Change Your Image
ppetraitis
Reviews
Les triplettes de Belleville (2003)
Makes Disney look amateurish
Quel joy! (I never studied French to my regret--Latin/Spanish here) Not since my first Disney film which I saw as a wee tot with my mother in the old Guild Theatre have I been so mezmerized! In such a copycat world, this is surely a treat for the eyes and the ears. Not only did I enjoy the animation, but I have not stopped humming and prancing about my apartment (thank God I have shades)to the snap-fingered jazzy theme score. Such a delightful feast for the senses. I always wondered what it must have felt like to have seen the first silent movie and be enthralled by the visual feast in front of you. This kind of entertainment is what it's all about--celebrating creativity and life with a true insight and gift of seeing into what is most human and real in all of us, warts included.
Tarnation (2003)
Stop the world, I want to get off!!
Why do I feel as though I've watched a young man masturbate in front of me for two hours while in a conference room filled with clergy or nuns? Andy Warhol free form new wave movies come to mind? Woody Allen on speed? This poor boy should be in individual and group therapy for the rest of his life.
I'm glad he made 'art' out of trailer trash surrounds but I guess I'm not feeling any pathos or empathy--just an urge to turn down the volume and/or walk away. It is the same sensation one gets while watching an accident or encountering a street person who didn't take his meds today--but for the grace of God,etc. Such experiences convince me of a godless universe and at the most a hope that some Buddhists are on the beam. My parents were both substance abusers (cocktail swigglers/50s style)and I left this film feeling my life had been slightly left of the Donna Reed Show. I know now why I fled NYC at the age of 32--too many actor friends and wanna bees who were cycling together in their own imaginary worlds. I remember feeling the need for a real dose of average behavior at the time. (Now that Bush got in again, I'm not sure that is a good thing either) Well, good for this young man and his ego that he got noticed. He makes Edith Bouvier Beale look bland ("This is the only costume for the day, I think." "What I need is a manager, but he's got to be a Libran!") except she was much more interesting thanks to the Maysles. Aaah, well, I'm getting old, I guess. I do wish I had that seven dollars and fifty cents for the matinée show refunded, though.
Um Filme Falado (2003)
PBS on the Posiedon...
What a shame the producer hadn't the foresight to develop only the single plot theme of the young professor traveling with her child and experiences they had with strangers, et al. Instead, a lovely talented young actress is wasted in travelogue meanderings whilst we are given spotty 'guest star' shots of the three diva stars and their host (talk about smarmy captains)chatting in their native languages about philosophic coulda, woulda, shouldas. Perhaps, it was a wise decision to just blow the whole thing up in the end--more merciful. The audience cannot wait for the boom and the lights to come on again. Sad, because John M. has already proved his acting ability and directing ability to some extent, that he chooses to incorporate this unnecessary captain character into the plot who obviously is there just to promote his own ego. "Look at me, I know Catherine Deneuve and Irene Pappas and I speak and understand several languages, aren't I quite impressive?" Well, frankly, 'The Love Boat' offered more realism in terms of cruise ships and the goings on aboard them. John has proved what we always suspected--the captain's table conversation is a bore and the people there are only there because of who they are and what they've accomplished. Those extensive shots of the boat's prow plowing through the endless Mediterranean just get us all seasick. Hand me a barf bag. And, Irene, dear, stick to acting and give up the singing--it's never too late!
Waking Life (2001)
The big question--What is existence?
Finally, a film that doesn't pretend to be anything other than food for thought! This is an intelligent, useful, artistic, lovely wonder! I was amazed at the editing, which must have been a task. What beauty of thought married to beauty of movement and form. I was moved. Not since my college days sitting at the knees of professors or fellow students discussing great ideas has anything jump-started me into the present so quickly and inspired my mind. I'm grateful for such films as this. So few address us as readers and thinkers. I know there is depth out there in human kind, but lately the glut and adoration of trashiness and commonality has been too much. Bravo to a courageous film and filmmaker who took a leap! For those who said they didn't 'get it', I'm truly sorry as they must never take a look at life and being and ask questions. I think the animation served wonderfully to neutralize the viewer and mezmerize at the same time without the distraction of real life which would have interfered more with the transmission of these great journeys of the human mind!