Movies I have seen:
True Grit
rec: w/ dan g
wester by coen brothers. feisty girl gets revenge and crochity old man helps her. Good dialoge wth cutting remarks. Fun time.
How Do You Know
rec: w romy
Rom Com. Awkward folks (a semi-banker type and a prof baseball player) are having hard times due to being generally kind of losers. They find themselves and eachother, et. Owen Wilsin is brilliant as a prof athelete supporting role egotist. Jack N is a father, does decent job lplaying a itired version of himself.
Easy A
enjoyable teeneage romance. Weird ending with protagonist going back on her word so she could come clean. Perhaps she should hve kept the burden she had built herselv and lived through it anyway?
The Runaways
rec: w/ moms
Fun rock-and-roll film about the band, esp the singer and Joan Jett. Seems to be more or less true; Cherie Currie is a crazy story---looked her up on the internets and found a bio that blows my mind--neded up as a chain saw sculptor???
Dynamite Warrior
Very strange film---thai martial arsts film. Kind of campy, etc., but in a Thai way (I think) rather than some other culture. Fun to watch, lots of kicking and jumping and bad wire work. Everyone was a characture, costumeswere over the top.
Let the Right nOne In
rec: lex
Weird as fuck vampire film. 12 year old boy, bullies, young girl fvampire. Sweedish(?) film.
Food, Inc.
rec: w/ mary
Fairly excellent doc about the food industry. Meat, GMO crops, political back-room dealings, you name it.
Star Trek
rec: w/ mary
Opening night--was a blast. Fighting and wrassling and jumping and exploding. Lots of jokes to the past and creation myths
Wolverine
rec: w/ romy
fun as expected. Nasty brother, much evil manipulations of the baddies and confused groping for humanity of the goodies.
Transporter 3
rec: fam
Disrobing kung-fu and fast cars. The most bratty love-interest one might imagine. Fun, even if plot is a bit weak.
In the Mood for Love
rec: richard/j.c.
Noir film of two jilted folks living across the hall from each other. Slow, stately, and depressing. Overwrought camera, significant look. You know, noir.
Dark Knight
rec: w/ richard
Quite excellent dark action film. Some stuff bugged me--something about Joker's power seemed discordant with overall theme of film. Can't place finger on it. Also, some dilemmas seemed fake, or people made decisions I couldn't buy.
Hancock
rec: w/ mpb
More fun than expected. Truely original story. Enjoyed it. Writing could be better.
Hustle & Flow
Pimp turns rapper, is the short version. Has some emotionally wrenching scenes where people play off each other in awful ways. Overall it is quite a film, never letting you get too comfortable, but handing you a sequence of good moments
Iron Man
Fun superhero movie. Weapons makers turned to fight for justice, etc.
The Forbidden Kingdom
by: w/ Eben
rec: w/ Eben
Boy fantasy--white kid from South Boston swept away to far-off land to learn Kung Fu and kick ass and save the world. Beautiful, nice kung fu, Jacki Chan and Jet Li doing good stuff.
Alpha Dog
rec: ?
Nasty movie about drug dealers based on true story--kidnapped boy as a "marker" for debt. Things get worse while being upbeat.
Down with Love
rec: barb
Fun bit about reporter who writes a 'feminist' bit about not going with love. Man shows up. Complex plot ensues.
Norma Rae
rec: the nation
Nice 60s movie about unionization. Norma Rae and union movement guy work together. Not romantic, interestingly. Nice scenes and good stuff.
Envy
Not as great as one would hope. Christopher Walken was amazing for first half, but then went over the top. Rest was eh.
The Brave One
rec: w/ clio
Jodie Foster turns vigalante. Very good film, riviting at times. Excellent characters and some great writing.
Iron Island
rec: the nation
Saw with Renee and Rain--man has colony on derelict oil ship. The ship is sinking, the world is strange. Iranian, if I recall. Slow, gripping, good scenery.
Office Space
rec: 2nd view w/ mpm
Quite fun, still.
Live Free or Die Hard
rec: w/ clio
Surprisingly fun and good! Possibly over the top with the jumping on a flying plane, but the rest was perfectly reasonable. Ish.
Goonies
Was more jarring/raw than I remembered. The kids are crazy dumb at times, a force of nature breaking everything and yelling at each other all the time. But the overall effect was nice enough, I suppose.
Better Luck Tomorrow
rec: michael g
high achieving high school students cycle into crime and it gets out of hand. At times funny. Good movie.
History of Violence
Man haunted by violent past kicks some ass and tries to maintain his family. Good thriller. Good film.
About Schmidt
(Watched over two weeks... sigh.) Meloncoly with moments of sad humor. Okay film, ending not the most sensical to me.
2006 Oscar Shorts
Five shorts, all fairly good, some excellent. Particularly liked first one of the canvassing mormons (The Savior). Decent one about Africa (someone's big idea). Nice dutch one about father and son and family.
Pal/Isreal west bank story was amusing. Knife-like one about father and son in Madrid(?) whose wife/mother walks out.
Pan's Labyrinth
rec: renee. Saw w/ richard
Surreal, set in faschist Spain. Boy finds faeries, mom is pregnant, step-dad is horrific.
Volver
rec: w/ romy
Wonderful film, quiet and graceful, about a woman, her daughter, her sister, and her lost mother. Restauraunt, windy town, crazyness. Classic Almadovar.
Music and Lyrics
rec: w/ mary
Surprisingly fun film about a defunct 80s pop star and a newly formed song writer. Drew B. is quite cute. Hugh Grant brilliantly cast.
Debs
rec: clio
Secret agent private high school with gay chicks. Good times.
Borat
rec: w/ kevin
Was it offensive? Was it good? The movie was perhaps successful in that towards the end you started to feel real sympathy for the main character. Some amazingly funny scenes as well.
Casino Royale
Bond--but a very harsh, near-psychopathic Bond with little remorse. Action heros become less and less human, and it bothers me.
Quinceanera
Good fun film about Echo Park, LA. Best story arc was Carlos who starts off, in our eyes, as a gang fuck-up, but then the story gets more involved, and more interesting. An amazing scene where he ends up at a gay party and tension mounts as we look for explanation. Some really funny lines.
How to Deal
Second viewing, apparently. I had no idea. Fun teen movie--love sucks, but that boy is fricken cute. The movie is really cruel many times, whcih earns my respect.
Snakes on a Plane
rec: w/ mpb, dan, yulia
Everything it should be.
Little Miss Sunshine
rec: w/ mom & mpm
Funny dysfunctional family film with a crowning children's beauty pagent finale. Some great moments and a constantly building level of the absurd. Good times.
Miami Vice
rec: w/ mom
It was okay. Very dark.
Oh in Ohio
Parker Posey as a woman who hasn't ever had an orgasm. This wrecks her marriage, and then all involved go on journeys of discovery. Fun and good stuff.
I'm Your Man - Coen doc
Watching Coen talk was wonderful. The overwraught documentary "artistic style" and the mostly painful covers of his work as they showed bits of a tribute concert was, however, pain almost too painful to bear. I had to leave the theater at one moment to get some fresh air. But Coen himself--what a mench!
Robot Stories
rec: alex george
Collection of three short films featuring robots. Strange one with humanoid slave ones at end particularly noteworthy.
The Aristocrats
rec: w/ mary
unwatchable--about horrible joke. Comedians fail to be funny about it.
Pirates: Dead Man's Chest
Okay. Ends a bit abruptly. Had a quite awful and useless native cannibal scene comeplete with bones in noses. Racism? Surely not from Disney!
The Devil Wears Prada
Fashion and nastyness. Good fun.
The Break-Up
Fight scenes galore. Okay romance. Vince was not as brilliantly obnoxious as he has been in other films--the writing was not as sharp, I think.
Cars
rec: w/ mary's fam
Animation cars and a race-car's aspirations. Some stereotypes, some funny stuff, some generic plot. It was okay.
Superman Returns
rec: w/ david w
Eh. The best part was the villian (Kevin Spacy) and his cronies. Some nice humor there. The rest was a bit tired. I am tired of sheeplike humans and saviours.
Thank you for Smoking
Movie about tobacco lobbiest. Very funny, sharp film. Nasty at times in a good way.
Collateral
rec: from dan
Tom Cruise is creepy. Good thriller about hitman forcing taxi driver to help out. Okay, so the premise is a bit weird. The taxi driver is good.
The Italian Job
rec: from dan coll
Bank heist. Lots of flashy stuff with flashy people. Decent, but not fantastic. Minis zipping about and some over-the-top tech manipulations add the everpresent shien of the modern action movie template.
V is for Vendetta
What does it mean when the mainstream media sells a movie that advocates the idea that the mainstream is a prison from which we must escape. A beautiful and well-done movie pushing for freedom through terrorism. Connections between our government, Nazis, and totalitarianism. Some really over-the-top computer effects that detracted from the visual beauty of the film. Great mask. The public is led by a driven single man to accept freedom merely by massing around a building. Can we be freed and still be completely passive? This movie suggests that yes, as long some hero does the dirty work.
The Libertine
Hard to track, esp towards the beginning (dialog hard to hear, choppy writing and flow) but it builds. A wretched person glides through London and gets away with a lot. Why? That part is a bit unclear.
Capote
What a creature! Excellent acting job of a troll of a man, driven by his love of himself and his work. Good story, nicely filmed, agony to watch at parts.
Dave Chappelle's Block Party
rec: mom
Good doc about throwing a concert in Brooklyn. Funny, interesting--good stuff.
The Matador
Hitman and business man meet in Mexico. It is an interesting film, actually, about the relationship between a completely dysfunctional hitman and the world.
The End of Suburbia
rec: w/ mom
Doc on peak oil and impending developments. Some good ideas. A lot of older white men. Not the best, but probably worth a peek.
Control Room
rec: david b
Doc on Al Jazeera and the US during the first phase of the 'war'
Quite good--it shows how bias on all sides can enter news, and how we US folks are just not getting it in some important ways. Plus some wonderful Ashcroft quotations. Evil!
Fun With Dick and Jane
Decently funny. Surprisingly anti-corperate. Uses Enron as a model for how good, hard working Americans are destroyed and pushed to crime to survive and keep their BMWs, etc.
Dirty, Pretty Thing
A creepy hotel and a great portrait of illegal workers in London. Then you add a bad, dirty business and some love.
Chronicles of Narnia
rec: w/ mom & mpb
Fun. The cgi was really, really good. It didn't bother me at all and worked into the film, most of the time. The lion had the wrong voice and was a bit junky. Was bored at times, but the movie did take me away from it all for awhile.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Fun pulp-fiction film with Robert Downey, Jr being a sulky brat. Fun nasty dialog and horrible events.
Good stuff.
Brokeback Mountain
Brilliant film about two cowboys and their affair and lives. It is brutal in the illustration of the midwestern poor life, the impact of society on love, and the human condition. It really does service to the excellent short story.
It's All Gone Pete Tong
Deaf DJ--quite a good film. Touching a times. Has one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen involving fireworks.
Chicken Little
rec: w/ andrew
Eh. Weird messages about family and trust. Yet another single father cartoon.
Good Night and Good Luck
rec: w/ sam
Decent film on the media and McCarthism. Hard to track at times with a choppy style, but it had its moments. Interwoven with real footage, which is a nice touch.
Jarhead
rec: mom
Excellent film about first iraq war and what it means to be a marine. Visual imagery was stunning. Acting great. Good 'story'. Based on book which I think I should read.
Shop Girl
by: steve martin
Young woman works in shop. Meets wacked guy and older man and has relationship.s. At times it is amazingly painful to watch as broken people hurt each other and express all that is wrong with modern conceptions of romance, jealousy, and love. Also quite funny.
My Summer of Love
British girls. Born again brother. Ending that left one feeling a bit ambiguous and unsatisfied.
Wallace & Gromit: curse of wererabbit
It was okay, but not great. The little bunnies had pig noses (bad) but made cute noises (good).
House of the Flying Daggers
rec: kelly
Asian martial arts film with powerful women. Can't go wrong, I suppose. The standard slow and contrived beauty aka Crouching, etc.
Gunner Palace
rec: doc exp
Iraq soldiers doc. Interesting stuff. Very unbiased, I would say.
Serenity
rec: w/ mpb
Very fun and good sci-fi.
Funny Girl
Quite gripping, even if the songs are not that great. It builds.
Lord of War
Arms dealer--very cold film. Good. "Based on real events." Worth watching.
Broken Flowers
rec: w/ ert
Slow film that has the most unsatisfying ending ever. Bill Murray sits on couch, drives car. Occasionally is very funny. All in all a fun film that captures the living-death of unfulfilled lives and lost dreams.
I heart Huckabies
rec: clio, temple
Funny film about exestential dectives. Captures the essense of activist, of philosophizing, and of pain.
Garden State
rec: borrow from heather
Slow, strange film on tranqs. Some funny moments. A dreamlike surreal. Is there resolution? Perhaps. Boy goes home due to dead mother. Sees old friends.
The Wedding Crashers
rec: w/ clio & staz
Wedding crashers. Nicely bitter and snarky. Wonderful rants. Very tacky, not so good romance scenes. The humor was grand, however. "let's kill some birds."
Guess Who
rec: united airlines
Fuck them, those United sons' of bitches who put this film on the air. Not a great remake of Guess Who is Coming to Dinner with (gasp!) the races reversed. A scene of black jokes in the context of a black dinner table, as told by a white guest, was... painful.
Howl's Moving Castle
rec: w/ mpb
Animated. Strange. Many wonderful elements and bits of humor, but the whole didn't hang together well. The ending? Confusing and unsatisfying. Consistancy not a strong suit.
Batman Begins
Dark and over the top. Decent. The evil villian's master plan was a bit confusing, I confess.
Bewitched
Funny, I suppose. Some issues with relationships.
Crash
rec: mom, mpb
Witness the machinery of race (and other aspects of humanity) in our society. It is a brilliant film filled with compelling, moving stories and sharp observations about our culture.
Millions
rec: mom
Boys find money, need to spend it. Surreal/hyperreal film with saints and dreams.
Enron, Smartest Guys in the Room
Doc on Enron. Fairly good. Great world we live in.
Sin City
rec: w/ richard
Beautiful film--captures comic feel. Black and white, mainly, in this amazing style. Stories engrossing. Delightful violence. Possible issues with foil-like aspect of all the woman characters.
I Robot
It bugged me, but I can't remember why.
A Day Without Mexicans
rec: jd
Latinos disappear, and what happens next? Good fun, good politics.
Million Dollar Baby
by: Eastwood
rec: grandpa
Very good--had a scene that nailed me flat. One of those revealing the inner truth, aka Remains of the Day
Lemony Snicket's etc
rec: saw w/ jen
Very funny and pretty to look at in its clean and washed glumness. Jim Carry was too much himself at times, but overall the film was successful despite that.
AAfter the Sunset
At least it only cost a dollar. Some funny moments. Eh.
Team America
At least it only cost 1.50. Some funny moments. Was it a pro-intervention film? Who could say. The "dick" speech at the end--the coup de grace (or however it is spelled)--might suggest so. Who can say. Lots of gay jokes--what is up with that?
The Rundown
rec: cabot?
bounty hunter goes to Peru to retrieve man, and instead saves village from the evil, evil Christopher Walken.
National Treasure
Nick Cage saves the day by finding the biggest treasure EVER.
Napoleon Dynamite
Geekish outcast kid in midwest living his life and making friends and trying to do what he wants to do. Very amusing yet subtly painful film. Good stuff.
What the Bleep
rec: w/ mom
Various folks talking about god, quantum mechanics, and neural structures of the brain. Interesting at times, very weird too.
Better Than Sex
rec: w/ mpb
Amusing English one night (three day) stand love story with bizarre directorial choices.
Shawn of the Dead
rec: jace & dj
Zombie romance. Good connection of zombies and modern living.
Gigli
Weird. Weird weird weird. Jaylo as a lesbian mafia type. Ben A as a mafia type. Weird.
Sky Captain and etc.
rec: w/ mom & mpb
Adventure/live-action comic. Save the world. Reporter, flyer. 50s(?)
Keen stuff.
Hero
rec: saw w/ mpb
Wire-foo. Beautiful, but too carefully crafted. Killed the life a bit. Some good moments, but the whole thing was a bit wooden. Also, pro-empire when you think about it.
Home at the End of the World
rec: w/ richard and mary
Bi boy in 80s living his life with a man and a woman and (eventually) a baby. Pretty good, but somewhat weak in parts. Kicks off with his older brother showing him that love is all good... and he takes that message to heart.
The Station Agent
Very strange but amazingly funny movie about a dwarf who ends up in the middle of nowhere and finds some friends despite his best efforts.
Three Wishes
rec: airplane from San Salvidr
Bad, gushy film about the 50s. Patrick Swayze plays a rambling hobo with a mystic dog. Taken in by family, etc.
Spider Man II (Spanish)
Saw in San Salvidor. Couldn't follow spanish, could follow plot.
The Terminal
rec: w/ alex g
Sappy but funny at parts. Could be construed as a statement about society
and how the world works.
Dodgeball
rec: w/ richard
better than expected. Humor of cruel remarks.
Love Me if You Dare
sick french sex comedy. Dark, dark, dark.
Super Size Me
Doc on McDonalds and eating it. Fast food and you, etc.
Connie & Carla
Fun film about woman pretending to be drag queens.
Kill Bill vol 2
Eh. Acting bleh. Ending has issues with respect to images of women. Why bother?
The Ladykillers
by: coen bros
rec: w/ david b
Excellent romp with tom hanks being a dandy.
Basic
rec: alex (student)
Travolta, panama, military detective story with conspiricy and flashbacks.
Sexy Beast
Great film about being forced to do one last heist. A total monster and some aging crooks.
Twin Falls Idaho
Siamese twins and a girl.
Twin Falls Idaho
Conjoined twins and a love story. Slow--connected to Northfork, andwith similar problems.
The Cooler
Bad luck dude used by casinos--interesting 'bad guys' and a nice love plot. Good movie.
The Quiet American
Viatnam escilates as reporter trys to keep his love with a woman there. Intreresting picture of the beginnings of the war.
Laurel Canyon
rec: mom
Straightedge son takes fiancee to stay with his mom so she can work, but mom is a stoner record producer. Brilliant film. Interesting poly stuff.
The Ring
rec: kathy
Horror film--good one too.
Blood Work
Clint is a retired cop tracking down a serial killer as a guilt thing for the sister of the woman whose heart he now has in his chest. Good film with generic and annoying ending.
Old School
rec: clio
Start a frat as a bunch of failures. Often funny.
Training Day
Crooked cops. Okay film.
100 Girls
Fun romantic comedy battle of sexes thing. Some great bits and moments
Freaky Friday
rec: w/ joel
surprisingly funny.
A Mighty Wind
Funny mocumentary. Folk music. Kinda similar to past ones by director.
X2
what you'd expect.
Chicago
rec: saw with kamela
Fun musical.
Anniversary Party
rec: kamela
Brutal yet funny--captures E to perfection as well. The movie is the night of a party, with a bunch of, mainly, old friends. Lots of hangups and issues colliding.
Anger Management
rec: saw with kamela and clio
fun
Night of the Hunter
rec: clio
wow--intense shots.
Formula 51
rec: clio
fun
Cradle 2 the Grave
rec: clio and david
fun film.
Dirty Dancing
Angel Heart
Excellent detective movie. In the south(?). Heat, period, sex with bill cosby's daughter. I say no more.
The Last Supper
Fun film about liberals attempting to strike back.
Shanghai Knights
rec: w/ Nikki and DJ
Fun!
The Navigator
by: Buster Keaton
rec: greg
Keaton ends up on a ship all alone with a woman and they have to live and sail. Underwater scene with lobster pliers and swordfighting with fish is quite fine.
Two Days in the Valley
rec: clio
A bunch of seperate stories that merge. Nasty criminal with his one-minute clock hired to kill. Run down writer. Rich folks and poor. All in LA. Some dogs.
MonkeyBone
A great idea destroyed.
The Pink Panther
The Fly (w/ Gina Davis)
rec: seeing all Gina Davis films
Talk to her
rec: w/ cee
Cool play about women in comas and men who love them, to steal a reviewer. Amazing stuff.
You Can Count on Me
Brother and Sister (who has kid) work through stuff,
brother is loser. Nice and touching film.
Disturbing Behaviour
rec: steve b
Small town is reprogramming teans, but when they get sexually excited... THEY KILL! Hijinks ensue.
After Life
rec: richard
Japanese movie about making a memory for people who have just died. Very interesting.
Femme Fatale
rec: karl and kathy
Fum action/pseudo-sex romp through heavy-handed cinematic techniques. Some beautiful scenes, nice lines (you don't have to lick my ass, just fuck me), and antonio being himself. Love that over-the-top feeling!
Idle Hands
Awful. Did have Dark Angel in it though, and she was fun.
I Spy
rec: saw w/ clio
Surprisingly funny.
Double Jepordy
rec: saw w/ clio and mom
Fun. Ashley Judd gets framed and goes for justice.
Double Team
rec: richard
One of the more painful experiences of my life.
Crazy/Beautiful
Fun romance across class lines set in LA. Poor latino/rich white disaffected. Some good scenes.
Bowling for Columbine
by: Michael Moore
Excellent documentary about american violence and gun control.
Meet the Feebles
rec: todd
horrid, nasty puppets. Horrid film.
The Sweetest Thing
rec: erin
One of those gross-out boys-being-boys and lusting after woman films except it is woman. Some unique and funny humor and also this weird intentionally jarring style where the film forces you to not become emmersed. Weird and hard to take for the first half hour or so. Truely disgusting bits as well.
Lilo and Stitch
rec: saw with karl and kathy
Fun film. Missed beginning. Lots of weird bits and strange humor.
Pootie Tang
rec: mom
Over the top. Spoof of black-sploitation, I think. Funny.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Very fun flick. Lots of good humor. Saw with jofish after a 12 mile bikeride and it is fairly spiff. Good little bits.
Tokyo Story
rec: barb g, richard
Beauitful film about Japanese parents visiting their children in Tokyo, and more. Truely, truely amazing.
Minority Report
rec: joel
Decent sci-fi. Intrigue and running about. Violent crime stopping folks and being on the run, etc., etc.
Swimming
Two girl friends who treat eachother... poorly... live on a beachfront tourist town. Many folks live there and there are many stories. Burger joints, a dude who sells t-shirts out of his van, and a scene where one friend ditches the other at the side of the road.
Fun.
Get Real
rec: r sherry
Young highschool boy falls in love with jock... who returns the favor. They stay secret for awhile, have good sex, and then there is the coming out scene. Very fun film.
The General
by: Buster Keaton
rec: greg
Silent. Keaton runs a train and wants to join the army in the south to get the love of a woman.
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Very beautiful thriller set in renessance france. Nasty folks with nasty beasts killing folks and a powerful swordsman setting things to right. But gorgous like Crounching Tiger.
Changing Lanes
rec: erinp
Black man and white man get in accident. White man (at fault) bails, and black man loses his chance to rebuild his life. He is pissed. Good acting job by S. Jackson. Compare to "Training Day" in terms of acting vs acting black and getting nominated for oscars.
Spy Kids
rec: nestlings
fun movie, actually. Kids have gadgets and go on adventures. Very surreal villan with a psycotic tv show. Much drugs consumed by makers of film.
Deuce Bigalow
rec: clio
Argh! Fishtank cleaner breaks valuable aquarium and needs to replace it, thus becoming gigalo. Some talk of "man-pussy". Not the best.
The Bourne Identity
rec: nation mag
Fun action with mediocre ending. Good moments of silence.
Guineverre
Girl moves in with photographer.
Requiem for a Dream
rec: joel
brutal
Quiz Show
rec: richard
About the corruption of TV. Some great acting in it.
Lantana
rec: christine
People dealing with each other and relationships and the meaning of love.
Quiet and engrossing.
Boondock Saints
rec: demi
Excellent and weird film about two brothers and some action.
Monster's Ball
Powerful film. Ending has one of the most subtile changes in a character I have seen. Great acting and nasty story. Sex was real and intense.
Fast Runner
Excellent Inuit film about a folktale. Mesmerizing film--both for cultural aspects and also due to it being a gripping story.
The Insider
rec: richard
Good, apparently. I liked it, but was not totally blown away by Crowe's performance. He has this neurotic thing that appears in a lot of films which is fairly convincing, but I am not seeing him do much range. He plays seething insanity over a calm exterior, and that's all.
Gripping story though.
Bottle Rocket
Funny film about wanna-be crime folks. Kind of stagnates in the middle-end. Defintely shows the roots of Tanembaums and the Ridgewood (or whatever) film.
Donnie Darko
rec: joel
Boy and evil bunny. Great film.
Once They Were Kings
Great documentary about Ali. Moving and interesting.
Ghost World
rec: james c
Girls dealing with growing up. Great film.
The Man Who Wasn't There
by: coen bro
Coen black&white noir. Decent but not excellent.
About a Boy
rec: heather
Fun film based on book--captures the humor and the pain quite well. Ending changed, but still nice, if a bit sappy.
The Adventures of Sebastian Cole
A young man's life changes when his dad decides to change his sex. It gets weird, the young man is an asshole who is self-absorbed, and the movie ends in much the same vein.
Last Night
rec: james c
Last night on earth. A trainwreck.
Being There
rec: james c
Intriguing movie about a truely innocent man.
In the Heat of the Night
rec: oscars
Excellent murder mystery with S. Poitier (spelled wrong I am sure) about a black detective passing through the south and a white detective confronting race.
Showtime
rec: saw w/ Jake and Richard
Fun film--good parody of the cop genre.
Diamonds
Father-son film about man, son, and father all going to Reno to look for grandpappy's lost diamonds from when he was a world-class boxer. Lots of bonding and amusing moments.
Escape from Witch Mountain
rec: tanis
Fun little film about orphan kids with psycic powers trying to find home.
Sweet November
Saw parts. Can't figure out if the woman is a complete psycho and the whole thing is hugely disturbing. Need to watch it? I shudder to think so, but may have no other choice.
The One
rec: william c
Hmmm... kinda bad kungfoo superman type film about dude killing off all his selves in the multiverse. Some fun action and moments.
Song Catcher
rec: marylou
Woman looking for songs in the Appalacians.
Destiny
Silent film about Death and a woman attempting to regain her lover. Has three submovies in it. Very good special effects and feel. Watched with David BB. Fritz Lang.
Xiu Xiu, the Sent Down Girl
rec: mom
Chinese film on city girl being sent to country as part of big work movement in 70s. Really about her fall as she feels abandoned and attempts to get home. Great performance by her and man (a herder) who cares for her and is her assigned mentor.
Detour
rec: r folkman
Film about man who is hitchhiking and his ride dies. In fool desperation he takes his identity, gets noted by a woman who works him over, and eventually wanders off in dispair. Full of awful folks doing awful things. A fun ride.
In Dreams
Psycho child killer stalks woman's dreams in psychic thriller thingy.
Pretty good--nice and creepy at times.
Kate and Leopold
rec: saw with Richard
Funish romantic comedy about time travel and gallant men sweeping executive woman off their feet with promises of no woman's sufferage and potential to work. Meg Ryan's character had few redeming features (except she chased a purse thief which showed spunk) byt Leopold was, we all agreed, a hunk.
The Secret Life of Girls
Good film about a young girl coming of age in the 70s with parents getting a divorce. Good humor.
Dragnet
Very funny cop spoof flick. Classic. Full of dumb humor which works.
America's Sweethearts
Decent flick on the horrors of Hollywood actors.
Gosfield Park
rec: work folk
Good film. Fun. English servants and high-class folk in a semi-murder mystery which is really about the people all interacting with each other and being
characters.
The Emporer's New Groove
rec: clio
Fun film. Kinda agest, but it had "squeek-squeekity" stuff which made
it all good. I mean, Llamas, damnit! Can't go wrong with that. Goodman
did good voice job.
Analyze This!
second time I saw it. I liked it--lotsa funny bits. Ending sorta lame
and standard "criminal gone good gets short sentence" style
Loaded Weapon 1
Ouch. Bad. Didn't finish.
Gotcha!
rec: amy sort of
Fun 80s kid-caught-as-spy flic. (Teen really). Gets taken up by glamerous
foreign woman who teaches him about sex and then he needs to run away from the bad guys.
I'm the One that I want
by: Margaret Cho
Stand up show. Quite good.
3000 Miles to Graceland
Could have been good. Wasn't so much.
Chutney Popcorn
rec: mom
Fun flick about an indian family, one of whose daughters is a lesbian,
and where there is wanting of kiddies. Good humor and love.
The Way of the Gun
rec: james c
Two crooks kidnap a pregnant woman to hold for ransom. Lots of
big nasty folksd wandering around maneuvering for position and shooting
a hell of a lot of holes in various cars, walls, and whatnot. Good
feel t othe film, even if I had a hard time tracking intent and meaning.
Lord of the Rings
Actuallyh suprisingly good rendition of first book. I liked what they
cut and didn't cut--and what they added. Good imagery. My worries about the blusescreening to create different sized folks getting in the way olf acting were in the end not so well founded--I didn't notice at all, ans thus it was qwuite magical.
Raindeer Games
Saw with Heather on late-night tv. Kinda crappy filkm about a man
being froced to help rob a casino by some psycho-truckers.
Trixie
Not a good film about a strange woman who wants to be a PI and
her wretched life with wretched folk. She talked funny with wrong metaphours and cliches, and that was the gimmick.
Ladies Room
We watched 10 minutes or so--surreal Malcovitch. We (my fam and I) were not willing to
spend the time.
The Kid
Bruce Willis as an ass (and image consultant), who then gets faced with his inner
child. Kinda good actually. Introduced the concept of the "waaambulance."
The Squeeze
M. Keaton as a quirky low-life getting involved in big scam with a wanna-be PI. Fun comedy-thriller.
Nice huge tv-set dinosaur that the protagonist made as an art project.
The Big Tease
Pseudo-doc about scottish hairdresser attempting to be in LA
international hair competition. Funny in the lines of Waiting for Guffman or Spinal Tap.
Pay it Forward
rec: 2nd time on airplane
TOuching film--I really like it.
Safe
ick. Didn't finish. Kinda boring about a rich wife I didn't care much about gettin environmental sensitivities.
Fire Down Below
Steven Segal. I like the man and how his films are kinda leftist.
You know, the man goes down and stops big business from taking advantage
of the poor and of the environment. It was fun to watch him with his
pseudo-monk smile and ass-kicking demeanor.
Saving Silverman
I rented this cause the actor from Happy, TX and actor from High Fidelity. But man, it was kind of a loser. It even had a random offensive asian
steriotype for no reason! I figured films like this died out years ago.
Oh well.
My Left Foot
rec: londa?
Tear-jerker about C.P. triumphing over troubles in old ireland to be
famous and loved. Ummm.. based on true story (of course) about Christie Brown.
Play Misty for Me
Clint Eastwood's first directed film. Weird 60s/70s stud-man getting
stalked by psycho. Kinda slow, kinda bad. Woman scarey as fuck
Vagabond
rec: joel
depressing french flick about unlikable girl vagabond and the effect
she has on random folks in the countryside of France. She is not likable.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fairly good film! Teen sex comedy, with some views of the negative sides
of sex. Cute cast, nice 80s nostalgia, and all the angest you could want.
Was the movie hella shocking, or do I mis-recall how matter-of-fact folks
were about sex in high school back then? Also has Sean Penn as a stoner.
Better Than Chocolate
rec: mom?
Fun little romantic comedy about a couple of girls hooking up, and the
main character's juggling this with her mom and brother coming into town,
some homophobia, and some standard love-angst. Everyone is a real cutie
in this film too.
Zoolander
Some good moments in that film. Overall it seemed a bit slow and
sometimes a bit too sophomoric. The beginning five minutes were supurb
with the award ceremony and interviews. I loved the mind-twisting video
and the jabs at fashion (such as the Derelect line)--good commentary
there. Not sure why the movie was deemed offensive though.
The Zero Effect
rec: nathan and karl
Fun film. Detective--best in the world yet a total wacko--does a case
and gets hooked on a spiffy woman.
Amelie
rec: mike o
nice visual love-story with the charactaristic style of city of lost children folks. Good humor, nice absurdism.
Henry and June
Interesting film about becoming sexual? I guess? The slowness of the
film leads to some incredibly erotic scenes. Interesting how the director
sometimes shows and sometimes not. Sex is usually focused on the face,
which is a nice change; the actors really stand up to expressions and
there is a lot of very powerful use of closed and opened eyes. The film
ends in this painful way, similar to the graduate, perhaps.
Eyes Wide Shut
Watched the first bit then got a synopsis from Erin and apparently it is
about a man not being able to deal with his wife's sex fantasies. This
did not make me want to look at unconcious or inebreated naked bodies sprawled
on a variety of sets. So, I send it away.
The Day the Earth Stood Still
rec: kathy
Great 50s movie about peacefull alien coming to earth and being treated
like dirt. Very funny and good lighting.
Bed of Roses
Fairly good little romantic comedy. Actress is girl from "Some Kind of Wonderful
" so of course I am deeply appreciative, shall we say, of the movie.
Bring it On
Kick-ass film. Who would have thought it? Lots of irony and humor. First half is better than second. Cheerleaders and all their comedic angst. How can you say no?
Red
saw second time w/ amy and darrel. Soft and touching film. I like the
quiet interactions and it had a good emotional effect on me, in the end.
Frequency
Mediocre film. I was kinda bored. Time-crossed radio, etc.
Detroit Rock City
rec: kathy?
Fun little film about loving Kiss (the group) and being young, and dumb
jokes and stoners and all that.
Serendipity
rec: saw with clio and heather
Fun film. Cute yet had a hard edge. Great speaches by
one of the supportings. Good bit parts. Funny. Fun.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
not so great, but had its moments
Boiler Room
A good film. Worth watching. One actor (supporting) Vin Diesel, I saw
once in a short at Reed College. The short was about attempting to act but not being any correct race enough--an amazing piece where he did monologues of
all sorts of different races plus some "being himself" as he ran about between
auditions.
Excellent.
The movie had some hardness that I liked. Some interesting choppy cinematic effects too.
American Movie
rec: james
Excellent doc on making a film. Very sad and compelling. The shots
of the film itself show a good artistic eye, I think, which is ironic given
the overall documentary and folks involved.
Look Who's Talking
rec: on tv randomly
Fairly amusing. I should have gone to bed at a reasonable hour though.
Interestingly enough, nothing the baby said was amusing. It was amusing
dispite the baby.
Doctor Doolittle II
Saw a bit on the plane. What little I saw was painful. Very not-funny,
mixed with attempts to be envionrmentally political.
Sugar and Spice
A bit awkward, but all in all kinda fun. Cheerleaders set out to rob
a bank. Lots of over-the-top characters, etc.
Threesome
Three folks in a dorm room. Cute movie. One is a girl, love and stuff ensue. Cute cute cute
Rat Race
rec: saw with tivol
Fun racing to some random place for money movie. Good humor in it,
but some strange missing cuts and a mixed ending.
Secrets of a Sorority Girl
rec: darrel and amy (kinda)
Horrors!
One nice bit was wicked plans were foiled by mild common sense. Never seen that before.
Made
Kendall sq. Funny wanna-be gangster film. Nicely done and full of
painful humor. One of the characters is almost too horrid to be watched
(horrid as in incompetent, etc.)
Snatch
Confusing but fun. By makers of Lock, Stock...
Startup.com
excellent doc about startups. Good startup story and well presented.
Superstar
Geeky girl wants to be a... superstar (strike a pose). Bizzaro film with tree kissing and geeky glasses and a final scene of success.
Planet of the Apes
saw opening night. Kinda fun. Could of been better--too manyu cheesy bits and
really dumb plot developments. Apes nifty. Fun movie.
End of the Affair
Saw last half. Okay film about love. Ads usual, adultry is pounished with death. Lots of hate of hGod. Oh well.
The Fast and the Furious
walked out. hsay in theatrer. horrid. saw with joel and cabot. Sorry guys.
AI
rec: intelligent room folks
It was horrible. It was painful. It was offensive.
What Woman Want
amusing, crossed line to offensive at times, but other times was
genuine good humor.
Primal Fear
rec: masha
I just saw this for the second time. I didn't know it was the second time until around half-hour into it. Good film, but apparently not very memorable, haivng seen it 4 years ago. Gere is not appaling, which is nice.
The Virgin Suicides
Painful and strange movie about young woman and, perhaps, ennui? I don't
know. I do not have words to describe it. It is an intriguing film though.
Wonder Boys
Good film about writing and wretchedness. Enjoyed it, which is a
surprise cause I usually can't stomach Michael Douglass.
Lots of nice twisted moments of humor.
Hollow Man
Barf.
Mulan Rouge (spelled wrong, yeah I know, so fuck off)
Saw with the house! In a theater! It was decent eye candy, not up to
his previous works (Strictly Ballroom and R&J), and the songs were a cute idea
but not as smooth as they could be. Sets a-okay. Story was a bit sexist. No
woman other than an object who was at times a bit annoying. Grrr...
The Hidden Fortress
rec: jon m
Excellent Kirosawa film. 2 wretched peasants and some very noble nobles.
Humerous and a good story to boot.
Bridget Jone's Diary
Quite a fun film. Good characters, excellent humor.
Finding Forrester
Surprisingly good movie about kid and writing and old crazy genius author.
Predictalbe in some ways, but not smaltzy. I liked it. Interesting in its portrayal of a ghetto without any standard drug or gang cleches. Very refreshing in that sense.
The Big Sleep
rec: michael coen
Excellent Bogart and Bacall film! Loved it--gripping and everyone is so damn cool and witty.
Love Serenade
rec: w/ kathy
Two sisters, a radio DJ, a large fish, sex music. It is weird, but it rocks.
Iron Man
rec: MIT film class
Ouch! Weird and long. Some good stuff, but mainly shock-effect cult.
Sorry Holly and Karl.
Shadow the Vampire
Dark and funny film about the making of Nosferatu. Worth watching, yet
we are left feeling that John Malcovitch and all the characters he plays are
psychotic driven folks.
Weird.
Very nicely done actor of Nosferatu.
Memento
rec: karl
Excellent thriller/detective yet quite confusing.
Cecil B. Demented
by: John Waters
rec: karl
Messed little diddy about insain director and gang of cinema-terrorists
who are making a stand against bad film. M. Griffiths does good in it.
Funny, but a bit slow overall. Truely bad film.
Ain't She Great
Based loosely on writer of Valley of the Dolls. Funny film about woman
seeking stardom and a loving supporting husband.
Gaslight
rec: erin
A wow! brutal classic film of a man who is evil evil evil. It is almost
too much to bear at times as he destroys a very likable protagonist.
Ouch! Ick! Good movie!
Nosferatu
silent vampire film--excellent. the version I saw was sans-music. This sucked. It was the second time I saw it--the first time was with live music. Much better.
Easter Parade
rec: erin
Musical we saw on easter. Lots of singing and dancing and colorfull
costumes.
State and Maine
by: mamet
Fun little movie about folks filming a movie in a small town. Lots of
clever little jokes and scenes. Quite funny.
Get Bruce
Doc about a line-wriuter in hollywood. Quite interesting and funny.
Love's Labours Lost
A bad mordern movie trying to be a 30s musical. The singing and the
music was horrific, in general. The acting was okay, and the costumes were
spiff. But it was a suck.
Bandits
rec: mom
German film. Four jailed woman form band and escape and seek freedom.
Good and fun, with annoying ending.
Notable muddy sex scene and bad german rock music. Good characters.
16 Candles
amusing ringwald. Bizzare.
Center Stage
rec: saw with erin and amy
Fun dance film. Ballet and romance-esque stuff.
French Twist
rec: mom
fun twisted sex comedy. Woman falls for woman whose van breaks down.
all move in. etc. etc.
Chan is Missing
rec: mom (kinda)
Bizzaro indy film about detecting in San Francisco. A cabbie and
his nephew look for a missing friend and their 4 grand. Did I understand
it? No? Did I like it? Not really. Was it interesting? Kinda.
It was out of my cultural understanding, I think.
Dude, Where's my Car?
rec: saw with karl
Karl's comments to roadkill:
For those of you (ben) who are too damn superior to see Dude, Where's My
Car at LSC, I have this bit of reasoned film criticism for you:
pbbbbbbt.
Maybe it's not Rosenkranz and Gildenstern, but in the genre of dumb-guy
movies this one is right up there with Bill & Ted. I didn't even feel
ashamed after seeing it. There are some pretty sophisticated jokes, one
of which took the entire movie to set up.
And if that's not enough for you, the CAP guy hates it.
http://www.capalert.com/capreports/dudewheresmycar.htm
Square Dance
Not very good movie. Girl from rural whatever dealing with long
lost mom and growing up. Winona Rider as youngun.
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou
Fun and surreal. Decent Coen brothers. Not as sick and dark as
most of their films--as karl said, it was beautiful surreal rather than
violent surreal. (Well, he said something like that anyway.)
Election
(Also saw year or so when it was in theaters in NY)
Dark, sick, captures sex and uglyness of sex quite nicely. Funny.
Bring It On
Very fun cheerleading film--cute, twisted camp.
Worth watching.
Relax, It's Just Sex
Funny and poinent romp about relationships and the difference between
sex and love.
The Fugitive
Fun action film. Second time I saw it and it was still good.
Bedazzeled
rec: saw with tivol at lsc
Amusing film that hade a hideous ending. Ick! But the body
of the film was the good kind of stupid.
Almost Famous
Good and fun film.
Sliding Doors
rec: erin
Excellent little romance. Fun and funny.
Cotton Mary
rec: erin :-)
(Well, she said she wanted to see it and sadly I fell for this clever
ploy). Interesting, slow, painful as fuck movie. Ouch. I hated everyone
in it except two people who got the royal shaft.
Billy Elliot
rec: saw with erin
Fun movie. Very touching. The story of the miners and strike is
painful and has a heavy impact. Strange girl in it.
Chocolat
rec: saw with erin
excellent little film! Very fun and sweet. Has a lot of well shot
touching moments and good humor.
Road Trip
Eh comedy bout college boys xing country and girls and all that.
Coyote Ugly
Eh. Not the best story, not the best sexy. okay, kinda fun.
Groundhog Day
(second viewing)
Funny little romance. Didn't realize what a horride cruel person Bill Murry
is .. and in this movie he does get better... perhaps?
I liked the complete destruction and then rebuilding of soul in the movie. Very
much that spiritual 'break and then rebuild to be stronger better" type mentality.
Good one linesrs and dead-pan humor.
Jawbreaker
Fun like sixk sick tean comedy about accidental murdering and then cover-up. Some good jabs against the workings of highshcool. In overblown style.
The Beach
Saw it with erin just before her going to Adfrica. Amy, Erin and I
enj9oyed it well enough. Kind of dark, kind of funny at parts ,esp. towards
the beginning.
Fast, Chaap, and out Of Control
Good documentary. Interesting collectiong of circus act cuts throughtut
all the interviews. Not sure what was to be gleaned from that.
Mr Jealousy
By makers of Kickin and Screaming, hence my watching it. Good movie,
kots of perverse humor and all that kind of good stuff; hell of a time. Dealing
with lovers ande jealousy and people being obsessive and distroying their relationships and lives due to it.
Tombstone
Decent western. Doc Holliday an excellent character.
Scary Movie
PAIN!
McCabe and Ms. Something
rec: joel
an okay film, but I am not sure why it is supposed to be great, like
goel says. Wester, quiet, lots of vlavour of townsfolks of a town on the
edge of nohing.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Excellent kung-foo romance. Beautiful to boot.
Proof of Life
an eh. film about the horrors if the ransom trade. Beginning rough
byt it picked up and was good.
Nevada
Crap. Good idea but crap. Slow booring crap.
Charlie's Angles
Fun. Over the top, full of cute and more cute.
Family Dog
rec: my family
excellent cartoon--very funny. A corner stone of my helfand/bates side family.
Family Man
Good film. Fun.. Very wonderful love interest. Cage is funny. Upset mby implications of not being able to have it add all though. Was it right for Cage rto not take the job he just got? The ideal of 'staying on the same house' -- what is that, and what does it mean? Is there such thing as stagnation, and how do you know when you are throwing something away?
Goosed
Bizzaro film about J Tilly being a bit of a slut and .looking for the right man. Funny. Good moments. Over the top.
Cast Away
Very gfood middle with Hanks as a single man on island dealing with survival. Ending is... eeh, but I can't think of what else could have been done. The middle is really riviting though.
Ms. Congeniality
Very funny trite film. Has a logt of good moments and gags. Sandra Bullock is quite funny, plays a nerdy girl quite nicely. It fits and is not too offensive.
Where the HEart Is
Good little film--heartwarming yet not sappy. Girl has kid in WalMart,
wachiness ensues.
THe Big Kahuna
by: has Kevin Spacy
Good interesting film. 3 salesfolk. Much betteer then Glen Garry Glen Ross for the characters are likable so I gave a shit what happened. Not gratuitously agressive, although there are some beautiful rants. Simple, engaging, the time flew by when watching it.
Bounce
Godd little romance. Raw at beginning which is interesting.
Some nice harsh 'face facts' speeches here and there. Kids that
were not the standard jesus christ these are obnoxious types.
Keeping the Faith
Fun romance. Not mean, good woman character. funny.
Something Special
rec: saw with Clio
Weird girl-changes-to-boy movie from 80s. Weird. Funny. Very
funny. Very weird.
Tao of Steve
Good romance about a bitter fucked up man and an excellent woman
who, even by the end, doesn't seem dumb(?) enough to stick with him
(although she does do the right thing, and then he does a good ghing
and then the movie ends and you are left with a well-what-the-hell thing)
Outside Providence
Decent 70s flick set in the 70s about a druggie finding
his brai nand a good looking and smart chick.
(at a prep school when he is from working class)
Ghost Dog
Excellent film. Modern gangster.
Toy Story II
fun film
Nurse Betty
Excellent comedy (dark) and has great actors in it to boot.
saw with erin and david and had a great time./
Broken Hearts Club
Great romantic comedy. Touching and real. Great
characters that you end up really feeling for.
The 9th Gate
by: has Johnny Depp
Interesting supernatural thriller--has book dealer but
dealer knows jack about dealing with books. Sad oversight.
Supernova
didn't finish. It was boring. Rented by accident.
Celluloid Closet
rec: Gean
Excellent look into the gay world in Hollywood films. Interesting
and funny; mainly full of clips of movies starting back in the 1920s.
Worth seeing.
Art of War
by: Wesly Snipes
Very bad spy/action film.
Anne of Green Gables
by: (tv movie)
rec: erin
Excellent tale of a young orphan girl living in the 1900s(?). Full
og very interesting secondary characters and there is a lot of dept h
to everyone's movitivations and lives. Very funny too. Anne is
excellent--a completely enthralling character.
Space Cowboys
Old folks in space acting tough. Good cast, kind of slow in parts
but a fun little ride.
Psycho Beach Party
An exxcelent romp through most sexual humor one might imagine, plus
camp, plus intentional tacky parody of 60s/70s film, plus mock horror
plus excellently contrived dialogue which is hysterical yet painful,
plus a tour de force of all slang, fake and otherwise, one might find
acky 50s, ors 60s (whichever, and who cares). Quite fun, quite
stupid.
Three of Hearts
I don't recall. Love and romance and a triangle.
Girl on the Bridge
by: maker of Ridacule
This is a modern french black and white film. Very beautiful and fun
movie about a girl and the knife thrower who throws knives at her.
Quite darkly funny, very sexy, and a good fairy tale. The film
itself is beautiful--the b&w tones are supurb, and you are given
image after image.
The Opportunists
Christopher Walken is excellent in this film. He is a run down crook!
Amazing stuff. Lots of interesting characters and some good humor.
And God Spoke...
rec: Phil
I want to kill Phil. About making movies0-0semi-interesting.
Three to Tango
This is a movie which has a real chemistry between the two romantic leads. Also has that great supporting actor whos name I always forget. Very fun film--make it past the somewhat weak first half hour, and the rest is pure pleasure.
3 Men and A Baby
Quite fun.
X-men
What you would expect. Fun. Very sexy and vicious woman villan Mirage.
Fools Rush In
Fun comedy about two cultures (mexican and wasp) colliding
in a fiesta of love.
Shanghi Noon
by: Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan and that mystic from Contact making a lot of cute
jokes and all that. Fun film, packed with humor and good clean
combat.
Shawshank Redemption
Excellent! The two mains are fantastic along with the supporting.
Great story about being in jail. Shows the dehumanizing elements
of jail and how there is hardly any way out or any way to find
humanity once gotten in. Humor and true feeling mixed well.
Small time Crooks
Funny movie about low class mixing with high class. Suffers
from Allen's normal portrayel of woman, which is disgusting and bad
as far as I am concerned. The class-mixing is humerous however.
Problem with Allen films is he is in them, and the rest is great.
My Dog Skip
Saw on the plane. Fun and cute. Enjoyed it. Did they really
have parachuting dogs?
Mask
Second viewing--a fun film. The protag. is an ass, but that is
in the end okay. Worth watching; gets a good cartoon feel in it.
Gladiator
Nice sets and such for ancient rome, violence is graphic and gritty
which fits the theme. Dark, as Blade Runner was. Decent story, and
in general a fun film. Horrible aspects of human society unveiled, it is
embarresing to see where we have come from--and I think the movie showed
the barbaric aspects of Rome in a good light even.
High Fidelity
by: John Cusak
Great movie about wallowing in own dating failings. Based
on a great book, and captures the feel of it. Some very funny
yet complete characters, and a perfect woman (as far as I
am concerned). Worth seeing. Good credits too. Nice feel of
film, and talking to the camera is carried off okay--give it a few
bits to get used to it.
Citizen Ruth
Very dark film about abortion rights. First 1/3rd is very dark
and simply depressing and disgusting. Then it gets a lot more amusing
although it remains a downer.
Jeffery
rec: Erin P.
Very cute movie about a gay man (also cute) stuggling with living
in a world with HIV. Patrick Stewart plays an excellent role, and the
whole thing is fun, yet poinant.
Cold Fever
A wonderful film--a japanese man goes to iceland and meets strange
people there. I loved it. Very quest, beautiful, yet very fuynny
in parts.
End of Days
Not so good Arnie film about end of universe. Some holes, and it
ends with stupid monster fight. Does kill Arnie, which is damn good
in my opinion.
Drowning Mona
A kind of fun little mystery with wierd people in rural
new york. Good Yugo running joke, but a slowish film overall.
Life is Beautiful
Great film.
Kun Dun
A very good movie about the dali lama growing up. Worth watching,
beautiful and well acted.
Mission to Mars
First 1/2 good, second 1/2 crap and ill thought out. A bad redo of
2001.
Erin Brockovich
Very good, very fun.
Romeo must Die
Great movie ruined by gratuitous and crappy violence. Good main character
who is interesting--esp. considering it was an action flick.
Cider House Rules
Good movie--it is a very deliberate construction to pull at your
heart strings. Good story and deals with abortion issues well.
Also like how it handles race.
Bowfinger
Very funny movie which works well. About making movies. Some very
good setup of the movie and paranoia.
Trippen'
Get through the first 1/2 hour and then it is quite good. Interesting
Holy Smoke
Interesting. Deals with a girl who does not know self.
Titus
Excellent. Beautiful sets and costomes, excellent acting, made Shakesphere
very approachable and connected it to the modern mind.
Abigale's(or some A) Ashes.
A very good film about poor in Ireland in the 1930s to 1950s (I think.)
It serves as a powerful argument for the devistation drink and the
Catholic church have wrought in that impovrished country. It also
gives a powerful picture of the plight of the poor, how they are given
too much to bear, and how they suffer at the hands of the haves. some
excellent imagery with rain (which is ever present) and careful selection
of in-city and country shots. Also good use of night blues and shadow.
The Negotiator
Good action movie with some good acting. The lead (I blanked his name)
has some very strong emotions at various points which he conveys really
well. Spacy is kind of generic, but there is not a lot of room for his
character to be otherwise.
Lost In Space
PAIN! Everyone who saw this movie and knows me and didn't tell me
to not watch it deserves to get a epic space rash on their tender
parts.
Dick
PAIN! Stupid. Never rent a movie just because there are cute chicks
on the cover. Never never never. The credits is amazingly funny though
and completely rude. Loved that part.
Or perhaps just loved that the fucking movie was over.
Inspector Gadget
It has its moments, but then spirals into complete stupidity. The
'hip insertion of politically good messages' is a bit overbearing (the
car keeps saying things like -- kids, don't try to drive without parents,
can we say "avoid lawsuits in a trigger happy country?") Some fine moments
of humor however.
Drop Dead Goregous
Some real humor, and it is all dark and nasty. It was a bit slow and
dull--for a much better version of this type of movie (i.e. fake documentary
of hick town) see Waiting for Guffman, which is wonderful.
Being John Malcovich
Great film, very funny. Most depressing ending I have seen in years, and
it made me uncomfortable for several hours (and now, when I think about it.)
It frustrated me.
Splash
Very nice film that does cater a bit to the male fantasy, but ends such
that it is not carried out in toto. The ending is a bit painfull to me
however. I do not believe in total sacrifice. John Candy is at his best--
annoying and funny.
Scream 2
Very bad--some outrageous practical joke where the director made a sequel
purposefully worse than the original.
Galaxy Quest
Brilliant film--I laughed from the first to the last. I should not
say more, cept that Weaver is fantastic, and even that home
improvement guy does a great job. The whole cast, in fact, is
incredible, and work together well. It assinates the sci-fi crowd
too, as an added bonus.
Review, good
The Holiday
Brilliant film with great views of money and wealth. I loved it, and it
is funny to boot.
Platoon
Good film, with CHarlie Sheen doing a good job. I found it facinating, but
in retrospect have nothing much to say about it except it illicited a
strong emotional response.
Sister Act
Fun movie. Woopie's hair is outrageous. Nice positive take on nums
without the henious religion.
Run Lola Run
Excellent, great combination of music and visual. Only problems are
(1) Lola's boyfriend is a putz and who would spend that much effort on
him, and (2) Lola's screaming is annoying (but this is excusable)
Matrix
What is the fuss about the Matrix? A fun movie, but not great. And
what is this humans as batteries crap? Makes no sense. And the
prophet makes no sense either.
Muppets from Space
Liked the disco, liked the King Prawn. No good female characters, and
Ms. Piggy is worse than usual. It is essentially a
bachelor/frat-house fest done by muuppets. But there is some funny,
funny stuff--such as the cosmic fish.
Analyze This
Eh... not a believable acting job, and the primaries have done
a lot better.
The Apostle
rec: brenton
Excellent film about a religious man. Powerful.
The Mighty
Liked it quite a bit--fun movie with some good moments. I think the
two kid leads did an excellent job acting. Did a good job making a
protagonist have real emotional problems in a very real way--the kid
was a good kid, and you got to see him work through things which was
quite interesting.
Simon Birch
A very fun movie which does a lot of low-handed tear-jerker moves on
you. The kid is a good actor, and the story is quite fun. It ties
everything together nicely, which does leave a nasty taste of fate in
the back of ones mouth.
Arlington Road
Nice thriller which ties together quite well to show how a clever
group of conspirators could cover their tracks. One of those
game-esque movies where a person's soul is perhaps understood too much
to believe, and yet perhaps...
Cruel Intentions
Could have been better. Negative messages about woman and sex. Good
speech which is sex-positive, but it is undercut by rest of film. A
bit stupid at times. Sexy at times too.
Lock, Stock, and 2 Smoking Barrels
Good stuff, interesting filming. The ending was cute, but unsatisfying.
The movitvation/setup at the beginning rang false which gave a hollow note
to the entire film.
American Beauty
I really loved this film, and found it to be another example of using
film to make a wonderful type of magic realism. I found the distorted
fantasy gave a good feeling as to what the protagonist was feeling and
thinking, and that it was effective in reflecting the face of American
culture. I did not, however, understand the posters with the stomach
and "look closer" I always looked closer, hoping to find some image in
the belly button or something, but I never did.
My friend disagrees with me, however.
Wonderful Ice Cream Suit
A cheerfull movie about 5 men sharing a suit none can afford. Magic
set in a very chicano culture. Good acting, nice story. Based on Ray
Bradbury story.
Waterland
(rec James Cabot)
A beautiful tale of a teacher and his memories.
Election
Saw in New York with David, Jackie, Londa, Clio, and Jane (friend of
Davids). Brilliant film, very bitter. Has honest sex with all the
hang-ups and darkness. Very funny.
Cookie's Fortune
I saw this movie with Erin. It was brilliant, a nice quiet comedy set
in the deep South. The main character is introduced as a shambling
drunkbut turns out to be a magnificent man -- this character is
perhaps one of my most favorite I've seen in quite some time.
Next Stop Wonderland
A very nice film about romance -- namely meeting somebody and all the
troubles involved in that. It has a lot of cuteness and humor. I saw
this as a video with Erin, Amy, and I think a few others but I can't
remember. There's fine humor with a puff or fish, and a nice line of
bittersweet drama interwoven with an essentially positive story. Men
are made look like bastards, but in ways which are hard to argue with.
Waiting for Guffman
Saw this with Cabot and Jean and it rocked. Very funny, very real, and it
has a great ending sequence to boot! A fake doc. about putting a small-town
play on.
Toys
Surreal film. Has a lot of very nice scenery, and the greenest grass
known to humanity, according to me. Bizarre introduction, and a
floating elephant/grave.
Romeo and Juliet
The modern version. Really great film except they wimped out and did
not make Juliet or her parents latino, which made all the bad folks latino
and all the good or sexy ones white. This makes the film very racist in
a subtile fashion, when they should have stuck to their original intent.
Bastard fucks. But the imagery and the rethinking and modernization was
suburb (with possible exception of hallucionigens)
El Mareachi
Desperado
The first is an amazing film--I think the man is God. The second is
a sequel, but a fun action film dispite a bad moment with some comrades
with bazookas and shit. Fuckers. But El Mareachi has the best dream
sequences interwoven with a wonderfull feeling world of darkness and
tradjedy. Trapped, trapped, trapped, and getting what one wants, but
at what price?
Desperado has the only Tarentino acting bit I have ever liked--he tells
a joke (which I had heard before) and does a good body wave thing. I
liked it.
From Dusk Till Dawn
A fun film with lots of good violence and no one should say what happens
in the second half so it is a surprise. Tarinteno is in the film, but
does not manage to ruin it with his trademark shitty and obnoxious
acting.
Alien Ressurection
I liked it.
The Rock
Fun action
Ridicule
Great film set during reign of Louie XVI. A man, witty as all heck--deals
with court where wit is the ruler. Very funny and harsh.
Elizabeth
Good film. Hard to take the ending--it made me sad cause by then I actually liked the queen person thing.
Local Hero
Oil developer going to buy scottish town
Oscar
rec: aiden
Funny movie with Sylvester Stalone. Rec. Aiden. I would
highly recommend it; it gets better as it goes on too!
Bliss
Good movie; nice sex and strange arch to movie.
The Man Who Would be King
rec: james
Excellent film about explorers coming across tribe and posing as gods.
Glen Garry Glen Ross
rec: james
Salesfolk acting like assholes. Verey agressive film packed full of biting angry speech. Sadly, there is nothing eles besides this flurry and cuss-words. Didn't do much for me. Ends pathetically, which I suppose is supposed tobe some big point, but if so, I missed it or had stopped caring enoughto not notice.
Never Too Late
Old folks dealing with a crime--it is a fun little film. Quiiet. Saw it with my mom and we both liked it.
Four Rooms
Fucking fuckers stole shit (the last fable) from Mr. Dahl and didn't
give no credit. Assholes. And the movie sucked to boot. Stupid
piece of crap.
Even with madonna and duct tape on her nipples, and Wednsday playing
on a dead hooker.
Smoke Signals
Nice quiet film. Interesting both as a film and also as a Navajo
film. Made me want to try fry bread. Interesting father - son
relationship.
An additional view from a friend
The Game
A nice movie which plays with the concept of effective and accurate
phscological analysis. Good thrill, and I am glad I knew nothing
about it when I saw it. Michael Douglass didn't even piss me off too
much in it either.
Scream
Fun horror movie--good intro, and it carries all the way through. There are
parts which are a bit stupid.
Alien
Good.
Mask
Very good and funny film with (gasp) well used computer
graphic effects. Nice singing police scene.
(Saw with J.C> and we both had a blast.)
White
Great film about a man being obsessed and seeking revenge on jilting
lover. In red white blue series.
Blue
About a woman whose composer husband died, and she was the composer of his
stuff, more or less. Great film, lots of rich imagery and quiet and strained
looks/.
Aliens
Excellent
Jurrasic Park
Horrid
The Muppet Movie
Very fine film.
Down and Out In Beveryly Hills
Good sex, if I recall. And funny bits with a dog, and eating dog
food as a homeless person.
Stand and Deliver
A good and inspiring film about teaching in an inner city (based on
a true story). Much better than:
Dangerous Minds
A marine chick teaches inner city kids what is what. Sexy butch mama
can kick some ass and teach English. Has a great jazz song which I
can never remember and which ISN'T ON THE FUCKING SOUND TRACK in it.
The Substitute
A fake sub teacher goes into a high school to KICK SOME ASS with his merc
buddies.
Kindergarten Cop
I think arnold is funny. He has a dry delivery and lots of muscles. A
good villan and villan's mom too.
Leathel Weapon III
Eh....
Lethal Weapon
Eh...
Bad Lieutenant
I couldn't deal nor did I like Bad Lieutenant. It is in the group I
associate with Glenn Gary Glen Ross, Who's Afriad of..., etc. which James
Cabot likes due to the very eloquent and nasty attacks, and which I
dislike for I find them to be little more than a maelestrom of rage and
fury, signifying nothing. If there is a point to the film (as there
probably is in Bad Lieutenant), for me it is essentially unapprochable for
I am unwilling to slog through the extensive mires of whining grief to get
to it.
Kietel is an interesting actor, for he is often completely useless, and
sometimes amazing. See Holy Smoke, for example. This is another film I
do not know what to make of. However, Titus is excellent (no Kietel in
it, but it does have Hopkins being simply amazing.)
Beverly Hills Cop II
Beverly Hills Cop
I liked both these movies. Enjoyable Eddie Murphy
Star Wars
Very good film, good aliens, good feel. Good epic. Ruined
by the digital remastering.
Star Wars-Empire Strikes Back
A brilliant film with a dark ending which really works.
Goonies
very fun adventure
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
A very beautiful film with some good adreneline and some hard to
take scenes. Worth seeing, if for nothing else than the rich color and
grand settings.
Repo Man
I liked it because it was full of that life is a cosmic joke type feel,
and was also packed full of some weird but funny humor. But I confess I
gleaned little actual meaning from it. It was clever entertainment
mainly. I guess I love action films and all that, and this one was like
that, but with better style.
Mystic Pizza
Tocuhing and wonderfil flick bout young woman in some little
topwn selling pizza and working through issues of luv. Totally
wonderful
.
Goonies
A very fun kid about pirate treasure. Good 'monster'
character who kicks ass and loves sugar.
Some Kind of Wonderful
Perhaps my favorite 80s flick. About a boy trying to woo a woman,
and he gets his best friend (a totally hot chick drummer) to help him,
and it is all good.
Ghost Busters
Fun
The Breakfast Club
Great. My sister can recite it.
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