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.”
Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto has plenty of blood, violence, gore. Good cinematography.
The plot to An American Werewolf in London is simple: a guy gets bit by a werewolf and becomes a werewolf and kills people. The 1980s special effects, although dated in places, hold up well. One of the first movies I saw on VHS, this comedy-horror movie has its scary moments, but mostly it’s just fun. Not a bad B-movie.
The 5-hour version of Fanny and Alexander, not the meagre 3-hour theatrical cut. It’s a “slow paced human drama told with an artisan’s voice,” one that isn’t depressing or disturbing — which is nice for an Ingmar Bergman film. It focuses on the lives of a large affluent family in Sweden, particularly the pains and joys of two children in the family. It’s strange, funny, surreal at times, philosophical here and there, entertaining and compelling. Definitely one of Bergman’s happier films.
Juno is a a cute, quirky, clever and heart-warming film about a teenager who gets pregnant and decides to give the baby up for adoption. This year’s Little Miss Sunshine, though not nearly as sweet (which is a good thing). I didn’t love it, but I liked it.
Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman all give excellent performances in Charlie Wilson’s War, a political comedy that tells the story of how the US got involved with Afghanistan by giving them rocket launchers to blow up Soviet helicopters. It’s more entertaining than laugh-out-loud funny, and it’s informative if, like me, you don’t know much about it, and it’s timely given the complete mess Afghanistan and the Middle East are today.
In Letters from Iwo Jima, Clint Eastwood shows us the Japanese side of the story. An excellent story, though it’s almost too good to be great.
The Double Life of Veronique is a beautiful film about two identical but unrelated woman living completely separate lives but who may or may not have an indirect influence on each other. Krzysztof Kieslowski remains my favourite director. His films are poetic, profound and mysterious. I saw Veronique years ago on VHS. Watching it again on DVD is like watching an entirely new film.
The holy grail of production design and cinematography, Blade Runner is magnificent, brilliant and spectacular — to look at. The most compelling scenes are the moments when you can see the replicants thinking about their humanity and their existence. If more of the film had lived up to the potential in those scenes, Blade Runner would be a great film, not just a great-looking film. Still, if you haven’t seen it for a while, it’s worth revisiting. It’s never looked better than it does now.
Birdman of Alcatraz is quiet film about a prisoner who raises canaries and becomes a world expert on bird diseases. It feels more like a documentary than a Hollywood drama. It’s an okay movie for a rainy day. I like the Wikipedia entry on Robert Stroud, the real birdman of Alcatraz: “With the very high number of birds he kept, his cell was dirty and Stroud’s personal hygiene was reported to be gruesome… [One] of his fellow prisoners said, ‘He was a jerk. He was a guy that thrived on chaos, turmoil, upheaval.’” He comes across as a much nicer guy in the movie.
I Am Legend is one of the best science fiction movies of recent years, which unfortunately isn’t saying much, but at least it’s watchable. Will Smith does a good job playing the last man on earth and you feel for the guy. He has to fight some vampire-werewolf people from time to time, which isn’t as stupid as you might think (the CGI isn’t always the best, but it holds up well enough). Most science fiction movies begin with great potential and then get stupid and change genres for the last act (e.g., Sunshine). I Am Legend, for the most part, manages to dodge that bullet. I can imagine a more accomplished science fiction director like Ridley Scott really digging his teeth into this one. There’s loss potential here. But I enjoyed it.
Some directors are so cool or innovative or just so damn good that even when they make a not-so-stellar motion picture, it’s still better or more watchable than 99% of the junk you’ll see at a multiplex any day of the week. Jim Jarmusch is one of those directors and Ghost Dog is one of the films. I watched it today while re-organizing my DVD collection (which probably isn’t a bad way to re-watch it), and thoroughly enjoyed it. It “seeks to superimpose the ways of the ancient samurai with the present day in the tale of a loner [Forrest Whitaker] who works as a hitman for the local mafia family.” It’s fun and funny and cool.
Woody Allen cannot write for younger characters. His words sound wrong coming out of this guy’s mouth. I had to give up on Anything Else after the first 30 minutes.
I used to think Star Trek: The Motion Picture was the worst of the original Star Trek movies because it foolishly tries to mimic 2001: A Space Odyssey, right down to the score over a black screen before the opening credits. But last night I managed to watch it all the way through for the first time since I got the director’s cut DVD a few years ago. So, for me, it’s no longer unwatchable. That’s an improvement, right?
I finished watching Hard Candy just minutes ago. There’s a scene (a long, drawn-out, torturous scene) in the middle that would have many viewers walking out of the theatre or ejecting the DVD saying, “I’ve had enough. I don’t need to see this.” It’s extremely difficult to watch, and for that one scene alone, I’ll probably never watch the movie again. It’s a well-made psychological head-trip movie, but it is WHACKED. (Read the review I’ve link to if you want to know more.)
No Country for Old Men is the best movie I’ve seen from the Coen Brothers. Naturally, it’s about a psychotic killer with a high-pressure air gun looking for stolen money, and another guy who stole the money running from the guy with the air gun. I normally don’t care much for the way the Coen Brothers use lethal violence in their movies, but in this case it’s fascinating and compelling because it’s so cinematic. It’s a pleasure to watch the craftsmanship that goes into it. And it’s not all for show. The images and the subtle details work together to create a story and a weird reality that takes you for a ride and leaves you thinking, “What the hell was that?” It’s a crime drama, a thriller, a comedy and a morality tale, and it’s entertaining. (A detailed analysis and discussion of the film on Jim Emerson’s Blog.)
Terrence Malick and Nestor Almendros sure know how to compose lovely shots. It’s almost sacrilege to say anything bad about Malick. It might take another viewing, though, before I’m in the “love it” camp for Days of Heaven.
I finally got around to watching Brokeback Mountain, a story of two gay cowboys trying to be cowboys and gay at the same time (not an easy balancing act). I like it, and I suppose you could say the performances are brave, though it might be another film I need to watch again before I can say I love it. It was alright.
I don’t like James Bond movies, but I like Casino Royale. The love story is too long, but the action is excellent.
The sun is going out and a spaceship is sent off to deliver a bomb that’s supposed to make things right. Recommended for fans of hard science fiction — with some reservations. The science behind the fiction makes it feel more real, but there’s not much character development, so, despite a few tense moments, the overall drama is minimal. Sunshine goes off the rails near the end and tries to become a horror movie with a message — which doesn’t work for all kinds of reasons. Someday someone might make an intelligent, adult science fiction film. This one almost pulled it off. Too bad.