post-vacation roundup

i took a vacation, and it was the worst thing ever. i happened to watch a few movies; only the last two were really of my own initiative.

Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail, or at least most of it. crammed with useless characters, full of emotional inconsistencies, and technologically dated to a degree approaching unwatchability, as if it needed any help.

Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia. (yes, i watched two Nora Ephron movies in a row.) there's a good reason this movie boosted Julia Child book sales and left Julie Powell's sales pretty well alone: the sequences following Child through her formative years are fascinating and enjoyable (Meryl Streep & Stanley Tucci are pretty wonderful) but the present-day stuff -- again a little uncareful, if slyer, about tech stuff, but i suppose that's the story, and the audience -- is corny and uninteresting.

Paul Greengrass' The Bourne Ultimatum, which still kicks miles of ass even edited up and filled with commercial breaks. i can't say which i prefer of Greengrass' Bourne movies (Doug Liman's first one is super-fun, but not on the same level) but the tight narrative focus of this one, full as it is with baller action sequences, may give it the edge.

Scott Cooper's Crazy Heart, which is everything it needs to be as a showcase for Jeff Bridges, who will win an Oscar as a result. a fine little film, and a refreshingly un-showy debut for Cooper.

Todd Phillips' The Hangover. Phillips has always been the fratty, less keen older brother of last decade's semi-alt-comedy stirrings, and though this may be his best movie (i was particularly glad to see him use Zach Galifianakis to a warranted but unexpected extent) it's still too broad and too flawed. (what's with the abrupt, completely superfluous pop music cues anyway? studio meddling, or just the depths of taste?)

Jacques Tati's Mr. Hulot's Holiday, the kickoff of a Tati retrospective at Chicago's Gene Siskel Film Center. the least edgy of the Hulot movies but still a wonder of a gentle comedy; Tati's patience in the setup and execution of most of the film's gags is just breathtaking, and excuses that there are 80% more mild giggles than full-on laughs.

Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, at the wonderful Music Box theater. one of my favorite books as a child, and the most purely enjoyable film i saw last year. Anderson's shtick had seemingly run out of steam, but apparently all he needed to do was bounce it to another medium...being cutesy is no crime when you're making a cartoon about a fox. "divide that by nine, please!"

jacques tati's PLAYTIME (1967)

jacques tati's TRAFIC (1971)

French actor and filmmaker Jacques Tati only made a handful of films (most of them starring his bumbling, guileless alter ego Monsieur Hulot) but his inimitable blend of physical humor, quizzical social commentary and visual acuity was sufficiently brilliant to ensure that each remains in high regard despite its flaws. this pertains particularly to 1971's Trafic, the final and slightest of his Hulot quartet, but the film still handily impresses; the most plot-driven (insomuch as you can actually synopsize it) of Hulot's outings, Trafic finds him a car designer tasked with transporting his company's latest prototype to an Amsterdam car show. that Hulot is here enabling unbridled modernity is somewhat of a break for the character, but the attitude remains faithful: Hulot's position and task lay a foundation for Trafic's visual and thematic emphasis on the ubiquitousness of the automobile, which pays off repeatedly even if it doesn't leave as focused an impression as its predecessors. but the main attraction, as with all of Tati’s work, is the singular sort of cartoony comic ballet that overtakes every action and detail; as gifted as Tati is as a physical comedian, his real (and rare) contribution to comedy is his profound exploitation of the medium itself, twisted, bent, and made beautiful by the whims of one of film comedy’s genuine visionaries.

(from the KNOXVILLE VOICE)