Babel

I must confess that I really enjoy movies with large ensemble casts, multiple storylines, and alternations in time that all tie together in some way. I'm really not kidding. I always have. Even before I had seen any, or before the large number that have been coming out in the past few years, I was attracted to the ideas of little storylines coming together to show connections in people's lives. I remember feeling right at home upon first viewing Magnolia. And then there was Crash, my favorite movie of last year. I heard a lot of the bashing given to Crash and I can agree with a lot of it, but it just boiled down to it being a well made and powerful movie to me. Ah, whatever. This isn't about Crash...

I also happened upon Alejandro González Iñárritu. Well, I wouldn't have been able to tell you that then. Even now I have trouble saying the name. But I came across 21 Grams. I was told I wouldn't like it and it was confusing. I saw it and loved it. And later, in an unrelated and unintentional double feature run on my birthday, I saw Amores Perros. I loved both of the films, although in different ways I guess. I just felt a strong connection with characters and emotions in both films. A disturbing emphasis on uncomfortable subject matter can actually lead to interesting things about characters that just aren't gained in most films. It really stuck with me.

Now here is Babel, the third film of the director, with the same focus on an ensemble cast with different stories, each in their own time, all connected in some unknown way that is slowly revealed. One difference is the lack of choppy flashbacks that were frequent in 21 Grams (and may have cause some people to get that "confusing" description I was given). The story sticks to a strict pattern in its 4 alternating stories so you always know what's going on and when in the story that is on. It's a much more open movie for many to follow. But, it's not necessarily meant for a different audience than the other films. There is still some disturbing and strongly emotional stuff in there. Characters are brought down to low levels that some people might not want to deal with. I got similar feelings in Babel as I did in Little Children, which was an uncomfortable fascination.

As far as the movie goes, it was made with an intensely strong level of direction. As I mentioned before, it is very easy to follow, while at the same time the audience isn't exactly sure when or where things are. The shots in the film focus on the physical depth of the character where you can see traces of the deepness of the characters without getting too deep into them. There is a lot of sharing with the actors, so no one is focused on too much. With this, some characters appear to have a little bit less time devoted to them and maybe don't get the treatment they deserve. Some stories just don't feel like they get where they need to go. And at times, some things just feel empty. It's a mixed bag. A lot of the movie works, but the two hour and forty minute length begins bearing down after a while, and the film doesn't flow smoothly enough for audience members to not become restless. Of this trilogy that Iñárritu has created, this is the weakest film. But there is so much good in here for it to hardly be considered a bad film. It's still pretty good. It's just been done better before. And that's what is drawn to mind when an overall thought on the film is reached.

B+

IMDB information on BABEL

For Your Consideration...

While walking out of For Your Consideration, my dad said something typical of most Christopher Guest fans' reactions to the film. "It wasn't his best." Okay. I can live with that. But that doesn't say whether we have an enjoyable movie here or not. It could not be his best and be a piece of shit. Or it could not be his best yet still be a worthwhile gem.

My perspective on the matter is that it is a delightful little film. It has enough witty banter and idiosyncratic characters to love. There's a wide variety of characters, yet none of them are too overblown. They're given their space and their time to be funny. If anything, the film gives them too much space and leaves more to be desired. But that's not necessarily true. A movie like this can only be made exactly as it was, and therefore can only be enjoyed to the exact extent that it is. It's not a non-stop laugh-o-coaster. It has a dry, dead air kind of humor. It's no classic, but definitely worth a viewing. Fans of Guest's work will be very much pleased. People who enjoy little jokes about the film industry will be pleased. Many people will find it hard to sit through. I witnessed some walkouts. But all in all, it's one of the more enjoyable films in theaters at the moment and worth your time if you'll give it.

B

IMDB Profile of FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Disappointing Winter Movie Season...

Although I haven't been seeing too many movies lately, I feel that I have a lot of time to catch up because of the lack of movies of interest coming out within the next while. This is a real disappointment since the winter season is usually the time for Oscar bait, and just for the year to catch up with all of the good movies it can fill in before its end. But as I scrolled through the up and coming movies from this point until the end of December, I just found nothing that I was truly excited about. And nothing that looked promising enough to sweep me off my feet. But then again, there's always the fun in the surprise, eh?

I'm just so disappointed. By this time last year I was scrambling to see all of the great movies that I could before they left theaters, and trying even harder to get in the movies I missed throughout the year. But there isn't much scrambling going on right now. I feel that my movie hunting will be done with within the first few weeks of beginning.

Robert Altman dead.

Robert Altman is dead.

When I was insanely infatuated with Paul Thomas Anderson (which wasn't too long ago, mind you), I was forced to find out more about Robert Altman. The names were always connected based on PT Anderson's inspirations coming greatly from Altman. I viewed an Altman double feature of The Long Goodbye and California Split. I thoroughly enjoyed The Long Goodbye, though I must admit that by the time California Split rolled around I was dozing off for most of the film. I loved The Player. And I made an effort to watch A Prairie Home Companion upon its arrival this past summer. Not a very thorough run in with the acclaimed director, but he was always on my list of "who I've got to check out." In fact, I remember missing another double feature that included Nashville, one of his most talked about films and one I've been dying to check out. I was very let down.

In honor of the death of a director I wish I had known more, I'm moving Nashville to the top of my Netflix queue. I'm sure as my knowledge of his filmography increases I'll feel worse and worse as I realize what a loss this was.

Happy Feet

Because of business for the past couple of weeks, I haven't been able to watch too many movies lately. My return to the cinema (for the first time since the opening of Borat) occurred with a viewing of the latest animated penguin musical, Happy Feet. I don't know what I was really expecting with this, but I was a bit let down. It was a fun little romp of a film, but it just lacked something. The dancing wasn't very exciting and the songs were just oddly amusing, if anything. I'll admit that the film won my heart during a few of the fun scenes, but it was just everywhere. I couldn't relax with it. Kids will enjoy it, if they're at the age where anything upbeat and musical will get them jumping up and down and screaming.

When watching the beginning of the film, I was reminded of last year's March of the Penguins. Happy Feet covers a lot of the same ground with the mating patterns and the warming of the eggs and such, with one exception: no deaths. I'm sure viewing the films consequetively would cause a stir about the little emphasis on the harshness of the penguin life. But, then again, it's a kids movie. An animated feature, at that. And to top it all off, it features songs ranging from Prince to 98 Degrees to Steve Miller Band. I'm sure people will be able to let if off a little easy.

Top movie of the box office in its second weekend? I really thought Casino Royale would have had it beat. But then again, I didn't see Casino Royale, and what I do determines everything.

C+

New Spider-Man 3 Trailer. [Edited, the video works again]

'Nuff Said. Seriously.

Movie title fun

I can't be the only person who finds it funny that A Good Year and Harsh Times are coming out at the same time. C'mon.

That reminds me of when Little Man and Little Miss Sunshine were in theaters at the same time. The marquee at the theater I work at could only fit 10 letters, so two different movie choices were "Little Man" and "Little Miss."

The best news I've heard in a while.

Ben Affleck turned down a Daredevil sequel.

You'd think that the horrible Elektra would be enough for them. But a sequel is still being considered. I know it's one of the industry's most overused jokes, but I have to say it: if Ben Affleck turns it down, it has to be pretty bad.

Grindhouse! Rejoice!

Who isn't excited about the Grindhouse double feature that directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are collaborating on? The two directors are mainstream masters of gory bliss, and they're coming together to revive the grindhouse genre that is wittling away in this day and age. The two feel that the genre is what they grew up with and have been inspired by, so they don't want to see it die. I have faith that the two will pull together something very fun. After all, this time they carry with them a mission. Even if that mission is to create the best in campy, gory entertainment, it is a mission nonetheless. It is slated for release on April 7, 2007.

Here's the RottenTomatoes Story.

As for the other projects the directors are supposed to be working on (Rodriguez's Sin City 2 and Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards), it's hard to say what will be going on with those. We'll just have to hold on to what we can get.

Out of Order Out of Order Cinema

My brother was telling me a funny story about something that happened at the movie theater that he works at. A girl, who was newly trained to run projectors, threaded her first movie. That is, she put all of the reels together and prepared it to be played. All seemed to go well for her. Oh yes, and this film that she threaded was The Prestige.

I loved The Prestige. I really liked it a lot walking out of the movie, but the extra layer of the mixture of the storyline made me love it even more later on. After having a long conversation with my brother the day after we had both seen it, I started to appreciate the depth of the movie so much more. And by the time we were done discussing, we were blown away. It is just an amazing piece of work.

But, for those of you who don't know, The Prestige is told out of order. This is one of the things that makes the story so much more complicated (yet more fun). It's a very jumbled film. Time and narrator shifts around based on the progression of the plot. So if the movie happened to, for some reason, be out of order, it would take a long time for the audience to really realize this.

A week and a half, in fact.

Yes, the new girl threaded the movie out of order. An entire reel was placed too early. This basically means about a fourth of the movie was just in the wrong spot completely. And it took a week and a half for this to be realized. People actually walked out of the movie and understood it, even loved it, and it was not in the right order. I'm not sure whether that means people are just stupid or the movie is that brilliant. Perhaps a bit of both.