CINEMANIA:

The Lady in the Water (2006, USA, Shyamalamadingdong)

I loved my lego set. With enough pieces, I could build anything. I didn’t even need a plan; just start snapping the parts together, see where it takes you. Sometimes I’d end up with a wonder for the ages, a magnificent structure of spontaneous imagination. At first M. Night Shyamalan’s films looked like similarly well-constructed pieces. They had their charms, as the pervasive sadness and sense of loss in Sixth Sense imbued that film with the sort of emotional depth seldom found in a ghost story. Even Unbreakable, despite being weighed down with a similar “gotcha” ending, was a tale of wounded and yearning people whose plight drew audiences in.

The Little Fugitive (USA, 1953, Morris Engel)

Wonders "Where did I put my towel?"

Where Ben and I take a trip down Nostalgia Lane

Ben sed:

Truffaunt's tip of the hat to this film pretty much says it all. The 400 Blows is a much more serious work and also a better film, but LF is opening a door for it and will echo loudly later on in Small Change.

The Exorcist (USA, 1973, William Friedkin)

Don't Try This at Home, Kids

Wherein two atheists explore just how The Exorcist manages to work its hocus pocus on us.

Ben sed:

I was surprised at how intelligent this film is. I know that it is classified as a "horror" picture and it is supposed to be scary. But I think this is marketing gloss. It does not partake of the classic, gothic, monster genre that is horror proper. And it does not tap into the psycho, slasher, terror trip either.

Santa baby, can I hurry down your chimney tonight?

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005, USA, Shane Black)

Ben and I kick around the tires of this po-mo puff piece.

Ben sed:

What can I tell ya? I was out of the house and Monica rebelled. She picked this up along with The Producers, which I missed. I think this is the first time I am sending you a review of a film I don't know whether or not you have seen yourself. I suspect you have but in case you haven't, this is your spoiler alert.

The Straight Story (1999, USA, David Lynch)

Where Ben and I wrangle over the film's hokiness quotient.

Ben:

I really was looking forward to Manhatten last night but Max, who is usually cool about being left out, actively campaigned to be included, probably because it was Monica's birthday yesterday, and I just figured Manhatten would be too slow for him. Little did I know that Monica would select an even slower film, good for the whole family... oh vey, is it good for the whole family.

Persona (Sweden, 1966, Ingmar Bergman)

Ben and I discuss Bergman's Triumph

Ben sed:

Definitely not a "movie" - a FILM! (I got this nomenclature from Woody Allen, by the way, he probably took his cue from the French.)

This film is so dated. Dated the way Chekov and St. Paul's Cathedral are dated, the way Van Gogh and Bach are dated. I haven't seen much Bergman and I haven't seen any since Fanny and Alexander came out, what, 20 years ago. And the man has had a very long and productive career.

Manhattan (USA, 1979, Woody Allen)

Ben and I continue our discussion of the works of Woody Allen, prime time.

Ben sed:

A couple of qualifiers before the actual review.

Even at the time it was hard not to compare this film to AH and now it is also tough not to judge it in relation to everything Woody did after it. But the missing link is, truly, Interiors and it is clear that MAN is a work somewhere inbetween AH and INT.

Annie Hall (USA, 1977, Woody Allen)

Will Woody Ever Grow Up?

Ben and I exchange pleasantries about Woody's masterpiece.

Ben sed:

Sublime.

And Dan:

Agreed.

Then Ben:

can't tell you what this film meant to me, growing up in Regina, surrounded by goys, my dad from Brooklyn, my mom a runnaway from Hitler, all of her people resettled in New York. Not just another movie. I've been quoting half the dialogue for so long now, I didn't even remember where I had picked it up originally.

Kung Fu Hustle (Hong Kong, 2001, Stephen Chow)

Ben sed:

I love this movie! At one point I called it Bruce Lee meets Mad Magazine. Not bad for an old guy, not up to speed and never into the genre to begin with, but still, Entertainment Weekly on the box wins with "Kill Bill meets Looney Tunes." It's the second half of the equation that makes it work for me, of course.