Post by Martin Stett on Jun 5, 2017 16:27:37 GMT
Outrage (2010) -- Violent, heartless, and every character is devoid of personality. That said, this is one of the rare movies in which a lack of interesting characters and a surplus of gratuitous ultraviolence don't really bother me; the movie is all about the ridiculously complex plots of treachery and backstabbing, and trying to figure out which ant will betray some other ant they're aligned with until they're all dead at the end. As an intellectual exercise, it's actually pretty fun. 7/10
Naqoyqatsi (2002) -- Oooooooooh, pretty colors. 7/10
The Red Turtle (2016) -- These characters aren't people. They're walking lumps of meaning. They're metaphors on a dang metaphorical island, and I was never given any reason to care about them. There are moments of real beauty in this movie, and when the movie delights in showing us these images (as it frequently does), it soars. But the characters are blank slates, and I don't care about blank slates. 5/10
Wiener-Dog (2016) -- Four short stories that don't really connect tonally or thematically. The first one is a nasty, ugly comedy about nasty, ugly people and I hated every moment of it. The second one has a very good, bittersweet ending, but doesn't earn it -- the whole thing is so slow and boring, hiding the twist ending for no particular reason. The third one is all about watching Danny DeVito play a miserable bum, and few people can play miserable bums as well as he can. The fourth is pretty good until the weird-ass ending that is meant to be funny but comes off as just plain weird. So yeah, I liked one, sort of liked another, didn't like another, and ABSOLUTELY DESPISED the first story. So not a good movie, for me. 4/10
Boy and the World (2013) -- Why did no one tell me how beautiful this film is? Showing this world of anguish and anger through the wondrous eyes of a child sounds like it should be more heavy-handed and less joyful. But it's the joy that makes the sorrow bearable, it is joy that transforms this world from a sea of numbness into one that makes you feel every emotion, be it the pain of becoming an impersonal tool, or the joy of creating a magical world from a bicycle and a few beer bottles for something decidedly unique and personal to you. I love this movie, and I'm still processing my thoughts on it, but this is so much better than the other silent films I watched this week. 9/10
Naqoyqatsi (2002) -- Oooooooooh, pretty colors. 7/10
The Red Turtle (2016) -- These characters aren't people. They're walking lumps of meaning. They're metaphors on a dang metaphorical island, and I was never given any reason to care about them. There are moments of real beauty in this movie, and when the movie delights in showing us these images (as it frequently does), it soars. But the characters are blank slates, and I don't care about blank slates. 5/10
Wiener-Dog (2016) -- Four short stories that don't really connect tonally or thematically. The first one is a nasty, ugly comedy about nasty, ugly people and I hated every moment of it. The second one has a very good, bittersweet ending, but doesn't earn it -- the whole thing is so slow and boring, hiding the twist ending for no particular reason. The third one is all about watching Danny DeVito play a miserable bum, and few people can play miserable bums as well as he can. The fourth is pretty good until the weird-ass ending that is meant to be funny but comes off as just plain weird. So yeah, I liked one, sort of liked another, didn't like another, and ABSOLUTELY DESPISED the first story. So not a good movie, for me. 4/10
Boy and the World (2013) -- Why did no one tell me how beautiful this film is? Showing this world of anguish and anger through the wondrous eyes of a child sounds like it should be more heavy-handed and less joyful. But it's the joy that makes the sorrow bearable, it is joy that transforms this world from a sea of numbness into one that makes you feel every emotion, be it the pain of becoming an impersonal tool, or the joy of creating a magical world from a bicycle and a few beer bottles for something decidedly unique and personal to you. I love this movie, and I'm still processing my thoughts on it, but this is so much better than the other silent films I watched this week. 9/10
