Undulating Ungulate

Recently, the moose has seen a lot more movies (or parts thereof) than usual:

Control Room

Amazing doco about Al-Jazeera, before and during the invasion of Iraq; an understandably turbulent time, including one of their journalists being killed by the US. A couple of years on, after the various lies of the invaders have been exposed, the whole thing takes on new weight. Every time Rumsfield appears he seems like some horrible grey troll, and everything he says is demonstrably bullshit. The most powerful thing in the movie is the US marine spokesperson dawning realisation that the way he felt (shocked and upset etc) when he saw American dead and POW on TV that one time was the way that the Arabs were feeling when they saw Arab dead – the news coming home to roost in a way. Actually, this probably deserves its own detailed post sometime. Hugely recommended.

The Tin Drum

Adaptation of Gunter Grass’s Nobel Prize winner about a pathological glass shattering freak who decides to stop growing at the age of 3 and indirectly causes the deaths of everyone he loves. The point seems to be that it gets away with talking about Germany and the rise and fall of Nazism by telling an even more deranged tale in the foreground. Probably better as a novel, though I haven’t read it.

Trees Lounge

Steve Buscemi writes, directs and stars in the low key story of an alcoholic loser. Chloe Sevigny displays early traits of hooking up with sleazy indie auteurs which will later blow her career when she blows Vincent Gallo in Brown Bunny. The whole movie is in the final scene, where Buscemi’s loser is sitting at the bar waiting for a drink while inescapably aware of where he is going, and that he doesn’t have the will to avoid it.

The Motorcycle Diaries

Story of the young Che Guevara and a buddy on a motorcycle trip through South America, based on their diaries. Interesting to get behind the myth of Che a little, to ground it in this representation of his experience; he has become a symbol in one ubiquitous image, and symbol’s power can be used by anyone. He comes over as a nice young guy who acted on what he believed in. As a movie, not really that interesting.

Bad Santa

Billy Bob Thornton is wonderfully foul in a fun movie with a naff ending. And next time I see an episode of Gilmore Girls, I’m going to be haunted by the image of Lorelei screaming “fuck me santa, fuck me santa, fuck me santa”. Which seems less out of place than it might, really.

Evil Aliens

Fun splatter horror with amusing inbred Welshmen.

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle

Stoner buddy comedy with Asian and Indian leads. Unremarkable in the snippets I saw except for the cameo turn from Neil Patrick Harris, who proves that the best thing about being a child star who everyone remembers but no one cares about anymore is turning up playing yourself being a drugfucked nutcase in stoner movies.

The Story of the Weeping Camel

Documentary made in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert about a remote family of farmers living in a rather nice yurt. It ends up being about them trying to get the mother of a camel colt to accept the colt, finally resorting to bringing in a violinist to help with a ritual. They sing and play violin to the camels. The mother camel weeps and the colt gets to suckle. Life goes on, with the youngest son seduced by television from the outside world, with the mute implication that this whole way of life is also doomed. Lovely and most odd.

Paycheck

Aptly named as that was all anyone involved in this could have cared about. Is it that Ben Affleck can’t act or doesn’t bother? Phillip K Dick did use many SF tropes in his efforts to stay solvent, but he must have done it better in prose than THIS movie with THAT lame sidekick guy and THAT lame lead. By the end Uma Thurman turns up for her paycheck but can’t save shit.

King Kong

This movie will probably someday be mostly remembered as a footnote in the screen legend of Naomi Watts, who was pretty amazing, and as the last big ape movie for 50 years or so. A pretty good film could be edited out of it. Everything before they get to the island suffers in comparison to the original, especially Jack Black. The Kong on ice bit forgives a lot.

[Edit to add]
Coffee and Cigarettes

Series of vignettes by Jim Jarmusch featuring famous people having coffee and cigarettes. Some nice moments, but easily the least essential of his films.

Filed by billy at 1:33 pm under culture
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