Go, you Huskies
No cinema visits this week.
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
It’s Denzel. In a vest. In the 40s.
The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
So I finally did what I’ve been saying to myself for a few years I was going to do: I watched the extended versions of all three Rings films in one day. I almost made it too, I got to halfway through the 3rd film before I had to retire sleepy and watch the remainder the next day. Since the 21st Century began, I’ve only encountered three films that are unquestionable masterpieces that are going to be debated and discussed and watched for decades, and they are Mulholland Drive, Irreversible and The Lord of the Rings, which I most certainly count as one film. I didn’t see anything in my little marathon session to make me change my opinion. Hobbits aren’t for everyone, but those people who use them as an excuse not to imbibe really don’t know what they’re missing.
State and Main (2000)
It seems odd that Rebecca Pidgeon should have married David Mamet. She was in a group called Ruby Blue in the 1980s; I have one 12 inch single of theirs. It seems odder still that not only does Mamet cast his wife in his films, but that she should be so damned good. This is one of those Hollywood goes to town and makes a movie movies, so it’s full of jokes that are a little inside. And since it’s Mamet, it’s full of people being beastly to one another.
Heist (2001)
Rebecca Pidgeon turns up again here naturally enough, her hair cut short, her character a whole lot more mercenary. One of the pleasures of this film is seeing it as a kind of harder edged remix of Get Shorty, since it stars Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito and Delroy Lindo, and has a key early role for Sam Rockwell. There are few things better than watching great actors tearing strips off each other at a furious pace. And there are few writers better at delivering this than David Mamet.
The Big Lebowski (1998)
I’ve never liked Withnail and I. Never having been a great imbiber myself, nor having lived like a student in some horrendous bedsit slum, I’ve never seen the appeal of a celebration of losers who spend all their time drinking. Which perhaps makes me closer to the other Lebowski. I’ve never really liked The Big Lebowski though I’m starting to warm to it since I’m starting to appreciate it for what it is, rather than what it’s not. Sometimes films don’t reveal themselves to you properly first time around because you’re concentrating on the plot so hard, you don’t leave yourself open to whatever else the film may be offering you. It’s only on a 2nd or 3rd viewing when you know the plot that the incidentals of character or humour or insight start to break through.
Spartan (2003)
I appear to have had a mini David Mamet season this week. This film marks a major break in his filmography as it takes in bits and bobs from the action movie genre. It’s still full of guys saying things like, “The way it’s gonna be is the way it’s gonna be,” and breaking people’s arms. But it’s in widescreen, it’s unrelenting and it’s not polite. Although no one actually comes out and says it, this seems to be a film about the kidnapping of the daughter of the President of the United States. She might be a senator’s daughter, or even a congressman’s, but if I was paying enough attention, I don’t think anyone outright comes out and says it. The other thing is that Val Kilmer is back from the wilderness.