Summer Movies and Foreign Films

So summer’s been underway and I’ve had a chance to catch up on a lot of movies, and have spent some time at the theater and all that good stuff.I also realized I never wrote a review for Watchmen which I saw long ago. I also managed to watch 3 of the films nominated for Best Foreign Film Oscars, so those are reviewed here also. Yeah.

- THE CLASS – (2008 – French)

Dir: Laurent Cantent  Star: Francois Begaudeau
Real life teacher Begaudeau plays a French teacher in Paris as he goes through a typical year at a rough and diverse middle school. Once there he must compete with his students for his own dignity and to succeed in educating the hard lot. A little film that’s made utterly compelling by its fiery, amateur teenage cast and the real life experience of the lead. Cantent’s approach feels like documentary, and the reality sears with truth. An enlightening glimpse into the teacher’s side of the classroom that shows that they surely don’t have it easy.  A one of a kind film about an often filmed subject.

- DEPARTURES – (2009 – Japanese)

Dir: Yojiro Takita  Star: Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue
In Departures, the 2008 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film, an unemployed cellist moves to the countryside with his wife where he is mislead into becoming an encoffiner, placed with the responsibility of putting dead people into coffins as per Japanese tradition. The job is scorned by the townspeople, and he leaves his wife in the dark as to his profession. Over time we begin to realize the beauty and necessity of such tradition as a bridge to further things. Motoki is emphatic in the lead, and Hirosue is delightfully ebullient as his ignorant but loving wife. The film is serious yet humanly warm thanks to the direction and cast, with an undeniable sense of humor and a beautifully memorable musical score by Joe Hisaishi. The only flaw is that its emotional climax seems to peak too early, leaving the ending predictable and less effective. Still, Departures feels like a film to cherish despite its serious nature, putting life into perspective while not diminishing the significance of death.

- WALTZ WITH BASHIR – (2008 – Israeli)

Dir: Ari Folman  Star: Ron Ben-Yishai
An Israeli film director tries to reconstruct his memories of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, slowly revealing the horrors of that conflict and the civilian massacres that resulted. This staunchly anti-war animated film isn’t expressionistic enough to justify the use of animation. It’s essentially constructed like a live action film but with the extra animated layer that removes it from reality rather than augmenting it through artistic license. The only really inspired moment is repeated over and over and worn thin by the end (It’s also used on the poster above!). Had it been filmed in live action, it probably would have been much more effective in dealing with the intimate, personal nature of the story as it was affected by the brutality of warfare, rather than being hidden behind an underused mask of drawings.

- SIN NOMBRE – (2009 – Mexican)

Dir: Cary Fukunaga Star: Paulina Gaitan, Edgar Flores
A quiet Honduran girl tries to make the rigorous journey by train (…sitting on top of, that is) through Mexico to the United States with her father, but troubles arise when local gang strife interferes. A vibrant glimpse at an underappreciated journey made by thousands that is far more difficult than one would initially expect, as well as an organized streetlife that’s hard to ignore. A harrowing story of survival aided by brisk camerawork and field research by the director. A rivetting film.

Tom Hanks is just doing his job

- ANGELS AND DEMONS – (2009)

Dir: Ron Howard Star: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor
Dan Brown’s best selling novel and prequel (although the film treats it as a sequel) to The Da Vinci Code is a strictly standard treatment following Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon as he races to solve a plot to destroy Rome and kill Catholic Cardinals. It boils down to a long series of, “hey what’s this symbol? Oh it’s that, it points here, lets go there, hey what’s this symbol?” etc, with run of the mill production all around. It never ends, and it never really creates a true sense of intrigue. They don’t really do much with the shaky source material; the adaptation seems to make all the wrong decisions. Maybe if Ron Howard tried directing a little more outside of his narrow comfort zone…

- UP – (2009)

Dir: Pete Docter,  Bob Peterson Star: Ed Asner
Disney/Pixar’s 2009 entry is its most sentimental yet; an old man is off to South America on an adventure he had been planning with his late wife. The mode of transportation? His house lifted afloat by thousands of helium balloons! With the company of a boy scout he pursues his life goal in memory of his wife. This one reaches previously unknown depths of emotion for an animated feature, probing new aspects of life only apparent through those old enough to really reflect on it. On top of this is the usual great animation, sense of humor, and jubilantly entertaining adventure that one comes to expect with the Pixar studio. Everything you could want in an animated movie, and the third Pixar film I cried in (with Finding Nemo and Ratatouille).  And that’s saying something.

- TERMINATOR SALVATION – (2009)

Dir: McG; Star:Christian Bale, Sam Worthington
Latest entry in long running series on post apocalyptic earth where machines have taken over the world and humans hide in refuge to prevent their extermination. There are two main story lines here, following John Connor (Bale) and his attempt to destroy Skynet operations in California, and the other following Marcus Wright’s journey to discover his true nature. The story is far more meaningful with some prior Terminator lore knowledge, which fits well with the almost non-stop sci-fi action rendered with impressive CGI effects and wrenching sound editting. The main flaws are the seemingly weak climax (which actually improves before it’s over) and the unnecessarily mushy heart metaphors. Some people will knock this movie because it lacks “humanity,” but I didn’t think that was a severe problem; it’s the era of machines and there isn’t much humanity anyway, and the taut excitement more than makes up for it.

- WATCHMEN – (2009)

Dir: Zack Snyder; Star:Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley
Big, loud, ominously dark superhero movie about a group of “watch-men” investigating a murder and themselves, or something. All of this is set in an amusing alternate reality that is a mix of history and imagination. The universal philosophy at the end was just annoying. An overlong, scattered mess at times that is really best when it’s kicking ass to its great soundtrack, which it does quite a bit.

- RACHEL GETTING MARRIED- (2008)

Dir: Jonathon Demme; Star:Anne Hathaway
Drug addict Hathaway is let out of rehab for the weekend to attend her sister’s wedding, where she must endure the heat of her family member’s dissapointed, watchful gaze. Awkward situations and old conflicts ensue. Hathaway sinks her teeth into this complex character and gives a great performance, expressing her struggling angst and failed interpersonal relationships with ease. It is entirely watcheable, the wedding itself was entertaining a diverse, a good display of family unity that worked well with Hathaway’s troubled character. However, by the  time she goes back to rehab it doesn’t really add up to much other than a portrait of a character and a family in a tight situation.

- W. – (2008)

Dir:Oliver Stone; Star:Josh Brolin, Richard Dreyfuss, James Cromwell
Oliver Stone’s interpretation on the early life and presidency of George W. Bush and his relentless pursuit to please his father, despite all of his personal inadequacies. Stone takes a comedic angle to support his Bush commentary while also displaying the more serious implications of it. Of course, none of this is fair and there’s no way Oliver Stone could know the Bush family’s intimate thoughts and actions, but what’s there is an interesting and often amusing speculation. Filmed with good use of supplemental symbols to aid his message.

Explore posts in the same categories: Reviews

Tags: foreign films

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.