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Reviews
Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013)
Not Bad Outlaw Couple Film
Caught this at Sundance where the buzz surrounding it was pretty high. Did it live up to the hype? Yes and No.
As almost every reviewer has noted, it is a return to the Terrance Malick/Robert Altman-style outlaw lovers films of the 70s. Lots of long lingering visuals of country places and lots of deeply-felt brooding by the main characters. Not bad for that kind of film, but frankly nothing to write home about.
The three leads are very good, as is Keith Carradine. The music and photography are great (though I think there is an over abundance of mid and close shots in a film that screams out for long deep focus photography). Yet, somehow, it doesn't quite jell. A lot of this could be due to its slow pace. Another element may be the reluctance of the writer/director to dole out plot points (you know, like when someone reads an important letter, but we don't find out what is inside until 15 minutes later).
All in all, it is fairly good for what it is. I am sure it will garner positive response from critics. Still, somehow the whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Skyfall (2012)
Why are IMDb Skyfall reviews seemingly so out of touch
I liked this movie a lot. I am some what surprised by the number of negative reviews. Especially when Rotten Tomatoes is reporting high critical and audience numbers (91 percent). I suspect the Daniel Craig is Not Bond group is over-represented here and trying to flood the IMDb site with bad reviews.
Get over it. The Bond franchise has moved on from its descent into lame self parody. As one who started watching the series from its inception, it has been a slowly disintegrating formula beginning with Diamonds Are Forever (admittedly with the occasional bright spot).
Craig brings gravitas back to the series. Skyfall was a great action film with nice human moments. Come on you guys, you had decades of the slapstick, cardboard, comic book Bond. It is nice to have a James Bond with a some sort of relation to actual human feelings and failings. Skyfall has those human elements in spades.
Barbarian Queen (1985)
Political History Hidden in Cheapo Exploitation
I watched Barbarian Queen after seeing several movies made by Argentina filmmakers at the United States Film Festival (a.k.a Sundance) back in the 80s. A large chunk of these films were about the just-ended military Junta that took place in that country. Thousand went missing, dead or were tortured during those very black days. One of the films , "Night of the Pencils," was made by the very same director, Hector Olivera, of "Barbarian Queen." Pencils is a serious film that examines the brutalization of several young folk during the Junta years. When I came across Barbarian Queen, I was some what surprised that this obvious exploitation sword and sorcery was made by the same guy. However, some of very anti-Junta sentiments are buried in this rather mercenary Conan rip-off. Barbarian Queen is about a group of villagers taken captive by an evil regime. It also features a sinister and very creepy torture doctor. These are very familiar to the victims of the military Junta. And while the film does wallow in the same rape fantasy that populated a big chunk of these sword & sorcery b-movies, there is one sequence I think that more honestly displays Olivera's view. In that scene, Clarkson comes across a young women that is chained to a pole. She is bruised, beaten, and scarred –not in the least bit sexy. A hideously brutish soldier stands before her. He takes her bruised face in his hands and orders the captive to smile. Clarkson rams a sword through his neck. This lit bit of business is not in the least bit titillating. The last thing we want is for the loathsome soldier to have his way with this broken woman. It is very satisfying when he gets his at the business end of Clarkson's sword. It is quite a powerful scene (probably the best in the movie). I am not foolish enough to look at this sleazy bit of exploitation shot on the cheap by Corman and crew as some sort of political statement. Still, it is kind of interesting to see the impact the Junta made on Olivera creep (perhaps unconsciously) into this Corman quickie. I never would have made the connection at all if I hadn't just seen a bunch of Argentinean movies before this. It certainly makes Barbarian Queen more interesting for me than it probably deserves.