“Please tell me that sounded alright?”
Separator? Lowkey one of their best songs. So many beautiful friggin' layers. In general, the live brass accompaniment and more relaxed setting bring out the best in these songs. Just seeing how they are each created live helps me to appreciate them so much more. The energy, musicianship and chemistry are on another level throughout, even on one of their lesser albums (and it doesn't hurt that it's excellently produced by Nigel Godrich and…
“This is the nature of war: by protecting others, you save yourself. If you only think of yourself, you’ll only destroy yourself.”
My first Kurosawa. His body of work has been by far the most daunting and foreign (no pun intended) yet glaring blindspot to me for many years now, so I’m glad that my maiden voyage into his filmography did not disappoint.
Forests and roads, steel swords and bamboo spears, principled samurai and cruel bandits. Desperate men on the…
“Peppermint flavoured heroin!”
A terrific cast made up of charismatic leads with great chemistry and an enjoyably inept motley crew of villains. A zinger-filled script with a great sense of humour. A clever twist-a-minute storyline in which no one is safe, in more senses than one.
And therein lies some of the problem. In many ways, Charade's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. The constant barrage of 'gotcha!' moments which make it so fun and unique are also what…
“I can neither comprehend nor describe what happens behind a kitchen door. I have always been content to enjoy the issue of an artist’s talent without unveiling the secrets of the chisel or the turpentine.”
My love for this one is explained quite simply: it’s endowed with all the hallmarks of a great Wes Anderson film. The trademark dry wit of the screenplay (“don't growl at me, you convicted murderer!”). The fast-paced, excessively intellectual voiceover narration, which is admittedly easier…
“I can tell you that there were times when you took real pride in just getting there. Flying used to be fun.”
An effective exploration of human psychology and behaviour when in desperate circumstances, complete with authentic character dynamics a-plenty. Richard Attenborough makes for a strong foil to Jimmy Stewart’s compellingly realistic portrayal of prideful and flawed yet nonetheless stalwart and self-sacrificial leadership.
Despite it showing its age in a few areas, some story drag and how ultimately forgettable it is, this is a good story well executed, plain and simple.
“This next tune is one of my personal favourites, and I’d like to dedicate it to a young man who doesn't think he's seen anything good today.”
The art gallery scene leading into parade float karaoke >>>>>>>
An honest celebration of youth, with all the highs and lows that that entails. Passion, friendship, mistakes, regret, learning, it’s all on full display. Or maybe I'm reading too deep into it, but even if that is the case, it's hard to deny that…
“Very careless of you, old man. Try this.
Now we start.”
It probably deserves higher, but a more focused and attentive rewatch is in order before I'm able to properly evaluate this one. Morricone brings the goods as usual.
Certainly one of the more unique and memorable films we've watched for this module. Still not really sure I liked it, though.
“There's nothing tragic about being fifty. Not unless you’re trying to be twenty-five!”
“Walter, I want to ask you something. After all the years we've known each other, do you mind if I make a rather blunt statement?”
“About what?”
“About me. Walter, I'm a very great man.”
Amen to that, Keyes.
After the protagonist's voiceover narration described his stop off at a drive-in for a bottle of beer and to 'roll some lines' at the bowling alley to 'think about something else for a while', we thought this couldn't get any more…
Even if all the plot threads do line up perfectly (and I wouldn’t be able to tell you even if they did), I maintain that this is too convoluted to be entirely satisfying from a narrative standpoint. It loses steam in the late second/early third act, with too many moving parts and plot points that don't quite work. But that said, you don't get to being this obnoxiously well liked without some serious credibility behind you.
So soon after watching…