Pah

Things Seen, First Half

I just haven’t had the energy to write much recently. So let me tell you what I’ve been reading and watching.

I’ve seen 68 things this last six months: 51 movies (8 at the cinema), 10 television series, and 7 television serials. Of that, I’ve really liked 22; but I didn’t like 18. Breaking it down a bit further, though, I’d previously seen 14 of the things I really liked, while I only re-watched 2 things I didn’t like.

So, let’s see, what were those 8 things I really liked that I haven’t seen before?

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Movies:

The African Queen (John Huston, 1951)

Bogart and Hepburn play powerful characters who save each other and fight to bring meaning to the world.

Salo (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1975)

Cinematography, editing and direction can make actors into sexy gods; but they can also stare without pity at our frailty. Pasolini does the latter, laying waste to Sade’s purple prose. I had to blink; and came away thinking more than ever that Schindler’s List is mere pornography.

Faces (John Cassavetes, 1968)

Documentary-style camera angles, rigorous editing, rare psychological depth, and scenes that refuse to either shape up or ship out… I’m not sure I could have watched this at all without Ray Carney’s support, but it was still a blast.

X-Men: The Last Stand (Brett Ratner, 2005)

See.

The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)

Spiritual predecessor to Faces. Nothing is given away; it takes time to piece together the relationships of the main characters. But then, their motivations are complex, imperfectly expressed, and liable to change within the course of a conversation. Amazing.

TV:

Between the Lines, season 1

One of the earliest shows to bring a cinematic look to the small screen, it’s still one of the best. An intelligent (if occasionally over-the-top) look at how corruption works on every level of human endeavour; yet how we are not hopelessly corrupt.

Xena: Warrior Princess, season 5

Xena and Gabrielle continue to live dangerously, endlessly tempted by war and utopia, as they negotiate a unique domestic life and forge a new spiritual path without religion, with a catalogue of losses along the way (and more stuff that Angel ripped off, badly).

Battlestar Galactica, season 1

I love the injection of style from recent non-telefantasy successes, but ultimately its best is what telefantasy does best: philosophical examinations of human nature. The Cylons are amongst the best conceived others in science fiction.

And the 19 things I didn’t like? Well, I’m a better person for watching most of them; I didn’t learn nothing. I’d write more, but I’ve got to go see Superman Returns now! Seeya!