April 2008

APRIL 08

Standard Operating Procedure (Morris, 2008)|||||6.5

I got to see Errol Morris' new documentary Standard Operation Procedure at the SF International Film Festival with Morris in attendance and with Q&A. Morris' pedagogic approach is always a bit too lofty and post-modern chic, and this is no exception. Whether allegorizing his grand commentaries in character personalities, leaving his more barbed criticisms in the realm of semiotics (the film, when on the topic of his arrest, uses the act of slo-mo egg-frying to evoke the figure of Saddam Hussein), or restricting his film to the incessant blather of one particular perspective (here, those of the "bad apples" of Abu Ghraib, portrayed as clueless young'ns), Morris made his point about the irresponsibility of war-time systems much better in the Q&A than in the film itself. The film itself is rather droning and long-winded, spending too much time detailing in over-produced reenactments the crimes committed in the prison while his greater themes remain obfuscated by his love of creating irony through accessibility, but to the point of excess.
* Bonnie and Clyde (Penn, 1969)|||||8
* The Life Aquatic with Steven Zissou (Anderson, 2004)|||||7.5
* Killer of Sheep (Burnett, 1977)|||||9
Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (Morris, 1994)|||||6.5
Rashomon (Kurosawa, 1950)|||||8.5
The Thin Blue Line (Morris, 1987)|||||7.5
* Punch-Drunk Love (Anderson, 2001) |||||6.5
* L'Avventura (Antonioni, 1960)|||||8.5
Gates of Heaven (Morris, 1976)|||||6.5
The 400 Blows (Truffaut, 1967)|||||8