Waiting for "Superman"

2010 Leftovers Marathon, part 13 of 13

Data
Title: Waiting for "Superman"
Year: 2010
Length: 111 minutes
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Writers: Davis Guggenheim, Billy Kimball
Starring: Geoffrey Canada
With: Michelle Rhee, Bill Strickland, Randi Weingarten
Music: Christophe Beck (mostly non-original music)
Cinematography: Robert Richman, Erich Roland
Editing: Jay Cassidy, Greg Finton, Kim Roberts
I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), a couple days ago
Synopsis: a look at the public school system, and some families trying to cope with it

My reaction
Concept:
Story:
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting: n/a
Music:
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, ). Basically, it says, "Here's what's wrong with schools, here's why, and here's why nobody can ever do anything about it." Um... great. Then why did you make a documentary? It at least tries to provide a more personal perspective on things, which makes it watchable. But it has this tone of "let's get up and fix this mess, people!" while a the same time systematically demonstrating that any significant reform is impossible. I don't get it.
Objective Rating (Average):

Star Trek: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?"

Data
Title: Star Trek: “Is There in Truth No Beauty?”
Year: 1968
Network: NBC
Episode: the fifth (of twenty-four) from season three; 50 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Ralph Senensky
Writer: Jean Lisette Aroeste
Starring: William Shatner
With: Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Diana Muldaur, David Frankham
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); George Duning
Cinematography: Gerald Perry Finnerman
Editing: Fabien D. Tordjmann
I saw it: on video and TV several times, most recently a couple days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: a benevolent alien can't be seen by humans without driving them mad

My reaction
Concept:
Story: Kind of a mess - good ideas, though.
Characters:
Dialog: A lot of great dialog, but some is horrible.
Pacing:
Cinematography: Use a fish-eye lens once, and it's campy fun. Some time around the eleventh or twelfth time, though, it starts to look like you just forgot it was on the camera.
Special effects/design: The brief shots of the alien are particularly nice.
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, ). I felt the need to exclaim while watching it, "This episode is balls." Everything ends up hinging on the female character being petty and jealous in that yes-if-it-were-a-man-he'd-be-institutionalized-but-girls-can-just-be-like-that kind of way. It's especially frustrating because with some slight re-writing it could have been a great episode.
Objective Rating (Average):

Star Trek: "And the Children Shall Lead"

Data
Title: Star Trek: “And the Children Shall Lead”
Year: 1968
Network: NBC
Episode: the fourth (of twenty-four) from season three; 50 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Marvin J. Chomsky
Writer: Edward J. Lakso
Starring: William Shatner
With: Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Craig Hundley, Melvin Belli
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); George Duning
Cinematography: Gerald Perry Finnerman
Editing: Donald R. Rode
I saw it: on video and TV several times, most recently a couple days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: children have god-like powers

My reaction
Concept: Nope, you did that one already.
Story:
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, ). Not only is it one of the most tedious and annoying takes on the god-like-powers formula, but it also doesn't make any sense.
Objective Rating (Average):

Unstoppable

2010 Leftovers Marathon, part 12 of 13

Data
Title: Unstoppable
Year: 2010
Length: 98 minutes
Director: Tony Scott
Writer: Mark Bomback
Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine
With: Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Dunn, Kevin Corrigan, Kevin Chapman, Lew Temple
Music: Harry Gregson-Williams (and non-original music)
Cinematography: Ben Seresin
Editing: Robert Duffy, Chris Lebenzon
Oscars: nominated for Best Sound Editing
I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Synopsis: a runaway train is... unstoppable

My reaction
Concept:
Story:
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music: Out of context, it would be absolutely terrible music, but it works.
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, ). How is this movie good? I'd like to think it was made on a dare. Someone took the most idiotic, cliche-ridden, disaster of a script they could find, and challenged the director to make a good movie out of it. (Sadly, that would explain how most of Fox's movies get made.) And somehow they pulled it off. What the hey.
Objective Rating (Average):

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

2010 Leftovers Marathon, part 11 of 13

Data
Title: Loong Boonmee raleuk chat
Year: 2010 (Thailand); 2011 (US)
Length: 114 minutes
Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Writer: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Starring: Thanapat Saisaymar, Jenjira Pongpas
With: Sakda Kaewbuadee, Natthakarn Aphaiwonk, Geerasak Kulhong
Music: ? (can't find info online)
Cinematography: Yukontorn Mingmongkon, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
Editing: Lee Chatametikool
I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Synopsis: a dying farmer is visited by spirits

My reaction
Concept:
Story:
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing: It's painfully slow in a way that made me want to throw things at the TV. But if it were an otherwise less frustrating movie, its peculiar pacing could have been interesting.
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 2/10 (Terrible, ). It starts out very promisingly. As it goes, it gradually makes less sense, while simultaneously becoming less interesting. By the end, I felt like I had just watched someone's home video remake of Mulholland Dr. I watched a bit of the interview with the director included on the DVD, hoping for some sort of explanation or contextualization, but there is none to be had; it seems he's either incompetent, or just doesn't care about any of the things that I think are important to good film-making.
Objective Rating (Average):