Category: At the Movies

We resume our reagular programming with one of my all time favourite films.  But then I’m probably biased, as one of the books (not sure which, maybe the one by Bangs) is one of my first memories of actually enjoying a novel. Not the first–that would be Michael Strogoff: The Courier of the Czar. Let that be a lesson to you all.

Title:	The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Director:	Terry Gilliam
Score:	6/6
ObCrush:	Uma.

Saturday night is family film night, so we shall perhaps step out from our Gilliam festival temporarily.

Title:	My Neighbour Totoro
Director:	Hayao Miyazaki
Score:	10/10
Dad says:	What he said.

In my opinion the film where Gilliam found his voice.  You’ve all seen it, right?  Right?  Well, make it so!

Title:	Brazil
Director:	Terry Gilliam
Score:	6/6
Unanswered questions:	Why is it called Brazil!?

I remember seeing Time Bandits in the eighties.  And I clearly remember it being better than this  Anyway, Terry’s starting to find his form here.  It’s looking up!

Title:	Time Bandits
Director:	Terry Gilliam
Score:	3/6
Looking down:	Michael Palin.

Cool camera!

When I saw The Holy Grail wasn’t as good as I remembered earlier, I though maybe Jabberwocky wouldn’t be as bad as I remembered.  But if I’m honest, I don’t think I remember how bad it was. It has its moments, though.

Title:	Jabberwocky
Director:	Terry Gilliam
Score:	3/6
Gilliamest scene:	The hide-and-seek.

Commence Terry Gilliam-festival!  

Title:	Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Director:	Terry Gilliam-Jønes
Score:	4/6
Watched by:	300,000 møøses.

Romantic sci-fi.  A truly underexploited genre.  

Title:	Upside Down
Director:	Juan Solanas
Score:	3/6
Best idea:	Flying pancakes. Make it happen.

Herobot: Bumblebee (says my kid). 

Title:	Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Director:	Michael Bay
Score:	10000%
Dad says:	4/6

Things that were wrong with the original:

• We never learned exactly why Napoleon Wilson was on death row.  
• We were never filled in on Ethan Bishop’s life before he joined the highway patrol.
• No personality crisis in leading character.
• Too few therapy sessions. 
• A general lack of shoutings of “round’em up” etc.
• Camera too steady.
• Everyone speaks in a calm voice most of the time.
• Some sentences missing the words “fuck”, “damn” and “hell”.
• Scenes aren’t constantly explained by on-screen characters.
• No drunken irish police bosses.
• No fistfights with icicle-stabbings in the eye.
• Police station beseiged by gangs instead of the much more credible alternative; other police.
• No tender scenes letting bishop expose his softer side.
• No fighting between fellow inmates.
• Music too minimalistic and expressive.
• Some scenes completely without music.
• Not enough burning men crashing through windows.
• No mexican standoffs between the beseiged.  0.  Zip.
• Forgot to write attackers’ cheesy dialogue.
• No double cross moment.
• No showdown in the forest.

Finally someone fixed all these horrible flaws.

Title:	Assault on Precinct 13
Director:	Jean-François Richet
Score:	1/6
Awards:	Dunce.

It’s really assault on Precinct 9 division 13. Simply the best siege movie ever made.  

Title:	Assault on Precinct 13
Director:	John Carpenter
Score:	6/6
Awards:	Best music. Also diction.