![Screening Log: Weekend of 27 January 2012
1. The Exile (1947, Max Ophüls) No one, near as I can tell, talks about Ophüls’ first Hollywood film, and that’s a shame. Storywise it’s the least personal effort from his major years, but ye gods the style. As Steven Soderbergh would say, this is an endless parade of boner-inducing images. With a decent budget at his disposal, Ophüls is the veritable kid in the candy store, his camera prowling handsome, multistoried sets, and generally staying as far away from the actors as possible. And it’s exciting to see a director who deals in elaborate long takes manage an action scene; predictably he stays stubborn and stages them in long takes, with star Douglas Fairbanks Jr. often disappearing from the frame for several seconds at a time before re-entering in an elegant way. And though the material is a bit thin, it does fit Ophüls’ purposes. It’s a swashbuckler that’s better before it’s a swashbuckler, and where the action is largely postponed till the last third. The bittersweet finale, meanwhile, is entirely in keeping with all of his pictures (and even better in the elongated European cut, which TCM is nice to show alongside the American one). And sheesh, Ophüls even got a not terrible performance from Monica Montez. [TCM]
(I was at a Remote Cabin Weekend for the weekend, where I watched chunks of #s 2-8, but the only one I saw all of was #7.)
2. The Onion Movie (2008, Tom Kuntz & Mike Maguire) Slightly better than its rep, with a couple scathing gags (the “rape game” was fairly inspired), albeit hobbled by subpar execution. I can actually see this becoming a cult favorite somewhere down the line, where fans ignore all the stuff that doesn’t work and overrate the stuff that kind of does. [DVD]
3. /The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension/ (1984, W.D. Richter) No one at the RCW had heard of this. Tried to rectify this but most of the participants were already playing poker. Still, scored three reasonably entranced viewers. Go me, etc. [DVD]
4. /Beyond the Valley of the Dolls/ (1970, Russ Meyer) See above. [DVD]
5. /Darkness Light Darkness/ (1990, Jan Svankmajer) Ditto. [DVD]
6. /Virile Games/ (1988, Jan Svankmajer) Ditto once more. [DVD]
7. /The Room/ (2003, Tommy Wiseau) Screened late Saturday night, and almost everyone was too drunk to fully appreciate it. It helps being a bit drunk, of course, but not inebriated. Still, this blows people’s minds like few others. [DVD]
8. A bunch of Archer, which sorry I never seriously gave a chance till now. Wow. [DVD]
9. Another Thin Man (1939, W.S. Van Dyke) As predicted, a major step-down from the sterling first two. But at least one of them still drinks and, honestly, Nora Charles doesn’t need booze to be witty. Also besides, after a somewhat plodding first half, the film finally loosens up in the second, around the time everyone stops caring about the plot. If the rest are about on this level, then my fears of trodding through the rest of the series are underfounded. [DVR’d off of TCM]
10. Most of /Father of the Bride/ (1950, Vincente Minnelli) [TCM]
11. /Hanna/ (2011, Joe Wright) First time I’ve watched this without being high off my tits on cold medicine (while sick, natch). Is it weird that I kind of admire it? It’s as nutty (and nonsensical) as I remember it, but it’s also unusually tough — about as tough as Hanna herself, who’s been engineered to resist pathos and kick ass. [SPOILER] Even likable characters get killed, sometimes in gruesome ways, while only an asshole would leave the fate of the kindly family led by Olivia Williams, last seen in the hands of the super-sadistic Tom Hollander, up in the air. If it’s true (and it probably is) that he has them all killed, this is a movie where every single major and minor character save one dies. Damn. Also the best location-scouted movie of last year. This place is a fantastic setting for a silly finale. [DVD]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lymng9npri1qzoio3o1_1280.jpg)
Screening Log: Weekend of 27 January 2012
1. The Exile (1947, Max Ophüls) No one, near as I can tell, talks about Ophüls’ first Hollywood film, and that’s a shame. Storywise it’s the least personal effort from his major years, but ye gods the style. As Steven Soderbergh would say, this is an endless parade of boner-inducing images. With a decent budget at his disposal, Ophüls is the veritable kid in the candy store, his camera prowling handsome, multistoried sets, and generally staying as far away from the actors as possible. And it’s exciting to see a director who deals in elaborate long takes manage an action scene; predictably he stays stubborn and stages them in long takes, with star Douglas Fairbanks Jr. often disappearing from the frame for several seconds at a time before re-entering in an elegant way. And though the material is a bit thin, it does fit Ophüls’ purposes. It’s a swashbuckler that’s better before it’s a swashbuckler, and where the action is largely postponed till the last third. The bittersweet finale, meanwhile, is entirely in keeping with all of his pictures (and even better in the elongated European cut, which TCM is nice to show alongside the American one). And sheesh, Ophüls even got a not terrible performance from Monica Montez. [TCM]
(I was at a Remote Cabin Weekend for the weekend, where I watched chunks of #s 2-8, but the only one I saw all of was #7.)
2. The Onion Movie (2008, Tom Kuntz & Mike Maguire) Slightly better than its rep, with a couple scathing gags (the “rape game” was fairly inspired), albeit hobbled by subpar execution. I can actually see this becoming a cult favorite somewhere down the line, where fans ignore all the stuff that doesn’t work and overrate the stuff that kind of does. [DVD]
3. /The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension/ (1984, W.D. Richter) No one at the RCW had heard of this. Tried to rectify this but most of the participants were already playing poker. Still, scored three reasonably entranced viewers. Go me, etc. [DVD]
4. /Beyond the Valley of the Dolls/ (1970, Russ Meyer) See above. [DVD]
5. /Darkness Light Darkness/ (1990, Jan Svankmajer) Ditto. [DVD]
6. /Virile Games/ (1988, Jan Svankmajer) Ditto once more. [DVD]
7. /The Room/ (2003, Tommy Wiseau) Screened late Saturday night, and almost everyone was too drunk to fully appreciate it. It helps being a bit drunk, of course, but not inebriated. Still, this blows people’s minds like few others. [DVD]
8. A bunch of Archer, which sorry I never seriously gave a chance till now. Wow. [DVD]
9. Another Thin Man (1939, W.S. Van Dyke) As predicted, a major step-down from the sterling first two. But at least one of them still drinks and, honestly, Nora Charles doesn’t need booze to be witty. Also besides, after a somewhat plodding first half, the film finally loosens up in the second, around the time everyone stops caring about the plot. If the rest are about on this level, then my fears of trodding through the rest of the series are underfounded. [DVR’d off of TCM]
10. Most of /Father of the Bride/ (1950, Vincente Minnelli) [TCM]
11. /Hanna/ (2011, Joe Wright) First time I’ve watched this without being high off my tits on cold medicine (while sick, natch). Is it weird that I kind of admire it? It’s as nutty (and nonsensical) as I remember it, but it’s also unusually tough — about as tough as Hanna herself, who’s been engineered to resist pathos and kick ass. [SPOILER] Even likable characters get killed, sometimes in gruesome ways, while only an asshole would leave the fate of the kindly family led by Olivia Williams, last seen in the hands of the super-sadistic Tom Hollander, up in the air. If it’s true (and it probably is) that he has them all killed, this is a movie where every single major and minor character save one dies. Damn. Also the best location-scouted movie of last year. This place is a fantastic setting for a silly finale. [DVD]
