Punch Drunk Love, Sin City, Se7en

Punch Drunk Love (2002)

Definitely offbeat.  Not one of my favorites from PT Anderson.  It wasn’t really bad as much as it was different  I thoroughly enjoy movies that are in the independent style without all the Hollywood trappings (you will find that to be a common thread in my movie reviews).  The indie feel was through most of the movie, but the ending was just so predictable.  While I enjoyed the movie, I was let down with the last 10 minutes.

I’m not sure of how it could have been wrapped up better, but would have appreciated any attempt at not using a cliche’.  If it was a Happy Madison movie, I would have been impressed.  But, with it being a PT Anderson film, I was expecting just a little more kick at the finish.

Sin City (2005)

I watched this movie again this weekend and if anything, I have come to appreciate it more.  Huge cast of good actors in an other world feel to the familiar.  Film Noir and ‘graphic novel’ with quite a bit of pulp violence thrown in.  There is a lot of misogyny here but there is one story line that shows women banding together and kicking ass.  I have never been a big fan of this type of comic book.  I wasn’t familiar with Frank Miller before this came out.  The whole atmosphere of the film lived up to my imagination.  

The bonus materials on the regular DVD release show how true the movie was to Frank Miller’s vision.  His approval was virtually complete and his participation was vital.  Robert Rodriguez and, to a small degree, Quentin Tarantino, brought the comic book feel to the screen.  The fact that there were only three actual sets (the rest of the scenes were green screen) gave the digital backgrounds a sharp, high contrast feel that worked really well.  

Fan boys may have been disappointed, but even Rotten Tomatoes compiled a 77% Fresh rating for Sin City.  Most of the negative reviews would have never have been positive based on the content, the genre is not mainstream to start with. They tended to use phrases like ‘offended’, ‘tasteless’ and ‘director ought to be held accountable for the violence’. 

Se7en (1995)

Another movie that I watched again this week.  What starts off as a typical cop movie veers into the strange world that puts it close to being on par with Silence of the Lambs.  Fincher captured much of the creepiness of Lambs without it feeling like a rip off.  (In fact, I think there was an homage in that John Doe was a customer of Buffalo Bill’s Leather Shop.)  Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt turned in very good performances.  

This is one of those films that you kind of know where it’s going, but yet it can still turn around on you.  While there is plenty of graphic detail, the psychological toll is palpable.  John Doe may not have been the true peer of Hannibal Lecter, but he came close.  I will probably have to go back to listen to the commentary tracks. There is probably quite a bit that I have missed.