2004 Film List - Page 11

Jason Seaver · 09-22-2004, 03:39 PM

Updated with the second weekend of the Boston Film Fetival:

#97: Dead & Breakfast -

½ - A fitfully funny blood & guts (you can't really call it horror) comedy.
#98: Man Dancin' -

½ - A good riff on Jesus of Montreal set in Glasgow.
#99: King of the Corner -

½ - Boring mid-life crisis movie.
#100: The Boys From County Clare -

¾ - Works better when it's trying to be a cute comedy than a serious drama; features an actual Colm Meaney leading role.
#101: Kontroll -

½ - Vaguely like a Danny Boyle movie set in the Budapest subway system. Nifty.
#102: Duane Incarnate -

¼ - A thin, but funny, comedy of jealousy.

Brook K · 09-23-2004, 11:37 AM

2 more, again I'll try and slowly add longer reviews to the alternate thread as I get time:

Coffee & Cigarettes - C+ (aside from the humorous Alfred Molina/Steve Coogan segment, a mostly dull affair with segments ranging from ok to unwatchable)

Carandiru - C (Don't trust the outstanding trailer. Poorly structured Brazilian prison film with a social message. Skip and rent Bus 174 instead)

On Deck: Mean Girls

Brook K · 09-24-2004, 12:52 PM

Mean Girls - My first exposure to the Lindsay Lohan phenomenon was not an unpleasant experience. The first hour of the film is an often funny, to my mind fairly accurate depiction of human relationships through the exaggerating comedy lense. I could have done without the attempts at surrealism by having humans literally become slavering animals, but otherwise, this section of the film was enjoyable. Most of the characters have more dimension than is usually seen in today's teen films.

However the last half hour devolves into an eye-rollingly weak "message" picture that wrecks the bite and cynicism that had been developed. Happy endings all around so that our teen audience can feel good and forget about the ickiness of self-examination. B-

Matthew Chmiel · 09-26-2004, 01:45 PM

I've finally updated my list with a few films I've seen in the past few weeks. That including the good zombie film, the terrible zombie film, and the film that has been delayed two years by MGM.

Seth Paxton · 09-26-2004, 07:43 PM

While in LA I was able to add 3 new films.

DVD projected by Universal for the HTF meet...
Van Helsing
1 of 10
Very likely one of the 3-4 worst scripts of the last 5 years. I heard a vampire say "Too bad. So sad," for chrissake. Sommers must be stopped before he can outdo Michael Bay.

I appreciated that Universal took some time to spend on us, but it was pretty clear that they totally misunderstood what the HTF group was about. They should have presented their latest classic monster DVD box efforts and briefly tied that into Van Helsing, rather than trying to win us over with one of their worst film efforts in years.

Then I wanted to see a film at Grauman's, but we got off the wrong subway stop and by the time we walked back we had to settle for Mann's 6 instead. Better than stuff in Indy, but crap compared to the really top theaters I've been to.

So that didn't help me enjoy...
Sky Captain...
7.5 of 10
I liked the art direction/FX of the film, but generally speaking the script was just terribly thin. There is almost nothing to the film, as though it was lacking scenes to fill out and space the film better. The hurried "highlights" version that was presented just didn't feel like a full script. It looked good and the general premise was great, it just needed more time and perhaps less settings/situations for a better story pace.

But we ended the week hitting the Arclight. I messed up and thought it was on Hollywood instead of Sunset which cost us the first 5+ minutes (and normally they might not seat you then) but we had good reserved seats so it was still worth it. BTW, the place was sold out which made those reserved seats even better.

Theaters of similar quality that I've seen - Cinerama in Seattle, Grauman's (classic style), Astor in Times Square (now closed)...and that's it. Add in the reserved seating and general presentation attitude and it's got to be the best theater in America.

That made it all the more fun to enjoy...
Shaun of the Dead
8.5 of 10
The first 2 acts are stellar, even though I missed several of the more clever references the first time around. The only thing that keeps it from rating higher is that it gets a little to into being a zombie flick in the final act which dilutes the humor. However it does come back strong for the final few minutes. It also features one of the most impressive scenes of gore I've seen even in serious horror flicks, for what that's worth.

The national meet was great and was filled with a lot more activities this time than it was in 2000, which cut into my planned film viewings. But as of now I swear that any LA trip in my future will involve as many runs to the Arclight as I can manage.

Matt Stone · 09-27-2004, 04:26 AM

Updated with a few films over the last few days.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse - **½/*****
Not as awful as I was expecting, but that's not saying much. I did think it was better than PwsA's other flick AvP. Man was that Nemesis make-up cheesy, though. Ug.

Hustle - *½/*****
The crappy ESPN biopic. Trying to conjure up words to describe it's crappiness makes my head hurt. Tom Siezmore was okay, but put off a creepy vibe most of the time.

Wimbledon - ***½/*****
Nothing new here, but Paul Bettany was really likable. Same ol' story told the same ol' way, but enjoyable none-the-less.

Seth Paxton · 09-27-2004, 08:20 AM

I also got to check out a copy of Man on Fire (thx Peter and Fox).

Man on Fire
8 of 10
To me Tony Scott is like the good version of Michael Bay. He has been touched by the Bruck style but has managed to forge his own style within it, as well as adding in bits of style from other sources including Ridley's work. The results are films like True Romance, Enemy of the State and Man on Fire.

The style serves the harsh tone of the subject and character, adding to the intensity of the more violent scenes (in a rather Tarintino fashion of "less seen") and the confusion, emotional and otherwise, of Denzel's character.

And I enjoyed the subtitle touches and how they emphasized certain moments. Scott still goes for a little too much pop filmmaking at times to rate it higher, but it's a strong effort.

Matt Stone · 09-27-2004, 08:56 PM

Updated with the terrific Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (****½/*****). It's a shame that more people aren't seeing this.

Joe Kamsan · 09-30-2004, 02:47 PM

Updated my modest-sized list with the pleasant though unremarkableThe Terminal . Hanks can still elicit a laugh from me with the right type of sight gag yet the film felt like a clumsy attempt at an Truffaut-type comedy. Hanks' character is an easy-going, in-over-his-head guy getting into adventures, befriending the airport employees and even landing a job, all this while mangaging an elusive love interest. Watch for one moment that seems to have been lifted straight from Stolen Kisses. Too lovey-dovey and didn't have enough bite, though I still give it a B .

Meanwhile, a movie that totally surprised me was The Village. I went into this movie with no expectations; I had seen the trailer only twice but felt no urgency to go see it. All those factors probably helped my enjoyment of this movie, which in retrospect, does not entirely play fair with the audience. However, overlook the 'gimmick' to see it as a conceit pivotal to understanding the protaganist.

Spoiler:

A film that has mood and atmosphere in spades. I give it a A-.

ZacharyTait · 10-03-2004, 01:49 AM

Updated my list with:

The Bourne Supremacy (***1/2/****)

Mean Girls (***/****)

I'm up to 25 now. Usually I'm at about a movie a week by this point of the year, but finances are making me choosy about movies to see.