34. Flirting With Heights (***)
The best kind of doc - the artist is personally involved and committed. Not National Geographic perfection but jaw-dropping nevertheless. Some of the shots and sequences appear to be impossible. The narration, just as Herzog does, brings an added level of aesthetic purity to the experience.
35. Headshot (**)
Thai noir! Straightforward basic story - cop fights corruption, gets framed and jailed, becomes hit-man for vigilante group (that only targets bad guys), gets shot in the head when an assignment goes sideways, recovers only sees everything upside down now, joins monastery, gets chased by bad guys, leaves monastery, kills bad guys, goes back to prison, gets out and joins monastery again, gets shot and killed. Lots of noir flourishes, though, including a sarcastic female who's there (twice) when he really needs a getaway car and who happens to be related to the assassination victim that resulted in his head wound, and... oh, never mind. Stylish enough to hold my interest, though.
36. Miss Bala (***)
Aside from wondering why this film is called Miss Bala when it takes place in Baja, I found it to be gripping throughout. Mexico's a mess these days and this movie appears to paint a pretty authentic picture of this macho, self-destructive, drug-saturated culture. The superb camera work imparts a relentless edginess to the story as it unfolds, perfectly underlining the hopelessness that average citizens, like the female protagonist, live with every day. Oh, and the beauty pageant is rigged!
37. Starbuck (***)
When it comes to this kind of social comedy material, Quebec sait faire! The setup may be improbable, but once you accept it, every thing that follows is sheer delight. The emotions generated feel real and the humour is organic. No cliches and no contrivance. Wonderfully entertaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment