Elephant (2003)
(Directed by Gus Van Sant)
Pretty good. It's mostly composed of long takes of teenagers walking through highways which strangely enough is kinda of how I remember high school. It's pretty quiet and elliptical with characters being introduced just barely. We don't get to know anyone besides a surface level kind of way (the way they look like, clothes, hobbies, etc) but that seems to be the point. The thing that really drags this down for me is when it gets too specific (the stuff with the killers).
*Spoilers, I guess*
There's scenes of them watching some Nazi stuff on TV and playing violent video games and then a scene where they both take a shower together and kiss. Now, that doesn't mean this is what caused it or whatever but I think the film would've been better if it had ellided all of this in favor of the ambiguity that it uses elsewhere in the film.
Basically, I wanted more teens walking down hallways. Maybe add some dreamy music to it and I'm sold
★★★
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
(Directed by Monte Hellman)
How strange. So quiet and austere. I expected something completely different. It seems to me to be about the most moody and sensitive "guy" film I've ever seen. James Taylor drives and looks awesome while the Girl changes cars, gives kisses and goes other places. The engines rev and G.T.O. picks up random people. Performance and image. That's what it's all about. What am I to make of this? "Tonally perfect," you said it was. I'd agree. It put me in a very strange mood. And it continued for a while after that. The Driver moves through space in such a cool and interesting way. What do I make of that? What exactly is going on here? Did anyone win? Will we repeat this shit over and over again? I think you got yourselves an automobile race.
★★★1/2
Trust (1990)
(Directed by Hal Hartley)
*Spoilers, I guess*
There's scenes of them watching some Nazi stuff on TV and playing violent video games and then a scene where they both take a shower together and kiss. Now, that doesn't mean this is what caused it or whatever but I think the film would've been better if it had ellided all of this in favor of the ambiguity that it uses elsewhere in the film.
Basically, I wanted more teens walking down hallways. Maybe add some dreamy music to it and I'm sold
★★★
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
(Directed by Monte Hellman)
How strange. So quiet and austere. I expected something completely different. It seems to me to be about the most moody and sensitive "guy" film I've ever seen. James Taylor drives and looks awesome while the Girl changes cars, gives kisses and goes other places. The engines rev and G.T.O. picks up random people. Performance and image. That's what it's all about. What am I to make of this? "Tonally perfect," you said it was. I'd agree. It put me in a very strange mood. And it continued for a while after that. The Driver moves through space in such a cool and interesting way. What do I make of that? What exactly is going on here? Did anyone win? Will we repeat this shit over and over again? I think you got yourselves an automobile race.
★★★1/2
Trust (1990)
(Directed by Hal Hartley)
There's something immensely appealing about this film and it's hard to pinpoint what it is. Maybe I just have a huge crush on Adrienne Shelley or the fact that Martin Donovan is all kinds of awesome. Or perhaps there's something to the extremely stilted delivery of the dialogue here. Or the bright visuals. Or all the other self-conscious stuff going on here. I dunno. But something about it.... something about it... made it so special. There's a lot of useless shit here as well but somehow it seems necessary to the tone and overall effect.
Anyway, really, really glad I watched this
★★★★
Oh, so, yeah.
Jhon's Movie of the Week is... Trust.
Anyway, really, really glad I watched this
★★★★
Oh, so, yeah.
Jhon's Movie of the Week is... Trust.
2 comments:
Correct!
I thought the presentation of the killers in Elephant created ambiguity, we see so much of what they do that we can't blame any one thing for their actions.
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