Haneke is kind of annoying that way, being overly prone to the "open-ended" (non)-resolution, I can't deny that, at least based on the few films of his I've seen (no wonder he was attracted to the prospect of adapting Kafka!). At the same time I think he has a good share of talent. Caché was a pretty darn good, if somewhat frustrating film; and Funny Games was one of the best home-invasion/random-acts-of-violence movies I've seen, but ultimately compromised -- arguably even ruined -- by its need to try to apologize for everything it was doing so well, in a gimmicky, misguided effort to take the high road and expand the scope of its message/theme.

I'm hoping there are instances in Haneke's body of work where this tendency towards self-importance and lazy ambiguity less noticeably undercuts his raw talent as a "less is more" style director, but I've yet to talk to anyone who really, truly liked The White Ribbon, so I'm guessing that one's not it. Still, I do feel a desire to take a look for myself. That and The Piano Teacher are both on my list.

K

Yep.

Fanboys--B+
Kristen Bell is hot as a brunette. Fun movie-spoiler--this was delayed when it came out in the theaters b/c the Weinsteins wanted to take a story line out regarding one of the characters having cancer. I'm glad they kept it in.

"I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" A

Just watched it. LMFAO. It takes a lot to get me to literally laugh out loud at something and this movie did it many times.

Catching up on this thread. (There may be spoilers for The White Ribbon.)

District 9: B+
Inglorious Basterds: A-
Hellboy: D
Hellboy 2: B


I was disappointed with the first. It lacked any really good action scenes, I thought, but mostly I really expected it to be funnier. You had this sarcastic, cheeky, hardass Hellboy as the lead, played with some charm by Ron Pearlman, but nothing much was made of the humour potential. The second one pretty much fulfils the expectations I had of the first: funnier and better use of fantasy-action sequences. Actually, I find some comparison with how I felt about the first Hellboy with The White Ribbon, in the sense that both seemed like they missed opportunities to be a lot better films.

The White Ribbon:


I thought the mystery was resolved? The narrator had it right at the end: the kids did most of those nasty acts (tripping the horse, assaulting the boys). The suicide, and the woman killed in an accident were just what they looked like: a suicide and an accident. However, as I said, I left the movie feeling like it hadn’t really delivered on its possibilities. The horse scene at the beginning (including the build up to it) shows how good a film maker Haneke can be. Then the rest made little use of the unsettling atmosphere. While it wasn’t meant to be a fully fledged horror movie, it just seemed to lack something. I know it was about the idea that the way these children were raised led to them embracing Nazism, but that point is a bit simplistic. Maybe he just should have made a horror film and be done with it. I liked it more than Allen, though, and give it a B-.

Caché: A-

Agree with madget, good film but frustrating. My conclusion on Haneke is pretty much the opposite of Allen’s: despite the flaws in his films so far, I look forward to more of his work. It’s likely a Haneke film will offer me something of interest, and maybe he will get the balance just right eventually.

Yes, but which kid(s) did what, and why? As with Funny Games, Haneke's style is not answering questions. While ambiguity can certainly be a useful tool — e.g. every decapitation in Burton's Sleep Hollow was explicitly shown, save one — it can also be a white elephant — a family driving cross-country to support Abigail Breslin's dance act, although they'd never actually seen her perform it, in Little Miss Sunshine.

In Haneke's case I don't believe his decision to be ambiguous is based on his not having thought through how the situation will play out in the final cut, but rather that he feels he is somehow above supplying satisfactory resolutions to his audience.

House of the Devil — B

Beautiful re-creation of the late 70's/early 80's horror movie style. You'll either think the pace drags or feels like it's building, depending. Third act is a little basic, as well as a stark departure from the style of the rest of the movie, but at least it paid off. Hard to believe this is by the same director as Cabin Fever 2.


Frozen — B-

Like Human Centipede, this is another one that takes way too long to get to the plot point you already know about going in. In this case, getting trapped on a ski lift. The whole premise falls apart if you think about it for any time at all — why was the girlfriend with them if they wanted to do a fast run, nobody has their cell phone, none of them told anybody where they were going, etc. — but there was some pretty fine (if un-subtle) acting after the boyfriend dies (not really a spoiler, as there are only two people in the chair on the box cover). Once again, hard to believe this is by the same director as Hatchet.

On my blog I’m trying to write some very quick, short reviews of films I see at the local Film Society screenings. I’ve only done two so far because I’m slack. Below are even shorter versions of the comments... but with grades!

Beyond Ipanema
It would be difficult not to make a reasonably entertaining documentary about the resurgent Brazilian music scene: the soundtrack's a given, Brazil has ample gorgeous vistas and gorgeous people, and there's 60 years of history and interest from world famous musicians. BI is just that: interesting, entertaining, handsomely put together, and featuring great music, but it seemed lacking in enough depth. The film was somewhat like a bus tour, with a better than average guide holding the mike. B-

No Man’s Land
No Man's Land does a competent job blending elements of different genres and styles: effective as war movie, situation comedy, tragedy, satire, farce, and even thriller. Criticism of the film was often along the lines that it seems to have little to say other than 'war is hell'. That's true to a point, but I think that about most war films. Maybe it's a 'shooting fish in a barrel' thing - war seems easy to satirize. B

Daybreakers — C-

Has Sam Neill ever been in a good movie? On the making of featurette, the opening sequence is the principal actors answering the question, "Are you a fan of horror movies?" They all give variations on saying that they aren't. And it shows. Willem Dafoe is a total cornball in this, but not in a good way. They try to do some new things with the vampire idea, but overall it's just clunky with some blatant rips from other movies.


Repo Men — C

I don't know the relation between this movie and Repo! The Genetic Opera, but Repo! took a far more creative approach to the same premise. This really dumb story was obviously built around a few key visuals, all of which fall apart if you think about them for a few seconds.


The Experiment — B-

I haven't seen the German version, but I heard it's better. Some good performances here, but the whole thing felt too rushed. Not enough background, even on Adrien Brody's character, to really care that much about anybody's survival. Also, the 14-day experiment falling apart in just six days felt a bit hokey, but apparently that's what really happened in the real-life study this was based on.


Harry Brown — A-

Michael Caine can do no wrong. Another knockout performance. Somewhat draggy in parts, and the overall scope of the story was a bit small. Another "cop in job transition" cliché (Falling Down, Se7en, etc.) was somewhat annoying. What happened to Harry's wife and daughter are only revealed in the deleted scenes, which were likely cut because their deaths didn't have anything to do with the story at hand. Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino was the better script, but the use of real actors here makes for a more enjoyable initial viewing.

Carlos gets an A-.

Jackass 3D gets a solid B. The beautiful title sequence using one of my favorite Twisted Sister songs gets an A-. Steve-O bounces off a trampoline into a ceiling fan in glorious slow-mo -- best action sequence of the year!