Greetings form 80s limbo. The Magic of Henson, the Genius of Lucas, the Androgony of Bowie. That's right, folks, tonight's feature is none other than Labyrinth (1986) - yet another film that was some sort of lynch pin of my wife and brother-in-law's childhood, which I think is a pile of crap. Here's the weird part, though- I'm a huge Muppet fan. If they were watching the Muppet Movie, I'd be right there beside them, but Labyrinth is so mindnumbingly pointless that it's hard to appreciate the pupptry. So, while they watch, I'll sit up here and complain about their taste. I thik it's reached a point that no matter what film of their childhood they bring home, I'm not going to watch it.
On a brighter note, I've been re-watching Out of Sight. This was the film that I really noticed Steven Sodenbergh's genius for story and visual filmmaking. Sex Lies and Videotape was an interesting small budget project, but visually it wasn't much to write home about. In OOS Sodenbergh knows right where to put the camera and which visual tricks will work (slo-mo, freeze frame). What I especially like about this film is what Sodenbergh was praised so highly for with Traffic, his use of an ensemble cast. Sure, with Traffic he had some higher profile people, but OOS is driven byt he secondary charcters. From Glen the pothead without a thought in the world, to Snoop, to Buddy, there's not one false or uninteresting or forgetable secondary actor. Each one adds something to the story, each one stands out.
Well, about a hour and fifteen mintues until Labyrinth's done.