Over the course of several months....

The Cat's Meow -

Fictionalized account of the murder of Thomas Ince by William Randolph Hearst on his boat and the beginnings of the cover-up. The story itself was recounted in the film RKO 281 that I reviewed before. My main interest in this film was some of the casting. Particularly Eddie Izzard as Charlie Chaplin. But for the most part I found the acting mostly meh. Cary Elwes did a decent job of Thomas Ince and Jennifer Tilly was ok as Louella Parsons. Joanna Lumley was good as Elinor Glyn. But Kirsten Dunst did not play a good Marion Davies (neither did Melanie Griffith for that matter, no one has done a good job as Marion Davies). I preferred James Cromwells W.R Hearst to Edward Herrmann's. And then there is Eddie Izzard.

I really like Eddie Izzard. I have all his comedy albums and they kill me. I think he's fucking hysterical. But...but...he did a piss poor job as Chaplin. For surprising reasons. He gave a very naturalistic performance of Chaplin, which for the vast majority of people would be good. But not for Chaplin. All the archival footage and documentaries of Chaplin I have seen indicate he was a very prim and proper person in his demeanor. Very uptight and prone to speaking with flowery language. I.e. not very natural. Maybe I'm in a minority of not liking Izzards performance because I actually am well versed with Chaplin, but I was not happy. It was odd casting choice and I wanted to see how it played out. It didn't.

The film, for the most part, is pretty inoffensive. It's just kind of there.

Grade: C

Spirited Away -

Some people consider this Miyazaki's masterpiece. I disagree. Don't get me wrong, I loved this film and I thought it was brilliant. I just don't think it's as good as Princess Mononoke. And the main difference is in the characterization. The characters in Princess Mononoke were so fully rounded, so developed, they felt real. I loved, I absolutely loved, how there weren't any real villians in that film. Oh sure, the woman gunmaker was killing forest gods, but she took in and took care of lepers. She wasn't evil, it was just a clash of societies. That was missing in Spirited Away. The crone was evil, her twin sister was good. It was all black and white and I didn't like that, mainly because I know Miyazaki can do better. As such, I think one of the most interesting characters was No Face. Sure, he acted evil when he got inside the bathhouse, but as Sen points out, he just goes crazy, he's not really bad. In a different situation he's quite kind.

And some of the plot points were iffy. The twin sister? The sudden realization of who Haku is? Too convenient.

But that's pretty much the only flaws there. The animation was nothing short of breathtaking. There were times I sat there just looking at the backgrounds. I mean, there were steps, just plain old steps, but they were painted with 4 different shades of green. Every single shot was like a painting, full of beautiful color and delicate intricacy. You just don't see that in animation. That level of care. It was gorgeous to behold.

Grade: A

Escape from L.A. -

The sequel to the cult film Escape from New York. I've seen the original. Even reviewed it here. As I said it doesn't do much for me, but I can appreciate it on a certain level. It was a nice combination of kitsch and cult. Escape from LA? It's bad. Very very bad. It has a lot of the kitsch, but none of the cult. It was not made with any grace, or class, or care. The production values were crap, the special effects were embarassing even for 1996. The plot was a combination of rehashing the originals sets with incomprehensible bullshit. The action setpieces were either bland and boring, or so rediculous to make me want to spit. I literally said, out loud, several times "what the fuck?" The social commentary, necessary for any film of this genre, was more than heavyhanded. The oppressive theocracy, the Beverly Hills doctor, the agent. A sledgehammer would've been more subtle.

I'm astonished they got the cast they did. I recognized nearly everyone in the opening credits. Stacy Keach, Michelle Forbes, Bruce Campbell, Pam Grier, Valeria Golino. Steve Buscemi. Peter Fonda? Peter fucking Fonda. Who had probably the worst role in the film.

Much like the first film, it did manage to redeem itself a little at the end with a stunning bit of nihilism on the part of Snake. I liked that. Didn't like anything else.

Grade: F