A Bunch of Short Reviews

Here are some movies I've seen recently, and my brief, unorganized opinions on them. There may be some slight spoilers, but probably nothing too specific.

Cedar Rapids (2011)
Fun, but not particularly memorable, except for John C. Reilly's character. Everything he did was hilarious. Isiah Whitlock also stole a few scenes. Ed Helms made a decent leading man, and Anne Heche's character was interesting and likeable. I still can't think of Kurtwood Smith as anybody but "the dad from That 70s Show." The movie had a nice atmosphere, but as a whole it was just average. It was also very predictable.
6/10

Klute (1971)
This was really disappointing. I was excited about seeing the first two movies in Alan J. Pakula's "Paranoia Trilogy" after loving "All the President's Men", but this was just... really... bad. The characters weren't likable or particularly interesting, the story was slow and meandering, and for a supposed suspense thriller, there were really only one or two brief scenes that I found remotely suspenseful. The ending is a big disappointment-- the villain just kind of abruptly shows up and explains everything to the main character. The direction was surprisingly shoddy, given how much I liked Pakula's work in "All the President's Men." The shots were jarring and spatially confusing, for no discernable reason. Not much to recommend about this one, although it seems to be held in pretty high esteem for some reason.
3/10

Apocalypse Now (1979)
This was my second time seeing the movie, but my first time seeing the original non-Redux version. I really liked it the first time I saw it, but my complaints were that it was too long, and that there were a handful of scenes that seemed completely pointless. Turns out all the scenes I had problems with were the ones added back in for Redux. The original version is much more digestible, and while we don't get quite as much into Willard's personality, it's a more consistent portrayal. If he's so determined to get upriver as fast as possible, why would he stop to play practical jokes on Kilgore, hang out with Playboy Bunnies and have dinner at a French Plantation? To me, the Redux version was equally powerful, but less enjoyable because it felt bloated and excessive. Upon re-watching the film, my favourite sequences are still the surreal ones at the Doo-Long bridge and the lead-up to meeting Kurtz. Truly one of the greatest movies in history (both versions, but particularly the original).
Redux: 9/10
Original: 10/10

Pineapple Express (2008) and the Green Hornet (2011)
I saw these both in one day, and they're both written by and starring Seth Rogen (with Evan Goldberg as co-writer), so I'm reviewing them together. Pineapple Express was more enjoyable, mostly because I prefer comedy to action, and it focused on comedy, while the Green Hornet was more of an even mix of the two. I was disappointed that Michel Gondry's signature surrealism was mostly absent from the Green Hornet film, except for one scene towards the end. Both films were refreshing in that they eschewed the usual Hollywood romance plot-- Pineapple Express focused on the developing relationship between Rogen and James Franco's character, at times treating it as if it were a romance story, and he breaks up with his teenage girlfriend halfway through the film. There is no reconciliation scene later on, he just forgets about her. In The Green Hornet, while he and Kato spend a good chunk of the film fighting over Cameron Diaz, neither one of them seems to hook up with her at the end as anything more than friends. These are fun movies if you like Seth Rogen, especially Pineapple Express.
Pineapple Express: 7/10
Green Hornet: 6/10

Read This Bob McKimson Interview, Fool

I was hoping to get some animation done this afternoon, but instead I've spent the last hour or so reading this extensive 1971 interview with Bob McKimson that Michael Barrier just re-posted. Everybody read it now.

http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/McKimson/McKimson.html

What an amazing read. This is the first time, as far as I can recall, that I've ever heard McKimson's feelings about his work, the other directors, or.... well, anything, really. Is this the only interview he ever gave? It's startling how easily he remembers everything, whereas most interviews about the Golden Age are filled with "I don't remember the cartoon you're asking about" or inaccurate recollections of dates and credits. McKimson is pretty much dead-on with everything. He seems to be a pretty reliable source, unlike just about everybody else.

There are so many great nuggets of information in this piece. McKimson comes off as very confident, and possibly a bit full of himself. It's completely justified though, and from what I've read, Chuck Jones was just as proud, if not more so. He was just less willing to acknowledge it. It's sad reading the parts about Rod Scribner though, and how McKimson eventually got his animators "under control" after they'd been used to "over-playing" everything with Clampett. I think it's unanimous that most of Scribner's work under McKimson feels extremely stifled and restrained compared to his earlier Clampett stuff.