Viewing Journal: 7/1/2010

63) THE LAST AIRBENDER
(2010 dir. M. Night Shymalan) Date Seen: July 1 2010

I hate to even remotely sound like a fanboy when talking event movies like these; but watching this was one of the most disappointing film going experiences of my life. I had been anticipating this adaptation for what feels like a decade.. There's no way to put it nicely-- the movie is just bad. I worry almost every other crap-fest that comes out this summer is going to feel like a gem in comparison. It's an all-around tone-deaf translation of the look and feel of the cartoon in my opinion. And possibly a worst-case scenario of an artist prizing himself over his material. The production design, photography, music, sound, & VFX are all top shelf & slick (hat tip to Roger Deakins & J.Newton Howard), so at least it's not the barf-inducing technically ineptitude of last year's shite DBZ "adaptation". But almost everything else is dreck in terms of what I think makes compelling human drama.

The casting is racially questionable off the bat. The screenplay is full of jaw-droppingly bad exposition bridging every scene through voiceover. Most of the action is also curiously boring. Framed & performed awkwardly in an un-organic stagey style that almost looks like filmed rehearsals. Most of the actors read their lines in this mopey almost sedated whisper. I truly feel bad for the young lead kid who seems to genuinely have the wonder in his face & martial arts skill to portray Aang. And SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE's Dev Patel trying his hardest to bring some much-needed angst & charisma to his role as Prince Zuko. Unfortunately, their efforts couldn't overshadow the bland directing coupled with everything else. 

Is it too soon to propose an immediate reboot free of the influence of Mr. Shyamalan? I've always been a big apologist for him, but this stinker really made me second guess my stance. 

62) PUBLIC ENEMIES
(2009 dir. Michael Mann) 2nd Viewing: July 1 2010

Caught this on HBO earlier in the day. I enjoyed it even more this 2nd time around. Mann's stylistic choices are always a thing of zen beauty + I've warmed considerably to his choice of using DV in the past.

61) TEN
(2002 dir. Abbas Kiarostami) Date Seen: July 1 2010

 

Outside of wanting to smack the main character's kid in this, I found it overall rewarding and I'm glad I finally caught up with it. Thank you, Netflix streaming for adding it and many of my other blindspots to your service! 

I admire Kiarostami's ability to reveal so much about his characters through these long uninterrupted takes. Whether it is stretches of silence or dialogue. His quiet scenes here are as devastating as the best of TASTE OF CHERRY. People merely driving in vehicles shouldn't be this fascinating.