I was just reading about Terminator: Salvation on one of my favourite blogs. I don’t expect this movie to be any good. Movies with people fighting CGI robots got old a long time ago (probably when Lost In Space came out). The ongoing CGI special effects laden sequel-fest has gone on for way too long, and produced very few quality films.
I am apprehensive about the upcoming Trek film for similar reasons.
Even otherwise decent movies seem to think that you need cgi robots or monsters whacking the shit out of each other for 20 minutes, supposedly in the place of a climax. Somebody buy modern day Hollywood a DVD of Notorious, the climax of which was both extremely simple and incredibly intense.
In the documentary Helvetica it is hypothesized that in terms of design, society goes through a multi-decadal oscillation between “clean” designs and those tending toward more busy designs. They support the point by referring to the ads from the 50s, compared to ads from the 70s. Similarly, the 90s were shown to be a time of messy design, and the present day was shown having returned to more a more austere style.
This change from messy style in the 90s to a cleaner style now is evident when comparing Braindead and Teeth. Braindead is considered by many to be the goriest movie ever made. Teeth* had a much more sparse design, where blood was seen more as an occasional accent rather than a predominant visual theme.
Each of these films had a veiled message behind all of the violence, and each was successful in getting that message across. The differing levels of gore have no bearing on the ability of the film to portray its message.
* A recent commenter opined that Teeth wasn’t very well made. I don’t believe that this is true. I think that Teeth has a more austere aesthetic than a lot of horror films, but the production quality was fine, even if it was a bit TV movie-ish.
The premise of Be Kind, Rewind was that the populace loves motion pictures and would love to have a greater level of input into motion picture production. A struggling video store revitalizes not only itself, but the whole community by recreating popular motion pictures with a local flavour. The locals all become very involved in the local film production, each taking acting roles, or production roles in the remade films.
The neighbouring video store, clearly supposed to represent large corporate rental chains like blockbuster, or the now defunct Rogers Video, has a meddlesome owner who would be all-to-happy to see the independent video store go under. This is an analogue for the big budget movie companies trying to undercut and out compete independent films, even though they pose no real threat to the core business of the so-called majors.
Using the old convention of showing the enemy in a film unflatteringly, the owner of the corporate video store is shown in a very negative light. He is mostly concerned with his profits, and does not stock any historically interesting or important films. For example, the protagonist of the film went to rent an Ingmar Bergman film but was unable to do so because none were in stock.
By copying popular movies produced by H9ollywood, the community members broke numerous copyright and trademark laws. Eventually, a lawyer played by Sigourney Weaver) is dispatched by the corporate video store owner to have the productions shut down. All of the videos are smashed; the staff and the followers of their films are struck down by grief. After a rousing speach by one of their order, they make a mockumentary about a jazz legend being born locally, even though he was not. Their mock documentary is shown at a local film festival and is received graciously. The point of the film is that creating original work in an independent fashion is much more advantageous than trying to rip-off and rehash the formulaic plots done in Hollywood.
This anti-corporate message, cast aside the twin messages of community and anti-corporatism makes this film a prime candidate to be considered under Adorno and Horkheimer’s Marxist film theory. That theory states that the standardization in corporate film making drives consumption by the masses, and in doing so subjugates them to the will of the people to that of the corporate (capitalist) film producers. “Be Kind, Rewind” definitely agrees that there is a problem with the means of corporate film production; it is shown as having a negative effect on the community’s creativity. However, the film doesn’t explicitly state that movies are made to subjugate the will of the people and drive production. This may be implied in some scenes, but not enough to really qualify the film as Marxist.
The protagonist of the film is played by Melanie Griffith. She plays a bounty hunter who takes her client into a lawless desert to acquire a replacement for a sexbot whose circuitry he fried.
An interesting aspect of the film is the gang of antagonists. When I first saw the group of thugs dressed up in their 50s regalia, I assumed the clothing design was a reference to the droogs. The lifestyle that the gang leads is shown later in the film. They lead the Utopic 50s lifestyle; they spend their days sitting around a pool barbecuing while their women sunbathe in bikinis. As the film progresses, it becomes apparent that the protagonists aren’t just fighting against the anachronistic militia, but also symbolically fighting against their outdated mode of thought.
For supposedly being a movie about empowerment, Enchanted was very sexist. It’s a spoiler, but it’s needless to say that the female protagonist is saved by a man at the end of the film. Disney’s whole princess fetish is unabashedly sexist, so this should be expected.
Any goodness this movie aspired to was spoiled by its sexist and conventional plot. Avoid this film at all costs.
I am a big fan of science fiction films from the 70s. They focused more on issues than special effects.
In The Andromeda Strain pathogens from space enter the biosphere after being transported via falling satellite. A common theme in Michael Crichton’s work was unforeseen consequences of technology or science having disastrous effects on humanity.
The movie was not bad at all. It’s worth wasting 130 minutes of your life on.
