WAS1 Productions

Originally Written 04/14/07

I went to see Grindhouse tonight and it pretty much rocked! If not for the stain of Quentin Tarentino it would’ve been nigh perfect, but even so it was two-thirds of the way to being the best movie ever. I’d been looking forward to this for awhile, and the first half of the double feature didn’t disappoint me. It opened up with a trailer to a non-existent Mexican exploitation flick, Machete. That dripped of the 70s, including using one of the classic voice-over narrators.

The genre love continued with Robert Rodriguez’s bio-zombie fest, Planet Terror. That managed to combined gritty action with dark humor and clever satire. It also had a lot of cameos by famous actors, and it was fun watching everyone enjoy playing out their roles. They kind of overdid some of the aging effects they did to make the film look worn out. The scratches weren’t bad, but some of the blurriness and color shifting got a little distracting.

Most times it worked at giving the feel of a double feature in a sleazy movie house, but there were a couple of instances where I thought it could’ve been toned down. Otherwise it was great. The effects and gore were well done and it was a fun film. Plus, with an ex go-go dancer taking out zombies with her machine-gun leg, it had something for everyone.

The other fake trailers during the intermission were also a hoot. Rob Zombie’s Werewolf Women of the S.S. was amusing, and the short project suited his editing style; as one critic put it, it wasn’t long enough for him to suck. The second one, Don’t was another spoof of a very specific trailer style that can’t really be described. The best one though was Eli Roth’s Friday the 13th spoof, Thanksgiving.

Then came Quentin Tarentino’s half of the project, Death Proof. He’d shown up in Planet Terror and also had a cameo in this film. He got killed in the first movie, which was some satisfaction, but his insertion into the movies was the least of his sins. He’s done that before, and while his presence here was less effective than in earlier films, it was tolerable.

Unfortunately, his love for wacky dialog and discussions of obscure Americana dialog weighted the movie down like an anchor. That technique worked in Pulp Fiction, but it was mostly boring here. I kept on waiting for something interesting to happen.

Kurt Russell was wonderful in his role, but the two fast sections of the film were interspersed with dull bits of characters yammering at each other. The good news though is that once the second action scene hit, it had some great payoff.  It’s all the car chase and action sequences from every single 70s movie rolled together.

I had a good time. Even with the dull bits in the second movie, it was still a fun experience and a great recreation and tribute to genre films. I’ll probably get the DVD when it comes out, and just fast-forward through Tarentino’s over-indulgent masturbations.

Originally Written 10/14/06

I also saw Martin Scorsese’s movie, The Departed, last night. I’d been very curious about that, since I’d seen the Hong Kong film which is was based on, Infernal Affairs. I couldn’t remember all of the story, since the original film was convoluted, which is no surprise for HK cinema, but from what I remembered, it was very faithful to the story, and even made some improvements on it.

It was a great movie and very entertaining. I liked how unabashedly gritty it was, mixing black comedy with the action and violence. It was great to see it set and shot in Boston. There were a lot of landmarks I recognized, and they handled the Southie accents and local color quite well. There was lots of great acting here, from Jack Nicholson of course and Mark Walberg, who were wonderfully entertaining, as well as Matt Damon and even Leonardo DiCaprio, who’s grown beyond the pretty-boy roles he used to play. For those who like crime dramas, it was a real treat to watch.

Originally Written 07/10/06

On Thursday I saw a quirky art film with some friends down in Boston. They’re an academic bunch, so one of them suggested seeing Wordplay, a documentary about both the New York Time crossword puzzle editor, Will Shortz, and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. It’s not a film I might have seen on my own, but I’m glad they suggested it, as I found it thoroughly enjoyable.

First off, Shotz, and one the paper’s biggest puzzle contributors, were both interesting characters, as were the other puzzle enthusiasts they interviewed. The film also had a very clever sense of humor and some visual-styling touches to reference a boxy crossword grid motif wherever possible, framing people against windows, etc.

They showed a news clip of how on the eve of the 1996 presidential elections, the New York Times had created a puzzle with the center clues working out to allow two possible answers: “CLINTON ELECTED” or “BOBDOLE ELECTED.” The fact that they made all the adjoining words work for both sets of letters, which they showed, was impressive, and you had to admire their cleverness. They interviewed both Clinton and Dole about it, which was also fun.

John Stuart was another celebrity interviewed for his devotion and abilities at solving the puzzles, and as would be expected, he injected a lot of humor into the film. The Indigo Girls were also featured as puzzle heads, which was cool, but they weren’t as entertaining off stage.

The film introduced several of the contestants to the most-recent puzzle tournament, and then spent the last act following the action of the games. It used the same formula as for a sports documentary, following the progress of each contestant along the way. They included graphics of showing the clues and answers as the puzzles were filled in, to get you into the game, and that worked to draw you in.

It was also fun to see the convention atmosphere of the hotel where the tournament is held each year. There were the friends who only saw each other at the tournament, and touching stories about people from past years. I was again reminded that no matter the fandom or interest, fans are pretty similar, from the deliberately-tacky crossword-patterned pantsuit one woman was wearing, to the goofy acts for the talent show.

One guy was doing a themed filk song which I chuckled at. “Our love is a puzzle, with the clues scattered all around, but if you don’t come across, I’m gonna be down…” Heh. So yeah, it was a delightful and sweet little film and I enjoyed it much more than I’d expected.

Originally Written 06/21/06

I was watching movies with friends tonight. James brought out some of his movies and I finally got to see The Forbidden Zone.

My college friend Matt had told me about Richard Elfman’s cinematic opus, starring his brother Danny and his musical troupe, the Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo. My curiosity was piqued, and James was all to eager to indulge it. Sara, bless her heart sat through it again too. Wow, words can not begin to describe the film. It was fascinating in its badness and utterly inscrutable.

It was a carnival of the damned, but set to music, complete with whiny transvestites and dirty clowns running around in their t-shirts and underwear and engaging in assorted frottage. Not to mention Hervi Velichez and his zaftig queen and their daughter the shapely and very topless princess.

I can’t say it was good, but it was a hoot to watch. It was a totally-whacked out musical theater set piece, with some really funky animation. Plus Danny Elfman as Satan, singing “Minnie the Moucher” was priceless. It was interesting seeing elements of future Oingo Boingo videos in there, and as I remarked afterwards, “and who would’ve though they went on to make something good later on.”

Originally Written 12/16/05

I went and saw The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe tonight. It was a brilliantly done movie and it totally met my hopes and expectations.

It was very true to the book. I could see places where they had to take some things out for time. There were also some scenes of new material which were added, but that enhanced the story, while staying true to the spirit of the book. One thing I really liked was how they fleshed out the characters of the children more.

That gave them more depth and you could really understand the motivations for their actions, as well as empathizing with them. The actors were all quite good as well. And finally, for those people who are worried about the religions overtones of the movie, don’t let those concerns keep you away.

Like in the book, the Christian subtex is very nuanced and deftly handled, and the story can be taken in both secular or pagan and religious manners. I’ve always loved how C. S. Lewis handled the religious allegories in the Narnia books. Aslan is an obvious Christ figure, but that’s never heavy handed and I liked how warm and caring the character is, even on the occasion when he’s acting as a moral shepherd.

The visuals were amazing. First all the location shots in New Zealand were impressive. There were several breathtaking scenes, and I was reminded of The Lord of the Rings movies in a couple of shots. And of course the creature effects were outstanding. The whole film celebrated Lewis’ love of myths and fantasy and it really brought the world of Narnia and its inhabitants to life. The diversity in characters and creatures was really impressive and the immersive visual fantasy was a lot of fun.

I was a little saddened by the stereotyping of the wolves, as I was when I read the book, but they were still neat to see. Even though the minotaurs were the bad guys, they were also great to look at. The griffins were so cute too, but Mr. and Mrs. Beaver were my favorites. They had good voice actors for them too. And of course Aslan was wonderful too, they got his characterization spot on and Liam Neeson gave his voice a wonderful mix of power and compassion.

One thing that surprised me in the film was the battle scenes. The film opened up with London under attack by a Nazi air raid. I wasn’t expecting that, but it really set the tone for the opening of the film. Then, in the battle between Aslan’s and the White Witch’s armies, I was again surprised by how brutal it was. It wasn’t gorey, there was no blood shown, but it was quite intense. I think it works for a family film, and was definitely not gratuitous. It shows what was at stake and didn’t glorify violence, but at the same time it might be better for older kids.

And the scene with Aslan sacrificing himself to be killed on the stone table was another impressive scene. The stroke of the blade cutting him was never even shown, instead the camera focused on his eyes as the Witch brought down the blow. I felt that to be even more effective. It was very powerful and natural, and not manipulative. There were a couple of scenes in the movies where I felt my eyes watering up, and that was one of them.