Change Your Image
Kerridwyn
Reviews
V for Vendetta (2005)
A blast... quite a few of them
As someone who can be a bit of a purist about book-to-movie adaptations, part of me feels I shouldn't give V for Vendetta 10 out of 10 because it does stray quite far from its graphic novel source material... but to heck with it, I loved the movie so much I just don't care.
No, it's not entirely Alan Moore's story. The love interest in pumped up, the politics is wound down, but for a Hollywood offering it's still pretty subversive, particularly when you consider that a group of people showing up outside the Houses of Parliament in masks would be subject to arrest under today's laws.
V for Vendetta delivers on both the action and the emotion. It's stylish, sharp, full of timely commentary on the stage of the world, and has a cast full of British greats. Hugo Weaving delivers a marvelous performance, particularly when you consider that he has no facial expression to work with and has to rely entirely on gesture and voice.
This is a film that makes me laugh, cry, cheer, kiss Stephen Fry on the lips, and do things to V which are unsuitable for description in an IMDb review. So, 10 out of 10 it gets.
Soylent Green (1973)
Never more timely
Soylent Green remains one of my favorite cult classics, and is another one of those movies whose message has become more timely as the years have passed. Back in the 70s, how many people knew about global warming and the greenhouse effect, much less took it seriously? Looking at our world now, with climate change already ruining lives in poorer countries and corporate corruption a constant topic with political activists, the rain forests disappearing and not enough fish left in the sea to last us another 40 years, the near-future Soylent Green portrays doesn't seem quite as far off as it did when it was made.
We probably all know the classic line by now so the ending is no surprise, but it's the journey that's the point. Heston's character isn't one of those shiny action heroes we've gotten so used to, but is a man with deep flaws - a man we may not even particularly like. This makes the effect of his horror at the discovery of what humanity has sunk to far more moving than it might otherwise have been.
Just thinking about Edward G Robinson's beautiful final scene gives me the chills, and watching it never fails to reduce me to tears.
And then I want to get outside and enjoy the wilderness, while it's still there.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
A classic which doesn't date
A chilling parable of the devastation mankind's arrogance might one day wreak upon the earth, made all the more powerful for its parallels with our current environmental debates. Although it's nuclear testing rather than global warming, the earth is heating up, and governments aren't entirely keen for people to know why.
Rather than following the path of some kind of action hero, we follow the story through the lens of two newspaper journalists - real characters, people with histories and flaws and motivations we can relate to. Great dialog, the old-fashioned clattering of typewriters, the faintly claustrophobic air of the days when people still wore hats and suits, it's a marvelously atmospheric film which becomes deeply moving with its final scenes.
Lizzie (1957)
Should be better known
Like "The Three Faces of Eve", "Lizzie" deals with a title character suffering from multiple personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder). However, I think this movie is a better treatment of the topic than its more famous counterpart, for two primary reasons.
One is the performance of Eleanor Parker, who does not disappear off camera and then come into the room as one of her alter-egos, but lets us see the shifts and changes as they occur. The other is its greater psychological realism - rather than giving us a cop-out about the trauma of seeing a dead body, "Lizzie" doesn't shy away from dealing with the topic of sexual abuse.
Quincy M.E.: Seldom Silent, Never Heard (1981)
First-rate performances in an episode with a purpose
To my mind, this episode is one of the high points of the series, combining excellent acting with a purpose beyond entertainment.
After the death of a boy suffering from Tourette's Syndrome, Quincy is angered to discover how little medical help there is for people with rare disorders, due to the drugs companies simply not making enough money from them. This was an episode with a distinct political message, as the "Orphan Drugs Bill" was working its way through the US political system at the time, promising hope to thousands of sufferers of conditions like Tourette's. In fact the scene where Tourette's sufferer Tony gives a speech to a congressional hearing was echoed in real life when Klugman testified, and the show is credited as having helped the bill become law.
Whether you like your TV to achieve things which make real differences in the lives of real people, or prefer it sticks to the traditional realms of murder mysteries, this episode is also notable for featuring some award-worthy performances. As Tony, Paul Clemens avoids falling into any of the traps associated with playing a character with obvious physical differences, and elicits our emotional response by showing us what it really means to live with a condition like Tourette's. His delivery of the speech on the "Orphan Drugs Bill" never fails to make me cry.
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Disappointing translation of the stage show to screen
The Phantom of the Opera on stage can be an intensely powerful emotional experience. Sadly for me, most of the magic of Andrew Lloyd Webber's show was entirely lost in Joel Schumacher's re-visioning of it, which substitutes gloss and glamor for the haunting darkness of the original story, and seems aimed at the romance novel market and teenage girls.
Part of this is due to changes made to the back stories of the characters - instead of a man who's lived out in the world and suffered at the hands of his fellow human beings for years, we're given a man who's spent his life from a young age under the opera house, taken care of and watching the chorus girls. Instead of a naive girl from the countryside who believes in her father's stories of an Angel of Music, Christine is a girl who grew up in a metropolitan society with a famous father. Although these changes may not be noticed the casual viewer, they are just some of the alterations which enormously impacted the emotion of the story for me.
The other major problem is that it's hard to believe in an Angel of Music who's only been singing for a year. Although Gerard Butler throws himself into the role, it's impossible to disguise his lack of range. Emmy Rossum seems to rely on looking like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.
Gone is the sleek seductiveness of the stage show's Phantom, gone is the alluring character who balances charm and deadliness on a knife edge - instead we have a whiny boy who's never grown up, and a girl who's not yet out of her teenage years (instead of a young woman).
Patrick Wilson deserves commendations for his performance as Raoul, who was unusually the only character I didn't want to strangle.
The Phantom of the Opera (1989)
Guilty slasher pleasure
Purists be warned - this is not Gaston Leroux's Phantom, and if you're looking for something like the Lloyd Webber show, this isn't it either. It's a gore-filled slasher which takes the Phantom story as its inspiration, but strays about as far from the original as most of the other movies of the same title.
That said, if you like horror it's a lot of fun. Robert Englund is in fact quite magnificent, and manages to wring a certain amount of sympathy out of the role. There is certainly sexual tension and seductiveness, and the music is truly beautiful. In fact for lighting, sets, costumes, and cinematography, I far prefer this version over Joel Schumacher's 2004 movie. At least here we have an Erik with some guts - even if half of them belong to other people.
Daybreak (2001)
Powerful debut from first-time director
I saw this movie at a small screening and was impressed by both the performances and the realism. It deals with the fantasy question of "what if my life had taken a different turn at an earlier point?" and warns against the constant questioning of what "might have been" at the expense of enjoying and appreciating what we have. The lead character of Jeff is plunged into what is both a nightmare, and a very ordinary life. Paul Clemens does a fine job of portraying his character as a real person, faced with a situation which usually gets a less than "realistic" treatment in Hollywood! His scenes of anguish over what he lost are wrenching for just that realism. Debra Henri stands out in the scene where she stands up for her own dreams in the face of Jeff's apparent self-obsession, and Jeff Bergquist gives an ultimately touching performance as Jeff's father.
I commend Michael James Kacey (and his crew) for their fine achievement.
Peter Pan (2003)
Enchanting, magical, dark, and dashing
Enchanting, magical, and appropriately dark, this Peter Pan goes back to Barrie's story rather than taking its inspiration from later versions, and is destined to become as much of a classic as the Wizard of Oz.
It's hard to know what to praise first - the script, the special effects, the costumes, the lighting, the direction, the performances? Well, I'll start with the performances. Jason Isaacs brings both humor and depth to his dual roles of Mr Darling and Captain Hook; and his Hook is charismatic, dashing, and so sexy there are already adult fan fictions circulating the Internet on him! What I particularly loved about his performance was that as well as getting across Hook's danger, and enough humor for what people expect to be a children's movie, he gave us glimpses of Hook's loneliness, turning him from what could be a caricature into a human being (albeit through Wendy's eyes at most points). He combines threat with alluring sexuality, and human pathos.
Rachel Hurd Wood stands out amongst a group of children who all give excellent performances; I was surprised to learn that she hadn't acted before, and wasn't really a few years older than 12!
Costumes, lighting, and effects which create a magical world all add to the enchanting atmosphere this movie creates. The score is glorious, and I hope it's recognized at the Oscars.
As I mentioned, this movie doesn't shy away from the dark aspects of the story. It rightly places Wendy at the center, and Neverland is her place of fantasy, where she deals with the conflict between growing up and joining the adult world, and the wish to remain a child. The Freudian undertones may be disturbing to some, and those who are expecting a simple children's movie will be disappointed. This is far more than a kiddie film - it gives as much, perhaps more, to the adults in the audience.
See it, and then see it again. I can't wait for the DVD!