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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 330
I'd seen this about 10 years ago, but nonetheless watched it again.
And was impressed. This film is a masterpiece, after which the Mythology of the American West was molded.
In everything - in the soundtrack: the flies, the spinning of a weathervane, the gunfire, the harmonica, the sound of the Steam-Engines and Clocks all driving the movie forward...
This is not even slightly accidental, most, if not the entire, soundtrack and dialogue were added in post production. Watch the lips.
The opening - 3 Outlaws come to murder Charles Bronson aka 'Harmonica' - how long? 5? Maybe even 10, no, 12 minutes the film builds, the camera focusing on the flies on their faces, on the heat of the day, on the long wait for their intended target. Minimum speaking, none at all from the the 3 outlaws, merely waiting, character exposition. Then when Harmonica arrives they apologize, by way of making light, for bringing only 3 horses, one short, to which Bronson laconically replies "You brought 2 too many".
Leone sends up every cliche - the good guy in white, the bad guy in black, the whore with a heart of gold, the grasping and murderous railway tycoon, gunfight at high noon, the train to Yuma, the anticipation waiting for the final blow of the auctioneers gavel, and yet he does it so well that - while the characters aren't in any way real, they're archetypes, conventions, you are nonetheless heavily invested.
In every instance he shows, doesn't tell, spells nothing out for you that you should be able to see for yourself (**Note - audiences were clearly a little more clever then. "Dumbing Us Down" is a very real thing in the media as well as in School).
The cast, in places hundreds, the attention to detail - in the recreation of historical settings, props, historical costumes, etc - the scenes that Use the Monument Valley, the Cave Dwelling of the Ute people, in the execution of every trivial detail he's finishing off a masterpiece, and - well, he, succeeds. An Italian Film Director redefines the "Old West", the history, the mythology, sums it all up in the most epic Western ever made, and the world has by and large believed him.
I found it interesting that - having received similar reviews in France and Germany, the year of its release saw it panned in America, and only the fullness of time has proven his vision.
Anyways, if you've never seen this, you should, and if you have, maybe it's time to watch it again. There's a lot worse on Netflix, lemme tell you...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 453
Friends for dinner (thank god for friends or I'd be mightily lean!!), she's on to a new Netflix series. "Loudermilk".
At first it's "Meh", standard, sitcom "set" in the Pacific North West but filmed in Vancouver, with 90% Canadian Actors.
You can tell. It's "angle" is that of a recovering "Alcoholic" who leads a group at a church, and all the antics that he and his "flock" get up to. It's supposed to be "Funny" and "Charming" and "Occasionally Sad" but what it largely succeeds in is being entirely predictable (and never funny, and when it's sad I can't help but think of Oscar Wilde's quote regarding little Nell:"
"One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing."
It's as if it were written by the most liberal, understanding arm of "MADD", but, given addiction rates there's doubtless an audience. Meh. And I can't help but think that friend is showing me this as my own little 12-Step program.
But at least I'm fed.
***
And "Spaceman", Adam Sandler, again outside his box, and while it's good that he's outside his box you might want to pass on this. "Lonely man in Space with Giant Talking Spider discovering that Everything he was looking for was left behind at home..." sort of bollocks.
***
So, 2 new shows, 2 X Meh.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 444
A British film about a lonely London Screenwriter who goes to visit his childhood home and meets his deceased parents...
And a mysterious stranger.
A curious and contemporary take on the themes of ghosts, loss, loneliness and grief.
Good.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 496
Despite considerably more divisive reviews I preferred this to "Poor Things". Great cinematography, direction, subtly nuance roles, familiar, in the sense that every book or film you've ever read that involves an English public school is invariably fraught with homeo-erotic undertones, and the film pleasingly (and surprisingly) diverges from a very predictable "Class War" into something else entirely.
In any event, it underlines the point that "Universal Acclaim" is often no acclaim at all, it merely means you made something so mediocre that no one was challenged to think. Which is why I skipped "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" and probably should have skipped "Poor Things", but - this, with lower reviews, did not in the least disappoint.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 652
Still unavailable on Pirate Bay, and so I squeezed my wallet and took myself out on a Tuesday night.
This was exactly what I expected. To clarify, I didn't expect much - the high praise and glorious reviews were more a caution than a recommendation, and - upon seeing - I realized I was entirely right.
That said, not the worst film, slightly entertaining, but - while Yorgos Lanthimos is the master of cinematic metaphor, his exposure to Hollywood has substantially dumbed him down, his content now decipherable by the most mediocre film reviewers or enthusiasts. A shame.