Reviews for Crash and Mirrormask

[dean]

Crash:

OK so I finally got around to watching the current Academy Award Winner of Best Picture.

I have to say, I have mixed feelings.  Many of the filmmakers I met at the start of the year [with the film school thing I helped at] who worked in a variety of areas praised this film and called it brilliant, so much so I wasn't surprised at all that Brokeback got beat at the Academy Awards.  So anyways it had pretty big expectations to fill.

Anyway, this film was good, sure.  It engaged me and even in parts touched me, especially since the whole racism topic is one which I tend to get into.  It was also well written, filmed and acted.  But there was always something in the back of my mind telling me that something wasn't quite there.  I haven't pin-pointed it yet, but I think it's because there were too many stories, and it's essentially a movie put together by a multi-faceted storyline with many different characters who happen to cross paths with each other everynow and then.

I guess it just seemed like we didn't get to really know the characters on display here.

I guess other than that I really enjoyed it.  Well worth a watch!


Mirrormask:

Well I was looking for something surreal and I definitely found it.  Touted as a modern day fairytale much like Labyrinth, I was really in the mood for watching this.  Written by Neil Gaiman and directed by frequent collaborator Dave Mckean, I was very pleased with this film.

Suprisingly it took a while to get into the 'fairytale' side of the story.  But once we were transported to that world the wacky started happening.  On a normal scale, the visuals in the CGI were a bit, well, poor, but in this situation it really fitted into the visual style very well.  The design of the characters, especially the 'cats', was fantastic, and things seemed to flow very well.  

Sure it's not a perfect film, and it has it's slow moments, or it's boring slabs of dialogue/action, but overall I was very pleased with this film.  Maybe it has something to do with my inherent desire to make a film like this one which is why I enjoyed it so much.

Another one well worth a look.

[Mofo Rising]

I quite enjoyed CRASH, but it is one of the most manipulative movies to come out in years.  Sure, the web of coincidences that tie the characters together is the point of the movie, but it veers into the ridiculous.

***MINOR SPOILER***
The confrontation between the shopkeeper and the security installer and his daughter is fairly descriptive of the emotionally manipulative tricks the movie uses.  If it had ended the way it looked like it was going to end, I would have stopped the movie then and there.
***END SPOILER***

Don't get me wrong, emotional manipulation is a part of any medium that tells a story; it's part of the fun.  But there's a line, and CRASH spends all of its time skirting it.

Still, I'm glad there are some American movies out there confronting racism.  It's an issue that tends to be either portrayed as completely over the top or "let's pretend we all love each other".  We're better off than we were forty years ago, but let's not fool ourselves; racism is alive and well.

Or as Tom Lehrer says, "I do know that there are some people out there who do not love their fellow man, and I HATE people like that!"

MIRRORMASK I also enjoyed, though it was no great shakes.  I'm growing weary of Gaiman-esque style fantasy.  Mostly because it tends to tread the same ground over and over.

Visually the movie is quite intriguing.  McKean has definitely got an nose for eye-candy, and I mean that literally.  The floating giant scene was one of the best I've seen in a while.  Too bad most of the rest of the movie was exactly par.

If you're a fan of this sort of thing, or it's brand new to you, I recommend checking it out.  Otherwise, wait for a rainy day.

[Shadowphile]

I have yet to see Crash but I really enjoyed MirrorMask.  It was like being on drugs without the expense or the risk of lifelong addiction....