David Vining's Blog, page 196

Peeping Tom

Here’s another movie, like Persona, that I felt compelled to watch twice. I could appreciate the craft of it on the first viewing, but the movie didn’t quite connect with me. Insisting that I must have missed something (and having the movie continue to be available for free on TubiTV), I let the movie sink in for a couple of weeks and revisited. I’m really glad that I did.

The movie is more of an intellectual exercise rather than an emotional one, while at the same time it’s challenging the...

The Ring (1927)

Alfred Hitchcock’s third movie is a step down and a step away from The Lodger. It’s a love triangle dealing with two boxers and the woman in between them. For most of its runtime, it’s a flatly filmed affair with two nearly indistinguishable leads, but it does have moments of inspiration.

The film starts with “One Round” Jack at a carnival. He’s a boxer who takes on any comer, beating them all in one round. He meets his match when a disguised professional boxer, Bob, gets pushed into...

Movie News – Week of 1/20

So, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. Holidays, and I don’t expect anyone to actually use me as a news source. So,…

News that caught my eye

Dune News! Wormsign! We have Dune wormsign news!

First Dune Reaction Compares It To Lord Of The Rings And Original Star Wars Trilogy

Again, only sort of news.

Apparently they screened some footage and opinions leaked. The comparison to LOTR and Star Wars isn’t a comment on how the movie looks, but on how the viewer perceived the impact to...

Child 44

I was very unsurprised by the information that the first cut of this film was over five hours long. The final product of Child 44 is the exact right mix of overstuffed and underdeveloped that would come with shaving three hours out of a five hour movie while trying to keep as much in as possible. The big moments are still there, but so much of the connective tissue is gone.

There are really two interrelated stories at play in this film. The first is what’s on the posters and what was made...

Midsommar

I don’t like really comparing films, but I think it’s unavoidable to do that between Midsommar and Ari Aster’s first film, Hereditary. Not only are they stylistically very similar, but they deal with very similar subjects (cults) and end on very, very similar notes. I think Aster’s first film is the better of the two, though. It’s not because it came first, but it’s because the first film is more focused and clear headed about its narrative.

Dani and Christian are on the verge of breaking up...

Diamonds are Forever

This movie is silly, and it’s silly in some pretty destructive ways that almost feel unintentional. It’s also loosely built with a bored looking Sean Connery. It has its moments, but I really found this seventh Bond adventure one of the hardest to sit through.

The movie begins with a frantic action beat as Bond breaks into Blofeld’s secret layer, kills the man about to become his double and then Blofled himself. It feels like a continuation, but none of the events of On Her Majesty’s Secret...

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

There are usually three Bond girls in a Bond film. The first essentially gets Bond into the adventure and dies. The second is a henchwoman who also dies. The third is the one that gets the “true love” treatment where Bond says sweet things to her and ends the movie with her in her arms (in these early Bond films, almost always in a boat). On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, though, takes a different tact and makes what might be the smartest use of a Bond girl in the franchise.

The Countess...

You Only Live Twice

This movie is a few things just under the surface, and not all of them work. However, the surface is just a solid James Bond adventure. We have all the typical elements and a plot extremely reminiscent of some of the other films, but it’s entertainingly packaged and delivered.

I think one of the keys to the film’s success is that it balances the ridiculousness of its premise well against its tone. Using a relaunchable rocket to swallow up Gemini capsules in space is ridiculous, but it’s...

Thunderball

The first word that comes to mind when thinking of Sean Connery’s fourth outing as James Bond is “tedious”. The second word is “frantic”. That’s a really odd combination, but Thunderball manages to pull it off. This is what I would call the first outright failure of the Bond films.

It’s also the first that’s explicitly built around a gimmick. That gimmick is, of course, its underwater action scenes. Looking up the posters of the film for this post, I was struck at how even those blared on...

Goldfinger

Where From Russia with Love found its groove late in the running, Goldfinger fires on all cylinders from the opening. Sean Connery is just as suave and cool as before, but the movie is more assured from the outset, confidently placing Bond in situations and against an antagonist who’s interesting, intelligent, and threatening from the start. This is the first Bond movie that’s a complete package from beginning to end.

One of the fun things about Goldfinger that didn’t happen in the first two...