2003 Film List - Page 20

It did.

And I didn't think the kids acted like real kids, that was the problem. In some spots they did, but in reacting to the situation they acted like kids who knew the story and were acting their parts, going through the motions.

That's the thing about acting, real people often don't react correctly because they are reacting like real people trying to act a part, they haven't learned how to overcome knowing the script, the rehersals, the presence of a camera and crew, etc.


**SPOILERS FOR ELEPHANT KINDA**

Like Benny asks no questions when he finds a room of kids climbing out a broken window and a dead body on the floor. He doesn't even acknowledge the body, yet he hasn't yet seen a shooter nor apparently really know what is going on. He helps a kid step out the window and then goes back to wandering the halls, a serious WTF moment in the film.

And another kid checks on a firecracker noise in the hall, gets shot and everyone, including the teacher, just acts like he fell down or something and then they drag him back in the room rather than reacting like maybe a shooter of some sort is in the hall.

IMO, Van Zant is responsible for those performances, it was his choice (as you say) to go with non-actors. When Eisenstein did it it worked, but here it feels stagey in the last act, and that's where the film lost me.

Updated with Martin & Orloff, the first movie fom the Upright Citizens Brigade which has been trickling into theaters slowly (probably shuttling a single print around). Funny, well-orchestrated bad taste.

You make some good arguments Seth. I'd have to see the movie again to be able to discuss your points.

Dracula: Pages From A Virgin's Diary: Guy Maddin's silent filmed performance of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet exhibits moments of beauty within a frustrating atmosphere. Because Maddin's style is as much parody as homage to the silent film period, the mood of this elegant piece is often comic rather than romantic. His use of color to add punch to certain scenes doesn't work at all since the colors he chooses are unnatural and distracting. Even the telling of a story that is familiar to all is so disjointed and re-arranged that I had trouble following it at times. When Maddin leaves the dancers alone it can be pretty to look at, but it unfortunately never amounts to more than that. C+

Next Up: Bubba Ho-Tep

Bubba Ho-Tep - Grounded by Bruce Campbell's surprisingly touching portrayl of Elvis, the film is at its best when firmly focused on him. He generates a mountain of laughs in describing how he came to live in an out-of-the-way rest home and kvetching about his lack of penile movement. But the film is less successful at trying to incorporate the horror elements, partly because Bruce is so entertaining at just being "old" Elvis; and while you gotta respect Ossie Davis for being game enough to play JFK, he doesn't seem to have much onscreen chemistry with Bruce. Though I did LOVE that JFK has a picture of David Ferrie on his wall. That said, it provided enough entertainment and laughs in the first half to be worth seeing more than once. B+

Ripley's Game: If you are a fan of John Malkovich, as I am, than you should see this movie as it provides him good material to sink his teeth into, though this is really much more of an action/thriller than the nuanced character portrait offered up in The Talented Mr. Ripley. The mature Mr. Ripley is a cold-blooded killer, still indulging his tastes for the finer things and the fun of manipulating people. But he is also surprisingly empathic in this installment. Malkovich gives a weight to the character that another actor might not have found in this lower quality script. B

Next Up: The Company, Monster

Updated with Richard Kwietniowski's Owning Mahowny

~Edwin

Updated with Nancy Meyers' Something's Gotta Give

~Edwin

Updated with Jeffrey Blitz's Spellbound ¼

I'm on a roll now.

~Edwin

Updated with Billy Ray's Shattered Glass - A spirited look at the ethics of journalism only to be followed by the same scandal that rocked The New York Times and recently, USA Today. A good cast delivers outstanding performances while its subject matter makes for a lively and thoughtful discussion piece.

~Edwin

Updated with The Secret Lives of Dentists - After a while, Denis Leary's character got annoying and the filmmakers appeared to stop caring anymore. One scene where the boom mike accidentally came down and was caught onscreen was not even reshot. Very sloppy.

~Edwin

Update: For the wife, Mike Newells' Mona Lisa Smile (out of four)

Tomorrow, for the little ones.

~Edwin

Update: For the kids, Tim McCanlies' Secondhand Lions - As a family film, it never establishes a stronghold nor its own footprint as much as Stand By Me and Holes did.


Tomorrow, something for me.

~Edwin

The Company - Robert Altman's latest is essentially filmed ballet. The film has no real plot, which wouldn't be a problem if it contained compelling characters, which it doesn't. He spends so little time developing the characters, they might as well not even be there. The ballet is often beautiful to watch, but that's really all there is to appreciate. B-

Next Up: Monster

Gus Van Sant's Elephant - I'm not really sure what to make of this one or the point of it all when an actual real life incident already exists. The violence is prolonged because not a single high school student owns a cell phone nor does the school have a phone to call 911!

I agree with Michael Reuben (and Lew Crippen) - This is maddening! After Gerry and this one, two strikes for Gus Van Sant.

~Edwin

Monster - A powerful acting excercise connected to a hollow film. I'm not sure why this particular criminal was worthy of a "sympathetic" film portrayl over any other criminal. Simply because she was a woman that murdered men? Guess I didn't "get" the point of it all. B-

The Station Agent - Warmly entertaining character film where the emphasis is on relationships rather than action. Quality scriptwriting and performances by the 3 leads are the highlights of the film. It is pure pleasure to watch these characters sit around a table and talk to one another. There were times when I thought it might stray too far into "drama" but each time pulled back nicely. Just shy of a top 10 placing. A-

Bad Santa - I just didn't respond to this material at all. I thought I was really going to enjoy it, but I sat in my chair only occassionally chuckling. It wasn't necessarily bad, just dull. The swings from over-the-top vulgarity to uninspired schmaltz simply didn't work and I found the Billy Bob/Lauren Grahm relationship completely unbelievable (even in Hollywood terms) and lacking in chemistry. C+

I believe I only have 2 '03 movies left on my Netflix list, The Human Stain, which comes out later this month, and Elf, which doesn't arrive until November.

I just finished watching it about 10mins ago. I had the exact same thoughts, very disappointing. I bought this blind because it doesn't open in theatres until November.

Updated with two in-flight movies: Duplex and My Boss's Daughter

Definitely not recommended. I should've taken a book with me, instead.

~Edwin

On Station Agent I agree completely. If anything that was one of the film's strengths.


I don't think Monster was made because she was sympathetic. I think Monster was made simply because the filmmaker became involved and interested in her story. I did not walk away from it feeling as though she were totally sympathetic, just that she had no control over her life. She justifies the killings and was only truly justified for one (and in real life that is highly disputed as well).

The film version is not the real life version of the story, but the star character does appear to be a damn accurate version of the real person, just set in somewhat different circumstances. It was the reality of the character, not sympathy, that made me enjoy the film.


I did get into
Bad Santa
8 of 10
Maybe its because I swear so much myself, but I really liked a lot of the film. In the end it is a little formulaic but for the most part I found the dark humor pretty funny.

Underworld
5.5 of 10
Only because some aspects of the story were interesting to me does this film stay above the 5 spot. It so desperately cribbed scenes from films like Matrix and Terminator, especially for the main sequences of action, that most of what could have been great about the premise fell flat instead.

Here's a perfect example of the film NOT capitalizing on the premise of Vamps vs Wolves - apparently being a vampire means only 3 things - no sunlight, drink blood, you can fall really far, land and walk right off.

That was a big problem with the film. It was really just the story of a couple of gangs shooting it out and barely made any use of the supernatural aspects beyond making the characters just tougher/stronger.

Boring.


Timeline
3.5 of 10
Another one of those SF stories from the last 15 years in which the film basically takes an SF premise, rushes you into it so it can simply be used as a gimmick, and then resorts to a paint by number action flick.

The wonder of the SF, the themes of the SF, that stuff is just pissed away with no regard at all. It reminded me of the the first 10 minutes of Stargate where all this amazing SF technology is being discovered and all the characters treat it like its a microwave only better. No big deal, we get it, now let's go fight someone.

Stupid.

Thanks for saving me some digging Seth

Glad you liked Station Agent

RE: Monster, my meaning wasn't that her story was chosen because she was sympathetic, but that because the director is emotionally invested in it and you have a star playing her, the movie becomes sympathetic. I think we are definitely meant to sympathize with Aileen. Yes the movie isn't the real case, but I don't think that means we should disconnect it from what the real person did.

The Human Stain - Parts of this film work really well. Anthony Hopkins gives a typically strong performance and the time worn device of flashing back to a character's youth actually works pretty well here. There are effective and emotionally charged dramatic scenes in his November-July relationship with Nicole Kidman's character as well as in the racial/family aspects of the film.

But there's something missing. The film feels like it's had scenes chopped out and some of the dialogue, particularly in transitions, falls flat or just doesn't work. It's also very difficult to picture the actor who plays the young Hopkins actually turning into Anthony Hopkins (like where does a kid who grows up in Jersey pick up a British accent?). Kidman doesn't seem particulary suited to her role either. I think she's one of the best actresses in movies today, but she's grown beyond the "self-hating abused ex-wife" type parts. Plus we get Ed Harris in the "psycho ex-husband I could play this part in my sleep" type role.

It's probably worth seeing but has nothing on Douglas Sirk's Imitation Of Life. -- B-

Bus 174 - Very fine documentary detailing a Brazilian bus hi-jacking. Combining extensive news footage that allows us to see the event unfold, with interviews of participants and various experts, the documentary effectively describes the event while also telling a wider story of the appalling conditions of Brazilian prisons and the plight of street kids with no support systems. B+

Next Up: I don't think I have any 03 films left in my Netflix queue until Elf is released in November.

Updated with Sam Green's and Bill Siegel's The Weather Underground - a documentary about the radical activists and their activities during the 1960's.

~Edwin

Freaky Friday
8.5 of 10
Very pleasant surprise. If I hadn't heard other good reviews I probably would have skipped it till cable. It's well written and lots of fun. Curtis and Lohan are both very funny in their roles and the story is enjoyable.


Dumb and Dumberer
3 of 10
Not as bad as I expected. At least the two young actors pulled off very strong imitations of Harry and Lloyd as teens. The main problem is a difficult plot. It really plays like a film with no purpose. There are some moments and the short bus is a pretty funny sight gag, but a lot of the time the film is struggling to figure out what it is trying to be (esp. in how its directed).

I agree, but in a way in which we recognize that she is helplessly sick and wrong in her actions, driven by emotional desperation.

Maybe its just me but understanding HOW a person became what they are doesn't lesson my judgement of what they are.

Just because you know how a gun was built doesn't stop making it a gun. Maybe you can alter what it is with serious effort, but that's a big maybe if you aren't really sure how to go about it. Letting a killer off after treatment is like pulling the trigger on a gun after I "fix" it so it won't shoot anymore...what if I failed?

So my view of killers is that while someone else may have "broken" them or "created" them that doesn't alter what they are, just like no one runs up on stage and rips the Nobel Prize out of the winner's hand because they are merely a product of their parents/society/etc. (i recognize that there are degrees of murder and specific situations that alter the choices, this isn't meant as a political post)

That allows me to both appreciate the sadness of her situation and to feel as though the death penalty was fully warranted too.

However, I understand that many/most people do not care for such separation, ie "how can I root for that bastard" or "how can I not like this person" because of sympathy or lack thereof. I engage with them on both levels at once, as a character and as a person living out their own situation.

Dreamcatcher
2 of 10
Head straight for my bottom 10 of the year you POS film. Arghh. Why do all King stories sound the same now? I mean is this just Stand By Me with It mixed with The Shining mixed with about 10 other King stories. Throw in The Thing and Men in Black ripoffs for good measure.

On top of that the script is so poorly realized, way too jumbled and packed with extra plotlines that leave you wondering just where in the hell any of this is going 10 minutes into the film until at least halfway.

Terrible film. Maybe in all of the mess there was a good basic film, but they failed to find it. Hell, I wonder if they even looked.

The Missing
6.5 of 10
Wrong in all the ways that Howard typically can go wrong, which basically means too safe and too simplified. Rather than let the chased indians remain mysterious and terrifying, which they are early on, he quickly spends way too much time depicting their side of things for needless exposition. He reduces the film art to a banal telling of the facts in a "then this happens" manner.

The story is like a shortened version of The Searchers with a rather interesting mother/father relationship complication. But Howard's film pisses all of that promise away and settles for acceptable and slightly dull.

Howard remains a director that can only handle material that fits him comfortably.

Paycheck
3.5 of 10
Not truly terrible, more along the lines of safe and dull. It will naturally be compared to other P.K. Dick films in an unfavorable light. Especially Total Recall which features a more engaging lead in Arnie than Affleck presents here. Probably Woo's dullest piece yet.

Cheaper by the Dozen
1 of 10
I wanted to punch this film in the face.

Dreadful, hack script with some of the most forced narrative and unnatural conflict ever written. Makes "The Family Man" look good.

Oh, and Hillary Duff can't act, she was worse than Piper Perabo and that's saying something.

Angels in America
9.5 of 10
Finally got the time to watch the set straight through in 2 days. Great mini-series/film, as the Golden Globe and Emmy wins can attest to. Streep played one character that I didn't even realize was her till the credits, and even when I did spot her or Emma Thompson I was still impressed with the range seen in one film. It also has an enjoyable touch of Gilliam in the dream/fantasy sequences and nice hints of comedy to offset the drama.

It goes into my 2003 top 10 at #9.

Jon Favreau’s Elf - This one was so ordinary that I have to wonder what the big deal was all about this time last year during its theatrical release. “Hilarious!” “Intelligent!” were the words used by some. The version that I saw on DVD doesn’t even come close. This was so plain that the six-year old I saw it with only laughed twice. The dialogue and writing was anything but spectacular. Still, a small credit goes to Will Ferrell who does a good job and saves the material from becoming a total stinker.

~Edwin

Elf - In construction and execution the film is completely conventional. But it is so earnest and Ferrell is so relentlessly energetic that it eventually won me over. It also doesn't hurt that Zooey Deshanel is so yummy looking, especially in that elf suit. I do think it makes a major misstep in inserting villainous park rangers into a movie that had absolutely no need for villains or chase sequences. Not a Christmas classic by any means, but not a bad way to spend 90 minutes either. B

To Be And To Have - This French documentary about a rural one-room school and it's teacher has gained quite a bit of notiriety in film circles. I didn't see it as anything particularly inspirational or eye-opening, since I have children of age similar to some of those in the film, but I enjoyed its inobstrusive, observational style. While the film turned the teacher into something of a celebrity and French hero, for me its value lies in its window into the world of children. B

Beyond Re-Animator - Herbert West goes to prison in the 3rd film in the Re-Animator series. At this point, he's the only reason to see the film. Jeffrey Combs is as haughty, scheming, and arrogant as ever but to call the supporting cast even mediocre would be kind. Predictable, silly, and not nearly as fun as its predecessors. C

Bus 174 - Also works as a commentary on Brazil's law enforcement, its jail system and how it treats its many homeless young children.

~Edwin

Love Actually
8 of 10
Not too bad, but probably would have been better off as a film with 2 sequels (and made more money too). Each situation is solid, save the rather simple "guy going to America" bit, but there just isn't enough time for them all and most of them have to disappear for long periods of screen time which is unfair to each of them.

It's got some terrific moments of humor and some nice touches of drama. Just make part 1, part 2, and part 3 and spread the dramatic pieces across the series and you have a great string of hits instead of one overcrowded film.