Titanic (1997)

USA
written and directed by: James Cameron
starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Bill Paxton, Bernard Hill, Ioan Gruffud
comment: 19th January, 2018

I have such contradictory opinions about this film I can't recollect any other to match it right now. It is the embodiment, the ultimate homage and also an unfortunate forshadowing of all the blockbuster plagues that stop me from taking this branch of entertainment cinema seriously: it distorts history and its facts, it romanticizes misfortune and catastrophy, it wants to be the biggest of them all, the run-time is never-ending, it's a criticism of capitalism by the ultimate capitalists, and probably a load of other stuff I can't remember right now. (Casting absurdly attractive faces in the lead roles should be on the list, but I'm not including it in this case, because both the belle and the beau here are legitimate, competent and charismatic actors, while many of the models we see occupying the posters of blockbusters today simply are not and being beautiful is often perceived as being a good actor, see Margot Robbie for example.)

But on the other hand, I keep rewatching it without the desire to pull my brain out of my head with a hook through my nasal cavities. And amongst all the diversion there are two moments that always make me cry and that I genuinely really like: The first one is at the end of the film, when Rose gets to the whistle and the camera stays on her face and her eyes, and the other is the tracking shot of the photos old Rose keeps at her side, especially when the picture of her ridding a horse like a man is shown. However, during the viewing in January 2018 I added one more instance of crying on my agenda, and that was straight at the beginning when I remembered that Bill Paxton is no longer with us. Rest in peace, you damn fine guy.

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

USA/Italy/France/Brazil
directed by: Luca Guadagnino
written by: James Ivory + André Aciman (book)
starring: Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg
seen on 18th January, 2018

That last shot really is devastating. Love sucks.

But goddamn, the more I think about the film and the more I try to analyse it for myself the worse and more amateurish it seems. Timothée is really brilliant, vibrant, genuine and interesting and I would wholeheartedly wish for him to win that Oscar. Nonetheless, he shines far brighter than any other aspect of the film. Armie tries really hard, and he does have some cute moments, but he mostly only accomplishes to confirm his status as a handsome (as opposed to talented) actor and most of the time (also thanks to the fact that by following him on Instagram I am aware that he is a family oriented adult male with a wife and two kids) he does not fit the part and at times he even seems extremely miscast.

The flow of events is a bit forced and somewhat mechanical and Guadagnino probably still needs to do a lot of directing to learn how to tell such a subtle and not-story-oriented story. I do like the direction he seems to be taking, but I am baffled by the critics that say that his directing is a third main character in the story. The soundtrack only supported this clumsy feel the film gave me instead of lifting it up.

In retrospect, I should have kept the original fleeting impression and dropped the dissection of a simple film about one's first love.

- After four months of listening to "Visions Of Gideon" nonstop and being moved by the beauty and powers of art I do wish that the film before "that" were at least a bit better because the ending is so gosh darn terribly beautifully brilliant!

The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

USA
directed by: Raoul Walsh
written by: Lotta Woods, Douglas Fairbanks (as Elton Thomas)
starring: Douglas Fairbanks, Julanne Johnston, Sôjin Kamiyama
comment: 5th January, 2018

"Happiness must be earned."

Wow, that's what I call a hero's journey. I've never really properly seen anything with Douglas Fairbanks before and now I'm being swept away. His physical (or should I say corporeal) acting creates a character so tangible, interesting and ultimately likable that it makes my heart overflow with joy just watching him. He is the alpha and the omega of the film and that might be why the film seems to slow down when the screen is ocupied by the other suitors. But when he's in the spotlight, wow it's wild. I especially liked the humanoid tree and the underwater harlots tempting him into their lair. And the sets and costumes were all really beautiful. I think I would find a place for some of the lamps from the palace and for the sheer embroidered cloak the caliph was wearing as well.

All in all, I think Raoul Walsh beats Griffith in all the right places when it comes to an oriental spectacle. I mean, he still somewhat presents white people as the good guys and minorities as the bad guys, but his film is not built on the premise that that's the predetermined way things will always be.

Prizzi's Honor (1985)

USA
directed by: John Huston
written by: Richard Condon (+ book), Janet Roach
starring: Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, William Hickey, Anjelica Huston
comment: 1st January, 2018

Hm, maybe four out of five stars is too much, but considering what a diabolical work Anjelica displays in the tiny space she's confined to, three out of five is too little. And I still have to mention that William Hickey probably also arrived at our planet through a rip in the ceiling of hell.

Given the fact that I don't especially like mafia film, I've enjoyed this one quite a lot. I was most amused by the straightforward story not pretending to be something more than what it really is. Because the make-believe grandeur of The Godfather is one of my long-term cinema pet peeves. If it were not for Pacino, I wouldn't use The Godfather as a temporary bicycle stand for my bike (that's a direct translation of a czech expression and I wonder how confusing it is for the rest of the world). It's interesting that everybody calls Huston (and his film) old and tired, while Coppola gets all the praise for a modern masterpiece. And in my head, it's a bit the other way round, The Godfather seems a lot more worn out, protracted and stuck in a time long long gone.