Wednesday 23 June 2010

(500) Films of Empire - Day 281

363 - Good Morning Vietnam - 2 stars
Rather tame for a Vietnam film in terms of action and politics, since it is more about one particular man's experience of a war that he is not fully involved in, as Williams' DJ is there to provide a morale boost to the troops and a source of anxiety for his superiors.
Like A Year Of Living Dangerously, there wasn't much sense of danger to the main character, and the two times that he is placed in a situation of danger, it kind of wimps out of taking it to a dark dramatic place.
The film is more a vehicle for Robin Williams' brand of energetic humour. He manages to keep a fine balance between the drama of his time with the Vietnamese people and the comedy of his radio broadcasts, which unsurprisingly were all adlibbed!
Of course, if you are not a Robin Williams fan then you are likely to hate it... but I dare you to hate Aladdin!

84 - L.A. Confidential - 5 stars
Absolutely sublime filmmaking. The closest that Hollywood has come to recreating the glitz and glamour of the films made during the studio system.
Three cops in L.A. all discover their various cases are linked in this intricate detective story that evokes a neo-noir feel.
Out of the three cops Kevin Spacey is the best, delivering some old school movie star charisma. Russell Crowe is also great but now it just seems he might have been playing himself as the ultra-brutish Bud White!
It is a great supporting cast, directed with confidence by writer/director Curtis Hanson, but not sure if Kim Basinger's performance was really worthy of an Oscar, unlike everything else to do with the film. It really is much better than Titanic!
I don't want to spoil the film but there is the death of character in this and the actor/actress delivers one of the greatest final moments I've ever seen. You can actually see the light go out of their eyes. It is a death that is so good and so well handled that Steven Spielberg copied it nearly shot for shot in Minority Report.

Days remaining - 84 Films remaining - 84

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