Tuesday, October 16

Big Screen Little Screen

So I did see Michael Clayton. The movie, not the person. It was decent enough, with some solid dialogue and performances but it was vacuous and long in all the wrong places. And clearly not a true "movie". It would be fine on TV, however, there was nothing to signify its value to be on the big screen.

This has become something of a requirement to me when I see a movie. Does it truly belong in an auditorium? That's not an easy question to answer, and I don't think there can be one definition, for example, an action movie may be better placed on a large screen with louder sound than a drama, but that is for entertainment value. Something like Brokeback is worthy of cinema, whereas The Queen has just as much impact (if not more) on the Box.

Any suggestions?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have suggested The Bourne Ultimatum which I think needs to be seen on a big screen. OK, it's not very intellectual, but good escapist fun and moves along at a good rate. Also, (and I haven't seen this one) a new animation Ratatouille is getting very good reviews.

phil-san said...

Interestingly, Ratatouille came out a few months ago in Japan and I saw it in Odaiba. Oh, Odaiba, how I miss you. Sigh. Anyway...

It's very good, and it should be as Pixar generally have set a high standard. But, the bar was set too high and it's become a problem for them, with the disappointing Cars and then this movie.

The film is clever, cute and has some cracking jokes, but there was something not quite right and it was easy to see why it won't be a classic in the same sense as Toy Story or Monsters Inc. The central characters are cool and must-have toys for children and logos for stationery. But the central character of Ratatouille is... a rat, duh.

It doesn't matter what slant you put on it, the rat is a rat and it's not going to have the same Universal must-have-ness that Buzz Lightyear did.

Overall, great but not that great.

That wasn't really anything to do with the Big Screen question, but it was an answer nonetheless.

(I'm very critical of movies - must be Mark Kermode who keeps me company during the Monday morning commute)

Anonymous said...

saw blood diamond last night. very good film. u seen it?

"lit darmon' is my ticki' aaat lis godforsAken countwy" to quote di caprio

Anonymous said...

Oli I aggree Blood diamond excellent, but for sceen prescence Last king of Scotland was just great even if not factually acurate. Dadx

phil-san said...

No, but I did catch Scooby-Doo The Movie in the gym tonight. What a great twist at the end - didn't see it coming. And he would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for those pesky kids!