Wanted (2008)

Wanted (2008)

Relativity Media etc.

June 27, 2008

Action
DVD
D-

Unappealing on multiple levels, but I did like the cereal display.  Timur Bekmambetov directed.

Trance (2013)

Trance (2013)

Pathé etc.

27 March 2013

Crime Drama

DVD
D+

Not my kind of movie, but stylishly done.  Danny Boyle directed, after The Beach and Slumdog Millionaire.

Strings (2004)

Strings (2004)

BOB Film Sweden AB

24 October 2004

Fantasy?, Historical Drama?

DVD

D-

Creepier marionettes than in Being John Malkovich, although there it was satirical.  Anders Rønnow Klarlund directed and co-wrote.

Split

Split

Binding Edge Pictures

September 26, 2016

Horror

DVD
F+

The phrase Manipulative shit kept popping into my mind, but I am a little grateful that the first quarter hour wasn't more violent.  Shyamalan wrote and directed.

The Last Station

The Last Station

Warner Bros.

December 4, 2009

Historical Drama

DVD
C-

I found this uninvolving, and I say that as someone who's read Anna Karenina multiple times.  Director Michael Hoffman based the screenplay on Jay Parini's biographical novel of Tolstoy.

The Last King of Scotland

The Last King of Scotland

Fox Searchlight

September 27, 2006

Historical Drama

DVD
C

It's sad that the most entertaining movie I've watched this week for this project is about Idi Amin, although I admit I tuned out while it was still a relatively happy movie.  This is based on the novel by Giles Foden and directed by Kevin Macdonald.

Bright Young Things

Bright Young Things
Film Four
3 October 2003
Historical Drama, Historical Comedy
DVD
C

I stayed with this for a half hour, because of the cast and because I thought it had potential, especially with Stephen Fry as director and adapter of the Evelyn Waugh novel Vile Bodies.  But the more I watched, the less I cared about the frivolous young-ish people who went to a lot of "scandalous" parties where they wore costumes.  I was actually more interested in the manuscript that's seized by customs, but that got dropped a few minutes in.

Atonement

Atonement

Universal

7 September 2007

Historical Drama, Romance

DVD
C+

This is based on the Ian McEwan novel, which I've never read, so I don't know how many of the flaws are in the original story and how many come from the adaptation by Christopher Hampton, or from director Wright's interpretation.  I will say that I think the acting, cinematography, music, costumes, hair, and sets are top-notch.  It's when it comes to the plot and characterization that things start to fall apart.  Wright on his commentary even admits he's not sure if certain scenes come across the way they're meant to.

Briony is the main character and as always Ronan is excellent, here as the 13-year-old version.  However, it's never clear how much of the story we're watching onscreen is "real" and how much is Briony's reimagining.  She's a writer her whole life and a particular story, one she tells rather than writes, ruins the lives of many people, most importantly to her and supposedly the viewer, the lives of her sister Cecelia and Robbie, the young man that Briony once had (still has?) a crush on and that Cecelia loves, despite class differences.  

When Briony's slightly older (14? 15?) cousin Lola (Juno Temple) is raped by a houseguest, Briony accuses Robbie, and Lola doesn't dispute it.  Years later, Lola marries her actual rapist.  Very little time is spent on this thread, to the point that I said aloud, "What about Lola?"  Instead, we're treated to an extended section on Dunkirk, which of course is beautifully shot etc., but doesn't really tie into anything, except on I guess the theme of the waste of life and lives.  Who is Lola really?  Was she initially attracted to her rapist and then felt guilty for his crime?  Why does she eventually marry him?  It's not like this is a theocracy, where the rapist would "make amends" through marriage; in fact, no one but he, Lola, and Briony know that he's guilty.  I'm sorry, but I would've liked more resolution for this, and it actually made it harder to care about Cecelia and Robbie.

Furthermore, the "atonement" of the title is Briony as a dying, elderly woman writing the "truth" about what happened, except for a happy ending she gives Robbie and Cecelia, who both died in 1940 and were never reunited.  But a novel published more than 60 years later doesn't help them, and it seems there only so Briony can forgive herself for doing something unforgivable.

Anyway, a "good" but deeply flawed movie that I've given a lot of thought to this week (since I also watched the extras) and ultimately I will marginally recommend it.