Quick Opinions - Movie Edition

Marathon Man: Haven't seen it in quite a while but I remember it being a pretty solid paranoid 70s thriller and that the "is it safe" scene lived up to the hype.

Boogie Nights: It's great, but while I'm not going to say it's PTA's worst film it's certainly his most immature.  It wears its influences on its sleeve pretty shamelessly and definately has its moments of over-indulgence and I'm not sure there's much in the way of a profound message at its center.  Still, lots of talent on the screen and an incredibly fun movie to watch.

Die Another Day: There's a certain point at which I'm kind of incapable of disliking a James Bond movie (aside from Quantum of Solace, fuck that shit).  Even the ones that are objectively terrible are fun to me.  This one is kind of hard to defend.  People who go to it expecting a real spy movie certainly weren't going to get what they wanted, but the movie certainly isn't trying to be serious and failing, it's trying to be a tribute to everything the Bond series has been, and that includes being a tribute to the days when Bond movies were campy and excessive.  

Haven't seen Marathon Man or Boogie Nights in years. Die Another Day I think is the point in the James Bond franchise where they went 'fuck it, we're making cartoons now.' The invisible car is that clear point where they just stopped caring and decided they'll put anything in front of us and we'll pay for it. Fortunately though it was probably the ridiculousness of Die Another Day that prompted them to make Casino Royale, kinda like how Batman & Robin helped give us Batman Begins. It's a shame though because on paper the idea of James Bond being captured, released through a prisoner exchange then hunting down those who betrayed him is a cool idea.

Whatever degree of cartoon he was up until 1999, Die Another Day was a big step further in that direction. I always imagined that with every Bond movie there was a writers room and someone said 'hey, what about a car that's invisible?' and that person was always met with 'Invisible car? Listen we're all about having fun but that's just ridiculous.' Then in the Die Another Day writers room they sat there with exhausted looks on their faces and finally said 'whatever, just give them an invisible car, why the hell not? Also have him parachute surf away from a tidal wave.'

That wasn't even the worse part of the movie.

The Man with the Golden Gun rules. Corny?
Sure. But it's better than any if the Brosnan films save Goldeneye.

That we're aware of...

New set:

1. The Rock
2. Tree of Life
3. The Bourne Legacy

The Rock: Michael Bay's best movie and generally a pretty fun action movie. Definitely some missteps but I like the cast a lot and some of the writing is actually pretty witty. B+


Tree of Life: Need to rewatch now that I've come around on Malick. Based on memory I'll go A-.


The Bourne Legacy: It's fiiiiine I guess, but mostly disposable. D+

Who hurt you?

Ben-Hur: Amazing chariot race sequence.  I think there are other scenes in the movie as well.  I don't have as much of a strong opinion about them.

The Day the Earth Stood Still: Great science fiction movie, fit the time it was made perfectly and remains solidly enjoyable today.

Diabolique: Wages of Fear would be my Clouzot suspense film of choice, but this is a strong second.  The ending is deservedly famous.