ldecola Reviews

The Surgeon's Cut (2020)

watching gods perform magic

[8/10 · 18 January 2021]

Surgery is a technology in which a man - or, rarely, woman - is the center of a ridiculously expensive system of machines and people. In the pantheon of our advanced techno-culture the doctor is a god, and surgeons the supreme deities, so it is indeed fascinating to watch these wizards perform their magic, and intriguing as well to learn a bit about their personalities and (less so) about their personal roots and private lives. What I found particularly provocative is the way the three men* cloak their supreme egoism in deep spirituality, giving a nod to their own god(s) for the genius they perform. *I was unable to watch more than the first few minutes of one of the portraits - the transplant surgeon reminded me too much of a ship's captain under which I once served: extremely skilled but brutally demanding and unforgivingly rude. Is this what may sometimes be required for a woman to rise into the surgical empyrean - was she a tyrant to begin with, or did that hardness grow out of her struggle to rise in the patriarchy?

Hopscotch (1980)

Bowdlerized!

[7/10 · 3 September 2009]

Watch out - the streaming version I saw on Netflix had the dialog bowdlerized. E.g. when an actor said "son of a bitch" you hear "son of a gun," and so forth. I could tell this was coming because the quality of the sound changed.

Netflix says they distribute the movies as is, so this must have been done upstream.

I'd be interested to know how many of the revelations the Matthau character puts in his book are actually true: seems like I heard that the CIA did try to slip poison cigars to Castro.

Otherwise, an amusing (and unbelievable) film with exciting locations.

Lee De Cola.

Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970)

Vile, senseless, and cruel

[2/10 · 14 April 2009]

I have a rule about always watching films to the end, but this movie tested my resolve almost to the limit. While I found the portrayal of the dwarfs demeaning and the plot almost completely banal, the animal cruelty was unforgivable.

I suppose once the criminal deeds are done we might as well have access to the thing, but god help the family that rents it thinking it's some kind of comedy.

If this is the price the world had to pay for the breathtaking imaginativeness say of Aguirre, then I have to wonder if it was worth it.

Lee De Cola.

Tomorrow (1972)

a window into loss nobly borne

[9/10 · 26 August 2007]

It's always interesting to see a movie from a play. This one made me wonder how the intimate, brooding mood of extended silences reached across the stage into the audience, but it certainly works on film. The Netflix blurb prepared me for a depressing experience, but I came away with a sense that I had spent a few years in a world that is thousands of miles and hundreds of years from my own. The characters have a limited range of expression, but what they feel and say is consistent and almost meditative. Yes, there is tragedy, but the gift of a film that opens a window on deep experience is that you are uplifted rather than let down. A nice little movie that makes me so grateful for DVDs.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

Whole less than the parts

[8/10 · 24 July 2007]

The film has many things to recommend it. Watching such beautiful specimens as the young Newman and Taylor makes you want to leap on the stage and bring them together with you as part of a threesome. Burl Ives is a larger-than-life patriarch who nevertheless seems almost real. Even Jack Carson performs beyond his usual low-key standard. Then there's the slick dialog, except when it's watered down for 1950s Hollywood. People don't talk like that in the real world, but there's no substitute for poetic genius and years of performing and refining the dialog. Finally, even after so much psycho-history, this is still a fascinating portrait of very unhappy people facing age-old problems. But…unfortunately the story ends with a patriarch's impending death saving 2 marriages, curing alcoholism, and making him a loving father - all in the space of an afternoon. So you may be left with a sickly sweet taste. Read the play first, then watch the film – let the former inform the latter, the latter give color and electricity to the former. PS: For years I've been wondering what actor Dick Cheney reminds me of…can you find him in this film?

Why We Fight (2005)

important message, muddy exposition

[7/10 · 25 June 2007]

Ever since Michael Moore brought us the dramatic documentary of Flint Michigan versus General Motors, nonfiction film seems to have gone downhill. This important movie contains one fundamental message: the United States has evolved into a military/industrial/political empire based on the development, production, and marketing of war technologies. In effect the US has built upon the Soviet model by using the power of capitalism to take the command economy to a higher level. But the message of the film is confused with overly dramatic editing and music (the advertising model), cute but distracting subplots (a kid joining the army, an angry dad's growing cynicism), ahistorical sequences and cutting that left me amused but confused. There's no substitute for developing a story and clearly telling it, and when the story is as important as this one, there's no excuse for substituting drama for straightforward narrative. Finally, as an expert in information architecture, I was especially disappointed to see not one graph or table demonstrating the relative and absolute growth of the new imperial military economy. Someone needs to tell this disturbing story clearly, with the facts laid out, letting the drama of an unfolding global disaster express itself.

Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954)

a real fright among the false

[4/10 · 30 December 2005]

I rented this film because the composer was a good friend of my musician father Felix De Cola (who may have played the piano on the score!). It's a silly movie with an absurd monster, but there's a scene around minute 40 where the heroine encounters a shark that had me quite startled. The fish appears to be 2 meters long and its open mouth comes at the camera and then at the girl in several shots. Even if she was an experienced diver, this must have been an unsettling experience. And no, it's almost certainly not an animatronic.

This was a time when the psychotechnology of horror films was developing at its fastest, so you can see how the director (clumsily) tries to manipulate our fears. Crude films often teach us more than well-made ones.

As for the music, there's a distant similarity between Brummer's music and John Williams' Jaws theme, but I doubt the link is real.

The Death of Klinghoffer (2003)

opera close up

[8/10 · 25 November 2005]

Although I have enjoyed the few live and movie productions I have attended, I am not an opera fan, but as a musician I can appreciate its place as ultimate theater/music/art. As such, most operas - even made into movies - tend to feel like distant spectacles; we are the audience, perhaps invited on the stage, but still as spectators. This movie, however, offers us an opportunity to live within the action, even feeling part of the drama. The music is easy to listen to, the settings are realistic, and the singers are obviously masters of their craft; so whatever you feel about the plot or its treatment of the events/issues, I think you will get something positive from spending 2 hours on the Achille Lauro.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

dead humans; live computer

[13 November 2002]

Something had always bothered me about this film; and last week's viewing cleared it up. All of the technology remains spectacular, although the story still doesn't make much sense. The people are almost totally without affect, while the computer shows the only emotion in the story. Kubrick set a pattern here for subsequent sci-fi; the aliens are usually more interesting than the sapiens.

The Deer Hunter (1978)

excellent film with a shaky foundation

[5 November 2002]

We are often drawn to that which disturbs us most, but I cannot understand why Nick spends his time playing the death game. And even if his psychosis was to blame, his chances of surviving more than a few rounds were so poor that it would have been impossible for Michael to have found him alive after so many months of "playing". (One's chances of surviving 10 rounds of 6-shooter Russian Roulette are less than 1-in-6.)

Perhaps the film is an allegory on Cimino's career; Heaven's Gate was the full chamber...?

Heaven's Gate (1980)

a rewarding evening

[21 September 2002]

There are at least two positive things about complex but failed movies. First, you can watch them without worrying about "getting it," which is enjoyable. Second, you can contemplate where they might have failed, and in this sense they are often very educational. Add to these the fact that Heaven's Gate is spectacular and contains some marvelous performances, and you have a rewarding evening in store.

Bird (1988)

too much rain

[7 July 2002]

Why is it that whenever directors want to convey sadness (or despair, or impending doom, or whatever) they bring on the rain. It worked OK in Blade Runner because the story took place in a future greenhouse world. But there was just too much of it in "Bird". And I see that the just-released "Road to Perdition" is going to be drowning as well. Is it that Hollywood is located in a desert?

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

too simple

[8 April 2002]

I saw many of the classic Samurai movies in the 50s, and recall that the battles were quite complex, but Ghost Dog seems to encounter little resistance. The action would have been more interesting if he had had real encounters with his adversaries, say if he had marked their foreheads with some mortifying tattoo, or had clipped their earlobes off. (Or else he could have used a sword...) Things were just to easy for the guy.

K-PAX (2001)

2 hypotheses that make sense

[6 April 2002]

I guess movies never have to make much sense. If I meet the film more than halfway I arrive at two possible hypotheses. One: Prot is an alien sent to Earth to investigate how we treat humans who claim to be aliens - or else why go about proclaiming your origins? Two: he is a rather ordinary human who has somehow acquired a few extraordinary skills - or else how can he see beyond the visible spectrum, perform advanced astrophysical computations, talk to dogs, etc. (Three: the moviemakers didn't care?) I liked the movie!

The Cider House Rules (1999)

A racist melodrama

[30 September 2000]

I didn't read the book (which the film may have attempted faithfully to portray), but I was almost continually offended by the divergent portrayal of the characters: the white ones, while flawed, were seeking to do good or at least to do no harm; the black ones were menacing, violent, incestuous, and suicidal. While technically adroit, the movie fits my definition of a bad-good film; it did not need to be made.

Ninth Street (1999)

Refreshing, funny, and poetic

[8/10 · 12 August 2000]

The film portrays a city block and its inhabitants on many levels and at many times: World War II, Vietnam, and perhaps even the hopelessness of today. I felt I might be watching a documentary of the decline of Ninth Street, Jefferson City, Kansas, south of Ft Riley as it loses its economic base (fun-seeking soldiers) and its soul (home towners).

There is a feeling of impending disaster - occasionally relieved by humor - as one conflict after another simmers, but unlike "Do The Right Thing" the neighborhood lurches from one tragedy to another until there's no one left.

I was disappointed that this moving story of self-destructive violence and exploitation was set in a black "community" but of course that's part of the story.

A definite antidote to the formulaic, garishly colored, over-technical product of today's Hollywood. Will clean your palette.

The Garden of Delights (1970)

Dreams, daydreams, and staged psychodrama

[4/10 · 31 May 1999]

A disturbing mixture of real events, dreams, daydreams, and staged psychodramas, make this a difficult film to follow, let alone enjoy. It seems that the main character, a factory owner, has been paralyzed in a car crash in which his mistress was also injured, and his family attempts to restore him to health by various types of shock therapy. Their motives may be benign yet they are also interested in information that will give them access to Antonio's wealth. But it's not always clear what is happening to whom, nor whose viewpoint we are seeing, nor even if Antonio is recovering. And none of the characters is particularly pleasant, so you might find yourself losing interest in what happens. On the other hand, my confusion may be due to a cultural distance from Spanish surrealism (although the films of Bunuel are among my very favorites!). If you seek a new experience and are well-rested, give it a try, but there is so much more out there.

The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)

captivating start

[21 April 1999]

I loved this film; rented it and watched it twice in 2 days. I was captivated by the titles (a 24-hour timelapse shot of the New York skyline taken from the top of the Chrysler Building!) and then by the first scene: Bruce Willis's drunken peregrination with sycophantic handlers through the bowels of a hotel, leaving chaos in his wake. It may not have improved from that point, but I never lost interest. What did I miss that led so many people to dislike the film?

The Plague (1992)

The whole less than the sum of its parts.

[6 April 1999]

A fine example of the whole being less than the sum of its parts, this film might be more favorably received if we had been given more hints of its surreality. I certainly enjoyed it as a portrait of a city under stress; its residents not thinking clearly about what was really happening. Certainly I shared their struggle. And who knows, any of our cities may someday suffer as Oran did.