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Blue Velvet (1986)
Unexplainably Great
I genuinely believe that this film is one of the greatest works of art to ever grace the silver screen. I have know idea why. It is not that I love the acting, the cinematography, or the writing I just love the film. While I appreciate all facets of this film saying that the high quality of the individual aspects are why I think so highly of the movie would be completely disingenuous. Honestly the fact that I love the way David Lynch shoots a film has almost no bearing on why I feel that Blue Velvet is one of the greatest ever made. If I were to really dig deep and try to find the root of my feelings I would probably find the reason I think this motion picture is great is because it makes me feel like I should. If that makes any sense.
Wild at Heart (1990)
Watch the other lynch films first
I am a huge fan of David Lynch, but if this had been the first film of his I had seen I would have never given any of his other films a chance. This film is a mess filled with incoherent dialogue, pointless weirdness, and out of nowhere Wizard of Oz references. Most of Lynch's films have some point in their surreal atmosphere, but this one does not. This film is basically a criminal lovers on the run film like Badlands, True Romance, or Natural Born Killers, but while those films had coherent stories and plots this film does not. Our two protagonists, Lula and Sailor, are both completely insufferable and lack any redeeming qualities. David Lynch seems to not understand the appeal of Nicholas Cage because he populates the film with crazy people. If everyone is insane then Nicholas Cage seems normal. This film is supposed to be a comedy, but it blurs the lines between being intentionally and unintentionally funny. I would only recommend this film to David Lynch completists, and implore anyone how is unfamiliar with Lynch to watch Blue Velvet or The Elephant Man. I do not know why this film won the Palm D'Or, but i assume it is similar to the Oscars in that the right people win just not for the right film. I really do think Lynch is one of the best directors of all time, but this film is just incoherent garbage.
La mujer sin cabeza (2008)
Interesting If Unsatisfying
This is definitely a strange film. It is certainly not for everyone, but it is not without anything good. To say this film has a story is like saying The Tree of Life has a plot. True but misleading. This movie does not follow any traditional narrative structure and lacks a clear resolution. It is written as if you are following a women as she goes through her daily life and as the film goes on it feels less like a film and more like a strangely filmed documentary. It has a unique visual style that heightens the sense of confusion felt by the protagonist by utilizing long takes that keep her in the frame, but cut off most of the action. It can feel at times like it is being strangely filmed for no good reason other than to be different. If you are looking for a strong story and/or plot you will be disappointed, but you should judge the film on its own terms and try to appreciate what its trying to do. It is by no means great and if you not are a fan of these kinds of films then you should avoid this one, but is at the very least an visual interesting film if somewhat narratively weak.
The Incredibles (2004)
Cynical, Mean Spirited, and That's Why Its Great
This is not your average Pixar movie. This is the kind of film Pixar originally intended to make. For those of you do not know one of the reasons Pixar was created was to make more "Edgy" films that Disney would not approve of. If you do not believe me watch one of the many documentaries about the origins of Pixar or look at the origin animation tests for Toy Story. The problem that lead Pixar to not go down the "Edgy" rout was that they felt they could not strike a balance between being Edgy and kid-friendly. With this film they found that balance. At its core this film share a lot of themes with Alan Moore's Watchmen and both feature a society that rejects superheros. This is notable because of it sets it apart from the other Pixar films as it is one of the only ones with strictly adult themes unlike say Finding Nemo which is has mostly universal themes.
While I enjoy most of Pixar's films I have always felt that their claims of not being as Saccharin as Disney are very overstated. That is until I saw this film. I was immediately taken aback by how Cynical this movie was and just how un-Disney it was. There is no way that a film like this could ever come out of Disney studios. In addition to being a radical change of pace for Pixar this film also mark a new sophistication in Pixar's writing and animation.For the first the characters in their films felt like real people and ciphers to do physical comedy and state the films themes. This likely is the only Pixar film that would work as Live-Action film for adults. While it does not have the heart of Toy Story or the wonder of Finding Nemo it more than makes up for it with it amazing animation, excellent writing, and and great voice acting.
The Hours (2002)
She Won By Her Nose
This movie (which is based a Pulitzer Prize winner novel) does not work as movie. It features three separate stories yet it feels like it has no resolution what so ever. The first story is about Virginia Woolf (Played By Nicole Kidman with a fake nose) dealing with her mental illness and struggling to write her novel Mrs Dalloway, the second is about Laura Brown a 50s housewife Played By Julianne Moore who is reading Mrs Dalloway and contemplating whether or not she should abandon her family, and the third is about a modern New Yorker named Clarissa Vaughan (played by Meryl Streep) who is embodying Mrs Dalloway by preparing a party of her friend who is dying of AIDS and is played by Ed Harris. The film begins and ends with Virginia Woolf's suicide for no other reason then to give the film some kind of resolution as none of the stories are really ever resolved. There is the constant problem of characters talking about something, but not telling you anything about it. Ed Harris's character is supposed to have written a book based on his life and the people in his story constantly talk about it, but we never learn anything about him through these conversations. The thematic connection between the stories barely exists and I did not get any sense that seeing a book being written told me anything about a person reading it or embodying it. When the movie was over I got a sense that I watch three loosely related vignettes that were edited together in order to give the illusion of interconnectedness. The structure of the story would probably lend itself better to a novel than to a film which makes sense given its origins as one. The acting was very good overall and while not her best performance Nicole Kidman was deservedly given an Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf. Although the fake nose did increase her chances.
Prisoners (2013)
A Law & Order Plot With Interesting Ideas
I really wanted to love this movie. I was a huge fan of the director's previous film Incendies, but this one is just a B grade thriller that is elevated by masterful cinematography, excellent direction, and some truly great acting by the entire cast. This movies is filled with interesting ideas that have to brushed aside in service of a plot which would not be out of place in your average Law & Order episode. The film has a strange religious subtext that is both underdeveloped and overwrought. I could see half of the plot twists coming and in the third act the film basically became a Law & Order episode with an overly simple resolution and "ambiguous" ending. The real problem here is the script. It does have some interesting ideas like the quirks of Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal's characters, but these and others have almost no development beyond the one or two scenes that feature them. If the director had been allowed to rewrite the script the film would have been a lot better and likely have the same impact as the director's previous film. That being said the film is still a well-acted, well- filmed, and intermittently well-written thriller that is extremely emotionally effective and occasionally disturbing.