I suppose I really should do a bit of a post-holiday film round-up, since I love the cinema and all.  Frankly, I haven’t been very good at catching movies lately, but here is my take on a couple of flicks I did sit through.

I did not care for Syriana – I’m as educated and intelligent as the next guy, but the narrative did not work for me and the whole film seemed like an extended trailer with each of the character’s bullet points.  It’s a shame because I really enjoyed Stephen Gaghan’s Traffic.  My dad says maybe after these hellish couple of years of world history ...

maybe folks don’t wanna see a movie as serious as Syriana – methinks the problems with the film are deeper than that.  Definitely could have used a more adept editor.

The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe epic really changed my Chinese housemate’s life – it prompted him to buy his fist big English-language book and (maybe) read it – he loved that movie, he was gushing in pidgen for days - the lion apparently was so real - very life changing for him! Although I enjoyed (most of) the books as a kid – my folks, by the way, loathed them as being too dark- I just don’t get into the self-important fantasy stuff.  Especially elves, talking animals, and fairies and the like. I do have a fondness for mermaids, though. The Chronicles of Narnia was well-made and entertaining - and bravely captured some of the darker elements of the original source - and should make for a good franchise but I’m not exactly a convert.

Brokeback Moutain is a solid, affecting film and should be sweeping the major award nominations.  I was touched by Annie Proulx's short story in The New Yorker a couple of years back and Ang Lee and the cast and crew do a wonderful job of bringing it to life and expanding upon the spirit of the piece.  People were truly BAWLING their way out of the theater.  Myself, I was sore having caught the film early in its release and had to deal with over-crowded conditions and nose-bleed front-row seats – and unfortunately was surrounded by the most over-emotive, irritating and responsive (i.e., unbridled audience participation) nellies.  I’m inclined to agree with this guy with his spot-on take (scroll to the 12-14-05 “Top Ten” - Mark Allen rocks!).

Yikes, I’m such a cynic…  ummm, Jesus is Magic featuring Sarah Silverman was muy annoying and narcissistic, The Squid and the Whale was a little too annoyingly close to home for me in parts, and Neil Jordan’s Breakfast On Pluto looked exhilarating in previews but turned out to be trite, schematic, and Cillian Murphy's peformance was, well, highly annoying.

Über talented Gavin Friday’s turn as a washed-out troubadour (and IRA weapons hoarder) is awesome and Bryan Ferry’s cameo is just about the creepiest moment I’ve seen on film in a long while, and the glam period music is fantastico, though, and here’s the Rubettes with their classic seventies feel-good single featured prominently throughout Breakfast on Pluto:

Sugar Baby Love

And my beloved Willie Nelson's poignant paen to unrequited rancher love – a Dylan cover - off of the excellent Brokeback Mountain OST (most tracks do not appear during the film):

He Was a Friend of Mine

Ah jes can't quit this blog - more music to come!

Comments

[chiqui]

Informative post. Back from India. Al & I just had our first night back in Manila. Great. Wine, pasta, Roy Orbison. Hope you are well.

By the way, guess who was in my apartment building While we were away in India -- David Byrne!!! He's doing a musical on Imelda with Fat Boy Slim so he was in Manila doing research and was introduced to Butch who lives in my bldg. Carlos has pictures with him on his blog. Can't believe we missed him! Grr..

[chiqui]

you gotta read David Byrne's journal on his trip to the Philippines, if you haven't yet http://journal.davidbyrne.com/2005/12/philippines_mar.html

[torn]

"He was friend of mine" is one of Dylan's earliest compositions and a hell of a song, I'm listening to it right now. Would like to hear Willie's version. I wasn't clear, is it in Brokeback mountain (the movie) or just the soundtrack? That's disappointing that you didn't like Syriana -- last year I saw one American movie (Sideways) and Syriana was going to be my American movie for this year. Mebbe I won't see any this year!

[torn]

Btw -- those business ideas (opening a store specializing in Asian artefacts, so far as I understood it}, sounded promising. Keep us in touch.