Reviews

From beginning to end, I wasn't particularly invested. While I do appreciate the technical accuracy (which makes up the majority of the dialogue), it certainly got redundant after an hour or so. From start to finish, "Apollo 13" is essentially a collection of set-up and pay-off; (1) we start in the capsule with the Apollo 13 crew and they run into a technical problem (2) we cut to Mission Control working on a procedure (3) meanwhile in the Lovell home (4) back to the capsule and how the astronauts are coping (5) Mission Control solves the problem (6) Apollo 13 works it out. And so it's essentially this repetitive chain of events, capturing the exhausting 5-day redundancy of the historical incident. Tom Hanks steals the show in one of his most iconic performances. The score by James Horner (R.I.P.) is terribly dated and at times too sentimental, but one of my favorite tracks captures the vastness and mystique of space. I was surprised at how well the special effects have held up. Props to Ron Howard and the effects department.

Sappy, artificial drama that'll make you squirm in your seat out of sheer discomfort. Max Landis lacks restraint when it comes to comedy, beating a joke over the audience with wild abandon. There are some genuinely funny moments (like Haley Joel Osment's cameo, and...), but they don't make up for petty, inconsequential drama. The characters almost seem to be a modern take on 90's sitcom caricatures; they overreact to everything--to which it seems we're suppose to find amusing...but it isn't--and they are as self-absorbed as humanly possible. With three unlikable leads and a jarring sense of humor... Me Him Her really could of used more of Haley Joel Osment and Scott Bakula.

"Koyaanisqatsi" is a film meant to be experienced. It has no narrative or dialogue, just an 85 minute string of images with an accompaniment of music by Philip Glass. The main significance in the film seems to be the contrast between nature and civilization. There's an obvious environmental message at play, but the film is getting at something much more grand and cinematic as a whole. The ultimate cornerstone of "Koyaanisqatsi" is the cinematography and music. When the film focuses on nature at the beginning, the camera-work and music is majestic and slow, but when we cut to focus on civilization, it's chaotic and fast- paced. "Koyaanisqatsi" is a purely cinematic experience that never has a dull moment and ends on a high note.

John Ford's "Stagecoach" boasts dynamic characters with satisfying arcs, classic thrills, a breakthrough performance by John Wayne, charismatic set pieces, as well as a charismatic director--it is rightfully deemed one of the most influential Westerns. Wayne's performance is restrained and charming, and among his other stagecoach colleagues are an empathetic prostitute driven out of town, suitably named Dallas (Claire Trevor), the vulnerable stagecoach driver Buck (Andy Devine), an alcoholic and shameless doctor Boone (Thomas Mitchell), a cowardly whiskey salesman Samuel Peacock (Donald Meek), a rigorous marshal Curly (George Bancroft), the mysterious gambler Hatfield (John Carradine), an unlikable banker Henry Gatewood (Berton Churchill), and a stressed wife Lucy Mallory (Louise Platt). With these characters--empathetic, sympathetic, mysterious, charming, likable, unlikable--all crammed in a claustrophobic stagecoach, we ultimately get a character study with Western thrills thrown in there to fill us with anxiety in losing one of them.

Personally one of my most revered Tarantino movies, "Inglourious Basterds" is another showcase of Quentin's ambitions and devotion to cinema. Similar to Pulp Fiction, Basterds is told in a way much like a novel. It is essentially Tarantino's fictitious alternative ending to WWII, told in two different P.O.V's who are both, unknowingly, working towards the same goal, and ultimately doing it in the same fashion-- "killing all the eggs in one basket" by burning a cinema down which is home to the gathering of Hitler's Third Reich for a propaganda film "Nation's Pride". Knowing that Tarantino spent a little over a decade writing the script, from scene one you feel the rigorousness and preciseness in the script with every line of dialogue, every plot development, every character action, and so on. "Inglourious Basterds" blends in with Tarantino's filmography--it's got all the Tarantino tropes--yet sticks out from all the others with it's superior artistic value.

"V for Vendetta" seems like it wants to be provocative, and although it does somewhat succeed, it more or less falls short. It's certainly a timely, relevant film; bringing up issues like media manipulation, censorship, national surveillance, religious hypocrisy, fear mongering, torture, prejudice, etc. But despite that, it was mostly underwhelming to say the least. The script (written by the Wachowskis) felt like it was a slightly revised first draft; the plot was convoluted and the dialogue was half-assed. Though V for Vendetta does boasts some striking visuals and imagery, the cinematography and lighting was ugly and jarringly bright, respectively. During the first act Natalie Portman's performance as Evey Hammond was mostly hard to watch, but late in the second act she is given some dramatic flare. Stephen Fry was one of the best things about this film.