Category: 2002

Reel 60: Hail Oceania

Yes, yes, we know. We skipped #59. There’s an explanation at the beginning of this episode, and Mea Culpa. #59 will be the next one we drop. And THAT, rather than this, will finish our tour Around the World in Twenty  Films. (So, never mind what Sean says about it being the last stop.)

The thing that strikes me as interesting, retrospective to our conversation, is that in both of this episode’s films, we’re dealing with the sins of the past. And not the long past, but as part of living memory.

First up, we’re reviewing 1994’s Once Were Warriors, directed by Lee Tamahori. It’s a look at the Hekes, a lower-class New Zealand family, and how they deal with some of their personal struggles. You kind of feel for some of them, then you feel for others, then you’re not sure what to think, and if this sounds confusing, it is, but in a good way. Ultimately, you will not be dissatisfied by the ending.

From there we jump to Western Australia, to check out Rabbit-Proof Fence, directed by Philip Noyce. It’s based on a true story about three young girls and a very, very long walk they take across the continent. This one doesn’t so much confront Australia’s past as it pushes the viewer into confronting it, especially when you realize that these events – as outmoded as they sound – took place during the lifetimes of people who are still alive today.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:
As noted above, our next episode will be the one that was supposed to happen here. We’ll be reviewing Parasite and Shoplifters, though not in that order.

Reel 48: A Fan’s Eye View

Strap in, kids, this is going to be a long one.

It took forever for Sean and I to get to this particular episode, and both of us have been dying—DYING, I tells ya—to talk about Almost Famous. It may be Sean’s favorite film that doesn’t involve music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It’s certainly one of the eleven films in my Top Ten. (See, that’s two pokes I took at him, there. I’ll be paying dearly for this soon, I’m sure.)

At any rate, this time around we’re looking at a couple of films where it’s a fan of the music who gets the insider’s view. And that fan is the audience surrogate for much of the action that takes place.

First up is 2000’s Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical love letter to 1970s-era Rock and Roll. It’s got everything you want in a movie: some laughs, some drama, some tension, a little sex (mostly implied), an amazing soundtrack and a genuine feel for the era in which it takes place. We were so anxious to talk about this film that it’s probably the longest segment we’ve ever recorded for one movie.

Likewise, in Part 2 we have 24 Hour Party People, a 2002 film by Michael Winterbottom. In this film we get a peek into a specific slice of the early days of the 1980s New Wave era. Likewise, Winterbottom puts us in the middle of the action and while we’re told outright that some of the events in the film didn’t actually happen the way they’re presented, this has a documentary feel that has you buying every last bit of it. And you already know it wasn’t like that!

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 
Next time around we’re looking at some butt-kicking female thieves. First up is Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon from 2000. Less well-known but still really good is Widows, a Steve McQueen film from 2008 that will grab you quickly and suddenly turn on a dime into a much different story.

Reel 32: Cop & Crook Team Up

Sean chooses most of the movies that we cover, and occasionally he chooses stuff that’s a little tough to find. But in the long run you don’t mind going through the hunt, because they’re still a romp.

In this episode we first take a look at The Killer, a film from 1989 directed by John Woo. It stars Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee and Sally Yeh, and nobody’s motivation is what you think it is. Are people acting out of malice, avarice, guilt or something else?

From there we move to 2002 and So Close, directed by Corey Yuen and starring Shu Qi, Zhao Wei and Karen Mok. Once again, everyone has some deeply buried motives. Perhaps they’re so deep that they’re only released through subtext. You really have to “read between the lines” to understand what people are thinking. Or, you could just listen to this episode and we’ll tell you.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

In our next episode we remain in Asia to look at a pair of films that Sean calls “Modern-Day Kurosawa,” though they’re kind of in the middle of his oeuvre. (Hint: it’s because they’re set in the present day.) First it’ll be 1949’s Stray Dog, starring—surprise!—Toshiro Mifune. Then we look at High and Low, from 1963. Did you guess that it has Toshiro Mifune in it? That’s a good guess.

Reel 15: Foreign Exchange, Part 2

Our look at non-English language films and their English counterparts continues. First up is our review of the film Infernal Affairs (2002), co-directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. Then we turn our attention to its American cousin, The Departed, the 2006 film directed by Martin Scorsese.

In this case the films aren’t clones of one another to the extent that we saw in the last episode, but the storylines remain quite close despite the big cultural jump from Hong Kong to Boston. But whether you watch it in English or in Chinese (or both—no reason not to watch both!), you’re in for a tension-filled good time.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: Next time we get to Part 3 of this mini-series, as we look at The Seven Samurai (1954) and The Magnificent Seven (1960). Brace yourself, those are a couple of lengthy films, but well worth your time. And in-between Reels 15 and 16, there’ll be another bit of bonus audio as Claude takes some time to complain about the American educational system with regard to Arts programs.