The general tendency of most films I saw so far is, directors don’t seem to be able to cut some of their features short. I saw some pretty interesting films, that just dragged on for thirty minutes too long. I just got back from seeing Tideland, Terry Gilliam’s second film in one year (after Brothers Grimm). I don’t know whether to hate or love his work. He was responsible for making the only single film I have ever left for which I paid (namely, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which I definitely loathed). Anyway: an upcoming cold is not keeping me from seeing films. A bunch of short reviews today.
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Saturday was a very busy day, but also filled with terrific films. All public screenings seem to be sold out, which I consider a good sign. This year the program has been decreased, making it easier to see the more popular films. Last year there were so many long features, causing some were only to be shown once or twice during the entire festival.
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On Wednesday January 25th, the official opening of the 35th International Film Festival Rotterdam took place. Audience members could see the Dutch premiere of what has been described as Ang Lee’s ‘gay western’, Brokeback Mountain, a film awaiting Oscar gold. The honor of being the official opening film went to Shunichi Nagasaki’s remake/make-of/sequel of Heart, Beating in the Dark. Here on Choking on Popcorn I will post regular updates. I hope to do one every day, but with the tight schedule of five to six films a day, that is a hard task. I will also post very small reviews and ratings of the films I saw. That way, you can still go see some of the films you can read about in the updates. Longer, more elaborate reviews will be posted when the festival is over, so after February 5th.
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I was not, by any means, a huge fan of the first Underworld’ film, which starred Kate Beckinsdale as a vampire shooting guns in tight leather. While there seems to be evidence that that’s what the fanboys like, needless to say, I’m not much of a fanboy when it comes to anything. I just love movies and what goes on behind the camera as much as in front of it. So why did I see the ‘Underworld’ sequel? Well, I was in the right place at the right time and got a movie pass…so I get to see the film for free. How nice. Nicer yet is how the sequel surprised me.
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Well it seems that the once big name action star Steven Seagal has made a sequel to one of his films. So what is it? ‘Out For Justice 2′? ‘Hard To Kill 4′? Nope, nothing like that. More like reprising his role of Jonathan “Don’t Catch” Cold from ‘The Foreigner’ from a few years ago. This is also one of those rare instances where a not bad DTV sequel was made from not just a DTV flick, but a horrible DTV flick.
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In recent years, I have noticed that aside from a few young actors and actresses like Keira Knightly, James Franco, the Gyllenhal siblings, and Josh Hartlett, there really has been an decrease in the talent of Hollywood’s A-listers of tommorow. In addition, many seasoned actors are getting fazed out, many of them not having the name value they once had. I always thought that if Hollywood teamed up the younger actors with the veterans, they could learn off each other. Instead, there is a push to hype up the new actors, who are inexpierienced. In some cases the actors are not even actors, but airheads like Paris Hilton. Granted, no one’s going to giving out awards to House Of Wax, but I found something today which I agree with- said recently from one of horror film’s legendary icons…
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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is the motion picture directing debut of none other than Tommy Lee Jones. Not being a sucker for westerns (not even the modern ones), I was amazed about how much I actually liked Jones’ effort. In it, Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo) accidently gets killed by border control officer Mike Norton (Barry Pepper). Estrada’s best friend, ranch foreman Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) decides to kidnap Norton and dig up Estrada, to bring him to his final resting place somewhere in Mexico.
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Titus Andronicus is bloody and violent, even for a Shakespeare-drama. It’s a story about a Roman general who comes home victorious, but is undone by the manipulations within his family, features war, rape, human sacrifice, (auto-) mutilation, carnage, and cannibalism. Director Julie Taymor’s movie-adaptation makes few concessions to the text, the content, or the length of the play and for a Shakespeare lover like me, this is very good news. But this is no mere registration of a theatre piece. This is Cinema, capital C firmly in place.
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Based on the book ‘Vengeance’ by George Jonas, Munich focuses on the aftermath of the terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic games, and the controversial methods used to track down the masterminds… and give them a taste of thier own medicine through bombings and assassinations. Director Steven Spielberg wasn’t only bold for handling the subject, he is brilliant for making this more than a spy-revenge picture set in the early 70’s.
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While I’m not sure if the picture wanted to be a comedy, it was working better as a drama. The subject matter is all but timely- older working class being phased out by younger, inexpierienced bosses (a reason why the film got shafted?) and it is possible that the first instinct was to go for dark comedy, but it turns into something more.
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