Renewing the old quick takes brand to take on a couple of films I felt compelled to talk about, but couldn't find my way into entire reviews.
"Bombay Beach" (***1/2)
Directed by Alma Har'el
I've gotta say, I would've been much happier checking this out on the big screen than via Netflix on my laptop, but I was happy to see it at all. It's wonderful to see a documentary so distinct and fully formed without the use of conflicting voices and talking heads. Never once bringing attention to itself in its depiction of people who are fearful and wary of the world beyond Bombay. It's at times quite lovely, warming, and playful even, but not at all romantically so. That's in no way meant as a stab, as this film wallows in desolation of both landscape and humanity. At times a bit aimless, but so is the subject. You never question it, and instead just sit in an odd and indistinguishable sense of dread.
"Boogie Nights" (****)
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
It wasn't my first time on the "Boogie Nights" rodeo, as I'd sat through it on my rundown of Paul Thomas Anderson's filmography. The man certainly has some idea of what he's doing, and he doesn't lay himself in the same place as he was before. Showing the drastic decline of a period in the pornographic film industry, not to mention a change in historical mindsets, the film dabbles stylishly with enthusiastic comedic temptations in the first hour, but really kicks into gear as the film heads into second act. The moment we transition to the 80s, that is the moment we see the true stripes of who Anderson is as a director. The man figures out ways to shock the viewer without doing so inorganically. This film knows how serious it is, and never engages too high or low on the spectrum.
