Archives for the Month of August 2009 on media addict
Inglourious Basterds
I wasn't sure what to expect when I went to see Inglourious Basterds yesterday. The trailer for the movie was awful, just a lot of shouting and violence. Fortunately Inglourious Basterds is nothing like its trailer. This is throwback movie in a lot of ways, with fantastic location shooting, an incredibly talented international cast and plenty of Quentin Tarantino trade marks.
Despite what the name of the film would have you believe, Inglourious Basterds features relatively little of the basterds (Brad Pitt and his band of Jewish soldiers). Instead this film is a true ensemble piece with many different characters who converge for the climactic final scenes. This allows some of the lesser known cast members who make up the majority of the cast to really shine. Christoph Waltz who plays the main villain and Mélanie Laurent who plays a Jew in hiding were particularly good.
The film making on display here is also impeccable. The cinematography was great, featuring some very long takes as well as some beautiful exteriors. Tarantino does an amazing job milking every bit of suspense from a series of tense, yet entertaining, dialogue heavy scenes. Some of the sequences are hard to watch simply because the buildup is so strong.
I can't say enough good things about this movie. Any problems I had with a few characters or it feeling a little long are vastly overshadowed by how good the rest of the film is. If you are a Tarantino fan, or even if you aren't, give this movie a chance and you might be surprised at what you find. 4.5/5
District 9
District 9 is the kind of movie that needs to be made more often. Unfortunately creative and entertaining science fiction films are few and far between these days. Like the best science fiction it doesn't dwell on the wow factor of its alternate reality, it lives in it and treats it with respect. Instead of trying to blow your mind with visuals, it does what is necessary to get the job done.
Dropping you straight into the story makes for an abrupt start but once you get used to the aliens and the South African accents, District 9 just clicks. It's like a combination of 28 Days Later, Black Hawk Down, and The Fly, but with aliens. I really appreciated that the filmmakers trusted their storytelling and didn't spoon feed the audience the back story, instead dolling it out gradually throughout the film. They also handled the social satire aspects of the film very well. The few times I was afraid the movie was about to get heavy handed, it pulled back and gave some perspective on the situation at hand.
The only issue I had with District 9 was that some of the plot was a bit cliche. Despite the unique circumstances, the film devolves into a standard buddy movie at the end. Even so, this film shows just how much you can do with a relatively low budget. The effects are generally very strong and the acting is solid. Overall a great experience. 4/5
Lonesome Dove Bluray
I have written before about the benefits of old movies that have been remastered in high definition for bluray. After watching Lonesome Dove for the third time, my first in high-def, I cannot complement this title more. While it doesn't look as sharp as a new title would, for a TV miniseries from the late 80's it looks fantastic. In comparison to the DVD version it is amazing how much detail and texture can now be seen where before there was only low resolution video noise. Some of the night scenes still contain a few rough moments, but that can easily be forgiven when the rest of this six hour masterpiece looks so good. If you are a fan of westerns and you haven't seen Lonesome Dove before you owe it to yourself to check it out in high-def. Treat yourself to one of the best and most brutally realistic portrayals of the American west featuring what is arguably Robert Duvall's best performance.