2006 Screening Log

[Loomis]

Match Point (Viewed 26 February): So Woody Allen has gone from examining the Manhattan elite to the British aristocracy. He should have stuck to what he knows best. The first half of the film is about as cliched a depiction of the British as you could possibly get. Great actors (Penelope Wilton; Brian Cox) sit around with very little to do. If this is satire, then it isn't particularly pointy. Especially when it is ribbing a country that does it to themselves so much better. The dialogue sounds wooden and awkward, and many of the high tension scenes seem stagey. When the film does pick up pace, we've lost interest. If this is the type of film "they" wouldn't let him make in the US, the Americans were right.

Rating: C

[castleinthesky]

Grizzly Man
I would have to consider this the best documentary of 2005. However, I would be only comparing it to The March of the Penguins. The picture looks great and the film, unlike someother documentaries, is not boring. This film help my captivation the whole way through. I'm glad I checked this out.
A-

Junebug
Amy Adams definately did her job in Junebug. Amy made the film work as it was supposed to. The whole ensemble did a great job, but Amy Adams just stands out to me. The film is also very tragic to me, as I probably shed a tear, when Amy Adam's child died in birth. Why does the supporting actress race have to be so good compared to the medicoracy given by the supporting actors?
A

North Country
This film has been getting some bad rep, but I would disagree. The acting is not oscar worthy, but yet the acting is strong. The beef I have with this film is the editing. Some parts of the film were just uneeded. However, the whole thing about this movie stinking, is just a myth, imho.
B+

By The Way: I felt lazy when I wrote these three, lol.

[Prince Eric]

March 4, 2006

Capote
I'll give Capote one bonus point, and that's for steering clear of the biopic cliches, namely, troubled childhood, discovery of genious, tumultuous love life, adult behavorial disorders, and fall from grace. All these things are hinted at in Capote, a film about the nebulish literary equivalent of Andy Warhol, Truman Capote. Bennet Miller's debut feature doesn't try to squash all of this man's life into a single production (a feat I maintain to be impossible), but focuses on the four years Capote spent writing his masterpiece, In Cold Blood. I didn't know a lot about this man or his book prior to the screening, but the actor Dan Futterman's deft and lean script provided me with enough background information for a proper understanding; an even more admirable job considering this did not intrude the main plot of the movie. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was really good, but he's an actor in the vein of Tom Hanks and Kevin Spacey: I just don't understand their appeal. The ensemble was fine, but the movie as a whole was not very interesting. The cinematography tried to add a little artistic flair, but unfortunately, I came back to my original bias: I just don't like biopics. Grade: B

March 3, 2006

North Country
Niki Caro knows how to write good female parts, as evidenced by her work here and in her feature debut, Whale Rider. However, her movies are not particularly memorable. This one is just a mess of feminist messaging and weak character archs. The dialogue is pretty bad, the scenes underdeveloped and melodramatic. The transitional moods between the characters are not believable and they arrive at epiphanies without warning. Charlize and Frances have lots of showy scenes, but those moments are irrelevant, especially since they don't contribute to the context of the film. I didn't like the art direction or the lighting or the romantic shots of the mine. It was almost like Caro was trying to make the mine a beautiful place, which is an interesting idea, but like the sum of the movie, not fully realized. Grade: B-

Lady & The Tramp
I fell in love all over again. Wonderful movie, period. Those who say otherwise just don't know how to judge animation.

March 1, 2006

Look At Me
I will always have a soft spot for writer-directors. Agnes Arnaud, the creator of this satire of the French cultural elite, is also an actress who takes on a meaty supporting role. Lots of comparisons can be made with Woody Allen's Match Point, as both use opera as a backdrop. Here, a young woman battling the bulge tries to come into her own as an opera singer while trying to get out of the shadow of her literary star father. The characters here are more acid, but believable. The dialogue is a bit more elitist, but accessible. The plot is a bit more localized, but enjoyable. Lots of good things to recommend here. Grade: B+

February 27, 2006

Muderball
Documentaries are a growing genre of film for me. I always seems to choose the "least non-fictional" ones to watch, which are the best in my opinion. Murderball, like my favorite from last year, Born Into Brothels, has a wonderfully entertaining authorial narrative to them. Essentially, they're stories, docu-dramas, not the information laden mind spinach productions that you find on PBS. More importantly, they cater to my need for socio-cultural criticism. This film chronicles the journey of the American wheelchair rugby team to the 2004 Olympics where they ultimately lose the gold medal. What's so exhilerating about this movie is not the suspenseful matches of wheelchair rugby, but the humane portraits of each of the players and their inner struggle to lead a normal life. The original score was effective at evoking the emotional subtleties of the film, which I thought was quite nice. Grade: B+

February 24, 2006

Rent
Holds up the second time around. Grade: B



Note to readers: It looks like I am never going to see the one 2005 movie that I really want to see, The World. I guess that means I will post up my year-end list/awards prematurely. It's about as final as it's going to be.

[Prince Eric]

March 11, 2006

Madea's Family Reunion
Despite possessing everything I hate in cinematic art - overtly preachy messaging, melodramatic acting, innocuous pop soundtrack, among others - the work of Tyler Perry is somehow always entertaining. One has to really ignore the fact that Aunt Madea is at her core, a black stereotype, essentially created for moralizing and constant finger-wagging at her community to enjoy the movie. With her ADD personality, you would think she would get exhaustive after awhile, but on the contrary, once she leaves her scenes, you instantly want her back, a testament to how bad the rest of the movies are without her. There's lots of redeeming qualities (including humor that seems stale by today's standard, but always pulls out a laugh) and there are much worser things out there to see. Grade: B-

March 12, 2006

Rashoman

[Prince Eric]

Better late than never, but here are my choices for the 2005 cinematic year. I tried to diversify all my nominees, because I think choicing the same movies in each category is indicative of not seeing many films in the first place, a lack of creativity, and worse yet, a lack of understanding of each category. Anyway, If some categories look identical to Oscar's, well, what can I say? We both have really good taste. In all, 29 movies were in some way represented.

Best Picture
Brokeback Mountain
A History of Violence
Me And You And Everyone We Know
The New World
The Squid and the Whale

Best Director
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
George Clooney, Good Night, And Good Luck
David Cronenberg, A History of Violence
Terrance Malick, The New World
Joe Wright, Pride & Prejudice

Best Actor
Ralph Fiennes, The Constant Gardner
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
David Strathairin, Good Night, and Good Luck

Actress
Toni Collette, In Her Shoes
Cameron Diaz, In Her Shoes
Q’arianka Kilcher, The New World
Kiera Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line

Supporting Actor
Jeff Daniels, The Squid and the Whale
Matt Dillon, Crash
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
Terrence Howard, Crash
William Hurt, A History of Violence

Supporting Actress
Maria Bello, A History of Violence
Amy Adams, Junebug
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardner
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Ziyi Zhang, 2046

Original Screenplay
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Crash
Angus MacLachlan, Junebug
Woody Allen, Match Point
Miranda July, Me And You And Everyone We Know
Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale


Adapted Screenplay
Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry, Brokeback Mountain
Dan Futterman, Capote
Jeffrey Caine, The Constant Gardner
Josh Olsen, A History of Violence
Tony Kushner and Phillip Roth, Munich

Costume Design
William Chang, 2046
Colleen Atwood, Memoirs of a Geisha
Jacqueline West, The New World
Jacqueline Durran, Pride & Prejudice
Arianne Phillips, Walk the Line

Art Direction
William Chang, 2046
Grant Major, King Kong
Jack Fish, The New World
John Myhre, Memoirs of a Geisha
Alex McDowell, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride

Cinematography
Christopher Doyle, 2046
Rodriego Prieto, Brokeback Mountain
Robert Elswit, Good Night, and Good Luck
Dion Beebe, Memoirs of a Geisha
Emmanuel Lubeski, The New World

Original Score
Gustavo Santoalalla, Brokeback Mountain
Joe Hisaishi, Howl’s Moving Castle
John Williams, Memoirs of a Geisha
Dario Marianelli, Pride & Prejudice
Alexander Desplat, Syriana

Original Song
“Punjabi Wedding Song,” by Anu Malick and Chaman Lal Chaman, Bride & Prejudice
“A Love That Will Never Grow Old,” by Gustavo Santoalalla and Bernie Turpin, Brokeback Mountain
“It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp,” by Paul Beauregard, Jordan Houston, and Frayser Boy, Hustle & Flow
“Jewel,” by Takako Tate, Nobody Knows
“Wunderkind,” by Alanis Morissette, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

Sound
King Kong
Munich
The New World
Walk the Line
War of the Worlds

Sound Effects Editing
King Kong
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
War of the Worlds

Editing
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardner
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
A History of Violence

Make-Up
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
Memoirs of a Geisha
The New World

Visual Effects
Batman Begins
King Kong
War of the Worlds

Animated Feature
Howl’s Moving Castle
Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit

Top 10 of 2005
1.) Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee)
2.) The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach)
3.) Me And You And Everyone We Know (Miranda July)
4.) The New World (Terrance Malick)
5.) A History of Violence (David Cronenberg)
6.) Match Point (Woody Allen)
7.) Munich (Steven Speilberg)
8.) Pride & Prejudice (Joe Wright)
9.) Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Nick Parks)
10.) Crash (Paul Haggis)

[Prince Eric]

March 17, 2006

Rent
I saw this for the third time, because my family wanted to watch it together. It's not a movie that I care to watch over and over again, but it holds up nicely each time. I love the infectious music, and I don't know why I don't have the soundtrack yet. I read for the first time some of the criticisims of the movie in the "Non-Disney" movie thread, and I have to laugh when people said there was just too many songs. Rent was written in the operetta style of musicals, which means it's set up like an opera, nearly all singing with little dialogue, most of which is told through the songs. With that said, Rent is a perfectly fine effort. As far as the "political messaging" throughout the movie, I'm happy knowing that the person who said that looks for politics in everything, so not much to say there, except that those assertions are bogus. Again, I'll state my original theses: Rent deserved a legendary director, not a hokey commercial waif with only domestic comedies to his name.

Walk the Line
It was musical night at my house, so I viewed this one again too. I generally enjoy all types of music, except for country, which comes off as too easy for me. However, when the served the best the genre has to offer, I'm all ears. Reese Witherspoon is a wonder, but (and I know the walls of UD are going to crash as I say this) while Joaquin Pheonix does a commendable job, it's certainly not revelatory, at least not in the profound way his four fellow nominees were in their respective movies. He didn't show enough of the inner darkness of Cash for his downward spiral to be totally convincing, definately not on par with Jaime Foxx in Ray. I'm glad he did his own singing, but if an actor is able to sing, shouldn't that be expected of him? Besides, vocal performances are not what acting assessments should be made of. He did great, but he ranks sixth in my list of 2005 actors, behind the rest of the nominees and Ralph Fiennes and Viggo Mortenson.

March 16, 2005

My Own Private Idaho
Maybe Gus Van Sant just isn't my thing. I didn't think much of his Elephant, and I don't think much of My Own Private Idaho, other than that they are interesting at the most, and confused mish-mashes of art house pretentiousness at the least. I felt his efforts to be heavy handed at times, especially in the Falstaff-Prince Hal Shakespeare scene. This device is supposed to solidify the film's poetic language and anchor the viewer, but I thought it was totally innapropriate for it's subject matter. Essentially, an artful film about male prostitutes doesn't come from nice dialogue of Shakespearean references. It comes from the characters themselves, which I liked, but didn't care to invest myself in. Gus Van Sant is an acquired taste that I am hesitant to acquire.

March 15, 2006

Requiem for a Dream
Darren Afronosky's sophomore film is an adrenaline rush suspense. As the four main characters run head-on into their final scenes of self-loathing, you just can't help but WANT them to succeed in their ambitions. Their pathetic lives could very easily be those of someone we know, even ourselves, in the future, and that fear of mediocrity is what kept me involved. It's a bizarre set-up, from the repetitive score to the freaky cinematography, but everything gels together to disorient the viewer, to let them know what it's like to be an addict. What's even more frightening is that you don't have to be hung up on drugs to be a junkie. No, the film succeeds at projecting fear by showing that obsession with anything, even something as trivial as food and moderate success, could be the start of your demise.

[castleinthesky]

Proof: Gwenyth Paltrow certainly made this movie. Her acting was great, near flawless, yet she could not be propelled for an acting nom with this movie. The plot was flawed yes, as it seemed like the characters could not even communicate. The acting by some, especially Gyllenhall was sub-par, and nothing special. The film could of been a much bigger hit, if Disney and the Weinsteins were not all angry at eachother. Grade B

Appleseed: As I try to watch every animated film of the year, I finally got around to this film, after I couldn't find it at many local movie renting stores. The animation was groundbreaking as being on of the first fully 3-d animated films from Japan. However you could definately see its flaws in animation. The plot was murky at times, but it was also complex, which is something I really liked about it. Some of the voice overs were lacking. The film really picked itself up at the end. Final Grade C+

My Neighbor Totoro: Grade A review to come later in the main topic for this movie in the general discussion forum.

Next up: A History of Violence, Elizabethtown and hopefully Whisper of the Heart, Pride and Prejudice, and the Squid and the Whale

[Loomis]

Ok, been a while since I posted in here, but the last five films I have seen have been part of the Alliance Française French Film Festival 2006held here annually.

I chose five films based partly on their descriptions and partly by reputation. I've waited to post until now, so that I can compare and contrast.

The first film I saw was How Much Do You Love Me? (Combien tu m’aimes) (2005) (Viewed March 12, 2006). My first choice was, unfortunately, a French farce. There is something very peculiar about the French sense of humour, something that I may never understand. The French will probably never understand Australian humour either, so I consider it a fair trade. The film, starring Monica Belluci and Bernard Campan, is about an office worker who has just won the lottery. He offers a prostitue 10,000 Euros a month to live with him until the money runs out. Complications begin when her boyfriend, gangster Gerard Depardieu, becomes jealous. The film starts out amusing, but gets progressively strange and kind of falls apart at the end. Rating: C

Hell (L'Enfer) (2005) (Viewed March 13, 2006) has an interesting history. Directed by Denis Tanovic, the film was originally conceived by Krystof Kieslowski (Three Colours Trilogy), and collaborator Krzysztof Piesiewicz. Part of an intended trilogy (Heaven was made in English a few years ago by Run Lola Run director Tyker), it tells the story of three women who's lives have gone to hell over a shared event. Terrific performances and that famous French subtlty make this a moving peace, and one that will resonate long after you have left the cinema. Stars Emmanuelle Beart. Rating: B-

The Ring Finger (L'Annulaire) (2005) (Viewed March 14, 2006) was one of the best of the crop. Starring the very beautiful Olga Kurylenko, L'Annulaire is about a girl who begins to work for a scientist who 'preserves' things for his clients. They develop a fetishistic relationship, and she is drawn deeper into that world. By the end of the film, we are not entire sure what the consequences are. Based on a Japanese novel, the almost still photography has much in common with the Japanese horror films, especially in terms of building suspense and creating mood. Easily a highlight. Rating: A-

A strk contrast was Lemming (2005) (Viewed March 19, 2006). It too is slow moving in an attempt to create mood, but it is slow to the point of boredom. What the French normally do so well - that is, create a subtle flood of emotions through minimal imagery - really drags this one out. At well over 2 hours, it was one of the longer films on the bill, but felt twice as long as it actually was. A shame, because it had such potential. Rating: C-

My personal favourite was the last film we saw: The Story of My Life (Mensonges et trahisons et plus si affinités...) (2005) (Viewed March 22). A comedy very much in the vein of a Woody Allen film, it is a stark contrast to How Much Do You Love Me. While the comedy in that film was farcical, this is witty and largely dialogue based. Some may have been lost in translation, but it couldn't have been much as I found this hilarious. Edouard Baer is wonderful as the self-defeating writer who largely ghostwrites autobigraphies of big stars, and has largely given up the dream of one day writing his own novel. The story has a little bit of a predictable ending, and is the most 'American' film in this sense, but it was one of the few films on the festival bill that was simply "fun". Rating: A


There you have it folks. Now I'm off to fill up on brain candy with something like Aeon Flux or When a Stranger Calls...

[castleinthesky]

A History of Violence: A History of Violence won many awards and was one of the three most critically acclaimed films of last year, which is deserved. The film's acting was best done by Maria Bello and Ed Harris. How William Hurt got nominated is still a mystery to me while Harris didn't. The transformation of Stall's character was also greatly performed by Viggo, but I wouldn't put it as one of the five best of the year. The part of the film I didn't like was the obscenitiies like usual. However the film held up beyond those. Grade: A-

Elizabethtown: Elizabethtown was one of the movies of last fall I wanted to see in theatres, but didn't get the chance to. However I'm glad I didn't. The film has a good concept, but does not fit it. Multiple plot lines is one of the major killers of the film. We see the love story of Orlando and Kirsten, Sarandon's problem with her in-laws, the father's death, the shoe company, and a problem with a yelling child. All these plot lines should have made the movie complex but they just made it a cacophony. The love story between Orlando and Kirsten was the major point, and should have been the major plot, not sidelined beside a shoe company (which was totally out of place for the film and really made no sense), and a father's funeral. The narration by Orlando's character throughout the film was also unecessary. The dialogue was also very faulty. Susan Sarandon's character does a little dance and comical speech at her husband's memorial, and it really, really is out of place. Cameron Crowe needed to edit this film and keep working on it for a few more months before release. This film could have been much better, but a rushed release killed it. Final Grade D-

Coming Soon: Whisper of the Heart, Pride and Prejudice, the Squid and the Whale

[Loomis]

A History of Violence: A History of Violence won many awards and was one of the three most critically acclaimed films of last year, which is deserved. The film's acting was best done by Maria Bello and Ed Harris. How William Hurt got nominated is still a mystery to me while Harris didn't. The transformation of Stall's character was also greatly performed by Viggo, but I wouldn't put it as one of the five best of the year. The part of the film I didn't like was the obscenitiies like usual. However the film held up beyond those. Grade: A-

Oh. Completely forgot about that one. I saw it just before the 5 French films. I'll agree with everything you said for the sake of brevity

[The Little Merman]

Junebug
Amy Adams definately did her job in Junebug. Amy made the film work as it was supposed to. The whole ensemble did a great job, but Amy Adams just stands out to me. The film is also very tragic to me, as I probably shed a tear, when Amy Adam's child died in birth. Why does the supporting actress race have to be so good compared to the medicoracy given by the supporting actors?
A

While I completely agree, you might want to mention that your review contains spoilers next time. \

*tlm

[castleinthesky]

Junebug
Amy Adams definately did her job in Junebug. Amy made the film work as it was supposed to. The whole ensemble did a great job, but Amy Adams just stands out to me. The film is also very tragic to me, as I probably shed a tear, when Amy Adam's child died in birth. Why does the supporting actress race have to be so good compared to the medicoracy given by the supporting actors?
A

While I completely agree, you might want to mention that your review contains spoilers next time. \

*tlm

Oh, I'm sorry, but I thought we were allowed to have spoilers. I'll just make sure that I aware anyone before my next posts.

[Loomis]

Aeon Flux (Viewed 25 March 2006): This has received some really bad reviews, but I still wanted to check it out based partly on the few times I'd viewed the animated shorts, and partly on how hot Charlize Theron looks with the dark hair I can't for the life of me see why this has copped more flack than any other film of a similar vein, as it is a perfectly serviceable action flick. The overall plot is simplistic, but it holds together well enough. The moment-to-moment plot points don't make a lot of sense, but at 90 minutes - who really cares? It was just the brain candy that I needed after 5 intense French films, and it was a great Saturday night actioner. Rating: B-

[Prince Eric]

March 25, 2006

The Wings of the Dove
Bellatristic literature rarely makes for excellent cinema. All to often, contemporary directors just miss the point of the great works they are adapting. The only film adaptations of great books in the past decade which have recieved a healthy dose of critical and audience love have been Jane Austen works, and that's because you have to be a dunce to screw up her accessible comedies of manners. However, I love Helena Bonham Carter, so this has been on my to-do list for quite some time. I loved it! This was a near-perfect adaptation of Henry James familiar novel. The movie is saturated in period gorgeousness, and the Venice/London sets are beautifully contrasted with one another. The art direction acts as a physical metaphor for the emotional turbulence of the characters, with the clean, linear space of London fostering sexual repression, while the chaotic exotica of Venice releases it. It's a beautiful and moving picture. Bonham Carter's performance is really amazing, the perfect James femme fatale. I've always believed that the Academy was stupid for giving Helen Hunter the trophy in the year of Kate Winslet's christening as a treasure among thespians, but now that this performance is thrown into the mix, I have to say that the voters must not have been seeing straight. Then again, it plays in to Academy bias. They cannot award women who play dignified and composed sirens, especially ones who proclaim that "I have never been good at playing the passive." (Wow.) The Academy loves their women to be princesses, waifs, damsels-in-distress, or in the case of 1997, helpless pieces of white trash who need a male, and a mental one at that, to survive.

Date Movie
I'm never turned off by crude humor, but this "movie" seemed so intent on grossing the audience out, that nothing seemed very humorous. So stupid. Grade: D-

January 19, 2006

A History of Violence
I am loving this more and more as time goes by. The themes of in-the-closet violence have never seemed more resonant (or relevant) than they do today.

[Prince Eric]

March 27, 2006

Camp
A thoughtful kiddie musical designed to revitalize Broadway for youths. It failed (or at least I think it did: no one I know has seen it). Camp Ovation, haven for all drama geeks, gets the same students year after year: fag hags and teenage cross-dressers. When a straight guy comes along, the camp is turned upside down. Filled with classic Broadway showstoppers and some original tunes added for good measure, the movie is enjoyable and raises some serious questions without being so conspicuous. The conundrum seems to be that present day Broadway is nothing more than a theme park (which is true, since all you see now are Marquees advertising the latest showpiece from the devil himself, Andrew Lloyd Webber) and also that the vast majority of "males" in the industry aren't really males. What to do? Camp doesn't answer any questions, but I enjoyed relishing in the conflicting character archs surrounding them. Grade: C+

[Prince Eric]

March 29, 2006

Yojimbo
Great sphagetti "Western." Gotta love the costumes, too.

[Loomis]

V for Vendetta (Viewed April 1): Really not sure what to make of this. As a big fan of the original graphic novel, and comics generally, I am always dubious when a big screen adaptation rolls around. V for Vendetta certainly checks all the right boxes - Guy Fawkes; reactions to terrorism; fear as a tool of government oppression - and I must give the film points for going that far. On the surface, it is a fairly good adaptation with very little to complain about in terms of entertainment. However, it is the combination of 'little things' that detract from the impact somewhat. The film is set in England, without any real understanding of the British ('Eggies in a basket' is one glaring example; countless 'bleeding hells' is another). By extension, the filmmakers have taken a story that was a reaction to Margaret Thatcher's Britain and placed it in the context of the modern War on Terror. The fit isn't necessarily a bad one, but some of the subtext is lost in translation. Plus, I really don't know if the slick Hollywood special effects and action sequences (Matrix-style, and really bugged me) fit with this tale. Overall, it is an enjoyable film, but I can't shake the feeling that it is like eating McDonald's salad: it looks good on the surface, and probably isn't bad for you, but deep down you know it is still made by a corporation and you can get healthier food elsewhere.

[Disneykid]

I'm too lazy to write reviews for every movie I see, and at the end of the year when I rank what I've seen, I don't wanna dig through 20 pages to track down everything. Instead I'll just use this post to keep track of all 2006 movies I see, with the ones in red indicating that I've seen them in theaters; all ratings are out of four stars:

The Pink Panther (March 4): **1/2
V for Vendetta (April 1): ***1/2
The Da Vinci Code (May 21): ***
X-Men: The Last Stand (May 29): ***1/2
Over the Hedge (June 2): ***1/2
Cars (June 9): ****
Superman Returns (June 29): ****
The Devil Wears Prada (July 1): ***1/2
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (July 8 ): ****
World Trade Center (August 11): ***1/2
Miami Vice (August 12): **1/2

[castleinthesky]

My Neighbor Totoro: One of Miyazaki's best. Oh no, wait, I say that about all his films. The film was articulate and the animation was beautiful. It made me laugh and get teary eyed at parts. The voice acting was not the best, but by the middle of the film, I got used to it. Grade A

The Squid and the Whale: What a great movie. I had high expectations of this film, and they turned out to come correct. The entire screenplay was vibrant. The acting by all the actors was nearly flawless, as Laura Linney was my personal favorite in the film. I really liked the ensemble. This film really was good, and definately ranks in my top ten of 2005. Grade A

Vera Drake Great acting by Imelda Staunton. The whole film was good, however I didn't find anything too remarkable. Definately a political message behind this film, but nevertheless still good. Grade B

Metropolis I expected a lot more out of this animation film. The film was great in plot and animation, however the score was way out of place, in my opinion. The animation was great, like I said, but needed some polishing. The science fiction of the film could of also been worked on, being no where near as good as Akira in this category. Final Grade- C+ However, the film has been weighing on my mind lately.

Whisper of the Heart The last major Ghibli film I had not seen. I was suprised. The film was gorgeous. Kondou definately did well in his first directorial start. The animation was not the best for a Ghibli film, but the plot was near perfection. Kondou, like Takahata, focuses on realism, more than fantasy, which is a great inverse of Miyazaki. The "Country Roads" song was also really good in the story. Final Grade A

[dvdjunkie]

Take The Lead (Viewed April 8, 2006)

First of all this film does not stand up against the likes of 2005's great documentary films "Rize" and "Mad Hot Ballroom". The best thing about this film is that it knows its limitations and rises to the challenge very formidably. Antonio Banderas portrays Pierre Dulaine, a New York dance instructor, who on his way home from a teaching class witness a vandalism on a car by Rob Brown. We next see Banderas in the Principal's office of the Ghetto high school where Alfre Woodard is the principal and runs the school with an iron hand. After making an offer to teach ballroom dancing to the delinquent students who are 'career detention-dwellers' the film switches pace and becomes a well-done teaching film about ballroom dancing to those who aren't interested in anything but getting through their detention class. Directed by Liz Friedlander and Written by Dianne Houston, the movie gives us insight into some of the students that come under Banderas' teachings. Rob Brown is a very good actor, and although he looks a lot older than the teenager he is supposed to be, that can be overlooked by the intensity he brings to the screen. The music is solid, and the final dance contest scenes are very good. As an entertainment film this rates pretty high, but in quality of production and believability I would have to rate this film a strong C+.