I rarely find the films of Ken Russell intellectually stimulating, it happens on occasion, such as with Women in Love and Salome's Last Dance, but his work is so often emotionally raw and unfiltered that I find it relatively unconsidered, superficial, and therefore unsubstantial in truth and themes. Indeed, cinema is most effective when it is an emotional experience over an intellectual one, but I believe it helps if it stimulates the brain, at least somewhat, on some level. I…
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The Manchurian Candidate 2004
I find the John Frankenheimer version of The Manchurian Candidate pretty silly. I'm able to take it at face value, understand it in the context of its time and place, but the original 1962 film adaptation of the 1959 novel of the same name by Richard Condon is, to me, I repeat, pretty silly. Why not? It's a silly story about mind control, an actual government and military concern at the time. It has Frank Sinatra running around doing karate…
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The Music Lovers 1971
I suppose, to make it clear, I should preamble this review by stating that it is a positive one, albeit reined in, unlike the film.
Ken Russell's films usually explode onto the screen with an impressive amount of life, spirit, and style, sometimes to the point of his efforts being noticeable and it all seeming a bit forced. But the first moments of The Music Lovers are both wild and controlled enough that they reach the right balance and, to…
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A Complete Unknown 2024
Mangold's work, in my opinion, always has a slightly synthetic quality that I can never quite get past. Thus, a film which comes just shy of immediately reminding me of, and moving me with, the power of Bob Dylan's music is ultimately a disappointment. There is, again in my opinion, a synthetic quality even in Chalamet's performance.
However, points for a strong ending and final act, where, alas, concrete drama and conflict finally appear.
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