February 9-11

I've got some catching up to do...

February 9th - Black Hawk Down

February 10th - The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

February 11th - A Serious Man

Black Hawk Down:

I've always been a very big fan of Ridley Scott's war film about a helicopter that crashes, on an in and out type of mission, and the team of soldiers sent in to rescue them. Looking back I'm a little torn, I naively considered this better than Saving Private Ryan when I first saw it, I have since come to my senses. The film still holds up and I enjoyed it but it's message is a little over the top at times.

It's impossible to count the number of times that someone says "no one gets left behind," which is the central theme of the film. I can appreciate that and all but i feel like Scott was just drilling it into my head repeatedly, it was over used and i feel like it detracted from the film a little bit. A small complaint, I know. The other thing that bothered me this time around was that the soldiers all seem to have small bits of dialogue between random bouts of gun fire. It seems like the soldiers are just shooting simply to shoot. There are a few times when you hear someone says last clip only to immediately pop it in and fire off 6 rounds at nothing.

Other than those two minor issues the film held up wonderfully. I still enjoyed the characters and the performances, Josh Hartnett is terrific along with Tom Sizemore and Eric Bana, Ewan McGregor isn't bad either.

I enjoyed the movie although it's not the classic I used to consider it. If you want a true war epic you can't beat with Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus:

Parnassus was a very good film, especially if you are a fan of Terry Gilliam. With the exception of Twelve Monkeys and Fear and Loathing, I'm not, I did still manage to find a lot in this film to enjoy though.

Heath Ledger, say what you will about Ledger but there is no arguing that the man was talented. He gives a spirited performance in Parnassus, though far from his best. Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrel also do his character justice. I also enjoyed Andrew Garfield, he played well opposite Lily Cole and Ledger.

The film itself is a little odd, although the story still makes sense despite the departure of Ledger. It's about a travelling Imaginarium, which is essentially a circus in to the mind of Dr. Parnassus where your imagination can run wild. The good Dr. and his trusty crew have made a deal with the devil, though not all of them are aware, for the soul of his daughter. The devil, being a gambling man, has given Parnassus 2 days to acquire 5 souls in exchange for his daughter.

The gang sees a shadow dancing on the river only to find it to be the body of Tony (Ledger, etc.) hanging underneath a bridge. They save him and Tony joins up with them. Tony turns out to have quite a flair with the people and is quickly rounding people up for the imaginarium, as time goes on though, it turns out Tony isn't quite who he seems, and his shady past is slowly coming back to form.

There are two main things I want to touch on with this film. The first being the use of Depp, Law, and Farrel. Each plays a different version of Tony, inside the imaginarium. This actually follows suit with the film perfectly and had it not been so widely discussed could have passed for being part of the film to begin with. The trick is that at first Tony doesn't know who he is and later sees himself as a version he wants to be before, finally, seeing himself as he truly is. Or at least that's how I'm interpreting it now. Either way it flows along very well with the story.

The second detail is Gilliam's direction. For those of you who aren't familiar with Gilliam's work, it has a very unpolished feel to it. I don't mean that it's not well crafted, but his films seem to be intentionally flawed. Even if I can't always put my finger on exactly what it is, his films just give off that feeling. They are occasionally rough but Gilliam tells great stories and can get great performances out of his actors.

I realize that this film is not for everyone but for those of you looking for something a little off the beaten path, it might be just what you are looking for.

A Serious Man:

This movie is a different brand of movie. I'm not really familiar with the book of Job, which this is apparently a modern retelling of, but i feel like it must have been twisted. The film follows Larry Gopnik as his life slowly falls to pieces. The movie starts out with his wife asking for a divorce and then escalates one event after another tearing this man's life to shreds.

It's strange though, that's literally all that happens through the film, but I found it oddly engrossing. The Coen brothers did a terrific job on the film every performance is terrific , the setting is beautiful, and the pacing is spot on, the film never once drags.

Michael Stuhlbarg, who i wasn't familiar with before this, is amazing as Larry Gopnik. You watch as he transforms from a proud college professor on the verge of his tenure, to a sobbing mess on the couch of his lawyer's office. His performance really is what made the film, and it was interesting to see his character become increasingly nuerotic and disbelieving.

I also really enjoyed the fantasies that Larry has through the film, you don't ever really see them coming and then something unbelievable happens out of no where. I loved when Larry's brother, Arthur, is shot in the back of the head while escaping to Canada.

For those of you looking for a black comedy centered around a very strong performance, check out A Serious Man, it's twisted and definitely enjoyable.