Review: "Papillon" (1973)

"Papillon", the film based on a man's memoirs who endured the penal colonies in French Guiana. I don't know how many elements are true or not. Many of the events seem feasible, but the specific actions of the characters don't. That doesn't necessarily make the movie good or bad, but I seek realism in just about everything I watch.

The theme of the film from what I got was a man who claims to be innocent relentlessly tries to free himself. He tries to free himself for the entirety of his life. There is a certain ignorance that comes with Steve McQueen's character in doing this most of the time. Where it may be easier or just make more sense to just accept the circumstance for his due period of time than it would be to act in some of the ways he does. I like the idea of a man who claiming innocence, or perhaps unaware of his crimes and being punished for them, and because of his own pride, ends up in far worse situations. In the end, some of these themes become much more visible as the character ages.

The film isn't shot in a way I thought was very interesting. It felt like a story where we were shown what was happening, no matter what was happening, every 5 days of the character's life. He could have been running, sleeping, or dumping. I would have preferred not to have experienced some of the places, or see some of the things I saw, and maybe spend more time on other things. I think a film like this could have easily been made into some cliche prison break film, so I credit the director for not making that happen.

I also didn't prefer the method of character developments. I want to see a character reveal himself, not just hear him narrate himself. There are so many concerns about set authenticity that sometimes it harms the story. Going out of their way to show us plant or animal life just to force us to believe they are all in a real environment.

I think the theme of the film was pretty good, at least the idea of it. As for the execution, I think this film is too aged for me to give it a pass. Some films last, and in their lasting prove their methods to have succeeded, this one did not have the same result.

If you are wondering what kind of actor Steve McQueen is, this film could give you some pleasure. There aren't a tremendous amount of good prison escape films, but "Shawshank Redemption" has the quality in all the areas you want a film to be. This film could be passed on, I don't imagine this being a must-see for anyone.

"Papillon"

6 / 10

Review: "Leaving Las Vegas" (1995)

The film which gave Nicolas Cage the title of "Oscar Winning Actor". Nicolas Cage is really the same character, or a different variation of the same character in just about every film he stars in. This one gave let him go a couple miles further.

When I came across this film, knowing Cage won the award for 'Best Actor', I wanted to see what else he ran against or what else came out that year. Sean Penn in "Dead man Walking" was one, and frankly I think the worst of Sean Penn trumps the best of Nicolas Cage. Anthony Hopkins was another nominee in 1996, for his work in "Nixon". The winner in my opinion wasn't nominated, and perhaps before his drunken lunacy, he was already getting snuffed as an actor. Yes, he won 'Best Picture' AND 'Best Director', but based on this list of 'Best Actors', I think this should have been the year of Mel Gibson winning 3, and 4 for "Braveheart". But, thats just me.

"Leaving Las Vegas" has made an impact on quite a handful of critics. If this film was good, it would appear that the director Mike Figgis is a one hit wonder. But its not. So, he isn't. This film plays out several minutes as a porn flick, while the content is obscene and just not done very well, I know certain obscenities work in films, like "Requiem For A Dream". It works in other films as well, and based on hear say, it appears to work in this years nominee for 'Best Picture' in "The Black Swan". However, both of these films has something in common, a single man who seems to understand quality obscenities, Mr. Darren Aronofsky. He is capable of capturing some of the most disgusting personalities of human beings. This isn't easy, based on how many times films seem to fail at this. Mike Figgis failed with "Leaving Las Vegas".

I never feel like anything is real, like any situation COULD ever really exist. Yes, I think drunkards exist in the condition in which Nicolas Cage performs, but none of the story around him to support his character. He is a man who lost his job, is given a check, and runs off to Vegas to drink his life away. On the first or second day he is resorting to selling his car and his watch, all the while he is buying liquor store quantities of booze on a seemingly endless supply of invisible money. My brain isn't being deceived into buying into the realism here. I think the story could have been portrayed on film far better, and I don't necessarily blame Cage for anything, but the writing of his character sure hinders my perception.

The one real good thing about the film was the performance by Elizabeth Shue, its just too bad she sunk so low as to star in porn scenes in a film without a talented direction. I would be devastated as an artist in any fashion who would pour my heart out into a project to find out the project manager didn't know what he was doing.

Every few minutes I reminded myself, the name of the film is "Leaving Las Vegas", so we are bound to move on or advance our characters in some way, eventually... nope.

Whatever. This film can be avoided. Nothing to see here unless you are somehow a die hard fan of Nicolas Cage, and in that case, eat your heart out, because you might not know a good film when you see one anyway.

"Leaving Las Vegas"

5.5 / 10

Review: Brian DePalma's "Carrie" (1976)

Brian DePalma has come up empty since the mid-90's. He has quite a few pieces of work since then which all fail, including "Mission to Mars" and "Snake Eyes".

I recently watched "Carlito's Way", one of DePalma's last decent movies. His successful works are all just pretty good at best. He has put together some popular stories, like "Scarface" and "Untouchables". "Carrie" is likewise a popular film, one of the classic horror films.

The first few minutes of the film really didn't have to exist at all. The generation of media that exists today has spoken out against lude behavior from adults playing teenagers. Of all the films I have seen so far, this is the chief. The beginning of the film starts out as a porn, full of supposed teenage girls in a school shower. They are all awkwardly nude, it doesn't even strike me as something that has ever been real. The way all the girls are just uniform in their careless state of nakedness is dumb. I understand what the director wanted us to feel, but a director with any ounce of creativity could have created something better with ease.

If you remove the lude shower scenes in the beginning, the film holds together a bit better. Doesn't hold together like name-brand super glue, but more like 99 cents store school glue.

The filmmaker really goes out of his way to try and show us a Christian lunatic in Carrie's mother. There is a problem when creators create something with a lacking insight. I don't care if you wander the halls of a mental health facility, you will find some rhythm in lunacy that doesn't exist here.

Sissy Spacek does a good job portraying Carrie, she really doesn't have much in the complaint department from me. The rest of the cast is "made for television" at best. If anyone from this cast outside of Sissy impressed any of its viewers, that would be amazing.

The story seems like its demanding more than this film allowed it to be. I am going to sit back and wait for a remake, its too bad I may have to wait for 5 remakes to finally get a director with talent. After all, horror remakes are somehow the trend right now, and none of them good.

"Carrie" wasn't as bad as a lot of so called "classics", but it was sure offensive in the beginning, and not with profound meaning or reason. I would try and find this when it comes on television to help remove some of the unessential nonsense, and you should enjoy watching the film. This is not a film for youth, and I know its taboo now to think someone may hide content from their children, but this is a case in which it should exist.

In the end, the movie comes together in an enjoyable and memorable way, with an occasional downpour of obscenities.

"Carrie"

6.5 / 10