A busy week made me post this weeks installment late and also watch fewer movies than average. I only watched three on my own, all of them interesting but flawed, and the fourth was a special movie I watched in theaters in Seattle with my family.
Batman: Under the Red Hood (Brandon Vietti, 2010): I can safely admit that Batman is a character I know. I've grown up with him from birth starting with the Tim Burton movies, continuing with the Batman Animated Series, and I continue to grow with him through the Chris Nolan movies. He's the most morally compex major superhero out there, and Under the Red Hood is best when it takes advantage of that. I found the movie to be superbly well told, starting with the initial scene showing the death of Robin. The best part of the film comes in a climactic conversation between Batman and Robin which do a great job of putting out the ethics of Batman. The movie doesn't aim to be some epic morally complex crime movie, it's still an animated movie based on a superhero, but it is great at what it does. My only real complaint would be the same complaint I have with many of the DC animated movies, which is that the action scenes aren't creative enough to be compelling. It takes a lot of creativity for an action scene to get my attention since I feel like I know most of the action beats now. Another thing that may have hindered my full enjoyment of the film is probably that I've read the two comic books that this was based on ("A Death in The Family" and "Under the Red Hood"), and the film followed the story events of both of those exactly, so I knew every detail of the plot. Regardless I still felt like it's just as good as Mask of the Phantasm if not better. More importantly though, compared to the rest of the DC animated universe movies, I'd say this is one of the best three, the other two being "Wonder Woman" and "Gotham Knights" (I haven't seen the two "Superman/Batman" movies but I don't think they would have made the list).
Grade: B
Out of Sight (Steven Soderbergh, 1998): After "Pulp Fiction" came out the nonlinear storytelling device was everywhere, "Out of Sight" is one of those post-Pulp Fiction movies. But the nonlinear script is not the only thing that came about because of "Pulp Fiction," after that movie there seemed to be a whole host of movies based on the novels of Elmore Leonard. It's probably because his novels seem like fun crime novels, and Pulp Fiction was a very fun crime movie. Quentin Tarantino himself followed up Pulp Fiction with "Jackie Brown," a movie based on a Leonard novel. "Out of Sight" is a movie very similar to those and if you like the fun crime movies then you will surely love this one because it features everything that makes those movies great. It's got entertaining characters played by fun actors and a fun and smart script. Soderbergh's directing is exceptional as well and this movie shows his knack for knowing how to tell a story. While the movie was very fun and entertaining there wasn't much emotional connection at all, and it was just that, fun, nothing else. There's also the fact that it's very similar in style to Pulp Fiction, but not as good, so you basically think of it as an inferior Pulp Fiction, even though the movie is still pretty good. I also feel like these types of movies can do a lot more in examining their characters and society, similar to full on gangster movies. Regardless, the movie does what it does very well and Soderbergh always keeps things interesting.
Grade: B-
Dogtooth (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2010): The movie known as the probably the most shocking Oscar nominee of 2011, not only in terms of how many predicted it to be nominated, but also its subject matter. It deals with overly protective parents, but on an extraordinarily extreme level. These kids can't go out at all, and have a very distorted view of the world, This distorted view causes things to happen in this movie that would be considered absolutely horrible in our own reality, but these people live in their own created reality. The idea behind the movie is great, and the for the most part the way it's explored, subtle and non-expositional, is great as well. The movie doesn't try to give you some sort of message at all, some may even argue that it doesn't try enough to say anything. While I think that being overly subtle is much better than being way too obvious, I do recognize that the craziness of this movie does sometimes overshadow whatever the movie is trying to convey. But I also found that as time went on, read about the movie and started writing what I'm writing now I found new ways to think about the ideas in the film. Though I certainly admit that the screenplay could be much better and that there are some sequences in the movie that crazy and I don't think have a whole lot of meaning behind them. While the screenplay didn't blow me away, the directing was really impressive. This movie is so well controlled by the director it's astounding. The acting, the image compositions, the set design, is all so well controlled and the movie never gets out of control, and ultimately that's what made this movie so successful. On top of everything though, this movie is unforgettable. It's a really well made movie that serves as a great conversation piece and for that it's a very successful film.
Grade: B+
Mooz-lum (Qasim Basir, 2011): Considering how low budget this movie was, and that it was directed by a first time feature film Muslim director, this is a really impressive film. I imagine many more movies about post-9/11 Muslim American issues will be examined in movies, and this film is a great start. I had some reservations about how this movie would portray the problems of the Muslim community, but this film impressed me by how it declined to make the issue black and white. It didn't make white people bad, or more religious Muslims the bad guys, both have good and bad in them and contribute to the problem in different ways. Many Muslims decline to blame themselves for the problems they face, and I was very glad this film took this issues on head on and didn't try to make things easy to swallow. It reminded me of Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" because of how it shows how it is and doesn't try to force-feed a message. The ideas behind the script are brilliant and were surprisingly intellectual. There are definitely improvements to be made in terms of craft though. The acting was uneven in some places, and some of the dialogue could have been better. Also in the beginning the film flashbacks much too quickly. But those problems were greatly overshadowed by the great ideas in the movie. It is a very melodramatic film, which I don't usually go for, but it's definitely the best way to make other Americans feel and understand for Muslim-Americans.
Grade: B
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