Reference

Movies 2008

Movies: 20 || Actors: 0

My Winnipeg (2007) 8.50 [D. Guy Maddin] 2008-01-01

Brilliant and very, very odd, take on the city of Winnipeg by Guy Maddin, combining archival footage and degraded new footage, and an eerie blend of the real and the imagined. Unlike anything you have ever seen.

Darcy Fehr, Ann Savage

Polar Express (2004) 7.00 [D. Robert Zemeckis] 2008-12-14

Watched again 2018-12-18, with the grand-kids. Olive, the 4-year- old, found it creepy and scary and fled the room several times. The entire film lies in the "uncanny valley" in which animated characters too closely resemble humans. They don't have the expressive qualify of real faces, nor the charm and magic of animated characters. The result is the question: what is the point of the animation? Well, obviously the pyrotechnics of the train careening down roller-coaster tracks and through tunnels, and the ridiculously elaborate city at the North Pole. But where is the artistry? Without a doubt, amazing animation, and there is some art in the cleverness and originality of the storms and smoke and snow and steam train. But Tom Hanks was a mistake: he's not really a good enough actor to play one role convincingly, let alone all the adult roles in this film. Beyond that, the movie gives itself over to pointless action and chase, and the fundamentally ridiculous plot: the boy must learn to believe in Santa. Why? Especially since real magic is believing in something you can't see or touch, while "The Polar Express" shows the boy convinced by overwhelming physical evidence. By a miracle. Someone involved in this story thinks it's immoral to not have faith in a lie, because the lie is supposed to be charming and magical and helpful to the human condition. But the real lie is that you can't find magic or charm or mystery in the real adventure of life and relationships. And what is the charm of Santa Claus anyway: getting gifts.

I Loved You So Long (2008) 7.00 [D. Philippe Claudel] 2008-12-07

Preposterous film about a woman returning to her sister's home after 15 years in prison for murder. We are supposed to be shocked at a major revelation but the major revelation undermines all of the tension that went before.

Changeling (2008) 7.60 [D. Clint Eastwood] 2008-11-17

The Changeling is about true events that occurred in Los Angeles in 1928 that were so strange and shocking that no Hollywood contrivance could be more unbelievable. The weakness of the film is Eastwood's inability to draw great performances from his actors, especially the children. Even worse, almost every scene looks and feels as if all of the lives of the characters started and ended only when the cameras were rolling. There's no sense that any of these characters actually live off-screen, or that anyone is doing anything real when they are not emoting. Jolie is completely unconvincing, and everyone else except John Malcovich-- who at least gives his character some life-- seems to be performing by rote. And it should be noted that Jason Butler Harner, as the killer, is the exception. The scenery and costumes are, as always, amazing, but Hollywood can bring these techniques to even the most pedestrian film, and this film, though it is interesting watch, is really nothing special.

Dresser (1983) 8.20 [D. PETER YATES] 2008-11-14

Intense, searing account of the relationship between a dresser and the egocentric star of a dowdy touring Shakespearean company in England during World War II.

W (2008) 7.00 [D. OLIVER STONE] 2008-10-22

Disappointing rush-job on George W.'s life, from his dissolute prolonged adolescence in Texas to the White House and the disastrous Iraq war. Unfortunately, the economic disasters of 2008 are too late to be included in this train-wreck of a movie about a trainwreck of a presidency. Mildly amusing at times, but never compelling. So George wanted to show poppy that he could be more successful than Jeb-- if this is all the insight Stone could dredge out of that relationship, it hardly seems worth exploring.

Burn After Reading (2008) 8.20 [D. Ethan Coen] 2008-10-04

The tragedy in this tragicomedy is caused by the limitations in knowledge by the protagonists-- they don't really understand what they're up against. And the people they are up against don't understand how far the protagonists will go to achieve their aim. Mayhem results. Though roundly criticized for its cynicism, I find "Burn After Reading" oddly believable. Certainly more believable than most action thrillers that posit a kind of deliberate linearity to the action, as if events actually regularly unfold in a schematic way.

Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, George Clooney

OUT OF AFRICA (1985) 6.00 [D. SYDNEY POLLACK] 2008-07-14

Biographical film about Baroness Karen Blixen and her long-time alleged affair with Denys Finch Hatton. Blixen married a cousin-- the twin brother of the man she really loved but who rejected her-- and moved to Africa with family money to buy a farm and start a coffee plantation. Her husband, Bror Van Blixen, turned out to have little interest in the farm or the marriage and she contracted syphilis from him for which she had to return to Denmark for a time, and which possibly plagued her for years afterwards. When she returned, she separated from Van Blixen and eventually began an affair with Finch Hatton. Great story. Great locations. Nice cinematography (though you get the feeling that most of the raves about the cinematography are more about the scenery than the actual camera work). Streep performs in accent-- even when, as a Dane, she is talking to a fellow Dane. I seem to be alone in regarding this as bizarre, and in my lack of enthusiasm for her performance over all. The trouble is, when she's dancing with Redford, I get the feeling he might as well have been dancing with his mother. Streep seems to me to be completely conscious of her performance as an actor-- if there are sparks between her and Redford, they were invisible to me. Redford also turns in a rather bland performance, possibly due to the fact that his character is seen through her eyes, and functions mainly as the object of her self-conscious passion. Her relationship with the Baron is more interesting, and it shouldn't be. Pollack likes serious "big" Hollywood themes, and goes through a lot of trouble to reconstruct the locations-- but then he inexcusably drops in some studio shots of the two in Hatton's Gypsy Moth, overlaid against the spectacular African scenery. That is perhaps the essense of what's wrong with this film: Pollack just can't quite give himself over entirely to the story itself, and neither Streep nor Redford ever really evoke a passion for the country that isn't schematic and obvious. Incidentally, Hatton actually carried on an affair with the character called "Felicity" in this film, who is based on a real life woman named Beryl Markham, who was quite a pioneer in the history in aviation-- first woman to fly from England to North America solo. Also, Karen Blixen is the author of "Babette's Feast".

ROBERT REDFORD, MERYL STREEP, KLAUS MARIA BRANDAUER, SUZANNA HAMILTON, STEPHEN KINANJUI, JOSEPH THIAKA, MALICK BOWENS

3:10 TO YUMA (2007) 6.00 [D. JAMES MANGOLD] 2008-02-09

The critics have lost their minds. I couldn't find a single reviewer who saw any flaws in this preposterous, absurd western, in which an entire gang of bad guys can't rescue their devious leader from a single half-hearted farmer with an inexplicable urge to risk his life on behalf of a cause even the viewer stops believing in. Aside from the unbelievable body count, this film lacks credibility on aesthetic, moral, pyschological, and physical grounds. All the action is subordinated to the cause of issuing another series of shoot-outs between Ben Wade's ruthless gang and Dan Evans' half-hearted posse and indecisive marshalls. The main problem here is that Evan's determination to get outlaw Wade onto that train suggests a belief in the resilience and triumph of justice-- a conceit borrowed from "High Noon", perhaps-- but modern sensibilties are served by the fact that Wade isn't entirely a bad man, and even Evens' own son worships the legend. When Wade whistles for his horse, we know that Evans has been a fool. Then what's the point of leaving us with his son's admiration? Aside from all that, Bale's tedious method acting and incoherent dialogue and editing....

RUSSELL CROWE, CHRISTIAN BALE, LOGAN LERMAN, DALLAS ROBERTS, BEN FOSTER, PETER FONDA

THERE WILL BE BlOOD (2007) 9.00 [D. P. T. ANDERSON] 2008-02-03

From the story by Upton Sinclair: Daniel Plainview is a prospector, miner, who eventually moves into oil and negotiates a number of deals with small-town land-owners, most of whom are not as gullible as he had hoped. With his adopted son, H.W. (played as a boy by a remarkable Dillon Freasier) at his side, he pushes forward, building derrecks and pipelines, and antagonizing local preacher Eli Sunday (son of one of the owners he swindled). There are echoes of "Citizen Kane" in here-- so much so that at times you wonder if the variations in plot developments aren't there just to throw you off the scent. The recreations of period oil wells and other buildings and machinery are stunning. Absolutely superbly directed. The ending is a bit puzzling and not entirely satisfactory, but an astute viewer will be enthralled by the journey there.

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS, CIARAN HINDS, DILLON FREASIER, PAUL DANO, SYDNEY MCCALLISTER

DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (2007) 8.50 [D. JULIAN SCHNABEL] 2008-02-02

Wonderful dramatization of the Bauby memoire about his stroke and sudden incapacitation-- the former editor of Elle Magazine is suddenly only able to move one eyelid. A sympathetic therapist devises a way for him to communicate using an alphabet in order of most frequently used letters which is read to him until he blinks. Using this slow method, he is able to write a book about his experience, his thoughts and feelings about his "locked in" state. The movie is unusually frank and unsentimental, and you have a feeling Bauby would be repulsed by the traditional Hollywood take on the issue (which probably won't stop them from doing a remake with Tom Hanks). Has echoes of "The Sea Inside" about Spanish writer Ramon Sampredro, who fought for 30 years for the right to commit suicide, and "Passion Fish". The acting, especially by Croze, is superb, and this is a film that is carefully, imaginatively directed and edited. One of the best films of 2007.

MARIE-JOSEE CROZE, MATHIEU AMALRIC, EMMANUELLE SEIGNER, ANNE CONSIGNY, JEAN-PIERRE CASSEL, MAX VON SYDOW

WORLD (2004) 8.10 [D. ZHANG KE JIA] 2008-01-24

Tao loves Taisheng -- she thinks-- and begs him not to ever be unfaithful to her. But Taisheng has a thing going with Qun, whose husband fled China for Paris, and who is trying to get a visa to join him. This melodrama plays out among the young artists, actors, and security guards working at a theme park in Beijing called "the world", which holds scaled down replicas of the world's great wonders, including the World Trade Centre, and the Arc D'Triomphe and Eiffel Tour. Tao and Taisheng and Wei and Niu and their friends live and wonder and call each other on their cell phones in a state of perpetual disappointment, at the mundane inadequacy of "the world", at their own lives and limitations, and misfortune. The World has a graceful lyricism to it, even if it doesn't always have ideas. The conclusion is ìure melodrama, and almost forgivable.

TAO ZHAO, TAISHENG CHEN, JUE JINQ, ZHONG-WEI JIANG, YI-QUN WANG, WEI HONG WANG, SHUA JI, WAN XIANG

ARMY OF SAHDOWS (1969) 7.70 [D. JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE] 2008-01-20

Highly regarded film about the French resistance, the sacrafices and risks associated with it, and some heroic activities during the war. Philippe Gerbier is the leader of a cell in the south of France, though his activities range through Paris and beyond. While transporting radios and downed pilots, he has to deal with a traitor, and with the capture and torture of one of his men. The story is a grim, a tad pretentious at times, and always gripping.

LINO VENTURA, PAUL MEURISSE, SIMONE SIGNORET, CLAUDE MANN, CHRISTIAN BARBIER

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET (2007) 7.00 [D. TIM BURTON] 2008-01-28

A lot of top-notch talent wasted in this indulgent swine of a film that never quite gets over it's own transgressiveness. At some level, it thinks it's ironic that Mrs. Lovett should profit so selling meat pies that server to dispose of the remains of Todd's victims. At another level, it's merely juvenile. Sure, like Three-Penny Opera, it wants to show us that all of humanity is depraved-- except for Johanna, Todd's daughter, whose love for Anthony provides token redemption-- for what? It's hard to imagine why Sondheim should spare anyone, given the tone of the first half. But you could argue for it-- if there were a single striking musical number in the entire production. This was the most boring two hours I've spent in the past year.

JOHNNY DEPP, HELENA BONHAM-CARTER, SACHA BARON COHEN, JOHNNY DEPP, ALAN RICKMAN, TIMOTHY SPALL, JAMIE BOWER, JAYNE WISENER

NO END IN SIGHT (2007) 9.00 [D. CHARLES FERGUSON] 2008-01-20

Stunning look at how the Bush administration managed-- or mismanaged-- the occupation of Iraq, ignoring advice of soldiers on the ground, experts in other government departments, and the intelligence service, in favor of ill-conceived schemes by political appointees, contractors, and ivory-tower neo-cons in the White House.

COMPULSION (1959) 7.90 [D. RICHARD FLEISCHER] 2008-01-19

Superior but fairly conventional rendering of Leopold / Loeb, the Chicago prodigies who murdered a child to prove they were like Nietzche's "superman"- above morality-- and then chatted affably about the details with police and reporters after they were caught. Unusually long segment given to Jonathan Wilk-- the Clarence Darrow character-- to make a long, impassioned plea against capital punishment, using mostly Darrow's actual words. He convinced the judge to give them life in prison instead. Superbly acted and mostly interesting if a bit melodramatic at times.

ORSON WELLES, DIANE VARSI, DEAN STOCKWELL, BRAD DILLMAN, E.G. MARSHALL, MARTIN MILNER, ED BINNS

LAST DETAIL (1973) 8.20 [D. HAL ASHBY] 2008-01-21

They don't make them like this anymore-- actually, they don't. This is an adult film about a mature subject matter-- no, not sex. What I mean by "mature" is that the film carries out a complex and subtle narrative about an important subject. Slow-moving, by today's standards, but also richer and more nuanced. Buddusky (Nicholson) and Mulhall (Otis Young) are tasked with taking Meadows (Randy Quaid) from Virginia to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to be incarcerated for 8 years for stealing $40 from a charity box. Along the way, Buddusky and Mulhall decide the waif can't be locked up for that long without having experienced a bit of life, and, perhaps, learning to stand up for himself. Sure, it's a road movie, and a bit of a buddy picture. We learn that while Buddusky and Mulhall begin to question their orders and feel doubt about their vocations (they are both career navy men), they may not have what it takes to really step away from constraints of habit and accommodation. Ironically, the timid Meadows learns from them-- too late-- that he might have it. They are all outsiders, trying to stay true to their own values, never really completely outside or inside the system.

CAROL KANE, JACK NICHOLSON, OTIS YOUNG, RANDY QUAID, MICHAEL MORIARTY, GILDA RADNER, NANCY ALLEN

Atonement (2007) 7.00 [D. Joe Wright] 2008-01-06

On a very hot summer day at the estate, 13-year-old Briony Tallis thinks she sees some kind of provocative exchange between her sister Cecilia and farmhand Robbie (Keira Knightly and James McAvoy). Later, in case we didn't get it, I suppose, she catches them copulating in the library, after intercepting a salacious note. For unexplained reasons, she accuses Robbie of raping her cousin Lola and her testimony convinces the authorities. He is later released from prison to join the army in France. There are strong similarities here to "The Go-Between", a far, far better film, that takes an opposite view of where the guilt should lie for the trauma of personal destruction. In fact, "The Go-Between" really constitutes a kind of savage comment on the smug righteousness at the heart of "Atonement", and the disturbing suggestion that a 13-year-old girl should be held responsible for her own confusion and prurience. "Atonement" falls apart in the second half-- it never really raises the dramatic tension to the level needed to justify the melodramatic finish. The acting, sets, and costumes are all marvelous but can't rescue the essential triviality of the plot.

KIERA KNIGHTLY, SAOIRSE RONAN, BRENDA BLETHYN, JAMES MCAVOY, JUNO TEMPLE

COLOUR ME KUBRICK (2005) 7.50 [D. BRIAN W. COOK] 2008-01-07

Uneven but amusing take on the adventures of Alan Conway, a gay London travel agent who went around pretending to be Stanley Kubrick in order to score dates and get free food and booze. He is miraculously believed by numerous young men who hope to get a movie career out of the relationship. Even Frank Rich of the New York Times was briefly fooled. Malcovich has obvious fun and many of the guests stars also seem to enjoying the schtick. It's too bad the movie doesn't offer more insight into the character, however-- Conway was married and successful, then his life fell apart, and he had a life-long problem with alcoholism.

JOHN MALKOVICH, HONOR BLACKMAN, NOLAN HEMMINGS, DEAN LEPLEY

IN COUNTRY (1989) 7.70 [D. NORMAN JEWISON] 2008-08-31

Emily Lloyd is the best thing about "In Country", Jewison's low-key and elegiac take on Viet Nam. She is Samantha, a maturing teen living with her Viet Nam vet uncle recluse, Emmett (Bruce Willis). Emmett doesn't want to talk about Viet Name because anyone who wasn't there can't understand. But Samantha's father died there, without ever meeting his baby girl, and when she finds some of his old letters and pictures, she tries to find out more about him. Her mom has moved on and doesn't want to bother, but she eventually persuades her colorful Kentucky grandmother and Emmett to take her to the Viet Nam memorial in Washington, a scene of surprising impact in a movie that doesn't go for many big emotional outbursts. Lloyd is surprisingly good as a Kentucky teen, and the supporting cast are superior.

BRUCE WILLIS, EMILY LLOYD, KAREN ALLEN, PEGGY REA, JUDITH IVEY
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