I saw a lot of movies this weekend that I really liked, but somehow I can’t seem to get any motivation for writing long-form about them. However, the way I see it, I could always link back to this post if I ever get any real reviews out of the way.
Saturday
Which I remembered (sort of) from when I was little, but ended up enjoying a lot from it! Still a good movie to watch, even as an adult, especially if you appreciate set design and art direction.
Micmacs
This came out in the summer and is directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the man who gave us the lovely Amelie. Speaking of, I mostly remember the criticism being disappointment that this wasn’t another Amelie, but I liked it a lot! It was surprisingly funny and engaging and I liked the street family Bazil is adopted into. They’re quirky in a Luna-Lovegood kind of way, which is the kind of quirk I like. It’s a plot-centric revenge movie with a lot of cool imagery and weird scenes.
Sunday
Inception
Oh geez, a midnight showing when I was already tired, of a movie I had already seen that I knew, going into it, would be very, very long. However, I struggled through and somehow dozed off during all of the explosions anyway. I had wanted to write a good piece on Inception over the summer, but couldn’t find anything to say other than “It’s really, really good guys! Really!“ Then there was a brief period where I tried writing about it from a Jungian spin and gave up. Sometime in the future, it will happen.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
While I’ve done a Visual Films post on it and wished it would join the illustrious Criterion Collection–especially since it’s currently out of print–I’ve never done a proper review for The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover. I love it for it’s strangeness and theatricality and sexual deviancy. Helen Mirren and Michael Gambon are spectacular in it and I am envious of some of the costumes, which interacted with the set design. However, on rewatch I started to dread seeing the final act. There’s a lot of gruesomeness and cannibalism, sure, but there’s also a lot of Mirren’s character talking rather than doing much. It’s very engaging the first time around, but I just wanted to get it over with by that point.
Tuesday
While it’s not the weekend anymore, I certainly got a great chance to see The Fountain with a quick question and answer portion afterward with producer Eric Watson. The movie is really beautiful, and spread across its three timelines worked well. The Fountain is able to hit that intersection of science fiction and fantasy and take off running, the genres trailing in its wake. Watson was very cool and had very in-depth answers for questions which illuminated some of the creative roles a producer accomplishes while working on a movie. Also, the enlightenment that Brad Pitt can be kind of a dick with roles.
