But it’s probably a losing argument. The wolf of traditional stock villainy, as opposed to zoology, can be traced from Aesop, The Three Little Pigs & Red Riding Hood to the modern werewolf movies.
The Grey is a dark & rather unsavory thriller concerning a bunch of oil workers whose plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness. The most capable of the survivors, Ottway (Liam Neeson), who hunts wolves for the company, soon realizes that they’ve crashed on the turf of a wolf pack, & he takes charge, trying to lead the group to safety. As the wolves, among other perils, cull their numbers, personality clashes intensify within the party.
The script, by director Joe Carnahan & Ian MacKenzie Jeffers, based on a story by Jeffers, offers some man-against-the-elements philosophizing in between a lot of macho head-butting, in between gory wolf attacks—it’s something like jacked-up Jack London with a dash of slasher movie. The animals look heavily computer-generated in many of the scare scenes, however, which weakens their impact.
I can’t say I found this movie likable, but it has a saving grace, & its name is Liam Neeson. One of the few authentic slabs of beef left in current movies, Neeson’s imposing masculinity, his no-nonsense maturity & the lupine sadness on his face give this overbearing melodrama a touch of Bergmanesque tragedy.
RIP to Robert Hegyes, best known as the “Sweathog” Juan Epstein on Welcome Back, Kotter, passed on at 60.
Here's finally something we disagree on. It was bound to happen, I suppose. I loved this movie. I really did, every bit of it. Neeson is so damn good here. That ending! It floored me. The trailer had me expecting something else to happen, and I'm glad it didn't go there. I can't wait to see it again.
ReplyDeleteOh, I finally caught up with THE ARTIST. I likeed it well enough. It was a good movie and an enjoyable time, but for the life of me I can't figure out why it is winning all these awards. Before, when I was being snide about it getting best picture by the PHX Film Critics, I wasn't entirely serious. Now that I've seen it, it IS a head scratcher. It's good, but best movie of the year?
Having said that, it does seem that the vitriol the movie is getting from the Oscar writing/blogger/twitter world is a big over the top. It's not a crime against cinema that's it's winning or anything, and what is Hazanavicius supposed to do, not accept his DGA award? Glenn Kenny had a good line the other day: I don't often point to myself as a positive example in any respect, but after Ordinary People...well, I don't need to go on, do I? (And yes, before you contemplate getting shirty about it in comments, Ordinary People is, by a certain yardstick, not a bad, or "bad," movie. All right?) After that, "Won't Get Fooled Again" became my Oscar theme song and, until such point as watching the ceremony became something like a professional obligation, I didn't let it trouble me.
Take care.
I'd hate to disagree with you too much, Phil, & happily we agree on Neeson; I thought he was excellent as usual, even if I didn't find the flick too persuasive. Re: The Artist, is it possible that your experience of the film was weakened a bit by having seen it a few weeks in, after being bombarded by weeks of hype? I think the same thing happened to folks who went late to The Blair Witch Project. The Artist wasn't my favorite movie of the year (it was 4th or 5th on my Top Ten list) but I really liked it, & I also recognize it as one of those rare & valuable movies that almost anyone can enjoy. As for he vitriol you mention, it's probably a predictable envious backlash, but I am a bit perplexed by the anger about the use of Bernard Herrmann's "Vertigo" score. Didn't I read that Kim Novak referred to it as "rape?" Disgraceful. But even people who weren't that absurdly hyperbolic, people keep grumbling that it "threw them out of the movie." The poor lambs, I hope they get therapy. I think they just wanted to make it clear that they recognized it. When I heard it, I just said "Huh. Vertigo" in an attempt, vain as usual, to impress The Wife. When she very rightly ignored me, I went back to watching & enjoying the flick.
ReplyDeletePer the Bernard Herrman Vertigo "controversy", I don’t understand this at all. I don't know see how someone like Tarantino can be praised for re-appropriating bits of Herrman and Morricone and all kinds of other composers and Hazanavicious is accused of rape. It’s ridiculous. I was waiting for the Vertigo score to come up and when it finally did I thought it worked fine.
ReplyDeleteThere is something to be said for hype and expectation when it comes to movies. For better or worse, I really follow this stuff (movie sites, trades, podcasts, et al) and I remember when THE ARTIST debuted at Cannes the reaction was immediately “this is a front runner for best picture”. You think, really? Already in May? Okay. And then, sure enough, the movie plays at Telluride and Toronto and it tide swells and it becomes this self fulfilling prophecy and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that my natural inclination is to react against this and have a bit of a grudge against the movie from the beginning. As you know, I was snarky about the movie before I had even seen it. I actually started turning the other way. It wouldn't have cracked my top ten list, but people were just so over the top in piling on a movie whose main theme is a love and appreciation of cinema. What’s worse to me in that the Hazanavicious and gang are being so humble and gracious in accepting these accolades that it just bugs me all the more that people are being so vicious about it. This Saturday, when the won best director from the DGA, twitter blew up with all kinds of sarcasm. Yes, I personally think someone else should have won, but give the guy a break. Is he supposed to not accept the award? It’s nuts.