Leo S. Lo

July 23 – July 29

Films watched:

1. The Crazies (2010)
2. Toy Story (1995)
3. Toy Story 2 (1999)
4. Toy Story 3 (2010)
5. Inception (2010)
6. Hausu (aka House) (1977)
7. La fille coupée en deux (aka A Girl Cut into Two) (2007)
8. Fargo (1996)

Books read: None

Screenplays read:

1. The Losers – Screenplay by Peter Berg. Revision by James Vanderbilt. Based on the comic created by Andy Diggle and Jock. Feb., 2007.
2. The Crazies – Screenplay by Scott Kosar. Revisions by Ray Wright. Based on the film by George Romero. Draft: 20, Feb., 2007.
3. The Ghost (aka The Ghost Writer) – Screenplay by Robert Harris and Roman Polanski. Based on the novel by Robert Harris. Draft: 26, Feb., 2008.

The Crazies (a remake of the 1973 George A. Romero film of the same name) is a terrific B-movie, which means that it is a genre film with a simple premise delivered creatively. It doesn’t rely on gore (well, much less than an average modern horror movie anyway) or cheap gimmicks to effectively create a tense and scary atmosphere. It gets the job done.

With an unbroken streak of critical and commercial hits, and an organizational culture that lets creativity flourish, it is fair to say that Pixar Studio is one of the most admire companies in the world. And it all started with Toy Story. While their ahead-of-its-time animation should be rightly lauded, the biggest strength of any Pixar movie is always its storytelling. Their non-human characters have more humanity than most human characters in most films.

Toy Story was Pixar’s first feature film, in which they were just forming their visual and narrative style. It’s a fantastic film, but it was just a warm up act. Because as good as Toy Story is, Toy Story 2 is even better. A lot better in almost every way. And then comes Toy Story 3. It may not have surpassed Toy Story 2 (I wasn’t sure about the prison war part in the middle, but when the 3rd act kicks into gear, I was completely gripped and moved) but it provides a very satisfying conclusion to an incredible trilogy.

Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite filmmakers today (and The Prestige is my favorite Nolan film). His Inception is hailed as an instant masterpiece by many people (btw, how many “instant classics” have actually stood the test of time?). I hugely admire the construction of the narrative, especially when all four levels of different space and time are going on at the same time, it’s an ingenious piece of story engineering. However, I can’t say the same for the content of the story or the characters. Inception engages me on an intellectual level but not nearly as much on an emotional level. The supporting characters are all underwritten. The gun fight/action scenes do not match up to the originality of the story (for example, the first Matrix is groundbreaking in both visual and concept). Though I complain, I still like the film very much. It may not be an instant classic, but the filmmaker’s desire to do something different should be applauded.

I am not sure what Nobuhiko Obayashi was smoking when he made Hausu, but he’s made one of the most innovative films I have ever seen. It’s not necessarily a great film (in fact, the story is all over the place and there are many other flaws in a traditional sense), but Obayashi almost invented a new language of film in the ways he plays with visual effects and genres. It’s like giving a special effects machine to a kid who is determined to try every single effect. I dare not look away from the screen, as I was afraid I might miss some cool.

Claude Chabrol, the French master of cool suspense, again shows his assured craft in this tale of a triangular romance. As with most of his other films, what appears to be lust, passion and romance turns into something more dangerous and sinister. He understands the art of “not showing”, and by not showing us some of what’s going on, he keeps us guessing, off-balance and curious all the way.

Fargo is close to being perfect in every way. Like the best Coen Brothers films, there is a sense of suspense and menace in almost every scene. I like that not everything is explained, or even directly relevant to the immediate story, e.g. her pregnancy or her old classmate. This makes the world authentic, and the characters real and unpredictable.

Screenplays:

This draft of The Losers is quite different from the movie. The movie eliminates many of the exposition scenes in the script and increases the pace of the story, which is a smart move as this type of movie really should move along briskly.

What I liked about the movie version of The Crazies that is not in this draft of the script is the opening and closing government satellite shots. It’s a simple and effective way to establish the facelessness and the cold-bloodness of the military. While this draft is already quite good, I have to say the changes made in the movie are all for the better.

I am very interested in the novel to screenplay adaptation process, and I feel that The Ghost would be a great case study as the novelist co-adapts his own novel with the director in this case.

Pick of the Week:

Fargo

2010:

Total films watched: 195  (in 210 days)

Total books read: 11 (13 to go)

Total screenplays read: 22 (30 to go)