I do not believe I actually saw this film. I simply noted it.
Tight and well paced story about a pair of Irish killers hiding out in Bruges after bungling a hit. Ken tries to make the best of their exile and thrills at the beauty and culture of the city of Bruges, but Ray complains bitterly and sulks. What Ray doesn't know -- or appreciate-- is that their boss, Harry, wants him to relish the beauty of the city once before he dies to pay for his bungled hit. A series of wild, improbably complications ensue, including a rude Canadian, a dwarf, and an actress. Strikes an intriguing balance of the comic and tragic and raises issues of sin and repentence and guilt, and suggests a not convincing idea that a killer might still be decent human being if he at least has good taste.
Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes, Brendan Gleeson
The plan was this-- Lorna would marry a two-bit loser, a drug addict, Claudy, for money, to give Lorna Belgian citizenship; then Lorna would marry the Russian mobster Andrea, to give him Belgian citizenship. Andrea would pay Lorna so that Lorna and real boyfriend, Sokol, could open a small restaurant. She's even picked out a location. The problem is that Claudy, perhaps only dimly aware of who he's messing with, picks his brief moment in the sun to go straight, and begs Lorna to help him. With time of the essence, the Russians decide that a divorce from Claudy might just take too long-- it would be quicker and less suspicious if he would just die of an overdose. The problem is that Lorna, in spite of herself, doesn't want to see Claudy killed and decides to help him go straight. Very down-to-earth, realistic drama from the Dardennes brothers who gave us the compelling "L'enfant" a few years ago (about a junkie who sells his child for drugs and then tries to get him back). Arta Dobroshi is a find-- she's like an adult, serious Ellen Page.
Arta Dobroshi, Jeremie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione, Alban Ukaj, Anton Yakovlev
Superb film takes on an astounding challenge: make a comedy about a bunch of jewish soldiers assassinating Hitler during World War II and made it fun to watch.
Austere, slow-moving account of Bobby Sand's hunger strike in 1981, to protest against Irish nationalists not being treated as political prisoners in British jails. Highly reminiscent of "Therese", the Alain Cavalier film, also about a fanatical young person who straddles the line between suicide and martyrdom-- though "Therese" is more objective about its subject.
Michael Fassbinder
Jeff Daniels plays the quintessential American type: the slacker. The Dude has his slacker life in perfect order until one night he is mistaken for another Lebowski and a pair of thugs take his carpet. The Dude sets out to get the carpet back, and gets involved with more nefarious hijinks. Charming at times, always confusing, and expressive of those familiar Coen Brothers' themes about how the important things in your life are basically or usually the result of happenstance and coincidence and the audacity of those who think they control events. The Dude has a marked tendency to repeat snatches of phrases he has heard earlier, on tv or radio, or spoken by other characters: this is the essence of American culture-- the narrative is a repeat of fragments of popular wisdom that never made any sense in the first place.
Jeff Daniels, John Goodman, John Turturro, Peter Storemare, Julianne Moore, Tara Reid, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Astonishing, sometimes brilliant and hilarious epic about two men, Marko and Blackie, who fall for the same woman, and actress named Vera, in World War II Yugoslavia. Marko succeeds in getting Blackie to hide out from the Nazis in his basement-- for 20 years. Blackie eventually emerges, right into the middle of a film set working on his biography, with Nazi soldiers in costumes marching around-- one of the most hilarious scenes I've seen in years. There's also a brass band that follows Marko around to put an exclamation point behind all of his actions-- they don't seem all that out of place after a while. Kursturica has a visual imagination that could give Terry Gilliam a run for the money, and that's something.
Excellent but very fast-moving thinly-desguised exploration of the political dynamic that led to the invasion of Iraq. There are characters corresponding to all the real players: Blair, Powell, Rumsveld, Perle-- but it's really about ham-fisted ambition and media manipulation. Maybe the most astute film on war since Dr. Strangelove. No one person seems intent on causing a war that no one seems to really want for it's own sake-- instead, a number of lower level government officials struggle to use Tucker's gaffe to their own advantage, and if that means advocating for war, so be it. Cooler heads do not prevail in this heated environment.
Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky
Evocative, low key story about a pair of kids trying to survive in a rough section of Brooklyn, a street known for quick and dirty car repairs, paint jobs, and stolen parts. A bit of a gem.
The most over-rated film of the year. Okay-- it's not a total waste. I made the mistake of assuming it was edgy and serious. It isn't. George Clooney is amusing as Ryan Bingham, a hired gun for corporations queasy about doing their own firing. There are a lot of shots of employes commiserating over their loss of income, benefits, careers, but director Jason Reitman pulls his punches: he doesn’t want to disturb you too much. The real story is Bingham's lack of connectedness, to family, to community, and his final desperate lunge at something called "home". Shockingly pedestrian for a film that was so eagerly anticipated, and expected to resonate with today's financial crises.
What a pity that Cameron -- probably correctly -- believes he doesn't need a writer. Hell, he'll write it himself. Nobody gives a damn about story or dialogue or theme, when they can revel in 3D graphics instead. Shame on you for even asking.
Gilliam is a messay film-maker. His films wander and dip and weave and sometimes just never seem to get back to any kind of equilibrium. You feel like you must have missed something, because there is so much richly imagined detail in there, so much fun and unexpectedness-- but is he really in control of his own story? Imaginarium is quintessential Gilliam: I'm still not sure what it's about. Passion and imagination and the life of the soul? Or the relentless need to sell out in order to survive? Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) is Gilliam: the mad genius who travels around in his shabby wagon with his lovely assistant and understudy and sells audiences the privilege of visiting his imagination. But he has acquired this amazing power at a terrible price: the soul his own daughter, sold to the devil himself played by Tom Waits. It is distrubing that Gilliam wasn't able to prevent Waits from going over the top-- he would have worked a lot better with an understated approach.
Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits
Superb drama about a soldier accused of murdering a man who raped his wife. Jimmy Stewart is his lawyer, who nudges him towards a defense of temporary insantiy. Lee Remick is the wife, Ben Gazarra the husband: both carefully elucidating the ambiguity at the heart of the event: was she raped or was she cheating on her husband? Very unsual commitment to accurate details about court proceedings.
Powerful indictment of media personalities, in the form of Andy Griffith as a glad-handing good old boy who rises to the top of the celebrity heap on a recipe of folksy "wisdom", parochial attitudes, and masterful manipulation.
Based on the memoir by British journalist Lynne Barber, this is a fresh look at the relationship between a young, smart girl and an older, sophisticated man. Without a doubt, he uses his sophistication to manipulate her, but "An Education" isn't shy about showing us the collaborative elements from the girl's angle, or how her parents may buy in for their own selfish reasons. Jenny is tired of her full life in Twickenham-- the 60's hasn't happened yet--and she wants to stretch beyond her parents' constricted horizons. David is a gentleman, polite, and affable to her parents, and wins them over. He takes her to shows, to jazz clubs, and to Paris. But he isn't completely awful-- he's a cad, really-- and dishonest. And part of her reaction to revelations about his behavior is an acknowledgement of how her own ambitions played a part, and how the adults around her who tried to warn her off revel in their own hypocrisies. Lesson learned. This is a film about growing up in the nicest sense-- provocative and nuanced.
Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike
Lyrical, evocative meditation on love, expressed in the relationship of poet John Keats to Fannie Braune, who lived next door to him for a time in Hampstead.
Kind of interesting, but not really.
Woman moves to Toronto on promise of marriage only to find abuse.
Terrible movie about a fascinating, compelling story. Sandra Bulloch is decent as a mother who takes a young, homeless black youth under her wing and helps guide him through high school, where he, stunningly, displays a remarkable talent for football.
Fascinating documentary on factory farming and alternatives.
Promising but very disappointing story about a magazine editor (!) waiting in Cairo for her husband, an exciting UN representative (!!) to arrive to show her the pyramids. Instead, Tareq, her husband's friend, shows her around, protects her, acts courtly, and provides the vacuous rugged face of exotic romantic projection: don't we realize just how beautiful Ms. Clarkson is? The most revelatory moment in the film is when Juliette (Clarkson) announces that she might write an article on the street children of Egypt for her magazine. We find the very idea of this narcissistic, vacuous, housewife writing an article, on anything, so ridiculous, we think it has to be a joke. Lovely scenery in Cairo, and music that seems to consciously evoke "Amelie" but, otherwise, "Lost in Translation" for middle-aged women, and that's not a compliment.
Patricia Clarkson, Alxexander Siddig, Thom McCamus
Similar to "The Blair Witch Project" in many ways, not least of which, its ridiculously low budget. Filmed entirely in the director's house, tells the story of Katy and Micah and their encounter with the mysterious entity that has been haunting Katy since she was eight. The mystery force seems aggravated by Micah's irreverent attempts to interrogate it, and document it's activities with a camcorder (hooked up to a laptop via firewire-- a nice touch of credibility). Extensive hand-held work will cause seasickness in some. The creepiness will frighten others, especially since Katy and Micah, like any rational persons, don't leap to conclusions but, like us, take a skeptical view-- and then experience the horror of an unexplained presence.
Katie Featherstone, Micah Sloat
Takes a contrived and archaic style of drama about as far as it can go- -but still ends up looking dated and, often, silly. The story of Terry Milloy, a longshoreman who works closely with a corrupt union leader-- really a criminal gang-- until his conscience begins to get the better of him, largely through the ministrations of Evie, played by Eva Marie- Sainte. Steiger and Brando are stunning, powerful performers, but no one can keep the later stages of this story from sinking into contrived melodrama, complete with a Hollywood ending. I kept thinking that I could understand why John Cassavettes would watch a film like this and then go out and completely improvise his own film. It's as if even a brilliant director like Kazan can't trust the audience to "get it"-- he has to clobber them with pompous ending, and signal every dramatic development with loud, showy music.
Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Eva Marie-Sainte, Rod Steiger, Martin Balsam, Lee J. Cobb
The Chinese government first approved, then disapproved of this lengthy discourse on the personal effects of the impersonal revolution. Shows us the life of a small agrarian Chinese village through the decades, from the start of the revolution, to the various movements and rages that swept the country, sucking innocent lives into a torment of dislocation and oblivion. Very reminiscent of several films, including Citizen Kane and Dr. Zhivago. The authorities-- often a local committee-- are not particularly evil or sadistic-- they just seem to form this organic force that periodically sweeps through the town putting on a show of purifying and cleansing the ideological life of the citizens… and then perhaps coming to it's senses and lettings things be for a while again.
Inventively filmed but still rather excessive zombie film with record-breaking volumes of gross-out liquids tossed into the mix, with decapitations, stripped rib cages, freaky rat-monkeys, and a lawnmower. It really is a movie about movie gore, a ballet of intestines, a ritual dance of dismemberment. Is there anything, beyond that, that is actually entertaining in this film? Yes-- one great line: "Your mother ate my dog."
Timothy Balme, Diana Penalver, Ian Watkin, Elizabeth Moody
Somewhat inventive, moderately entertaining rehash of the zombie formula-- half-alive corpses seeking living humans to eat-- with Woody Harrelson in the Crocodile Dundee role: the psycho killer as your friend. And there is an amusing cameo by Bill Murray which doesn't make much sense at all, but is fun.
Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin, Jesse Eisenberg, Bill Murray
Wonderful, historically accurate depiction of the 1972 confrontation between civil rights marchers (not IRA) and British troops in Londonderry which resulted in 14 demonstrators being killed. The army claimed that they were shot at and that the demonstrators they shot were armed but numerous witnesses and photographs appear to show the contrary, and several were shot in the back. Marvelous film-making-- riveting and compelling, and soberly restrained.
Uneven but sometimes compelling drama about a young woman who survives horrendous experiences in the Balkans during the war and ends up nursing a burn victim on an oil rig for a month, to pass the time away from her usual job. There is a bit of drama queen in Hanna's reserve, as if she's dying to be asked so she can refuse to tell-- but over-all, it is a strong, believable story, with interesting, unusal characters. The musical choices are also unusual and interesting-- including Tom Waits, and the cinematography is exceptional. Unfortunately, Tom Robbins remains consumed with his method approach, which means he confuses mumbling and whispering with "acting", and the move suffers from his ridiculousness.
Sarah Polley, Tom Robbins
As with many Ozu films, the drama concerns a family, what holds it together, what drives it apart. In this case, 28--year-old Noriko is yet unmarried. Her brother, her father, and others all seem to have potential husbands for her, but she is ambivalent. Ozu's films are a close study in how the seemingly small details of life--making a tea, eating an apple, sharing a piece of cake-- carry emotional connections to the bigger issues: love, death, marriage. After nearly 45 minutes of quiet, pensive detail, we are shocked with the revelation that Noriko's brother has disappeared during the war; mom thinks he's still alive, but dad has no more hope. The two parents hold their grief inside, just for a breathtaking moment, then life moves on. Ozu is famous for decrying the modern family, the independence of daughters, and so on, but he is such a careful study of his subjects that you almost don't notice it. Noriko really thinks she'll be happy with Kenkichi Yabe, but he only reluctantly acceeds to the arrangement.
Setsuko Hara
Superb narrative about an Archer-Daniels-Midland employee, a vice-president, who tips the FBI off to price-fixing and other shenangins at the corporation. They decide to use him to spy on his own company but he suffers what looks like a nervous breakdown in the middle of the investigation. Then he appears to join the crooks. The FBI was bafffled. Tightly woven film that supplies enough detail to give a rich texture to Matt Damon's character study, while efficiently propelling the story forward.
Matt Damon, Melanie Lynskey, Rusty Schwimmer
Unusual animated film-- the characters look like they are partly made of burlap-- with a dark, atmospheric tone to it, that is let down somewhat by a somewhat predictable plot and stereo-typed characters. The design shouts subtlety and depth, but the dialogue shouts Hollywood adventure.
Charming, Chaplinesque French comedy about a slightly dim-witted eccentric and the slight absurdities of vacation travel, beaches, horses, boating and so on. Tati himself plays Hulot, a likeable enthusiast, who bumbles around without committing too much harm. Most of the humour is of the physical sort. Beautifully filmed on location.
Jacques Tati, Nathalie Pascaud
Relatively accurate (with important exceptions) account of the legendary scandal: the wife of the warden of Allegheny County Jail helped two notorious killers, Edward and Jack Biddle, escape death row, and fled with them north towards Canada. Beautifully filmed, lyrical at times, with meticulous historical detail, but a little chaste. The scenes of the trio fleeing on a cutter through wintry landscapes are lovely, and the acting is generally, but not always, strong. I'm not sure Diane Keaton works as Mrs. Soffel, though she certainly doesn't glamourize the role. Important detail omitted from the film: either Kate Soffel's father or some other relative aided the escape. A guard was shot during the escape. Mrs. Soffel had property that had been forcibly signed over to her husband's control before the events of the film. Otherwise, fairly respectful of history.
Diane Keaton
It's difficult to understand why one half of the segments in the film-- the Julia Child segments-- could be so good, while the other half is almost entirely bad, more like a sitcom. Is it Streep? Or is a bad idea being forced upon Amy Adams?
Meryl Streep, Amy Adams
What is family? Secret of the Grain explores relationships, broken or not, between Slimane, an older immigrant worker in a small seaside town in France, and his ex-wife, and children, and step-daughter, and mistress. Slimane loses his job at the shipyard, and decides to open a couscous restaurant instead, so he can also provide his sons with employment. He encounters considerable red tape and decides that the only way to win over the bureaucrats is to impress them with a demonstration evening-- and this event becomes the crux of the plot, the hinge upon which his family relationships, in the end revolve, until it becomes clear who is "family" to him, and what love means.
Strong Tennesee Williams melodrama, with bitter edge.
Marlon Brando
Filmed in 1970, an oddly stiff, dated film from Kurosawa, that never really takes off, though it has it's moments. Set in an impoverished slum outside Tokyo, "Dodesukadan" shows us the lives of the unfortunates who struggle every day to get enough to eat, manage their lives, survive. There are quirky, appealling bits: the couples living across from each other who swap husbands whenever the men come home drunk and go into the wrong house, but also some duds, like the husband who stubbornly refuses to grant his unfaithful wife even the slightest measure of forgiveness, or the abusive uncle. There is Kurosawa's favorite theme of self-delusion, and how it helps people cope with live, but also contains the seeds of destruction.
Started out well, as a vivid recreation of an 18th century fishing village in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Historically accurate, down to the details of the entire village, the homes, the church, the boats, but veers off into melodrama for the last few reels. Worthwhile as an educational experience.
A father drives his son to succeed in basketball but a semi-accidental shove fatally injures his wife, the boy's mother, and he ends up in jail. When the boy becomes a top prospect, the Governor of New York, a big fan of a certain university team, arranges for the father to be released temporarily to try to persuade the boy to sign with that team; if he does, the father's sentence will be shortened. Wonderfully directed, rich, nuanced realization of a compelling story, with real-life prospect Ray Allen playing Jesus.
Denzel Washington, Ray Allen
Brutally realistic at times, violent, and bloody, "Hurt Locker" follows the activities of an American bomb squad in Iraq and the bold and sometimes reckless exploits of James, who is what they used to call a sapper, the man who disarms bombs. Some critics claimed that his film was surprisingly "apolitical". There is barely an American flag in sight. But I found it as "apolitical" as "Deer Hunter", which, like "Hurt Lucker", seemed to characterize all of the citizens of the lucky nation that received the privilege of an American invasion, as sinister and suspect and possibly even ungrateful for the allegedly gutsy ministrations of the Americans. The boys are shown as caring and professional and courageous, and we learn about their feelings and concerns, but we never get to know a single Iraqi or get even a glimpse of understanding of why they hate the Americans and want them out. However, neither does Bigelow show them wanting Americans "in"-- so in that sense… Still a strong, passionate film and worth seeing.
Jeremy Renner, Guy Pearce, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie
Very patient, thoughtful movie about a 13-year-old substitute teacher who takes over an elementary school for one month in a rural Chinese village, which is so poor she is only allowed one stick of chalk a day. The teacher, who is leaving to visit his sick mother, promises her a bonus if she manages to keep all of the children in school to the end of the month. "Teacher Wei" is no Hollywood construction: she can't teach at all and barely manages to even keep the children in the classroom. And she doesn't miraculously improve overnight. The film patiently documents her failures and struggles-- and also her stubborness-- as the days pass, until one of the students, Zhang Huike, is sent away by his parents to go work in the city. Wei sets out after him, determined to keep him in school, and earn her reward. American audiences will probably find the patent unfolding of the story trying, but it pays off in the end with a wrenching scene at a TV station. Beautifully filmed and acted-- obviously, but not distressingly by amateurs-- and a wonderful story.
Minzhi Wei, Huike Zhang, Zhenda Tian, Enman Gao, Zhimei Sun
Supremely polished, slick, production of fundamentally silly Broadway musical, based on Romeo and Juliet. Superb dance sequences, but the utterly preposterous dubbing of voices for the two leads, and for Riff, made it ridiculous at times. What are we watching? Who's talents are being utilized? Still, there is something compelling in the story-- slightly adjusted to give it more realism-- as if a musical could ever be thought of that way. Generally well acted, and beautifully, elaborately filmed (partly on the streets of Manhattan). The gangs say "gee" a lot, and meet in front of the candy store, and aside from a night in Maria's bed, the relationships seem rather chaste by today's standards. See "Rent". Second highest grossing film of 1961-- amazing-- this was what movie audiences, in 1961, lined up to see. Notable because in spite of the hokiness, it is a challenging film, and demands an investment from the viewer. Added 2022: this film was justly raked by Pauline Kael and some other critics, for what you would think of as "authenticity". Enlightened on the issue, I revise my opinion. And then I recall that I don't like musicals anyway.
Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
All the familiar elements are there -- middle-aged or later repressed man, devoted to work and career, suddenly realizes his life has been missing that important sense of spiritual meaning and sets out on a quest. He's a fish out of water, in this case, a German technocrat named Rudi whose wife has recently died, in Japan to visit an alienated son. Yet Cherry Blossums packs a wallop because of it's uncompromising depiction of deeply flawed humans groping to connect to each other, and to some sense of purpose. Sort of a cross between "About Schmidt" and "Lost in Translation", except that in this case, there is a lovely epiphany that lifts the narrative in the end.
Elmer Wepper, Hannelore Elsner, Aya Irizuki, Maximilian Bruckner
Nice Pixar animation with unusually strong commitment to story, even if the second half of the story is rather lame. The first 20 minutes are a separate movie-- an elegiac summary of life from childhood to old age, surprisingly moving. Then the action part takes over-- every plot development arm-twisted into place, to facilitate maximum display of lovely animations. At least, free of the tendency to fill the screen up with wise-cracking, farting, belching stereo-types.
Ed Asner
Dissects the dissolution of the plea bargain between Polanski, convicted of having sex with a minor, and the judge in the case, whose motives were, at best, mixed. Includes interviews with the 13-year-old victim, Polanski's lawyers, and the District Attorney, who eventually joined with Polanski's lawyer to ask that Judge Laurence J. Rittenband be removed from the case for misconduct. Smartly lays out the political and cultural issues that caused the issue to spin out of control and led to Polanski fleeing into exile in France-- where he is honored, as well as desired, while he remains "wanted" in the U.S. Also delves into Polanski's own sensational biography, his childhood in Nazi-occuped Poland, the death of his mother in a concentration camp, the murder of his wife by followers of Charles Manson, and so on.
Roman Polanski
What if what seems to right to do, in terms of personal survival, might seem to be the wrong thing to do, in terms of justice? Salomon Sorowitsch is offered a deal with the devil. Help the Nazis manufacture fake American and British money and live, or refuse and pay with your life. He chooses to help them but runs into opposition from a communist camp-mate who is determined to sabatoge the effort even if he ends up getting all of them killed. To complicate matters, some of the men become convinced that the communist must be sacraficed for the good of the rest of the counterfeiters. Fascinating story that doesn't really reach pitch.
Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Martin Brambach, August Zirner, Veit Stubner
Low key, gentle film about a young woman travelling to Alaska with her pet dog, Lucy. Through misfortune and bad choices, she ends up in police custody and her dog is lost. The story could not be simpler, yet this is a rich movie full of quiet nuance and dimension, particularly her relationship with a security guard wonderfully played by Wally Dalton. It's a slice of life we don't often see very much of, delivered with patience and taste. Not a great film, but in some ways, indispensible. Cost $200,000 to make. Michelle Williams really did go without makeup or washing her hair for two weeks.
Michele Williams, Will Oldham, Wally Dalton
Dangerously formulaic "true" story about Nathaniel Ayres, one-time promising Julliard student who had a nervous breakdown and ended up living on the streets of Los Angeles. A LA Times reporter, Steve Lopez, discovers Ayres and writes about him and encourages him to move into public housing and resume his career, with only partial success. It is Downey that keeps this film from going soft, with a wonderful sense of deadpan at the right moments, as when Ayres first performs for him with a new cello. The usual Hollywood drivel intrudes: Lopez was NOT divorced in real life-- but the real story is so remarkable that this is well-worth a DVD rental.
Robert Downey Jr., Jaime Foxx
Another potentially decent Hollywood film fundamentally compromised by the participation of a celebrity in a major role-- Meg Ryan, as Jimmy Morrison's girlfriend, Pamela Courson. Otherwise, surprisingly free of "authorized biography syndrome", wherein the cooperation of family and friends comes at a price: you are only allowed to see the flaws you already know about, and which the family wants you to see.
Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan
About a young, hip couple (John Marley and Lynn Carlin) whose marriage disintegrates. He casually drops by to see a kind-hearted prostitute (Gena Rowlands) after work. She prepares his dinner. He's late. They fight, bitterly-- he shocks her by demanding a divorce, then goes out to find his buddies and to visit the prosititute again. Her friends take her out to comfort her and they pick up a young hippie who accompanies her home. All told in the brutally honest style of Cassavetes. In particular, the joking of the men in the presense of the prostitutes strikes the viewer as crass, vulgar, and annoying-- just as it would in real life. It makes you wonder just how much real life we can actually take in our lives-- yet we never stop trying to fool ourselves into thinking that some "realistic" dramas tell us the truth. The audio is terrible at times, and there are awkward pauses and glitches-- yet very powerful and raw.
John Marley, Gena Rowlands, Lynn Carlin, Seymour Cassel, Fred Draper
Breath-taking, experimental collage of home video, pictures, text, and audio, diagramming Caouette's own hyper dysfunctional family, including his mother, Renee, once a beautiful child model, driven through electro convulsive therapy into chronic depression and instability.
Vastly over-rated installment of the Star Trek franchise featuring Kirk and Spock as 20 year olds miraculously put in charge of the Enterprise and it's crew of 400 after virtually no command experience at any level. All right -- it is a children's movie. Too bad it ignores the interesting aspects of the original-- multi-dimensional bad guys, respect for Spock etc… the last lines of the movie feature Spock being emasculated: his older self tells him to go with his feelings, thereby screwing the most interesting tension in the original series: Spock's brain vs. Kirk's gut. But we know that nowadays, feelings are always right, and bad guys are nothing more than various incarnations of jihadists. One of the original's best episodes featured a game of cat and mouse between Kirk and a smart, and respectable, Romulan commander. No such high tone here. Just loads and loads noisy special effects and the imbecilic hand-held camera effect.
This movie got wonderful reviews at the time but has not aged well. It is a parody or tribute of the film noire detective flicks of the 1950's, but doesn’t seem very funny today. Art Carney is fun as an aging, stout private investigator looking into Lily Tomlin's missing cat, but not that fun. When his former partner is murdered after involvement in the same case, he gets interested and uncovers a web of deceit and adultery. Disappointing, considering the praise heaped on this film by the likes of Roger Ebert. Lily Tomlin is the freshest thing in the movie.
Art Carney, Lily Tomlin
Uneven thriller that borrows scenes and images from "All the President's Men" but doesn't have the good sense to stick to a compelling political conspiracy: there's got to be murder, I guess, to make it sexy enough for popular consumption. Russell Crowe is the stereo-typical old hard-bitten reporter who uncovers a nefarious corporate-government plot to marginalize a cruscading Senator who opposes privatization of the military. Rachel McAdams is the blogger who learns at his feet what a real reporter does. Events are complicated by Crowe's personal past with the Senator and his wife. Not a single truly surprising development even with Tony Gilroy helping out with the screenplay.
Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Robin Penn Wright
Charming, earthy look at the romantic misadventures of a young Lower East Side teenager. His Dominican Catholic grandmother keeps threatening to throw him out of the apartment, and his sister ridicules him for being spotted in the apartment of the local slut. But Victor persists and persuades lovely Judy to let him be her man. At least occasionally. What's different is that Victor really is a decent sort, and his grandmother really is a crank who isn't going to go all gushy sentimental on us. Gritty story, told with far more authenticity and honestly than we are used to. A slice.
Judy Marte, Victor Rasuk
Fascinating documentary about a young killer whale who gets separated from his pod and ends up in a small bay north of Vancouver, where he begins to make friends of the local inhabitants. The government becomes concerned about him becoming too socialized with humans. The First Nations peoples see him as the reincarnation of an esteemed chief. Fisherman see him as a dangerous nuisance. At times inspiring, and sometimes hilarious, "Saving Luna" charts various attempts to prevent Luna from coming to harm, and how he changed some peoples' perceptions of the gulf between humans and other mammals.
Aimless film about aimless youth in Taipei. Hasaio Kang is a lonely teenager who wistfully observes two boys and a girl indulge in flirtation, hanging out at arcades, and thrill-seeking. Too shy to join them, instead he shadows their activities, vandalizes their bike, and drops out of school without telling his parents. Strong portrait of the downside of urban life in Taipei, and youth alienation.
Wang Yu-Wen
Deeply moving, sad account of four children abandoned by their fun-loving and careless mother for nine months, in an apartment in Tokyo. Based on a true story that was even more grim than this version. The story follows the efforts of the oldest son, 12-year-old Akira, to find food and pay the bills with the very limited funds left by his mother. He appeals to his biological father who pays him off but is clearly disinterested-- the other children are not his. The movie follows the real-life case fairly closely-- nothing is exaggerated or manipulated-- making it all the more powerful and sometimes grim. But also unforgettable.
Powerful, gritty drama set in Memphis about a would-be pimp (he's really more of a driver) who aspires to be a rap artist. Don't let the rap angle keep you away from a fine film with terrific performances and a heart of gold, and some very funny scenes. Everyone sweats, and everyone has that tired beaten down look that slowly rises as D-Jay drives towards his goal of recording his raps and getting them heard. The ending is a bit Hollywood, perhaps-- but I didn't mind. The setup was so good, the secondary characters-- especially Trayn Manning as Nola, his one productive hooker-- compelling and believably hard-edged. Reminds me of the better Spike Lee films like "Do the Right Thing".
Terence Howard, Anthony Anderson
More shameless than the movie itself is the surprisingly self-aggrandizing "making of" feature which consists of Neil's friends and families marvelling at his amazing, mysterious genious-- so elusive that the film looks like something a pathetical high-schooler could have improved upon. Shot in super 8mm film and accompanied only by a musical soundtrack of middling Neil Young songs accompanied by the irrepressibly awful Crazy Horse… a terrible waste of time.
Searing documentary style film about a teacher and his class of minority students in Paris, and his struggles to invest the students into a respectful adherence to mainstream French values. The students- - real students-- worked with Cantet for a year to develop their stories and identities. None of it is predictable, and all of it mocks films like "Mr. Holland's Opus" and "Freedom Writers" with simple reality. The students do not exist as a mere foil for the teacher's awesome visionary dedication: they have their own agenda and until the teacher connects with their real values he is frustrated and defeated. Probably the most realistic teacher film ever made.
Beautiful, sometimes dazzling science fiction about a crew of earth astronauts sent on a mission to fire a bomb "the size of Manhattan" into the sun to prevent it from decaying due to some obscurely explained process. The "Icarus" of course encounters some challenges, including a distress call from a mission that failed seven years earlier. The crew are conscious of beauty and purpose, and there are moments of effusive poetic joy in the pure experience of the sun's light and warmth, and other moments of sheer terror at the ferocity of it's power. Sometimes dark and violent, but always intriguing.
cillian murphy
It looks and feels like independent film but operates like a classic Hollywood "serious" film-- all external facets and no heart. There isn't a single real person in this movie-- just a rather sophomoric interpretation of what audiences think an authentic picture of madness would look like. How often doesn't a Hollywood film introduce you to a character who has done something really bad so you can feel compassionate and sophisticated for caring about her, and then introduces the fact that what she did-- surprise-- wasn't so bad after all, or wasn't her fault (like "I Have Loved You So Long"). There is some energy in this film, and some failed attempts -- too obvious-- to be quirky. Really, it's more like "Watch Over Me" and "Fisher King" than
Anne Hathaway, Debra Winger
Look-- Clint Eastwood can't direct. Every scene seems underdeveloped and contrived. Combined with an implausable story line, this is actually a bit tedious, except for a revelatory ending that defies the conventions of many of the films Eastwood made early in his career. But when Walt's granddaughter goes into the garage for a smoke, Walt catches her, because, for no discernible reason other than advancing the plot, he happens to go into the garage at that moment. Would it be asking too much Eastwood to bother thinking of some reason he might go in there? Or to think of some actual gardening activity Thao could be doing, instead of making his hands go up and down? Or some logical reason why he would plunge into a house full of non-English speaking Hmong just to socialize, after demonstrating a pathological aversion to conversation up to then? Or why his son would act as if he could possibly have anticipated that Walt would be grumpy over the phone? Yet, there are some admirable qualities to the film-- the concern with everyday life in suburban America, the mix of cultures, the substantial consideration of the theme of violence. But the "profound" conclusion is implausible, and the peripheral characters, including the priest, seem to exist only as foils to the grumpy Walt. Even worse, Walt gets to be viciously grumpy while winning the adoration of the local Hmong community. Not a single character does the most plausible thing: reveal Walt's psychotic personality for what it is.
Clint Eastwood
Film in the cold suburbs of Stockholm, Let the Right One in is a bleak vampire movie that's really about love between two lonely misfits, Oskar and Eli. Oskar's parents are seperated and his mother is a marginal presense. He is bullied at school and takes to wandering the courtyard around his apartment late at night. Eli is a vampire, 12-years-old ("for a long time"). She connects with Oskar's shy vulnerability, and he tries to connect with her. But she really is a vampire and when people start dying bloodily in the neighborhood, tensions rise and Oskar and Eli have to find a way to survive the growing suspicions of the neighbors. There's some kind of touching love story here, but it is set in a painfully bleak emotional and physical landscape.
Kare Hedebrant, Kuba Leandersson
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