Short Cuts - Part #1

Short reviews of everything I have seen in the past couple of months, ranked from bottom to the top. In Part 2, I'll be writing about the three best films I've seen this past couple of months: Godard, Scorsese and Kurosawa. Not bad at all.

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Prometheus (Scott, 2012): 4/10

Messy, contrived and often ridiculous. Immensely disappointing return to the Alien franchise for Ridley Scott. Screenplay was almost disastrous and editing was noticeably problematic. Astonished that its numerous flaws has been overlooked by a number of respected critics, simply because of its admittedly stunning visuals. Still, pretty pictures don’t make a film on their own.

The Amazing Spider-Man (Webb, 2012): 5/10

The Spider-man origin story receives the (500) Days of Summer treatment from director Marc Webb. Unabashedly commercial and completely harmless. As a whole the movie was utterly forgettable, complete with a strange and uncomfortable take on Peter Parker by Andrew Garfield. It will be very, very hard to get excited for the unavoidable sequel.

The Game (Fincher, 1997): 6/10

For the large part, it was interesting as a narrative experiment and a taut thriller. But in the end, it fails to reconcile the inherently conflicting tones in the screenplay and can’t quite decide what it wants to accomplish. The lame ending also diminishes and renders the tension generated in the earlier parts of the film somewhat meaningless.

Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994): 8/10

The copycats have reduced Pulp Fiction’s ability to shock. Regardless, it still remains an energetic and memorable film that is chock full of one-liners and quotable quotes. Yet it also showcases a surprisingly elegance in terms of both narrative and overall direction. More than anything else, it’s a reminder of how brilliantly Tarantino constructs characters and how his much-copied dialogue remains uniquely his own creation.

Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001): 8/10

Miyazaki’s much-celebrated film is meticulously crafted and beautifully realised. At its core, it is the simple story of a girl discovering what it means to grow up. Yet the film is far more complex than it appears: his constructed world lends itself to a discussion of greed, pollution and love amongst other heavier themes. Yet his skills as a storyteller ensure that the film never once strays from its intentions as a heartfelt ode to growing up.