cine-o-files : V1N4

still from hunger

the joy of film. loves it; artistry, narrative, the gorrific, and the bombastic. that is when it's good, which is about 10% of anything ever made - ever. so here's a recent rundown i've things seen in the past months. the good, the bad, and the ugly.

alexander - oliver stone's opus to alexander the great is pretty cool during the opening battle scene at gaugamela where alexander defeats the persian king darius. after that it's a hot mess except jared leto as the hardly speaking hotness of hephaestion , alexander's longtime companion and lover (unfortunately these two do not get it on; just lots of lingering gazes and man-love hugs). angelina jolie is hilarious as his dionysian worshiping and snake wielding mother olympias. i'm not sure if her pseudo-slavic accent was intended as a joke or her wacky artistic impression of this woman. she really does sound like 'rotten moose and squirrel' natasha. rosario dawson plays alexander's persian wife roxane who other than some lovely costumes and getting naked; this role was a waste of her time. val kilmer seems to be having a ball as alexander's father king philip II; bloated and drunk in nearly every scene. it's no challenge for him at all unless there's some method to playing a bloated and perverse monarch. be loud, gross, wield a goblet and wear a toga!

overall poo-poo ca-ca, although i would have delighted in more gay sex.

hunger - an amazing film by visual artist steve mcqueen about imprisoned IRA protester bobby sands who went on a hunger strike in 1981 with several other political prisoners. every single shot is a work of art and there isn't much dialogue except for an extended one-take scene between bobby and his priest whom he informs of his final and fatalistic decision to protest by sacrificing his own life. not much to say other than it's a stunning piece of work.

super faboosh!

quantum of solace - my first daniel craig as bond movie. he's quite hot, sullen, lethal and carries much more charisma than brosnan ever did. the production design in stunning; from the MK12 title sequences down to the graphic interfaces they designed for scenes at M15. (these cats are graphic design pimps!) the locations from siena, italy to london, to panama (as haiti), as well as locations used in chile. gorgeous! it's all here; the lovely revenge-seeking assassin, a few cool gadgets, the tom ford suits, some prada thrown in for la femme, and amazingly choreographed stunts. big ups to mr. craig for doing his own! paul haggis wrote the script; the same dude who wrote and directed crash.

fun bombastic!