Friday, June 28, 2013

"The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (2003)

This movie was kind of fun, especially as an English literature person.  Easy enough to follow if you've not read anything, but all the more fun the more of the different characters/books you've read.  I'd read Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde and Tom Sawyer, and I'd seen movies done up with Captain Ahab (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) and Dorian Gray.  The others, while not read or seen, were easy enough to peg--the African adventurer (Allan Quatermain), an invisible man (Rodney Skinner), and a vampire (Mina Harker).  I imagine the feminist critiques should have fun with the Harker character.  Movie, action movie, was a lot of fun to watch.  And great music, especially--as always--the end credits.  (Music by Trevor Jones.)  Apparently the movie was based off a graphic novel.  Good music, not necessarily anything new, but I like it nonetheless.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

"Batman & Robin" (1997)

I couldn't remember if this was a movie I'd seen before, and after it arrived I realized I had--probably when it first came out.  I watched a number of the Batman movies during that strip of time.  This is much closer in style to the Batman TV series I grew up with--overdone/melodramatic props and actions--which I didn't mind as a kid.  Made it "safe"--as in not real.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

"The Three Musketeers" (2011)

Not having read the book, but have having watched the 1993 adaptation, it was interesting noting the similarities and differences between adaptations and deducing the touchstone story elements from the book.  This adaptation seemed to be quite liberal in extending current day action devices under the umbrella of DaVinci inventions.  This made the film seem more like the 17th century musketeers meet James Bond.  This includes a Milady DeWinter who is very much not your just-a-wall-flower, pretty to look at character.  Gutsy action packed woman--who still manages very attractive clothing.  And the costumes/outfits of the 3 musketeers and D'artagnan are very nice looking, too.  If you're looking for period authenticity, this film isn't likely it; but, for a fictitious story excursion, it does the trick nicely.

Logan Lerman ("Percy Jackson" from Percy Jackson, this was his very next film after Lightning Thief) was a surprise to me.  So was finding Orlando Bloom in the end credits ("Duke of Buckingham").  I'm not in the habit of looking at the cast list, or even featured actors/actressess, ahead of time.  But, maybe I should just look down the list of Orlando Bloom films since I seem to be on a roll of watching them (3 Orlando Bloom films three nights in a row; that's unplanned).

The 1993 version had sections of story needed the first time through the film, but deemed slower parts that I often fast-forwarded through on later viewings; but, it also seemed a much wittier adaptation.  I still recall a number of it's lines fondly.  ("The cardinal recommends [champaign?] ..." "Porthos, we're in the middle of chase." "You're right. Something red.")  This adaptation had less wit, but moved the action along quite a bit.  Not likely any fast-forwarding here on a rewatch.  Then again, without the wit, there's less of an enticement to watch a 2nd time, at least not right away.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003)

I still find my most enjoyed movies to be ones with few words after the first watching.  Too much I'm still savoring to spoil by analysis.  I will say this, I still thoroughly enjoy the character of Legolas.

And I need to stop staying up past 2 a.m. so many nights in a row.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003)

I enjoyed this.  Escaping into another world is fun to do for awhile.  And seeing Orlando Bloom just reminds me that I would love an excursive tale into the world of Legolas.  Anyways ...

The end credit music is especially a dream.  I love that music--soundtracks that actually include the film score's music, and end credit music is often especially rich.  Sigh, ah, if my creative writing fingers would spin a tale of words as rich as it is in my mind and such that others would enjoy it, too.  Too low in the ranks to be honed as a practice, I'm afraid, but I don't give up toying with the idea from time to time.  This movie's tale had all that is promised to a story of this genre, yet spun in a way to keep you watching and interested.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012)

Mmmm.  Happy.

And of course, the noble moments had to include a French horn sound.  :)  I was glad to see they include at least one song from within the world of the story--the dwarfs singing around Bilbo's fireplace--since Tolkien included so much song inside the books himself.  And it was well-chosen--men's voices, heartbeat tones to the melody, undercurrent providing current for the emotion the jolly brashness tried to cover.

And the throwing the dishes scene held a strong link to one of my own creative writing creation's traits.  :)

Well-done.  The whole thing.

I like.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

"The Sea Hawk" (1940)

An Errol Flynn movie again with music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.  Grand, rich, exciting music.  Interesting music spots:  The music leading up to the jungle ambush didn't use foreboding music.  It was almost light-hearted.  Maybe because the audience already knew the ambush was coming.  I liked that better because it helped to dispel the tension some.  I don't care for high-tension necessarily.  So, this gave me a chance to keep just enjoying it.  The end sword-fight was an interesting whirlwind of music choices--liked that, too.  Black & white movie.  The end-speech was the only direct indicator of its 1940s historical release (noble-ness inspiring, going to war and all that).

Thursday, June 13, 2013

"Things to Come" (1936)

Boy!  A person could really have a hey-day practicing different literary/film criticisms with this movie--feminist, Marxist, colonist, ecology, modern/postmodern, technology, political/power, cinema/media, even a smidge of education.  You name it, and I'm sure there will be at least a little piece in there that would give you something to chew on.  MacDonald said that this was a movie whose music (Arthur Bliss) has been short shrifted.  If it has been short shrifted, then I agree with MacDonald that this music needs some attention.  The montages feel like concerts with pictures at times, but hello, it was 1935.  MacDonald says that some of the music was composed (and recorded?) before the filming was shot, and is a "milestone" picture when it comes to sound synchronization.  The opening piece is especially interested to hear and watch the juxtaposition of the march-like war music with the sounds of Christmas.  I've not read the H.G. Wells story this is based on, so I don't know how much of the ideas are Wells's and how much is additions to the movie adaptations; but, it is fascinating to see this 1935 view of the next world war.  Semi-SPOILER ALERT:  The war lasts from 1940 - 1970.  The end of the movie is set in 2036.  Also, one place that fascinated/amused me is early on a portion of the people are infected with "wandering sickness".  Sure looked to me like zombies. Maybe before the concept idea of "zombies" came around?  They treated the "problem" about the same:  "shoot 'em!"  Either way, the people infected with wandering sickness walked around half out of it with there arms sticking out in front of them.  I have been trying to figure out some of the accents that some of the characters use.  Some German?  More British?  Doesn't seem American to me, unless it's German-American--which WWII kind of squelched.  Not sure what the accent is because there wasn't a lot of it that was strong.  The more prevalent accent was more subtle.  The only annoying thing about this movie was the sound at the end seemed like it was missing the final I chord.  Maybe that was something missing from the film when they went to restore it?  At any way, I keep trying to hear/get that last I chord sound there in place in my head.  Note some of the 2036 architecture and technology.  Not far off, even if the names were quite different from what we now call them.  Okay, maybe the 2036 costumes could be chuckled at.  That I admit.  Unless, of course, you compare them to early/original Star Trek.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

"42nd Street" (1933)

I recognize one of the actors (Dick Powell as "Billy Lawler") which possibly means I've seen it before.  If so, it's been long enough ago that I didn't remember much else from the show.  And it would've been far enough back that it was before I started this film watching quest.  MacDonald says this is the show that started the backstage story of a stage performance show storyline--and I've already seen a number of those.  If I have seen it before, it was still nice to see it again.  And "42nd Street" (the song) is still as infectious as ever.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

"Citizen Kane" (1941)

 A lot of history behind this film.  Maybe there is something behind studying the production and distribution of films.  MacDonald says this was the first film to use music as sound bridges in the transitions.  While music was used to transition, there were also places where the sound was abrubt.   Death comes, then instead of a smooth bridge, there's an abrupt sound cut to bouncy jaunty music; or the parrot screech.  Definitely  themes of death throughout the movie.  There's also some other sound themes that it would be nice to look closer at:  stomped on lines (though, not likely to find anything surprising), placed sounds of rain, use of laughter, use of reverb, point of audition--especially in relation to the opera premiere--or maybe it was deliberately out of balance (acc. more over-powering than the melody that couldn't keep on top of the power balance), and sudden crashes in sound (also not likely to have any surprising correlations/commentary here).  There were sounds that, at least today, are not surprising any more--the noisy discordant music accompanying the montage of "you're going to keep singing opera" or the impassioned strings at the end.  And sounds done "different"--the heavy breathing during the suicide attempt and hearing the breaking in of the door from the inside from Mrs. Kane's point of view--although, she likely wasn't hearing anything, even though we were hearing things from her point of view.  [Okay, I took notes this time.  Can you tell?]  It's a shame I haven't had a chance to read the article of use of silences before watching this; the slander scene (between the two politicians and the former and future wives).  Then there's the play of reality--both the mirrors of mirrors of mirrors with Kane; and the scream in the background when Mrs. Kane "should" have screamed and didn't after being slapped.  Other than the mirrors, there were some visual things that I noticed, too.  There's the foreground/background and size of figures/people in relation to other people. There's the camera angles between the drunken Jedediah and Kane show-down (the first one--where Jed asks to get sent to Chicago).  The ending image of Susie's first opera also struck me as being very similar to some of the shots from the original King Kong; the story parallels are incredibly close, too.  I read in MacDonald the analogy of the sound as a jig saw puzzle like the story was.  What about the analogy of Kane as an opera singer.  Susie makes the remark that the "whole audience doesn't want you" and that fits a description of Kane, too.  So, is he an inept "opera singer"?  trying to sing a melody that's too high for him [MacDonald of Susie], trying to make it in something that's out of his league--like the opera (the Olympics of voice) is for Susie?  He doesn't come across as being out of his league except for the accusations Susie makes of his lack of ability to love.  Then there's the whole aspect of the audience finding out and knowing who/what Rosebud was and the world of the film never finding out.  What does that say about reality and what is representative and telling or not, or who has power?  I'm not sure I agree with the distorted "Dies Irae" theme [Hermann calls it a "variation" which is probably more accurate than a distortion] as being about "futility"--but it's kind of dangerous ground to disagree with a quote from the composer himself.    I think it's more about death than futility; although, in the case of this movie, I don't think they're divorced from each other.  Then there's the title:  Citizen Kane.  Is it saying that being a citizen is "futile"?  And there's the analysis in connecting the film to Coleridge's poem--though I'm assuming that's been "done".  There's the deliberate voiceover in the newsreel bringing in Noah, but unless there is further commentary on being a citizen by that reference, I can't see it saying anything between Kane and Noah--and I don't think it's just about there being a lot of animals; although, that might have been the original intention.

Hmm, wonder if I'd generate this many thoughts all the time if I took notes on a film?