Filmography
Jun. 6th, 2009 07:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_lady_lilyLexx, season 1
Lexx was a very silly television series. This was G's - well, not his revenge for making him watch Dr. Who, but his reply to that experience. Stanley Tweedle is an arch-traitor who ends up stealing a ship called the Lexx, getting a sex-slave-gone-wrong called Zev, a robotic head and an undead assassin called Kai along for the ride. They have adventures trying to find a planet where they can live, all the time running away from His Shadow. It is Very Very Silly, and has a lot of gratuitous nudity because it was co-funded by German television, who like that sort of thing.
Season 1 is more like a series of four interconnecting short films; apparently season 2 is a bit more standard television series-esque. We shall see. Suffice to say it was sufficiently silly and entertaining that I want to see what season 2 does. Four stars.
Being John Malkovitch
SUCH a strange film. A man starts work in a new office, falls in love with a woman who works on his floor, and discovers a portal into John Malkovitch's head. He and this woman exploit this ability, except the man's wife also falls in love with this woman - plus the man, a puppeteer by trade, works out how to stay in Malkovitch's head. It's when the secret that Malkovitch is actually a vessel that will shortly be inhabited by a man who has been living since the building in which the portal was discovered was built.
It is very, very odd. And kind of cringeworthy. And you sort of watch half of it and then have to gather your strength for the next half. John Malkovitch, as himself, is actually very good. The plot is, of course, insane. In all honesty, if it weren't for the fact that this is one of those films that everyone probably has to see at some point, I might not have bothered coming back for the second half. G said that it was like Hollywood trying to do Indie Film, and I suspect he might be right. There is, however, bonus puppeteering. Three stars.
The Brothers Bloom
We saw this at the cinema, and I think I am in love. It is an absolutely wonderful and amazing film. The plot follows a pair of brother con-artists along their final con - so beautifully constructed that at the close of the film, there is genuine doubt about whether it is a con or not. The filmmakers keep you guessing, guessing, guessing - and then don't quite answer the question.
The brothers, Bloom and Stephen (Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo) line up the dippy heiress Penelope (Rachel Weisz) as their final mark. Their assistant is Bang-Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), an Japanese artist with explosives who, as Bloom remarks, probably only says three words of English. Those three words are 'Campari' and 'oh shit'. That should tell you everything you need to know about the sheer meta-ness of this film. Stephen very deliberately crafts stories around his brother as the lead character, and fills them with in-jokes, literary references and so forth. I don't think I got half the jokes and need a crib sheet.
There is also something very interesting going on in terms of women's language. Bang-Bang, as noted, only speaks three words - yet she gives Penelope her cell phone number. Bang-Bang also mysteriously disappears at the end of the film - she may or may not be dead. But there's a conflict there between Stephen's very word, literary, showy type of discourse and Bang-Bang's quiet communication full of symbols and body language. Two ways of existing - and only one of which ends in death, perhaps.
Anyway. Excellent, intelligent, highly entertaining film, with that impercetible transition from comedy to tragedy that made Moulin Rouge great. Plus bonus compelling soundtrack. Five stars.
CSA: The Confederate States of America
Very silly 'false documentary' about what would have happened if the South had won the Civil War. Quite cheaply made, and while there are some vaguely interesting points and departures of imagination, there are also a lot of lazy decisions to take the easy attack route. The two academic 'talking heads' probably tell you everything you need to know - a standard white man with beard and white hair and a Southern accent in a library full of books and leather chairs to talk for the CSA, and a black woman with piercing eyes in a modern light-filled office from a university in Canada to represent the other side. Both their vocal tones do exactly what you'd expect as well - the gentleman's is always very lyrical and cat-that-got-the-cream sounding, while the woman's is always aggressive and sharp.
Could have been an interesting exploration, but ends up being quite predictable and not very imaginative instead. Two stars.
The Emperor and the Assassin
A Historical Epic made in China about a period of history I knew nothing about, and still don't know much about. This is the period of the Seven Kingdoms, which the king of Qin, Yin Zheng, is trying to unite. As part of this, he tries to raise up the kingdom of Yan to attack him by sending his... lover? Concubine? Anyway, whatever she is, Lady Zhao back to Yan with the prince who had been held captive in Qin, where she will convince him to send an assassin to kill the king, thus providing an excuse to attack.
Problem is, while she's off doing this, he goes a bit crazed - starts when his mother and the Marquis foment rebellion and it turns out they have secret children who might threaten his hold on the throne, and then his discovery that the ex-prime minister is actually his father, not the old king as he supposed. After that, he goes a bit over the edge and attacks the kingdom of Zhao, which obviously upsets Lady Zhao quite a bit as this is her homeland - especially when he buries children alive after she asked him to save them.
Getting an assassin to go to Qin suddenly becomes a bit less of a joke; said assassin goes; he fails; Lady Zhao returns to get the body and leave the king.
It is a strange film in some ways, because of the lack of cultural background I have to understand quite what's going on, and the way there is clearly some propaganda message behind it (look what the leaders have to do to make sure the people get the best government possible! Means justify ends! But also, let us note how this particular king was a bit of a bastard for killing off most of the Han people, who are now the ethnic majority in China! And, incidentally, Lady Zhao is noble!). Two stars, but I'm sure if you like this sort of thing you'll enjoy it more than we did.
Lexx was a very silly television series. This was G's - well, not his revenge for making him watch Dr. Who, but his reply to that experience. Stanley Tweedle is an arch-traitor who ends up stealing a ship called the Lexx, getting a sex-slave-gone-wrong called Zev, a robotic head and an undead assassin called Kai along for the ride. They have adventures trying to find a planet where they can live, all the time running away from His Shadow. It is Very Very Silly, and has a lot of gratuitous nudity because it was co-funded by German television, who like that sort of thing.
Season 1 is more like a series of four interconnecting short films; apparently season 2 is a bit more standard television series-esque. We shall see. Suffice to say it was sufficiently silly and entertaining that I want to see what season 2 does. Four stars.
Being John Malkovitch
SUCH a strange film. A man starts work in a new office, falls in love with a woman who works on his floor, and discovers a portal into John Malkovitch's head. He and this woman exploit this ability, except the man's wife also falls in love with this woman - plus the man, a puppeteer by trade, works out how to stay in Malkovitch's head. It's when the secret that Malkovitch is actually a vessel that will shortly be inhabited by a man who has been living since the building in which the portal was discovered was built.
It is very, very odd. And kind of cringeworthy. And you sort of watch half of it and then have to gather your strength for the next half. John Malkovitch, as himself, is actually very good. The plot is, of course, insane. In all honesty, if it weren't for the fact that this is one of those films that everyone probably has to see at some point, I might not have bothered coming back for the second half. G said that it was like Hollywood trying to do Indie Film, and I suspect he might be right. There is, however, bonus puppeteering. Three stars.
The Brothers Bloom
We saw this at the cinema, and I think I am in love. It is an absolutely wonderful and amazing film. The plot follows a pair of brother con-artists along their final con - so beautifully constructed that at the close of the film, there is genuine doubt about whether it is a con or not. The filmmakers keep you guessing, guessing, guessing - and then don't quite answer the question.
The brothers, Bloom and Stephen (Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo) line up the dippy heiress Penelope (Rachel Weisz) as their final mark. Their assistant is Bang-Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), an Japanese artist with explosives who, as Bloom remarks, probably only says three words of English. Those three words are 'Campari' and 'oh shit'. That should tell you everything you need to know about the sheer meta-ness of this film. Stephen very deliberately crafts stories around his brother as the lead character, and fills them with in-jokes, literary references and so forth. I don't think I got half the jokes and need a crib sheet.
There is also something very interesting going on in terms of women's language. Bang-Bang, as noted, only speaks three words - yet she gives Penelope her cell phone number. Bang-Bang also mysteriously disappears at the end of the film - she may or may not be dead. But there's a conflict there between Stephen's very word, literary, showy type of discourse and Bang-Bang's quiet communication full of symbols and body language. Two ways of existing - and only one of which ends in death, perhaps.
Anyway. Excellent, intelligent, highly entertaining film, with that impercetible transition from comedy to tragedy that made Moulin Rouge great. Plus bonus compelling soundtrack. Five stars.
CSA: The Confederate States of America
Very silly 'false documentary' about what would have happened if the South had won the Civil War. Quite cheaply made, and while there are some vaguely interesting points and departures of imagination, there are also a lot of lazy decisions to take the easy attack route. The two academic 'talking heads' probably tell you everything you need to know - a standard white man with beard and white hair and a Southern accent in a library full of books and leather chairs to talk for the CSA, and a black woman with piercing eyes in a modern light-filled office from a university in Canada to represent the other side. Both their vocal tones do exactly what you'd expect as well - the gentleman's is always very lyrical and cat-that-got-the-cream sounding, while the woman's is always aggressive and sharp.
Could have been an interesting exploration, but ends up being quite predictable and not very imaginative instead. Two stars.
The Emperor and the Assassin
A Historical Epic made in China about a period of history I knew nothing about, and still don't know much about. This is the period of the Seven Kingdoms, which the king of Qin, Yin Zheng, is trying to unite. As part of this, he tries to raise up the kingdom of Yan to attack him by sending his... lover? Concubine? Anyway, whatever she is, Lady Zhao back to Yan with the prince who had been held captive in Qin, where she will convince him to send an assassin to kill the king, thus providing an excuse to attack.
Problem is, while she's off doing this, he goes a bit crazed - starts when his mother and the Marquis foment rebellion and it turns out they have secret children who might threaten his hold on the throne, and then his discovery that the ex-prime minister is actually his father, not the old king as he supposed. After that, he goes a bit over the edge and attacks the kingdom of Zhao, which obviously upsets Lady Zhao quite a bit as this is her homeland - especially when he buries children alive after she asked him to save them.
Getting an assassin to go to Qin suddenly becomes a bit less of a joke; said assassin goes; he fails; Lady Zhao returns to get the body and leave the king.
It is a strange film in some ways, because of the lack of cultural background I have to understand quite what's going on, and the way there is clearly some propaganda message behind it (look what the leaders have to do to make sure the people get the best government possible! Means justify ends! But also, let us note how this particular king was a bit of a bastard for killing off most of the Han people, who are now the ethnic majority in China! And, incidentally, Lady Zhao is noble!). Two stars, but I'm sure if you like this sort of thing you'll enjoy it more than we did.
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