05 Dec 04 Blogger — 12/5 01:42 PM
Well, ever since I subscribed to Netflix, I have been watching a lot of movies. It’s great, because a lot of these, I would not have wanted to actually buy on DVD and have as a permanent collection — but it’s great simply to have seen them. For example, I like Charlie Kaufman’s films. Charlie Kaufman is that mindfuck screenwriter who wrote Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, and Adaptation. But he also wrote Human Nature and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, two films I had never seen. But now I have. I recommend ‘em both.
I didn’t enjoy Confessions as much as I would have thought — it was interesting, engaging, and enjoyable, but it wasn’t quite the Kaufman mindfuck I was expecting. Still, I’ve heard it had rewrites after Kaufman touched it, so I’m not surprised. As for Human Nature, again, not quite as special as Eternal, Adaptation, or Malkovich, but definitely better than Confessions. I had read the script for Human Nature on a website, and sometimes that’s a problem — your mind shows you a film, and then when the actual film isn’t the same, it doesn’t quite measure up. Still, it was a really great cast: Tim Robbins, Patricia Arquette, and Rhys Davies. A good mixture. (Why am I not telling you the plots? I’m lazy, I suppose. You can look ‘em up on IMdB, I’m sure.)
I also caught Blade Runner: the Director’s Cut just now. It’s very interesting, the history it’s had. Check out the Blade Runner FAQ for some unique insight into the film, if you’ve seen it. Also, evidently there’s a “Blade Runner” Special Edition DVD, that, very oddly enough, is being held up by the CEO of Univision, the Spanish-language channel. Oddly enough, no, I’m not kidding. It’s too bad: I would have loved to have seen the Special Edition as my first foray into the film. Evidently, it would receive the full digitized remastering treatment, etc., but this asshole is holding up what looks like it would be a peach of a DVD set. (Although I said above that I wouldn’t want to buy a lot of these, after having seen Blade Runner, I can say that I’d definitely buy the discussed three-disc set if it ever makes its way to shelves. This 1992 director’s cut is something I wanted to watch, but I don’t think it’d be a purchase.)
Did I like it? I did. Ridley Scott, as always, does an amazing job with science fiction and future worlds. It felt more like Tokyo than America, though — I could picture Snow Crash being set in a very similar environment, for example, when they’re in the [can't remember the specialized term Stephenson used, and I'm too lazy to get up and walk over to my bookcase]. But it was an amazing pic … I suppose that’s all I have to say about it. I do agree with a remark of Harrison Ford that I read in the FAQ:
“I played a detective who did no detecting. There was nothing for me to do but stand around and give some vain attempt to give some focus to Ridley’s sets.”
That did strike me as true. Deckert seemed to be all reaction and very little action, and that was unimpressive.
Pris was rather interesting. It struck me as amazing (and also a high commentary on Daryl Hannah’s performance) how she was able to switch between a sort of mercenary survivalist streak and then be, in the next moment, as friendly as a puppy dog, playing kindness, vulernability, and friendliness perfectly. I suppose it made me a little suspicious, wondering how often people do that in real life, y’know?
On to address the next DVD in my bunch … I have seen the prior two Godfathers at this point, and am now biting the bullet and watching III. I’ve been told it’s crap, but I’d like to see all of them for the hell of it, anyway.
