Some of the greatest pieces in any of the arts arrive when an artist bites off more than anyone thought they could ever chew and manages, without gagging, to get the whole thing down. But two new films reminds us that the warning to 'not bite off more than you can chew' is not neccessarily a defeatist damper. Occassionally it is a fair warning meant to prevent choking.Read the full reviews of Rent and Syriana
Posts
7 comments:
Why has everyone already seen "Rent" and "Syriana" even if they're not out yet?
Insightful reviews though I'm still curious about "Syriana"...
PS: I catched "Duck Season" this weekend... lots of fun!!
they open tomorrow.
Oh, fiddlesticks. I was hoping that Rent would be good.
It really does boggle the mind how Hollywood would choose Chris Columbus for this. Not that he's a terrible director... but just, why? When you can have Scorcese or Lee (either Lee, for that matter), why Columbus? Did it ever occur to anyone that his two big hits basically required no directing at all? They were driven by big, broad comic turns from their popular lead actors. Robin Williams did not need Chris' direction to do what he did in Mrs. Doubrtfire. HE was the driving force of that movie, whatever one thought of it. And the Harry Potter franchise basically sold itself, and would have regardless of the director. Not to mention that the two new installments are by all accounts better than the first ones. I mean... why? Why do these big projects fall into the hands of amateurs? And then Hollywood blames the failures on the material, or something... like, "well clearly, the public doesn't really like musicals anymore". So no more get made. Get a clue, Hollywood, it's your fault. If you made good musicals by letting good directors do them, they'd be well-reviewed and people would come see them. It's just so... ugh. Why are people so stupid.
Still, I expected lower grades for both after reading the reviews. I thought Syriana was going to be a C+ and Rent a C.
I never have been too interested in the former, so if it doesn't end up getting awards play I may just have to skip it. Rent. well, I've never seen the play (hi, I live in Australia if you didn't know) so I'll still see the movie. I love me some Rosario Dawson, too.
-Glenn
Oh, I saw a great film yesterday. It's a little Australian movie called Look Both Ways, which won the Discovery Prize at Toronto. It's one of those multi-character-storyline movie but it gels so much better than most of the others (the best is still and will always be Lantana.) It's director, Sarah Watt, is an animator, so when the main character has visions about death she has shown them via animation (being hit with a train, eaten by a shark, stabbed by a man, etc). its a great movie, that I really responded to. Definitely one of the best Aussie films of the '00s (after Moulin Rouge!, Lantana (these two are obviously modern classics, YES!) Rabbit Proof Fence and The Dish).
If it ever gets released over there, see it.
-Glenn
thanks! oh i loved "rabbit-proof fence".
Good for you! It was fantastic.
-Glenn
Post a Comment