Peter Jackson Vs. Bob Fosse
This has got to be one of the strangest pairings we've had so far. Peter Jackson master of the big budget action packed epic vs. Bob Fosse the jazz hand musical god. But as they say in Highlander in the end there can be only one....
Cabaret -Bob Fosse - This film was one of the films that I was really dreading coming back to. Years ago I picked this film up off the classics rack at Blockbuster and had quite the horrible experience with it. The main characters are all extremely flawed and treat each other horrible, the whole film takes place in the early 1930's Germany with the Nazis very slowly coming to power, and the whole thing is narrated or rather lead around by the yellow teethed emaciated Joel Grey...very creepy. But as I'm a little older now I was less freaked by the bi-sexuality and appreciated the entirety of the film a lot more. Firstly this is a really ground breaking musical. The musical scenes rather than being built into the plot exist outside of it entirely with the film cutting back to a seedy underground theater in the heart of Berlin to introduce us to a song and dance that addresses the themes going on in the narrative. The musical numbers themselves are top notch. They have no flashy eye-catching movie stunts yet they were completely captivating. Especially the Joel Gray number with the gorilla or 'Goodbye Mein Heir' introduction to Ally Bowles (Liza Minelli). The story itself wasn't particularly memorable, pretty much a standard love story with a historical back drop and a non-traditional ending. The film really lacks a climax or a feeling of progression but perhaps it was aiming for a more realistic ending which I can appreciate. But one last thing that I want to point out before moving on was the one true moment of the film that I think stays with everyone that ever watches this movie the Aryan boy scene. Near the middle of the film Fosse introduces one of the major themes of the movie the rise a Nazism in Germany. The main characters who are taking a trip happen upon a small out of the way village restaurant to have a meal. There they watch a blond haired blue eyed boy singing a beautiful tune 'The Future Belongs to Me'. You watch as the audience initially not paying much attention all slowly turn and watch him then slowly one by one they take up the song until pretty much everyone in the restaurant is standing and singing at the top of their lungs. Eventually the camera pans back to reveal that the boy is wearing a Nazi uniform and that the song is some sort of Nazi propaganda tune. It truly is movie making at its best and in a single moment Fosse is able to completely capture the German takeover by the Nazi's.
Genre- musical 8/10
Characters - 6/10
Mood, Theme, Ambience - 6/10
Inventiveness - 6/10
Film Quality 6/10
Total 32/50
Fellowship of the Rings- Peter Jackson - This is probably the best book adaptation of all time. I'll say probably because obviously I haven't seen all of them but I really haven't seen anything that has really come close. The level of difficulty in what Jackson did here is really quite breathtaking and the result is nearly unbelievable. The story which takes place in a Fantasy world known as Middle Earth in which Hobbits, Dwarfs, Elfs, and Orcs battle over the magical powers held in rings is not typical Best Picture material but I think after seeing you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who claims that this is not some of the best films of the decade. The true Jackson skill shines brightest not in his story-telling ability but in how he brings this beyond this world material to the screen while filming a majority of the material without CGI. Sure quite a bit of the more mythical creatures require CGI support but its really quite remarkable how much Jackson is able to do without computer support. The story is beyond imagination and can really only be compared to other such epic Sci Fi and Fantasy films and with the exception of the original Star Wars Trilogy is clearly head and shoulders above them. If there is a downside to the trilogy it would be in the lack of character development in the film and the general woodiness of the acting but this does not really detract much from the amazing nature of the film.
Genre- Epic Fantasy - 9/10
Characters - 6/10
Mood Ambiance Theme - 8/10
Inventiveness - 9/10
Film Quality - 9/10
Total - 41/50
All that Jazz - Bob Fosse - It's clear from the opening sequence of this film that Bob Fosse can reinvent the musical with ease. The story is a behind the scenes look at Fosse's life and theater in general and is told from the perspective of Joe Gideon (Roy Schneider) a top notch musical director attempting to atone for his horrible family life by creating a hit musical for his ex-wife. We see Gideon struggle with perfectionism and an inferiority complex as he creates what he doesn't know will be the final show of his career. Schneider puts on an amazing performance, especially once you consider he has had no formal dance training prior to this role, and we watch him slowly careen out of control and into the hospital where he continues to drive himself into a frenzy until his heart finally gives out in one of the strangest musical numbers I have ever seen. One the whole the film has very good parts and some fantastic musical numbers and performances. Some of the musical numbers do go a ways over the top and there is a rather tedious section of the film that involves a movie that Gideon is working where for some reason Fosse decides we need to watch the same portion of film over and over again. In the end Fosse is clearly aiming for a heartfelt goodbye to the main character but for the most part its hard to feel sorry for someone with so little redeeming value. I mean the main character is pretty much a terrible father, boyfriend, husband, friend, also mean, pretentious, and pill addicted. So I feel while overall the film was of high quality failed to hit on that note.
Genre- Musical 8/10
Characters 7/10
Mood Theme Ambiance - 6/10
Inventiveness 7/10
Film Quality - 7/10
Total - 35/50
The Two Towers - Peter Jackson - This is the second in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and is probably where Jackson has the most trouble keeping the pace of the film up. The first film has all of the cool introduction to the characters and the final film gets the true feeling of finality to it. But here in the middle Jackson has a long drawn out battle sequence and a rainy maudlin set of scenery. But he still manages to pull it off. We get introduced to many more fantastical characters including large tall walking trees and Jackson does an amazing job bringing these characters to life. One CGI'd character that truly deserves all of the praise that he gets for this film is Gollum (Andy Serkis). his performance here is truly the first entirely CGI character that felt complete in any film that I have seen and could easily have won best actor of the year without any complaint from me. Also Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) and Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) do amazing jobs as well pushing through pretty heartfelt scenes with another actor whom they can't even see. The rest of the film is trilling in the battle sequences but to anyone who knows that there is a third book know that obviously none of the main characters are going to bite the big one and that tends to hurt the more complicated battle sequences in my opinion. So in many ways this is clearly the hardest of the three films to make and Jackson works his magic perfectly.
Genre - Epic Fantasy - 9/10
Characters - 6/10
Mood Theme Ambience - 7/10
Inventiveness - 9/10
Film Quality - 9/10
Total - 40/50
So in the end we have Bob Fosse with a strong showing but coming up short to the epicness of Jackson. Jackson moves on to face King Vidor in the second round.
5/29/10
5/28/10
Round Seven - Musical Lord of the Rings
This match up pitted two directors who are masters in very different fields against each other: Bob Fosse is one of the most prolific musical directors and Peter Jackson brought Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings series to brilliant life. So it's song and dance versus battle and glory, so with feet kicking and swords flailing, LET'S GET IT ON!
Cabaret
I had seen this movie before and there are several aspects of it that are very impressive, including the singing and acting of Liza Minelli. Some people have issues with the apparent hatred in the movie, which takes place in Berlin as the Nazis are coming into power. The compelling scenes of violence coupled with the unsettling beauty of a young male Nazi officer singing a German pride song evokes a powerful, conflicted picture of the city at the time. Fosse skillfully cuts between the general circumstances of the city and the strange, dramatic stories of the individual characters. Their conflicts mirror some of those occurring on a more widespread basis, and throughout the film relevant musical numbers interject into the commentary. It's a stunning film, well-edited and interestingly told, but doesn't impact me emotionally the way that it does other people.
The Fellowship of the Rings
I remember seeing this film in the theater and since it came out, I've seen it over and over again. Watching it critically for this project did not lessen the impact of seeing this compelling story come to life, and the special effects are still impressive. What is more impressive is the fluid acting and fresh feel of an old story. I love this trilogy, and the introductory film sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the story.
All That Jazz
This autobiographical musical by Fosse is an interesting example of the product of his perfectionism; the editing is nearly flawless and communicates the emotion and pacing of the story very well. The music and dancing are spectacular, and Roy Sheider performs awesomely as the Bob Fosse-esque intense director. Again, while the emotions were communicated in the film, they didn't evoke a tangible response in me like most high-caliber films do.
The Two Towers
Again, not to reiterate or be repetitive, this film is still engaging, visually stunning, and exciting to watch after repeated viewings. I'm sure that nostalgia has something to do with it, but the Lord of the Rings series has excellent staying power. Even though it tends to drag at times, overall the action is invigorating and the story is always moving.
This probably doesn't come as a surprise: Peter Jackson is the winner! Although I enjoyed seeing more of Fosse in All That Jazz, and his talent is evident in these two films, the Lord of the Rings epic definitely moves me, and continues to do so after years.
I had seen this movie before and there are several aspects of it that are very impressive, including the singing and acting of Liza Minelli. Some people have issues with the apparent hatred in the movie, which takes place in Berlin as the Nazis are coming into power. The compelling scenes of violence coupled with the unsettling beauty of a young male Nazi officer singing a German pride song evokes a powerful, conflicted picture of the city at the time. Fosse skillfully cuts between the general circumstances of the city and the strange, dramatic stories of the individual characters. Their conflicts mirror some of those occurring on a more widespread basis, and throughout the film relevant musical numbers interject into the commentary. It's a stunning film, well-edited and interestingly told, but doesn't impact me emotionally the way that it does other people.
The Fellowship of the Rings
I remember seeing this film in the theater and since it came out, I've seen it over and over again. Watching it critically for this project did not lessen the impact of seeing this compelling story come to life, and the special effects are still impressive. What is more impressive is the fluid acting and fresh feel of an old story. I love this trilogy, and the introductory film sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the story.
All That Jazz
This autobiographical musical by Fosse is an interesting example of the product of his perfectionism; the editing is nearly flawless and communicates the emotion and pacing of the story very well. The music and dancing are spectacular, and Roy Sheider performs awesomely as the Bob Fosse-esque intense director. Again, while the emotions were communicated in the film, they didn't evoke a tangible response in me like most high-caliber films do.
The Two Towers
Again, not to reiterate or be repetitive, this film is still engaging, visually stunning, and exciting to watch after repeated viewings. I'm sure that nostalgia has something to do with it, but the Lord of the Rings series has excellent staying power. Even though it tends to drag at times, overall the action is invigorating and the story is always moving.
This probably doesn't come as a surprise: Peter Jackson is the winner! Although I enjoyed seeing more of Fosse in All That Jazz, and his talent is evident in these two films, the Lord of the Rings epic definitely moves me, and continues to do so after years.
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