Au Hasard Balthazar

Posted on March 1, 2011 by jaycluitt

Au Hasard Balthazar is the kind of film that just couldn’t be made today, at least not with the same result. Today, it would most likely be made by Dreamworks, telling the tale of a morose animated donkey, voiced by Christopher Plummer, as he sets out an epic journey to be reunited with the family he’s worked for his entire life. Along the way, he learns lessons about friendship not judging by appearances, with the help of a lazy squirrel (Kathy Bates) a know-it-all platypus (Jemaine Clement) and a wise-cracking raccoon (Cuba Gooding Jr.).

As it is, Balthazar is a tale of the life of a donkey, from children’s plaything, through toiling away for various family’s, finding fame in a circus and finally, tragically, used for drug trafficking. It took me two attempts to watch this film, as after the first viewing I did not fully comprehend the cause of the mass adulation poured upon the picture, although I was quite tired and may have drifted off a couple of times, as it’s not necessarily the most captivating of films. That said, on the second viewing I more greatly understood the reasons for the various plot jumps, as for the most part the film is shot from the viewpoint, and therefore the understanding, of Balthazar himself, thereby it would not always be clear as to why some characters behave the way they do.Choose life 4/10

L’Avventura

Posted on March 1, 2011 by jaycluitt

L’Avventura reminded me a lot of Hitchcock’s Psycho, released the same year, in that the first segment set’s the plot up to follow the female lead, only to have her disappear from the screen, never to be seen again before the halfway mark. In this instance, the plot concerns a young woman who, whilst holidaying on an island with her friends, goes missing, causing her best friend and her lover to search for her. When compared to more modern day missing-person films, such as Ben Affleck’s excellent Gone Baby Gone, the plot tends to meander a bit, with the supporting characters not seeming to care about the fate of the missing girl.

I was also reminded slightly of Polanski’s the Tenant, in which a man moves into a new apartment, only to slowly turn into the apartment’s previous occupant, as the missing girl’s best friend seems to inhabit the life of her missing mate, becoming closer with her former lover during the search. It almost seems like this was the plan of the missing girl, setting up the transformation by giving the friend some of her clothes before she goes missing. This all seems an improvement for the friend, and indeed for the life she inhabits, as she seems much happier within it than her predecessor. This is most clearly seen by comparing the almost identical shots of the original girl kissing her lover, and how little emotion she shows during this, contrasting with her friend kissing him much more passionately later in the film. There are other parallels between the two ends of the film, such as the friend being initially concerned at the girl’s disappearance, only to end up more concerned that she has returned to claim her life back.Choose film 7/10

Toy Story Trilogy

Posted on February 27, 2011 by jaycluitt

Today’s volatile weather conditions allowed for a productive afternoon film-wise, as a planned bike ride along the beaches of Bournemouth was cut short by sporadic torrential downpours, meaning I crossed a trilogy off the list; Toy Story 1-3.

Watching the original Toy Story, the first feature-length motion picture created entirely using computer animation, always send me back to my childhood, aged 8 years old, sat in the cinema watching in wide-eyed wonder as the pixels were brought to life before me, with my Dad sound asleep in the next seat. It’s one of my earliest film-related memories (my earliest cinema experience that I know of was the Lion King, but that’s another post).
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Giant

Posted on February 25, 2011 by jaycluitt

Before watching it, I only knew of Giant as being the last James Dean film. I’d seen Rebel Without a Cause recently, and been thoroughly underwhelmed, so had high hopes for Giant, as surely this, or perhaps East of Eden, were the reason that Dean is now such a cult icon, a supposedly defining character for a generation. Also, by looking at the cover for this film, I expected Dean to be the star of the film, his image appearing no less than five times on the cover, with Elizabeth Taylor appearing just once, and Rock Hudson not at all. It was with some surprise then that I found the stars to be Hudson and Taylor, with Dean a supporting character (granted, the most important supporting character, but supporting no less).

Having now watched the film, it shall be filed alongside the previously reviewed the Jazz Singer as an important film, just not a great one, though this time for being the last film of James Dean, rather than the first feature length to include audible dialogue. Giant documents the life of a young couple, Hudson and Taylor, from the day they meet and through the next 25 years of their lives. Even with an epic run time of almost three and a half hours, the plotting is generally fast, with major events such as their marriage and the birth of their children skipped over, pausing to show the more landmark occasions, for example the dismay of Hudson’s Jordan Benedict as Jordy, his son, cries when set upon his first horse. Along the way, Jordan’s life is besieged at every turn by Dean’s Jett Rink, a ranchhand who, upon inheriting a small patch of land, becomes a billionaire when he strikes oil. Dean overacts to his heart’s content, failing to draw any compassion within his rags-to-riches arc.

There are two main points that I took from the tale. Firstly, that some things never change, and some things do. This seems a fairly pointless ethos, but shown in the films context takes some form, as the menfolk gather to discuss business as the times change around them, but Benedict’s initial negative feelings towards his Mexican ranchhands are subdued when his son, an excellent young Dennis Hopper, marries and produces a son, both Mexican and Benedict. Secondly, the film shows the dramatic effect a small act, in this case purchasing a horse, can have on the rest of your life. So, essentially, Giant is the Butterfly Effect without the nosebleeds.

Choose film 6/10

The Jazz Singer

Posted on February 22, 2011 by jaycluitt

Today I watched the Jazz Singer, infamous for being the first film to use dialogue, or more accurately, singing, as this is a semi-musical, presumably to showcase the new sound technology of 1927, as I felt that the inclusion of full-length song performances detracted from the plot, of a young Jewish boy who runs away from home to become a jazz singer. I feel that this film was included in the 1001 Films to Watch Before You Die purely due to its significance in cinema history, of being the first ‘Talkie’, not because it is one of the ‘great’ films.

Choose life 4/10

All Quiet on the Western Front

Posted on February 17, 2011 by jaycluitt

Right, it’s done, the list is complete. It can be found on the Challenge page of this truly marvellous blog. The final count stands at 1,327 films, somewhat less than I was anticipating, but still a decent number to watch in 5 years (0.73 a day, stats fans), considering I’ve got to track most of them down, and a large number won’t be watched by my girlfriend (rules: no subtitles, no gore, minimal swearing, no snakes), severely limiting the days I’ll be able to watch them.

And so, the journey continues, with my watching tonight of the original 1930 version of All Quiet on the Western Front. I recently watched the 1979 TV movie version, and found it entertaining, especially Ian Holm’s moustache, but feel that the original is far superior, not least because all the actors in the remake seem to bring nothing to their roles, copying their predecessors exactly, especially Donald Pleasance as the teacher who inspires his students to enlist. The film is notable for being an American-made film depicting the Germans during World War I, and depicting them sympathetically, as real people with feelings and fears, not just faceless stormtroopers who must be defeated.

Choose film 7/10

True Grit (2010)

Posted on February 15, 2011 by jaycluitt

I’m a massive Coen brothers fan. I’ve got all their films, a couple of posters, and eagerly await any and all of their new releases, as in a perfect world all films would be directed by the Coens. After the release of Burn After Reading on DVD I even completed a 23 hour marathon of all their films in a single day, and man that was a good day.
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Sideways/Les Vacances de M. Hulot

Posted on February 15, 2011 by jaycluitt

Cross off two more! I watched Sideways on Sunday, still loved it, but then I’ll watch anything with Paul Giamatti in, even Shoot ’em Up, and I’m looking forward to watching Cold Souls at some point in the future too, as well as Barney’s Version. Choose Film 7/10

Rented les Vacances de M. Hulot too. Wasn’t overly impressed if I’m honest, I found the lack of a driven narrative to be annoying, and that most of the occurrences were contrived merely to allow a few slightly humorous pratfalls. Plus, the character of Monsieur Hulot is a clear inspiration for Mr. Bean, the character that lessened Rowan Atkinson as a comedy genius in the public mindset, for which there is no possible forgiveness. Choose Life 4/10

Black Narcissus/An Education

Posted on February 13, 2011 by jaycluitt

Nearly finished the list! Just editing out the duplications. Fortunately, I seem to own a good couple of hundred of the required films, but I feel I may be re-joining LoveFilm pretty soon, and learning how to set my VCR (yes, VCR, what’s the weather like in the present?) for the random daytime gold that is Film4. I’ve also discovered the library of DVDs at the university my girlfriend attends, offering up to 3 rentals at a time, for free! Alas, she is only there for a few more months, so I’m going to be renting as many as I can whilst she’s there.

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The King’s Speech/12 Angry Men

Posted on February 4, 2011 by jaycluitt

I’m still working on the full list, its quite long so may take a while to sort through any duplications, but suffice to say I’m thinking I’ve bitten off slightly more than I can chew, as I haven’t heard of many of the 1001 Films to See Before You Die, let alone seen.

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