The Invisible and The Sugarland Express

Anyone who's read my previous reviews, knows that I can't just talk about a movie as a movie, there's always something else going on in my mind as I write about my most recent viewing. Because I'm writing about two movies, seen by me on two different days, this could get a little complicated, so try to keep up...

My friend Rob and I talked about "The Invisible" the day before I went to see it. We both had similar impressions from watching the trailer, but where it intrigued me, it didn't do anything for Rob. I admitted that there was kind of that "The O.C." type look to the characters, the paranormal stuff has so been done before, and it might be kind of cheesy. But the trailer left a couple unanswered questions, and made this statement... Alright, alright, hold everything! I just watched the trailer again, to make sure I would get the quote right, and it turns out I had it all wrong. Maybe it's because I've seen the movie that I now understand the trailer, or maybe I just completely misheard the lines in the trailer, and I was expecting something different. This is all besides the point, if the trailer looked interesting to you, I think that you will find that the movie is even better than you expected. I liked that the relationship between the two main character unfolds the way it does, especially the night club scene, I really liked that part.

Oh yeah, before I go on I'v got to comment on the way I watch moves after being inundated by the media about the murders at Virginia Tech. My biggest concern is about the lives that are affected by this overwhelming act of violence. People are hurting, people are scared and some people are angry. I pray for the families and for the injured students. At the same time I can't escape the political fallout of that event. Of course there is the issue of gun control, but I am most concerned with the move to supress ideas and words. I think that our founding fathers believed that ideas and words are more powerful then guns in protecting freedom.
The reason I mention this in this review, is that "The Invisible" is a film that came from the mind of a "creative writer". The most interesting, and most powerful films come from people who are different, not just vanilla, cookie-cutter, average Americans. Before we start going after kids who scare us just in what the write, let's examine the situation a little deeper and see if there is a more direct solution to our problems.

Jess and I just watched "The Sugarland Express" on DVD. The only reason I bring up this film, is that it was on of Spielberg's first feature-length films. It satrs Goldie Hawn in a movie based on a true story about a couple who abduct a cop in an effort to get back their son. It was interesting to watch because Spielberg's style was so underdevoloped. It was his film right before "Jaws" (which I think was still kind of raw). It is a good example of Spielberg's sense of humor, and the camera angles he uses are fun. He still uses intersting camera angles, but not to this extreme and not as often as here. All in all it was an enjoyable film, and worth seeing, especially if you're a Spielberg fan.

Grindhouse

I should begin by making a drastic distinction between the two films contained within "Grindhouse". First we get Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" followed by Tarantino's "Death Proof". These are two completely different movies, and are only together because of the friendship between Rodriguez and Tarantino. I think this concept was a cool idea, and the addition of fake trailers by other directors, before and between the two films, shows that the main idea behind this concept was to have fun and to entertain us, the audience. Unfortunately, "Planet Terror" and the fake trailers failed to deliver.

Rodriguez's strength is in action, style and atmosphere. "Desperado", "Sin City" and the first two "Spy Kids" movies are great examples of this. I liked the atmosphere, style and most of the action in "Planet Terror", but the movie went over the line for me. The line I refer to is that of entertainment vs. disturbing. Maybe disturbing is too gentle a term, although it's pretty close. In "Minority Report" there is a scene where Tom Cruise chases his eyeball down a corridor. That was funny. Not all severed body-part interaction is funny, and therefore "Planet Terror" loses my approval.

The fake trailers by Rob Zombie, Eli Roth and Edgar Wright were at best near misses (Zombie) and at worst total failures (Roth). Rodriguez's fake trailer "Machete" did a good job of setting up what we were in for, and I found it to actually be more entertaining than "Planet Terror". Perhaps he should have made "Machete" as his feature length contribution, and left "Terror" as his trailer.

Now for the good stuff... Suprise, suprise, I liked the Tarantino film "Death Proof". Once again he has proven himself as a great director, someone who has depth and range. The film entertains on that basic level, with action and suspense. But it's Tarantino's observant eye and ear for the vernacular that make it special. We enjoy the way people talk and act, and want more. Just relax and enjoy the time that is spent getting to know the character, so much so that when inevitable dialouge occurs, it doesn't feel contrived, rather natural and cool. I really liked that Kurt Russel's character gained my interest and admiration, and also got exactly what I thought he deserved.

I hope that the friendship between Tarantino and Rodriguez continues. Perhaps we will get more anti-Hollywood film collaberations between these guys, but please keep the Tarantino movies coming, I like looking forward to movies.

The Lookout

I went to see "The Lookout" with a friend this past weekend. I wasn't really excited about any movies that were coming out, but I had read a brief blurb about "The Lookout". It was compared to "Memento" and "Reservior Dogs", as being a great freshman filmmaking effort. I should have just stayed home, because that would be a very difficult thing to accomplish, and it's almost better to see a movie, realize how great it was, then find out that it was the director's first movie, then and only then can you reach the conclusion for yourself that it was in the category of "Memento" or "Reservior Dogs". I could talk about the movie specifically, I could compare it to "A Simple Plan" which was a great movie about non-criminals in sleepy towns trying to do criminal stuff. I could compare it to "Memento", in that it was about memory, or the lack thereof. But why compare one movie to better movies, you might as well just watch the good ones. "The Lookout" was well done for what it was, but sometimes that isn't good enough.