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Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Sixty Seconds On Film: March'06

Okay - so whats the deal? Well the plan is to do some pretty succint reviews of the films I see each month in one post, and then start another similar thread at the start of the next month. Films can be both contemporary, recent and old.
Previous Sixty Seconds On Films: Feb and Jan'06

Oldboy. A fast paced violent thriller that bares all the traces of a RPG video game and is heavily indebted for its style to the manga orginal that spawned it. Alongside The Ring, Oldboy has a lot to be thanked for in popularising the Asia Extreme cinema releases on this side of the globe. Oldboy is ideal for the twist fethists, with them coming at the pace of trains and as sick as a dog after having its biscuits soaked in whiskey.

Munich. Something of a thriller masquerading as a docu-drama from the Speilberg stable over. Using an exploration of the Mossad agents used by the Israeli state to wipe out members of the Black September organisation as a means of exploring both the human psyschology at work amidst the terrrorists and their mirror image in the secret state. There's an unfortunate trend with critics whereby they fall all over themselves, salviating at the mouth using terms like "brave" whenever a mainstream director touches on historical material. Munich is a case in point. Cue tonnes of slow mo flashbacks, close ups of Baners eyes as he struggles with his demons and the suggestions of haunted nights. A classic scene involves Baner trying to shag his wife but his mind remains ravaged with thoughts of the Munich massacre and leads to an inabilty to come. If this is what passes for sensitive treatments then I must be a barbarian. Tawdry stuff indeed.

The Sixth Sense. I'll kill the bastard that told me the ending...

Office Space. Brilliant off beat comedy from Mike Judge, that evocatively brings to life the office culture of the Dilbert cubicle universe and sets its inhabitants off like clock work dolls to entertain you with their wacky ways. Wacky? Now there's a word if spotted in a review should turn you off it straight away, in this case Office Case deserves it. Not just nice, but fucking savage lad.

Crash. Preachy but sharp LA based drama focussing on racial tensions that spiral out of control amongst a screenwriters shipload of archetypes. A movie that dramatically frays at the end with all the put upon outrage of a CSPE class, and something of a resemblence to the fairy tale panoraa of a city's life in Steve Martin's La Story.

Labels: Film

# posted by antrophe @ 1:05 AM

Comments:

Cracking film. As a story it may be convoluted, but the style and acting is riveting. My favorite scene has to be the endless scrap in the corridor, an amazing piece of cinematography.

Have seen a few Asia Extreme flims recently and to be honest they've been disappointing. Finding the good ones is pretty difficult, probably like diving into American cinema and no doubt stumbling on some rubbish like King Kong.

You almost can't go wrong with anime etc though.

# posted by

dav : 11:26 PM

# posted by

dav : 11:27 PM

Thanks for the comment. Yeah - this is a great movie. You are dead right about the Asian Extreme stuff, I tried to find a list of the most popular home grown movies within Asian over the past half decade to see if the impressions we get of Asian cinema are actually popular representations of what audiences there are into. Unfortunately it was to no avail! My own favourite Asia Extreme movie would have to be A Tale Of Two Sisters. I've got Dark Water stored up in the gaff for a hungover Sunday as well.

# posted by

antrophe : 11:55 PM


Wednesday, March 08, 2006 Sixty Seconds On Film: March'06 Okay - so whats the deal? Well the plan is to do some pretty succint reviews of the films I see each month in one post, and then start another similar thread at the start of the next month. Films can be both contemporary, recent and old. Previous Sixty Seconds On Films: Feb and Jan'06 Oldboy. A fast paced violent thriller that bares all the traces of a RPG video game and is heavily indebted for its style to the manga orginal that spawned it. Alongside The Ring, Oldboy has a lot to be thanked for in popularising the Asia Extreme cinema releases on this side of the globe. Oldboy is ideal for the twist fethists, with them coming at the pace of trains and as sick as a dog after having its biscuits soaked in whiskey. Munich. Something of a thriller masquerading as a docu-drama from the Speilberg stable over. Using an exploration of the Mossad agents used by the Israeli state to wipe out members of the Black September organisation as a means of exploring both the human psyschology at work amidst the terrrorists and their mirror image in the secret state. There's an unfortunate trend with critics whereby they fall all over themselves, salviating at the mouth using terms like "brave" whenever a mainstream director touches on historical material. Munich is a case in point. Cue tonnes of slow mo flashbacks, close ups of Baners eyes as he struggles with his demons and the suggestions of haunted nights. A classic scene involves Baner trying to shag his wife but his mind remains ravaged with thoughts of the Munich massacre and leads to an inabilty to come. If this is what passes for sensitive treatments then I must be a barbarian. Tawdry stuff indeed. The Sixth Sense. I'll kill the bastard that told me the ending... Office Space. Brilliant off beat comedy from Mike Judge, that evocatively brings to life the office culture of the Dilbert cubicle universe and sets its inhabitants off like clock work dolls to entertain you with their wacky ways. Wacky? Now there's a word if spotted in a review should turn you off it straight away, in this case Office Case deserves it. Not just nice, but fucking savage lad. Crash. Preachy but sharp LA based drama focussing on racial tensions that spiral out of control amongst a screenwriters shipload of archetypes. A movie that dramatically frays at the end with all the put upon outrage of a CSPE class, and something of a resemblence to the fairy tale panoraa of a city's life in Steve Martin's La Story. Labels: Film # posted by antrophe @ 1:05 AM Comments: Cracking film. As a story it may be convoluted, but the style and acting is riveting. My favorite scene has to be the endless scrap in the corridor, an amazing piece of cinematography. Have seen a few Asia Extreme flims recently and to be honest they've been disappointing. Finding the good ones is pretty difficult, probably like diving into American cinema and no doubt stumbling on some rubbish like King Kong. You almost can't go wrong with anime etc though. # posted by dav : 11:26 PM Cracking film. As a story it may be convoluted, but the style and acting is riveting. My favorite scene has to be the endless scrap in the corridor, an amazing piece of cinematography. Have seen a few Asia Extreme flims recently and to be honest they've been disappointing. Finding the good ones is pretty difficult, probably like diving into American cinema and no doubt stumbling on some rubbish like King Kong. You almost can't go wrong with anime etc though. # posted by dav : 11:27 PM Thanks for the comment. Yeah - this is a great movie. You are dead right about the Asian Extreme stuff, I tried to find a list of the most popular home grown movies within Asian over the past half decade to see if the impressions we get of Asian cinema are actually popular representations of what audiences there are into. Unfortunately it was to no avail! My own favourite Asia Extreme movie would have to be A Tale Of Two Sisters. I've got Dark Water stored up in the gaff for a hungover Sunday as well. # posted by antrophe : 11:55 PM Post a Comment	About Soundtracksforthem specialises in iconoclastic takes on culture, politics, and more shite from the underbelly of your keyboard. A still-born group blog with a recent surge of different contributers but mainly maintained by James R. Big up all the contributers and posse regardless of churn out rate: Kyle Browne, Reeuq, Cogsy, Chief, X-ie phader/Krossie, Howard Devoto, Dara, Ronan and Mark Furlong. Send your wishes and aspirations to antropheatgmail.com Label Cluster In no certain order... 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