Sunday Morning Movie: A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
Directed by Sergio Leone

For breakfast: Homemade Egg McMuffins and Hashbrowns

I’m not sure what to say about this classic. As a fan of westerns I’m almost obligated to love it…and I do. Eastwood is pure badass as the iconic “Man With No Name”; a clever gunslinger that uses a town rivalry to his financial advantage. That is until he finds out there is a family in trouble and decides to help them instead. The nobility of our hero is matched by the brutality of the Rojo’s, seen at its greatest during a a painfully long massacre that all but forces you to look away.

Leone masterfully balances the drama with rousing action, enhanced immensely by Ennio Morricone’s brilliant score. He knows and respects the Hollywood western, he follows their conventions yet manages to break them at the same time. I love the way he fills the frame using extreme angles to create that epic feeling. The scope is certainly bigger and more polished than something like Django, which is essentially the same story. Though, I don’t think I could pick a favorite between the two, both are great for different reasons and Corbucci is a different animal entirely.

This definitely ranks up there with Charade as far as opening titles go.

Grade: B+

Sunday Morning Movie: Following (1998)

Following (1998)
Directed by Christopher Nolan

For breakfast: Egg n’ a holes w/ bacon

I’m beginning to realize that Christopher Nolan is a much better writer than he is a director. He is incredibly clever and has a knack for characters and stories, but visually he leaves much to be desired. I realize that Following was his first film and that it was made for virtually no money, but so was Pi and it is far more interesting to watch. That being said, it’s the story of Following that really makes it stand out. You already see Nolan’s keenness for interweaving timelines and his use of temporal structure to create suspense. He understands how to use what you know in combination with that the characters know to keep you guessing (Hitchcock anyone?). A technique he still uses quite a bit in his Batman films. Although, his shortcomings visually have also carried over into his recent work as he still seems to have problems staging scenes and making them, you know, coherant. Minor qualms aside, Following is a smart thriller and I like to revisit a director’s first film every once in a while to see how far they’ve come.

Grade: B

Coraline (2009)

Do you ever have those moments when you’re watching a film where you can’t put your finger on what it is that’s not working for you? That was me through the entire second half of Henry Selick’s gorgeously animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s book Coraline. It’s a shame, because up until that point I had been sucked in completely. There were even a couple of moments where I caught myself, mouth wide open, staring up at the screen. No, I didn’t see this in 3-D because, frankly, I don’t give a damn about that headache-inducing gimmick. 2-D works just fine for the rich, atmospheric, and beautifully crafted world that is presented to us. Given that, it’s fairly obvious that my problems with the film are not with the visuals.

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Sunday Morning Movie: The Godfather Part II (1974)

The Godfather Part II (1974)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

For breakfast: Waffles

I think I may be in the minority here, but I consider the first film to be significantly better than the widely praised sequel. The Godfather Part II has amazing moments (who doesn’t get chills when Pacino utters “I know it was you Fredo” and plants one on Robert Cazale?), but overall it leaves me feeling a little disappointed. Most of it is probably due to the fact that I find the segments of Vito’s rise to power infinitely more interesting than Michael’s fall from grace. The separate storylines never really mesh for me and that makes it hard to immerse yourself in the film. I’ve tried to see what other people see that makes it so spectacular, I really have, but it’s just not happening for me. The Godfather I find damn near perfect, and while Part II is still pretty great, it’s lacking that something that makes it really special.

Grade: A-

Sunday Morning Movie: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
Directed by J. Lee Thompson

For breakfast: French Toast

Well, this is a definite improvement from the disappointment that was Escape From the Planet of the Apes, but I don’t know that that really says much. 20 years have passed and the plague has wiped out the cat and dog populations, just like Cornelius and Zira warned. Humans initially adopted apes as their new friends, but when they realized that the apes could be taught, they quickly turned them into slaves. Caesar, baby Milo all grown up, finds himself in the ape conditioning facility and his anger towards the humans builds. When a tragedy pushes him over the edge, he organizes the apes and leads the revolt to take back the planet.

While the film certainly follows the storyline of the series, I find myself disconnected by the implausability of it all. I have no problem with a planet inhabited by apes, a super-intelligent race of humans that worship a bomb, or even the apes in modern day New York; but the 20 year jump that has humans happily enslaving primates in an almost fascist society is a little bit too much for me. On the other hand, it does help to justify the apes’ treatment of humans in the future, which I always felt was a tad excessive, so I can’t fault it for that. I just can’t help but feel that most of the social relevence has been lost over the years.

Grade: C