'Sup -
It's time for me to weigh in on the year thus far in movies. To sum it up, "Memento" was brilliant, and everything else sucked. But, naturally, I like to go into detail, and I will below. It took all the way until April to actually see a film that was a 2001 release. I had spent the year up till then seeing only the films from 2000 that had been Oscar-nominated. What did I miss, really? Do I mourn having passed on "Double Take"? Did the world stop when "Antitrust" came and went? How about "Valentine", "The Wedding Planner" and "Head Over Heels"? Crap, crap, crap.
The only one I regret missing is "Hannibal", which I still may take in now that it's at the cheap house. Ridley Scott demands the theater, even if it's a film based on a really bad book. I'll probably also see "Blow" at some point. I have also joined SAG's Film Society, which is a club I got in whose members pay $68 bucks and you get two tickets to 36 movie screenings - that's the equivalent of $648 in movie tickets! Woohoo! So, I'll be off to the theater ALOT. The next couple of screenings are "Moulin Rouge!" and "Pearl Harbor".
On we go:
CHOCOLAT (**) - OK, so this is a 2000 release, but I haven't reviewed it here on the website yet. This movie had to have been greenlighted in order to win Oscars. But the fact that it won ZERO awards is testament to how this film actually plays. If anyone remembers, I found the plot of "Finding Forrester" very familiar (and I still haven't found the EXACT film it reminded me of. Thanx for all the suggestions). Well, the plot of "Chocolat" is equally familiar: Oh no, this outsider sure is going to change our uptight ways! It's basically "Footloose" with better music. So, where were "Footloose"'s Academy Award nominations? You can't deny the talent they brought to "Chocolat", from the acting and directing, to the cinematography and the great score by Rachel Portman. So, if you don't find it familiar, you could get some enjoyment out of it 'cause it's done so well. But I found it to be moralistic mumbo-jumbo with no new story to tell. I'm still upset that it took a Best Picture nomination away from "Requiem for a Dream" or "Cast Away" or "Billy Elliot".
SOMEONE LIKE YOU (*1/2) - Here's hoping the upcoming "SwordFish" is a good film, because I want to see the breakthrough performance by Hugh Jackman in "X-Men" capitalized upon. This movie is not a quality follow-up. If you like Meg Ryan (God help you), watch a Meg Ryan movie. There no need to see Ashley Judd do a piss-poor Meg Ryan impersonation for two hours. The plot developments in this film are obvious, romantic comedy 101. Again, we've seen the girl-gets-wrong-guy-then-the-right-guy stuff for years. It was better on "Cheers"!! And it all leads to the least coherent, least satifying ending since "What Women Want". It seems that they just want things to end a certain way, so they just do it, with no regard for getting there logically and with no regard for pace. Jackman and Greg Kinnear are doing good work in a totally rudimentary story.
MEMENTO (****) - The film to beat in 2001. Director Chris Nolan did everything right, and did everything with a mesmerizing style. The film tells the story of an insurance investigator who is slowly unraveling the mystery behind his wife's murder. However, he has lost his short term memory due to the attack on he and his wife. The greatest choice a director and screenwriter have made in years is to tell this story in reverse. It's fascinating. It puts the viewer in the same boat as the main character. The only advantage we have is that we know the future. Where was I? If you're confused, you will be during much of this movie, but it challenges you to pick through the clues and be OK with remaining in the dark, making up your own theories. But, fear not, the end result is very satisfying. Guy Pearce follows up on the promise he showed in "LA Confidential" with a great performance full of energy, drive and charisma. Do not miss this film. Whether you enjoy it or not, you won't stop talking about it. Me, I loved it.
THE ANNIVERSARY PARTY (***) - OK, not everything else this year has been bad. I saw this film in a sneak preview at the Film Society. It has alot of balls, it covers ALOT of bases and often bites off more than it can chew. BUT, the charm and talent of the actors prevails. This film was shot with a digital camera for practically no budget, but writer/directors Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming put together an exciting cast including the Great Kevin Kline, Parker Posey, John C. Reilly, Phoebe Cates, Jane Adams and more, including some new-comers I've never seen before who were really impressive. They all concentrate on the relationships, and the acting stems from reality. Are there scenes of such high emotion that it seemed a little TOO weighty at times? Yes. But as I said before, the actors carry the day. It's amazing to think that the self-involved characters that populate this film are my neighbors...
THE MUMMY RETURNS (1/2*) - WHAT A MESS. This movie BUH-LEW!!! If this is any indication of what this summer's movies are going to be like, remind me to avoid "The Fast and the Furious", "Tomb Raider" and "A Knight's Tale". Things aren't looking good for the action genre. Every chance this movie had to be BIG, I mean, BIGGER than BIG, it tried, to the point where turning on a spotlight was accompanied by such a crushing sound effect that real action had to be all that much louder - and more obnoxious. As far as the plot goes, that's a good question. Where did it go? NOWHERE. I heard The Rock was going to be in this film - I'm a BIG fan of The Great One - so I saw the first "Mummy" about a week and a half ago to be prepared. It was mediocre at best. Now I regret seeing both movies. The Rock is in about eight minutes of the opening segment and he's not even all that great. I wouldn't mind him being in eight minutes of a good movie, but he better be more choosy with the "Scorpion King" script he's working on now. As far as the special effects go, the Scorpion King returns at the end of the film in the WORST special effect EVER. E V E R!!! It looked like I suddenly plugged in my PlayStation 2. There are other equally worthless effects scattered throughout the movie. Bad, bad, bad. The acting and the ridiculous direction in this film are the worst you will see in 2001.
TOWN & COUNTRY (*) - Only a half a star better than "The Mummy Returns", this could've used some bad special effects to liven it up a bit. How did this take three years to get released and cost $80 million? You can pinpoint the bad here a bit more easily - the script. This movie plays out as if the married-couples-having-affairs comedy plot is brand new. Someone should've told them that it is instead phenomenally weak. There are characters that should've been cut out in the first draft, and none of it was helped with direction that brought a lame tempo to the 'comedic moments'. This was part of the Film Society. I'm thinking of asking for a portion of my money back.
THE MEXICAN (**) - Despite the talent involved, I stopped caring about ANY of these characters half way through the film. I just DID NOT CARE AT ALL. Yet, the story continued without my giving a damn. Funny how that works. They don't notice that they've lost you. Word on the street is that Gandolfini is great in this movie, the best part of it, actually. Well, that's true, but his character really isn't dealt with well, and Brad Pitt's character is such an idiot, it's hard to root for him. You don't want Julia Roberts to end up with him. Which leads to:
me not caring.
It seems like they wanted to mix comedy and gangsterism as well as "Get Shorty", but they failed. Don't bother.
BRIDGET JONES' DIARY (***) - A refreshing comedy in that the adult characters acted adult and did adult things. In this era of Kirsten Dunst, can you understand what I mean by refreshing? There were a few things that I disagreed with, like playing "It's Raining Men" during a fight between two main characters, and then not handling the consequences of their destruction of a restaurant AT ALL. However, Hugh Grant put aside his stuttering Brit routine and put in a performance I really enjoyed, and Renee Zellweger was great. She's the Ben Stiller of comediennes, the lovable loser. This film does suffer from the same romantic comedy ending problems that "Someone Like You" has, but the majority of the film is satisfying enough to recommend.
So, there you have it. I'm still going cold turkey on previews, and I recommend the same for everyone. I'm still not trying to give away plot or great moments in movies when I write a capsule review. Hope you enjoy it all and feel free to write back!
-Paul