 Among other things, I saw Mission: Impossible III yesterday. | May. 4th, 2006 @ 01:10 am  |
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And yes, it's everything that I expected it to be. I, who have bought every single season boxset of Alias and Lost out there, who download every single episode of Lost up to and including S.O.S. (yes, I know it was Lostnesday yesterday, I'm working on it), I, who have tooted the horn of J.J. Abrams to my fellow critics and filmmakers who never even heard of the man, after the press screening. I have some mighty high standards to hold J.J. up to, based on his own work and on De Palma's work on the first M:I movie, and yeah, he delivers.
Suffice to say this: noone, not even Greengrass and Liman in their Bourne films, and certainly not any of the Bond directors, have played with the whole spy game genre with such a deft hand and such a profound combination of geeky adoration for source material and intelligent ways to circumvent its trappings since... well, since James Cameron in True Lies, or, more to the point, Alfred Hitchcock in North by Northwest. Of course, the latter film was the original inspiration for this whole genre, but J.J. and his good old Alias writers, Kurtzman and Orci, basically give us a state-of-the-art update of the entire concept for the 21st century. This is the new yardstick movie by which the likes of Casino Royale will be measured: and those guys had better have their shit together if they want to make a difference. J.J. has made the movie Hollywood can only thank whatever pantheon it believes in for, and a movie that kept me on the edge of my seat, my nerves, and my emotional involvement, for the best part of its two hours.
And yes! It has Lawrence Fishburne who Doesn't. Talk. Like. This. And. Actually. Pokes. Fun. At. Himself, and it has Phil Hoffman doing the baddest badass since Lecter (toughhh words here, but I stand by them), and Maggie Q being your best buddy and the gorgeousest thing on the planet in just a few moves... J.J. doesn't have the luxury of building a mythology here, unlike in Alias, but he builds on whatever the first two movies have left him with and just flies with it. He IS the most talented person in Hollywood at the moment, and M:I III is the most assured big-screen debut since... well, I dunno. Star Wars, Jaws and The Terminator were second features. And they weren't sequels to a troubled franchise. J.J. is rescuing Star Trek now, and I can't stress how grateful the Trekkies and the Trekkers must be for that.
J.J. is not a genius, btw: he's just so incredibly good at what he does. Why can't everyone raised and trained in Hollywood be as good as he is?
Okay, enough spoiler-free reviews of the current blockbusters. How about me? Yes! I survived England, even though my ex fiancé turned out to be my worst nightmare of who she could be at this point in my life. I finally met Susanne and Andrew and Chi in person, lovely, adorable people all, and much ale was had, and V for Vendetta was seen at the largest screen in Europe with a view of the Big Ben right outside the exit (even though, yes, Susanne, thank you, the Big Ben is the bell, and the tower is called something or other inane), and William Blake and Henry Fuseli originals were seen, ditto the Sutton Hoo mask, and London in itself was a marvellous, marvellous experience, and, heck, even Devon was nice, I can't help it if Teresa traded me in for a lesser guy, can I.
And why haven't I updated since then? Well, I had to dive headlong into the National Short Film Festival, where I ran the press service and the daily bulletin. Suffice to say that my press conferences were held in a café where I had to literally beg the barman not to grind his espresso beans during the proceedings, and that my bulletin was achieved without a phone line, a printer, an internet connection, Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign or Quark Express, namely, without any hardware or software actually needed for it. My new laptop, the Sony Vaio VGN-FE11M did a lion's share of the work, but the young crew was indispensable. I met a few 20-year-olds who I'll be proud to know from now on, and they more than made up for any and all of the Festival's failings. And, besides, the short subjects were good -- and my friends won the top awards. Gigo Vitez, the director of the sitcom I assisted with last year, won Best Screenplay for his short film about the lynching of a paedophile priest, and Ivona Juka, an old, old friend, won both the Grand Prix and the Critics' Prize for her docu about a troupe of prison inmates -- filthy thieves and murderers all -- performing the Midsummer Night's Dream, and being their intolerable selves. I still am trying to fathom where Ivona got the strength to actually spend so much time with people of that sort, and how she got them to become so real, ugly and heartbreaking as they are, for her camera. But I've spent a lot of time with her since her win, and she's quite amazing in very many ways.
So much for this fortnight's update. I'm tired as hell and expectant as the seventh heaven, mind you. |
::squishes you happily::
Yay, you're back! Am glad to hear that the trip to England turned out well. I continue to cherish a love for London that all my friends would find insane, but what the heck. ::grin::
MI:III just opened in Manila, but I have yet to see it, movie-going costs being what they are, and I in the middle of an austerity program. However, your glowing review will niggle at me until (a) I actually get to see it with hubby, or (b) we get a proper DVD of the movie to watch on the large TV in the living room.
Am also glad to see the filmfest also went well. Kudos to all your friends, the winners and the younger folks that are now part of your circle of contacts. Would that the world had more of such people.
I trust that by the time you see this, you'll have had a proper ration of rest and soaking tired feet in hot water (best treat I know after running about for the better part of a fortnight!).
^__^
| From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: |
May 6th, 2006 - 03:06 pm |
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Since I try to avoid crowded theatres it will take a couple of weeks until I will see it.
I'm already looking forward to the DVD version which will hopefully contain an alternative ending in which Hoffman will kick Cruise's butt and be the 'winner'. :)
Gunther
| From: | ![[info]](http://img.greatestjournal.com/userinfo.gif) istoo |
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May 15th, 2006 - 09:53 pm |
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Hi, did you get that issue of Vanity Fair (I think) that you mentioned at the supermarket. How's the tea?
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