- We Are Marshall - 2006
- Constellation - 2005
- Even Money - 2006
- Freedom Land - 2006
I feel like there were actually five films I watched cuz I remember it seeming like TOO MANY for that period of time. O well.
We Are Marshall I happened to be looking forward to seeing because I had watched an interview with Matthew McConaughey talking about the role and about the story the film was based upon. I got tired of Hollywood sports movies about 6 or 7 years ago (maybe more) because there's a limit to how many times I'll watch the SAME story over and over again. I'm pretty sure I've avoided them since. This one I ordinarily would have declined to watch but that little interview convinced me that this may not be from a cookie-cutter. It was good in that respect, it really was. The film surprized me in some ways, it seemed respectful enough to not go too crazy with embellishing the story and generally it was a well put-together piece of action. I think the common theme among these four films is that I couldn't figure out what they were getting at. I watch them and I want to ask, What's the point?, not like they're wasting my time but I don't get what the writer/director/producer people are trying to say. I don't know WHY they made the film. And that's cool. I appreciate the mystery.
With all of these films there seemed to be something in them that was raw for lack of a better word. On average, there were more moments of silence (i.e. without background music) than what you see in most films. Constellation totally threw me for a loop. I don't rightly remember all of what it was about but I do know that it was cool. They showed the tension of race relations in the US (c. WWII) in a way that wasn't cliché but also wasn't sugar-coated so that was neat.
What I liked most about Even Money was that I had at least two or three moments where I had to remind myself that I was still watching the same film. I don't know how long it was or whatever but there were like four different stories unfolding concurrently and they were so distinct and so complete that they could have (I'm cautious with this) been films unto themselves. I really appreciate the compartmentalizing that was involved because it really kept me in the dark in terms of what could come next.
Freedom Land, honest, was like a glorified episode of CSI: [Las Vegas], Miami or New York. It was a mystery - like a murder mystery (whodunnit?) - and it really kept me hangin on. Not just that but it made my dad and I spew our speculations, queries and ideas verbally. It's cool. I mean it's really awesome when a (mainstream) film forces you to engage with it to the point where you've got to share your experience with fellow viewers. I mean, some will keep you talking afterward which is also great but if you're so enraptured while you're watching that you can't seem to help make comments aloud then that's cool, too. Love it. (Fight Club was like this. What else was? ... I gotta work on that.) I didn't expect I'd appreciate a Sammy J film so much. His arrogance can be very repulsive but more in real life than while he's working. And as for Miss Julianne Moore, I was very impressed that she made me forget all the roles of hers I've seen hitherto. Maybe I didn't forget them exactly but I couldn't pick which one I wanted to compare to what I was watching. I thought it was a great film... it just kept me guessing and made me work hard to keep up with it - like The Lord of the Rings trilogy. booya
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