Umney's Alley - 2006's Movie Log

A Year in Film: 2006

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What follows are my OCD attempts to list and rate every movie I watch in any given year. (I've done the same for my year's reading in the book log.) Given that I watch some relatively obscure films, I've set it up so that the film title links to the IMDb page for the film so you can get more information easily.

Starting in 2009, I began assigning out star ratings (out of five stars) to films I've watched. Five stars is equivalent to an A, 4½ to an A-/B+, four to a B, and so on.

12-26	Casino Royale (2006)	Maybe you're like me. You used to love James Bond movies, but the unrelenting shittiness of the last few movies really left you with a bad taste in your mouth. You miss when the action sequences felt really dangerous, and Bond relied more on wits than superhuman skill at...well, everything. More than anything, you just miss the quality--the characters, the stories, and Bond being more than skin deep. Then get your ass to a theater and see Casino Royale. As has been said so many times, it is to Bond movies what Batman Begins is to that franchise--not only a reboot, not only a return to everything that made the series great, but a great psychological exploration of the character. The action is effective and brutal, the story solid, and Craig excellent. It's the Bond I've been waiting for for years, and it was well worth the wait--it's easily the new gold standard of the series.
12-16	A Wedding	Early Altman, and it's definitely not his best work...but it's still fun. The story is a bit cliched at points, and ultimately the whole movie doesn't quite feel finished. Still, Altman (as always) does his huge cast justice, creating characters out of the mass of faces, and juggling enough stories to keep everyone involved. By the end, the whole thing feels a bit empty, but it's still an enjoyable enough work, and quite entertaining in sections.
12-10	The Wire	Yeah, The Sopranos is awesome. And, yeah, Deadwood is probably my favorite show on TV. But The Wire is not only the best show on television, but one of the best I have ever seen, and this brilliant and heartbreaking season only confirms it. With the expansion of focus to include not only the drug trade, but also politics and the school system, The Wire became one of the most incisive and powerful sources for not only riveting stories, but also trenchant social commentary. With its sharply drawn characters, honest storylines, and commitment to realism, The Wire is the most powerful, devastating, and honest show on television. If you didn't see it, you've missed a work of art in every way.
12-10	Stay	A strange, surreal film about a man doing his best to save another man's life. To say much more would be to say too much; I will say that while the final scenes make much sense, not everything about the ending stands up to scrutiny, and the film should end about 1 minute earlier than it does. That being said, the interesting (and ultimately revealing) visual style and intriguing story make this one pretty successful for me. Well worth a watch, but be prepared for something much stranger than you probably expected from the ads.
12-10	The Last Waltz	I'd probably watch a lot more concert films if they were all made by Scorsese, but he's not the only thing this great movie has going for it. Nor is it elevated solely by the incredible musical talent on display, though any film with Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell, and so many more has to have something worthwhile. No, both those help, but ultimately, it's such a joyous and celebratory film about music and the happiness it brings, and that joy permeates every aspect of the movie, making not only fun to make, but wonderful to watch and especially to listen to. (For an interesting and entirely different take on the movie--and probably a more accurate one--check out Ebert's thoughts.)
12-9	Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny	I can completely understand why this is tanking at the box office, but it didn't keep me from thoroughly enjoying it. This is very much a movie for D fans, with all of the silliness, bombast, and rock that you'd expect from these two. No, it doesn't always work, but when it does (particularly with the three big musical numbers), it's hilarious and entertaining as hell. If nothing else, it's hard not to love it just for Tim Robbins's bizarre and side-splitting cameo. What can I say? If you like the D, see it; if not, there's nothing to see here. Me? I loved it.
12-3	Undertow	An interesting and thoughtful thriller...sort of. It's about as mainstream and straightforward a film as David Gordon Green seems capable of making--that is, not very. Green takes his slow, thoughtful, atmospheric view of the South and transfers it into a thriller, and the results are pretty satisfying. It's not a relentless pulse-pounder, but that's not really the point, is it? Rather, it's as much about the characters and the world they inhabit. The fact that it works pretty well as a thriller DESPITE its slow pace says much about it.
12-3	Short Cuts	One of the essential works by the late (and sorely missed) Robert Altman. The film is a mosaic of overlapping stories set in Los Angeles, each treated equally. The cast all acquits themselves beautifully, with Waits, Moore, Downey, Penn, and especially MacDowell (!) really standing out. The stories shift from tragedy to comedy to drama and back again, and the effortless way the genres shift and the stories connect only serve to emphasize how much you're really in the hands of a master. A great work of film from a great director.
11-30	The Fountain	A fascinating film that is certainly going to divide people. In fact, it's less a film than a poem--open to interpretation, rich with metaphor, and with a complex and not entirely literal story. Some will hate it, finding it pretentious and foolish. Me? I found it moving, beautiful, profound, and wonderful--one of the best films of the year. I wrote a lot more about it here.
11-26	The Transporter 2	Some people will tell you that this is a bad sequel to a better-than-expected action flick. Those people will tell you that the stunts are too over-the-top, that the action is just silly. Those people cannot be your friends anymore. This is a blast. Sure, the action barely nods in the general direction of physics, but it never takes itself seriously. Add to that Statham's interesting character, a solid-enough story, some really great action setpieces (the one with the fire hose was GREAT, and reminded me of the great oil-drum sequence in the original), and you've got yourself 88 minutes of pure fun. Just switch off your brain and enjoy.
11-19	L'Avventura	I'll probably catch flak for it, but I just really didn't care for it. Now, I would say that the lack of plot resolution bothers me, but I can't say that; ultimately, Picnic at Hanging Rock does much the same thing, but I really liked that one. Maybe it's the unlikable and unsympathetic characters, but I've seen films with characters like that which I enjoyed. Honestly, I don't know what it is...but I know that I finished it fairly bored, uninterested in what I had seen, and baffled as to why it's highly regarded.
11-19	Crónicas	There's glimpses in here of what could have been a great movie. The back and forth exchanges between a famous tabloid reporter and a man who could very well be a child murderer could have been fascinating, and the moral game-playing even better...if they movie didn't show all of its cards at the very beginning, making it all too obvious who's right and who's wrong. As a result, the whole thing just drags a bit, and the climax falls a bit flat. Trim off about ten opening minutes, and you could have had a pretty great film.
11-19	The Dancer Upstairs	Interesting and very well-made police procedural. The film is about an unnamed Latin America country, where a revolutionary group seems to be emerging, though no one seems to know exactly what they want. That political vagueness sums up the major weakness of the film--it never seems to have as much message or philosophy behind it as it would like to. That being said, it does a great job of evoking the atmosphere of a country under siege, and keeps the story quite involving. It's not as great as it could be, but it's very good, and is well worth watching, if only for Bardem's great performance.
11-12	Stranger than Fiction	Clever, funny, and really enjoyable, not to mention richer than more moving than I might have expected. Ferrell reveals himself as a pretty great dramatic actor; Hoffman steals the movie with some brilliantly funny scenes; and Gyllenhaal makes a wonderful (and remarkably real) romantic partner. The Latifah character never quite feels necessary or well used, and the ending is a bit of a letdown compromise (and yes, if you've seen the movie, I'm aware of the irony), but I still liked it as a whole quite a bit.
11-8	Da Ali G Show	HBO ran a marathon of both seasons of this one, and having watched it all back to back, I love it even more. Gut-bustingly funny, unsettling with its points about America, vicious in its mocking of the fashion world, and more than anything else, hilarious, there's really no explaining this show. To say that it stars a man who masquerades in three different personas and conducts interviews on clueless victims is to not even do this justice. Suffice to say, it's probably one of the funniest shows I have ever seen.
10-28	I'll Sleep When I'm Dead	Somber, bleak neo-noir involving Clive Owen's return to London after a three-year absence, the rape and suicide of a young man, and how the two connect. It's an oddly elliptical film, with many of the main relationships either rarely or never spelled out, but that somehow makes it more effective, giving the characters a sense of past that they have moved on from. It's a grim piece of work--there is no satisfaction in the revenge, nor emotion to the work. It is simply what it is--as Hobbes would have said, it's nasty, brutish, and short. It's damned effective, though, and resonates far stronger than it has any right to.
10-28	Enduring Love	A strange, not quite successful film about a man haunted by a tragic accident, and stalked by a fellow participant in the event. There are interesting undercurrents here--the power of grief, the science of love, the realities of fear and insanity--but they never really coalesce into anything focused or cohesive, and the movie just becomes too scattered to have any real impact. It's not bad--Ifans and Craig both do great jobs, and there are some riveting scenes--but it just doesn't come together well enough to truly succeed as a film.
10-21	The Prestige	Not only an excellent film, but a perfect example of just how one should adapt a novel for the screen. Nolan tightens up the book, pruning some loose (but interesting) ends, and creating a taut thriller predicated on the ways that obsession can ruin a life by examining the increasingly vicious rivalry between two magicians, and the lengths that each will go to in order to come out on top. Layered meanings, expert stage craft, and all-around great acting really make this a fascinating and ultimately a little disturbing film, and one that not only does its already good source material justice, but in some ways, even improves it.
10-15	Mean Creek	It's hard not to compare this with Larry Clark's Bully (reviewed here), and this comes out as the far more nuanced, thoughtful, and realistic of the two--an ironic point, given that Bully is the one based on a true story. That says much about Clark's approach to things (again, read my comments there), but it also says a lot about this strong film, which takes the time to explore each of its characters, and finds them all to be neither all good nor all bad, but filled with shades of grey--most notably George, the film's bully, who ends up as a fiercely conflicted character. A quietly powerful film, and a good character study.
10-13	The Departed	Outstanding, thoughtful, and excellently made crime drama. This is Scorsese's tightest, cleanest work in a while (and this from someone who loved his last two movies). The combination of an excellently chosen soundtrack, strong visuals, and some fantastic editing to layer the story together all add up to make this a well made film, but it's the plethora of outstanding performances that really make the film such a masterpiece. DiCaprio erases my doubts about him; Damon brings pain and doubt to a smooth operator; Sheen creates a paternal role model; Wahlberg and Baldwin walk away with their scenes. When Nicholson's magnetic performance just fits into the ensemble, you know something good is happening. It's one of the best police/crime dramas I've seen in years, and when you see someone like Scorsese at the top of his game like this, you remember why we go to the movies in the first place. Sure do wish they would have left one shot out of the ads, though...
10-11	Dark Water (2002)	Quiet, effective little Japanese ghost story about a woman and daughter who move into a new apartment whose every surface seems to be permeated by water. It's not an all-out horror film, but it does have a nicely creepy atmosphere; honestly, I enjoyed the fact that it created said atmosphere with little to no CGI that I could see, relying on nothing fancier than some trickles of water. What's more, it was the family relationships that really drove the story--nice to see horror that draws from its characters. It's a pretty solid little film, with a few nicely unsettling scenes, but a more interesting tale about a mother and her daughter. Curious to know if the American remake is any good, now.
10-10	Rabbit- Proof Fence	An astonishing story, as much for the disturbing reality it reveals as for the achievement it relates. The movie focuses on a dark period of Australia's past, in which children who were of mixed race (white and Aborigine) were taken from their homes to be "educated" and generally pushed to breed themselves white again. While the movie focuses on three girls who chose to walk back to their hometown, its most powerful impact comes from the realization of how horrifying such a national policy is, and from the closing epilogue, which reveals just how recent this "past" is, and just how inhuman the treatment was.
10-9	Primer	Second time watching it, and I liked it even more this time. It's a hell of a brain-teaser, no doubt. But after puzzling through the Wikipedia article, navigating an intricate chart, and reading some other thoughts (and yet more), I feel like I've got a handle, for the most part, on what happens. And yet, that isn't even the point. It's the fact that, on such a low budget ($7,000!), the filmmakers create such a detailed and interesting world, working within their means to create something far more intelligent and stimulating than many movies with thousands of times the finances. Deeply satisfying, and a nice return to when movies were as much about challenging the audience as entertaining--and this one does both.
10-9	The Assas- sination of Richard Nixon	Fascinating (and at times unsettling) character study about an increasingly desperate and disturbed man who begins to conceive of the titular assassination. Based on a true story, the film works chiefly as an exploration of the main character, who is portrayed brilliantly by Sean Penn. Penn brings Bicke to life, filling the character with subtle nuance and truly bringing him to life--an intensely sympathetic and yet horrifying character, and one who is inexorably tied to the times he lived in. An outstanding character study and portrait of a time that left many behind; it's a film that deserved a lot more attention than it got.
10-8	The 400 Blows	The story of a young boy named Doniel and his (mis-)adventures growing up in Paris. I think it's one of those films that would benefit more without its classic status, which causes it to have an imposing reputation. It's a joy to watch--it has a good sense of humor (the overhead shot of the class walk is hilarious), and Doniel himself is an intensely sympathetic character. That the film is autobiographical shows clearly; it carries with it all the joys and the pains of adolescence quite nicely. And there's that famous final shot, which can be read so many ways. Honestly, cast aside your "classic" assumptions, and just enjoy this for what it is: a truly great coming of age story that manages to be very, very unique.
10-7	Elevator to the Gallows	Classic piece of film noir more interesting for its mood and score than the admittedly interesting plot. There are three main plot threads: a man who commits murder but is stuck in an elevator, powerless to escape; his lover, who is searching for him; and a young couple who steals the man's car. All three come together in some clever and unexpected ways, but ultimately, that's not the point of this one. It's the lighting, the performances, the Miles Davis score--it's the mood of the whole thing, and it's a nice working definition of the word cool.
10-7	The Tao of Steve	Slight, mostly unsuccessful effort at an indie romantic comedy, weighed down by a sense of its own cuteness and flat, uninteresting characters. The movie is designed as a vehicle for its lead, Donal Logue, and he does a great job in it...in as much as his gimmicky, artificial character allows him to. I didn't hate it--there are some clever lines and some good scenes--but it wasn't very good, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
10-7	Serenity	Re-watch on HBO this morning, and it's every bit as good as I remembered, and then some. It strikes me, watching it again, how much the movie owes to a great performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor as a fascinating, complicated villain that really gives the movie a strong focus. Add to that some tight plotting, Whedon's fun writing, and a strong sense of characters, and you have one of the most successful sci-fi pictures in years. I only wish that Whedon could make many, many more movies and re-start Firefly to keep this going.
10-6	The Big Lebowski	Midnight movie at the Belcourt. Good crowd, White Russians, bowling in the theater, and the movie itself. Still funny, still great, no matter how many times I've seen it, and the communal viewing only makes it more fun. A good time.
10-5	Sky High	Better than I expected, not as good as it could have been. It's Harry Potter with superheroes in place of witches, and while it's focusing on the superhero world, it's pretty entertaining (and the appearances by Bruce Campbell, Kevin MacDonald, and the scene-stealingly hilarious performance by Dave Foley don't hurt either). By the end, though, it becomes full of high-school cliches, and gets a lot less interesting. Still, it's got a nice sense of humor, and is far more entertaining than the lackluster previews let on.
10-5	Do the Right Thing	Outstanding early work by Spike Lee. I guess this was before Lee became as strident and as preachy as he tends to be now; this is a warm, affectionate portrayal of a New York neighborhood during a very hot day--the happiness of which makes the ending to come all the more powerful and devastating. The performances throughout are wonderful, and Lee shows himself capable of creating some rich, layered characters, and capable of sweet moments I wouldn't have expected (the scenes between Da Mayor and Mother Sister were wonderful). This is far better than I expected it to be, and among the best looks at American race relations I've seen, even almost twenty years later. With its great sense of place and an ending so powerful, it's hard not to view this as a masterpiece, plain and simple.
10-4	The Interpreter	Over-long, meandering attempt at a thriller set at the UN. While I admire the effort to have a thriller with some intelligence and political thinking, by the time made-up countries are added in, the story is made complex enough, and the characters forced to find their closeness with each other, the whole thing just becomes creaky and never quite works. When it can focus on the assassination plot, it comes to life a bit, but ultimately, it's just not as thoughtful or as deep as it likes to pretend that it is.
10-3	Breaking the Waves	A love story as only the man behind Dogville and Manderlay could write it. The story concerns a young, sheltered, highly religious girl who marries an oil-rig worker and devotes herself to him. What follows is a fascinating look at faith, doubt, religion, love, and everything in between. Von Trier is brilliant at this kind of thing, giving us an innocent we can identify with, and plunging her into a situation that tests us all. The Christ/Joan of Arc parallels are clear here, but the film simply would not work without the galvanizing, gripping, stunning performance that Emily Watson gives as Bess. Von Trier may be a control freak and a provocateur, but when he can evoke such strong feelings out of me, I will defend his films to the death--and this is a fantastic film, make no mistake about it.
10-3	The Sea Inside	Effective drama about a quadriplegic who wants the right to "die with dignity". I know there will be some who disagree, but I felt that the movie did a good job of examining both sides of the debate; yes, it ridicules the religious side a bit much in a great scene, but I think that by showing the effect of the decision on those around him, the movie conveyed well what needed to be said. I also admire the way the movie agreed with his right to make the decision, while not endorsing this for all in his situation--it would have been too easy to do. It is not a flawless movie, but it's a very good one, mostly because Bardem brings so much to the table in his performance. An interesting look at a divisive issue.
10-2	Cellular	Way more fun than it had any right to be, chiefly thanks to the theory that goes, "Yeah, the scenario--a young man on a cell phone gets a phone call from a woman that has been kidnapped, and the signal cannot be lost--is absurd. But if we just push the pedal to the floor, and treat it seriously enough, it will work." And damned if it doesn't. The action is great, and the movie has enough cleverness in its uses of cell phones to make it more or less work. Not to mention, any movie with William H. Macy as a cop with some bad-ass still left in him...how can you not like it? It's a B-movie, sure, but a really fun one.
10-2	Bus 174	A gripping, heart-wrenching documentary focusing on a hostage situation in Brazil that spiraled drastically out of control, thanks chiefly to police incompetence. But what makes this so powerful is the way it moves beyond the incident, digging into the background of the hostage taker, and takes a hard look at the issues of poverty, social discrimination, and inhumanity that lurks beneath the surface of Brazil (there is a scene in a jail that is among the most horrifying things I hope to ever see on film). If you have seen the stellar City of God, this is, in many ways, the real-life follow-up. It is a powerful and saddening watch, both of which combine to make it a powerhouse documentary.
10-1	Human Nature	A gleefully bizarre and entertaining blend of Pygmalion, sex comedy, Clockwork Orange, and surreal comedy. It's not my favorite work by Charlie Kaufman, but it's still great, with enough ideas, thoughts, and interesting notions about humanity and our nature to fill three other mediocre films. And none of that even gets into how wonderfully screwball funny the movie is. From silverware-using mice to a disastrous slide show, from an unexpected aftermath of the JFK assassination to a harsh set of parents, the movie is a bizarrely funny trip into the divide between us and the animals. I really enjoyed it a lot.
10-1	Unleashed	Although the scenario--a man raised as a "dog", trained to kill and do nothing more, breaks away and learns his own humanity--should be laughable, this works, and does so quite well. The action sequences are everything you could ask for and more, with a hefty taste of brutality trucked in. But it's really the acting that holds this together, with Freeman bringing his usual gravitas, Hoskins his ferocity, and Li the right mix of innocence and danger. I really liked it, I have to say; anytime I see an action movie that manages to still be its own film, I admire that, and Luc Besson (even only as producer) is pretty good at that.
9-23	Dirty Pretty Things	An effective and disturbing thriller constructed from of the everyday lives of immigrants and the lives they lead in London, where they are made to feel most unwelcome and taken advantage of on a regular basis (of course, nothing like that would EVER happen here). The plot? Not five minutes in, the main character finds a human heart in a toilet, a discovery which begins his quest for the truth, culminating in the revelation of a disturbing but all too plausible operation running right under his nose. It's an effective movie, and though the social commentary gets a little heavy handed at parts, the strong performances, most notably by Chiwetel Ejiofor, keep everything grounded and realistic; besides, with an issue this important, the hyperbole may be a little deserved. A fascinating and compelling film.
9-20	Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan	Got in on a special MySpace sneak preview for this, and I jumped at the chance. Now that I've seen it, all I can tell you is that there will not be a more offensive, politically incorrect, juvenile movie that comes out this year. And there will be nothing that is even HALF as funny as this is. This film shatters every notion of what should be on a film screen, and then runs way beyond that, laughing all the way. From his notion that women's brains are the size of squirrel's brains to his feelings on the Jews, Borat brings his insanity to America, and in the process exposes a whole lot of people for who they are--and in the process, made me laugh until tears rolled down my face and my sides literally hurt. This is the funniest movie of the year, without a doubt, and high on the list of the funniest movies I have seen in my lifetime. It's not for all tastes, but that's half the fun of it all. I seriously cannot recommend it highly enough, nor can I stop from laughing about it a day later.
9-16	When the Levees Broke	I already said a bit about this one on my thoughts page, but now that I've finished it, I thought it merited a few more points. Lee does an excellent job on this; with his reputation, you would think that it would all focus on race. To his credit, he addresses those concerns, but moves far beyond them, looking at the social, economic, and societal factors that all played into Katrina. The documentary is long (4 hours+), but uses its time wisely, looking at every aspect of Katrina, from the warnings to the levees, from FEMA to the present. The result is a powerful look not only at the human side of a national tragedy (the scene where a mother returns home for the first time is heartbreaking), but an infuriating indictment of an incompetent, clueless, horrifying embarrassment of a government--every level of it (though Nagin seems to get off a bit easy). Powerful viewing, and one that more people should see, in an effort to make more people realize how much still needs to be done, and how tragically destructive the actions of so many bureaucrats really were.
9-16	Little Miss Sunshine	One of those indie films that comes along every so often and does quite well for itself, despite not really being that original or clever. It works, though, thanks to some great performances by the entire cast (although Carrell and Breslin steal the film). I just wish there were more moments when the characters were allowed to be themselves (like the scene between Frank and Dwayne on the beach, or the scene in the hotel between Olive and her grandfather), and less forcing into a "quirky" plot. I liked it, but it's far from a masterpiece. The cast, though, makes it worth seeing, and makes it a pretty fun little film.
9-9	2001: A Space Odyssey	On the big screen at the Belcourt, and it was pure sex. I have always liked this film, and enjoyed it; I don't think I ever fully appreciated it until now. It is a masterful accomplishment in every way, and a work of art. It is unlike any film ever made, and seeing it on the big screen allows you to immerse yourself in the beauty of the entire film. This may sound like hyperbole, but it truly is a film unlike anything else, and the big screen allows you to savor it the way it was meant to be seen. From the Dawn of Man to the brilliant jump-cut to the moon landing which seems as lifelike as the real landing a year later to HAL (one of the most chilling villains of all time) to Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite, this is a film that has aged brilliantly, and seems more and more thoughtful with each viewing.
9-4	Repo Man	One of those unfortunately all-too-rare movies that's so unique and quirky that it's pretty much destined to become no more than a cult classic, despite how great and fun it is. I can't say I got all of it--I made the mistake of watching it while attempting to grade some papers, and by the end, the papers were set aside--but I really enjoyed the whole thing, particularly Harry Dean Stanton's bizarre mentor figure. Lots of great lines, a gleefully weird storyline, and a good sense of fun running through it all. I really liked it a lot, and found it to be one of the few cult movies whose following I could understand.
9-3	The Bourne Supremacy	There were some major gripes I had with the first ten minutes or so (wouldn't the CIA assume that Bourne would be smart enough NOT to leave a fingerprint? And wouldn't a highly paid assassin actually check his work?), but they faded as the movie found its footing. Greengrass does a good job directing, making the action realistic and believable, with Bourne's resourcefulness making the action more involving. Some nice acting throughout, of course, and there's a hell of a car chase through the tunnels of Moscow to close the film. All in all, it's not great, but it's definitely not bad, even if I do think they should have stuck with the original ending as one that was truer to the film (see here for details).
9-2	The Illusionist	An enjoyable period piece about a magician, a woman, and a prince. As a story, the movie works pretty well, even if I found the finale to be a tad predictable; as an homage to the silent-film style and older films, it's a treat. Norton is good, as always, but it's Giamatti who really steals the film, bringing humor, wit, and emotion to what could have been a flat character. Honestly--and it pains me to say it, for fear I might jinx him the way I did his predecessor--I think Giamatti has surpassed Spacey as my favorite actor working today.
8-27	Deadwood	The third season has come and gone, and with it, Deadwood, which has been cancelled with only the promise of 2 small movies to finish up the story. This third season has been a powerhouse one, with Gerald McRaney's Hearst throwing the camp into chaos, and creating one of the most memorable and despicable villains in television history. But, as always with this show, it's been the themes, characters, and ideas that resonate, and the final episode made clear that this show is one about the high cost of survival and civilization, and the prices we all must pay. If the show never gets those movies, the final images and lines of the final episode would be a perfect epitaph for this show, which will go down as one of the best in television's history. Truly superb television, and that it is gone is just wrong.
8-26	The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly	On the big screen, thanks to the classics series going on at the Belcourt. As Leone movies go, I didn't like this as much as I liked Once Upon a Time in the West, but that didn't make it any less great. With some unforgettable scenes, great performances, and that perfect score by Morricone, it's hard not to walk out feeling like it's a great movie, despite some flaws (main one: the whole sequence at the bridge, while somewhat internally interesting, needs to go--it kills the flow of the movie and just goes on a bit too long). Still, any flaws are forgiven with that epic final duel in that endless graveyard.
8-20	Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby	A silly, sloppy comedy about NASCAR, American competitiveness, xenophobia, and cougars. And I mean all that as a compliment. Obviously, your enjoyment of this will depend on your enjoyment of Will Ferrell and he and his friends' style of improvisational antics. Me? I thought the whole thing was hilarious. Sasha Baron Cohen almost stole the show, but it's Ferrell and Reilly who just ricochet gleefully off of each other throughout, all the way to the great end-credits outtakes. If you like this kind of thing, it's pretty hilarious.
8-3	Nightmares and Dreamscapes	A horror anthology based off of various short stories by Stephen King, which means I have to watch it (one of them contains the origin of this site's name). It's an extremely wide range of quality, running the gamut from great ("Battleground", "End of the Whole Mess") to good ("Umney's Last Case", "Fifth Quarter") to just terrible ("Crouch End", "Autopsy"). But overall, most of the stories are pretty great by any standard, much less the notably low bar set by most King adaptations. For King fans, it's a must watch; as a horror anthology, it's pretty good, with occasional doses of greatness.
7-29	Miami Vice	Never watched the show much, but one of my cardinal rule of movies is if Michael Mann does a cop film, I will be there to see it, no matter what. I was a little disappointed by it, honestly, and not just because it didn't measure up to Heat or Collateral. The story is pretty forgettable and generic, and the acting really isn't as good as I hoped. That being said, the gunfights in the film are epic--some of the most intense and brutal I've seen in a long time. NOBODY does these things like Mann, and for all the film's deficiencies, I still enjoyed the strong sense of style and cool he brought to the whole film.
7-28	Pee Wee's Big Adventure	Late show at the Belcourt. The movie itself was a blast--it's such a bizarre burst of anarchy that you can't help but love it, and I always enjoy a movie willing to go so far for one joke (the Alamo joke makes me laugh every time I see this). The crowd and festivities? That's another matter. The magic show beforehand was pretty unbelievably horrible (an incredibly un-hip white guy singing "Minnie the Moocher" before tricks peppered with swing-daddy jargon), and the crowd ranged from hilarious to annoying as hell (I'm talking to you, idiots right behind us). It wasn't a bad time, but next time, I'll go to the quieter Sat. show.
7-27	Bob le Flambeur	There's really nothing to say about this except how exceedingly damned cool the whole thing is. It's a great heist film done in something approximating noir style with a bigger heart and subtle senses of somehow both humor and melancholy. With so many great scenes throughout (I particularly loved the imagining of the heist), such strong acting, and such a phenomenal sense of (no better way to say it) cool, how could I not love it? No, I don't think it approached the perfection that is Rififi, but I still I think it's a hell of a heist film, and man, did I love all the layers of cosmic irony in the ending of the movie. Really great stuff.
7-25	Friday Night Lights	Unexpectedly great. I expected a run of the mill sports movie, with all the usual cliches and stock characters. What I got was an unusually well crafted high school movie. I love the way the characters were sketched, letting the actors fill in the blanks, and letting the viewer learn about the characters on their own without being told. I love the richly textured portrait of the town and its obsession with football, not to even mention the way it managed to dig into the reasons why. And, yes: the football games are top-notch. I was worried the MTV style (music overlaid many shots) would get old, but it really worked well for the film. Honestly, I am really surprised; I had no idea that this would be as great a film as it is.
7-25	Bird	Ultimately, it's a much better musical biopic than, say, Ray was, but I still was left a little bored by the whole thing. I'll concede that it's beautifully filmed, with a nice almost noir-ish look to the visuals, and that Whitaker does an outstanding job, and that the music is beautiful. I don't know what, exactly, I would have cut...but I know that the film feels far too long, and ultimately feels kind of pointless. It's well made, but is there any real point, any real push to this story? No, it's not bad; I just don't know that it really served any purpose.
7-25	Patton	There is no way to talk about the greatness of this film without talking about George C. Scott's performance. It is magnetic, hilarious, heartbreaking, and incredibly complex, and single-handedly makes the movie magnificent. It doesn't hurt things, though, that the film itself is richly rewarding. Is it anti-war? Is it pro-war? A worship of the way things used to be? An indictment of these ways? The answer is that, somehow, it manages to be all of these and more. More to the point, it is the telling of the story of one man in the midst of all of these questions, and how he perceived the world. This is what all biopics shoot for, and never make it to. A truly classic film, and one of the best performances of all time.
7-22	To Catch a Thief	Slight, forgettable Hitchcock film. I imagine, given the prominent "VistaVision" logo at the beginning, that this was pretty great to watch on a big screen. And, as a view of the scenic French vistas, it's pretty successful. It's just that there's approximately no story, and works mainly by coasting on the (admittedly considerable) charisma of its stars.
7-21	Lady in the Water	What a colossal, horrifyingly awful trainwreck of a film. It's a testament to Shyamalan's directorial abilities that the film turns out as good as it does. (Giamatti's typically great acting doesn't hurt either.) But it's the absurd, ridiculous, relentlessly awful story that ruins the movie so completely. In the words of another writer, the story is the "filmic equivalent of Calvinball"--Shyamalan just adds and adds and adds and adds until the whole film is just nothing but ridiculous rules, gibberish, and nonsensical guidelines. I really can't state this plainly enough: this is a horrible film, and this is from someone who will defend every other Shyamalan film viciously (even The Village--which at least had ideas).
7-21	Clerks II	You know I'm not the biggest fan of Kevin Smith on the planet. I like--not love--most of his movies, but I couldn't stand his "masterpiece" Dogma. I say all that so you know I don't say the following as a raving fanboy: Clerks II is really, really great. I laughed my ass off through the whole thing, at both the raunchy humor and the geek jabs. But more to the point, I loved the unexpected sweetness Smith brought to the movie, the way he let his characters grow a little bit. Not too much for the characters--just enough. And the ending is just perfect. I really, really enjoyed everything about it, and I'm a little surprised as to just how much I did.
7-16	Strangers with Candy	A complete trainwreck of a film that still manages to be entertaining. I'm a fan of the show this was based on, and this isn't nearly as tight, sharply written, or as solid as the show was. And, yeah, a lot of the gags--a LOT of them--fall very flat. But when enough work, and you have such great comedic performances throughout (naturally, Colbert steals the film, but I really loved Ian Holm and Philip Seymour Hoffman's cameos), it's hard not to at least enjoy yourself a little. Yeah, it's bad...but it's still funny enough to make it worth seeing.
7-15	Small Time Crooks	The first Woody Allen film that I've seen that I couldn't stand at all. I liked the way that the plot went in unexpected directions, but that didn't save the movie from unfunny characters and a slew of grating performances (mainly Ullman, who I just wanted to die after about five minutes). I really wanted to like anything about this, but didn't enjoy it at all.
7-14	Dead Presidents	As a depiction of the life of three friends before, during, and after the Vietnam war, this is an excellent film. There's a great sense of time and place to all three sections, a keen ear for dialogue, and a strong sense of character. Moreover, it's one of the few films I have seen that really tried to look at the experience of African-Americans during the Vietnam conflict. All of this excellence, then, makes it all the more disappointing when the film goes off the rails in the closing act, as the friends end up engaged in a bank robbery for no believable reason. It's still a good film, but the failure of the finale hurts it massively.
7-14	A Scanner Darkly	Finally got to see it, and it was everything I hoped it would be and more. I love the book, and am thrilled that the movie managed to capture its tone perfectly, which I was worried would be its downfall. The plot here, while interesting, is hardly the point: the film is an elegy for druggies, and it does that perfectly. (As a PKD fan, I was happiest that they kept so much of his dialogue and writing intact, especially the epilogue.) It would make an interesting counterpoint to drug movies like Requiem for a Dream, which had sympathy for its addicts but watched them get crushed; this looks at them more kindly, but just as hopelessly, if not more. An excellent, fascinating film, filled with amazing visuals (the scramble suit is incredible), wonderful performances, and a thoughtful, sad message.
7-13	Days of Heaven	A beautifully shot, gorgeous film that works thanks to its visuals. The story itself isn't bad, but it's a bit bland, and didn't really do much for me. And I wasn't much impressed with the voice-over, honestly. And, like the other Malick I've seen, what story there was seemed to be spread thin, as an afterthought. That being said, I know that Malick is more interested in atmosphere and visuals than his story, and if I try to take that into account, I can say that it's a beautiful treat for the eyes. But, I think Malick's style just isn't something I like.
7-13	McCabe & Mrs. Miller	A fascinating, melancholy Western. This is a nice revision to Hollywood's typically romanticized view of the frontier--in other words, it's much closer to Deadwood than to Bonanza. But it's very much an Altman film, as well, full of fleshed out characters and a nicely meandering plot that truly adds to the sense of community which is in so many ways the true point of the film. The film's final act is hauntingly done, with the violence doled out to clearly make a point about the old West and ourselves. A fascinating film.
7-12	Melinda and Melinda	It's a fascinating concept: take a story, and spin it two different ways, once as a tragedy, once as a comedy. The sad truth is, neither part completely works: the comedy isn't funny enough, and the tragedy not moving enough. It's as if, to paraphrase Ebert's review, we're looking at rough drafts of ideas, not finals. That being said, the concept itself is interesting enough to keep the movie moving, and some of the performances are really great, especially Mitchell. It's not a great film, but as a piece of meta-fiction, it's pretty interesting.
7-12	Bullitt	Classic police drama mainly known for its car chase through San Francisco. The movie was okay--nothing that hasn't been done before in plenty of police movies. In fact, the story here makes a lot less sense than everyone seems to think it does, and I was left with a lot of questions about motivations that never got answered. That being said, the car chase is pretty damn good, and McQueen coasts through on charisma alone, making his otherwise bland character a lot more interesting by his presence. Not bad, but not great, either.
7-11	The Basketball Diaries	Apart from the novelty of seeing a bunch of future Sopranos stars (Dr. Melfi as the mom, Christopher as the cancer patient, Big Pussy as the guy who gets puked on), this really had nothing going for it. Carroll might be a great poet, but I honestly couldn't tell from this, which stripped anything interesting out of the story in favor of making as generic and bland a drug film as possible. Seriously, there's nothing here you haven't seen many times before, and done way better in Trainspotting or Requiem for a Dream. Waste of time, pretty much.
7-10	Love and Death	Early Woody Allen, and some damned funny stuff. A lot of it is funnier if you know anything about Russian literature, and, honestly, I don't know much...but I know enough to get some of the references. Don't let that scare you off, though--it's absolutely hilarious, and definitely not above pure silliness throughout. I read one review that accused it of being pretentious, which I think just shows that he missed the point--the movie is making fun of all that pretentious Russian literature (and some film classics, too). Fun stuff.
7-10	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	A complete treat. From the very beginning, it's filled with interesting stories, amazing style, great humor, fantastic action sequences (my favorite being the mill wheel duel shown in the trailers), and some truly spectacular effects/makeup work (the creation of Davy Jones really is nothing short of breathtaking). And, yes: waltzing through it all, bringing humor, intelligence, and real life to the film, is Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow. The film is good; he makes it something better, even great. And if I wasn't excited enough about the third film, the last ten seconds sure as hell added enough to the bargain. What a blast!
7-10	Hostage	Eh. It starts off promisingly, with some great tense action, Willis playing well (as usual), and a nicely intricate plot that makes the movie more interesting than just a hostage situation. Then, sadly, the movie just kind of peters off into nothingness, as some characters act in bizarre ways, while more than a few promised questions go unanswered, and the director just hopes that the massive amounts of somewhat graphic violence keep us distracted. It does, but not for long afterward, and the whole thing left me disappointed.
7-7	Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle	Shockingly, this is absolutely hilarious. The characters are entertaining, the fun with stereotypes richly deserved and well done, and the gags sharp and consistent (my favorite being the montage with the giant bag of marijuana). Combine that with such a fun storyline and such great writing (not to even mention Neil Patrick Harris's surreal cameo), and you have something that is way, WAY funnier than I expected it to. I laughed pretty much throughout, and really enjoyed it. Surprising, but in a really fun way.
7-6	Animal House	Another one of those holes in my film education filled. I had never seen this, and although I'm glad I did, simply because of all the references and jokes about this movie over the years, I can't say I enjoyed it as much as I hoped. Belushi is pretty funny throughout, and there are some moments of genuine hilarity, but for the most part, I was just kind of bored through the whole thing. Maybe it's because of all those spoofs and jokes--the impact may have been muted. Anyways, whatever the reason, it was okay, but kind of a letdown.
7-6	Jackie Brown	Another rewatch of a film I haven't seen in a long time, and again, my opinion is drastically revised upwards. I know why I didn't like this--after the high-octane rush of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, this more subdued, character-driven crime drama would have felt slow. And yet, its quiet, thoughtful, relaxed tone is most of what I loved about it this time. Yes, it has a great story, and yes, QT's dialogue remains awesome and hilarious. But it's the wonderful acting, and the quiet conversations, that really make this such a great film.
7-6	Heat	A rewatch of a film I haven't seen in many years, one that I had completely forgotten how incredible it is. It's not just seeing Pacino and De Niro at the top of their games (before their recent sad decline into self-parody); it's Mann's tight, forceful direction, giving every gun fight real weight to it, but also giving the emotional scenes their due. This is a film about men and their jobs, their sense of duty, and their sense of honor. That it happens to also be an incredible crime film only increases its quality. Phenomenally great film.
7-5	The Corporation	A fascinating, infuriating look at the notion of corporations, beginning with the disquieting reality that, under the law, corporations are viewed as people. So what kind of people are they? My wife argues--rightly so--that the film is strongly biased, that it's too long, and that it drives its points into the ground a bit. All valid points. But none of them makes the points being made here any less relevant, or any less horrifying. For all the film's faults, the message that it gets across about the realities of the system we are living in, and our responsibility for changing things, make it unsettling, powerful viewing.
7-5	The Desperate Hours	Solid, thrilling classic film about a family whose house is invaded by escaped convicts, led by the violent, cunning Bogart. A really great movie--it reminds me of thrillers like Panic Room, where the plotting is intricately tight and everyone's actions seem logical and thought-out in the circumstances. I particularly liked the clue that brought the police to the house, as it was completely logical and yet I did not see it coming. A fantastic thriller.
7-5	Cape Fear (1991)	A pretty decent thriller done in a great retro style, complete with a re-orchestrated classic theme and a Saul Bass credit sequence. There's some interesting character choices here--though De Niro is clearly the villain, and Nolte clearly the hero, neither is all good or all bad. In the end, though, it feels like something far below what Scorsese should be doing. Is it bad? No, not really...but it's nowhere near as good as I expect from Scorsese.
7-4	Fearless	A strange, remarkable film about a survivor of a plane crash who finds himself completely accepting of his own death. The film is complex, and handles its subject area in a mature, philosophical fashion, making it a rich and satisfying (if difficult) film. It's a powerful tale about how we react to death, and how we approach life. Bridges, of course, is fantastic in it, but it's Rosie Perez who really surprises as a grieving mother who finds herself on the opposite end of the emotional perspective from Bridges. A moving, fascinating film.
7-4	Madagascar	A lot better and more enjoyable than I expected it to be. I could watch the whole movie just for the bizarre batch of militaristic penguins, but combine them with some great gags and a decent enough visual style, and you have a fun family movie. Not to mention: how rare is it for a cartoon to not only acknowledge the predator/prey relationship among "friend" animals, but to really run with it? Honestly, this is a lot of fun, and kept me quite entertained (and laughing) throughout, avoiding the smarkiness I was bitching about in my Antz review.
7-4	Antz	I really wanted to like this, given the voice talent and the great writers, but it just didn't do much for me. I find Dreamworks's movies to be unnecessarily smarky; they can't decide if they should do movies for kids or adults, so they split the difference, not doing either well. I hate to compare this to Pixar, but when you see how well Pixar does what they do, it can't help but put this to shame. It's not as horrible as I thought, but between ugly character designs, smarky dialogue, and a boring storyline, I just didn't enjoy it at all.
7-3	Vera Drake	A simple, dramatic film about a woman in 1950s England who cleans houses, takes care of her family, and, once or twice a week, performs an abortion. The film, to its great credit, sidesteps the politics and ideology of the abortion issue, instead focusing on the effect the revelation has on the family, on these richly drawn characters that inhabit the film. True, there IS ideology here (the parallel story of a woman named Susan clearly illustrates the gap between rich and poor), but it's the characters (and, by extension, the phenomenal acting/improvising down by the actors) that make the film so effective and powerful.
7-3	Blade: Trinity	I'll probably get crap for this, but I really enjoyed it. It's not the complete blast that Blade II is, but it's still a lot of fun, much more so than the good-but-too-serious original movie. The fun, of course, is due in no small part to Ryan Reynolds, who is a complete blast, and made me take back everything I said about him not being able to play Deadpool. The plot itself? Yeah, it's a little incoherent...but when you have fun action, vampire Pomeranians, exploding arrows, and so many great lines, how can you not have fun watching it?
7-3	Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows	Ultimately not as interesting as I hoped, but not without its moments. The first hour is slow and too superficial, and doesn't have enough glimpses into the wrestling world itself. (It doesn't help that Hart is too egotistical and too self-pitying to be a great subject.) But it's the depiction of the infamous Montreal Screwjob that makes the documentary worth seeing. The sad thing is that, rather than making Hart into the hero he wants to be, the movie only makes it apparent that both men are to blame for what happens, as both act in ridiculous ways. Another documentary that ends up showing far more than its subject intended.
7-2	Sympathy for Lady Vengeance	Easily the most stylish of the "revenge" trilogy that featured Oldboy and Mr. Vengeance, with camera tricks and bizarre visuals abounding. But it's the bizarre sense of humor that really holds together the first part of the film as the plot bounces around wildly, misleading the viewer into expecting a simple Kill Bill-esque revenge tale. Then, a keychain transforms the movie into something far more disturbing, morally questionable, and horrifying, spawning a nightmarish scenario of revenge and payback far beyond what the film seemed to have promised. An excellent, wickedly stylish film, and one that rounds out a trio of films which all share the same theme, but all have very different messages indeed.
7-1	The Dark Side of the Rainbow	The (in)famous Wizard of Oz and Dark Side of the Moon mash-up, on the big screen at the Belcourt. Worth seeing once, if you've never done it before, and worth seeing here for the gorgeous sound--the album rarely sounded so good. As for the movie itself--well, yes, there are some connections, but mostly it's interesting just to see how solely changing the music can have such an effect on a film, making something sweet into something nightmarish.
7-1	District B13	Easily the best action movie you can find this summer. Tired of CGI assisted stunts and movies that take themselves too seriously? Oh, you'll love this one, with FANTASTIC (and CGI-less) stuntwork, great car chases, plenty of action, and enough of an involving plot to keep you thrilled. Honestly, words can't do this one justice entirely, so check out this clip of the film. If the transom window jump or the staircase descent don't sell you, I don't know if we can be friends anymore. Seriously, if this weren't in French, it would be the biggest movie of the summer, and I hate that for America, because this is pure awesome.
7-1	Superman Returns (IMAX 3-D)	Better than I expected, and pretty entertaining. I wouldn't go so far as to call it great--it's WAY too long (you should probably trim a ton of time from the front end of the movie, and scrap all the Smallville parts), and the "evil" plot is a little cartoony for my taste. But the action is really well done, the visuals great, and Spacey is fantastic as Luthor, bringing equal parts humor and true menace to the role--it's nice to see him back in form. No, it's not a perfect masterpiece, but it is quite good. (As for the 3D--meh. The IMAX experience is great as always, but the 3D is nothing to write home about.)
6-30	Party Girl	Ugh. Shrill, annoying, and just pointless. None of the characters beyond Posey's were given much of a part to work with, so much as they were given one note to hit over and over again. Yes, there are a couple of funny moments, and it's hard to completely hate a movie who so clearly professes love of the Dewey decimal system. But it's really pretty bad.
6-30	Baghdad ER	Excellent documentary about a combat hospital unit stationed in Baghdad during the current conflict. The movie takes no real political stance, though it's clear that many of the doctors are very much against not only this war, but all wars, and after seeing the graphic effects of these conflicts, it's hard not to agree. Yet the film respects all of these soldiers (the wounded and the doctors) and their contributions, and the documentary honors them as much as it tells their stories. It's very well done, showing the effects of war without over-doing it, and focuses as much on the people as their actions. A moving, powerful film.
6-29	Kicking & Screaming	I really like Will Ferrell a lot, and so I'll pretty much give most of what he does a shot. Unfortunately, this is definitely one of his weakest movies to date, with an obvious plot, juvenile humor, and just not much going for it. That being said, Ferrell has some great moments (his coffee obsession is great, as is his slide into competitiveness at the last game), and Ditka/Duvall make a great pair. It's just not that great of a movie, though.
6-29	Bully	There's an interesting idea here, and some talent going into this film. The acting is top notch throughout, and the film does raise interesting ideas about kids and parenting, as well as bringing a slightly macabre sense of humor to it all. But it's hard to admire the film, because between the over-the-top depiction of the kids (it seems edgy for its own sake) and such excessive, massively gratuitous amounts of teen flesh/sex that you can't help but wonder about the director, it's hard not to feel a little iffy about watching the film itself. It takes what should be a powerful film and makes it uncomfortable for all the wrong reasons.
6-26	The Skeleton Key	Future filmmakers, please take note: a mediocre plot twist does not save a crappy film, something Ehren Kruger, the guy who wrote this and other crapfests like Scream 3, Arlington Road, and Reindeer Games should really start keeping in mind. I will admit that the ending is somewhat clever, but the movie before it is alternately dull and stupid, and when you start piecing it all together at the end, it doesn't make much sense (much like Kruger's other work). Some oddities aside (no opening credits whatsoever, a pointless appearance by Isaach de Bankolé), there's nothing worth watching here.
6-26	RoboCop	It has probably been about ten years since I saw this, and I had forgotten almost everything about it, except that I thought it was okay the first time. Which made seeing this again a real treat, as I had forgotten just how bizarre and gleefully entertaining this movie is. Careening wildly from social satire to ultra-violence to spoofing commercials to religious imagery, there's really nothing quite like a Verhoeven film, and I think this is probably his best. Completely entertaining, and with a WAY darker sense of humor than I recalled.
6-24	House of Flying Daggers	Another martial arts as visual poetry film from the director of Hero. I didn't like this as much as I did Hero, but it's still a beautiful film, albeit not as consistently as the earlier film. In addition, I found the story a little less involving, particularly the way a major plot thread seemed left unfinished by the film's end. Still, when it all comes together, as it does during the Echo Game, the stunning bamboo forest battle, and the closing snow duel, it's a stunning accomplishment, and a treat for any serious movie fan.
6-22	The Final Cut	Very little is worse than a movie that wastes a great premise, and this one--about a future in which people's lives are recorded, then re-cut into memorials--is so good that the failure of the film to do anything interesting with it should be a crime. There are so many great ideas floating around for the first part of the film, but gradually, you realize that the film is really going nowhere, and doesn't have anything to offer beyond the idea itself. And don't even get started on Robin Williams a) being completely wrong for the part and b) pretty terrible in it.
6-22	Downfall	A powerful, disturbing film about the final days of the third Reich. Although Bruno Ganz was acclaimed for his portrayal of Hitler (and justly so), what makes the film so affecting is the way it plays like the last act of a classic tragedy, where the tragic hero is the country of Germany. The film itself depicts war in a brutal and realistic light, making clear the horrifying human cost of war. But it also drives home the sheer power of the Nazi madness, as person after person finds themselves lost in the grip of a shared delusion, leading to horrible choices and only more pain (the scene with Frau Goebbels and the children is sickening and unforgettable). A powerful film, and a brave one for Germany to make.
6-16	The Girl Next Door	A better than average teen sex comedy, made so by a few factors: a clever plot, a warm relationship towards its characters, a great soundtrack (the film opens with "Under Pressure" and closes with "Baba O'Riley"), and a scene-stealing performance by Timothy Olyphant (of Deadwood fame) as a bizarrely entertaining psychotic pimp. There's no reason this film should be as funny or charming as it is, but it works anyways. And even if you hate the plot, you'll love Olyphant's performance in it. Much better than it has any right to be.
6-11	A Prairie Home Companion	Whimsical and fun. I don't know that there's any deep message here, any true point to the film, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. In some ways, it's a great partner to Cars, with its lament for days gone by, but Altman and Keillor's work here is less a protest and more of a eulogy, a celebration of what they have. It's a sweet, funny film, and one of the more enjoyable films you can go out and see right now.
6-10	Cars	Another winner from Pixar--anyone surprised? I liked it as much as any of their efforts, from the attention to detail (the insects remade as cars were a great touch) to the sharp writing. I even enjoyed the cameos, particularly by the Car Talk brothers of NPR fame. Sure, you may have seen this story before, but when it's done this well, with absolutely incredible animation, there's no denying what a joy it is. And--this should go without saying for a Pixar film--stay all the way through the credits. ALL the way, people.
6-9	Jersey Girl	Better than it had any right to be. The more I see Smith's "serious" films, the more I realize that I do really like most of his work (apart from Dogma). He's a great writer, and it really shows here: This was funnier, sweeter, and far better than almost every comedy of its type I've seen, and filled with great performances (the best: a scene-stealing cameo by the wonderful Stephen Root). My only regret: after the beginning of this film, maybe this wasn't the best choice of film to watch three months before my wife goes into labor, huh?
6-9	The Proposition	Thoughtful, haunting Western set in the Australian outback. I mention that not as an aside; the stark, hopeless atmosphere of the land mirrors the bleak, hopeless nature of the film. This is Australia as hell on earth, not a lost paradise. The film is very well made, with beautiful visuals and strong performances, most notably Ray Winstone's morally lost sheriff and John Hurt's surreal anti-Darwinian. The film itself is, in some ways, a meditation on violence and justice, but more to the point, it is a powerfully bleak revision to the Western.
6-8	The Thief and the Cobbler: Recobbled Cut	There's too much history for me to explain--honestly, just read the Wikipedia article; this is the Gilchrist version mentioned at the end. It's wonderful; stunning visuals dominate the largely dialogue-free film, and to make them more impressive, it was all done by hand. Simply amazing. If you want to see it, it's in chapters for free here on YouTube; if you want just a taste, go to the YouTube listing and check out pt. 4 (the chase), pt. 5 (the polo game), or pt. 15 (the War Machine), as those, to me, are some of the most stunning setpieces. It's a marvelous film, and a lost treasure for any true fan of animation.
6-7	United 93	The most powerful, emotional, devastating film I have seen in many years. I have much more to say about, and tried, to some degree of success, here. But all I am left with is what a powerful experience the film truly is, and how successful it as at reminding us of what that day was truly about--not patriotism, not America, but people. It is easily the best film I have seen this year, and one of the best films I have seen in many, many years.
6-5	Crash (1996)	NOT to be confused with the "racism" movie (tho it's hilarious to picture some sweet old lady trying to rent that and ending up with this); this is a strange, not-for-all-tastes tale of a group of people who find themselves aroused by car crashes. The film is even stranger than it sounds; on paper, you should have a porno film here, but what emerges is so far from erotic it's not even funny. It's more of an unsettling tale of human desires and our strange relationship with technology. I don't think I get all of it, and I can't say I "liked" it, but I admire what it was going for, even if I don't think it was entirely successful.
6-4	The Sopranos	A great season capped off by a somewhat unsatisfying finale. The only way I'm really happy about last night's finale is if I look at it as just an episode, not a season finale--the fragmented nature of this season means that last night's is just a halfway point, not a destination. But, as so many others have said, I get the impression that last night's happy ending is the last time we will see the characters happy in the show. Apart from that, a great season, kicking off with perhaps the best trio of episodes ever the show, and then rounding out with a sad, thoughtful, melancholy season which only seems to promise that the end, when it comes, is going to be a tragic one. What television should be.
5-31	Blue Velvet	A remastered anniversary print on the big screen. Apart from them screwing up the opening shot (the framing was wrong, so the projector went black during that fantastic zoom through the grass), it was a great experience. I still don't think this is Lynch's finest work--that honor would have to go to Twin Peaks or Mulholland Drive--but its still a great one, and a good film to watch Lynch truly start to come into his own. It doesn't have enough of Lynch's brilliant humor in it, but it more than makes up for it in its disturbing trip into the American nightmare, as embodied by Hopper's galvanizing Frank Booth, one of Lynch's most fascinating (and disturbing) creations. A film I like more with each viewing.
5-31	My Dad is 100 Years Old	A strange little short attached to the beginning of Blue Velvet. Directed by Guy Maddin and written by Isabella Rossellini (hence the attachment to BV), the film is an exploration of Rossellini's feelings about her father, a once influential, now largely forgotten director. It's definitely showy, and veers frequently into the pretentious, but Rossellini brings enough emotion and feeling to the film to keep it interesting, and even a little moving. I can't say I loved it, but it was definitely interesting. Best for the quiet, thoughtful moments.
5-28	The Da Vinci Code	Exactly what the book was: a mediocre (at best) thriller anchored by some fascinating historical information. It seems like the sort of information that could make a fascinating documentary, but the thriller aspect of the story is so flawed that it hurts the film. Moreover, the phenomenal cast is entirely wasted, most notably the fantastic Molina, who deserves better than the non-part he gets here. Unsurprisingly, the greatest acting in the film comes from McKellen, who is clearly having so much fun in his role that it carries over to the audience. The movie is worth seeing for him, but otherwise, it didn't do much for me.
5-27	X-Men: The Last Stand	Better than I expected, but not entirely successful by a long shot. Ratner's direction, surprisingly, isn't the crippling factor--it's the weak script, which loses the tight focus of the earlier films in favor of too many mutants for the fanboys and pointless "shocks" for the franchise. That's not to say the movie is all bad--some of the action sequences are great, there are some great ideas in there, and some of the acting (McKellen and Jackman, mostly) is great. It's just that the movie is kind of a mess, and nowhere near the equal of the fantastic X2. If you go, though, stay through the credits for a nice treat...
5-23	Stephen King's Desperation	I remember the book being a lot better. And a lot less preachy. Maybe it just never shook off that feeling of a mediocre low-budget TV movie, and some extra money would have helped. Maybe, for all his talent, King just isn't the man to adapt his own stuff for TV. The first half is pretty great, especially Ron Perlman...but it falls apart after his departure from the film, and it's not all his fault. The story gets weaker, and a LOT preachier. I do want to re-read the book, because I remember it being much better than how this ended up being.
5-5	Mission: Impossible III	It's a great summer film--no less, no more. It's got some great setpieces (the Vatican City caper is worth the price of admission) lots of fun acting (most notably by Hoffman, Rhames, and Pegg), and enough of a twisty plot to keep you nice and involved. For what it is, it succeeds admirably. My only complaint was the excessively shaky camera at times, but ultimately, I set that aside and just enjoyed. It won't change your life, but it's an excellent piece of escapism, and a fun set of action/spy sequences.
5-4	Lord of the Flies (1963)	Watched this again because I was showing it to my classes. I think it says something that my students, who started off the film grumbling about having to "watch an old black and white movie" and "no color" grew quieter and quieter as the film progressed, and during the main two sequences, I saw several of their jaws hanging open, and heard a couple of gasps. They really, really liked it, and it made me a happy man to get to expose them to it. As for me? I liked it before; I'm more impressed by its quiet greatness the second time through.
4-30	Birth	What a bizarre film. It creates a great mood thanks to some beautiful camerawork and nicely done music, but the film never really overcomes the central weirdness of its concept. Yes, the idea of reincarnation can make a great film, I guess, but the idea of Nicole Kidman thinking about marrying a ten year old boy...yeah, that never quite works. The acting is all great, but it's really the story that fails; the explanation they give may satisfy everyone in the movie, but it left me feeling cheated. Just a strange, unsuccessful film.
4-30	Lord of the Flies (1990)	Proof that more money and professional filmmakers do not always a better film make. It's as if they completely missed the point of the book, over and over again. Adding an adult to the island? Somehow misses the issue of no ruling figures. Jack being a "bad" kid? Removes the notion of all of us being so close to become that. Calling it "the monster" instead of "the beast" not only removes some of the poetry, but some of the symbolism. And, ultimately, the kids seem less threatening than silly. Just terrible, terrible stuff.
4-30	Lord of the Flies (1963)	An excellent adaptation of one of my favorite books from high school English. I read some complaints about the non-professional acting, but that only made the story resonate better, making the children seem more innocent before their descent into madness. It was a disturbing movie, and the choice to film in black and white really does make the movie even more stark and haunting. Really terrific, although reading this essay by the director really does make you question how far we've come from Golding's world.
4-29	Maria Full of Grace	Thoughtful, emotional drama about a young girl who finds herself volunteering to become a drug mule. The movie's power comes from its attention to detail and realism; there's not a part of the movie, no matter how disturbing, that seems anything less that completely true. And that makes it all the more powerful. Combine that with Moreno's great performance as Maria, and you have a strong, powerful film that depicts without judgment, but more to the point, creates a strong, believable life to its character. An excellent film.
4-23	Silent Hill	Flawed, to be sure, but still successful to me. Although the plot relied too heavily on horrible exposition and the acting ranged from mediocre to dreadful, the visuals are magnificent, and the movie really captures the surreal, nightmarish mood that the games (well, I've only played SH2, but still) manage to evoke. It's not a complete success, but in its best scenes--the "darkness" scenes, the bizarre and disturbing finale--it creates a terrifying alternate world that manages to be unsettling without being outright scary. It's just a matter of whether you can overlook some crippling flaws to see the successes.
4-20	An American Haunting	Opening night of the Nashville Film Festival, complete with Q&A with the director and a star. It's actually a pretty great ghost story. The effects are nicely lowkey, and create a great mood and a good sense of tension. There are some weak areas (the camera is a bit showy at times), but it still works more often than not...apart from a truly, TRULY horrible present-day framework that bookends the movie. I asked the director why he added it, and while I understand his reasoning (an effort to reference the common belief that the witch is still active), he should have stuck with his first instinct, and not added it in.
4-19	Conspiracy	Between entrees and drinks, this group of men finalized the Holocaust, and did so while joking about the horrors it would unleash. The story itself is devastating (esp. being true), but it's the fine performances that truly elevate it, with Colin Firth as the "objector" (who actually would have no problem if the law could be re-written), Tucci as a soulless bureaucrat, and, most impressively, Branagh as an outwardly warm general who frequently reveals his icy, vicious dark side. It's a powerful, disturbing film; the decision may have been made elsewhere, but the movie only emphasizes the banality of truly horrifying evil.
4-18	The Killing Fields	As well regarded as this is, I'm surprised to find myself indifferent to it. It feels like the second half of an amazing movie, but the film as it is never really sets up the relationship between Syd and Pran, leaving the movie with an emotional hole. By the time Malkovich (who steals the film) accuses Syd of using Pran, it doesn't seem too far from the truth. The "friendship" never really seems there, and it hurts the film. It's very well made, and some of the Cambodian scenes are devastating, but it never really succeeds the way it should.
4-17	Gandhi	A powerful, beautiful film that succeeds on so many different levels. As a film, it's the rare biopic that remembers that it is the people that made the story, not the other way around; its attention to detail, character, and history make it uncommonly realistic and immersive (to be fair, Kingsley's amazing performance truly makes Gandhi come to life). But it's really the story that stays with you, reminding you of the best we are capable of, even as it showed us at our worst. A magnificent film, and a truly powerful story of a remarkable life.
4-16	Body Heat	I mainly watched this because it was one of Ebert's great movies, but I came away unconvinced that it deserved a place on that list. It's not bad; it's just nothing really interesting or different. I figured out the ending about 30-40 minutes before I got there, and the performances weren't enough to really keep me interested or involved. Maybe it's just that neo-noir has been done so many times since then, and done better. Anyways, meh.
4-15	Anatomy of a Murder	The ending seemed a little abrupt, and somewhat anticlimactic, but with such great performances and the verbal duels between Scott and Stewart, it's pretty hard to not enjoy it at least somewhat. What's more, it has an interesting view towards its characters, with them being neither all good nor all bad, and its feelings about justice are similar. All in all, an enjoyable, interesting movie, as much for its acting as the story (not to mention the odd shock of seeing a "classic" movie with so much frank discussion of rape and sex).
4-14	Kiss of Death (1946)	Solid, if standard, noir film elevated by some solid performances. Of course, Widmark is the most famous, and justly so; one review I read compared his performance to Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet as one that simply awakened its contemporary audiences to a new kind of evil. I can see that; Widmark is incredibly effective, and chilling still (the scene in the diner towards the end is deeply unsettling). In fact, he's almost too good; when he's not in the movie, it tends to drag somewhat. Still, it's a pretty good, if typical, film.
4-14	Slither	Completely hilarious, kinda freaky in parts, and all around damned entertaining. It's essentially a b-level horror movie (there are at least two homages to Troma in there, including an appearance by their president, Lloyd Kaufman), and it treats itself as such, but with a great sense of humor running throughout. It's gleefully gory, sickly funny, and ends exactly the way it should, especially if you stay through the credits. If you like b-horror films, you owe it to yourself to catch this one--you'll have a blast.
4-13	The Manchurian Candidate (2004)	Full disclosure: I have never seen the original version of this. That being said, I was very, very impressed with this one. I never got the sense that they went for a simple remake; they re-tooled the story, making it more up-to-date and far more chillingly relevant to today. The plot itself is fascinating, but it's Demme's fine directing that gives the movie its unsettling, eerie feel throughout, and creates a strong sense of unreality that definitely adds to the film. It's an excellent film, and one which may be far more partisan than many realize.
4-9	The Jacket	I actually liked it a lot more than I expected, although the ending certainly was enough of a letdown to ruin a lot of the movie's effect. Still, I enjoyed a lot of what was going on, and found a lot of the characters and stories tossed around to be pretty involving. It's just that eventually, it all ends up going nowhere, frustrating you that you got so involved with the whole thing, especially given a couple of major, plot-rending problems that don't seem to function within the framework the movie presents. Frustrating indeed.
4-9	Play it Again, Sam	Absolutely hilarious romantic comedy by Woody Allen. It's pretty much an Allen film in every way, despite him not having directed it; it definitely bears his funny, witty, and overall intelligent mark throughout. I laughed pretty much through the whole thing, but loved the perfect and fitting ending. One of the best romantic comedies I've seen, with some heavy emphasis on the brilliant, hilarious comedy side of things.
4-8	Thank You For Smoking	I enjoyed it, but not quite as much as I hoped. It's pretty good, and quite funny, don't get me wrong--I wish, though, that it had been a little more boundary-pushing, a little more flippant. Still, it's pretty enjoyable as is, and features some hilarious bits, great dialogue, and some great characters (David Koechner as the firearm spokesman almost steals the movie).
4-6	Manderlay	It may not have the visceral, brutal impact of Dogville, but its more complex, thoughtful ideas and more extendable allegory in some ways makes it an even more rewarding film. The performances are all solid, but it's John Hurt's icily ironic narration that really elevates the film, bringing criticism, vicious humor, and an all too clear indictment of American racial politics (and, in some ways, the Iraq situation). In other words, if Crash was a little simplistic and naive for you, this might be right up your alley. A superb work of filmmaking, and definitely one of the most interesting films I've seen in some time.
4-4	Overnight	Completely compelling portrait of a man whose personality drives him to career suicide. I wasn't the biggest fan of Boondock Saints, but I enjoyed it well enough; still, watching this makes me wonder how it even turned out as well as it did. Duffy's massive ego leads him to point fingers and attack everyone around him, never seeing what is obvious to everyone else: how he himself is primarily to blame for the destruction of what should have been the greatest opportunity of all time. Amazing, and jaw-dropping in so many ways.
4-4	Dog Soldiers	Pretty damn fun. It's got a great hook--soldiers terrorized by werewolves--and it executes it with a good sense of humor (there is one of the best, most subtle Matrix jokes I've seen in here) and a good sense of what its audience wants--tension, gore, and violence. The plot may have been done many times, but it's all in the execution, and this one pretty good at it.
4-2	Chinatown	Been a long, long time since I watched this, and it was even better than I remembered it. It's not just the complex and rewarding plot that makes it great; it's not only the perfect evocation of the 30s; it's the performances, with the standout naturally being Nicholson's thoughtful, conflicted PI. It's a great movie, and the way that it functions as both an updated noir and a perfect re-creation of the best noir films says much about its greatness.
4-1	In Good Company	Far more interesting, offbeat, and richer than I expected. It's always nice to see a movie that so willfully flies in the face of convention, giving you something more interesting than you planned on getting. Add to that the good humor and the richly drawn characters (particularly David Paymer, who really deepened the movie with his sad character), and you have an all-around really great movie. I have to say, I was quite impressed.
4-1	The Detective	Decent enough old detective movie (duh) with Frank Sinatra. It starts off very well, clearly putting more emphasis on the daily grind of being a detective than on the typical Hollywood police story. Unfortunately, by the end of the film, it becomes exactly one of those dull Hollywood films, and loses all credibility. Still, some good performances throughout.
3-30	Julius Caesar (1970)	That time of the term again, so I showed this to my students. It's better than I remember it being the last time that I showed it, but still quite bad in parts. Robards, particularly, still leaves much to be desired, but it doesn't help that he's in a movie with so many actors who are excellent at their jobs and their Shakespeare (particularly Gielgud, Heston and Vaughn). Of course, it also doesn't help that he's frighteningly terrible.
3-29	Imaginary Heroes	I liked so much about it. I liked the way the characters (particularly Weaver's) guided the story. I loved the low-key moments, and the attention to details. And all that made it so, so frustrating when the need to start tossing in arbitrary plot elements ended up killing much of film's charm. It's certainly not bad; I just wish they could have let the characters make it happen and not forced them there. (Aside: as happens too often, it seems that Ebert said all this, but said it better. Sigh. Damn you, Ebert. Always stealing my thunder and ideas.)
3-27	1-Ichi	I never saw the original Ichi the Killer, so I can't say if this fit the mood of that film, or if it would make that final, cryptic scene make any more sense (I assume the answer to the latter, at least, is yes). As it was...it suffered from a very, very low budget, and some severe plausibility issues (the students must have attended the least watchful school on the planet), as well as a complete lack of any sympathetic characters. It almost seemed like an effort to re-create Miike's twisted worldview without any of his talent.
3-26	The Thin Red Line	Honestly, I can't decide what I thought of it. There are some powerful, haunting sequences; they'll be interrupted for long, meaningless to the point of pretentious monologues. There are long pointless shots which add nothing to the movie, but captivate with their beauty. I'm not sure that even Malick knew what the movie he was making was about. It's certainly not horrible--it's too well made, too well crafted. I found my attention wandering in parts, but I don't regret having seen it. I'm just not sure what exactly to make of it.
3-25	Inside Man	Solid, enjoyable heist flick. It's definitely atypical for the genre--most interested in being fun, simple entertainment and letting its actors do their jobs than presenting a tricky, complex plot. And while I loves me a complex plot, I still enjoyed this quite a bit, if only for the sense of fun it brought to everything. I do think it drug a little too long--it should have ended with the reading of the note. But still, it was pretty great, if slight.
3-22	Amistad	"Uneven" is easily the best possible word for this movie. It's certainly not terrible--there are some sequences that are filled with quiet power. The problem is that this is Hollywood Spielberg, not Munich and Schindler's List Spielberg. It's incredibly heavy-handed (John Williams's score is intrusive to the point of annoyance) and thudding, and far, far too long. Still, it's not horrible, despite some truly terrible moments (the "cutesy" scene with the lawyer and the slave who keep saying the same thing was hideous).
3-20	Closer	A film full of nasty characters, vicious verbal assault, and sexual politics. It wasn't uninteresting, but it was hard to identify with any of the horrible characters. Clive Owen steals the movie with his vicious. nasty performance which pretty much blows everyone else off the screen. Not bad, but definitely nasty and hard to enjoy as much other than seeing nasty people be nasty to each other. Well made and all, but still.
3-19	Bad Education	I enjoyed the tricky, twisty, intricate plot, and the way it was handled. I loved the way the movie and stories kept doubling in on themselves, for instance. And yet the movie just didn't entirely satisfy me. Maybe it didn't pull quite enough together by the end, or maybe I just couldn't empathize with some of the characters. Interesting, but not great.
3-18	The Panic in Needle Park	It's very well acted (Pacino in his first big role!), well crafted, and well made. But it's really, really depressing--imagine Requiem for a Dream without the stunning camera work, and you have this. That's not to say it's bad--far from it--but it's certainly so bleak as to make watching it fairly hard to do, and make enjoying it pretty much impossible.
3-18	V For Vendetta	A movie critical of the current administration, full of Shakespeare quotes, pro-terrorism, and actually full of intelligent and thoughtful ideas? How in the hell did this even get released? I don't care--I'm glad for it. With wild ideas, solid action, great production, and a really good adaptation of the great source material, this is probably the first really outstanding movie of the year, and the fact that it's intelligent and spouts interesting ideas, smuggled through the medium of an action movie--even better. By the way, it's well worth the extra cash to see it on the IMAX, if only for the sound system; man, does it make that closing sequence earth-shattering. If you see it, you'll know the part I'm talking about, I'm sure...
3-17	The Devil's Rejects (w/ Rob Zombie commentary)	After watching the making of, had an urge to re-watch the movie and see what Zombie had to say about it. Unfortunately, his commentary track is mostly technical details and discussion about the actual filming, and while it was interesting (and really makes it seem as though he's a pretty smart and capable director), it's mostly a re-hash of stuff I picked up in the making of. Plus, I was really hoping for more discussion about the story and film itself. Still, there are some interesting ideas about that--they're just not the focus.
3-17	30 Days in Hell	The incredibly in-depth "making of" documentary that comes with The Devil's Rejects. It's pretty fascinating as a look into the movie-making process, given that it actually covers every single day of shooting. I wish there was a little more on the editing and post-production work, but it's still damned interesting for what it is, and really gives you a sense of what goes into the actual film work behind making a movie.
3-16	Time After Time	Part sci-fi, part thriller, part romance. Pretty entertaining stuff, and it works surprisingly well. It's odd to see it echo (or foreshadow?) some of the same ideas Alan Moore worked to much greater depth in From Hell (that is, ideas about Jack the Ripper and the 20th century--ideas that were very notably absent in the decent movie version). Anyways, I enjoyed it pretty well--a lot of fun, if nothing else, and a nice mixture of genres.
3-16	Days of Wine and Roses	Outstanding, sobering (no pun intended, honestly) drama about alcoholism. It veers towards melodrama every so often, but the ferocity of Lemmon and Remick's performances keep it from becoming camp. Rather, it's a painful, powerful story about two addictive personalities that struggle to overcome the disease that ravages their lives. Although I normally associate Lemmon with comedy, his performance here is solid and powerful--understated when it needs to be, swinging for the fences when the time is right. Very good.
3-15	The Ice Storm	While it's a technically excellent film--the visuals are excellent, the music well done, the acting outstanding--the movie never got me involved enough. I read two different reviews that said it's an easier movie to admire than necessarily enjoy, and I kind of agree with that. It's very well made, and I feel like I understand what they were getting at, but it's odd for me to watch an Ang Lee film and not feel an emotional connection with the characters--until now, it's something he's managed to create in every film of his I've seen.
3-14	Murderball	An outstanding documentary that's just as fascinating for its depiction of the lives of those it focuses on as for what they do. The sport itself is compelling (though I wish I could have seen more of it), but it's in the lives, thoughts, and stories of those who it focuses on that really let the movie soar. The scene in the hospital, where a newly injured man sees quad rugby and begins to dream again...that's the heart of the movie, right there. A wonderful film, and it makes me all the more surprised that Penguins won for documentary.
3-14	Domino	Ugh. There's a good movie in here somewhere, but it's lost in Tony Scott's godawful direction. From annoying camera tricks to intrusive "captions", from wildly inappropriate music to irritating voiceovers, from trick lighting to absurd frame rate distortion, there's very little that Scott manages to do right. As a result, what could have been an interesting, clever biopic becomes tiresome, boring garbage that feels about twice as long as it really is.
3-14	Mississippi Burning	Outstanding, powerful recreation of the civil rights movement. The lead performances are excellent, but what makes the movie so powerful is the way it focuses not only on the white liberators, but also on the cost the civil rights movement exacted from those it was trying to help. It makes you realize how brutal and repressive the time truly was. That being said, I have some issues with the film; for all its concern over the victims, notice how it takes one white victim to drive the agents into action. And, yes, the movie does push you into agreeing with questionable tactics. That being said, it's a powerful movie, and it's magnificently well done; it's just a hard, at times unpleasant watch, for many reasons.
3-13	The Door in the Floor	There's a lot here that I liked and admired, not the least of which was Jeff Bridges' typically strong performance. I loved the understated nature of the movie. Look, for instance, how little the movie directly references the death that drives everything, how it lets the characters (more specifically, the actors) tell the story with their faces and reactions. It doesn't quite work; the tone is a little muddled, and the story not quite together, but it's an admirable film, filled with strong performances and a great script.
3-13	Inventing the Abbotts	About halfway through this, I realized how much more awesome it would be if Jesus from The Big Lebowski played the father. At least it would have added something interesting. As it was, it was pretty mediocre, dull melodrama. The script was uninteresting, the acting dull...the only thing really good about it was the nice re-creation of the time period.
3-13	The Ring Two	Not completely horrible, but not the memorable shocker that the original (i.e., the American original; don't get technical on me, please) was. What made the original so effective was its reliance on atmosphere and subtle, quiet effects; add into that a tight, compelling story with a great reversal at the end, and you had a solid horror film. This one gets atmosphere here and there, but relies too much on effects and a vague, never-quite-clear storyline. It's not horrible--there are some great scenes here and there--but it's not too good, either.
3-9	Cookie's Fortune	I enjoyed it well enough, I guess. Glenn Close's Southern diva was so annoying as to be infuriating, and made it hard to enjoy the first section of the film. Still, I guess that's part of the character, and the rest of the stellar players (especially the always great Charles Dutton) brought a nice sense of heart and humor to the film. I liked it most when it just rambled along, and didn't get caught up in its own plot. Certainly enjoyable enough.
3-8	Pi	After a discussion with another teacher about this (brought up by the upcoming Pi day, 3/14...seriously), I got it out to lend to him, and ended up re-watching it. I liked it a lot more than I remembered, and I remembered it being pretty good. I was a lot more immersed in its surreal, nightmarish visions, in its fascinating ideas, and in its intelligent way of dealing with its viewers. It's a little indie and weird for some tastes, but I love its complex, eerily plausible ideas about numbers, reality, and God. A fascinating and very well made movie.
3-5	Night Watch	Eh. It's okay, but nowhere near as cool as it thinks it is. Essentially, it's Underworld with more imaginative effects and a somewhat better story line. That just means it's better. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's good, but I enjoyed it, and I can think of far worse ways to spend time at the theater. It just wasn't incredible. Still, I get the impression that the original book would be pretty interesting to read, if it were translated to English anytime soon...
3-4	Caché	I really liked it, although I can understand why some would be frustrated and irritated with its perversely open-ended conclusion. Still, the movie creates an incredible taut, tense atmosphere throughout, building a sense of dread and discomfort which never really fades. And there is at least one shot which made my whole theater gasp. And then there's that final shot, with its telling detail that's all too easy to miss...it's a thoughtful, fascinating film, one that I greatly appreciated on a variety of levels, but primarily as a great thriller.
3-3	Crash	"It's rare enough for an American movie to even acknowledge the race problem, and it's rarer still for one to be constructed entirely out of the torn fabric of race relations. But... Haggis...embeds Crash's script so deeply in allegory that every revelation feels manipulative and programmatic, in spite of some terrific individual scenes and performances. Just because a movie is about racial politics doesn't mean that they should dictate it."--the AV club, stating better than I could my feelings on Crash
3-1	The Godfather	Got the chance to see this on the big screen at the Belcourt, and it was well worth it. It's easy to forget what an amazing movie this is--how it eschews the usual trappings of the gangster film, becoming almost a Greek tragedy, as we watch Michael's "fall" (?) from hero to Godfather. But it's made by the stellar performances throughout. It's easy, as oft as they've been parodied, to forget how amazing Brando is, and how magnetic Pacino can be. The direction finds the perfect method, filling the frame with shadows which only emphasize the darkness of the world we are in, and sequences like the baptism simply engage and overwhelm the viewer. It really is an incredible film, perfect in every way.
2-22	Titicut Follies	Pretty fascinating documentary. It's obscure and hard to find for legal reasons (look at the IMDb trivia to understand more), but it's well worth tracking down. It's not a standard documentary--more of a collection of raw footage, but in that footage, you get not only a true, heartbreaking portrait of how deep and wide insanity ranges, but also of the horrifying, inhuman treatment afforded to these people. It's hard to say which aspect is more disturbing and depressing. It's not for all tastes, but it's a pretty remarkable film if you can take it.
2-20	Giant	My second epic-length movie in as many days. It's not as great as Lawrence, but that's a pretty high standard, and this was pretty good nonetheless. I don't think it made as good usage of its lengthy running time, but it very well filmed, and the slow stretches are made up for in some great sequences (the hotel opening, naturally). The acting is solid throughout, and although some of the aging makeup isn't too convincing, I still like the way the film charted the passing of time. It's not a great film, but there are a lot of great parts.
2-19	Lawrence of Arabia	On the big screen at the Belcourt, and I'm so glad I went. I might have liked this okay on the small screen, but on the big, you can savor the simply epic visuals of the whole thing, revel in the details...it's just an experience. The movie itself? Excellent as well; it's not only a fascinating picture of the culture, but an interesting look at English colonialism, as well as the flawed nature of man itself. But, more than anything, it's worth seeing for those breathtaking visuals, the brilliant battle scenes...and definitely, definitely on the big screen.
2-19	Trans- america	I wasn't all that enamored of the movie, honestly, but I really liked Felicity Huffman's justly acclaimed performance. She finds the perfect pitch for the character, bringing life, humor, and a strong sense of self to the role. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie either feels generic or completely false. A friend argued for its realism; it may be, but it certainly doesn't feel that way. It's not bad; it just that it would be completely forgettable apart from Huffman.
2-19	Scarecrow	Pretty solid character study, anchored by the two stellar performances by Hackman and Pacino (honestly, are they capable of any other kind?). The movie itself is decent; it's written for the actors, and in its low-key moments, it's great. Unfortunately, it gets a too bit caught up in its own message, and the ending doesn't really fit. Still, it's well worth seeing for Pacino and Hackman, who bring a great deal of humor, anger, and life into their parts.
2-18	Airplane!	Caught about the last hour of this on HBO this morning. It remains damned funny, no matter how many times I've seen it. Maria was not impressed. Go figure.
2-12	Kinsey	A fascinating story, but flawed as a movie. I think the biggest thing about it is how much it tries to fit in, and the way this ends up giving short shrift to so much. Kinsey's children feel gratuitous, the third act seems cluttered and unresolved, many of the characters seem flat, and much of the drama manufactured. In spite of all this, the film remains more than watchable, due largely to Kinsey's ideas and theories. It might not make a nice neat tidy biopic, but it's still a pretty interesting life.
2-12	The Muse	It's pretty funny, but wildly uneven. The parts about Hollywood are biting and hilarious, especially Steven Wright's bizarre cameo near the beginning of the film. It starts to lose steam as the plot meanders away from Hollywood, and pretty much falls apart by the end. Still, there are some brilliant bits throughout, and Brooks himself is always worth watching. It's not a bad movie, but it's not as good as some of Brooks's other work.
2-12	Carlito's Way	Surprisingly good and enjoyable. It's a story you've seen done many times--a criminal attempts to set his life straight, but finds himself drug back in--but rarely is it told with such zest, such detail to the period, and best of all, two great performances at the core. Pacino, as always, is excellent, but it's Penn who really captivates, creating a fascinating, despicable character underneath his almost unrecognizable appearance. The movie, anchored by the acting, is entertaining, compelling, and much better than I expected.
2-11	Three Days of the Condor	Pretty solid 70s paranoia film, anchored by some great performances. I'm not quite sold on Redford's jump from bookworm to secret agent man, but at least there's a token effort to explain it, and I appreciate that. Beyond that, the film has an interesting, if bizarre, plot that culminates in a still eerily relevant speech, and features a really great bad guy in the person of Max von Sydow as...well, let the film explain as it goes. Interesting, if flawed.
2-11	Scent of a Woman	Eh. I wasn't all that impressed. First off, the prep-school framework is pretty unnecessary, and seems to be sending at best a conflicted message, if it's saying anything at all. As for the rest of the movie, it jumps in tone so much that it's hard to ever get a read on anybody. Pacino is pretty good, I guess, but hammy and overstated, and his character is written (much like Bening, below) as a series of scenes, not a person.
2-11	Being Julia	Everything I had heard good about this revolved around Bening's performance, and now I understand why--I mean, I understand now why no one praised the movie itself. The movie itself certainly doesn't deserve any praise; the characters are flat, the story unremarkable, and the writing mediocre. As for Bening's performance...it's a series of good bits, but none of them really connected to the other ones. It's more of a collection of scenes than a real character or a real person. Pretty mediocre, and that's generous.
2-8	Eight Legged Freaks	Had been wanting to see this for a while, and completely loved it--just what I needed to escape the monotony of calling parents all night. It's damned silly, energetic, and entertaining as all hell. Some bad CGI notwithstanding, the movie doesn't take itself seriously at all. I remember it having a kick-ass trailer, and the movie more than lived up to it. Hell, any movie with leaping spiders eating bike riders can't be all bad, and that doesn't even get into the brilliant bit with a pup tent stalking an old man.
2-6	Throne of Blood	Final film of the samurai fest, and I'm sad to see it go, although Chick and I toasted the film with a glass of sake. The movie? A little slower than I remember it being, but still excellent. It's definitely Kurosawa's most stylized film, in many ways, but that allows for so many breathtaking visuals that the film becomes a work of art (brilliant use of fog, especially in the walking forest scene). Plus, it's a great argument for the timelessness and complete universality of Shakespeare. An excellent film, and a great, great festival.
2-5	Grizzly Man	A fascinating documentary, one whose exclusion in the "Best Documentary" Oscar noms is a major indicator of some sort of crime. If it were just a portrait of man who lived among bears until his death at their hands (paws?), it would be interesting. But it's far more. Herzog not only turns a critical eye at his subject, discussing and critiquing his reasons for living among the bears, but expands the film into something more philosophical and complex: a study of ourselves and our own human nature. It's fascinating, thoughtful stuff.
2-4	Seven Samurai	My only regret is that this isn't the last thing I saw in the samurai fest, because it's the best thing there. I remembered this being good; I forgot about it being so fucking great, not only as enjoyment, but as art. Clever wit, vibrant and believable characters, a timeless story, marvelous acting, great writing, romance, action, drama, comedy--this is truly a film that has it all, and does it all perfectly. There are few perfect films in the world, but this is one of them, and seeing it on the big screen only emphasized that. A perfect, amazing film.
2-4	Rashomon	Probably the least fitting movie in the samurai fest, but that doesn't make it any less outstanding--just not really a samurai film. Watching it for a second time, I'm struck by how the differing tales don't only suggest the elusiveness of truth, but reveal much about the characters, desires, and fears of the different tellers. It's a fascinating film, one that deserves much discussion and analysis, and one that only gets more deep and thought-provoking as you delve deeper and deeper into its ever-fracturing story.
2-3	Match Point	It was good, but ultimately a bit over-rated and over-hyped to me. Allen does an excellent job spinning the tale of a poor boy who makes it very good and falls a little too heavily in love with his lifestyle, and manages to seamlessly shift that into thriller territory...but, in the end, this is just Landau's half of Crimes and Misdemeanors spun into feature length, and without any of that film's fascinating theological, philosophical, or moral explorations. It's certainly not a bad film, but in the absence of a thoughtful message, it's mostly skin deep.
2-1	The Masque of the Red Death	Forgot, at first, to add this one in. I watched this over the course of a couple of days with my English class, as a companion piece to the story (they had to write a compare/contrast piece about it). The reactions were pretty mixed; some liked it okay, some (most) hated it. I still enjoy it for what it is, and think it's pretty well shot and fairly entertaining.
1-29	Sword of Doom	Last samurai fest movie of the weekend. Easily the grimmest, most nihilistic samurai film I've seen to date, and the most violent by a long shot--not just in terms of action, but in terms of the relatively graphic depiction. Nakadai is mesmerizing as a completely amoral killing machine whose life of violence costs him not only his sanity, but his soul as well. It's a strange, disconnected film, but Nakadai's performance chills to the bone, and the film as a whole works as a disconcerting exploration of an evil, evil man and the life he leads.
1-29	Samurai Rebellion	Another samurai fest movie. It's a serene and quiet film for most of its running time, as the plot gradually tightens the feeling of desperation and imminent danger that drives our heroes to their final cathartic, violent efforts. It's an excellent, moving tragedy of a film which drives itself more by its characters' emotions than the plot itself. Plus, you get to see the two gods of the genre--Mifune and Nakadai--finally face off. How much better than that does it get?
1-28	Kill!	At the samurai film fest, and another winner here. This one is not as slapsticky as some of the descriptors had me expecting (one review said it was "the Blazing Saddles of samurai films"), but that doesn't make it less comic and funny in parts. The nice thing is, as much fun as it has playing with samurai film staples, it's still a great story in of itself (based on the same novel as the equally great Sanjuro), and kept me quite entertained.
1-28	Wallace and Gromit in the Wrong Trousers	While waking up and getting ready. Few things make me as happy as Wallace and Gromit can, and this one is easily my favorite of their shorts. There's a fun plot, some hilarious gags (my favorite is the "disguise" the penguin uses), and, best of all, a gleefully imaginative chase on a miniature train. I love these movies, and I love their overflowing imaginations.
1-27	Harakiri	First night of the samurai film fest at the Belcourt, and a great start to it. In some ways, it is to the samurai genre what Unforgiven was to the western--a sad, thoughtful elegy for a simpler time. I was incredibly impressed, not just with the powerful, explosive story, but with the haunting, stunning visuals--somehow, it didn't shock me later on to find out this was the same man who directed Kwaidan. A great start to the festival, and a great film.
1-18	With Honors	It's complete and utter formula, but it's not all bad. Yes, you can predict everything that will happen in the movie, down to some of the specific scenes (a perfect example of the Slow Clap, of course). But the acting, especially by Pesci, does help liven things up a little bit, and keeps you involved. I can't recommend it--it's too formulaic and predictable--but the acting helps make the movie at least worth watching and entertaining.
1-16	Hostel	Easily the most violent mainstream R-rated movie I have ever seen. That being said, it's entirely successful at what it does. It's equal parts entertaining (the first half, complete with rampant nudity) and horrifying (the second half). And, there are more than a few interesting ideas kicking around in here. Make no mistake--it's brutal and incredibly nihilistic...but for the sheer evocation of terror, and what seems like some interesting thoughts, I'd still say it was quite good. MUCH better than Cabin Fever, especially.
1-16	Around the Bend	I actually enjoyed a lot about it, despite its obvious flaws. Yes, a lot of the characters and story are contrived beyond reason. Yes, some of the scenes stretch so far for emotion that it becomes silly. But there are some fine scenes scattered throughout, and the three main leads, especially Walken, elevate the story with their acting, bringing some actual emotion to the parts. No, it's definitely flawed, but there's still a lot of good heart here.
1-11	The Parallax View	A satisfying, eerie, tense paranoia thriller. It's a story I've seen done before, but not nearly as effectively. Though there are many standout sequences, it's hard to think of a film that wrings such tension out of something as simple as a stack of napkins, but it does so and then some. It works a nice hold on the audience, and although I saw bits of the ending coming, I still think it's an intelligent, clever, and ultimately unsettling film. Excellent.
1-2	Brokeback Mountain	The more I think about it, the more I like it. I like how it was a love story about two people, not a "gay" story. I liked how it was understated and quiet, letting the emotion be told through the body language, not the dialogue. I liked how it showed the effect of time on these two men, and never rushed itself. I still think it may not be the best film of 2005, that perhaps it's "controversial" nature may have overhyped it. But it is a beautiful and powerful film, and a moving love story about men who have no choice about their own natures.
1-2	Criminal	Again, if you read this, you know I love con game movies, and this is a pretty good one. Been a while since one actually tripped me up, but this one managed. Of course, it did so be being gleefully over-the-top, but who cares. It's fun, well-acted, and entertaining throughout, and that's all I asked of it. For what it is, it's as good as it can be. Fun stuff.
1-1	Pulse	Japanese horror movie due for a remake this year. There's no denying that, in parts, it's absolutely terrifying. Between creepy visuals, unsettling noises, and a nice sense of how to use shadows and that wide screen, this frequently chilled me to the bone. It would have worked better if it had made any sense whatsoever. That being said, I still liked it a lot; I just had to feel my way through the plot on almost a zen level. Still, quite good, I think.
1-1	Munich	Compelling and powerful. Not only does Spielberg do a fantastic job re-creating history, he also manages to make a thriller, a moral drama, and an intelligent film about the situation in the Middle East. The action is excellent, but the full consequences of violence are clearly shown, and the message comes through loud and clear without being preachy. This is easily one of the best films of the year, and among the most intelligent. Magnificent.

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page updated:
September 29, 2009