David Swindle S Cinema Diary

David Swindle’s Cinema Diary

Volume I

May 1, 2006 to April 27, 2008

Opening Credits

This collection compiles my first two years as a film critic for WTHR. During that time I went from being one of several Indiana college student critics to the site’s sole movie reviewer with a new article each week.

Now is the ideal time to pull together the first volume of my reviews. Not only is it exactly two years – something I didn’t realize until I typed the dates in the title – but the nature of my review writing is going to radically change. I’ll shortly be starting a movie blog on WTHR to supplement my weekly review. Now whenever I see anything (and April and I watch way too many movies) it’ll get a few thoughts posted. I’ll also get to post various random movie/DVD notes and hopefully actually interact with my readers a little bit.

The collection primarily consists of theatrical reviews but also mixed in are two DVD reviews (“300” and “There Will Be Blood,”) two director retrospectives (Terry Zwigoff and Martin Scorsese,) and a look back at 2007. All reviews have also received a second read-through and some minor edits and rewrites.

I thought I’d include just a brief note about my style and approach to film criticism. One of the most obvious traits of my reviews is the fairly openly personal factor. I talk about my tastes, interests, preoccupations, fiancée, family, and friends. I make no apologies for this and don’t intend to stop (unless my editor were to insist on it.) If you’re reading my review it’s because you want my opinion and a description of my experience of the film. I’m going to write about what in the film interests me. That in mind, though, I’m still going to write so that anyone can enjoy my reviews and hopefully, by the time they’re done reading, know if it’s a movie they’re going to want to see. I can’t tell you if a movie is “good” since no movie “is” “good.” Instead I’ll tell you if it was “good” for me and might be good for you.

I also review from the perspective of someone with degrees in English and Political Science. I approach the film as a text to be analyzed, debated, and discussed. I’m particularly interested in a film’s themes and ideas.

Additional thoughts on my review approach and biases can be found in my listing of films reviewed by letter grade and genre which proceeds the collection of reviews

I’ll conclude by thanking those that have really made this opportunity possible, my editors at WTHR. Rod Porter was the one who gave me a shot and continually listened to me and my ideas. Sara Galer has been the best editor imaginable, giving me more freedom than I knew what to do with yet still managing to rein me in when I go to far. Thanks also to Warren Mills for maintaining my stories on the web. I only hope to continue my relationship with WTHR, it’s been everything for which a writer could hope.

David Swindle

Films Reviewed by Genre and a Discussion of My Biases

Drama

·  United 93

·  Lonesome Jim

·  All the King’s Men

·  Black Snake Moan

·  Eastern Promises

·  Michael Clayton

·  No Country For Old Men

·  The Departed

·  There Will Be Blood

·  Letters from Iwo Jima

A drama is a film with a literary purpose. It has something to say. It has characters for whom you feel emotion. They’re usually serious. I can really get into a good drama as long as it’s saying something that interests me. Virtually all films are dramas to some degree or another.

Horror

·  Grindhouse

·  Hostel: Part II

·  Halloween

·  Resident Evil: Extinction

·  30 Days of Night

·  Saw IV

·  Untraceable

·  The Ruins

I’ve written about this in my reviews. A horror film is not one that scares but one that horrifies. These are two different things. A horror film primarily accomplishes its goal of scaring the audience through gore and violence. Therefore it must be rated R. Having ghosts or spookiness or the threat of violence does not a horror film make. Horror taps us at a primal, instinctual level.

I’m something of an apologist for the recent wave of extreme horror films (“Saw,” “Hostel,” “The Devil’s Rejects,” etc.) I enjoy the rush and anxiety that good horror films produce. Further many of these films go beyond simple gore and have some thematic depth. Unfortunately many critics are so repulsed by the gore that they fail to see this.

Comedy

·  Art School Confidential

·  Little Miss Sunshine

·  The Science of Sleep

·  Blades of Glory

·  Knocked Up

·  Superbad

·  Mr. Woodcock

·  The Heartbreak Kid

·  Juno

·  Meet the Spartans

·  Semi-Pro

·  Forgetting Sarah Marshall

What I want from a comedy film are moments that make me laugh uncontrollably. That’s really what matters the most. How often did I laugh and with what intensity? Story and characters are not a necessity. For example, I’m as much of an apologist for the “Jackass” series as I am for Eli Roth. “Jackass Number Two” would be an A film had I reviewed it. It makes me laugh wildly, I’ve watched it multiple times, and I own it.

Within this genre there are numerous sub-genres. There’s the “romantic comedy,” those dealing with the humor in relationships. Bad romantic comedies can fall in the derogatory genre of “chick flick,” namely movies that can only be enjoyed by women. I like romantic comedies that actually have something to say about relationships and depict realistic behavior. There’s the “gross-out comedy” which seeks to use bodily fluids in creative ways. (I have no problem with being disgusted.) A “stoner comedy” celebrates marijuana. While I don’t indulge, the extreme social libertarian in me tends to be biased toward this subgenre. A “black comedy” involves subjects that would normally be the subject for a drama. These films usually involve some degree of risk – something I appreciate and admire. Parody films poke fun at a genre. They usually suck a great deal. One subgenre I despise is the “embarrassment comedy,” to be found in such films as “Meet the Parents” or “The Heartbreak Kid.” I hate to feel sympathy toward a character and for them to be pounded with a sledgehammer of embarrassment. It’s very unpleasant.

Action

·  District B13

·  300

·  Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

·  War

·  Shoot ‘Em Up

·  Hitman

·  Cloverfield

·  10,000 BC

·  Jumper

Action films entertain through stunts, special effects, and violence. I tend to view action films as one might consider dance or ballet. Just how thrilling is the action? Does it surprise? Do I burst out laughing in admiration at the audacity of a sequence? I tend to be biased toward good action. I have a special fondness for “bullet ballet” – the genre created by John Woo with films such as “The Killer” and “Hard Boiled.” I tend not to have as much interest in martial arts movies but I can certainly make exceptions. The Tony Jaa film “The Protector” is an example.

Thriller

·  21

Thrillers may include elements of horror, drama, or action to primarily produce tension. Usually they feature a protagonist who is put into a difficult situation and they have to get out of it. It’s really one of my least favorite genres.

Supernatural Thriller

·  1408

·  The Orphanage

The supernatural thriller is a pseudo-horror film that scares with spookiness and jump moments instead of R-rated violence. They’re always rated PG-13 and I tend to detest them. These are two examples of rare exceptions to that rule.

Documentary

·  Sicko

I am a huge fan of documentaries and tend to review them frequently as “Bite Size Reviews” on my new blog. (Expect those in the next collection of my film writings.) I’d review them more in my theatrical reviews if more of them emerged.

I do not make the silly distinction as some do that a documentary must be “unbiased.” Michael Moore’s films are documentaries. Just because someone contests some of his facts and conclusions doesn’t mean that it’s not a documentary. All films, including so-called “objective” documentaries have a bias and a perspective.

As a political junky I tend to have a bias toward political documentaries.

Musical

·  Prairie Home Companion

·  Hairspray

·  Across the Universe

·  Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

In general I don’t like musicals. I don’t particularly like dance and I tend to only listen to music while I’m doing something else like writing, driving, or cleaning the apartment. Those biases aside I can still enjoy genuinely great films no matter the genre. These four films here are some of the best musicals of recent years.

Animation

·  Renaissance

·  Shrek the Third

·  Ratatouille

·  Paprika

·  Bee Movie

·  Beowulf

·  Persepolis

·  Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who!

I hesitated including this as a genre. Animators can make very strong arguments that their films should just be considered as movies instead of in their own category. Sorry, but the nature of animation is such that the medium and the possibilities it allow force it to be separate. The animated image is just so unique in its power that no matter what a film is about, the fact that it’s animated is always going to a key component of the experience.

In general I have a bias in favor of animation, whether it be traditional, stop-motion, or computer.

Science Fiction

·  The Fountain

·  Sunshine

·  I Am Legend

I stick a film in the science fiction category if it’s set in the future. Really “science fiction” is always a secondary category, though. A sci-fi film is almost always more of something else than just about technology that doesn’t exist yet. These sci-fi films are primarily dramas. (“Sunshine” has some horror blended in and “I Am Legend” is part action film.)

I have a moderate bias toward science fiction though I’m not particularly geeky about it.

Family

·  Nancy Drew

·  The Spiderwick Chronicles

Family films are those meant to specifically connect with children and their unique sensibilities. There are some family films from my childhood for which I possess tremendous affection.

Fantasy

·  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

·  Stardust

·  The Golden Compass

The defining characteristic of a fantasy film is to be set in a world different from our own, usually with the trappings of classical fantasy. Despite the fact that I’m authoring a young-adult fantasy novel the genre isn’t one to which I’m particularly enthralled. I can enjoy magic and mythical creatures but it’s just not one of my fetishes like it is for some people.

Conclusion

I ultimately judge every film based off of two things: how it functions as a drama and as an exercise in its genre. What are dramatically important are things like themes, plot, character, and cinematic quality. Genre-wise we judge a film by how effectively it accomplishes its goal of producing laughs, thrills, scares, etc. A successful film need not succeed in both categories.

Breakdown of Films Reviewed by Grade and a Discussion of Ratings

First Note: The films in my director retrospectives of Terry Zwigoff and Martin Scorsese are not included here. DVD reviews are also not included here.

Second Note: “Grindhouse” counts as three different films in my book. The two films that comprise it, “Death Proof” and “Planet Terror,” can be judged individually. The experience of both films, the fake trailers, and the overall presentation is a third film, though.

A+

·  District B13

·  The Fountain

·  300

·  Superbad

·  Michael Clayton

·  No Country For Old Men

·  There Will Be Blood

Films that moved up to this category from an A include “Superbad,” “Michael Clayton,” and “No Country for Old Men.” A+ films are those for which I have an overwhelming enthusiasm. Many of them I saw more than once in theatres. They’re generally the DVDs that I rush out and buy the day they come out. These are the masterpieces within their genres. I could take any of these films and just pop them in and watch them beginning to end.

A

·  United 93

·  Hostel: Part II

·  The Departed

·  Ratatouille

·  Sicko

·  Eastern Promises

·  I Am Legend

·  Juno

·  Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

·  The Orphanage

·  Forgetting Sarah Marshall

“The Departed” moved up into this category from an A- in its original review. Films in this category are those that I would describe as “great.” They don’t have any significant problems. For a film to get this grade I have to be willing to buy it for my DVD collection. All of the films listed above are ones I either own or plan on picking up at some point. The one exception would be “Sicko.” It’s borderline A- and I don’t really need to see it again. I’m no longer the Michael Moore fan I once was.

A-

·  Little Miss Sunshine

·  Knocked Up

·  Hairspray

·  Sunshine

·  Stardust

·  Halloween

·  Cloverfield

·  The Spiderwick Chronicles

·  Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who!

A- films are great but have just a few noticeable flaws. At it’s heart it’s an A but I just can’t ignore one to three problems. The DVD situation with all of the films listed above is the same: I’ll probably add them to the collection but I’d rather snatch them up used.