again
Three years after director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kauffman's brilliantly offbeat masterpiece Being John Malkovich, comes their latest stream of conscious head trip. Yes folks, this one stars Nicholas Cage...and, Nicholas Cage.
The film starts off appropriately enough inside Being John Malkovich(or more precisely on the set of Being John Malkovich when Malkovich is inside his own head) But this is no sequel...no no, much more than that. We soon go back to the beginning. Not the beginning of the movie, but to the beginning of it all. To the dawn of the universe, a zero in the fabric of time itself hurling toward the deep chasm of entropy. From the primitive scribblings of early man to the manic late night scribblings of the neurotic Charlie Kauffman(played by Cage)
What we have here is a film about orchid thieves, high society New York socialites, screenwriters, identical twins, crocodiles, narcotic rings, and internet porn...err, more aptly put: a movie about a guy writing a movie about a book inside of another movie. Oh yeah, and it's based on a true story. Sound confusing?
Adaptation is the screen treatment of the best selling non fiction book The Orchid Thief. Only thing is the main character in the film is doing the adapting, and writing himself into script. In the film we go from early primordial man to Being John Malkovich's floor seven and a half...and somehow it all makes sense.
Is this an incoherent parable on the parasitic relationship between writers and their subjects? The evolution from single cell organisms to paleolithic glee? Or a look at how everything seems to have a purpose in life? Somehow between the obscure Hollywood industry injokes, Silence of the Lambs references, and celebrity Boggle tournaments I missed something.
Unfortunately by the third act(when the movie goes from non fiction to fiction) Adaptation unravels and ends up gravely falling apart. But perhaps that is the point. A film about a real life struggle to adapt a book that doesnt have much suspense in it, and the peril of trying to work some fictional thriller plotlines in at the last minute. Either way, hats off to Jonze and Kauffman for once again bringing us an audaciously unconventional idea and tearing down the box. All this from the adaptive skills of an orchid.
~.c//0ry
The Ring (2002)
Final Destination meets Begotten meets Sixth Sense
When I first saw the trailer for this on apple, I was astounded Dreamworks would be releasing this. At first glimpse, it looks to be this profoundly existential subconscious head trip. Later previews would reveal more of the 'mainstream' parts. I got to see this remake of the Japanese cult hit 'Ringu' recently. Call it Final Destination meets Begotten meets the Sixth Sense with a cryptic blend of ornate visuals, The Ring starts off oddly enough like something straight out of Scream. This alone could make quite a few film buffs gasp. And yes, for the first 15 minutes there is this sort of Urban LEgends feel, with angsty high schoolers talking of the suspected tape as if it was out of a Wes Craven film. However, soon after the movie begins to unfold into a starkly different direction, a woven fabric of unstelling images, blue tones, and effectively shuddering ambience.
Namoi Watts, fresh off her find muck duties on David Lynch's brilliant Mulholland Drive, sinks into this one with an almighty honestness.
Throughout the movie a lot of comparisons will automatically pop in your head. The kid from Sixth Sense, along with a lot of 'havent we heard this before' dialogue. But it is what you havent seen before thats really unsettling.
A really great film will explain a certain technology most of the viewing public doesnt know about. One Hour Photo delved deep into the inner working of a photo lab. Red Violin explained the sound detective aspect of musical restoration. And here we get a peak into the world of audio visual exploration. And boy is it effective. The tape in question might not be all that scary in a general sense...but more in that finding a video casste on the side of the road in a Barstow truck stop kind of way...that David Lynch creepiness that hits ya a few days later.
As the film develops, we get more a feel of dread than any sort of happy revelation, somthing that expands to great effect later on. All I'll say is that top of the barn small room scene has to be one of the most effective use of ornate cisuals since the tapestry sequence in The Cell. This to me is also the most unnerving film Ive seen since Twin Peaks fire Walk With Me. Some may feel the ending gets a bit too outlandish, but within the perimeters of the film it works wonders.
Red Dragon (2002)
Oh the possibilities that could have been...
Our dear boy Brett Ratner was given quite the arduous task...I doubt even the mariners spoken about in a Chaucer novel or the burning literary might of Marcus Arrelius would be quite up to the task of adapting the great Red Dragon book. Indeed, thomas Harris crafted what has to be the greatest written novel I have ever read.
When word came that upon the success of Hannibal, that ol Dino would be readapting Red Dragon I immediately took notice. Why, a faithful modern adaptation of Red Dragon sounded like a sheer masterpiece in the waiting. With Silence of the Lamb's Ted Tally back on board as the scribe, and an astonishing cast on board...the only question in everyone's mind was the director. Whereas broad strokes upon the palette of a buddy cop franchise seems to be his forte, how would he be able to take on the first and final of the Hannibal trilogy?
Well, I have just come back from the opening showing of Bret Ratner's Red Dragon. Our little pilgrim must have thought of himself as quite the Hollywood stud, a pristined auteur groomed for greatness...riding ont he architecural backbone of cinematic genuis. Why it would have to take Joel Schumacher himself to muck up Ted Tally's script of Thomas Harris breathtaking novel.
However, from the opening scene it is clear we're being served the d'houvres of ham handed segways and hack cinematic sweatbreads. Ratner blows his load in the first 15 minutes, having what is typically the end of a film(the great epic power strugle between two arch types in a room) at the beginning. And like a certain other 'film about a lonely psychopathic photo lab man who stalks a family'(Mark Romanek's One Hour Photo, which got butchered in the final editing process) we get a pretty good sense of what could have been. Next we are treated to Ratner's homage to the title sequence of Se7en, as the killer flips through his cryptic ornate scrapbook with the opening credits. Real original, and pretty bad the original bad boy serial killer story is ripping off countless imitations.
It occured to me early on in development how irate it seemed people were labeling this a 'Manhunter' ripoff. Even Ratner himself cried foul at this charge. But let me set the record straight. Not only is most of the first half a direct line for line near scene-for-scene remake of Manhunter(save for the tongue-and-cheek opening), ratner even tries to disguise his shameful directing by covering Silence of the Lambs graphiti all over the place. From the absolute Silence ripoff score by the usually original Danny Elfman, to the use of the city titles straight from SOTL...to even the painstakingly shot for shot remake of Clarice original encounter with Lecter...It becomes clear early on Ratner has no original vision of his own. No, it is quite clear he has tried to decorate his primitive mad scribblings with the pain of other painters.
What's worse, is that he throws in so much 'oh the audience will laugh at this' type of banter between Edward Norton's Will Graham and Hopkins's Lecter that we are taken out of the hypnotic state we were introduced to in Silence. Perhaps Lecter has become such an inconic screen figure that anything written for him automatically becomes fodder for audience laughter. The scare factor in Silence, turned hammy dandy effitte hasbeen in Hannibal(Okie Dokie!) to Red dragon, where Hopkins seems to be a bit of a parody of his original self.
I realize it is the liberty of Ratner and Tally to take liberties, borrowing scenes from other Lecter books. The infamous 'census taker' scene in Silence was from the book Red Dragon; likewise the opening dinner scene is from Silnce of the Lambs. Why couldnt we have had the 'Mind Palace' talked about in Hannibal(the book)? Or other great opportunities for great memorable scenes.
But here's the key part of what's gravely wrong with Red Dragon. The loss of urgency. While Manhunter may have not have been the most faithful adaption, it works leaps and bounds over this one. Scenes like the finding of Dolarhyde's note in Lecter's cell and the subsequent down to the minute decryption of it now seems like a college script read. Manhunter worked as this taught, urgent thriller with a definate mood and setting. And yes, Hannibal lacked the urgency of SOTL, but that was more an existential extrapolation piece(Well, the book at least) But Red Dragon? Adapted from what is by far the best of all the Harris books? One cant help theyve heard this all before, but done with more delicacy in Michael Mann's Manhunter.
Also, Red Dragon DOES NOT capture the feel nor the look of the 80's at all. Not one bit. Isnt Red Dragon suppose to take place in the mid 80's? Why do the Leeds have Mrs. Doubtfire(released in spring of 94 on the home market) on vhs? Its this and many other snafus that'll have you scratching your head.
And where the heck are all the surreal dreamlike scenes, as imagined when we read the book? Even Mann knew to have surreal scenes. Why couldnt they have had cgi of the Red Dragon painting ala that one Russle Crowe scene towards the end of The Insider? One of the main things that interested me int he prospect of a remake was the idea of the Brooklyn Art Museum scene...but that too is thrown away and not even really explored. I imagined this great blood epic, but instead it is treated as a chore that could easily be edited out.
No wonder the audiences laughed at a lot of the film, even at parts they werent suppose to(I guess this is a common trend from other reviews I have read) Fienne's performance seems more fitted to Saturday Night Live than to Red Dragon.
So all the urgency that should hit you like a punch to the gut(when Graham relaizes HOW he is choosing his victims) is deflated, and given up to in jokes about Lecter gourmet in his cell and other garbage. And the time between Dollarhyde and Reba in his house goes on for way too long...I mean really too long.
to add insult to injury is the last battle, which is a joke. And to add insult to injury, Ratner throws at us a little wink and a nod to open up Silence of the Lambs. Please.
As Lecter might surmise, this film is not worthy of being on the same level of his character...and feels more at home with the droll garbage Freddy Lounds would spat out.
They said it'd take a lot for Ratner to screw up Tally's great script. Looks like he did just that...though I cant help but think if this is by the script, Tally's scribe wasnt all that to begin with.
My final impressions, is that while I left Hannibal in sheer disappointment to say the least...I left Red Dragon with absolute sickening dismay.
Do I have bad things to say about Red Dragon? Okie Dokie, I have "Oodles!"
Narc (2002)
Not based on the 1989 ultra violent video game
Wow. For those of you who have seen Joe Carnahan's previous work(Blood Guts Bullets and Octane) NARC trades in the dip into Q.T. land for one of the most harrowingly gritty looks at good cop/bad cop interplay. The film opens with one of the most horrificly jaw dropping sequences ever(akin to the shock of some of the scenes in Requiem for a Dream) From there we meet the two principal characters, played by Jason Patric(Sleepers) and Ray Liotta(Hannibal, Muppets From Space) We also later stumble upon Busta Rhymes, which has to be the best performance of his acting career. The film is executed with this almost Michale Mann esque blue note tint, along with an effective brooding ambient soundscape that mires the viewer in complete fixation. This could have been an exercise in by the books gritty cop drama, but it is well thought out enough to stray far from that. The violence when there is unpleasant, the language is harsh as hell, and the character tention is at a boiling point. All just part of the orchestra to what has to be one of the best films of 2002, as well as one of the best cop films ever.
One Hour Photo (2002)
One of the most visionary and important films ever
"Im sure my customers never think about it, but these snapshots are their little stands against the flow of time...all that stands between us and oblivion"-Robin Williams, OHP
I have just seen an advance screening of One Hour Photo, which literally left me in awe...the kind of feeling you got the first time you saw Se7en or The Game. There's just those rare films that come along once in a great while, a moment out of time masterpiece. This is one of those extrordinary films. After a year of buzz and waiting, I saw it and...quite simply, Mark Romanek has crafted one of the most visionary and important films on the American cinematic landscape today. In Robin Willaims most brilliant role since Toys(1992), we see one of the bravest performances of a lifetime. How to describe OHP? With heavy shades of Harmony Korine(namely still photos with narrations) and Kubrick(lot sof Kubrick!) OHP in lamens terms could be called Red Dragon with a dash of Office Space and The Game. Robin Williams is at once Lecter-cum-Walt Whitman intellect and sad recluse. Williams plays sy Parrish, a guy who phillosophizes over episodes of The Simpsons and obsesses over collecting Neon Genesis Evangelion anime figures. He is living through a decade worth of yorkin family photos, trying to belong...through dreaming and fantasy, meticulously finishing his final masterpiece.
Sy Parrish wants to be accepted, desperately living life through the most innate and smallest of details. Mark Romanek's stunning visual cinematography and his attention to the smallest of details is remarkable, as Romanek fills the screen with the most ornate of images and Aronofsky like inner working closeups. Romanek paces his film with master precision, giving us standing attention to his subject and where he wants us to go. We sympathize with Sy, as the world has been shattered for him. This is more than just a portrait of a man at his breaking point, living in his own reality...this is also a study on the family structure, and a lesson in great cinematic filmaking in general.
Romanek uses not broad strokes, but powerful stains of symbolic and surreal dreamlike visuals. If youve seen his avant garde videos for Madonna's Betime Stories or Nine Inch Nails Closer you know what I mean. In fact, Trent Reznor did a brillaint job on the score, a minimalist yet intense ambience that provides an effective backbone.
I am already calling this the best film of 2002, and when OHP hits theatres this Fall, movie goers will be in for quite a treat. What is going to be one of the most talked about films of the year, Willians and Romanek surely need to be frontrunners for Oscars next year. One Hour Photo is not to be missed.