Crimes and Misdemeanors is one of several Woody Allen films that’s pretty damn close to a masterpiece. From Roger Ebert’s original review: Crimes and Misdemeanors “is a thriller about the dark nights of the soul. It shockingly answers the question most of us have asked ourselves from time to time: Could I live with the knowledge that I had murdered someone? Could I still get through the day and be close to my family and warm to my friends, knowing that because of my own cruel selfishness, someone who had loved me was lying dead in the grave? This is one of the central questions of human existence, and society is based on the fact that most of us are not willing to see ourselves as murderers. But in the world of this film, conventional piety is overturned and we see into the soul of a human monster… Actually, he seems like a pretty nice guy.”
Tags: Alan Alda, Anjelica Huston, Criterion Collection, Martin Landau, Sam Waterston, Woody Allen
I saw Casablanca in a theatre tonight for the first time. It was amazing. Seeing it on a giant screen in a theatre with a good audience, I noticed details in the acting and the storyline that passed me by in all my previous viewings. It opened the movie up to me in ways I wouldn’t have thought possible. Casablanca is a classic that deserves its reputation.
Tags: Claude Rains, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Michael Curtiz, Peter Lorre
From Ebert’s review: “The modern heist movie was invented in Paris in 1954 by Jules Dassin, with ‘Rififi,’ and Jean-Pierre Melville, with ‘Bob le Flambeur.’ Dassin built his film around a 28-minute safe-cracking sequence that is the father of all later movies in which thieves carry out complicated robberies… Francois Truffaut [called 'Rififi'] the best film noir he’d ever seen.”
Tags: Bob le Flambeur, Criterion Collection, Francois Truffaut, French, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jules Dassin
The Hidden Fortress is a light-hearted adventure comedy about two losers trying to take the money and run, more or less. Add to it a warrior and a princess, some exciting chase scenes and a couple of fights — under the direction Akira Kurosawa, just about every frame of it is a work of art.
Some of the best films I’ve watched recently also happen to be the least conventional: The Science of Sleep, The Fisher King, The Fountain, and now Everything is Illuminated, a quirky, colourful, fantastic road trip movie that may surprise you with its poignancy. It’s funny, it’s touching and, yup, it’s illuminating. Another pleasant-surprise movie not many people have seen.
Tags: Boris Leskin, Elijah Wood Alex, Eugene Hutz, Jonathan Safran Foer, Liev Schreiber
The Fisher King is a much better film than I remember (I last saw it around 1991) and one fans of The Fountain might appreciate too. Both are existential meditations on love and loss, and they cut deep. I don’t think Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams and Mercedes Ruehl could have given better performances in this surreal yet uncomfortably realistic film directed by Terry Gilliam. A fantastical mix of sorrow and humour.
Tags: Jeff Bridges, Mercedes Ruehl, Robin Williams, Terry Gilliam
The Bourne Ultimatum is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a theatre this summer. A solid action movie in which all the stunts and explosions and chases are real. No CGI. And it feels real. This is a visceral, tense, exciting film with a few moments to catch your breath and then BAM! we’re back in business. It’s a cool movie. Lots of fun.
Tags: Albert Finney, David Strathairn, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles, Matt Damon, Paddy Considine, Paul Greengrass, Robert Ludlum, Scott Glenn
A departure from his NYC intellectual scene, Broadway Danny Rose may not be the best 4-star Woody Allen movie, but it’s funny without being stupid, something that can’t be said about most comedies made today. The more Woody Allen I watch, the more I appreciate him as a writer and director. He is one of the best.
Tags: Mia Farrow, Milton Berle, Nick Apollo Forte, Woody Allen
Another Woman is yet another Woody Allen film that could easily get lost in the mix of all his other New York intellectual films, but shouldn’t. This is a good stuff. It’s compelling, it’s funny and filled with real people. One of Woody Allen’s best films. I’ll expand on this at a later date when I have time.
Tags: Blythe Danner, David Ogden Stiers, Gena Rowlands, Gene Hackman, Ian Holm, Mia Farrow, Woody Allen
Dark Days is a fascinating documentary about a group of homeless people who live underground in abandoned subway tunnels in New York City, and shot entirely on film by someone with no previous film experience. It is one of the most incredible achievements in filmmaking I’ve ever seen. Be sure to watch the “making of” bonus material too. Documentaries don’t get much better than this.
Tags: Marc Singer
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans is a silent film from 1926 that has a split personality: a purely cinematic story (having no sound kind of forces the images to do their job), powerful, dramatic stuff — and about 20 minutes of hijinks in the middle that, for most viewers, will be a complete waste of time. Otherwise, highly recommended. An excellent introduction to silent films.
Tags: F.W. Murnau, Janet Gaynor, Silent Film
Holy jesus, man, was I shook after watching The Last King of Scotland. It’s about a young and foolish doctor from Scotland who goes to Uganda in 1970 just after a military coup and becomes the personal physician of the president — who might seem like a nice guy at first but isn’t. Straightforward but effective filmmaking. It took me for a ride and left me feeling quite unsettled.
Tags: Forest Whitaker, Giles Foden, Gillian Anderson, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington, Kevin Macdonald, Simon McBurney
I laughed out loud all throughout this Woody Allen movie that is unapologetically nostalgic. Radio Days provides a glimpse of what life was like before television. Woody narrates but doesn’t act, and those who do act are so damn good — and funny — it’s a pleasure to watch them. (I’ve been on a Woody Allen kick for the past few months, and I’m loving it.)
Tags: Danielle Ferland, David Warrilow, Don Pardo, Helen Miller, Julie Kavner, Julie Kurnitz, Martin Rosenblatt, Michael Tucker, Mick Murray, Mike Starr, Paul Herman, Seth Green, Wallace Shawn, William Flanagan, Woody Allen
A Peter Pan message about the power of imagination, Bridge to Terabithia is geared more towards kids than adults. However, the story eventually diverges enough from the normal sugar-coated Walt Disney production that I can recommend it for adults too. From Berardinelli’s review: “Bridge to Terabithia is an example of a movie that does not deliver what the marketing campaign promises. Instead, it delivers something richer and more meaningful. Disney, in its infinite wisdom, is trying to make the film look like a watered down Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia. While there are elements of fantasy within the story, they exist to support Bridge to Terabithia’s themes, not as a legitimate entity in and of themselves. This is a movie about imagination and friendship, not about swords and sorcery. Those who are familiar with Katherine Paterson’s Newberry Award winning children’s book will be aware of this. Those who are familiar only with the film’s trailer will not.”
Tags: AnnaSophia Robb, Bailee Madison, Gabor Csupo, Josh Hutcherson, Lauren Clinton, Robert Patrick, Zooey Deschanel
Cinema Paradiso is a movie for people who love movies. It’s the story of a kid who works in a movie theatre in a small town in Italy and grows up to become a filmmaker. One of the best unapologetically nostalgic stories ever told on film (it reminds me of Radio Days, Woody Allen’s homage to Amaracord). This expanded version of the film is an improvement over the original North American release and will definitely please anyone who is already a fan.
Tags: Agnese Nano, Antonella Attili, Ennio Morricone, Giuseppe Tornatore, Italian, Jacques Perrin, Leopoldo Trieste, Marco Leonardi, Philippe Noiret, Pupella Maggio, Salvatore Cascio, Woody Allen
Junebug is an ensemble piece with remarkably realized characters. This is good acting. A genuine yet entertaining portrait of the family unit and all its peculiarities.
Tags: Alessandro Nivola, Amy Adams, Angus MacLachlan, Benjamin McKenzie, Celia Weston, Embeth Davidtz, Phil Morrison, Scott Wilson
Match Point is a slowly unfolding thriller that’s likely to have you rooting for the most dislikeable character in the movie. You’d never know it was a Woody Allen film (don’t let his name turn you off). It takes place in London, England, and there are no neurotic New Yorkers. I don’t know what the big deal is about Scarlett Johansson, but the filmmaking is brilliant.
Tags: Brian Cox, Emily Mortimer, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Matthew Goode, Penelope Wilton, Scarlett Johansson, Woody Allen
I know An Inconvenient Truth isn’t really a movie. It’s a message about global warming and the end of the world in the form of a presentation given by Al Gore. But it’s solid science and it’s still worth watching — even if you think you already know everything about global warming. My only criticism: It was a mistake having a politician present the information. (My brother wrote a post about it too.)
Tags: Al Gore, Global Warming
Stranger Than Fiction is a funny and compelling story of an IRS agent who hears a voice in his head narrating everything he does as he does it, and with a better vocabulary than himself. It’s the kind of script Charlie Kaufman might write, but not so out of control. I didn’t know much more than this when I walked into the theatre, so I’d rather not say anything else. I don’t care for Will Ferrell as a comedian, but his intelligent performance here makes the fantastic element of the story believable. Good job. Good movie. (Dec. 5/06) I rewatched Stranger Than Fiction last night and enjoyed it as much as I did the first time I saw it, if not more. The romantic element of the story is a bit too Hollywood for my tastes, but I guess I was too caught up in the fun of the movie the first couple times to notice that.
Tags: Charlie Kaufman, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Marc Forster, Queen Latifah, Will Ferrell, Zach Helm
The Departed is the most fun I had watching a movie in a theatre in 2006. I haven’t enjoyed a Martin Scorsese motion picture for well over a decade. Now, with The Departed, he’s hit a grand-slam home-run right out of the park. It’s great to see Scorsese return to form at what he does best: the crime drama. This isn’t a retread of old territory like Casino. He does a few things we’ve seen before, but it’s fresh and exciting and fantastic. It may not be seen as his best film, but it’s certainly one of his most entertaining.
Tags: Alec Baldwin, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Scorsese, Martin Sheen, Matt Damon, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga