Films You Might Want To See
Sep. 27th, 2003 10:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stIf you are finished watching bootleg copies of Angel 5.02 that is.
Saw two very different movies this week.
First up, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind", George Clooney's treatment of the book by Chuck Barris. This film about a game show host/assassin is a hoot. Especially if you enjoy the Tarentino style of storytelling. Clooney's direction lopes along taking just the right tongue-in-cheek tone so that you are never certain how serious you should be taking any of the over-the-top confessions. Was Chuck Barris pulling our leg? Was he just a very troubled man? Or was he really a killer for hire while inventing such tripe as "The Dating Game" and "The Gong Show?"
Personally, Chuck Barris always freaked me out. I hated his shows (yes, I was a critic even in the crib). Trust me...the movie is loads more fun. I particularly liked Clooney in it...and Rutger Hauer.
The other film I saw was "Holes." Not as good as CoaDM, but still worth seeing. This film is the typical DISNEY WITH EDGE film. "Yeah, we bad!" The junior delinquents walk a very narrow line along the edge of precious and here and there slip up. I was never really outraged by or scared for the kids. The villains were even worse, a short drive away from Don Knotts, but not nearly menacing enough.
Jon Voight misses by miles but Sigourney Weaver comes close to scary in one or two bits. Still, I really wanted to feel a deeper sense of hopelessness from the diggers. And they were just too cute and perky and while the soundtrack was at times very effective it also was too cute in places.
What I think Holes really demands is patience. The story unfolds in numerous poorly acted and apparently unconnected flashbacks. My companion gave up on it after about 30 minutes. But I stayed with it and was rewarded with an intricately crafted story of family fables. When the pieces start clicking together, Holes starts getting interesting. The movie was based on the award winning Young Adult book of the same title. In the end, the story-craft made it well worth putting up with the slight case of confusion and Disneyfication.
Saw two very different movies this week.
First up, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind", George Clooney's treatment of the book by Chuck Barris. This film about a game show host/assassin is a hoot. Especially if you enjoy the Tarentino style of storytelling. Clooney's direction lopes along taking just the right tongue-in-cheek tone so that you are never certain how serious you should be taking any of the over-the-top confessions. Was Chuck Barris pulling our leg? Was he just a very troubled man? Or was he really a killer for hire while inventing such tripe as "The Dating Game" and "The Gong Show?"
Personally, Chuck Barris always freaked me out. I hated his shows (yes, I was a critic even in the crib). Trust me...the movie is loads more fun. I particularly liked Clooney in it...and Rutger Hauer.
The other film I saw was "Holes." Not as good as CoaDM, but still worth seeing. This film is the typical DISNEY WITH EDGE film. "Yeah, we bad!" The junior delinquents walk a very narrow line along the edge of precious and here and there slip up. I was never really outraged by or scared for the kids. The villains were even worse, a short drive away from Don Knotts, but not nearly menacing enough.
Jon Voight misses by miles but Sigourney Weaver comes close to scary in one or two bits. Still, I really wanted to feel a deeper sense of hopelessness from the diggers. And they were just too cute and perky and while the soundtrack was at times very effective it also was too cute in places.
What I think Holes really demands is patience. The story unfolds in numerous poorly acted and apparently unconnected flashbacks. My companion gave up on it after about 30 minutes. But I stayed with it and was rewarded with an intricately crafted story of family fables. When the pieces start clicking together, Holes starts getting interesting. The movie was based on the award winning Young Adult book of the same title. In the end, the story-craft made it well worth putting up with the slight case of confusion and Disneyfication.
