Hey, I was checking out your movie reviews and I don't see one for my
new favorite fairly old-ish movie, Mystery, Alaska. OK, it's really not
that good, but it's star-studded, has great insults and stars my newest
crush, Russell Crowe. Peter particularly likes the line "I play hockey
and fornicate cuz they're the most fun things in cold weather." (Spoken
by the profanity king, Ron Eldard (how did he ever manage on ER?)) OK,
enough with the parenthetical statements.
Happy New Year you guys.
I was so busy this holiday season that I haven't been able to catch up on
movies until this last weekend.
Jade Scorpian - I agree that like many great Woody scripts ("Shadows & Fog"
being my favorite), Woody is the weakest thing in this film. He needs to
find a good protege to take his place and he can play some other interesting
character (that doesn't sleep with a beautiful woman a third of his age.) Or
maybe he could play a bad guy who uses his money and power to sleep with
younger women. That I might believe. Enjoyable but never really delivered.
Vanilla Sky - On the news last night it was picked as that reviewers #1
worst film of the year. What! Over that crapfest Tomb Raider? Over Planet of
the Apes? Proof once again that NYers do way too many drugs. I loved this
movie! I guess it's going to be my Eyes Wide Shut for this year because I
think I was the only one who got that movie. It was like a hip Jacob's
Ladder and I loved that movie, too. This movie is probably too weird and
confusing for most people but fuck 'em. At least the DVD won't be sold out
when I go to rent this and see it again.
Osmosis Jones - It was like watching one of those 10-10-21 commercials.
Funny cast. You know it's supposed to be funny but ... not.
Harry Potter and the Corporation trying to get you to buy all this stuff - I
haven't read the book but this movie sure didn't make me want to go out and
put it on my reading list. The special effects were pretty good in parts.
That's about the best I can say. I almost fell asleep for the last third. If
you like stupid movies like the Goonies and Home Alone, you might like this.
I didn't like Hearts in Atlantis either, but I'll probably read it before
this prepackaged gobbledy gook. If you've already read the book, go see it.
I hear you'll love it.
Lord of the Rings - Great special effects! Now if we only had some pacing. I
read these books when I was a kid and I think he got it much better than
that cartoon version they did in the '70's but it was still more
melodramatic than fun. Remember this is how the whole Dungeons & Dragons
phenomena got started. It was supposed to be fun and exciting. Instead my
leg fell asleep. Even Amadeus had an intermission. I think they could have
ended this chapter in another part of the story as well. It just sort of
leaves you hanging and not in a cliff hanger sort of way.
Blow - I've already forgotten this movie. Wasn't Johnny Depp blond?
The Man Who Wasn't There - I love the Coen Bros. but sometimes they miss. I
wanted to like this movie but when it was over, I didn't really care.
I haven't seen Life as a House or Capt. Corelli's Mandolin but I think they
tie for the year's worst titles.
K-Pax - I liked the first half and then it went nowhere fast. This was like
a bad Hollywood rip-off of the Argentinean award winning film Man Facing
South East or maybe NW, I don't know, but it was a better film.
And yes, you should see one of my favorite movies of all time, Delicatessen!
and I also liked the Virgin Suicides, but Delicatessen! Oui! Magnifique!
The Royal Tenenbaums - This movie rocked. I loved this movie so much that I
didn't think anyone else would. It was definitely weird. It was how I
imagined they could have made a good film out of the Hotel New Hampshire.
They didn't. These guys did.
I still haven't seen Ocean's 11 (and for the first time, I think Julia has
made a good match with George. They look great together! I didn't think any
of her other relationships made sense, but I like this one. So it probably
won't last) or Ali (which I heard was long and boring).
All in all, I think the Gift was the best movie I saw this year. But then
again, I think it came out last year. Did I mention that Planet of the Apes
and Tomb Raider SUCKED! Oh I did. OK. I tried to warn you.
Dono
I think I love this guy--because he agrees with me. I put the site right on
my "favorites." thanks, Connie
(Editor's note - I swear I'm not related...)
OK, so I am VERY late in responding to your movie review. I travelled more
days in March and April than there were days IN March and April.
But my life and travel have slowed down, SO .. responses to your reviews
(how do I put these up on your comments page to incite others to
blood-strewn verbal battle?)
And also, not that for the first time, I hardly saw any of these films, as
my travel was insane. BUT:
Blackhawk Down
I concur. Good action is good action. And I LOVED the book. From a man
who reads 80% war novels, it was my favorite!!!! It's weird, ya don't want
to get caught up in the fervor like Americans did in WWII and hate "Japs" or
Jap Americans. But when Somalis put WOMEN and little kids in front of them
and shoot at our soldiers, I say, light their ass!
Monsters Ball
You shall hate me, haven't seen it yet. I bow low beneath all that is Paul
Vanilla Sky
Hard to say here. I HATED it throughout the beginning. I kept feeling
like, "OK, how many freaking plot changes can ya have until I don't give a
shit. But then, I changed, the addition of the storyline of that "company"
made it intriguing. Should of had that more early on to give me a basis for
"Is this real or dream?" But I disliked a lot of it while LOVING some of
the deeper issues and bizarre possibilities that underlied it.
Spy Game
Haven't seen it yet. Actually really want to, especially with your rec.
Rented it with my girlfriend two nights ago. Never watched it, nuff said.
In The bEdroom
AGREE!!! And ya know what, looking back, Tom Wilkinson has given my heart
life since he started acting. Who was the genius opposite to Ralph Fiennes
in Oscar ad Lucinda? Tom!!! And who was the freaking GENIUS English
General in The Patriot ?? Tom baby!!!!
ALI
Don't want to see it, never will. I can watch episodes of Fresh Prince to
see America's most overated actor yell really loud.
Gosford Park
Paul, you are the DEVIL! I think that pretty much sums up your lame ass
attempt to give 1 star to Gosford Park. A movie DRIVEN by quiet moments and
mere nuances of expression by actors who were portraying people from an era
and culture of the freaking SUBLIME. What director can write and tell story
through resting on a hand or eye movement and mere SUGGESTIONS of feeling??
HE can.
You review of Gosford Park has lost you reviewer status. Our friendship
hangs from a thinly worn dental thread of hope.
I expect a full apology, cash and a rebirth through genius reviewing of
Summer 2002.
Let me say this
Kristen Scott Thomas in Life as a House was my favorite performance BY FAR.
I have NEVER seen a more subtle role. She was every single thing a divorced
mother could be!!!
She was scared, brave, confused, sexy, motherly, overly aggressive, overly
held back, hurting, hopeful etc etc
Her acting in that role, much of it WITHOUT words, was beyond compare. She
WANTED things, sometiems MANY different things at the same time.
SCREW my entire acting development, she taught me everything i need to know
about WANTING.
Ughh, I now die, at peace
Steve
With love and Gosford driven hate
Steve
Loved your thoughts, as always! Okay, here's a few
quick ones from me:
The subject of movies is getting more and more
depressing. There is sooooo little quality and so much
garbage, and it seems to be getting worse. When even
Cameron Crowe and Tom Cruise can turn out the horror
that was "Vanilla Sky", I mean, c'mon, the sky is
falling! And by the way, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
for confirming what I've been saying all along about
Penelope Cruz! Why on God's green earth is she famous?
She's marginally attractive and marginally talented! I
can't figure it out! I HATED "Vanilla Sky" with a
passion. I really wanted to kill someone while
watching it. Not only was it convoluted, I didn't care
about a single character, and it made the movie seem
interminably endless. Which it was.
I have to agree with you also on "Ocean's 11", which
was pure delight. Highly entertaining...which is
sometimes all I need in a movie! I wait breathlessly
for anything Soderberg (spelling?) puts out. And I
really thought "In the Bedroom" was a brilliant film.
I love a director who TAKES HIS TIME and doesn't beat
me over the head with the story - or mask the lack of
story with endless cutting. The performances were
amazing, too.
I really loved "A Beautiful Mind" - I don't care if it
had commercial sensibilities; it moved and inspired
me. Russell Crowe was outstanding. And I was so
thrilled to see Ron Howard finally win an Oscar - he's
made so many of my favorite movies ("Apollo 13,
"Parenthood"...).
I found it positively criminal that "Memento" and
"Moulin Rouge" were not more recognized with
nominations. "Moulin Rouge" was not a perfect movie,
but I LOVED how DIFFERENT and audacious it was. Ewan
McGregor's sincere, unabashedly romantic performance
was terribly overlooked, in my book. Similarly,
"Memento" was intelligent (so much so it literally
gave me a headache) and ORIGINAL. Guy Pearce was
completely shafted in not being nominated (although,
"The Time Machine"? Yuck! And please, Guy, for God's
sake, eat a cheeseburger!).
Recently, I really enjoyed "The Panic Room". To me,
Jodie can do no wrong. And I like a heroine who's more
shades of gray than simply "yeah, I'll kick your butt,
what of it?". It wasn't excellent, but very
entertaining. Great performances. And "Ice Age" -
hilarious and touching. I actually cried at the end!
So if you have the time, let's continue to dish. Hope
all is well!
Love ya,
Paula
Hold on to your hat, Paul. I agree with you on this one.
I caught In the Bedroom a few days before my drive down to LA. It was most
intense.
Went to catch Monster's Ball yesterday...aside from a few cell phones and brainless
Britney Spears wanna be's, it was great! That movie grabbed me by the
nuts and held on tight! Wouldn't give it best screenplay over Memento,
but the performances all around were outstanding! Titty Titty Titty!
Black Hawk Down: 3 stars: Ridley Scott is the king of hand held camera work in battle scenes. Since 90% of this movie is fighting, it works wonderfully. The graphic nature of war was more strongly depicted than the bonds of brotherhood among the ranks of the soldiers, but I took that to be the ultimate point of the story, and it worked really really well. Strong cast, great sequences, but they kinda left that poor captured dude (Ron Elard) hanging at the end.
A Beautiful Mind: 2 &1/2 stars: Ron Howard...great director. Won the Oscar because it was about damn time. Russel Crowe...strong actor, good performance, didn't win because he shouldn't have. Story was good, though predictable, and laden down with enough mellowdrama to catch the always conservative and mushy best picture award. Oh well. Lord of the Rings, Moulin Rouge, Monster's Ball and Gosford Park were all better candidates. Which brings me to..
Gosford Park...3 stars: Watched this one twice in a row, and I'm glad I did. Despite a VERY complicated scenario and the fact that I didn't catch all that was said, because of volume or accents, it was highly entertaining. Takes the ooooold idea of the weekend murder mystery and turns it on its head, exposing the always overlooked (but much more plausible) underworld of the servants. Altman is just a brilliant visionary, and his cast in this film is a director's wet dream. Outstanding ensemble and a perfectly delicate balance of lighthearted humor and dark undercurrents.
Well Paul, it wouldn't be me unless I could find something wrong with a
movie like Black Howk Down.
I agree with you that it was very well done. The battle scenes were
intense, and the assholes were definitely assholes. However, perhaps the
most important piece of this puzzle that your review, and the film misses is
how did the assholes get there. What is the history of Somalia? How did
this militia get to be so powerful that we have to send troops in to try and
stop them? Although the film tries to treat this one incident as just that,
one moment in a war, I do not believe that this is possible. This event did
not exist in a vacuum.
The history of Somalia is a clusterfuck. There are no good guys or bad
guys. There are assholes a-plenty including Somalis and US & UN. And, yes,
this movie does make it clear that this is a clusterfuck. However, it does
paint the US soldiers as heroic and thus as sympathetic characters. Hey,
this is a movie and a big budget production at that. Gotta like someone.
And these days, we are supposed to support our troops no matter what they do
because they're Americans. Personally, I disagree with this attitude. I
don't think we should either support nor demonize the troops. I suspect
that we need to look at the bigger issues, the politicians and the system
that orders some well meaning individuals to act as a group and commit acts
that they would normally view as reprehensible.
For me, Black Hawk Down was nothing more than a giant recruiting commercial
for the military. I've also heard rumors that the production was either
funded and/or endorsed by the military. Why? PR. And very good PR at
that. You mentioned the message, "No one gets left behind." This is a
great message and a great thematic device. It really tugs on the heart
strings and plays up the drama. Sure great writing and great acting. But
to what end? Again, this film does not exist in a vacuum. None do. What
this film showed me was that even if we have to risk our lives to drag your
corpse back, no one gets left behind. Personally, I don't want to have
someone drag my body back. And if I thought that my buddies were going to
be foolish enough to try I'd tell 'em no fuckin' way! I'm dead! Run! But
what does this imagery do? It makes the military seem heroic and larger
than life. Again this is a movie. It is supposed to be heroic and larger
than life. But when does a movie stop being entertainment and become
commercial? There is no separation. At least not anymore. All artistic
efforts are subject to interpretation.
It is also interesting to plug this film into the larger cannon of war
films. As a general survey, let's look at WWII pictures. These films
emphasized the buddy and fighting the good fight. We were going to overcome
immense odds because we were good, God fearing people fighting a noble
cause. Then came Korea and Vietnam which blew all of that to hell. We
start having pictures like the Deer Hunter showing us the horrors of war and
the effect it has on the people who fight. War is hell and not a good
thing. In the 1970's we get a slew of pictures with an anti-war message
also anti-corporate. Very inspiring.
Then in 1980 Ronald Reagan is elected President and the whole world goes to
shit. Rambo is born and soon to dominate the Me Generation. We start to
get pictures where it's good to fight wars. We are the underdog, rugged
individualist who is sick of the anti-war mentality and ready to kick some
hippy ass.
To me, Black Hawk Down is an intersting synthesis of the Buddy picture from
WWII and the war is hell message movie from the 1970's. However, it leaves
out the message that war is bad and we shouldn't do it. Oh sure, we see
people die graphically and it's not pretty and I don't want to die. But
those choppers sure are cool. I'd like to fly one. And those soldiers sure
are noble. They'll fight and die for a cause. I respect that. I actually
do respect that. I just wish that the soldiers would examine the "causes"
that they are fighting and killing for. But then they would not be
effective soldiers. And, I don't think that Black Hawk Down would have been
funded and/or endorsed by the military. But, I think it would have been a
better, ballsier film.
Alright, I've ranted on long enough. I should get back to writing my
propaganda. Rob, good whore, must crank out more material. Like the one
about the flag waving, ex Marine who annhiliates a commune of free lovin',
unwashed, stinking Earth Firsters who try to stop drilling in Alaska. Go go
Enron Engine of Destruction!
Yours in contradiction,
Rob