Cinema is King

Blah, Meh, and Ehh

2008-03-14T05:37:00.000-07:00

Walker (1987, Alex Cox) - **1/2

In one phrase this whole film received a "uhhhhhhh.....that was ok" from me when it finished. Walker is a strange and odd film. Maybe when you read that last sentence you are expecting something really out there but Walker is not too extreme with it's oddness. Part of me wishes that it would go to the limit with it's strangeness rather than just sprinkling it here and there through out the film.

Walker is a "historical/biopic" about an eccentric man who became the dictator of Nicaragua in the 19th century. See, there is nothing strange there. Where it becomes strange is when Alex Cos decides to throw in modern innovations into the story. So, for example,. there are scenes of soldiers reading Time and People Magazine, shots of digital clocks, a car, and even a military helicopter. This is all meant to illustrate how we haven't learned from history and the story being told from the 19th century is the same story that is happening today, or in this case, during the 80s. You see...its very clever.

The problem is not the fact that Cox decides to make the film a satire or that he decides to throw in all of these things. The problem is that the film is not subtle with its clever ideas. They are so in your face that it comes off as being forced. It also doesn't help that he decides to actually make a biopic for 30 minutes and then throw in a shot of people reading Time magazine, and then come back to the biopic. What is meant to be clever and thought provoking becomes nothing more than just a distraction. After about the 3rd time it happens you just feel like saying "I get it already! Shit!"

Walker is far from a bad film. There is some greatness there but its overall ambition is what ultimately crushes whatever aspirations of greatness that it seems to have at times. It's an interesting film that is even more interesting due to Ed Harris delivering a great and fun performance but it never becomes more than just a "interesting film".

30 Days of Night (2007, David Slade) - **1/2

There are a couple of times during the film that I felt that it was at the point of achieving greatness but then it would become bland and predictable. This happened over and over again. It's far from a bad film but it also stays stuck within the blandness of it's genre, which is very disappointing.

The Ballad of Jack & Rose (2005, Rebecca Miller) - **1/2

This is another one that had a lot of potential but also fails to achieve an overall sense of itself. I'm not sure what exactly Rebecca Miller was going for since the film is trying to say something, but I just dont know what it is or if the film even said anything at all. It's really an assorted mess of top notch quality scenes mixed with pretentious and badly acted scenes surrounding these quality scenes.

Of course, there is no surprise that any moment of quality that the film has is due to Daniel Day-Lewis' perfect performance. This is a given but I have come to learn that what is more interesting than Day-Lewis' performances are the supporting performances around him. In this case the supporting performances from the cast, save for Keener, are absolutely destroyed by Day-Lewis. The weaknesses in the supporting performances are sadly noticeable too along with its sloppy writing and uneven direction.

A Wild Mess, The Lubitsch Touch, and Space Travel

2008-03-14T05:05:00.000-07:00

I have seen lots of films the past couple of days and weeks...so it's time to play catch up.

Schizopolis (1996, Steven Soderbergh) - ***

Soderbergh's experimental and very personal film is a mess of a film but that's why it's so much fun to watch. I say this because there are even numerous times where the film doesn't even know what its doing and straight out tells you that there is "a missing idea" instead of an explanation or a scene to advance the story. You really get a feeling of Soderbergh going insane behind the camera and just pouring every single idea on screen, even if the idea doesn't make much sense.

For being such a wild and experimental film, I was surprised to find it amusing and interesting. I also think that it is one of Soderbergh's best films even though I wouldn't rate it any higher. I don't know if that makes much sense or not.

Trouble in Paradise (1932, Ernst Lubitsch) - ****

Ernst Lubitsch is a director that I have long heard and read about but had never checked out until this film. I can now safely say that he lived up to the hype and I was generally impressed by how extremely well the film holds up. A very fun time.

Also, that is easily my least favorite Criterion dvd cover of all time.

In the Shadow of the Moon (2007, David Sington) - ***1/2

I loved this one until the final 15 or so minutes when the film's impact was softened on me due to the film all of a sudden rushing through years of history and then just ending. I just feel that the film should have been titled "The First Men on the Moon" instead of the title that it has now because most of the story is more devoted to the first mission that it is to everything else. I wish I could have learned more of the overall story than just learning about a small fragment of what I think is rich and interesting history to explore.

Slapstick, Panic, and Depression

2008-03-04T02:24:00.000-08:00

I haven't written anything in a long time, so I am going to try at least write a little bit about what I have seen the past couple of days and weeks.

Run, Fatboy, Run (2007, David Schwimmer) - *

What a flaming piece of shit. I wasn't expecting anything on the level of Shaun or Hot Fuzz but I was expecting something at least good since the film is directed by Scwhimmer (who I am a fan of), written by Michael Ian Black, and starring Simon Pegg. Instead of getting a great or even a pretty good comedy, I got a film that plays it so safe and by the numbers that it's just embarrassing to watch. I am surprised that this one was a huge over seas. It really is so bad that I saw it about 3 weeks ago I don't remember almost anything about it. Horrible.

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991, Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper, and Elenor Coppola) - ***1/2

I was sort of disappointed by this one, but I still found it great. I have spent years trying to watch this now legendary documentary and until a couple of weeks ago I was able to finally get the dvd instead of some shitty vhs. I watched it and I wasnt all that blown away by it as I imagine other people are by it. This isn't the films fault but my own. I have read about the trouble Apocalypse Now faced during productions a number of times and even read what I consider to be the ultimate account of all this, which is the chapter in Peter Biskind's Easy Riders and Raging Bulls that deals with the making of the film. So, while watching this documentary it felt like hearing the same story again but with images to go along with it. It's still one hell of a story but I just wish that I didn't already know it so well.

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969, Sidney Pollack) - ****

This, just like Hearts of Darkness, is a film that I have long heard about and was at first hard to get my hands on. Then, it became pretty easy for me to watch it but I didn't jump at it. Now, with all the rumors flying around about Sidney Pollack lying on his death bed, I decided to check it out as a form of odd respect. I was going to write a lot more about this film but I feel like I wont be doing it justice. I was absolutely blown away by this one and it is a true hidden gem and I am a bit baffled as to why it's not even considered a cult film to some. For a film that deals with a non stop dance marathon, it is incredibly fucked up and depressing The film also contains a couple of scenes that immediately shot up on my favorites list.

I don't know what else to say so I am just going to post the music video that Paul Thomas Anderson directed that includes an homage to the film.

I really cant wait to buy this one and savor it some more. I really just loved it and it is one of the best gems I have found while "digging for films".

Pretentious Mobsters, Travelers, and Secret Agents

2008-02-15T06:33:00.000-08:00

I've decided to just start doing mini write ups in groups of three just because I like the format better and it makes me feel like I wrote a lot when I havent written almost anything.

Little Odessa (1995, James Gray) - *1/2

Sometimes when I look back on old posts I get a feeling that I might be too kind and easy towards movies. I feel like I should be more strict but when I look at the movies that I watch and rent I like to think that I rent according to my taste, I rent and buy movies that I have liked or have a feeling that I will like. I feel that I got my taste pretty much down and even when I venture off and rent a film that I have never heard of before there is always a small root that appeals to me and that is why I take a chance with them. I like to think that most of the time I am right and the film ends up good.

So..after watching and really enjoying We Own the Night I did my I-just-finished-watching-a-movie-routine of going to IMDB and checking out what other films the director, writer, or actor have doneor are doing. Through this I found Little Ordessa.

My thought process went a little bit like this:

".....ok..so its a crime drama....looks dark...mid 90s and indie...hmm...I'm not a fan of those...oh but it stars Tim Roth? Tim Roth in a crime drama by the guy who did We Own the Night? I am sold"

I expected a gem and found a huge misfire. Little Odessa suffers from the same thing that I feel most indies from the 90s suffered from and while reading Down and Dirty Pictures it seems that I am not the only one who has a problem with this subgenre. They all try so hard to be dark and moody (Things to do in Denver While You're Dead, ) , be quirky (Party Girl, Living in Oblivion, Welcome to the Dollhouse), or represent generation X and freeload off of the Slacker/Clerks vibe (Empire Records). I hate them all and I think that they have aged worse than films from the 80s. They just feel extremely pretentious to me and never sincere.

I'm currently in the middle of Down and Dirty Picture by Peter Biskind (my favorite writer maybe ever and I also like to name drop books I'm ready because I am cool like that...lulz) and there is a quote from Soderbergh when hes talking about Sex,Lies, and Videotape which I feel sums up this 90s indie boom perfectly. He says something along the lines of "I look back on that film and just see a student film where the director is trying to say so much" and that line describes Little Odessa.

It feels like a student film where the director is hammering you away with his brilliance and awesome screenwriting. Maybe I sound like a dick right now but if you were to see this film then you will know what I am talking about. It just feels unpolished, amateurish, and rough but what is annoying is that the film tries to pull it all off as polished, slick, and just as good as the crime films of the 70s. I realize that I am now rambling but I will just say that all of this might excusable because of it's an indie and a debut film but the plotholes that this film takes just for the sake to create melodrama and "deepness" in its theme is just too bad and obvious for me to like. The director is also able to bring out an uneven performance from Tim Roth and that is just inexcusable and close to impossible I think. I am very happy that Gray "grew up" and can now do a film like We Own the Night.

Man..I really did go on a mini rant now that I look back. I feel like backspacing all of this and just putting "it sucks" but I will just end it now with....."it sucks"

Into the Wild (2007, Sean Penn) - ****

I am going to make this one short and use the easy way out by saying that everything that could be said has already been said. I was blown away by it and it would go into my top 5 without a doubt. The direction and writing by Sean Penn is outstanding and the performances by the entire cast are perfect. Holbrook also deserves all the praise he has received and was actually able to break my heart. I was also surprised that the film turned out to be nothing like how it was marketed as.. This is not the hip "fuck the system" movie it was made out to be. It's a much more joyful and beautifully tragic road film than anything else. I was surprised by how much I really loved it.

Also...Zach Galifianakis...what the hell are you doing in this? That was just out of nowhere and hilarious. Thank you, Sean Penn.

The Silencers (1966, Phil Karlson) - Dean Martin Cool

A very,very,very,very cool 60's spy comedy staring Dean Martin as a part time secret agent and a full time ladies man. I was reminded of Danger: Diabolik during the film with it's tongue in cheek style, colorful sets, jazzy score, and uber coolness. I enjoyed every single second and can't wait to see the rest of the series.

Wait...is that Dean Martin riding a gun?

And now I am officially up to date. Finally.

Lawyers, Sex Dolls, and a Schizo

2008-02-15T05:18:00.000-08:00

Michael Clayton (2007, Tony Gilroy) - ****

This seems to be the love/hate film of the moment along with Juno most likely due to the high praise that both films have received and some people thinking that they don't deserve the praise. I belong to the group of people that believe that Clayton deserves all the praise it has received. It really is one of the most rewarding watches that I have had lately and I admire how the film has the balls to alienate it's audience through out most of the film while everything falls into place and by the final minute everything makes sense for a very "fuck yes!" type of ending.. As much as Diablo Cody's script is the favorite to win the Oscar for best original screenplay, I think that Gilroy deserves it. This really is a perfectly crafted film. I cant wait to rewatch it again while knowing how everything will play out. Oh, and Wilkinson is worthy of the praise and nomination that he received. He makes a role that could have easily been over the top very human and "makes" the film. Very,very,very solid film.

Lars and the Real Girl (2007, Craig Gillespie) - ****

There are certain films which I cant help but enjoy, love, and give 4 stars to even though they may have some minor flaws and this is mostly due to me just being too touched by it to deny it anything less than 4 stars. I go with my heart in these cases and this is exactly what happened with Lars and the Real Girl. I really fell in love with this one and it's overall sweetness and good vibes that it throws at you. Gosling knocks it so out of the park that it is ridiculous and this performance further proves that he really is the next best thing. It may not be the best film of last year but it is one of my favorites.

Clean, Shaven (1995, Lodge Kerrigan) - uh....woah...

A couple of years ago I rented a film named Keane just because I didn't have anything in mind to rent and it looked like it might be good. It turned out to be one of the most haunting and tragic films that I have stumbled upon and it is one of those films that I try to pimp out as much as possible when ever there is an opportunity to do so. I still don't know why the film doesn't have more of a cult following. A couple of months ago I decided to check out what other films the director had done and through there I was happy to find that his debut film was a criterion release and also a favorite of John Waters. So, I put it on my queue and played the waiting game because of it's wait status and now about 5 months later I have seen it and part of me wishes that I hadnt.

I dont get disturbed by movies all too easily. I really cant think of too many movies off the top of my head that I have seen past the age of 10 that have really and truly disturbed me while watching them. I think Henry and Paradise Lost would be the closest ones that I can think of but other than that...nothing. Well, that has now changed. Clean, Shaven is one of the most if not the most disturbing film that I have yet to see. This film is on a whole other level of fucked upness and after watching it I can really see why it is easy to compare it to Repulsion or Eraserhead.

After one of the most shocking and demented openings I have ever seen to a film we are treated to a 77 minute dark journey into the mind of schizophrenic man and the detective who is trying to catch him. Telling why he is trying to catch him would ruin the "fun". This all plays out while we mostly find ourselves follwoing the schizophrenic man on a quest to find something..telling would spoil it once again. This really is one of the films were it is better to not know what you are getting into and just having to embrace yourself for the ride.

I dont know what else to say. I am currently waiting on a friend of mine to watch it that way we can discuss it because this is also one of those kinds of films where despite it's creepiness and disturbing tone, there is a ton more going on underneath it and as soon as the credits roll you want to turn to your side and ask a person "So....what did you think about that scene where _____ ?"

I was shocked, intriqued, puzzled, and during one particular scene literally acting like one of those oh-so-5 minute ago reaction videos to 2girls1cup The scene I am talking about will never leave my memory and is easily the most. I also just want say that the use of sound in this film is brilliant and one of the best uses for it that I have yet to see.

I really don't know what to think of it all. I hate it when people are quick to jump to a conclusion to such a challenging film upon first viewing but even after seeing it a 2nd time with an excellent commentary track by Steven Soderbergh (who is a huge fan and produced Keane) and the director..I still don't know. It's been a couple of days and I have thought about it some more...and still I don't know what to make of it. I feel that it really is a brilliant film but is on a level where your brain struggles to wrap around all of it and it's many layers and to me that is a mark of an outstanding film.

This is also one of the best debut films that I can think of as well. A true one-of-a-kind film that is a must see.I think that even if you end up hating it, you will not soon forget it.

I also love this oh-so-great teaser/trailer for it. Check it out.

And just because Lodge Kerrigan is the man...check out the trailer for the very overlooked Keane, which is not only overlooked but features one of my favorite performances ever by Damien Lewis. You can already see his greatness in the 2 minute trailer. I just have to pimp it out some more.

Every movie I have seen in the past couple of weeks and a couple of sentences about them. Part 5

2008-02-13T05:11:00.000-08:00

Hopefully just one more part after this one. I am a movie watching machine lulz.

Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964, Bryon Haskin) - ****

Very colorful and very fun. Thats all I have to say and I feel that sentence sums it up perfectly. It's also pretty great that criterion released this one.

Sidenote: I really love that "This film is Scientifically Authentic" on the poster.

Pepe Le Moko (1937, Julien Duvivier) - ****

My friend Dan over at The Public Enemy summed this one up perfectly with another simple sentence "It's like The Third Man mixed with Casablanca" and that really is a great way to put it. Jean Gabin is ridiculously pimp as a master criminal and Lucas Gridoux is just as great as the inspector trying to catch him. The interactions between them are the true highlights of the film from a film that has many. It really is just a perfect film.

Point Blank (1967, John Boorman) - ***1/2

This was a film which took me by surprise. I was expecting an excellent crime/revenge film from what I had read about it and I instead got the most non-French-French-New-Wave film that I have yet to come across. Its a bit puzzling at first and you dont really know where it's going but once it gets on its way it is excellent. Although I really did love its new wave influence and how it wore it on it's sleeve, I did feel cold and unattached towards the final act. I also felt that a film that is a huge build up to the revenge climax that it was a little bit disappointing when it finally came. I felt that the journey to it was a hundred times better than the actual final destination. I am interested in rewatching this one in a couple of years or months just because I would be interested in seeing how the film will play out once I know what I am getting into.

Sidenote: Now that is one badass poster.

Every movie I have seen in the past couple of weeks and a couple of sentences about them. Part 4

2008-02-12T02:36:00.000-08:00

...and even one more..

I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2007, Jeff Garlin) - ***1/2

It's easy to see why people are quick to compare this one to Woody Allen, I think the comparison is a compliment and it fits perfectly. Jeff Garlin has created a very personal, intimate, and even a bleak film that at times you cant help but be charmed by it because you know what you are watching came directly from the heart. It's a small, short, and sweet film which just flies by. I really enjoyed it and was surprised at it's honesty towards the lives of the characters and life. I wish romantic comedies could be more like this than whatever bullshit comes and goes in theaters. It's a great small film that deserves the small acclaim it has received.

The Age of Innocence (1993, Martin Scorsese) - **** (MASTERPIECE)

My love towards this film is extreme. It is ridiculously excellent and it now easily rests among the best from Scorsese that I have seen so far. Why this film doesn't get talked about is beyond me. It may easily seem like its very un-Scorseseish but if you only take a moment to look a tiny bit deeper, it is as Scorsese as Goodfellas is. The long tracking shots, the tension, the bleakness, the punk rock editing tricks...its all there and used in the most subtle but excellent way. If you can not tell...I absolutely fucking love this one. What else can I gush over? I guess I can praise Daniel Day-Lewis' incredible performance. It's easy to compare his performance to Scorsese's direction. You might think that he is solid as always as the role of a man in love with another woman in a time when such a relationship was forbidden but it also doesn't take too much time to notice how many layers of emotions he keeps hidden right under the surface, but keeps it to a level where it is noticeable enough for the viewer but not the characters around him. It is too good for words. The way he nervously laughs and smiles while talking to his forbidden love is some of the finest acting I have yet to see and when the film finally gets going and the heartbreaks begin to come...you cant help but feel broken too because of his acting. This is easily one of the most criminally overlooked, underrated, and underwatched films I have ever come across. I only pray, wish, and hope that Criterion will one day release this film or at the very least that people will discover it sooner or later. It really is as much a masterpiece as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas are.

We Own the Night (2007, James Gray) - ***1/2

...and speaking about overlooked films, We Own the Night might be THE most overlooked film from 2007. I think this is mainly due to the coincidence of coming out one year after The Departed and on top of this the marking for it buying into the "The Departed Jr." image and marketing it like that. It's a shame that it will have to live in The Departed's shadow for now, but for those who take a chance on it, it will be a great surprise. I was incredibly surprised by the film that I found. This is a very slick and dark crime film that has a couple of stellar scenes that are not only stellar but also stunning. This is also not without the help of the very solid supporting cast and direction but also mainly due to the superb acting by Joaquin Phoenix. Fuck Walk the Line, this is the kind of performance which he should be raved about for. He absolutely knocks it out of the park and delivers the most overlooked performance in the most overlooked film from last year. Sure, it may be a genre film with genre cliches but its a great entry into the genre.

One more part will hopefully be coming up and I will finally be caught up.

Every movie I have seen in the past couple of weeks and a couple of sentences about them. Part 3

2008-02-12T01:44:00.000-08:00

...and even more...

Death Sentence (2007, James Wan) - **1/2

There comes a point while watching Death Sentence that you just become frustrated with it. This isn't because the plot is confusing or because the film just throws you off, it's because there are such outstanding moments scattered through out the film that you just wish that everything surrounding these moments were as good. Sadly, they are not. As bad the dioulouge, music, and sometimes the acting may be, it still doesnt take away from these small bursts of greatness. I belong to the small little group that believes that James Wan has a lot of potential to become a good director and there are enough moments during Death Sentence which confirm this. Still, though, this goes into the pile of movies that could have been so much more.

The Fearless Freaks (2005, Bardley Beesley) - ***1/2

Despite me ranking Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots as one of the greatest albums that I have yet to hear, I am a little bit ashamed that I don't own every Flaming Lips album and that I dont follow the band at all. So, while watching this 2 hour in depth rockumentary about the band from their days of playing football in their backyard, to their early sucess, to their drug problems, and even to the sci fi film that they are in the process of making in their backyard, when the film finished I felt like I really understoof what they are all about and why they are in fact so good,unique, and interesting in the first place. While looking for a picture of the poster I found a perfect sentence which sums up why the documentary is great "...it is a nice example of what a rock documentary can be when it treats the people like people and not icons."

Wayne Coyne's hair - ****

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971, Monte Hellman) - ***

I don't know what exactly I was anticipating from this "road film" but it definitely was not this. I was excepting something...less..I don't know...different. By this I mean that Two-Lane Blacktop on the surface may look like it's going to be road or even a chase film from the 70's but it doesnt take too long before you realize that you jsut stepped into a film that is at the same in the genre yet completely out of it. While talking about this film with a friend I described it as "it's like a chase film by Jarmusch" and my statement still stands. Everything is stipped to it's most minimal core. There are long streatches of silence, the "chase" plot plays second fiddle to minimal character interactions, which all play together to the over all minimal story. The characters dont even have names. Yeah, it's that minimal. I'm sure there might be some thematic elements that I may have missed and I'm more than sure that there are a lot of people who would laugh at me thinking that there isnt much there but I just cant see the big picture. I feel out of the loop with this film. Still, I have to admit that I was constantly engaged with the film and I still think about it. It's a challenging film and it definitely left an impact on me. I just wish it could have been a nicer impact than the cold one that I received.

Every movie I have seen in the past couple of weeks and a couple of sentences about them. Part 2

2008-02-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

..and so it continues...

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007, Andrew Dominik) ****

This one is easily my 2nd favorite film of last year. Everything from the themes that it explores about fame and the mythology that coems from it, to the excellent score by Nick Cave, to the gorgeous cinematography by Roger Deakins, to the overall outstanding directing by Dominik. Everything is pitch perfect. I wish I could just dive in right now and keep on writing about how much I was blown away by it but I find it hard to do. This is one of those kinds of films that you want to talk to someone about who has seen it as well. That way you can both go "How awesome was that scene where _____ ?!" and become fanboys over it. 2 things that I didnt mention about the film earlier were: 1) The so very awesome cast that includes some inspired casting (James Carville?!?!?!) as well as actors who never seem to get their due (Sam Rockwell, Paul Schneider), Brad Pitt (of course) and even some cool little cameos (Nick Cave ftw) and the 2nd thing that I did not mention earlier is the greatness that is Casey Affleck as Robert Ford. I never ever expected to be such a huge fan of the guy but he has given two of my favorite performances from the past year with this one and Gone Baby Gone. He really knocks this performance so far out of the park that it is just ridiculous. Sadly, the all too subtle performance has been overlooked, but what DDL is able to do with a shout, Affleck is able to do with a whisper. He absolutely nails the performance and makes the film as solid as it is. It really is one of the best films from last year and one the best films this decade has given us so far.

Helvitica (2007, Gary Hustwit) **1/2

I originally gave this documentary about the history of the helvitica font 3 stars but its been about 2 or 3 weeks since I saw it and I dont remember much. It's interesting and you learn something new, but that's about it.

Breakin' (1984, Joel Silberg) dope.

I have long heard of this now cult classic but never saw it until one fateful night. This movie is so unintentionally hilarious and gay that it is outstanding. I laughed almost non stop and it felt like it only lasted 10 minutes. I can't wait to see the sequel.

RocketMan (1997, Stuart Gillard) lulz

I think I might have found my favorite poster of all time. I also watched this one fateful night and it turned out to be all about the lulz. Thats all I have to say.

Varan the Unbelievable (1958, Ishiro Honda) ***

Pretty much a by the numbers, but still awesome, monster movie from the studio and director that brought you Godzilla. I really don't have much to say other than I loved how they defeated the monster and that it contained enough monster rampage for me to enjoy myself. If you're a fan of the genre, you will enjoy it too.

EDIT: After posting this entry I found out that the RocketMan poster is squished between the two Breakin' clips. I actually think it looks much better this way. The impact it has is powerful.

Every movie I have seen in the past couple of weeks and a couple of sentences about them. Part 1

2008-02-08T04:59:00.000-08:00

I keep saying to myself that I want to write something out about ever film that I have seen from the past couple of weeks, but I finally came to conclusion that is just a dream, it is impossible to do now. Well, I guess it is possible, but it would take too long and I have become lazy lately when it comes to this blog.

So, I am just going to list every movie that I have watched lately and what I thought. Hopefully, this will catch me up and I can continue to do a write up for each movie I watch. I hope to do this in two or three parts today.

In the meantime...

Beach Red (1967, Cornel Wilde) ***1/2

I really love criterion for a lot of reasons but I think the top reason is that through their reelases, I am able to discover filmmakers that I might have not discovered otherwise. I recently saw and loved The Naked Prey, so I was quick to get a hold of the director/stars follow up, Beach Red, and it was almsot as good. Beach Red is like a glorious B movie with hints of French New Wave sparkled through out. It's a very interesting war film that is sadly knocked down a couple of notches thanks to some very wooden acting. Still, though, the film is quite fascinating at times with the odd (read, artistic) steps it takes.

Rocket Science (2007, Jeffrey Blitz) ***1/2

Once Rocket Science was about 30 minutes in, I was reminded of another film that was born through Sundance, got a ton of buzz at Sundance, came out in theaters and flopped, and then came out on dvd with little attention. The movie i am talking about is Thumbsucker. I was reminded of this film because both Rocket Science and Thumbsucker seem to have suffered from Sundance and the marketing angle that they received thanks to their "indie cred". I remember renting Thumbsucker because of all the buzz I remember reading and only because of that. I hated the marketing angle of making it seem quirky, hip, and youthful and I expected to hate the film. Instead, I got a very intimate film with some dark comedy and memorable characters in a film that was not as pretentious as the marketing made it seem. the same exact things goes for Rocket Science. I remember the grand buzz, then I was surprised by the very mixed and reviews, and then even more shocked when reviewers wrote it off as Wes Anderon lite, or a film that tried too hard to be quirky. Bullshit. This is still the film that people fell in love with at Sundance and I can see why. Sure, it does have it's moments which do come off seeming a little bit too quirky or hip for it's own good, but despite these 5 minutes or so, the film is really great. It's overall dark and depressing tone is refreshing and it's honest portrail of characters that could have easily become cartoons is also great. I really enjoyed it and was surprised by it. I hope it finds its audience one day. The same goes for Thumbsucker.

Miss Julie (1951, Alf Sjoberg) ****

This is another title that I think I might have never watched if it wasnt for Criterion. I absolutely lvoed this film and it felt like it only lasted 10 minutes. I love movies that are sexual without ever being sexual at all and Miss Julie is a great example of this. The films basic premise of a forbidden love between a high class woman and her servant at first sounds like it might be some overblown melodrama and soap opera theatrics, but I didnt feel that it was that at all. Instead, I was surprised to find a film which had such rich characters and such rich interactions between the m to match that I just fell in love with it. It also had a couple of memorable sequences which played around with what cinema can do which I also loved as well. Great stuff. It's Before Sunrise before Before Sunrise...and thats a lot of befores.

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965, Norman Taurog) ***

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that I have a giant soft spot for deliriously campy films, but to my knowledge I think everyone does, right? So, it comes to no surprise that I am actually a fan of the Avalon/Funiecello films. I love how they are the last dying grasp of innocence from the 60's and I love the not-so-hidden sexualness to it all. Plus, it's too much camp to handle at times. So, in this non-beach entry to the series, Vincent Price is a mad flamboyant scientist who is producing hot robot girls in bikinis in order so that they can get married to rich men and then take away all their money. How awesome is that? If you are able to buy into it all and enjoy the film with the mindset of the times that it came out in...it is very awesome. Vincent Price is having the time of his life, the visual style is all over the place, and it's so insanely whacky that it feels like a live action cartoon. I'm a fan of the genre, so I liked it. Hell, I even like Gigdet...and yes I know that is pretty gay.

Spellbound (2002, Jeffrey Blitz)

2008-01-26T06:26:00.000-08:00

After watching Spellbound I came to the conclusion that I love documentaries which tackle on a competition. The only 2 other examples that I can think of which I loved are Mad Hot Ballroom and Wordplay, but I have a feeling that I just really dig this subgenre of documentaries.

So, because of this I don't know why I never caught up with Spellbound since it is considered THE documentary to see from this subgenre. It suddenly hit me out of blue that I should check it out finally and I was pleased that I did. It lived up to the hype and it was often times a mix of cheering on your favorite kid, laughing, and just getting really into it and feeling the tension when it came time for them to compete against eachother.

- ****

Zach Galifianakis: Live At The Purple Onion (2006, Michael Blieden)

2008-01-26T06:11:00.000-08:00

I didn't know if I should write about this one or not. I dont know if stand up specials can be considered films or not but I think as long as there is a cinematic element to it, it should be seen as a film. Since, this stand up dvd of Zach Galifianakis chooses to intercut his stand up with clips of him being on the road with his friends and even some mock interviews with his fake twin brother "seth" I think that the stand up comedy special turns into a stand up comedy film.

I dont know much about stand up comedy but Zach Galifianakis is one of the few stand up comedians which I am a big fan of. I love his sense of humor and I love the way he presents it with different personas, a child's choir, storyboards, and most of the time just by playing a nice melody on the piano meanwhile he tells random jokes.

So, given that I am a fan I enjoyed the film. I will say that some bits where Galifianakis decides to bomb on purpose or just break off from his prepared routine and interact with his audiences at times become too much and you are just waiting for him to get back on stage or for the film to cut back to him on the road or a mock interview.

Still, if you are fan, you will find it funny and entertaining.

- ***

The Comedians of Comedy (2005, Michael Blieden)

2008-01-26T05:22:00.000-08:00

I thought I was just going to watch a normal stand up special but instead got a great behind the scenes documentary. It was funny and actually informative at times. There is no drama, no emotional scenes, and no mind blowing scenes. It's as if the 4 comedians hired a guy to just make a long home movie while recording them on tour and then after when everything was over, he just got all the footage and was able to make a documentary out of it.

- ***1/2

Personal Best (1982, Robert Towne)

2008-01-26T05:05:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to watch this film for a couple of years now ever since I read Easy Riders, and Raging Bulls and this film was mentioned in it during the final chapters. Due to the lack of a dvd I was never able to get a hold of it but as soon as this one popped out on dvd a couple of weeks ago I was quick to watch it.

Personal Best is a film about a group of women athletes competing and training in order to get into the U.S.A. Olympic team. The film seems to put this to the side and instead focuses more on the story of a young athlete falling in love with the older and wiser girl on the team. Of course, emotions get in the way and when the film resorts back to its overall story arch of these women competing to get on the U.S.A. Olympic team everything has a much more emotional weight to it when the final competition begins.

Personal Best makes me want to rewatch all of the films of the 70's and early 80's again since it reminded me of why I loved going through that era of film when I was starting out being a film buff. Personal Best contains all of the trademarks which I have come to love from this era of film. It contains extremely strong writing, performances, and direction which is subtle yet still with some style which is enough to catch your attention. It also takes its time to create its character and make a great character driven piece without falling into Hollywood cliches.

There is really not much more that I have to say about it. I really enjoyed it and particularly enjoyed Scott Glen's performance as the coach to the all women team. Robert Towne's writing is also top notch.

- ***1/2

This Filthy World (2006, Jeff Garlin)

2008-01-26T04:53:00.000-08:00

My friend Greg over at Sex,Drugs, and Cinema told me this was "like stand up for film buffs" and he was 100 percent right.

I am not a fan of John Waters' films, except for Serial Mom which I consider to be an underrated film. Having said that, I love hearing John Waters speak in documentaries and I love reading his writings. I find him hilarious and always insightful and I applaud him and what he has done with his films and also with his support towards cinema. He is a one of a kind character and I like seeing him play that character..which is himself.

So, there is no surprise that I loved This Filthy World, which is just John Waters speaking to a crowd for about an hour and a half. He talks from everything from Michael Jackson to his fights with the MPAA to him going by film by film and telling stories from each. His one man show presents him as the character which film buffs have come to adore and it's easy to see why there is such a love towards him after watching it.

- ****

Cloverfield (2008, Matt Reeves)

2008-01-26T04:45:00.000-08:00

It seems to be the love/hate film at the moment and I belong to the camp which love it to death. Without a doubt a stunning feat and one hell of a movie. Check out Sex,Drugs, and Cinema's review of it HERE since he hit the nail on the head with my thoughts towards it as well.

- ****

The Nines (2007, John August)

2008-01-26T04:33:00.000-08:00

This movie broke my mind many times while watching it.

The Nines is a very out there and very original film. I still don't know what to make of it exactly but I know there is a great film somewhere in the mess and the craziness that it is. Some people are quick to hate on it and say that it's just a bunch of weird shit but I choose to applaud it for actually trying to do something original and out of box. Now, if it has some odd steps in it's execution and direction is a whole other thing. The one example that comes to mind is a musical sequence which is just there for the sake of making it all more weird. There are some things which I can not see making any sense at all even if the director were to personally explain it to me, but despite all these flaws, it is still one hell of a mind trip.

- ***

The Naked Prey (1966, Colonel Wilde)

2008-01-26T04:22:00.000-08:00

I was absolutely blown away by this film. I was reminded about another film which I really love, Quest for Fire, while watching it and I think I have come to the conclusion of why I love both films so much. The thing that they both share in common is that there is little to no dialogue and for the most part everything is told visually.

Meanwhile Quest for Fire was about...well... a quest for fire, The Naked Prey is just one man running away from an African tribe and trying to survive for 90 minutes. I found it to be always thrilling, intense, and at times just bad ass.

I really don't have much else to say. I liked it a lot and loved the execution of it all.

- ****

Persepolis (2007, Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi)

2008-01-26T03:43:00.000-08:00

I really hate when I run into one of these kinds of films. I am talking about the kinds of films which I can watch, not get bored by it, respect it, and admire it greatly from a film buff point of view...yet I was not blown away by it and never really felt anything towards it except for respect and admiration.

It's a great film but not one that I think I will be revisiting anytime soon. I can only admire it from a distance.

- ***1/2

Demons 2 (1986, Lamberto Bava)

2008-01-26T03:35:00.000-08:00

Pretty much the same thing as the first film (which you can read my thoughts about it here) only instead of a closed in movie theater being attacked by Demons, it is a start of the art apartment building which is sealed shut. It's once again just an excuse for style and set pieces which are always amusing. The only thing is that since this is the 2nd time around everything that felt fun and original about the first film just feels like more of the same ol' thing this time around.

It's still fun, though.

- **1/2

When We Were Kings (1996, Leon Gast)

2008-01-26T02:52:00.000-08:00

Without a doubt one of the best documentaries I have seen. The fact that it was decades in the making makes it all the better. The way it presents the film using the original footage of Ali preparing for his fight against Foreman in Africa mixed in with interviews from modern day with the people involved along with admirers of Ali makes it one of the best sports films that I have seen as well.

I know of Ali and his legacy but I never knew about it fully until watching this documentary. You really get a sense of why he was such a legend in his own time and an icon now. I loved it and made me appreciate a time in history that I didn't know much about.

- ****

Project Grizzly (1996, Peter Lynch)

2008-01-26T02:45:00.000-08:00

This was a pretty funny documentary about a man who is obsessed with creating an indestructible suit so that he can view and study grizzly bears up close. I don't really have much to say because there isn't much to it. It's funny and nothing more.

= ***

Catching Up

2008-01-26T02:38:00.000-08:00

I wanted to do a full write up for every single movie that I have seen in the past couple of weeks but there are just too many of them and I am just too lazy. So, I am just going to do a paragraph or a couple of sentences for each one.

That is all.

Oscar Nom Predictions.

2008-01-22T03:08:00.000-08:00

Its 3:10 am and I am trying to stay up all night that way I can watch the nominations being announced at 5:30.

So...here are my predictions for the nominations just because I find them fun to do.

Best Picture

Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild
Juno
No Country For Old Men
There Will be Blood

Might Sneak in: Atonement, Sweeney Todd, Michael Clayton

Might be the biggest surprise/shocker (!!) - Atonement will not get a nomination. Maybe even some out of left field best picture nomination for Eastern Promises.

Best Director

Tim Burton - Sweeney Todd
Joel Coen - No Country For Old Men
Sean Penn - Into the Wild
Julian Schnabel - Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Paul Thomas Anderson - There will be Blood

Might sneak in: Joe Wright for Atonement

Might be the biggest surprise/shocker (!!): Jason Reitman gets a nomination for Juno OR Cronenberg gets a nomination.

Best Actor

George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will be Blood
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd
Ryan Gosling - Lars and the Real Girl
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises

Might sneak in: Emile Hirsch for Into the Wild

Biggest surprise/shocker (!!) - If Gosling gets in everyone will proclaim this to be a shocker. I will instead be shocked if they were to replace one of my other 4 pics for Hirsch since I feel that its Gosling vs Hirsch at the moment for the 5th spot. The other big shocker will be McAvoy getting in.

Best Actress

Amy Adams for Enchanted
Julie Christie - Away From Her
Marion Coiltarrd - La Vie en Rose
Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart
Ellen Page - Juno

Might sneak in: this is a hard one. I put Adams up just because I think the strong BO of Enchanted and the fact that she jumped up to the A list and became an "it girl" because of that performance gives her a little, tiny, bit more of a chance. Saying that there are so many that can get the 5th spot. Linney, Blonsky, Knightley, Carter, and my friend just remined me of Blanchett just now. So, her too. I will be very curious to see who makes it.

Shocker: Blanchett gets in.

Best Supporting Actor

Cassey Affleck - The Assisignation of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tommy Lee Jones - No Country for Old Men
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton

Might sneak in - Paul Dano?

Shocker - Paul Dano?

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Ruby Dee - American Gangster
Sairose Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton

Might sneak in: Catherine Keener for Into the Wild/Kelly MacDonald for No Country

Shocker - Jennifer Garner for Juno

Best Screenplay (dont want to go get the names. Sorry)

Juno
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
The Savages

Best adapted Screenplay (dont want to go get the names. Sorry)

Atonement
Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
Into the Wild
There Will be Blood

Best Animated Film

Persepolis
Ratatouille
The Simpsons Movie

Best Cinematography

Roger Deakins - The Assignation of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Roger Deakins - No Country For Old Men
Robert Elswitt - There Will be Blood
Janusz Kaminski - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Dariuz Wolski - Sweeney Todd

Best Foreign Film

Ummmm 4 other movies and The Counterfeiters. I am out of the loop with this catagory and all the films that I could have sworn would get nominations became ineligible.

Best Original Score

I am going to play the "fuck them" card in this one and not even pick anyone who I think deserves a nomination. After reading about how Jonny Greenwoods brilliant and best score of last year became ineligible for such bullshit reasons, I could care less about this category this year. It may seem like I am bitching too much or being melodramatic but I just really don't care.

I know that I left out a lot of categories, the biggest maybe being Best Documentary, but thats jsut due to me not knowing too much about them, being too lazy, or me really not caring all that much about the category (I'm just being honest).

I will, however, say that I am really looking forward to seeing if Falling Down from Once will make it. I'm rooting for it but I dont know if it became ineligible or not.

And thats that. I cant wait to tune in in about 2 hours. I know I will be nervous, giddy, mad, and happy within the course of 30 minutes, but I look forward to it every single year. I really cant wait.

The Bourne Series

2008-01-17T01:57:00.000-08:00

I felt out of the loop with the Bourne trilogy and all of the people who just love them. I saw the first film when it first came out on dvd and I thought it was just "ok" nothing more and nothing less. I remember that I tried to watch the 2nd film a couple of times on cable and I just couldn't get into it. I just couldn't get why people loved them so much.

So, after seeing The Bourne Ultimatum get so many rave reviews and get on so many peoples top ten lists, I became curious in checking them out. I wondered if I really was missing out on things and because of this I got all 3 films and decided to see them all over the course of 2 days. I can now happily jump on the bandwagon who love these films.

The Bourne Identity is a solid film. Despite some genre cliches, it is still a very solid film. I have no major complaints and didn't think it was perfect but still great. I was interested in seeing how the 2nd film would measure up since people seem to say that its the worst of the trilogy and I was embraced for the worst. Instead, I found it to be just as great as the first film. No complaints from me at all and I liked how it now only continued the story from the first film but also added some backstory to the overall story from the 1st and now 2nd film. it seemed as if it created a mythology to everything and I was pleased to see it take that form.

Now this brings me to the 3rd film which I just loved,loved,loved.

The Bourne Ultimatum is one of the best action films in recent memory without a doubt. My friend Dan told me that it was basically a 2 hour chase film and he hit the nail on the head with that phrase. I am amazed that Greengrass was able to create such a non stop action film without the action ever getting old or annoying and without ignoring the film, and series, story and characters. It really is a great accomplishment, in my opinion, in not only the directing but also the writing behind the film. It is also very cool to see Damon fully flesh out a character through 3 films and finally with the 3rd film create a character that will be remembered for years to come.

I also loved how the overall story arch that began with the 1st film becomes a full circle but is given enough breathing space where ti could continue on through other films. After saying all of this...I also LOVED the way the 3rd film connects back to the 2nd film and in a way makes the 2nd film even better. It might be a gimmick but it is a brilliantly executed gimmick that had me smiling and wanting to revisit the 2nd film immediately.

In short and simple words...the Bourne Trilogy is awesome.

The Bourne Identity (2002, Doug Liman) - ***1/2
The Bourne Supremacy (2004, Paul Greengrass) - ***1/2
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007, Paul Greengrass) - ****

The Commitments (1991, Alan Parker)

2008-01-17T01:44:00.000-08:00

i had forgotten all about this film until now and I only saw it about a week or so ago. To make this short...I hated it.

Although I have not seen too many films by Alan Parker, I do like him from what I have seen. I always see him pop up on peoples list of underrated or overlooked directors and from the couple of films of his that I have seen, I agree. Angela's Ashes, and The Wall were good. While Angel Heart is great and Midnight Express is just a masterpiece. So, based on these films that I have seen from him, I was expecting something solid. I was just very disappointed with what I saw.

The comedy is too obvious and tries too hard. All of the characters are unlikable and uninteresting to me, at least to me, and the musical was pretty good. I will give it that. Other than the music...there is nothing that I liked or even enjoyed.I get that Parker was aiming for a feel good comedy film but it just didn't work for me at all. Looking back on it the first negative thing that I can think about is the main actor and how much I just wanted to punch him in the face. I guess when a films main character brings out these emotions from you there isn't much hope that you will enjoy it. This is the case with me.

I don't have anything else to add on. I'm sure my parents would find this enjoyable and for fluff it might just be that. To each his own, but I just couldn't get into it.

- *

Hell House (2001, George Ratliff)

2008-01-17T01:22:00.000-08:00

The person who recommended me this movie told me it was "the best film that Christopher Guest didn't direct" and he was spot on.

Hell House is an odd film to write about. I imagine that some will look at it in disgust and will be shocked by what it presents, sort of like how people approached Jesus Camp. While others, I feel, will look at it as a dark comedy with lots of dry humor. I chose to look at it as a comedy since it seems that the director is aiming for that most of time, and as a comedy it is fucking hilarious.

Hell House, for those that do not know, is a documentary which chronicles the auditions, planning, and execution of a haunted house that a couple of Christians put on every year. The twist is that they use planed scenes performed by actors involving issues of school shootings, abortion, the dangers of raves, and being a homosexual to "scare people" who are not accepting God and are not living the way that God wants them too.

The thing which I loved about the film is that it takes what could have been a touchy subject and makes it a subject that is still touchy but given that the people within it are so ridiculous and such character straight out of fiction that you cant help but not take it too seriously. I will also say that another aspect that I loved about the film is that instead of just presenting these characters and making fun of them from a distance the director, George Ratliff, gives enough background to these characters that we can sort of "get them" and we cant hate them. We actually see why some characters are the way they are towards religion. We can only laugh but not point a finger.

That is really all I have to say about the film. I will give it ***1/2 stars for now even though I want to give it 4. This is only because I still want to rewatch the film one more time to see if I was just looking for laughs too much or if the director was really aiming for laughs during some scenes. I guess the grey area that exists is too grey for me for now.

- ***1/2

Golden Globe Predictions

2008-01-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

There is about an hour left until the Golden Globe presentation begins. So, I might as well do my predictions right now just to see how everything plays out.

So....here we go...my 1st choice will be in red with the runner up being just in bold.

Best Motion Picture (Drama):
American Gangster
Atonement
Eastern Promises
The Great Debaters
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will be Blood

Why?: No Country has won almost every single award so far and I think that its a lock to win both the globe and the Oscar. As much as I want to pick There Will be Blood as the runner up I think the votes will split between No Country and Blood. So, except Atonement to maybe be the shocker for tonight given it's multiple nominations.

Best performance by an Actress (Drama)

Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie – Away From Her
Jodie Foster – The Brave One
Angelina Jolie – A Mighty Heart
Keira Knightley – Atonement

Why?: Julie Christie is a lock to win. I am 100 percent sure of this. As for Jolie...why not? Its between her and Knightley but I think Jolie is the 2nd favorite in this category just because A Mighty Heart seems to be a showcase just for her.

Best performance by an Actor (Drama)

George Clooney – Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
James McAvoy – Atonement
Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises
Denzel Washington – American Gangster

Why?: DDL is another 100 percent lock. Clooney is a safe bet for an Oscar nom and the couple of awards he has won for far from different groups and awards shows makes him a runner up.

Best Motion Picture (Comedy)

Across The Universe
Charlie Wilson's War
Hairspray
Juno
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Why?: I really,really,really,really want to see Sweeney take this one but my gut is telling me that it won't. I think its a close race between these two but the surprise box office numbers for Juno plus it's sweet nature is sure to get to the heart of the voters over the dark,violent, and odd film and musical that is Sweeney Todd. It could go either way, though.

Best Performance by an Actress (Comedy/Musical)

Amy Adams – Enchanted
Nikki Blonsky – Hairspray
Helena Bonham Carter – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose
Ellen Page – Juno

Why?: Ellen Page's performance is the heart and anchor of Juno. Everyone seems to be loving her performance and I expect it to be a lock for a win. However, Cotillard and Page have been fighting it out for awards the past weeks. It could go either way and they both will get an Oscar nom but for now I expect Page to take it.

Best Performance by an Actor (Comedy/Musical)

Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Ryan Gosling – Lars and the Real Girl
Tom Hanks – Charlie Wilson's War
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Savages
John C. Reilly – Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Why?: Depp will win this one. The SAG nominations for Gosling makes him my pick for the runner up.

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett – I'm Not There
Julia Roberts – Charlie Wilson's War
Saoirse Ronan – Atonement
Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton

Why?: Ryan is a 100 percent lock for this one. As for Ronan...why not? Her young age and her scene stealing performance in Atonement is sure to get some votes.

Best Supporting Actor

Casey Affleck – The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson's War
John Travolta – Hairspray
Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton

Why?: Despite most people calling Bardem a lock, I still think that its a close race between him and Affleck. I do, however, predict Bardem to take it.

Best Animated Film

Bee Movie
Ratatouille
The Simpsons Movie

Why?: Ratatouille is a lock. Simpsons...why not?

Best Foreign Language Film

4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days (Romania)
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (France, United States)
The Kite Runner (United States)
Lust, Caution (Taiwan)
Persepolis (France)

Why?: This could go either way between 4 Months, Diving Bell, and Persepolis. I am predicting Diving Bell to take it because of the best director nom that comes along with it.

Best Director

Tim Burton – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen – No Country For Old Men
Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
Ridley Scott – American Gangster
Joe Wright – Atonement

Why?: The Coens are a lock. I'm jsutp icking Schnabel as a runner up just because every article I read seems to be praising his directing a lot.

Best Screenplay

Atonement
Written by Christopher Hampton
Charlie Wilson's War
Written by Aaron Sorkin
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
Written by Ronald Harwood
Juno
Written by Diablo Cody
No Country For Old Men
Written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Best Score

Grace Is Gone
Composed by Clint Eastwood
The Kite Runner
Composed by Alberto Iglesias
Atonement
Composed by Dario Marianelli
Eastern Promises
Composed by Howard Shore
Into The Wild
Composed by Michael Brook, Kaki King and Eddie Vedder

Best Song

"Despedida" – Love In The Time Of Cholera
Music By: Shakira and Antonio Pinto
Lyrics By: Shakira
"Grace Is Gone" – Grace Is Gone
Music By: Clint Eastwood
Lyrics By: Carole Bayer Sager
"Guaranteed" – Into The Wild
Music & Lyrics By: Eddie Vedder
"That's How You Know" – Enchanted
Music By: Alan Menken
Lyrics By: Stephen Schwartz
"Walk Hard" – Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Music & Lyrics By: Marshall Crenshaw, John C. Reilly, Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan

And thats that.

Demons (1985, Lamberto Bava)

2008-01-11T15:01:00.000-08:00

This one just has to be seen to be believed.

The premise of the film is simple: a mysterious figure gives out tickets to a screening of a horror film to a small group of people. Once there, there is a weird mask in the lobby that scratches one person and it doesn't take too long before she transforms into a zombie/demon and begins to infect everyone that she scratches. Of course, the theater is all of a sudden sealed shut with no escape to be found. How will they ever survive...or will the even survive?

That is the plot to Demons in a nutshell. The logic behind almost everything gets thrown out of the window, nothing is explained at all, and it just becomes a showcase for style, action scenes, and gore. It's great

I really have nothing else to write about it. It really is just a showcase kind of film. Given that Lamberto Bava (Mario's son) and Argento were involved with the project, the film has a certain charm to it and becomes more that just a nomral splatter film. I even think that the film set out to be the ultimate splatter film at the time with it's over the top style.

Speaking about style, the influence that this film had over Peter Jackon's Dead Alive is very notable. When one character jumps on top of a motorcycle and starts killing the demons with a swords you cant help but think of Dead Alive's final minutes.

That's really all I have to say about this one. It's far from a great film and has a bunch of flaws but it's still a lot of fun. Its the kind of film that doesn't take itself too seriously and if you are able to do just tha towards the filmt, then you will enjoy it.

Oh...and the ending is pure gold.

- ***

Sunshine (2007, Danny Boyle)

2008-01-11T14:47:00.000-08:00

This whole film brings out a big sad sigh from me.

While watching the first hour and 20 minutes it felt like I was watching flawed perfection. By this I mean that some small factors were getting in the way for for the most part the film was just beyond great. I felt like I was watching one of the best films from last year. It felt like I had discovered THE overlooked/underrated/underappreciated film from 2007. I was enjoying myself and just kept on asking myself "Why was this film not a huge hit" and then the final 20 minutes kicked in and it made me forget about everything the film showed for all those minutes leading up to it.

I cant think of another film taking such a nose dive to blandness like this one. The sudden tone shift from an intelligent sci fi film that stood over its genre to a horror/slasher film was just too much. it feels out of place and even the overall style of the film completely changes. I will say that this whole sequence is nicely shot and is intense but it just feels so extremely out of the place that it just makes you confused. It literally just ruins the film.

That's really all I have to say about Sunshine. I wish that I could be praising it more but I cant. The last part of the film just makes me wonder about what kind of film it actually could have turn out to be without it. I imagine that it might have turned out to be one of the best films in recent memory instead of the odd and for the most part disappointing film that it is.

I still don't know what exactly to think of the film as a whole just because I just cant get past my hatred towards the last 20 minutes. I will say that its worth a watch just to see the greatness that comes before it. I jsut wish that I could forget about the rest.

- ***

Before the Devil Knows Your Dead (2007, Sidney Lumet)

2008-01-11T14:26:00.000-08:00

This film seems to split everyone's opinion. There is a group who hate it, a pretty big group who think that it's "good", and a very small group who consider it to be one of the best films from last year. I now belong to the small group who praises the film.

I can see why people are so mixed towards the film. Lumet seems to have crafted a film which sets out to challenge its audience with its characters, editing, and story. Even looking back on the film I don't think there is one thing in the film that people are supposed to "like" and "cheer for". If anything, Before the Devil Knows Your Dead is one of the darkest films that I have seen in recent memory. It's because of this reason that I loved the film.

I loved the aspect of creating characters which you just loathe but at the same time can feel sympathy for and then just seeing them self destruct for the next 2 hours. While watching the film I was reminded of Mike Nichol's Closer and how he, at least to me to me, tried to go for the same thing but I was instead left with characters which I just loathed. That's not the case here. Maybe its because of the whole heist angle or maybe its because these characters actually feeling fleshed out but I absolutely loved how at times I didn't know if I wanted these characters to succeed in their heist plan or see them get screwed over. I loved having mixed feeling like these during some scenes.

I also feel that Lumet has crafted one of the most intense films in awhile. the intensity that this film reaches at times was a bit too much for me, but I figure that that's a good sign that the film is doing what it set out to do. Few films have had that power over me and this is one of them.

I will say that the film wasn't perfect to me based on my first viewing. Even though I am going to give it 4 stars, I still had some small problems with the film. I would write out what those two problems are but they would spoil the film. I will say that I wasnt a fan of a certain scene dealing with Albert Finney and that I also wasn't a big fan of the way that the final shot was handled. It felt a little bit too easy and amateurish from such a veteran director. Apart from these flaws, I absolutely loved the film and consider it one of the best from last year.

I also might as well add that I think that Ethan Hawke and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are being overlooked for awards. In my opinion, they both give some of the best and most underrated performances from last year,

- ****

So...I haven't written anything in awhile

2008-01-11T14:14:00.000-08:00

I haven't written anything about anything for awhile now just because I haven't been "feeling it" but I'm gonna write a little bit right now since I am trying to write something about every single movie that I watch this year.

I am not going to write anything too big right now, though. This is just because I have a lot of posts to do.

And thats that.

Charlie Wilson's War (2007. Mike Nichols)

2008-01-02T07:49:00.000-08:00

My friend Dan over at The Public Enemy hit this one right on the head with his brief but perfect write up for this film, which can be found here.

Charlie Wilson's War is a film that is good, becomes great at times, and almost becomes excellent but never really achieves it. I don't know what is off about it but my guess is that the shifts in tone through out the film from comedy to drama are at times executed perfectly (when Hanks first meets Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the middle of him handling a scandal on his hands) while other times it just feels forced and not funny at all (the pilots having a conversation about girl problems before getting shot down....HILARIOUS!).

The other thing which really hurt the overall quality of the film, at least to me, was what I felt was a rushed and sudden conclusion which makes the final scene feel extremely unsatisfying on every kind of level. I seriously had zero emotions during the final scene and I wonder if Nichols really thought he could achieve just that with an audience. It just feels like the exact kind of Hollywood ending that you would expect from such a film. Sure, it might have happened like that in real life but it just feels like a bad cliche.

Apart from it's flaws, Charlie Wilson's War does contain one of the best performances from 2007. Phillip Seymour Hoffman completely steals the show from everyone and every single scene involving him turn out to be the highlights of the film. The man is one of the best actors out there right now and this is only further proof of this. I would be pretty disappointed to see this film become an Oscar favorite and get a couple of nominations. However, the man deserves all the praise he is getting for this performance and he deserves a nomination for this performance. He really does make the film as solid and enjoyable as it is.

- ***

Night on Earth (1991, Jim Jarmusch)

2008-01-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

I feel like I should just copy and paste what I wrote for Paris, Je'Taime because both of these write ups are going to come out almost the same.

Jarmusch's Night on Earth is made up of 5 short stories/short films each filmed in a major city from all around the world which all deal with a cab driver and his or her experience with their customer through out a night. We see Winona Ryder drive a casting agent through L.A, a cab driver who doesn't know how to drive in New York, a man and a blind woman having a conversation in France, Roberto Benifni picking up a priest and confessing his sins to him in Rome, and a cab driver picking up a couple of drunk workers in Finland and then telling them the saddest story they will ever hear.

I have a couple of films left to watch from Jarmuch but for the most part I really like the guy, despite me having a huge hatred towards Stranger Than Paradise. I really like his minimalistic style and I like his dry sense of humor a lot. He is definitely one of the many directors out there whose full work I am trying to watch.

Now, I don't know what it is with me and anthology films. I love the idea of them and I always expect for me to enjoy them but I always find myself saying the exact same thing after each one of these kinds of films: they are always a mixed bag. Some turn out excellent, some turn out good, and one or two of them always turn out bad. Night on Earth suffers from this exact thing.

The film contains one excellent story where Benigni steals the show as the wild cab driver who begins to confess his sins to a priest while driving him. Apart from that, the film never really reaches such an excellent point as this one. The remaining 4 stories have their highs and lows and for the most part are enjoyable but there is never anything too amazing about them, sadly. However, there are no real bad apples in the bunch, which is a good thing.

The one thing that is amazing, though, is Tom Waits score and soundtrack to the film which is just as cool as you would expect. His musical style is a perfect fit to the mood that Jarmuch evokes through out the film. The film just wouldn't be the same without it.

I really have nothing else to write about. It's far from a great film but it's enjoyable enough. It's worth watching just to see the Rome segment with Begnini.

- ***

Top 10 of 2007 as of the last day in December

2007-12-31T21:44:00.000-08:00

There are a couple of write ups that I have to do but I've decided to put that to the side and do what I consider to be the top 10 of 2007 for now. Later on in January or February I plan on doing a top 20 or maybe 30 of the year with some write ups once I am able to catch up with everything that 2007 has given us.

It has been a top notch year and there are still A LOT left for me to get to but here is the top ten as of December 31st, 2007

1. There Will be Blood
2. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
3. Zodiac
4. No Country for Old Men
5. Once
6. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
7. Ratatouille
8. Eastern Promises
9. Atonement
10. The Darjeeling Limited

I'm also going to straight out copy my friend Dan and what he did with his predictions and choose who I thought was the best _____ from the films I've seen.

Best Film - There Will be Blood
runner up - Sweeney Todd

Best Director - The Coen Brothers for No Country for Old Men
runner up - Paul Thomas Anderson for There will be Blood

Best Actor - Daniel Day Lewis for There Will be Blood
runner up - Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises

Best Actress - Amy Adams for Enchanted
runner up - Helena Bohnam Carter for Sweeney Todd

Best Supporting Actor - Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men
runner up - Paul Dano for There Will be Blood

Best Supporting Actress - Cate Blanchett for I'm Not There
runner up - Saoirse Ronan for Atonement

Best Screenplay - Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men
runner up - Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will be Blood

Most Underrated film of the year - Breach
runner up - Waitress

Most Underrated performance of the year (as in being overlooked left and right. There are a few in my opinion but I will save the rest of them for my bigger write up later on) - Chris Cooper for Breach

Worst Film of the Year - Redacted (I tried to watch it 3 times and couldnt get through it. Beyond awful.)
runner up - 300

Shoot 'Em Up (2007, Michael Davis)

2007-12-30T03:20:00.000-08:00

This film has gotten a lot of comparisons to last year's Crank and I can see why. I feel that this is because both films are aware of how ridiculously awesome and over the top they are and they are just meant to be fun and enjoyable with no attempts at being anything else . The interesting thing is that I had the same experience with both films. I wanted to love them and enjoy the hell out of them but i just couldn't. I could enjoy bits and pieces but most of the time I was cringing.

There is just something that turns me off about a film that is so self consciously tongue in cheek that it's supposed to be clever and hilarious. After about the 5th one liner that Clive Owen or Giamatti say after an action scene I just started to be annoyed by the film. When the film tries so hard to be over the top, ridiculous, and wild, I just got disconnected with the film instead of buying into it and having fun with it. I am all for the type of film it is trying to be but the execution of it all is just so force fed that it just kills any fun at all. Plus, the heavy metal music/hard rock music that plays during every.single.fucking.time. is just too much for me. I get that it's trying to be badass, but c'mon already. This plus the constant one liners, the hundreds of edits, and the forced witty dialogue between the characters just ruined any fun I was having. It just tries way too hard.

I will say that the film does have it's moments. There are certain parts during most of the action scenes that are undeniably cool and fun. It's just everything that surrounds these moments that that ruin these spurts of coolness. The other main thing which sold the film for me was Owen being cool as always and Giamatti having a ton of fun as being a teeth grinding, over the top, evil baddie.

I can see and understand why someone would dig the hell out of Shoot 'Em Up but it was just too forced for me (like Crank). The only thing I felt the film was missing were a couple of negative shots in order for the film to achieve every single thing that annoys me about these films that are trying too hard to be cool,fun,badass,clever, and tongue in cheek, but end up just being annoying and mostly cringe worthy.

- **
Sidenote: While going through the directors credits on IMDB I was very,very,very suprised that he is the genius behind the sci fi original movie - Monster Man. This is a film that I saw a couple of months ago because a friend recommended it to me. It is the definition of "So bad its bad but still hilarious". This film is seriously about a mutant monster that drives a monster truck (which growls by the way) and just chases people around with it. I am surprised that the guy went from that beyond horrible film to making this film with some top notch actors. Anyways...I thought that was interesting.

Blue Water, White Death (1971, Peter Gimbel & James Lipscomb)

2007-12-29T05:48:00.000-08:00

I have said it before in older posts but I love,love,love digging for films.

"Digging for films" is a term me and my friend Greg (over at Sex, Drugs, and Cinema) began to use one day and it just stuck. The term means to go to your video store, store, or online rental service and just go through a lot of films until you think you might have found a hidden diamond that time has forgotten and then you simply just check it out and see how good or bad it is.

I try to balance my film watching by watching a popularish/new release, a well known great film, and a film that I found through "digging" at blockbuster online or my video store and taking a chance on it. I try to watch these 3 kind of films during the course of week or two. Out of all of these 3 types of films that I try to watch I find the one that I dug through piles of movies for to be the funnest to watch. There is just something really satisfying to me when I rent a film that I have never heard about before and end up watching a great film. I guess it's the joy of discovering something by yourself and then wanting to share the gold with people. It's just fun and satisfies the geek inside of me.

In all my years of digging though films I consider myself to have found a couple of really great stand out films. Blue Water, White Death is one of those films. It is far from a masterpiece and it contains a couple of flaws but for the most part it is a pretty damn good documentary that contains a certain sense of adventure, awe, and beauty to it all.

I found this one while going through recommendations based off of The Life Aquatic and I rented it just because it sounded cool and because I thought it might turn out awkward hilarious at times (which it did).

Anyways, while trying to find a a decent poster to use for this post I decided to check youtube to see if there was at least a trailer for it. Instead, I found a fantastic video review of it by a site named FILMJUNK and it really captures everything that I wanted to say about it.

I urge you all to check it out.

....and here are some screencaps that I took while watching the film of certain images that I found amusing.The above screencap comes from my favorite part of the film. During this scene one of the divers picks up a shell and puts it on his head for no reason. Then this other diver comes out and just starts hitting the shell on his head with this punching rod that he has (in case of sharks). It might be one of the most awkward, random, and funniest things I have seen.

- ***1/2

Atonement (2007, Joe Wright)

2007-12-29T05:14:00.000-08:00

I have to start off my write up by saying that I have never read the novel that the film is based off of. I have heard nothing but amazing things about the novel and it's on my very long list of books that I have to read sooner or later. The reason I have to start off with this notification is because it seems, to me at least, that a lot of the people who have read the novel have a lot of mixed feelings towards the film adaptation. I have no idea about how well of an adaptation this is or what it kept, or didn't keep, from the novel, but what is there I really liked.

One of the constant complaints I have heard about the film from the people who have seen the film but never read the novel is how they disliked how the film had no real and fully fleshed out central love story when the whole film seems to circle around this "love story" . What is interesting to me is that this is the biggest reason why I loved the film. I loved how the film has this love story at the central of the story (along with another plot that I am still iffy about writing on since it will spoil the film a lot) and how this love story between McAvoy's character and Knightley's character never really turns into anything more than a should've/would've/could've kind of affair that is broken apart before any true emotions can be brought to the table. I liked how the 2nd half of the film follows both characters during World War 2 and how they keep on to this sad hope that one day they will be reunited and their love will come to true form.

The other thing that I loved about film was not the just the love story, the stellar performances, the great direction, or the stunning long-take, but how the film is really about a character seeking redemption for an action that she committed when she was too young to know about how big of a repercussion it would entail. I wont go into this and write much more about it because I watched the film without knowing what the film was really about and this whole storyline kept surprising me and took certain twists that I did not see coming and would have seen if I had seen or read much about the film. I think it's best experienced this way and I am pretty shocked that a lot of reviews spoil this aspect of the film.

I once again don't know what else to write about this film. I really loved it and it made me want to read the novel more that way I could see how well of an adaptation of the novel the film really is. As for now, though, it is a very solid film in my book and one of my favorites of the year.

I have to do some backpedaling and see Pride and Prejudice because if this is only Wright's 2nd film as a director...then this guy is going to be one of the best in upcoming years. The amount of confidence in his directing was one of the best surprises that I had while watching the film. And no - I am not just saying that because of all the pretty images and that amazing long-take. Although, they didn't hurt either.

- ****

From Grades to Stars

2007-12-27T16:53:00.000-08:00

I have decided to go back to rating films that I watch with the classic 4 star rating system. This is due to two reasons.

The first reason is because in the past couple of days I have had to defend my opinion about certain films and me rating them. I have had a lot of "I thought Juno was alright but I wouldn't give it an A. I would give it like 3 stars and a half" to which I reply with "Yeah, so would I. You see, my A+'s are like your 4 star ratings." to which I get "ohhhh then why do you give it an A" to then which I reply with "because I feel some films are in between 3 stars and a half and 4 stars and I don't think the rating them in stars gives them that credit. I also hate giving 9.7 out 10 reviews or ***3/4 reviews. I feel that the grading system is the easiest when this happens"

I have had that conversation about 3 times in the past month and about 10 times this past year. I have decided to just go back to the basic star system. I wont be doing any of that **2/4 kind of thing and will just stick to the full stars and half stars.

The other reason I decided to go back to this system is because I'm just bored and it will be something new to try.

I just decided to do this post that way I don't have to explain myself a couple of times when people message me and ask why I started to do stars all of a sudden.

That's all.

Gone Baby Gone (2007, Ben Affleck)

2007-12-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

In the past couple of days I have had a lot of discussions with fellow film geeks and film buffs about how great of an year 2007 has turned out to be. I still have tons of titles to watch and Gone Baby Gone was one of those titles. It also happens to be further proof of what a damn good year it has been for movies.

Gone Baby Gone is a flawed film. There is no way around that. As great as Affleck's directing may be for a first time director, there are still a couple of awkward steps in terms of direction but it's a bit excusable for the most part since this is his first film and also because he does get a lot of high quality scenes through out the film.

The other main flaw the film is the pointless character of Casey Affleck's girlfriend who goes around town with him playing detective in order to solve a missing child case. I do not get why this character even exists in this film at all. I would like to say that she adds a "fish out of water" element to the film along with Affleck but she doesnt since Affleck seems to be anything but a "fish out of the water" When shes not standing around in the frame doing nothing she does nothing else except repeat lines that Affleck just said or just look dissapointed/sad/scared, Maybe she serves a greater role in the novel but I just didn't find her a necessary character to the film and story. I thought that she was more of a distraction that anything else.

Apart from these 2 big flaws, the film is quite excellent. Ben Affleck is great at directing his actors (im guessing because he happens to be an actor. Shocking, right?) and everyone turns in a very great performance. Casey Affleck in particular turns in a powerhouse and often times intense performance as a baby faced bad ass. Earlier today my friend Dan was telling me about how bad ass he was in the film and he was spot on. Casey is the man in this film. Watching him not backing down to anyone and most of the time talking shit to people are the highlights of the film.

Given the great performances from all of the cast and the mystery/thriller plot to the film - I was intrigued the whole way through. I didn't see most of the twists and turns coming and there was always more than enough interesting things going on in the screen that I felt the time just fly by.

So, Gone Baby Gone is far from a perfect film but it is a very entertaining film made even better by the stand out performance by Affleck and the rest of the cast. Ed Harris especially delivers another solid performance which suits him just perfectly and he really has a lot of fun with his role.

The other thing worth pointing out is Amy Ryan. I have to jump on the bandwagon who are calling her performance an overrated piece of work. She is in the film for a short amount of time and although she is pretty excellent, she just never knocks it out of the park for me and the amount of awards she is getting for this performance just confuses me. I mean, she's good but shes not THAT good.

Thats really all I have to say about the film. I really enjoyed it despite it's flaws. I hope Ben Affleck goes back to writing and directing because this is a very solid debut. I have yet to see Casey in Jesse James but I also hope that he continues to get high quality work because this film really showcases the amount of raw talent he has. Watch the film just to see his performance.

- ***1/2

I am Legend (2007, Francis Lawrence)

2007-12-23T04:37:00.000-08:00

I went into this one with low expectations. The mediocre word of mouth mixed in with a lot of negative reviews made me expect something that would live up to the general feeling towards the film. Out of everyone I know, both in real life and the Internet, only one person (my friend Greg at Sex,Drugs, and Cinema) praised the film and during his appraisal of the film told me that it was "one of the best things Hollywood has done in a long time", and you know what? I agree with him 100 percent.

I may get some backlash because I actually really enjoyed the film but I just don't see the oh-so-horrible movie that people have been making it out to be. Maybe it was because I had such low expectations while watching it but I doubt this was it. I chose to look at the film as a genre film and as a genre film it is pretty great.

What the film has that makes it far better than it maybe should be is the stellar performance by Will Smith. He wont be winning any awards for this performance anytime soon but even if the film might not call for a stellar performance, he still gives it his all. He really sells the film and for the hour or so where he is basically just by himself in an abandoned New York with his dog, the film is it as best. I even think that the film is so good with just Smith by himself defending himself against his own sanity and the vampirish mutants that when the film goes into it's last act it loses a lot of its appeal.

The last act is really the only problem I had with the film. Sure, the CGI effects are pretty shitty for a film with such a huge budget but I did not mind the effects at all. I grew up watching schlocky B movies from the 50s and bad effects in movies have never and will never bother me, no matter what the budget is. So, looking past the effects the only problem I have, like I said before, is the last act.

I don't know what exactly it is but I just feel that the last act feels so off compared to the rest of the film. Maybe its because I really love the aspect of being the last man or earth or maybe it's because I like how the film refused to go into CGI heavy action scenes and relied strictly on atmosphere and Smith's performance to create tension. I just don't know but I feel that its because of the later. I just felt that the sudden rush of a 15 minute action film was unneeded in a film that was already perfect without having any explosions and Smith running around with a gun. It was still fun to watch, though.

I am Legend is a fun genre film that is made into a great fun genre film due to the stellar acting by Smith and first 2/3rds of the film. I am surprised that Hollywood let the director make such an intimate film for the most part. I just wish it could have kept on going in the same tone because it then would have become more than just a genre film. Still though, for a genre film it is tons of fun if you are able to buy into it and I did just that and enjoyed myself for an hour and 40 minutes.

In an year that gave us a lot of shitty big budget films, I am Legend is one of the better ones in recent memory.

- ***

Juno (2007, Jason Reitman)

2007-12-22T02:27:00.000-08:00

...and 2007 just keeps on turning out the goods. I wrote about how 2007 has shaped up to be what might be the best year that this decade has offered us so far and this is further proof of it.

Juno is another perfect film from a year that has given us many, at least in my opinion, of course. I once again find myself at odds on what to write. I once read that it is far easier to write about a bad film than it is to write about a great film and I have been experiencing this lately. I feel that everything that I could write about this film has already been said and written about many times before by far more better writers. Heck, just read the Ebert quote on the poster and you will basically find everything that I would write about it in one quote.

One of the many praises the film has gotten has been Diablo Cody's script and in my years of being a film buff I have never seen a writer get as much attention and hype as her. Kauffman comes close but this woman is the definition of being the "it girl". So, when I entered the theater to see this one I was really looking forward to how great it would actually be and if it would live up to the hype to the almighty Cody. In a very simple sentence - it does.

Juno is a film that has so much heart, honesty, and such a hopeful look at life that it is extremely hard not to like. The characters are simple, the plot is simple, the direction is even great but simple. It's the strength in the screenwriting that sells the film and adds that extra kick that makes it stand out so much.

What Juno also has which makes it one of the best films of the year is the number of small moments between the actors which just hit you at the heart. Sure, the film may be fun and laughs for the most part but when the film goes into "serious mode" it will get to you. It may not make you cry (it did to a couple of people around me) but it will make you go "awwwwww" because it just feels so sweet, honest, and innocent. There no melodrama to be found here.

I can't really say much else about it. I feel like just listing all the scenes that made me love it but that would spoiling it. I will say that 2 scenes towards the end just made the film to me. The first of these 2 scenes is towards the end and is one of the sweetest scenes I have seen in a long time. I will say that it involves Michael Cera and that this film fully convinced me of the talent that he has possessed since Arrested Development and will continue to have. I really hope that he goes places.

The other scene of the 2 that i mentioned is the ending. I wont give it away, of course, but it is just a perfect ending to a perfect little film.

And that is what it really is, a perfect little film.

- ***1/2

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007, Tim Burton)

2007-12-22T01:52:00.000-08:00

Holy Fucking Shit. Holy. Fucking. Shit.

I really want to go all fanboyish/Harry Knowles out right now. You have no idea. I will try to maintain whatever giddyness I may have right now and try to write down something at least half way intelligent.

I will start off by saying that I know the play. I am a GIGANTIC fan of the play. I saw it about 5 years ago and until a couple of months ago I still continues to rent it from my library and rewatching. I think I have now seen it close to 15 times. I simply love it and it is without a doubt my favorite musical ever (both film or stage). I own all the soundtracks and I even bought the lp as soon as I got my record player to start working. I am a big fanboy of the play. I'm not even ashamed to say that I know most of the lyrics by heart.

I have been following the film adaptation of it for a looooong time now. I remember when Sam Mendes was attached to direct with Hugh Jackman in the role. I remember about a year and a half ago just being left speechless when Tim Burton was announced to direct it with Depp set to star. I was left speechless not because I am a gigantic fan of Burton/Depp but because I have a big love/hate relationship with Burton and I really did not want to see him fuck up my beloved musical. I even cringed at the thought of Depp as Sweeney. It just didnt seem like a right choice at the time at all.

So, for the past year and about 3 months I have been following and anticipating this film like no other film before. Me and my friend Dan (over at The Public Enemy) would exchange links to latest spy set pictures and we would debate over little fanboyish things. Yet, we never bought into it. We both just did not want to see this film even come out half as good as it's source material. This film had to be either just as good or better in order for it to really deliver.

Anyways...I am now rambling and stretching this all out but this is only because I feel that this film at least deserves that from me.

In very,very,very simple words - this film turned out far from perfect. It turned out to be even better than perfect. I don't know if there is such a word for that but if any film deserves it, it's this one.

Burton has created his masterpiece. This is the film his career has been working up to and it is his best film to date and I wonder if he will ever be able to top it.

Burton has created a film that is pretty much a straight adaptation of the Broadway musical but he has injected it with a lot of personal touches and his own unique style to make it his own. The best thing is that he has done all of this with a lot of respect to the source material and it never seems out of tune at all. In fact, it is better than the Broadway version. He has really made it his own and as my friend Dan put it, he created a masterpiece from a masterpiece.

I am also not just saying this because I have fanboy blinders on. I'm not. I was actually on the opposite side. I was strict towards the film to the highest level going in even though I have heard nothing but amazing things from it. The film surpassed any levels that I had thought up in my head and made everything that felt old and familer to me seem new and fresh.

Burton is really at his best in every single possible way. His dark gothic/German experssionism? Check. His gorgeous moody lighting and cinematography? Check. His bight, playful, and colorful side? Check. His morbid sense of humor? Check. All of his trademarks are here but he reaches a level of command and perfection to them all that they all serve to paint a beautiful and masterful film.

I don't know what else I can praise about the film but I still feel that I am not praising it enough. I don't think I should even write about the stellar performances, singing, and songs since I feel that that's a given already.

I will however choose to write about what I consider to be one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in a film. I am not bullshitting at all when I say this too. The final shot that ends the film is the greatest thing Burton has ever done and will ever do. The mixture of beauty with such a brutal image is too beautiful, touching, and stunning for words. It will leave you in chills. This small moment is why I love cinema so much. It is able to achieve such a feeling inside that no other art form can do and this image was able to stir up that emotion in me.

Bravo, Tim Burton and crew. You have made a masterpiece and also what I consider to be the best film of the year as well as my favorite film of the year. Bravo.

- ****

There Will be Blood (2007, Paul Thomas Anderson)

2007-12-22T01:30:00.000-08:00

I was talking to a friend earlier today about how 2007 has shaped up from being a weak year because of all of those less than stellar spring/summer releases and then all of a sudden become what might be the best year that this decade has given us. We talked about how it was so great that a couple of directors gave some of their best films to date while others created masterpieces. This then branched off into how this year 3 American treasures have given us what might be either one of their best films ever or their best film to date. The 3 directors that we were talking about were The Coen Bros with No Country, Tim Burton with Sweeney Todd (more on that later), and Paul Thomas Anderson with There Will be Blood.

Paul Thomas Anderson's film is one that will stand the test of time, as will the other 3 films mentioned. It is really hard to talk about what films will be considered classics in 30 years time but I will put all my money on these three films. There Will be Blood is an amazing feat in every single sense. It's an amazing accomplishment not only in terms of directing, acting, etc.. but it is also an amazing accomplishment in terms of how truly great cinema can be when all the ingredients just match up with eachother perfectly.

Starting off with an image of Daniel Day Lewis in this years best performance as Daniel Plainview in a dark hole underground picking away at rocks while a couple of violins screech, you are immediately pulled into the films atmosphere and style. What continues from this point on is an epic in every single way. For about 2 hours and 40 minutes we see the rise of not only Daniel Plainview and his oil business but also the rise of tensions between his foes and as well as the rise of a monster of epic proportions.

I wont be going into plot specifics. This film can not be summed up so easily. I will just say that it is pure perfection and greatness non stop. The last act of the film is sure to leave most people just in stunned silence. There are also a lot of select scenes which are sure to strike up some controversy and debate between people. Anderson has created a film that is so dense with so many layers of depth and symbolism that I am sure will have everyone talking as well as having many people rewatching as soon as it hits DVD.

As I have already said, everything is epic and perfect. Everyone has been raving about Daniel Day Lewis' performance so I wont gush over that. Instead, I will just cite out Paul Dano's performance. Sometimes I don't know who deserves more praise, DDL or the actor who can actually match him in terms of talent. Dano is able to do what DiCaprio was not able to achieve and he manages to hold his own against DDL and the scenes between them are without a doubt the highlights of the film. Why Dano is not getting award nominations just baffles me.

There really is not much more to say. Everything is perfect. I saw no flaws. This is one of the best films that this decade has given us.

- ****

Phantom of the Paradise (1974, Brian De Palma)

2007-12-19T10:50:00.000-08:00

My friend Greg over at Sex, Drugs, and Cinema already did a great write up on this twisted and amazing little gem of film that can be found HERE.

So, I see doing a write up this film pretty pointless since he has said everything I would have. I will say although I have a lot of De Palma films left to watch, I think he is one of the most uneven directors ever. He aims for the skies and almost always ends up not even getting close with his story and characters but yet somehow still gets some of the most stunning cinematography and style that I have yet to see. I'm just always left feeling empty because I just wish his stories and characters would match up to his style.

However, I have long been a gigantic fan of what almost everyone considers to be his worst film ever, Raising Cain. The reason I love that film is the same reason why I loved the hell out of this one. It's as if De Palma knows that he has a silly,campy, and ridiculous story on his hands and decides to just play it up as much as he can and just go absolutely nuts on it with his style. I much prefer De Palma giving in to his style than him trying to actually deliver a great film to go with his style. It's almost as if De Palma should have been directing B movies with Nicholas Ray and Sam Fuller in the 40s,50s, and 60s than directing with Scorsese, Kubrick, and Coppola in the 70's.

But anyways....I digress....Phantom of the Paradise kicks a lot of ass. I may be sounding like Harry Knowles here but this film just fucking rocks. There is no way around it. It just simply really kicks ass. It is really just 90 minutes of awesomeness to those who buy into it. If I didnt have to return it to the video store, I would have watched it again. I loved every minute of it.

- ****

The Boxer (1997, Jim Sheridan)

2007-12-19T10:34:00.001-08:00

The Boxer is a really ambitious film that at time hits the ambitious point it is trying to reach for perfectly while other times it gets near but doesn't reach it all.

The film tells the story of a local town good guy, played by the great Daniel Day Lewis delivering another great performance, who was a promising boxer when he was a teen but was arrested and sent to prison for 14 years due to his connections with the IRA. 14 years have now passed and he is a free man who's only goal is to reopen a gym, begin boxing again, and rekindle the relationship with the girl he left behind. Of course, it doesn't take too long before his past starts catching up with him and his life is at risk.

The Boxer at times seems likes its about to become a brilliant character study when it starts going into Daniel Day Lewis' character's history and the way he wants to live now. The thing is that the film also thrives to become a political drama and when the politics mixes with the character study it comes off a little bit half realized and the two aspects never intertwine too well. It just feels as if something is off.

The other thing the film has is that it tries to be everything. It tries to be a boxing sports drama, a romance, a character study, and a political drama. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing but the film is so soaked in it's political story that you really begin to wonder why we keep going back to seeing boxing matches when it really only plays as background noise to the actual story.

Having said that, everyone from Daniel Day Lewis to Emily Watson to Brian Cox deliver outstanding performances. The heart of the film and the best thing about it is the forbidden romance between Lewis and Watson. Their relationship never falls on cliches and because of this feels more real than it could have felt if they were proclaiming their love to one another every couple of minutes and then kissing.

The Boxer is far from a perfect film. It's also far from a great a film. It's just a good film that never really achieves it's true potential but features enough great performances and the always great direction by Sheridan to make a worthwhile time.

- ***

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948, H.C. Potter)

2007-12-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

It's a pretty great thing when a comedy made in 1948 hasn't lost its punch and still delivers the goods. Its also an even greater thing when the film's subject matter hasn't dated at all either. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House after all of these years is still a delightful, charming, and often times brilliant screballish comedy.

I have often loved Cary Grant in comedic performances (His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby, Arsenic and Old Lace) and I have always felt that he really was one of the best at comedy during the time. Mr. Blandings only proves this even more. Grant delivers another comedy performance where you never really get a sense that he is clowning it up or trying too hard. Like every Grant performance (at least from the ones that I have seen so far) he still manages to act like the comedy relief while still maintaining his class and everyday man charm. It's his chemistry with his kids, his best friend, and his wife (played by an equally great Myrna Loy) that just make this film so much fun and hard not to like.

- ****

Waitress (2007, Adrienne Shelly)

2007-12-12T09:56:00.000-08:00

I am really going to try and keep this write up short and sweet.

This really is the great little film that it is becoming known for. Sure, it is far from perfect but it has so many perfect little moments and scenes scattered through out that it really doesn't matter. It just doesn't take long before the film wins you over and you are feeling for the characters.

The performances from everyone are top notch and often times heartbreaking because of brief subtle moments. Jeremy Sisto has been a favorite of mine since I watched him in Six Feet Under and I was happy to see him get a great role for once. I only cite him out because I am a fan but really, everyone is perfect in their roles. It's a bummer that Keri Russel doesn't have that much of chance at winning much and will be looked over a lot because of other performances getting bigger buzz but she is perfect in the film as well.

The film also has this sort of special bittersweet borderline tragic feeling to it all even though it contains one of the most beautiful endings from this year. It makes you wonder about what could have happened to Adrienne Shelly since this was her big breakout and watching the film from the perspective of someone who read about that whole horrible incident really makes the film seem a lot more intimate, sweet, and beautiful.

I really loved it and my friend Dan put it best by saying that the film was just "special". I cant pin point what exactly makes it feel like that, but there is just something about it that wins your heart over.

- ***1/2

Mr. Brooks (2007, Bruce. A Evans)

2007-12-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

I will watch anything with William Hurt in it. This is the main reason why I always put Mr. Brooks on my "to watch" list. I heard some mixed reactions to the film and I also heard a lot of negative reactions to it. I never bothered to read into it since almost everytime I would begin to do so there would be a spoiler alert. Or every time that I would talk to someone who had seen it they would begin with "I'm gonna spoil it for you..." and I would just stop them there.

If you do not want this movie spoiled then don't keep reading.

Just looking at the trailers and TV spots of the film made me wonder where all the hate was coming from. The logical guess was Dane Cook. I thought that it had to be Dane Cook, right? Wrong. I also heard a lot of bad things about the Demi Moore subplot. That had to be it then, right? Kind of. The real reason why Mr. Brooks is horrible is not because of one or two things. It is because of several things that just become too much and destroy whatever good things it had going for it. Oh, and Dane Cook is actually one of the best things about the film. Seriously.

The main problem that Mr. Brooks has is that it crams way too much plot, story, characters, subplots, and even more sub-sub-plots to the point where it loses focus on what makes the film so interesting at times - Mr. Brooks. First, let me list down all the plots and subplots. While watching the film I was really into it at first but then after a certain scene (more on that later) I just went into "this is fucking ridiculous!" mode and started seeing the film spiral out of control and gather up plots.

So, here are the plots/storylines that the film has going on during its 2 hour run time.

1. Mr. Brooks (Kevin Costner) trying to get rid of his addiction of killing

2. Mr Brooks being blackmailed by a normal guy (Dane Cook) and forcing him to teach him how to kill.

3. Mr. Brooks has a female detective (Demi Moore) on his ass.

OK. Lets pause here. These 3 plots are great enough. Sure, they are a little bit cliched but it could get by with just having these 3 plots. But nooooo...

4. The female detective is getting divorced and her husband wants millons of dollars. Uh...why is this here?

5. Mr. Brooks daughter just dropped out of College and she is hiding something.....she is a killer too!! (OMG!!!!!!!)

6. The female detective also has to deal with this other serial killer which just recently broke out of jail and wants to kill her. Seriously, why is this here?

7. Mr. Brooks has to save his daughter from being caught by the police.

I think that's all of them. The film just keeps on adding on so many subplots and subplots to those subplots that it might leave you in awe. It did to me. Ok, maybe I am being harsh on it because of the many silly plots and plot twists. Ok. Now let me get back to that one certain scene I mentioned earlier.

There is a scene that occurs during this film which might just be the most ridiculous scene I have seen so far this year. Demi Moore goes to meet with her lawyer about her ongoing divorce (once again..why is this in the movie? I guess it adds depth or something to her character). They grab a cup of coffee and talk about how much Moore hates her ex husband. If this was not unnecessary enough they then say bye and walk their own separate ways. As Demi is walking away a van with an open door appears and a guy just snatches her from the street. Action music kicks in, 24 kind of cinematography kicks in too, and an action scene begins where the guy (who is the recently escaped convict she put away) tries to rape her and kill her. This whole scene ends with a car chase of sorts, the van hitting another car, and Demi Moore flying out of the van for a second or two and then into the windshield of a cab. The scene cuts and ashe is at a hospital only getting a couple of stitches. WHAT. There is really little to no purpose for this scene.

I'm sorry if I am ranting but I just cant help it. It was at that point where I just started to see the film spiral down a dark,dark hole.

Also, if one unnecessary action scene wasn't enough there is another one later on in the film. Moore meets up with the baddie in the van and a shoot out (I kid you not) kicks in with some action music and the lights going on and off. I wish I was making this up. It really is cringe worthy bad.

All while this is going on...for I don't know what reasons...Mr. Brooks is busy with his many subplots. I wont go into that. I am already tired about writing on and on about this mess of a film.

I will say that the film does have a couple of good things. The Mr. Brooks storyline is actually interesting when its not distracted by other storylines. I really liked the interactions of William Hurt, playing his alter ego, and Kevin Costner. If the film would have just been them two and the conflict with the a man blackmailing them, it would have actually been pretty great. Other than the Hurt/Costner relationship the only other thing that is good is Dane Cook as the guy blackmailing Mr. Brooks. Sure, he doesn't knock it out of the park but he surprisingly brings some fun to the film and doesn't do a bad job at all.

I don't have anything witty or clever to write as the final paragraph for this long rant. I will just end it on this note: fuck this movie.

- D

Oh shit! I was about to click on "publish post" but I forgot to write about one major thing...the ending! I won't give it away but I will say that it does the always charming "wow...I cant believe that happened....oh wait nevermind...it was just a dream". It's as if the film tells you "Oh, so you think I'm being ridiculous? Well, check this shit out!" Incredible.

Three O'Clock High (1987, Phil Joanou)

2007-12-12T07:37:00.000-08:00

Three O'Clock High is a very fun, fast paced, and often times just surreal and crazy film. It certainly lives up the cult status that it has achieved and it's also one of the best teen comedy films that I have seen from the 80's so far.

The film is basically an adaptation of sorts of High Noon ,but set in a high school. The all around nice guy senior accidentally runs into the new kid at school who happens to be a violent bully and it doesn't take long before he challenges him to a fight at Three O'Clock. From then on the film follows the nice guy as he tries to get out of the fight in every single way until the showdown arrives. What's fun about this is that the film builds up a string of entertaining scenes by using the surroundings of a normal high school day. So, you have a pep rally, lunch, quick breaks between classes, and a boring science class to become showcases for fun.

The main point to why the film bursts with this odd sense of amusing oddness is because it is really just another excuse to showcase the unique cinematography of great cinematographer turned mediocre director, Barry Sonnenfeld. The guy goes all out on this one and does his work as if he is working on another Coens Bros. film. It really is what made the film stand out a lot to me. You just can't beat this guy when it comes to fun cinematography. I just love his stuff.

Another thing worth pointing out is the score by Tangerine Dream. I still don't know who exactly this group was at the time or what was their claim to fame was. I just know that I really loved their score for Moonlight Mile and now their score for this one. Sure, it sounds very 80ish but there is just something about it which makes it stand out.

Oh..and this is also known as Steven Spielberg's stab at producing a teen comedy. It's very odd that he chose to remove his name from the credits since the final product is a lot better than other teen films during that time.

- B+

Done, bitches.

2007-12-07T06:06:00.000-08:00

I am finally all up to date and caught up. Now I will make it a duty of mine to keep this up to date with everything I see and with everything that I just feel like writing about. I kind of hate having to play catch up.

Once (2007, John Carney)

2007-12-07T05:21:00.000-08:00

I loved this film. A lot. I mean I really loved it a lot.

Much has already been said and written about how charming, beautiful, and great the film is so I will once again try not to write too much about this film and will just basically echo what everyone else has already said.

I love musicals and this might be one of the best musicals ever made. Yeah, I went there. I think it is that good. It's so unique and heartbreaking beautiful at times that it feels like something that has never been done or achieved before. The only other film that I can think of is Dancer in the Dark. Even though the style can be compared because of the realistic style to it all, the execution is very different. In Dancer in the Dark the musical numbers were surreal, but in Once they are realistic in every single way. This realistic approach to it all is what makes the film the film that it is. The feeling you get when you see the two lead characters break out in song together for the first time in a music shop without any track playing over and them singing and performing on the spot is just magical. You just get chills, and this is just one of many scenes which gave me chills and just made me smile.

The film also has a lot going for it other than just the musical aspect. A lot of people tend to only focus on that, but really the film offers a lot more under the musical surface. The film presents what might be one of the sweetest love stories I have seen in a film in a long time. The way the actors perform (ha! Get it?) off eachother is just perfect and feels so realistic that you just buy into their relationship. So, when you have this perfect little love story going on with these characters and then they just start singing together, it is just so simple and beautiful. The way their relationship plays out during the film might be my favorite aspect to the whole film. It's more charming that the musical scenes to me and is the heart of the film.

Even though I will end up placing films like Zodiac and No Country for Old Men over it when the time comes to make a "top ____ list" for this year I know that this is the film that I will end up rewatching more than those films over the years to come. It may not be the best film this year but it might be my favorite at the moment.

The songs are excellent, the performances are perfect, and the story it tells is beautiful. I absolutely loved it. It's just a perfect little film.

- A+

It will also be a crime if this film doesn't win the Oscar for best original song next year.

Danger: Diabolik (1968, Mario Bava)

2007-12-07T04:52:00.000-08:00

What you see above this sentence is one of the coolest posters ever to one of the coolest movies ever made.

Danger: Diabolik is based off of a famous Italian comic book at the time named Diabolik and this is present in almost every single frame of this film. Mario Bava uses his famous style to create what might be one of the funnest and coolest films I might ever see. It really does feel like you are watching a comic book for it's entire running time and I would easily rank it up there with Dick Tracy as a comic book film that actually looks, feels, and sounds just like a comic book.

The premise is simple - Diabolik is a master thief who loves the rush of stealing stuff for his girlfriend. That's it. That's the whole plot basically. I say this because no matter what happens in the film's plot as the film goes along like a police captain trying to catch him or a rival thief also trying to catch him...it doesn't matter. What does matter is that you are sure that Diabolik will not give a fuck, steal stuff, and make out with his hot girlfriend after or while he does this. He's just that cool. It's just hilarious seeing him laugh his ass off while stealing stuff or seeing him wink at the camera like hes telling you "you know what's up." So cool and hilarious and it's meant to be just that which makes it even better.

That's really all I got. I laughed hard and enjoyed every minute of it. There were a couple of small problems I had with the film. One of which being that the film probably has about 20 minutes of Diabolik just making out with his girlfriend in his cool underground layer while a cool Ennio Morricone score is playing. You kind of get the point after the first couple of times that this happens but it doesn't matter too much because every single one of these underground layer scenes is just another excuse for Bava to explode the frame with color and style.

Another thing worth pointing out is what Bava does in this film with such a low budget, a couple of actors, and camera tricks. it's very impressive and still holds up perfectly . I still cant tell what was actually there and what was just a painting mixed in with a camera trick.

I hope I can buy this one soon in order to enjoy it some more. This one really lives up to it's cult status. It's just so...cool.

- B+

Here is the Beastie Boys music video which uses scenes from the film. Also, very cool.

Flash Gordon (1980, Mike Hodges)

2007-12-07T03:52:00.000-08:00

I was able to see this on the big screen as part of a film festival that Edgar Wright is doing over here. I didn't know what quite to expect of it since I had never seen it and have really never ever even heard anyone talk about it. I wasn't even looking forward to watching since I was there in the theater because I was looking forward to the 2nd half of the double feature (Danger: Diabolik) that this was presented with instead. I just thought of this film as a bonus with Diabolik being the main attraction.

Edgar Wright introduced the film and the first thing that he asked as soon as he got the mic was "Who here hasn't seen Flash Gordon?" About half of the theater raised their hand. He then smiled and said "ohh...prepare to have your socks rocked off" He was so right. Flash Gordon might be one of the greatest movies ever made. It's up there with Commando and Cobra as being one of the most awesome films ever made.

Edgar Wright also decided that instead of introducing the film he would list a "top 10 reasons why Flash Gordon is fucking awesome list" Although I cant really remember all 10 reasons that were on his list, I can say that he was dead on with the ones that I remember. This film is so deliciously awesome that writing a paragraph doesn't do it justice. I wont do a top 10 reasons but I will just list down things that made it awesome for me.

- Flash Gordon is just a quarterback for the New York Jets who by accident gets on a planet where they want to kill him and destroy earth. He wont stand for it. Great plot.

- Flash Gordon wears a shirt that says "FLASH" on it for the 1st half of the movie.

- Max von Sydrow is an evil villain with a magical ring that has powers who wants to sleep with Flash Gordon's girlfriend. Flash Gordon wont stand for it.

- There are half-human-half-hawks that fly around and drop bombs on people.

- Colorful and crazy action scenes set to Queen's rock score and songs. Awesome.

- CRAZY sets. CRAZY colors. CRAZY costumes.

- A showdown fight scene where Flash Gordon fights Timothy Dalton on a tilting circle which stands over a black hole and also contains spikes that pop out at random times.

- Intentional fun and campy dialogue.

- Awesome intro and an awesome finish....with awesomeness in between.

There are so many things that I am leaving out but I absolutely loved this film. Like, a lot. It's so gloriously over the top and campy with just the right amount of craziness that you can't help but love it if you are able to buy into it.

- Ridiculously Awesome

Paris, Je T'Aime (2006, various)

2007-12-07T02:42:00.000-08:00

I really love the idea behind Paris, Je T'Aime. I love the idea of gathering a bunch of directors from all around the world and having them all make a brief short that deals with love and Paris. It's just a great idea. You can't deny that.

Yet, the film suffers the same exact thing that I feel anthology films always do; You will end up with a mix bag. Paris, Je T'Aime is the perfect definition of a mix bag. There are a couple of top notch excellent shorts. There are also a number great ones too. The problem is that there are too many mediocre shorts, with a few bad ones, that just leave a bad taste in your mouth after they finis. So, when you think back on the film you find out that the film was enjoyable but there were just so many mediocre shorts that the film becomes flawed as a whole.

I enjoyed myself during most of it. I just cant deny that there were a lot that made me not love the film too much or made me want to rewatch it all as a whole. Instead, when the film finished I just felt like going back and watching the excellent ones while skipping past the bad ones.

I do hope that they keep on making these films, though. I know that New York, I Love You is being made right now and will come out next year and I think that's great news. Like I said before, I just love the idea behind these films. I just hope that the next one will turn out better.

- C+

Irreversible (2002, Gaspar Noe)

2007-12-07T01:05:00.000-08:00

I have long been wanting to watch this now infamous film for a couple of years now. When people talk about this film they are quick to mention the brutal violence and rape scene that the film contains. This is not the reason why I became interested in the film. Instead, when I heard that the cinematography was out of this world and that the Mementoesque way of telling the story backwards worked perfectly for it - I became interested.

Due to the film having an NC-17 rating I wasn't able to track down the film for a long time. I could go into a little rant about how the rating system works but I wont. I'm glad that at least a film like this exists and isn't banned from being distributed here. So, I was just happy enough to find this one and rent it.

Anyways, this is one intense and excellent film. That's the easiest way to put it. The film only lasts a little bit over an hour and a half but it's one dark journey to the end. The film has a basic revenge driven plot about a loving boyfriend tracking down and killing the man who raped his girlfriend. It sounds simple when its written down but the execution of it all is far from simple.

Immediately from the first scene you get a sense of what you are about to get into. The atmosphere and style of the film even begins from the opening backward credits. This is one of the 2 "gimmicks" that the film uses through out it's running length. This first gimmick is telling the story completely backwards. The second gimmick is it's outrageous cinematography.

The cinematography in this film is really something else. By using invisible digital edits and morphing effects each scene is one long 20 minute or longer take. The thing is that the camera never seems to stand still. It's often just falling all over the place and just spinning around while never focusing on anything except the blurs that it's creating by moving so much. It's annoying at first but if you manage to sit through the first scene that ends in one of the most violent scenes ever filmed, then you will easily buy into it and "get it". By this I mean that you will be able to see and understand what Gaspar Noe was aiming for with this effect. Which is, to give the film a unique and uneasy feeling of intensity. This is proven even further when as the film goes by and becomes less dark the camera seems to also calm down. It's as if the camera expresses the emotions that the characters it is following are feeling. So, when the characters erupt in emotions the camera erupts in a flurry of motions. This also happens when the characters are having a normal conversation and the camera just sits there without any movement. Anyways....it is just great and adds that extra kick that makes the film.

The other thing worth pointing out other than the superb direction and cinematography are the performances. The performances are so natural later on in the film and feel so realistic that the violent scenes that you see towards the beginning of the film turn into something completely else as the film progresses and you get to know the three main characters more. A couple of posts ago I wrote about Eastern Promises and how Vincent Cassel has turned into one of my favorite actors right now. This film further proves how truly great and underrated this guy is. The man brings so much intensity and heart to the film without ever being over the top or forced. He is always the best part of every film that I have seen him in so far (just watch Ocean's 12 and see how he steals the film) and he is once again the best part of this film. If there is any reason to watch this film, watch it just to see how awesome he is.

Oh, and I almost forgot to write about the rape scene and the fire hydrant scene which everyone likes to point out after having seen the film. I will just say what everyone else has said already...very fucked up stuff for sure. Very,very fucked up.

Like I wrote before - this is one excellent and intense film.

- A

2 more write ups...

2007-12-03T07:10:00.000-08:00

...will be up later on today after I wake up. Instead of sleeping, I spent all night/morning talking about movies with friends online (I am so cool) while writing some stuff here.

It's now time for sleep because I no longer have the energy to do any more write ups or talk movies for a couple of hours. I will hopefully be fully caught up by tonight.

Anyways, in the meantime, here is a picture of Kuato from Total Recall.

I'm Not There (2007, Todd Haynes)

2007-12-03T06:35:00.000-08:00

I'm a gigantic huge big fan of Bob Dylan now. I knew a couple of his songs a couple of years ago but after Scorsese's documentary about him blew my mind I was quick to get all of his earlier albums and I just went deep into his work. I listened to all of his albums up to John Wesley Harding over and over again. I saw Don't Look Back and No Direction Home a couple of times more too. I even read a book about him. Good times.

So, when I read that the guy who did Far From Heaven (one of my favorites from this decade so far) was doing a kinda-but-not-really biopic about him I was sold. I promised myself that I would go watch it no matter what as soon as it opened around me and I did just that.

My feelings towards the film are extremely mixed. I feel this way because I walked into the film as a big Bob Dylan fan, I watched the film as a big Bob Dylan fan, and I walked out of the theater as a big Bob Dylan fan. Because of this I felt that I for the most part (I still dont know what to make of Richard Gere's segment) understood the film. Or at least understood as much as there is to understand from the film from a first viewing. By this I mean that I understood all the references, I understood who was supposed to be who, and I understood and knew about some of the events that occur during the film. Of course, as I already wrote, I dont think I fully understood Gere's part. I mean, I understand what the general purpose of it and what the theme was about but it was just so odd and surreal that I just don't quite know what to make of it.

So, because of me being a fan I liked it. However, often times I was left wondering if what I was watching was just a circle jerk film for Dylan fans. I couldn't picture the film making much sense to someone who doesnt know much about Dylan. I could of course be wrong but I will never know since I will never see the film from that perspective. From the perspective that I watched it from - I don't see it making much sense at all. I don't consider this a good thing at all.

I'm not going to go into the whole "Haynes presents a film as complex as Dylan blah blah blah etc.. etc.." thing. Read any of the many reviews that are out right now for the film and you will find that there. I liked the films unique artistic approach and I also liked the film for flipping the "music biopic" genre on it's head after all of the recent films from that genre that we have seen. I also agree with a lot of critics when they have pointed out how after watching this film it is really hard to imagine anyone doing a straight biopic on Bob Dylan.

I don't think there is much more I can write about it. I will have to watch it a couple of more times to fully grasp everything the film is offering since this is one film that has so much going on that one viewing doesn't do it justice.

Also, because the couple of people that I have talked to about regarding this film have all asked me the same question of "So who did the best Dylan?" or "Who had the best segment" OR "who was the best actor?" So, I will just break it down for anyone that is wondering any of this...which I am sure all of you are *sarcasm*

If I could rank the Dylan's (in terms of getting Dylan 's actions and movements down. Not performance wise) it would go...

1. Cate Blanchett (She lives up to the hype.)
2. Ben Wishaw
3. Christian Bale
4. Heath Ledger
5. Marcus Carl Franklin
6. Richard Gere

If I would rank the segments (which I don't think is right in an odd way) I would rank them...

1. Heath Ledger (This one surprised me a lot.)
2. Marcus Carl Franklin
3. Cate Blanchett
4. Christian Bale
5. Ben Wishaw
6. Richard Gere

I'm Not There is an easy film to hate on and it's easy to call it a pretentious film. I didn't find it pretentious in anyway and watching it from the perspective of a Dylan fan I always had a smile on my face and every time a new reference would come up I would get an even bigger fanboy smile on my face.

I also find myself really hating the Richard Gere segment a lot when I think back on the film. It really pulls the film down a lot in my opinion, of course.

- B+

No Country for Old Men (2007, Joel Coen)

2007-12-03T05:59:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of films left to watch from this year, but I am pretty sure that I have now seen one of the best films that 2007 has given us so far. I'm also pretty sure that I have now seen one of the best films that this decade has given us so far as well. No Country for Old Men is as great as the hype surrounding it has made it out to be. It's even way better than the already great buzz that is has. It really is that good.

Much has already been said about it's greatness so I wont make this drag on too much and will basically just echo what others have said. The Coen Brothers have given us their best film since Miller's Crossing (in my eyes at least) and it's one that blends all of their style so perfectly that it's bound to leave everyone in awe of it. Every Coen Brother's trademark is here from the slight surreal atmosphere, the great cinematography, to the great dialogue, to the pitch perfect performances, to even the offbeat dark humor. It's all here and it's as if The Coen Brothers use each one of these elements to paint a film that is so good at times that it will give you chills and leave you on the edge of your seat often.

There are so many perfect,perfect,perfect scenes that you really get a sense that you are watching true masters behind the camera within the first couple of minutes. The Coen Brothers are now passed the point of just being "great directors" and have reached a league of perfection and mastery that few directors have reached. The confidence and execution of almost every scene is just amazing and something that you will just want to watch over and over again in order to pay attention to every last detail. One specific stellar scene that might just be their crowning achievement of their career so far is a shootout/chase scene in a hotel that is soooo good that when the scene finished someone behind me whispered to his friend "fuck, that was good". I agree with this exactly and that phrase basically sums up my feelings about the film.

There are some other things that are worth pointing out as well. The biggest of these things is, of course, Javier Bardem's performance as one of the greatest villains ever. This guy has to win the Oscar. There is no way that no one can not vote for him after seeing him in this. The man is having the time of his life with this role and he has created a performance that will be remembered for a long time to come. It's a bit of shame that this performance is so great that it seems to be drawing all of the award buzz because Kelly Macdonald, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin all put in some great performances as well.

The final thing worth mentioning is what I'm sure will piss off a lot of people when they see the film. This film might just contain one of the most "WTF?!?!!?!" sudden out of nowhere endings that I'm sure will leave most people just scratching their heads. It left me like this but I felt that it was a perfect note to end the film with because it leaves you thinking about what you just saw. I'm not just talking about the specific ending either. It leaves the film stuck in your memory and haunting you for days to come. It's been a couple of days since I saw it and I still can't get it out of my mind.

This is simply an amazing movie that blew me away. If I wasn't such a cheap bastard I would have already gone back to watch again.

- A+

Control (2007, Anton Corbijn)

2007-12-03T05:18:00.001-08:00

I've been a mild fan of Anton Corbijn ever since I bought the dvd box set that contained some of his work, which was mostly just a lot of his music videos. I say that I am a mild fan because I really like the images he creates. He has a unique visual style and that is clearly visible a lot of the time in most of his work and his photographs. Having said that, I often don't find his videos that entertaining and a lot of the time the images he presents are pretty to look at but lack much else. Ever since I watched those music videos and saw all the special features I started to wonder if he would ever jump on the bandwagon of music video directors becoming film directors. I also wondered what his film would turn out like and if it would face the same problem that I feel a lot of his videos have.

So, when I read that he was going to do a biopic on the lead singer of Joy Divison I was interested a lot. I'm not a huge Joy Division fan and I only know of a couple of songs by them, so my interest wasn't due to that. I just wanted to see what Corbijn could pull off with a full feature on his hands. When the trailers popped out I got the fear that the film would be pretty to look at but would have nothing behind it's style. I was still interested in watching it and now that I have I am glad that my fear was put to rest. Corbijn really knocks his first feature film out of the park.

Instead of presenting a by the numbers biopic (like Talk to Me) Corbijn presents a biopic that is really a pure biopic for the most part. By this I mean that if you walk into this one expecting a music biopic with a lot of scenes behind the formation and troubles of Joy Division you will be disappointed. Instead, the film plays out like a profound character driven piece. The catch is that the character just happens to be the lead singer of Joy Division. And yes, it's very pretty look at too. The crisp black and white cinematography is gorgeous.

Control deals with the man behind Joy Divison. Ian Curtis. We rarely get scenes that explain much about what went into Joy Divison or what made them stand out etc... Instead, we get the life behind the voice of Joy Division. We see how much of a complex character he really was and how much a problem he had with controlling (get it?) his life, his terrible illness, and his sudden fame. At times the motivations behind his actions are unclear, while other times he feels cold and distant to the point where we can't really understand him. I feel that this is done on purpose because a couple of scenes later we are treated to Ian even wondering why he acted in such way. A normal by the numbers biopic this ain't.

Through Sam Riley's brilliant performance as Ian Curtis we get hints and moments of him getting a clear view of what his life is like at the moment and the detached sadness when he realizes this through a subtle glance is what makes the film stand out so much. It makes Ian Curtis out to be a complex and ultimately tragic character who cant seem to even grasp on to himself most of the time. So much so that it leads to him to commit suicide. The moments leading up to this is what makes the whole film fit into place and work as a heartbreaking and complex character study of a man who just happened to be in a band that achieved fame.

This , at least to me, is one of the best debut films in recent memory. It's also another favorite of mine from this year.

- A

Eastern Promises (2007, David Cronenberg)

2007-12-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

David Cronenberg's latest is yet another excellent film from the often odd mind of his. Now, after A History of Violence and Eastern Promises Cronenberg seems to be going a little bit commercial in terms of stories and genres. However, his past 2 films are anything but commercial films and the execution of both films really show that Cronenberg will never stop being an auteur and will never stop challenging his audiences. In other words; he wont be selling out anytime soon.

Eastern Promises is a very cold, brutal, and understated film. I can see why it got a couple of bad reactions from people because of this. However, Cronenberg's films have never been the kind that you want to cuddle up with. They are far from that, really.

Cronenberg this time presents us with a dark thriller with characters that we really don't get to know in a conventional sense. Instead, Cronenberg places them at a far distance and slowly pulls us in and the more he pulls us in the more we get to know the world that these characters live in. By getting to know this dark underground world we begin to understand and "know" the lives these characters live. They remain complex and because of this we are often times left with subtle hints to give you a clue to how these characters really are. This whole method of presenting all of these characters in this way is through Naomi Watts character as she stumbles into this dark world through a naive and innocent action. The more she falls into the world, the more the world and it's characters that live in it come to surface. It's some great stuff to watch and to experiences as everything becomes more clear and more things begin to surface.

So, whenever Cronenberg is not having fun with these characters we also get some truly stellar scenes. The now infamous naked bathhouse brawl is one of the greatest scenes from this year and offers more intensity than most films do as a whole. Apart from these stand out scene swe are also presented with enough low key scenes that feature interactions between characters that when you think back on them they also stand out in your memory and make the film as rich as it is.

Another aspect worth pointing out are the performances by Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel (a new favorite of mine). Sure, everyone else gives some great performances, but these two just make the film as great as it is. Once again, these are two performances which also sadly be overlooked now during awards season. A true shame.

When I was talking to my friend Dan about the film he nailed right on the head when he told me that it reminded him of something that Scorsese would have done earlier in his career. This is a great comparison in the sense that Cronenberg has created a genre film that has so much subtle detail, a fantastic execution, and complex characters that it really rises from just being a genre film. It becomes a film that is interested more in the men behind these corrupt and violent acts than it is in the acts themselves. It's this simple aspect which puts films like this one and Scorsese earlier works in a league of their own.

This is one of my favorites of the year and another grand achievement by David Cronenberg and everyone else involved. I loved it.

- A

Talk to Me (2007, Kasi Lemmons)

2007-12-02T23:36:00.000-08:00

I really don't have much to say or write about this film other than to just type of the simple statement of "It's a very solid film with great performances"

I guess my loss of words is because there is not much to write about it. There is no profound depth. There is no outstanding flaws worth pointing out. It's also not so great that it merits of a couple of paragraphs of me praising it. It's just a solid and great film.

The greatness of the film mainly belongs to the stellar performances from the cast. Cheadle is just fantastic and bursts with charisma. You get a feeling that you are watching an actor enjoying the hell out of his role, and thats a great feeling to have when you are watching a movie. It's a shame that he will get overlooked for an Oscar nomination since it's the perfect combination of actor and script. It's one of the best performances that I have seen so far this year.

Other than Cheadle's performance you get some outstanding supporting performances from Chiwetel Ejofor and Taraji P. Henson that provide even more charm and heart to the film. The film and direction is also pretty solid, which doesn't hurt.

Really, all I can say is that it's a very solid film with 3 outstanding performances.

- A-

Time for bed

2007-11-30T05:22:00.000-08:00

Meh. I said to myself that I was going to finish up writing all the films that I have seen in the past couple of days (there are 5 more left) but I am sleepy.

I will finish up the rest tomorrow when I wake up. It's not like any of you are dying to read these.

Anyways, in the meantime, here is a picture of Robocop.

The Ten (2007, David Wain)

2007-11-30T04:57:00.000-08:00

I am a huge fan of David Wain/Stella's comedy. I love their shorts, loved their tv show, enjoyed The Baxter, and I have come to love Wet Hot American Summer.

Having said all that, I wish I could have loved this one more. Yet, dont take that the wrong way since I really didn't enjoy Wet Hot American Summer the first time I saw it either. It was maybe until the 3rd time that I bumped into a part of it on cable that I came to enjoy it. I see this happening with The Ten as well.

The premise of 10 skits about the 10 commandments is a great one and when you mix this in with the off the wall and often times offensive humor of David Wain it becomes a genius one. However, this film faces the same problem that I have always felt anthology films face, which is that you are going to end up with a mix bag. By this I mean that some turn out really great, some turn out to be ok, and one or two are just going to turn out bad. So, because of this when you think of this mix bag of skits/short films as a whole film you are left with a film that was entertaining for the most part but heavily flawed because of the couple of bad apples in the bunch. The Ten suffers as a whole because of these bad apples.

Some of these skits are hilariously offensive and brilliant at the same time like Winona Ryder and the puppet (Thou Shalt Not Steal), an homage to Y Tu Mama Tambien that deals with a woman falling in love with Jesus Christ in Mexico (Thou Shalt Not Take the Lord's Name in Vain), and a prisoner who wants to start raping another persons bitch in prison (Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Wife)

Some are just bad like Paul Rudd dumping his girlfriend for Jessica Alba (Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery), a guy who loves to host naked parties on Sunday (Remember to Keep Holy the Sabbath), and an animated skit about a drug dealing Rhino (Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness)

The others are just "ok" and pretty forgettable. I'm sure that the film will get better for me on repeat viewings but for now it's also just "ok".

- B

Enchanted (2007, Kevin Lima)

2007-11-30T04:30:00.000-08:00

This was another film that just like Hairspray, I really didnt think I would watch or think was going to turn out good. The premise from the trailers made it out to seem like Disney cashing in on the Shrek premise of making jokes about old fairy tales and when the biggest joke in the trailer is having a singing prince fall down...you can't help but cringe.

Another thing that had me cringing was when I first read and then saw Amy Adams in the lead role of the Disney like Princess who gets transported to a modern day New York. I was and still am a gigantic fan of Amy Adams performance in Junebug and I felt that she was robbed the year that she was nominated for the Oscar. Now, when I saw that she was going to be in this I thought that she was going to go the family friendly sell out route and I thought she had much more to her than cutesy cash in roles.

So, when the great reviews started to pour in and Oscar buzz started to build for Adams again I became interested in checking it out, which was something that I did not expect at all. I was planning on waiting until DVD but when an opportunity turned up for me to tag a long and watch it for free I took advantage and did so.

I am pleased to say that this one surprised me a lot. Sure, it's not without its family film cliches and flaws but I didn't expect the film to be so charming, innocent, funny, and fun. I attribute all this mainly to Amy Adams pitch perfect performance. Every single line and every single body movement is just dead on and often times hilarious without trying too hard to be funny while other times it has a lot of heart without seeming phony or forced. She really does make the movie as good as it is.

Apart from Adam's performance the film is a lot of fun as a whole.It has some great musical numbers, which was something that I was not expecting from it, that will leave you with a smile. It also has Timothy Spall (a new favorite actor of mine) doing some good supporting work as well. The plot and jokes always work and never seem like they are trying too hard either.

I could have done without the final 15 minutes or so but thats mainly because I already liked the conclusion that the story had come to and didn't feel the need to make it all a huge climax with a large action scene. It just felt out of place.

Overall, the film is one of the better surprises I have had all year. I enjoyed myself and I was smiling and laughing through out every minute that Adams was on screen. I hope the buzz for her performance gets bigger and I also hope that she is there on Oscar night.

Not counting Pixar, this is without a doubt the best thing Disney has done in years.

- B+

Hairspray (2007, Adam Shankman)

2007-11-30T04:14:00.000-08:00

I will admit that I wasn't really looking that forward to watching this film. I'm a big fan of musicals but the thought of the guy who did Bringing Down the House directing a musical based on a John Waters film that I think is just "ok" didnt really do it for me. Plus, it has John Travolta in a fat suit. Even when the film got an amazing amount of great reviews I was still a bit cautious towards it. However, I still decided to rent it as soon as it came out on DVD to see if it lived up to the glowing reviews.

It doesn't take too long for the film to win you over. The catchy songs with the genius lyrics are enough to have you smiling from the get go. It also doesn't hurt that there is a great film behind these songs. Everyone turns in a fun performance and the direction is surprisingly crisp and colorful to match with the charisma and playfulness that the film is exploding with.

Shankman is smart in keeping everything simple, fun, colorful, and well...fun. The time goes by quick and the film never drags at all. There are no weak scenes, there are no weak songs, and there are no weak elements. It really is just the perfect film to put you in a great mood.

a character in the film named Corny Collins sums up my feelings about the film perfectly when he says "You can fight it, or you can rock out to it."

- A

King of Kong is this year's Grizzly Man.

2007-11-21T14:28:00.001-08:00

Billy Mitchell wins again.

I didn't think it could happen but it did and I dont know why. I jsut know that it makes me sad and pissed off.

The academy revealed today which documentaries would be eligible this year for the Oscar. Missing from this list was the critical darling, and audience favorite, The King of Kong. This is one of my favorites of the year and is one of the best films (counting both documentaries and films) that I have seen in a long time.

This all reminds me of the time where everyone was raving about Grizzly Man yet the Academy still didnt even put it on their list of eligible documentaries to be nominated, Everyone got pissed but there was nothing anyone can do except wish something like that would never happen again and it has.

Other favorites (that I have yet to see) which were also not on the list were In the Shadow of the Moon, Crazy Love, and My Kid Could Paint That.

BOO.

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (2005, Adrian Shergold)

2007-11-21T13:47:00.000-08:00

It's hard to write about this film without sounding like I am copying my friend Dan's thoughts who recommenced this one to me.

Pierrepoint is a damn fine way to spend 90 minutes. Despite the film's breakneck (zing!) speed and pace, the film never loses the viewer or seems sloppy. It might be too short for it's own good and end too abruptly but these are only minor complaints since every minute in this film is great. There no weak scenes or anything that feels rushed over. It's all just gold.

I attribute the films greatness mainly to strength in the performances, mainly Timothy Spall's performance as Pierrepoint. Watching Spall rise in infamy as Britain's most famous executioner is great and Spall just chews every scene he is in with his subtle but still powerful acting.

Another aspect that I loved about the film is how the film chooses to present Pierrepoint. His moral code is never really questioned until he questions it himself in the film. Instead of becoming preachy and having a scene where he reflects on his actions every 10 minutes, the film presents characters who surround Pierrepoint who are instead the ones having a moral crisis or questioning what they are doing meanwhile Pierrepoint just keeps on acting like a straight arrow. It's an interesting way to present the character and it's nice to see that the film doesn't cop out at all with the portrayal of this infamous man.

A great and underrated film for sure.

- A-

Citizen Ruth (1996, Alexander Payne)

2007-11-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

I don't really know what to make of this one for now. It has the dark twisted humor that I love from Alexander Payne but I don't know why...but the film just didn't connect with me.

I felt that the film started off great with its satire aimed at aborition but somehwere during the 2nd half it just became too over the top to be a great satire for me. However, this is where the dilema sets in for me. I thought the film went over the top with its characters and I was a little bit shocked that Payne went so over the top with the material. However, I was even more shocked to find out through the special features on the DVD that the film is closely based on a true story. These characters and this whole over the top situation that happens with the pro life vs pro choice people over this alcoholic druggie mother and her unborn fetus actually happened in real life. What.

So, is a film still over the top satire when the actual event it is satirizing actually happened in real life? I don't know. I really don't.

What I did respect from the film and Paynes script is the way he balances all of his attacks against both sides. There is never a moment where you feel that the film has a political agenda behind it and I admire the film for achieving that due to the touchy subject that it is making fun of. I also greatly admire Payne for this film because this was his debut film. The guy had some guts to do this film and you have to respect that.

Another thing that was interesting to see was how the satire still feels fresh. It has been 11 years since this film came out and the war between the Pro Life people and the Pro Choice people is still as ridiculous as it was then. I found this to be a little bit sad, really.

Overall I liked the film. I didn't love it, but I liked it. It made me laugh a couple of times and Kurtwood Smith (Red from That 70's Show) was hilarious in every scene that he was in as a right wing christian who doesnt really know if he really is a right wing christian or not. His performance is reason alone to watch the film.

- B

It also hit me that I have now seen all of Alexander Payne's feature films. So, I might as well rank them for the hell of it.

1. About Schmidt
2. Election
3. Sideways
4. Citizen Ruth

I wonder how long it will take until his next one comes out since IMDB has nothing listed in the works for him.

La Vie en Rose (2007, Olivier Dahan)

2007-11-21T12:54:00.000-08:00

La Vie en Rose is without a doubt one of my favorite films of the year so far. There is nothing negative that I can say about the film at all and when discussing it I always find myself just raving about it. It really is that good in my opinion.

What works for La Vie en Rose is a combination of some very slick, stellar, and yet very subtle direction mixed with a powerhouse performance by Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf. She really and truly does become the character for 2 hours and half. Seeing her as Edith Piaf from her teenage years all the way to her last night on earth is truly breathtaking and often times heartbreaking to watch. Her performance at times could have quickly become over the top and camp due to Edith almost always being high or drunk during the film but she keeps her acting very balanced. The way she uses her wide optimistic eyes is subtle ways to give the character depth through out scenes is also great to watch. You really do get a sense that you are watching a true form of acting that we don't get too much these days. This is my favorite female performance of the year so far. I really hope that she gets her credit come award season, which she will.

The direction is also just perfect. I have bumped into a couple of people who really didn't like the crazy narrative structure (the film jumps all over the place every 10 minutes) but I loved it. I felt that through this crazy narrative the pace of the film was never slow and scenes that felt pointless at the beginning of the film would later on take another field of depth when more backstory was shown. It's a storytelling gimmick for sure, but its a fun and interesting one.

Another thing worth pointing out is the 5 minute tracking shot that occurs in the film which is just too good. This is the kind of thing a film buff looks forward to witnessing and this one delievers the goods. It's not flashy at all and might possibly one of the most subtle tracking shots I have ever seen. The added surreal touches through this shot are also a pleasure to watch. Also, the range of acting that Marion Cotillard also does in this 5 minute long take once again proves why she has gotten so much acclaim over this performance. It really is great stuff.

I loved this one a lot.

- A

NO.

2007-11-17T09:52:00.000-08:00

The buzz gets even bigger for Sweeney.

2007-11-16T07:57:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of excerpts from Variety regarding Sweeney Todd.

"While remaining faithful to the stage production, Burton has put his distinct imprint on the musical thriller, with plenty to lure awards voters, including the tight screenplay, surprising performances and, of course, the technicals."

"While Burton's unique vision has yet to result in any pic or director Oscar nominations, "Sweeney Todd" could change that. The film is unlike anything Hollywood has ever seen -- gruesome but smart, melodramatic but witty, quirky but emotional -- and kudos voters may well respond."

"John Logan's screenplay smartly condenses the legit version to under two hours. Several performances, including those of Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall, will merit attention -- though anchoring the film is Johnny Depp who offers another reminder that he can apparently do anything"

HERE is the link to the rest of the article. I expect the buzz for this film to only get bigger and bigger with each new batch of press screenings.

Piranha (1978, Joe Dante)

2007-11-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

I was able to watch what might possibly be the most famous of the Jaws rip offs the other night and for a film that is produced by Roger Corman, written by John Sayles, and directed by Joe Dante... it delivers the goods.

Since this is a schlocky film we of course get nudity and gore but what really set it apart for me was how everything was handled. There is a never a feeling of you being "in on it". By this I mean that there is never a feeling that Dante is making it campy or goofy. Instead the film takes it's subject matter (mutated killer Piranhas... on the loose!) as serious as it can without looking ridiculous. I imagine that is can also be attributed to John Sayles script.

You also know you are watching a fun film when the climax of the movie deals with these killer piranahs (on the loose !) attacking a summer camp where little kids are holding a race in the water. Great stuff, for sure.

Thats about all I can write about for this one. It's a very fun B-Movie that is easy to enjoy if you like the genre, which I do quite a bit.

- B

On the run from Johnny Law....

2007-11-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

...ain't no trip to Cleveland

Very Early Oscar Picks..

2007-11-15T07:53:00.000-08:00

It seems that screener's have started to leak online and this can only mean one thing: oscar season has officially begun!

So, I thought that I would do a "very,very,very early oscar picks" since it will be fun to pick out what will get nominated and win before the season goes into full swing. You know, the time when some movies become locks while others become disappointments.

Here are my picks as of right now. These are just based on early buzz and just gut feelings.

Best Picture

No Country For Old Men
Atonement
There Will be Blood
Sweeney Todd
Juno

Will Win: No Country For Old Men

Best Director

Coen Bros. for No Country For Old Men
Tim Burton for Sweeney Todd
Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood
Mike Nichols for Charlie Wilson's War
Joe Wright for Atonement

Will Win: The Coen Brothers

Best Actor

Daniel Day Lewis for There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd
Tom Hanks for Charlie Wilson's War
Denzel Washington for American Gangster
Josh Brolin for No Country For Old Men

Will Win: Daniel Day Lewis for There Will be Blood (I feel like this the 1 of 4 early locks for this year)

Best Actress

Julie Christie for Away From Her
Ellen Page for Juno
Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose
Helena Bonham Carter for Sweeney Todd
Laura Linney for The Savages

Will Win: hmm this is a tough one but for right now I am going to go with Julie Christie winning oscar night meanwhile Ellen Page and Marion Cotillard win a lot of other awards from critics and etc...

Best Supporting Actor

Javier Bardem for No Country For Old Men
Cassey Afleck for The Assassination of Jesse James...
Phillip Seymour Hoffman for Charlie Wilsons War
Hal Holbrook for Into the Wild
Alan Rickman for Sweeney Todd

Wild Card: I consider Foster to be a biggest wild card for 3:10 to Yuma but I wouldn't be surprised if Vincent Cassel (for Eastern Promises) Steve Zahn (for Rescue Dawn) or Sacha Baron Cohen (for Sweeney Todd) were to sneak in.

Will Win: Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men (Lock number 2)

Best supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett for I'm Not there
Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton
One of the girls from Atonement

I think this is all I can come up with right now. I consider this a blurry area for this year since there are not that many stand out performances that I am aware of. Plus, all the buzz surrounding this category seems to only be pointing at....

Will Win: Cate Blanchett (Lock number 3)

Best Original Screenplay - Diablo Cody for Juno (Lock Number 4)

Best Adatped Screenplay - Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will be Blood

Best Cinematography - Atonement or Assassination of Jesse James

Best Score - Jonny Greenwood for There Will Be Blood (I want to say that this is a lock due to the great buzz in every single review so far but it's still too early to tell)

Best documentary: King of Kong

Best animated Film: Ratatouille

I also expect Atonement and Sweeney Todd to pick up a lot of other nominations in the costume/set/editing/sound department.

So... there you have it. These are my early,early,early picks at the moment. I have yet to see basically any of these films but it will be fun seeing how some of these films will hold up against their buzz (Charlie Wilson's War/Atonement) while it will be another kind of fun to see some of these films come out of left field and become crticial darlings (Sweeney Todd/Juno)

I do have a couple of more early thoughts/predections

- I feel that if P.T.A. and the Coen Brothers end up going head to head for best director the academy will go with the Coen Bros and give P.T.A. an oscar for his screenplay.

- DDL will without a doubt win the oscar. The buzz sorrounding this performance is tremendous and DDL has proven to be a favorite to the academy.

- Sweeney Todd will surprise everyone. The buzz surrounding this film is also getting bigger and bigger by the week.

- Juno will be the love/hate film of the year.

- Zodiac will get no love but might get a surprise nomination in one of the main category's. I wouldn't be too shocked to see RDJ or Fincher become the ultimate wild card pick of the year.

Thats all for now.

EDIT: Here are some more little thoughts...

- There seems to be ZERO buzz surrounding any foreign films at all. The Orphanage is the only film that comes to mind but I attribute that films early buzz to Del Toro's name being attached to it.

- Lust, Caution (as much as I loved it) will get ZERO nominations. It just got too many mixed reactions to transfer over well to the academy. This will also,very sadly, not be the film that will break down the taboo surrounding films with an NC-17 rating. I guess Tony Leung's balls are too much to some people.

- Sorry, Woody Allen, better luck next year...

- I have a gut feeling that Before the Devil Knows Your Dead will become a dark horse in the upcoming months.

- Eastern Promises...dark horse? Maybe.

- I just noticed that I forgot to put Into the Wild in a lot of categories...oh well. I feel that this one, Rescue Dawn, and Michael Clayton have already come and gone too soon.

Catching Up..

2007-11-13T05:35:00.000-08:00

The Great Escape (1963, John Sturges) - A+
Rescue Dawn (2007, Werner Herzog) - A-
Cruising (1980, William Friedkin) - C+
Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003, Kazuhisa Takenochi) - B-
The Knack... and How To Get It (1965, Richard Lester) - B+
Hot Rod (2007, Akiva Shaffer) - B
Point Break (1991, Kathryn Bigelow) - Awesome
Troll 2 (1990, Claudio Fragasso) - Lived up to its infamous hype.
Explorers (1985. Joe Dante)- B

Just because some of you might be wondering what Interstella is...here is a trailer for it.

It might be the gayest or coolest thing I have ever seen.

I will also start doing some write ups with the next batch of movies I see.

What I've Seen Lately

2007-11-03T03:27:00.000-07:00

The Holy Mountain (1973, Alejandro Jodorowsky) - uhhhh ?
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (2002, Sam Jones) - B+
The Phantom of the Opera (1925, Rupert Julia) - B
The Dream Team (1989, Howard Zieff) - B
Curse of Frankenstein (1957, Terence Fisher) - A-
Reign Over Me (2007, Mike Binder) - C+

I also spent a lot of time this past week watching the first season of Dexter which ended up living to the hype. I cant wait to start watching the second season.

Will I be doing a full write up on any of these movies? I doubt it.

Update

2007-10-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated this blog for a long time it seems. Its mainly due to me being burnt out because of the film festival, going to a lot of unnecessary job related things that have nothing to do with me, and just being lazy.

I'm not going to write anything on the following films. I'm just going to write the title and what I gave them. This is mainly due to me not really wanting to write much about movies right now since I'm in the middle of writing a huge write up for my job.

So, here are the films that I have seen from the past 3 or so weeks . I might do a full write up on them later on, but for now I am just not feeling it.

Chopper (2000, Andrew Dominik) - B+
3:10 to Yuma (2007, James Mangold) - A
Monster Man (2003, Michael Davis) - ahahahahahahahaha
The Darjeeling Limited (2007, Wes Anderson) - A-
Lust, Caution (2007, Ang Lee) - A
Night of the Comet (1984, Thom Eberhardt) - B
Ills aka Them (2006, David Moreau & Xavier Pauld) - B+
The Odd Couple (1968, Gene Saks) - A

Another Longer Day..only just a lot longer.

2007-10-10T02:27:00.000-07:00

Im not going to write too much. I will just use this as logline and write a little bit since I am tired and I am too busy with In Rainbows at the moment.

Well, first of all, I arrived to the festival today kind of early since I was expecting to see my most anticipated film of the festival today (La Antena aka The Aerial). I would only end up being disappointed and kind of pissed because they decided to cancel the screening at the last moment (same thing happened yesterday with this film).

So...I could either wait 3 hours to see the next film in the festival or I could find another film to check out instead. I went with the later choice and ended up with a last minute ticket to The Darjiling Limited (Im not going to bother looking on how you spell it right now).

I went into the film not expecting too much. I am a gigantic fan of Wes Anderson but this one had me a little bit worried from the moment it was announced and suddenly came out.

I was very pleased to see Wes Anderson pull a fast one on me and I got one of the best films of the year so far from it. It really is one of the best films from Anderson and shows a completely different side to him and the stories that he can tell. I will be writing a lot more about this one soon but for the time being I will just say that I loved it and that I know that it will only get better with repeat viewings. Thank you Wes Anderson for still being one of the best filmmakers out there. A-

I'm taking too long. I'm just gonna write down the films I saw today.

Retrospective

Vamonos Con Pancho Villa (Mexico, 1935, Fernando de Fuentes) Let’s go with Pancho Villa! is the disenchanting story about the Mexican revolution and a group of ranchers who due to their courage earned the nickname of “los leones de San Pablo” (the Lions of St. Peter). C

Documentaries

Special Circumstances (USA/Chile, ) Special Circumstances follows Chilean exile Héctor Salgado as he returns to Chile from the US to seek and confront the men who imprisoned and tortured him, and killed his friends after the coup of 1973. B+ (On a sidenote: I was really happy to hear that this film got picked up by PBS and that it has been picked up for other festivals as well. It will be shown sometime next year on TV.)

Madres aka Mothers (Argentina, Eduardo Felix Walger) The story of 16 mothers from the group “Madres de Plaza de Mayo Línea Fundadora” (Plaza de Mayo´s Mothers, founding branch) Only 4 mothers from the original group, formed in 1977, were interviewed. This documentary shows the struggle to rescue their children’s memories and uncertainty by demanding answers from the government that made over 2,000 people disappear in the late 70's. A

Feature Films

Una Novia Errante aka A Wandering Bride (Argentina, Ana Katz) Ines and her boyfriend have an agonistic argument while traveling on a long-distance bus. They are going to “Mar de las Pampas” out of season, a holiday resort where they have planned to spend a short holiday. The bus stops. Ines gets off the bus, realizing that her boyfriend has not followed her. Ines wanders through the woods, learns archery and meets kind strangers that become friends. B+

Thats it for now. Tomorrow schedule will be a lot easier and I hope that it will deliver some other great films.

Also...In Rainbows is damn good. Thank you Radiohead for being the best band out there.

The First of Many Long Days to Come

2007-10-09T02:26:00.000-07:00

To anyone that doesnt know...this week is my first week covering a film festival as a film journalist. Dont expect reviews for any of the big indie/festival favs since this whole film festival is only focused on films from latin countries or at least films that deal with latin culture.

I will be doing full in detail write ups and some other stuff as well, but for the time being, I am just going to use this post as a log of the films that I saw today. I'm doing it this way because that it way it wont be too hard tracking them all down next week when I do my write ups for each of them.

Plus, it's just impossible to write or do anything because I have no free time at all because of this festival. I am literally watching movies from 12 pm to 1 am for this whole week.

Today however was a long boring day because the first half of the festival was canceled due to some scheduling problems.

Anyways.... here is the log for what I saw today....and I might as well just give them a quick grade....and I might as well write a very,very,very,very brief plot outline for each of them that way I don't get any of them mixed up.

Monday - 10/8

South American Shorts

Um Ramu (Brazil, Juliana Rojas & Marco Dutra, 15 min.) A woman notices a small green leaf growing out of her arm. B-
La Escala Benzer (Argentina, Martin Deus, 21 min.) -A man who works testing mints by kissing woman accidently has one of his testing subjects fall in love with him. B
Catalina (United States, James Katz, 30 min.) - A man falls in love with his maid. He also has a lot of nightmares. Really bad. F
Juanito Bajo el Naranjo (Columbia, Juan Carlos Villamizer, 9 min.) - A little kid has an orange tree grow out of his head after lying to his parents about eating an orange. D

Feature Films

Caixa Dois aka Money on the Side (Brazil, Bruno Barreto) - A devious businessman deposits some money in his secretary's (and lover) account. But a typing mistake sends the money to an honest woman's account, whose husband had just been fired. B

El Corazon de la Tierra aka The Heart of the Land (Spain/Portugal/UK, Antonio Cuadri) - Tensions mount in an Andalusia mining town between local Spanish workers and their British employers. C-

Thats it for now. Its 3 am, Im dead tired, and I have to be up in a couple of hours. Hopefully tomorrows schedule (which looks a lot better than todays) will have more great films than todays did. Plus, tomorrow will be a full 12 hour day of films with no last minute cancellations (I hope).

Hotel Chavalier

2007-09-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

http://stage6.divx.com/user/zzonde/video/1679920/Hotel-Chavalier

Update...

2007-09-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Everything is finally all caught up. Finally.

In other news....I had a very important meeting yesterday. I had to sign something promising that I would not write online or tell anyone what exactly it is, but I can say that something big is around the corner for me. Very big. I couldn't be happier and things are going to be very different for me starting next year.

The reason that I mention this is because I have this blog and the people who read it to thank for this good news and everything that is happening right now and going to happen soon

The Music Man (1962, Morton DeCosta)

2007-09-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

I loved every single minute of this great musical. It's been on my "to watch" list ever since it made the first cut of the AFI top 100 list. It lived up to its reputation and I cant picture anyone hating this one. Every single musical number in this film is perfect also which is great because there are plenty in this one.

Thats it. Check it out if your a fan of musicals.

- A

Stalker (1979, Andrei Tarkovsky)

2007-09-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

My mind is still blown by this one. The best sci fi film ever made? Yes.

I still cant stop thinking about this film and the more I think about it the more brilliant the film gets. This is my first film from Tarkovsky and the hype surrounding him lived up and if any of his other films are even half a good as this one, I can see why he is so loved.

That is all. Just go watch it. It will blow you away with its profound greatness.

- A+

Breakheart Pass (1975, Tom Gries)

2007-09-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

Bronson plays a killer who is thrown into the middle of a mystery as he is being transported on a train to place where he will face his death. Given that this is a Bronson movie, it doesn't take long before hes running around on the train killing people and people are running around the train trying to kill him.

Thats really about it. It's a fun action film but its nothing too memorable and only features one truly great action sequence (the one in the poster). Most of the other action sequences are nothing too special and are only great to see because of Bronson's charisma.

- B

Little Children (2006, Todd Fields)

2007-09-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

......

...

.......

I still cant make up my mind over this one. I thought I would be able to by now but I still cant.

This was such a mix bag of a film for me. For ever 5 scenes that I really loved, there were 5 scenes that made me cringe.

Where to begin? The lead characters lack much depth and the few hints of depth that they have are cliched to the point where they just seem like any other character from any other film that deals with *DUN DUN DUN* the horrors lying underneath suburbia (!!). That's not to say that I wasn't invested with the characters. Wilson and Winslet do a great job with the material that they have and if it wasn't for their acting I don't think that I would have even cared for the characters or the film itself. The way their story is handled can be seen from a mile away and the "twists" that occur during their storyline are anything but twists. The conclusion/climax of the film where we finally get to the end of the film and their story is just ridiculous. To anyone who has seen the film - you know what I'm talking about.

That whole storyline didn't bother me too much. The acting really saved it along with some sparks of greatness. The part that really bothered me with the film is the pedophile subplot aka "The B story" because thats all it really turns out to be, a B story.

By this I mean that the pedophile storyline really doesn't even affect the main storyline about the relationship between Winslet and Wilson. Maybe it serves to point out the main theme of the film some more, but although its nice to say that a storyline furthers a film theme, its another thing for the storyline to have no purpose to the main plot. The way this whole story concludes is just "......." You are just left thinking why the film was 30 minutes longer if it was only going to end this storyline the way it does.

If you didn't already get it from the previous paragraphs - the conclusion to both storylines are lame. Very lame.

The other thing that I want to write about is the main thing that seems to divide people it seems, and that's the voice over narration. Sometimes I loved it, other times I didn't like it because it was just telling me everything that I was already seeing through the actors actions, and other times it was just so forced that it made me cringe. The perfect example of this being the football game sequence.

This whole write up may seem like I really disliked the film, but I really did not. I never thought it was slow and I don't think its a bad film at all. I just think that its not as great as it thinks it is and doesn't deliver any emotions to its audience to the point where the audience actually cares about whats happening. Instead, the film just leaves you feeling cold, distant, unattached, and mixed about your emotions.

I still don't know what I exactly thought of the film but for now it gets a B from me until I can maybe think about it some more or watch it again.

- B

The Straight Story (1999, David Lynch)

2007-09-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

I didn't know what quite to expect from this one. This is mainly because it holds the creepiest title ever on a dvd cover...

"Walt Disney presents a film by David Lynch"

I was expecting a very watered down version of Lynch to the point where you couldn't even tell that it was Lynch behind the camera. All of my doubts where put to rest after the first scene. Lynch makes his mark known from the first second when the film begins with a great crane shot that lasts about 5 minutes and sets up the basic mood for the film.

From then on Lynch delivers a film which is so simple that it is really hard not to like. Thats not to say that the film is not "Lynchian" The famous atmosphere that Lynch has been able to make his trademark is evident here. He uses music, sound design, and simple but yet great cinematography to tell this story that sometimes even becomes tempted to go into the surreal world that Lynch is known for. The key moment of this being Straight's encounter with a woman who is hysterical because she always hits deer on her way home.

There is also the trademark Lynch fire and eerie glows as well. Of course.

The Straight Story is a very simple yet profound film. Although there are few scenes of dialogue, every single world is believable and feels heartfelt from the actors. The climax of the film is also simple yet heartbreaking in such a great way that one has to admire Lynch for keeping it as simple as it is.

- A-

Murder by Death (1976, Robert Moore)

2007-09-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

i bumped into this film after watching Clue. After I read the synopsis and read that it was written by Neil Simon, It wasn't long before I put it at the top of my queue and waited for it to arrive. The film did not disappoint and it is a must watch for anyone who has seen a film from the Thin Man series, seen an Agatha Christie adaptation, or knows who Sam Spade or Charlie Chan are.

What Neil Simon does in this one is a simple but fun premise. He takes all of these detectives, who have been made famous through all of their films, and throws them into a dinner party, that is hosted by Truman Capote (yes...the Truman Capote) where they must solve a murder case through the course of the night to see who is the best detective of them all.

Of course, the comedy is over the top and silly, but it is always hilarious. Everyone goes all out with their characters from Peter Sellers as Charlie Chan to Peter Falk as Sam Spade. Seeing all of these actors play off from eachother in this premise is a lot of fun and has at least one hilarious moment every 10 minutes.

The only problem is that while the film is always silly, it becomes a little bit too much for its own good towards the end. The twist, although funny, is too over the top to the point where it makes you feel that you have been cheated out of a great conclusion that would leave you laughing given the great build up to it.

Still, if you take away the final 10 minutes you are left with 80 minutes of great comedy. I loved it so much that I saw it twice before I returned it and I cant wait to buy it.

- A-

Time for some more updates that will lead into big news (for me)

2007-09-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

ok.....

No More updates for now

2007-09-24T09:16:00.000-07:00

As if some of you care....I'll post some more later on since I have to go to work now.

The Naked Kiss (1964, Samuel Fuller)

2007-09-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is the third film that I have seen from Samuel Fuller and I am once again completely blown away by him. I can now see why so many directors have named him as an influence and why he is considered to be ahead of his time.

The Naked Kiss is an odd one to write about. Is it camp? Is it trashy? Is it noir? Is it pulp? Is is melodrama? It's been a couple of days since I have seen it and I still don't know. It's all of the above and much more.

The Naked Kiss starts off with this great scene...

Perfection.

After this scene the film picks up a couple of years later where the prostitute in that intro is trying to live a normal life in a nice little town. It doesn't take long before she starts to find out that everything is not as perfect as it seems. If this wasn't enough, the film then spirals into a nightmarish murder mystery that touches on pedophilia in a way that disturbs and haunts more than it scandalizes and exploits. The scene where this all comes together is one of the most memorable and eerie things I have ever seen in a film.

The entire film is something to be in awe of. It's truly a one of a kind film that is in its own odd genre which doesn't even exist. The film is just in the dark world of Samuel Fuller. It's the kind of world that can only be captured and exist on film.

Check this one out if you are a fan of Blue Velvet. I can see why there are so many comparisons between the two film. They would serve as a great double feature of a nightmarish view of the suburbs.

- A

Hell Comes to Frogtown (1987,Donald G. Jackson & R.J. Kizer)

2007-09-24T05:25:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to copy paste the plot outline for this one because its just too good.

"'Hell' is the name of the hero of the story. He's a prisoner of the women who now run the USA after a nuclear/biological war. Results of the war are that mutants have evolved, and the human race is in danger of extinction due to infertility. Hell is given the task of helping in the rescue of a group of fertile women from the harem of the mutant leader (resembling a frog). Hell cannot escape since he has a bomb attached to his private parts which will detonate if he strays more than a few hundred yards from his guard."

Given this plot, I was expecting something that was "so bad it's good", but instead got a film that knew it was silly, and had as much fun as possible with its premise. It has a lot fun and the fun over comes the flaws, which are many. But then again how can someone not expect something liek this to be flawed?

I just wanted a film like this to be as fun as possible and this one delivered with its cartoonish over the top style and non stop antics. It left me smiling a lot of the time, and thats all I wanted from it.

- B

Clue (1985, Jonathan Lynn)

2007-09-24T05:15:00.000-07:00

There is not much to say about this film other than it's often hilarious, dark, and flies right by because it's a lot of fun.

I can see why it has achieved a cult status and the quotes that you can do with this one among friends is endless.

A lot of fun. That's about it.

- B+

P.S. - Tim Curry rocks the box in this one.

Miracle Mile (1988, Steve de Jarnatt)

2007-09-24T04:57:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to check this one out after having this film recommended to me various times.I wish I could have seen it a lot sooner because it is a GREAT film despite its little flaws.

All you have to do is read the tag line on the poster to know what your getting into. "There are 70 minutes to the end of the world. Where can you hide?" The tag line of the film does not disappoint and after a 20 minute introduction to the characters we are thrust into this manic world where the world might or might not be ending in 70 minutes.

The "joy" then comes from seeing what the lead character will do for those 70 minutes as he tries to save a girl he just met, escape from LA, and find a helicopter pilot. Of course even hes not sure if the world will end or not. We are also not sure of this and as every minute passes, and things become more crazier, we are still not sure what will happen. This simple aspect and gimmick to the film works perfectly and the final 20 minutes of the film contain some of the most intense sequences that I have seen in a film ..

Some people might laugh at the film. They will call it stupid or laugh at how the films is a prime example of the fashion and times of the 80's. But if you are able to get past the leg warmers and mullets then you will find a heartbreaking and often intense film that truly feels like an adventure.

- A

The Tales of Hoffmann (1951, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)

2007-09-24T04:47:00.000-07:00

A beautiful film.

The colors, sights, and sounds that this film has to offer are once again one of a kind and everything that I expected from The Archers doing a ballet opera. I only wish that I could have loved some segments from this film as much as I did others.

However, there some moments in this film that will stick with you for a long time. I also expect the film to grow on my with some more viewings.

- B+

Mon Oncle (1958, Jacques Tati)

2007-09-24T04:35:00.000-07:00

This one followed Play Time and it was also a very fun watch to see in a theater. However, I own and have watched this film before, and the same problems that I have always had with it seem even more bigger on the big screen. It also doesn't help that it had to follow Play Time.

The problem that I have with Mon Oncle is that I have always felt that it is slow at times. I'm not saying that is too slow but compared to M. Hulot's Holiday (and now Play Time) the pacing in this one is a lot different. Also, instead of having many small gags leading up to a big set piece, we are mainly just treated to a number of set pieces that take a lot of time.

But when the film picks up and finds its place, it is once again another showcase of Tati's highly imaginative and hilarious gags. The satire in this one is also another aspect to admire and also serves to show how great Tati really was.

- A-

Play Time (1967, Jacques Tati)

2007-09-24T04:19:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough that my first viewing of this film was in the theater. I have long heard of how brilliant,genius, and amazing this film was. I have long held off from viewing it because I was hoping that I would one day be able to see the new Janus/criterion print on the big screen since a couple of theaters around here have shown it in the past couple of years.

The wait was worth it and seeing Tati's elaborate sight gags on 70mm and on the big screen was just glorious. I even fear that watching it now on a normal tv will not do the film justice. Plus. the atmosphere of people laughing along with you added a lot to the fun of the film.

Tati's film is layered with gags to the point where there will be 3 gags going on in the same time, if not more. The gags also almost never stop and while there is no "main story" Tati's biting satire on the future is spot on and is always hilarious to see how his M. Hulot character goes from one scenario to another causing mayhem in this surreal universe where giant buildings of glass are the only things that seem to exist around the world.

I really just loved this film. I can not praise it enough. It is easily one of the best films I have ever seen and with only one viewing it has entered my top 20. It really is a masterpiece on every single level.

While reading up on the film I found this quote by Truffaut that perfectly sums up the film:

"a film that comes from another planet, where they make films differently"

- A+

WAyu Behind...Again..

2007-09-24T04:13:00.000-07:00

I'm way behind once again.

I now have 9 write ups to do.

They will be short.

Julius Caesar (1953, Joseph L. Mankiewicz)

2007-09-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

An already great adaptation of Julius Caesar to the screen becomes memorable because of the performance of a young Brando as Mark Anthony. Sometimes I really forget of just why Brando is considered by many to be the greatest actor of all time. I never put him in any of my "favorite actors" list but sometimes when TCM is showing On the Waterfront or Streetcar Named Desire , I once again remember why he is loved so much.

As I was watching Julius Caesar I was waiting for Brando to show up and see if he could live up to the hype once again. It doesn't take too long before he shows up and once he does he destroys the film. He makes the film suddenly become very intense and every single eye movement and line of dialogue is just great to watch. It didn't take long before I was remembered, once again, of why Brando is so loved. This is good enough proof of the talent and presence the man brought at the time. It's also a fun bonus to see him doing Shakespeare.

Brando isn't the only thing that's good about the film, though. James Mason's performance as Brutus is almost just as great and he too helps out in the making the film memorable. When both of the actors share screen time it is a real treat to see. It's worth watching just for this alone.

- B+

To Live and Die in L.A. (1985 , William Friedkin)

2007-09-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

What could have been a by the numbers cliched cop drama from the 80's is actually a little gem of a film. Due to Friedkin's eye for action, the film turns into a gritty and often brutal film that plays with the cliches of the genre. There are certain twists and character developments which also make this stand out from the genre. On top of all of this what really sets this one apart and makes this one a great one to find is the impressive chase scene which happens in the second half of the film. It is easily one of the best I have seen so far and it easily tops the famous car chase seen in Friedkin's previous cop film, The French Connection.

If you are able to watch this one on its own merits and not compare it to The French Connection then you are sure to find a very entertaining action film that deserves more love.

Plus, Willem Dafoe chews up every scene that he is in as the bad guy.

- B+