Sunday, August 01, 2004
The best and worst movies of the summer?
Summer's not over yet, but this week's two new releases are strong contenders for the top titles of the season.
The Village is the best M. Night film I've seen. Although I found Signs' preposterous ending disappointing, I admired the many unconventional touches of the film, and at about the halfway point I thought I was watching a work of genius.
The new film is more subtle, but has many strange and beautiful scenes. Bryce Dallas Howard, in her film debut, makes a strong impression as a strongwilled blind girl. It's not merely a spook story with a surprise ending, but a serious meditation of the value of innocence. I'm not sure if I liked it more than Saved, but I definitely want to see it again sometime.
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The remake of The Manchurian Candidate has no competition whatsoever as the stinker of the season and probably the entire year. I'm willing to go along with remakes, even remakes of great films, but if you have a great film in the first place, what possible excuse is there for scrambling up the plot into an incoherent mess? The cinematography of this drek is attrocious, as well, with countless shots of Washington and other characters talking directly into the camera-- a startling technique that wears out its welcome very quickly. Rates a Golden Retriever award for the scene where Washington bites into the back of Schreiber's neck in order to extract an implant!
What's especially disappointing is that the original film was a sharp attack on McCarthyism, whereas this film has only the vaguest political agenda. Why would the 'Manchurian' corporation (a preposterous repurposing of the original title) need to install a programmed politician in the White House? The big corporations already control the White House without it!
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The Village is the best M. Night film I've seen. Although I found Signs' preposterous ending disappointing, I admired the many unconventional touches of the film, and at about the halfway point I thought I was watching a work of genius.
The new film is more subtle, but has many strange and beautiful scenes. Bryce Dallas Howard, in her film debut, makes a strong impression as a strongwilled blind girl. It's not merely a spook story with a surprise ending, but a serious meditation of the value of innocence. I'm not sure if I liked it more than Saved, but I definitely want to see it again sometime.
-----
The remake of The Manchurian Candidate has no competition whatsoever as the stinker of the season and probably the entire year. I'm willing to go along with remakes, even remakes of great films, but if you have a great film in the first place, what possible excuse is there for scrambling up the plot into an incoherent mess? The cinematography of this drek is attrocious, as well, with countless shots of Washington and other characters talking directly into the camera-- a startling technique that wears out its welcome very quickly. Rates a Golden Retriever award for the scene where Washington bites into the back of Schreiber's neck in order to extract an implant!
What's especially disappointing is that the original film was a sharp attack on McCarthyism, whereas this film has only the vaguest political agenda. Why would the 'Manchurian' corporation (a preposterous repurposing of the original title) need to install a programmed politician in the White House? The big corporations already control the White House without it!
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