Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story - Reaction

A short movie told through barbie dolls about a singer's (Karen Carpenter of The Carpenters) death due to anorexia. I applaud the choice; the barbie dolls reflect a plastic, overly clean, impossible notion of femininity. The movie also used other props such a container of ex-lax.

It's clearly an advocacy film, with narration explaining anorexia and its social milieu. The scenes using barbie and ken dolls were moving, a fact that surprised me. The narration, however, made the film lose ground when it appeared, bringing one out of the story, which actually had a soap-opera feel, and into the larger social context. In contrast, interspersed montages, which used real footage, provided atmosphere without disrupting the narrative. But there were also interjected interviews with people reflecting on the singer's life--these felt out of place, tossed in as part of the rest of the hodgepodge.

The movie appears to be coarse-grained, though some of that could be because I watched a bad, nth-hand copy.

The film was never distributed because the creators never acquired the rights use The Carpenters' music (which serves as the soundtrack throughout the film), rights which were probably denied because the film portrays Karen's brother in a bad light. Nevertheless, the film is freely available online.

The Valet (La Doublure) - Reaction

[French]

A decent French comedy-drama-romance about the situation that arises because a rich man needs to cover up an affair. (A regular guy was passing as he was photographed with his mistress supermodel. He pays the regular guy and the supermodel to pretend to be a couple so it doesn't look like he's with the supermodel.) Although short, it's slow at times. Nevertheless, it has some great lines.

The Sound of Music - Reaction

A well done family film about a nun/governess and her family in Austria during the coming of the third Reich. Includes a love triangle. This film is a musical, containing songs with good lyrics and good choreography and that are so catchy they made their way into our common cultural knowledge (i.e., I recognized many of them though I'd never seen the movie before). The setting--Austria--is beautiful and offers many opportunities to see expansive vistas. The cinematography is likewise good. Though the movie is long (three hours), the length didn't bother me. In short, it's a good quality movie that's rightly called a classic and it's no wonder the film is one of the top grossing films of all time and a winner of five Oscars.

I want to record in particular that the puppet scene is a lot of fun.

The movie is mainly about family and "about freedom, hope, and facing our lives and future with a positive outlook", as one reviewer said. Also, some songs/relationships involve traditional gender roles; others have more female empowerment. Many reviewers claim the movie and its themes are too sugary / syrupy / "schmaltz"-y, but it didn't seem to bother me.

I learned a lot about the film from reading about it afterwards and from listening to the commentary track.

• The screenplay was based on a fictionalized musical based on the true story book written by the Von Trapps themselves.
• The movie was made for a lower budget than I thought. For instance, they filmed some scenes on a stage so they didn't have to pay people overtime to film in the house at night. (But, yes, some scenes were filmed on location in Austria.)
• Some dubbing of the singing occurred, though not much.
• Most of the children got taller during filming -- visual tricks were used to minimize this.

8 Mile - Reaction

A not-bad film about a rapper in an impoverished side of Detroit trying to find his voice. The first half of the film shows him idling around, with nothing really happening, which I suppose is an accurate reflection of life in that community. Sadly, however, I was disappointed that not much more happens in the second half. Nevertheless, I appreciated the movie's portrayal of a world I have no familiarity with, and the movie's exploration of attitudes in that community to jobs, women, and money.

I wish I knew more about the rapper's final status with his girlfriend.

Writing this response far after the fact, I vaguely recall liking the rap battles (both in the movie and in the special features).

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - Reaction

A good fantasy movie with high production values. Whether computer graphics or costumes, it's clear they paid attention to detail. (Indeed, the film won an oscar for make-up.) I wouldn't call it an epic because an epic feels long, grand, and complicated. This movie is about as complicated a story as you can tell a child. The characters are straightforward. And, although long, it doesn't feel long. Furthermore, during the first half of the film, the kids are just looking for their brother, which is not really a traditional epic quest.

I found something odd about the way the real animals are animated, but I'm not bothered by the fake animals and monsters. I thought the monsters in particular were animated very well. Also, the fawn's acting was adorable.

Despite the PG rating, the movie is dark at times and I don't think it's entirely appropriate for kids.

There's an obvious Jesus allegory here. Also, I couldn't believe there's a Santa-Clause/Father-Christmas figure. (I haven't read the book since elementary school, and completely forgot about it.)

It's interesting to hear the commentary by the child-actors. By listening to the commentary, I also learned the film was shot generally in order according to the script--an unconventional choice--to make it easier for the kids to act, and because the kids grow over time.

A History of Violence - Reaction

A not-half-bad movie with a measured pace about a calm, quiet, family man in a small town, and what happens when allegations of his violent past emerge. As such, it's a movie about character. Sadly, the plot felt like it was written by someone in Creative Writing 101. Furthermore, it's hard to understand the villains' and hero's motivations.

Nevertheless, the film deals with many deep issues. The movie's plot shows that even if a person is resurrected--this word was primed by the image of jesus at the beginning of the movie--, he can't leave his past/history behind. In a similar vein, it's about the impossibility of escaping violence. It's also about opening one's self and telling the truth to one's spouse, even if one's already been redeemed for past actions. In addition, the film touches on a mistaken sense of normalcy--how normal can life really be? Finally, it's about the inheritance of violence in children from parents. It explores why people turn out the way they do, and wonders whether violence begets violence through bad examples or through genetic nature--survival of the fittest. As such, this theory returns to idea that violence tends to become pervasive.

Darkon - Reaction

An interesting, well-put-together, funny-at-times, open-minded documentary about people who play a particular live-action role playing game, what they think about it, and why they do it. The real-life characters are interesting and they do a good job acting in fantasy-life roles. (Indeed, the costumes they make are much better than I expected. In fact, they display an impressive commitment to role playing in terms not only of costumes and makeup but also time.) The movie is by necessity haphazardly photographed, as it's trying to capture unscripted fast-paced events.

Although the film mentions the rules of the game (different colored weapons, how they affect various armors, the rules of resurrection, etc.), it mainly focuses on what the players get out of the game. Some players use the game as a form of escapism from real life. The game is where they can pursue the American dream: to live their lives as they desire. Some of these players draw the analogy that just as reality, where one has responsibilities, is like adulthood, the fantasy world is like childhood, where one is unencumbered and more free. Others use fantasy role playing to gain confidence and train for real-world situations, developing skills for socializing, playing politics, negotiating, or leading. (One person playing the game for this purpose, Danny, says "sometimes Danny doesn't have the balls to do what needs to be done.") Interestingly, a number of players reflect upon the idea that just as they're playing a role in the game, they're playing a role in their real lives.

The movie also explores the different lines people draw between this world and the real world. For instance, some players' characters don't date in the game even if they're dating outside of it. Players generally try to maintain real-world friendships regardless of in-game actions, though sometimes the line is crossed and real life impinges on one's fantasy life and vice versa.

I particularly liked two scenes: one, the neat opening transition from a hexagonal game board (the common board for role playing games) to an aerial view of the suburbs, and two, a brief interview with an Iraqi war veteran who plays and why he does so.

Some of the deleted scenes are quite good.

I must admit the movie is probably not interesting to people who've never role played.

I first heard about the film through a radio segment: The Role of a Lifetime (WNYC's On The Media via NPR). The story provides a good overview of the film and its feel. (Listen to the story; if you read the transcript, you'll miss out on the sounds and voices.)

Spaceballs - Reaction

I rewatched this Mel Brooks comedy classic which plays off of Star Wars. It was as good as I remembered. Nothing more needs to be said.

Blazing Saddles - Reaction

Important note: I saw the theatrical release, not the TV one. The TV one apparently has some extra scenes.

Mel Brooks's dated, okay, vaudevillian comedy-western involving a black sheriff in a white town. I think it's meant for people with short attention spans. The straightforward plot isn't the point--indeed, one IMDB reviewer said the "structure is a total mess"--; it's merely an excuse for the gags, whether slapstick, raunchy, scatological, or racial (in ways that probably are unacceptable nowadays). Basically, it felt like the script-writers threw in the kitchen sink every crass or crude joke they could think of, especially those that mocked westerns. Generally, it wasn't my type of humor. There is one minute of action near the end that I liked much better than anything else in the movie. Sadly, the movie didn't end on that note but instead got too strange, turning its attention to mocking movie-making in general.

I think I missed a good number of references. For instance, I only knew one character was parodying Marlene Dietrich because someone pointed it out to me.

The movie apparently was somewhat controversial in its time. Some people complained it was racist; others thought it reflected reverse racism.

D.O.A. - Reaction

Important note: I saw the original 1949/1950 version. The movie has apparently been remade later.

An average, unexceptional noir: some action, a relatively confusing plot, not particularly snappy dialog, and a generally unnecessary romantic subplot with an annoyingly one-dimensional female character. A novel premise, the movie follows the previous twenty-four hours in the life of a man who enters a police station and declares he's been murdered by poison. There's a good jazz segment in the middle of the movie. Near the beginning of the movie, on the other hand, the film uses wolf whistles to indicate when the main character notices an attractive woman. The whistles are out of place and distracting. The audience already knows what's going on.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Reaction

A preposterous (both in terms of details and high-level plot) action flick that never decides if it's an indiana jones movie or a parody of an indiana jones movie. The script is poor: there's stilted dialog in places (often using exposition) and the way the relationships evolve isn't plausible (Oxley, Marion, and Indiana; Mutt and Indiana). Relationships aren't built so insanely fast, and no one can be as accepting as the movie makes it appear. In addition, the ridiculous plot--almost a cross between the X-Files and Indiana Jones--is inexplicable at times. Also, it's a few minutes too long. Maybe this all adds up to a standard (not good) summer blockbuster.

The movie references past Indiana Jones movies. I probably missed some. Had I caught them, maybe they'd have made the movie funnier.

Aspects of the movie are even more over the top than past Indiana Jones movies. I hear there's a movement to replace the phrase "jump the shark" with "nuke the fridge" in reference to Indiana Jones surviving a nuclear explosion by hiding in a lead-lined fridge that is thrown by a nuclear explosion miles through the air.

This At The Movies discussion generally reflects my mixed (though tending to the negative) reaction to this film.

This American Life - Reaction

On May 1, 2008, This American Life simulcast a live production of the show to many theaters throughout the country. (Well, for us west-coast viewers strictly speaking it wasn't a simulcast because they delayed the broadcast in order to show it at a reasonable time in the evening.)

This well-produced, entertaining simulcast was similar in feel to the radio show though the structure differed. Ira did some segments live, narrating, queuing clips, and balancing background music. In addition to these segments, other regulars appeared on stage to do pieces. It's amazing how fast I can recognize them from their voices. There was also an discussion segment where Ira and the This American Life's television show's producer talked about how they make creative decisions and what they're doing differently for the next season of the show (e.g., try omitting narration entirely). The simulcast wrapped up with questions and e-mails from the audience.

As for the content of the show, it had some clips that had been broadcast on the radio and on the television show, plus segments that didn't make it to air due to length restrictions. I particularly liked a cartoon they made for a radio segment and the talk-to-an-Iraqi segment. They also showed some outtakes. In addition, before the presentation began, the screen displayed animated games of hangman and anagrams to keep us entertained. (It worked.)

Ira didn't look like I expected him to. Indeed, he joked about this fact at the beginning of the show, remarking that he must remember that people who meet him for the first time don't hear anything he says for the first minute, instead attempting to integrate his appearance with their mental image of him. Later in the show, they showed clips of Ira's reactions he interviewed a guy talking about skinning a bull and crying. His facial expressions were hilarious, making it obvious why they don't show Ira's face during interviews in the television show--it'd be too distracting.

The theater was mostly full. I noticed a number of people, I included, craning their necks to look around to see what kind of people watch/listen to This American Life.

I wonder how much of Glass's motivation for this simulcast was a promotion for the second season of the TV show.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith - Reaction

Important note: I saw the 2005 remake.

A satisfying (but not great) action/offbeat-romance about two assassins who meet and marry each other, neither knowing what the other person does. I might even call it a romantic-comedy, just with dark humor as the comedy aspect. Sure, the plot has holes, the action scenes start reasonable and get more and more preposterous, and the film's not consistent in feel, but the fun the actors are having is obvious, and that fun is contagious. There's something simply cute about it (referring to the film) or them (the actors).

In short, it's a larger-than-life movie about larger-than-life people trying to make a relationship work. As such, it's a metaphor for marriage: the struggles, the conflict, the need for openness.

Interestingly, the film has no real villains. Originally it had villains, but they were removed in editing to make the focus more about the Smiths' struggles and relationship.

The repartee is generally pretty good but not great. However, the kitchen scene, with its double-entendres, is great.

An early scene in the movie gratuitously uses the sex appeal of its stars: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Luckily, the movie has more content than that.

Sound and Fury - Reaction

A tv-documentary-quality docudrama about a deaf couple deciding whether to get a cochlear implant for their child. It was only vaguely interesting to me. Nevertheless, I think I'm, as one IMDB reviewer says, "better for having watched it."

At its heart is "the old story of parents either wanting their kids ... to either be like them or to have it better than they had it," as another IMDB reviewer puts it. While even-handed, it's emotionally heartfelt. It's hard to watch people making this type of decisions for their children.

At a higher-level, it's easy to see the film as exploring the defensive reaction of a closely-knit community/cultural group as its existence is threatened by technology and medical advances. Basically, it's about how the existence of separate worlds / separate cultures can lead to xenophobia, and about how a constrained world-view can lead to ignorance and pride.

Incidentally, I think there's something ironic that the film has no subtitles and thus no deaf person can watch it. By the way, it uses voiceovers to translate what's said using sign language.

Bloodspell - Reaction

Bloodspell is said to be the first feature-length machinima film. I first learned about this burgeoning art form of using video games as animation engines through Red vs. Blue and later a screening/talk at a film festival in Berkeley.

This movie is described as a "post-goth punk fantasy adventure" set in a world where some people have magic in their blood and have to live in hiding due to church persecution. Though an action film, the action isn't that thrilling. The best visual effects are the appearances of the creatures (which, interestingly, is something the video game engine supplied, not the producers). Although the film has stilted dialogue, poor characterization (e.g., relationships which evolve unnaturally fast), and a plot that doesn't really make great sense, I nevertheless, despite many opportunities to stop watching as I waited for the film to download each new chapter, watched it to the end. In spite of these problems, something in it must've appealed to me. I did like the soundtrack, though it didn't necessary go with the action. (It didn't clash either.)

The film is freely available online.

Sicko - Reaction

Michael Moore's entertaining, interesting, and surprisingly non-hysterical documentary about problems with the U.S.'s health care system, what caused them, and how other countries have solved similar problems. I like how he generally stayed off camera (especially in the first half), only narrating. His personality and cynicism comes through in this film, but they're not as overwhelming as in some of his others.

The movie takes a personal approach to its subject, interviewing many real people as it alternates between horror stories and tales of amazingly great health care systems. This approach, however, means that this isn't policy journalism because the evidence Moore compiles is anecdotal, however damning of the current system it may be.

The film advocates for publicly funded, universal, standardized health care--in some sense, universal humanitarianism.

The special features, mostly additional scenes and interviews, are like appendices.

Some reviewers complain his portraits of other countries are too rosy. I disagree; he's more focusing on what we do wrong than exploring other countries' systems in detail. He's showing that other countries don't have some of the same problems. Regardless of what hidden, different problems other countries have, it's clear their citizens take pride in their systems.

Wordplay - Reaction

A decent documentary about crossword solvers and the crossword championship. It does a good job showing the camaraderie these quirky, brainy characters have with each other. I most enjoyed the interviews with famous people (Clinton, Jon Stewart, etc.). I also liked seeing how crosswords are created. On the other hand, I found the sections giving background on the various contestants got a little slow/tedious at times. I'm not sure the film (despite the competitive nature of the subject matter) would interest people not into puzzles. (Richard Roeper warns that the film has a "heavy nerd factor.")

I liked the special features (factoids, snippets, colorful blurbs, puzzle profiles, music video) more than the movie itself.

If I bought DVDs, I'd be tempted to buy this one, simply because I think I know many people who would enjoy the contents. This is an odd thing to say since I've definitely seen better movies per se, but I think the topic and contents of this DVD are something special and distinctive.

Incidentally, the movie uses ingenuous/inventive graphics to show crosswords on the screen as contestants solve them.

The Pursuit of Happyness - Reaction

A good movie with a literary feel. Based on a true story about a San Francisco man trying to simultaneously be a father and work himself out of poverty. At its heart is a father-son story displayed through the series of obstacles that the father overcomes, often demonstrating morals/life lessons, while seeking to convey a sense of normalcy to his son. These events usually turn out in good ways, or at least we focus on these events as watchers of the movie. The movie is paced like true life: these things, they happen. This pacing can take some time to get used to. It's revealing that the director, regarding a scene 50 minutes into the film, said that particular scene is the most important scene in the movie. After that scene, the movie takes off.

The acting is good! Will Smith played the protagonist and Will Smith's real son played his son in the movie. The son was said by the director to be the best kid for the job. I believe it. Chris Gardner, the man who wrote the book/lived the life on which the movie was based, said, "the kid has more talent in his big toe than Will has in his whole body."

At its core, the movie is about the American dream, about the pursuit of happiness. It's also about fatherhood/paternal love. It's interesting to note what the movie's not about. Although the main character is black and attempting to get a job in an all-white firm, the movie doesn't comment on race at all. Furthermore, although it deals with poverty, the poor, and homelessness, it doesn't really make a statement about them. Some may consider the movie to be making a statement about capitalism; I'm not sure.

The commentary revealed neat facts about how the movie was produced.

• They hired real homeless people to play homeless people!
• Will Smith solved the Rubik's Cube himself. (He taught himself to do them quickly.)
• The director obsessed about making the film and sets look like the 1980s. Frankly, I didn't notice or care.

The DVD includes many special features for those interested in the true story. I also heard more of the true story in a KQED interview. There are dark, R-rated aspects of the story, aspects omitted in this PG-13 version of the tale and never mentioned in the special features of the disc. Obviously, for even more details, read the book.

Addendum: While reading others' reviews of this movie, I came up with a list of words that I think generally apply but aren't so perfect that I wanted to use them in my reaction essay: tense, heart-wrenching, intense, moving, tender, slow, heartful, heartfelt, and earnest.

Bananas - Reaction

An early Woody Allen movie: meaning a pure comedy with no attempt at philosophical depth. It's a wacky, random film with a strange plot. Dense with gags, I found it funny, in an absurd way; it made for easy watching.

Like other Allen films, his self-obsession clearly comes across.

Street Fight - Reaction

A compelling documentary, which should induce anger or outrage in any viewer, about the 2002 electoral race in Newark between the underdog, a Stanford- and Yale-educated Rhodes scholar, and the mayor, head of the political machine and doer of mean, underhanded, sometimes criminal tricks. The mayoral battle shows examples of corrupt power and racial politics (despite that both candidates are African-American). The sleazy mayor resorts to negative ads, to outright lies, and even to criminal activity. If my description of the candidates seems one-sided, it's because the maker of the documentary clearly has a perspective. But then, that's pretty natural because one side provided access and the other did not.

Although the documentary is about a dirty campaign in the microcosm of local Newark politics, the themes aren't limited to Newark. Indeed, it feels like an election that could've taken place in any third-world country. It touches on first amendment issues: freedom of the press (e.g., denying access of the documentary maker to the mayor's public events) and freedom of speech (e.g., selective police prosecution of people who erect signs supporting the underdog). Furthermore, the simple fact that the documentary only covers intangibles about the candidates, not issues, makes a statement about politics.

This is the director/producer's first full-length movie. He paid for it out of his own pocket. I'm glad he made it.