Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Celluloid #49


In Theaters

Brothers Bloom (2009) Johnson - Two brothers grow up depending on each other, and starting in childhood, become skilled con men. Stephen comes up with crazy cons/scenarios complete with literary references, and enables Bloom (the younger brother) to act out his fantasies (or Stephen's perceptions of them). Bloom grows up wanting out because he wants something real...Stephen has one last con for them. Rian Johnson makes clever movies for people who love movies, and I have never found Adrien Brody as attractive as he is here. Dysfunctional family combined with stylish crime film hit the spot for me. 4.5/5


In Home

Spider (2002) Cronenberg - Ralph Fiennes plays the crazy main character, who I believe is a schizophrenic. He mumbles, has strange habits, and frequent flashbacks of his childhood. As a boy, he witnesses his dad commit a crime against his mom, starting a string of elaborate events. 3.5/5

Terminator (1984) Cameron - Sarah Connor must be saved so that her future son can grow up to be a leader of men. Arnold the Terminator, has come from the future to execute her, but a lone fighter has also been sent to protect her. First time I have ever seen this classic action film, and it holds up pretty well...I still continue to have problems with James Cameron's cheesy dialogue. 4/5

Tout va Bien (1973) Godard - Workers at a meat factory are on strike. They have locked up the manager along with a reporter and her husband. Talks a lot about May 1968 and politics concerning class struggle, in addition to defining marriage as "sex, food, and occasional activities." 3.5/5

3 comments:

Wessail said...

I'm glad you liked Terminator; the T series has a lot in common with the Alien series in that the first is more a horror movie, the second is balls-out action, and the third and fourth just sorta suck. And both have Michael Biehn (awesome) and Bill Paxton.
Looking forward to Bloom, though I'm a little apprehensive of Weisz' character: she seems a little too...quirky. Drops of Jupiter level quirky.

Roman said...

Bill Paxton was in Terminator? I think you're thinking of True Lies?

Wessail said...

I usually am thinking about True Lies but Paxton was the punk who Arnold got his clothes from in the beginning.
Classic Cameron dialogue:
Arnold: "Your Clothes. Give them to me. Now."
Paxton: "Fuck you, asshole!"