Happy Birthday to Charlotte Gainsbourg, Don Knotts, Robin Williams, Jon Lovitz, Norman Jewison, Bela Tarr, Ernest Hemingway, Cat Stevens and Karl Reisz, and RIP James Garner. Last Friday, I saw three very different American features, in the New York-based May/December Pygmalion-type romantic comedy Whatever Works (Woody Allen, 2009; 8/10), the Seattle-based thriller 88 Minutes (Jon Avnet, 2007; 6/10) and my Curtain Call, or best film of the day, the California-based story of a cross-cultural, cross-generational friendship, The Karate Kid (John G. Avildsen, 1984; 8/10), as well as two of Michel Gondrys short films (both 8/10): Three Dead People and My Brothers 24th Birthday. It was neat to see a return to form for Woody Allen after the disappointing Celebrity and Melinda and Melinda, and some parts, especially the protagonist attempting suicide by jumping out the window only to have his life saved by landing on a psychic, were really original and funny. Though some aspects of Avnets film were very difficult to believe, I really enjoyed Al Pacinos performance, and its an average and exciting thriller thats worth seeing once. I was very pleased with Avildsens film, and cant believe that I never bothered watching it over the past thirty years. The extras on the DVD, particularly the recent interviews with the director, writer, martial arts trainer, significant actors and film scorer, were excellent and definitely worth seeing. My Five Stars, for cinematic contribution, were: --Actor: Pat Morita (The Karate Kid) --Actress: Patricia Clarkson (Whatever Works) --Director: John G. Avildsen (The Karate Kid) --Cinematography: Harris Savides (Whatever Works) --Soundtrack: Bill Conti (The Karate Kid). Tonight: Probably watching Match Point (Woody Allen, 2005) and Mirrors (Alexandre Aja, 2008) for the first time, and revisiting Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002) for the first time since it opened in theatres. All the best to you and yours, this evening from Film Club! =)
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 01:14:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015