The Cave of Forgotten Dreams - 2010 - Dir. Herzog

God bless, Werner Herzog. That's all I have to say. The man knows how to get me going. I have to say, that this wasn't exactly my favorite of his films. The subject matter itself didn't strike me as exciting or as interesting as say The Antarctic or a Man who lives with Grizzlies. Herzog manages to sell the material though. His passion pushes us through it, excites us. Or at least, it excites me! But if anything, there's something very impressive (and telling) in what he managed to assemble considering the limitations put upon him. He had limiting shooting time and limited crew, so a little has to go a long way. He finds a story and thoughts worth pondering in the smallest details of the paintings, in the curves of the walls. Herzog wants us to inspect every minute detail of the painting. 3D only aids his case. It doesn't take over the film by any means. The opening credits are pretty stunning, though, and perhaps the most showy of the 3D. The film is still filled with expected Herzogian rants and tangents. Playful handling of his subjects. He made no qualms about exposing the epilogue with the radioactive albino alligators. Clearly, doing so amused him. Which is what works in this film and in most other Herzog films: he follows the trail he wants, and if we're willing to go along, we'll probably enjoy ourselves.

Which one is the bigger nutcase? You'll be surprised.

The Machinist - 2004 - Dir. Anderson

It's funny to have watched this and Shutter Island so close together because each film plays with our protagonist's sanity as the film goes on. My problem with The Machinist is that I feel like we come to the conclusion that our protagonist is nuts long before the film is willing to admit such a thing. I never bought that Reznik was the victim of a conspiracy. He's a nobody, who is obviously unhinged. So the film becomes more about how much damage is this guy going to do, how much has already been done, and how crazy is he going to get? The problem with this is that Trevor spends most of the movie alone. So the movie is watching Christian Bale lose his mind. Bale is a fine actor. He can be pretty muted/distant/cold at times, and this is not an exception. Sometimes it works, but it also makes it a little hard to feel for him. The strongest aspect of the film are the repeating motifs, sequences, images. In fact, they work REALLY well. When everything comes together, it's pretty satisfying. It does have an ending that redeems all the BS you go through from the start and the movie is good with Red Herrings, perhaps because our attention is drawn in several directions at once. And I just wanna throw it out there, John Sharian is awful! So, an engaging enough distraction with some storytelling issues, but satisfying nonetheless.

STOP. THAT.

Dreamcatcher - 2004 - Dir. Kasdan

Doesn't Kasdan make real movies? I mean... that's a thing, right? Well, I guess everyone is allowed to fuck around in the snow with a bunch of other dudes. This movie is harmless. Completely empty entertainment. Probably too empty? Yeah. It gives in to certain level of goofiness that just betrays the movie. From the get-go, we're asked to believe in an extraordinary level of fantasy. Hurled from mind-reading to a goofy, sudden suicide. The movie just doesn't take a breather, barreling forward, adding more and more details, more and more ideas. It's like four different movies. If anything, it's impressive that it manages to somewhat explain it all, but the bar is so low that really, any explanation would do. It's kind of sad considering the level of talent involved in the picture. There isn't one person in the movie that I don't enjoy watching... and I don't enjoy watching any of them. AND WHY THE FUCK DOES THE ALIEN HAVE A BRITISH ACCENT!? The movie is full of fine ideas, fine characters, a fine premise. You have a monster that bursts out of asses and the good sense to call it a Shit Weasel (that's just good horse sense [probably also my favorite portion]). It just had to PICK one and stick with it. God knows, the movie is too long as is. It's sort of a good illustration of Stephen King at his worst. You've got packs of childhood friends being brought together to fight a vast evil but then man just goes and doesn't know when to call it quits and then all of a sudden you've got a thousand page book with a villain with giant white eyebrows shooting at an alien dying of leukemia from a helicopter. Evil clown, I can handle. Freeman's eyebrows, NO SIR.

EEERRRRR!!! ACTING MOVIES!!!

Shutter Island - 2010 - Dir. Scorsese

Shutter Island is everyone doing what they do best. No one does a bad job in this movie. No one does a great job, either. This is just movie being the most moviest that it could possibly be. If I were to criticize anything, it's that Leonardo DiCaprio looks like a nutcase from Shot 1. We know the dish we're being served when we see that sickly looking motherfucker, we're going to spend the rest of the movie challenging his sanity. And you know... we do, but I think that's that major difference between this and The Machinist is that Scorsese never gives too much away. As crazy as DiCaprio is (We know he's a little deranged... a little obsessed. But HOW MUCH?), Scorsese doesn't let us write off the idea that this is all just a conspiracy taking advantage of a man under duress. And Scorsese can sell us that, I certainly bought it. And even though, the ending doesn't exactly come as a surprise, Scorsese makes it HURT. So yeah, it's well-crafted. Nothing really stands out EXCEPT: Ted Levine. WHO IS AWESOME. Like, his scene... man... I get so excited about that scene. It's just a perfect illustration of Ted Levine's ability to be a restrained nutcase. His character is almost completely useless (almost) in the movie, but man am I ever glad that he gets that one scene. Perhaps the movie runs a little long, as I think about it. But hey, I love a nice old fashioned nut house and I'll wander around it with everyone else as much as the next guy.

Oh no! I'm having a traumatic time with deceased wife... again...

Wild Strawberries - 1957 - Dir. Bergman

Although not exactly my favorite, I always appreciated Wild Strawberries for having an incredible tone. It's optimistic, dreary, crabby, fun, and painful all at once. Any time you have an old man thinking about his life, I feel like we're on a shaky path to depression but Wild Strawberries never actually feels sad while still being filled with sadness. I had only seen it once a very long time ago and was struck with how nice it felt to watch. Borg is the perfect old man, he's a curmudgeon but one that we want to watch, one we feel for, but I never find myself pitying him. I never feel like I'm watching a sad old man surrounded by youth, lingering on his own. There's a kind of peaceful acceptance of his place. One thing that I forgot (and I'm surprised that I did) was the dream sequence in the beginning, which is pitch-perfect. I always forget that Bergman masters the disorientation of a dream. They are not chock full of strange and disturbing imagery, but we feel it nonetheless. Small details make up our unreality. Also Bork and his Nurse are ADORABLE! They set-up the movie so nicely! Visually, I find it less striking than... say most of his others. But it is also one of the earliest films of his that I've seen. It's easy to see why this is thought of as one of Bergman's best films. It's well-rounded and illustrative of most of what Bergman does best.

Any of you kids want my Wild Strawberries?

Pickpocket - 1959 - Dir. Bresson

A much lauded film, for some reason I went into it expecting Italian Neo-Realism. I honestly don't know how I made that mix-up. I've never seen a Bresson film. Known for severing ties between Theater and Cinema, Pickpocket does just that. Voice-over runs throughout the film and hand movements, subtle gestures move much of the action forward. Our protagonist after all, is a pickpocket. It's hard to find a critic or auteur who does not praise the film to the skies. I struggled with it though. It runs awfully slowly and jerks around at times. The story is very jumpy. To some degree the film kind of occupied a space between cinematic and well... neo-realism, I suppose. We have a minimal story and character motivation is difficult to pierce, non-professional actors, but I don't think I ever really bought it. Voice-over makes it difficult to treat as real, so I felt like it should be treated like a story. But the story is neglected, at least, non-visual story-telling. Scenes and sequences are executed well but on a whole I feel like the film never really congeals. I also have to say I don't think I really gave a damn about the characters, which I'm sure didn't help any. I feel like it was a film where I appreciated the smaller parts rather than the whole. I can't say I was unsatisfied by any means, but I don't think the film really stirred anything in me. I can see how it was an important entry into cinema history (or at least Bresson's approach was) and certainly can see that.

Shit! Have they found me out!?

Elevator to the Gallows - 1958 - Dir. Malle

Malle's first feature follows the story of a murder gone wrong when the culprit finds himself stuck in a malfunctioning elevator. The premise is a little more appealing than the film ends up being, we spend little time in said elevator as we follow around two No Good Teens who have stolen the culprit's car. I couldn't help but feel slightly bothered by that rather major aspect of the plot. Maybe it was a cultural thing, but those teens seemed to be awfully random and seemed to do things for no reason whatsoever at times. This wouldn't be a problem but they are also the prime suppliers of steam the film needed. Our pair of murderers are either wandering around or stuck in an elevator. It's unfortunate because I felt sympathy for the murderers and wanted to see how they ended up, but was inconstantly side-tracked by these teens. The movie has a great feel aided by Miles Davis' sax and Moreau wandering the City by night. Perhaps this dispels some of the tension but it also embodies some of the more memorable moments. It's not a standout film by any means, impressive for Malle's first and apparently it's quite a breakthrough in terms of Moreau and Malle's relationship but I don't know nothing about that. I do like sad sax in the city though.

Elevators seem inconvenient in France.