Short Takes: May 2012
THE RAID: Well executed action & a nicely grounded filmmaking approach. Iko Uwais is the star though. A big step up from MERANTAU too.
MOONRISE KINGDOM: Anderson seems to have hit a bit of wall with Moonrise Kingdom. Style continues to be almost opposed to function & there’s nowhere near as much charm as in his previous films.
RUST AND BONE: So much about Rust and Bone shouldn’t work but somehow Audiard manages to pull off a magic trick of sorts. Beautiful & very emotional.
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD: Style not always in service of the story.What works in the film is beautiful & the child’s eye view is effective.
SADAKO 3D: A lack of ideas beyond screams of MORE EVERYTHING! 3D used in interesting ways in tiny sections but mostly dreadful.
THE WE AND THE I: Absolutely loved it. Single location suits Gondry’s visual inventiveness. Dialogue is sharp & clever.
LAWLESS: Masculinity, maturation and moonshine. Near perfect script, great performances & satisfyingly unfussy direction.
AMOUR: Utterly heartbreaking. The beauty and agony of a couple growing old. Far more emotional than Haneke’s previous films.
THE SAPPHIRES: Pleasant enough songs & soap opera plotting but mostly pretty dreadful. Chris O’Dowd is on top form though.
DRACULA 3D: Why Argento, why? The brightest film I’ve ever seen, technically, but in many ways one of the dullest. Awful.
FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE 3D: A familiar story given a refreshing new spin. Somewhat fantastical, epic in scale & wholly entertaining. Tsui Hark appears to be on a roll again and I couldn’t be happier. The Dragon Gate story continues to provide a great platform for really cool female characters. It passes the Bechdel Test too.
WRONG: Witty, strange & delightfully mischievous. Lacking the definite sense of purpose that RUBBER had though.
ROOM 237: More Bible Code than film analysis. Rather entertaining though, albeit occasionally for entirely the wrong reasons.
ME AND ME DAD: Very absorbing and intimate portrait of John Boorman. Deliberate rough edges add a lot of charm.
THE ANGEL’S SHARE: Slight but incredibly charming tale of a criminal trying to reform. Could have done without The Proclaimers.
AI TO MAKOTO: A musical/action/comedy/love story from Takashi Miike. Drags a bit in places but mostly joyously entertaining.
CHAINED: Chilling story of serial killer. Interesting dynamics surrounding influence and control.
ON THE ROAD: Lacking a lot in a number of important areas. Salles ensures it looks good but it’s all a bit empty and flat.
LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE: Glacial pacing mixed with an aimless sense of discovery build to very little. Alluring cinematography but little else.
IN ANOTHER COUNTRY: Three similar tales, none of which are particularly compelling. Awkward dialogue & horrible, horrible zooms.
VIAGGIO IN ITALIA (2012 Restoration): Excellent restoration of a beautiful and moving film.
THE PAPERBOY: Ludicrous but oddly entertaining in places (not for the right reasons necessarily). Lots of Daniels visual styling nonsense.
HOLY MOTORS: “Weird, weird, so weird”. Deliciously strange & so enjoyable.
MISS LOVELY: A grim slog through Bollywood B-movie filmmaking. Very little to say & not at all compelling.
PROMETHEUS: Well shot, beautiful production design, mostly excellent performances but an atrocious script.