Jason's Blog, page 78

2 panels, 1 film 13

http://lewistrondheim.tumblr.com/

?

Is there a German word for that moment when you realize that most main characters in movies and tv shows are around 30 years old, and that you are older than that, almost old enough to be the dad of the character? Well, there should be.

The Brothers Bloomchurch

The Brothers BloomAh, too much quirk. Far too much. Half would have been enough. Between Brick and Looper Rian Johnson made this film. It looks like he was trying to do his version of Topkapi, even having Robbie Coltrane in a Peter Ustinov-y part. The first ten minutes are really awkward. There's a constant artificial tone, that you either take or don't. I didn't and gave up after 45 minutes.
Broadchurch, season 1
You can see a moody Wallander, The Killing, Scandinavian crime influence on this show. I don't think the plotting is that strong. It feels a bit mechanical in the way it sets up the red herrings. But the dialogues are pretty great, and the characters actually feel like real people, often, great shock!, behaving like real people would. And the last episode got quite emotional, I must confess.

Another book...

to look forward to, in May this year. The story of Paulette Cooper, told by Tony Ortega. It should fit well on my bookshelf next to Going Clear by Lawrence Wright.

Winsor McCay

Un jour triste, a sad day

2 panels, 1 film douze

http://lewistrondheim.tumblr.com/

Corto Maltese Falcon

Magritte panels

Only Pacific Rim Left Alive

Pacific RimGod, this film made me feel old. As in "Is this what the kids like to watch these days?" I didn't get anything out of it. The whole Who will he team up with? thing, the action scenes, the cgi overload, the stock characters -- nothing felt real or like something I should care about. There was one shot in the film I thought was fun, where the arm of the robot went into that building and made the Newton's Cradle toy start clicking. I'm sure it must be fun for Del Toro to get all those millions of dollars to play with, but so far his Hollywood output is just a lot less interesting than his Spanish films.
Only Lovers Left AliveOkay, Stranger Than Paradise and Down by Law are classics, but Jarmusch's other films have been uneven. He's moved on, which is a good thing, I guess. He doesn't try to make hipster black and white films anymore. I enjoyed Limits of Contol, his previous film. It had an ambiguity that I found lacking in this one -- the story is pretty straight forward. And the best Jarmusch films are "saved" by having a great ending. Which doesn't really happen this time. But Hiddleston could use it as an audition tape if he wants to be cast as Sandman.