My Summer of Love HHHH
A young woman(Nathalie Press) lives with her born-again Christian brother (Paddy Considine) in a defunct pub. When an alluring woman (Emily Blunt) comes into the young womanís life, all bets are off. An interesting story that intersects at the climax of this interesting tale. An eccletic soundtrack livens the mood as writer/director Pawel Pawlikowski directs stunningly.
Crash HHHH
This cautionary tale is more about fallen angels and redeemed sinners than the racial tensions that film is being marketed as. In many ways, it's "Short Cuts" without any humor. Director Mike Feggis sets up many of the premises and then proceeds to pull the rug out from under you. It's a well produced film, but you won't feel better leaving the show. This brilliant ensemble includes Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Thadie Newton, and Ryan Phillippe.
Mad Hot Ballroom HHH
There's more to this documentary than a ballroom dance, as 3 inner-city schools are chronicled as they ready themselves for the city ballroom dance competition. Marilyn Agrelo directs. Get ready to Rhumba.
Two spinster sisters Ursula (Judi Dench) and Janet (Maggie Smith) discover a virtuoso violinist (Daniel Brühl) washed up on the shore of their home. Romance is in the air and writer/director Charles Dance looks into the young at heart souls of these women. The acting is first rate, but there are some rather annoying stop/start sequences that I'm not sure the meaning of. Despite this minor flaw, you can't beat the team of Smith and Dench.
Sideways HHH
A snobby 8th grade
English teacher/oenophile (Paul Giamatti) and a has-been actor (Thomas Haden)
go off on one last jaunt in California's wine country. Despite one weird scene
that pays homage to "Pulp Fiction" along with drinking and driving,
or lack of seat belts, this is one fun ride. Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh
round out the cast nicely. Director Alexander Payne captures the desperation.
This
film by writer/director Luc Jacquet tracks a year in the life of the Emperor penguins in the subzero environs of Antarctica. Beginning with a journey from the sea to a
mating area and the subsequent care of the eggs, this is a great way to cool
off on the hottest day of summer. Stunning cinematography by Laurent Chalet and Jérôme Maison.
Broken
Flowers HHH
A middle-aged Don Juan named Don Johnston (Bill Murray) receives a letter from a son he didn't know he had. With the help of his inquisitive neighbor (Jeffrey Wright) he sets out to find him. His current lover (Julie Delpy) has had enough. Along the way he runs into his old flames. His first stop is Laura (Sharon Stone) who has a rather precocious daughter Lolita (Alexis Dziena). Next stop is a Stepford-type wife (Dora Conroy) and then onto a pet therapist (Jessica Lange), and finally to a lower class woman (Tilda Swinton). Not quite the screenplay that blazed in last year's "Lost in Translation" and writer/director Jim Jarmusch's fade-outs grow a bit tiresome. Still it's a fine showcase for Bill Murray.
Millions HHH
It isnít easy being
a motherless child, but when a young boy (Alexander Nathal Etel) and his
brother (Lewis Owen McGibbon) move into their new house, things get really
strange when a suitcase full of money falls from the sky. Meanwhile, the young
lad sees visions of various saints from throughout the ages. While this is
quite charming, a real villain (Christopher Fulford) shows up to claim what is
rightfully (or wrongfully) his. Interesting visuals from director Danny Boyle
make this entertaining.
A sports magazine ad
salesman (Dennis Quaid) finds himself under the supervision of a young
corporate go-getter (Topher Grace) in this dark comedy by writer/director Paul
Weitz. Meanwhile, his daughter (Scarlett Johannson) has an inappropriate love
affair. Fortunately by the end, things are thankfully not wrapped up so neatly.
This film is poignant in its treatment of capitalistic realities as exemplified
in the expendability of a co-worker (David Paymer). Malcolm McDowell is superb
as CEO, Teddy K. espousing the virtues of "synergy".
Off
the Map HHH
One of the oddest
movies of the year. A young woman
(Amy Brenneman) recalls her time as an 11-year old (Valentina de Angelis) in
New Mexico. At the time, her father (Sam Elliott) is suffering from severe
depression and her Bohemian mother (Joan Allen) gardens au natural. Things get
even stranger when an IRS agent (J.K. Simonns) comes to audit them and finding
his muse. Campbell Scott directed this screenplay by Joan Ackermann.
Star
Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
HHH
At long last
writer/director George Lucas puts in the final piece that ties the prequels to the
original 1977 film. Anakin Skywalker (a sleepwalking Hayden Christensen)
crosses over to the Dark Side and becomes Darth Vader. The computer graphics are
state-of-the-art, but Lucas has a tendency to overdo it all with a lot of
whizzing vehicles overhead. Ewan
McGregor does a fine job as a young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ian McDiarmid is nicely
sinister as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. There are a couple of homages to "The
Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now". The action runs a bit too long and what I
thought was the movie's final shot is passed over. However, this is probably the most palatable episode since
most of the characters are already known. You have to wonder who will finish
episodes 7, 8, and 9 of this long-ago planned series.
I was slightly confused at the beginning of the film when a young diplomats’s wife (Rachel Wiesz) is killed and he (Ralph Fiennes) then has an affair with another woman (oh wait it’s the same woman, just a flashback). There are too many weeds in the film directed by Fernando Meirelles based on the John LaCarré book and we really don’t need all the gory details. Despite all this its still a well-acted, albeit disturbing and depressing film.
While the acting in the film is first rate, you'll
kick yourself for sitting through this. Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney
play two of the most self-absorbed parents ever. They're academically
intelligent, but haven’t a clue on how to raise children. While their marriage is collapsing around
them they take joint custody of their two sons (Owen Kline and Jesse Eisenberg)
with abysmal results. Meanwhile
the father takes in one of his students (Anna Paquin) as a border. If you've seen "Fly Away Home" this
pairing has disturbing incestuous overtones. This is based on the
true-life adolescence of writer/director Noah Baumbach. I'd hate to see his therapy
bill.
Beyond
the Sea HHH
Kevin Spacey does it
all in this biopic of the late singer Bobby Darin. He writes, directs, acts,
dances and yes, even sings. While the pluses mostly outweigh the minuses, there
are plenty of missteps, especially when Darin’s increasingly annoying “inner
child” (William Ullrich) appears.
For whatever it’s worth, I kept forgetting that Sandra Dee wasn’t the
actual Sandra Dee, but Kate Bosworth. Also starring Caroline Aaron, Bob
Hoskins, John Goodman and, Brenda Byethyn.
Haven't we seen this film time
and time again? I guess Hollywood never gets tired of Jane Austen. Director Jow
Wright, makes Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) rather coquettish to the ever
stoic Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen). The editing by Paul Tothill goes on
forever and a day. There are some fine performances by Brenda Blythen, Donald
Sutherland, and the ubiquitous Dame Judy Dench. You may get through this if you
ignore the anacroynistic dental work. Where's Merchant-Ivory when you
need them?
I’m not sure what to make of writer/director/actor Clint Eastwood’s muddled 132-minute anti-boxing film. An aging boxing manager (Clint Eastwood) reluctantly takes on a dreamy-eyed poor girl (Hilary Swank) to learn the ropes. Meanwhile he attends Catholic mass daily to assuage some unknown past guilt (I assume with his daughter) and spars verbally with the priest. Despite the superbly talented actors, there is some untidy editing and the metaphors are slightly ham-fisted. Sadly, Morgan Freeman reheats his role from “The Shawshank Redemption” complete with past tense voice over. Not quite the knock out punch that “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” delivered.
Closer HH
Director Mike Nichols has a stunning cast, but he doesn't have much to work with. In this adaptation of Patrick Marber's play, four people are involved in a nasty love trapezoid. A journalist (Jude Law) spots a young waif (Natalie Portman) on the streets of London. Fate brings them together, but he later gets involved with a photographer (Julia Roberts) who unbelievably hooks up with a lonely dermatologist (Clive Owen). When the couples aren't being cruel to each other, they wind up being dishonest to themselves. As if the mean-spirited dialogue isn't bad enough, cinematographer Stephen Goldbatt continually lops off the top of the casts' heads. A great date movie, if you're intending to break up.
The Sisterhood of
the Traveling Pants HH
Four supposedly teen-aged girls (Alexis Bledel, America Ferrara, Amber Tamblyn, and Blake Lively) try on a pair of jeans and discover to their amazement they fit each one perfectly. While this interesting bit of one-size-fits-all fashion would be an instant hit on the market, itís a pure dud in the movie industry. They vow to keep the pants for a week and pass them on to the next girl and write about their experience. Two of the stories are somewhat interesting, while one is weak in development, while the other is just boring romantic fluff set in idyllic Greece. A young 12-year old (Jenna Boyd) almost steals this show. Ken Karpis directed this film (which is in much need of editing). Delia Ephron (sister of Nora) wrote this disconnected screenplay. After seeing this and the "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood", I pledge never to see another movie with Sisterhood in the title.
Charlie and the Chocolate
FactoryHH
Director Tim Burton's adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel is more bitter than sweet. The first half is simply wonderful as Charlie (Freddie Highmore) lives with his parents and grandparents in a rundown house. When he wins one of the five tickets to visit the chocolate factory, it becomes a gooey mess. The tour of the factory begins with a show reminiscent of Disney World's "It's A Small World After All" complete with a weird homage to Bob's Big Boy. Johnny Depp plays the reclusive Willy Wonka as a meld of Michael Jackson and Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers series. Worst of all is that the Oompa Lompas are played by one actor (Deep Roy) doing a tribute to Busby Berkley, with lackluster lyrics (and singing) by Danny Elfman. There's also an unnecessary subplot involving Willy Wonka as a young child being browbeaten by his overly strict father (Christopher Lee). The frenetic opening is reminiscent of "The Polar Express" along with the equally vacant-stares of the kid playing Augustus Gloop (PhilipWiegratz). While the film satirizes corporate greed, it simply becomes a parody of itself. Sadly, this chocolate bunny is all hollow inside.
The Beat that My Heart
Skipped HH
Writer/director Jacques Audiard presents a strange
tale on the duality of man. A young man (Romain Duris) beats up slumlords and
tenants by night and by day plays the piano. On the one hand he's following in
the footsteps of his brutish father (Niels Arestrup). On the other, with the
help of a Vietnamese teacher (Miao Lin), he is being drawn back into the world
of music by memories of his deceased mother. The best scene is when the teacher
is talking, there are no subtitles but you know exactly what is being said.
"A man walks into a talent agency"... thus begins one of the oldest underground jokes told since the early days of Vaudeville. Depending on the comedian, it ranges from the mildly scatological to the most abhorrent acts of human nature including every known bodily fluid. Unfortunately there is too much analysis and choppy editing to keep the pace going. You can tell the hacks from the true professionals (George Carlin, Larry Storch, and Whoopi Goldberg). My personal favorites were Eric Mead who uses a deck of cards and Peter Petofsky who uses a high degree of physicality. A very pregnant comedienne Wendy Gold takes the joke to a level even I hadn't thought of. Suffice to say this is probably one of the most offensive movies ever made and I'm not sure why comedic magician Penn Gillette chose to produce this except his crusade to "expose" every trick in show business. When all is said and done it really isn't that funny, but interesting to see some forgotten faces.
Another dark comedy from Director Todd Solondz. After killing off the protagonist from his previous "Welcome to The Dollhouse", her cousin Aviva (played by several actresses and an actor) gets pregnant and her mother (Ellen Barkin) forces her to have an abortion. Things go terribly wrong and she runs away to a strange home, lead by Mama Sunshine (Debra Monk) who has an interesting collection of throw-away children. After all is said and done, Aviva's cousin Mark Weiner (Matthew Faber) delivers one of the most depressing monologues ever. Perhaps this is Solondz's view of life. While he has some interesting viewpoints, I've never had to work so hard at watching a movie.
With another reheating of the Batman tale, we watch a young Bruce Wayne (Gus Lewis) grow up to be a sociopathic loner (Christian Bale) and date a young investigative reporter (Katie Holmes). With the help of his butler Alfred (Michael Caine) and a wizened R&D engineer (Morgan Freeman), his dark persona develops. He fights crime when a demented psychiatrist (Cillian Murphy) and his former mentor (Liam Neeson) have decided to contaminate Gotham City's drinking water. Director Christopher Nolan's overuse of flashbacks, frentic editing, and over-the-top special effects had me lost and finally left me apathetic. After watching this mess, one could only hope this latest Batman series ends before it begins, yet again.
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© 2005 David Burnham
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