With a vacation schedule, available movie watching chunks go by the wayside (as well as access to my nice TV, one of the few things I miss while on vacation).
So here's a Wednesday movie report...
A Turkish film whose deadline for availability on Netflix Instant fast approached, I watched this the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. And like Lake Tahoe it awards patience and the appreciation of a steady pace, although there are definitely more cinematic vistas that are highlighted in this movie, that seem to replace most dialogue in suggesting the tension between the three main characters. I still did find this compelling enough to recommend as a gateway into artsy foreign films.
Available via Comcast On Demand at my parent's house, this is one bleak film. It's pretty much an incredibly downward spiral from the botched heist that begins the movie, and I am a little tired of movies that inflict dire consequences on people for deciding to go morally astray through criminal activity. But this is fairly invigorating to watch because of the performances (although I'm sick of Philip Seymour Hoffman always mumbling) that include a non-irritating Ethan Hawke! Additionally the mixed up chronology is incredibly exciting, as scenes are repeated and revisited again to both offer deeper context and a reminder of the horrible situation this characters have put themselves in. This movie dares to double punch you in the gut with devastation, but in a tastefully directed way.
Watched this in fragments via Comcast OnDemand, as different things were going on around my parent's house. Very stylized movie at the peak of Spike Lee's powers (let's see, I've seen Do the Right Thing, Crooklyn, Summer of Sam, and this one), I know for sure this movie was inventive for its time, but between all the expressions of drug dealer amorality and ghetto life that I've seen since this movie was made (most recently the miniseries The Corner) I don't see much new here. Of course, the kind of free flowing directing improvisation and style mix-ups that I remember in the other Spike Lee movies make this stand out despite the subject matter, and the ending offers as ambiguous sense of hope as the best of them.
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