2004 Film List - Page 15

Time Of The Wolf - Michael Haneke's beautifully shot moodpiece set in an unexplained post-Apocalyptic France is never less than compelling viewing, even if it lacks the thematic firepower of his previous works - The Piano Teacher, Code Unknown, & Funny Games. - B+

Closer - While filled with all sorts of actorly fireworks and enjoyably cynical dialogue, Closer trips up in failing to provide adequate grounding for its characters. Their personalities shift so wildly within the film, that it is impossible to know when a character is actually being sincere, thus making it difficult to invest any amount of true affinity for the movie. Worth seeing, but nothing special. B-

Finding Neverland - Touching story about the redemptive power of art and its ability to inspire and entertain. Johnny Depp once again delivers a noteworthy performance as a man who tries his hardest to remain untouched by the cynicism and disappointments of adulthood. The film has superb character moments and high production values, but falters a bit structurally in its balance between a children's world full of fun and creativity and an adult world of silent betrayals and profit and loss. It reduces much of the "adult" story to distracting filler material. But there is no denying that the film achieves the magic that is always a rare find. A-

Code 46 - Michael Winterbottom creates an intriguingly simple vision of a future society where he places a story of romance and mystery. Unfortunately, Tim Robbins isn't really the best choice for a romantic lead. His stiffness alongside Samantha Morton's exuberance never really gels into chemistry between the actors. I loved the look and shooting style of the film and the "Gattaesque" future that looks very similar to the present, but it fails the "Brook Kennon Test" for a good romantic film: Am I rooting for the leads to get together? In Code 46 the answer is "Not really". B

Troy - Far more compelling and entertaining than I thought it would be, Troy brought forth some of my long buried enthusiasm for Greek Mythology. I felt a bit of the same charge I got from LOTR in seeing favorite literary characters like Achilles, Ajax and Hector on screen. The battles and political scenes are sharply directed by Wolfgang Petersen. The romantic scenes don't fare quite as well, but it really isn't until the last 20m-30m that the film flags a bit in finally succumbing to Hollywoodisms that it had avoided until that point. Still I would call this a pleasant surprise. B

Next Up: still a few catchups, The Forgotten (wife fell asleep during this last night so I had to turn it off), Sky Captain, Rosenstrasse

David Ellis' Cellular - a well acted action yarn. Just don't think too much about it. A true popcorn flick.

~Edwin

Brook, I'm surprised you were so kind to Troy. Maybe its one of those low expectation rental vs going to the theater things, because I thought most of the film was sloppy and uneffective.


I also didn't see the wildly changing part of the characters in Closer. I understand people not liking the characters, but I thought one of the strengths to the film was that each character was strongly defined and consistent with their own flaws and traits. Which were weak, which were strong, which were willing to lie, which were willing to tell the truth, how they used these things as weapons in their relationships, and so on.

Just an unexpected complaint to me.


Garden St and Nap Dynamite arrived. Hope to watch them this weekend (darn football). When I send them back I'll bring in POTChrist and The Village to see what all the complaints (and some praise) was about.

Appended The Forgotten, Cellular, Hotel Rwanda, House of Flying Daggers, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, Friday Night Lights and The Clearing in my list.

Antoine Fuqua's King Arthur - The latest entry in the bow and arrow, err..., sword and sandal movies continues to struggle both in writing and execution. This one has a little more character development but its story, well, what story?

~Edwin

Yea, #40!

Passion of the Christ - *** 1/2 - Wonderfully acted, shot, scored, and edited movie about Jesus and what he went through. I would give this 4 stars, but the repeated use of slow motion and Jesus falling over and over again on his walk to Calvary bugged me to the point of dropping it a 1/2 star. This is the most violent movie I've ever seen. I don't think I've ever seen this much blood onscreen as a result of one person.

Off to the Top 10 of 2004 thread. See ya there!

Terry George's Hotel Rwanda


Next Up: Million Dollar Baby

~Edwin

Napoleon Dynamite
8.5 of 10
Funny film along the quirky lines of Bottle Rocket or Rushmore, though it looks more like BR due to filming style. It's got some good laughs and fun characters. Not as good at a Wes Anderson film, but entertaining.

In Good Company
8.5 of 10
I wasn't surprised because the trailers made it look interesting, but the script was very solid. It didn't invent much, but it played the formula pretty softly off the initial setup. You will see situations that you have seen before or would expect, but they are done quite well. Good performances from Quaid and Grace, Scarlett gets a decent role as well.

It also wrapped things up nicely without playing it as straight-up feel good.

#41 - Million Dollar Baby - **** - Three weeks ago, I jumped the gun and called Sideways the best film of 2004. M$B easily takes over the #1 spot. I haven't been this engrossed in a film since ROTK. Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and Hilary Swank are astounding. Everything about this movie is fantastic. It never takes a wrong step or hits a wrong note. I actually had tears in my eyes at the end, and that doesn't happen very often to me at the movies.

#42 - The Aviator - *** 1/2 - Martin Scorsese delivers a sweeping biopic that falters with its' obsession with HH's OCD. Also, I couldn't get to the point where I felt like I was watching Howard Hughes on the screen. I kept finding myself looking at Leo playing Howard Hughes. On the other hand, Cate Blanchett and Kate Beckinsale are delicious as Katherine Hepburn and Ava Gardner. I can see why this is up for 11 Academy Awards, you just won't find me rooting for it in the big categories on Oscar night.

Friday Night Lights - one of the better sports movies of 2004 and another good outing for actor turned director Peter Berg.


Next Up: The Story Of The Weeping Camel

~Edwin

Don't know on Troy, but you could be right since I wasn't expecting anything and thought I got a fairly solid movie of its type. I liked that it wasn't all action and they included the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon. Also really liked Sean Bean as Hector. Wasn't really annoyed by anything until after the Trojan horse.

In Closer, I never felt like I knew when any character was showing "their true self". I could never tell if during moments of vulnerability, whether or not it was simply an act. An when they were being dicks/bitches, was that an act to not show vulnerability, or were they truly dicks/bitches? Now that ambiguity can work in some stories, but in this case, I really felt like I needed to know where each person was coming from. Did any of them truly love one another or were even capable of loving another person? I have no idea. Thus since I could never really get a handle on the characters, I couldn't get truly "into" the movie.

House Of Flying Daggers - A showpiece of artistry and modern kung-fu action provides an enjoyable experience, but the story is rather superflous. All the political goings-on don't amount to a whole lot and are really window dressing. The romantic elements don't fare much better as the actors can't match the emotiveness of Zhang Ziyi and there isn't a lot of chemistry or heat between the couples. I don't mind so much in this film because the style is so strong and so fun, but it keeps the film from being something truly special. B+

The Woodsman - This is one of those roles any actor wold love to have, and Kevin Bacon certainly runs with it and does excellent work. The movie does a good job of placing us in the shoes of a man who is struggling with a mistake that many people find impossible to forgive. Several of the scenes at his workplace or when he's being interrogated by a policeman played by Mos Def, are absolutely claustrophobic. But the script is simply too pointed and obvious. Isn't it enough that Bacon is a former molester? Apparently not as he will encounter 2 more molestees, another molester roaming the streets of his neighborhood, and suspect at least one other person.

Then there is a horrifically bad decision to have Bacon provide voice over while the child molester is coercing a kid as if he was Vin Scully calling a Dodgers game. Hey folks, it's Sexual Assault humor!! B-

The Forgotten - An entertaining story that morphs in ways I wasn't expecting at all (guess I wasn't paying much attention during the trailer). Cast differently this might have been direct-to-video fodder, but Juilanne Moore's powerful performance lends a believability and empathy to the proceedings that drew me in. B

Next Up: Still catching up on reviews, Alien Vs. Predator

Finally saw Million Dollar Baby!

Seen: Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby - Rating coming after my second viewing.

~Edwin

Rosenstrasse - A powerful, emotional story of loyalty, love, and the bonds of family, director Margarethe Von Trotta's film is framed by the story of a young woman on a journey to find the past that has been too painful for her mother to tell. She will discover the story of Rosenstrasse, a unique episode of social protest that took place within Nazi Germany where a group of "Aryan" wives banded together to demand the return of their Jewish husbands.

Von Trotta skillfully weaves these stories together with deliberate pacing and subtle shadings. The characterizations are honest, and painfully real. Characters who do what they must to survive, but never losing their compassion or loyalty. The rich score further enables the film to reach a viewer's heart. An enormously satisfying and compelling emotional journey, Rosenstrasse is surely one of the year's most overlooked films. A

Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle - Being from the St. Louis area, I pretty much had to see this, and got some pretty satisfying entertainment for my time. A pretty standard roadtrip movie with hit and miss comedy, the film is made more interesting due to its racial subtext of hyphenated Americans trying to gain inclusion to the culture and power structures of white America. I just wish it had contained a little more hysteria along the lines of Kumar's comical marriage to a giant bag of pot. B-

I thought they each loved the other as much as they were capable. But yes, I did think they were reaching a level of love. I think Portman and Owen feel it much deeper, but both are just strong willed and guarded people. Anyway, your complaints fall in line with what other non-fans are saying.


H&K White Castle - totally agree. This film should have been much funnier on a consistant basis. It failed in a manner similar to Dude Wheres My Car.


Passion of the Christ
9 of 10
This film was a 10 for the first 30 minutes, but then Gibson starts up with his martyr fetish (see Braveheart, L. Weapon even) and goes well beyond what is necessary. He obsesses over the blood and suffering in a way that diverts from the main theme of the story, not to mention putting JC in a physical state that he could not survive. It make death a blessing and the crucifixtion a welcome break instead of the worst step. Why, I don't know but it grows annoying, as do the 50 times JC has to fall down in the film.

I also was mildly troubled by potential anti-Semitism, but I'll discuss that in the POTC thread instead. And as a non-religious person I was not immediately bothered by the Emmerich/Gibson/other changes from the gospel and can separate the film from "true account" (biblical).

Other than those 2 issues however, this film is a triumph.


Million Dollar Baby
9 of 10
The film did put me in tears, but as a narrative script it has problems. There is a sad situation but the final act lacks legitimate conflict as only one side of a choice is even remotely reasonable and the other choice feels very tacked on in an attempt to create conflict.

There are a couple of cliched characters (one set of characters walked in right out of a Lars Von Trier film) as well as a 3rd act that slightly panders to awards shows (its a plot used by several previous Oscar hopefuls including another nominated film from this year).

Sounds like major problems, but they aren't. Just enough to hold it down from a 10.

Swank, Freeman and Eastwood overcome the clunky scenes and make the good ones great. The acting and direction of the film are its outstanding features and are all top contenders for their Oscar categories. The score is also very solid. Not my favorite film of the Oscar contenders, but quite strong.

Garden State
9.5 of 10
I just can't believe this is a first time directing effort as there are many examples of good directing choices and ideas throughout the film. The camera will move in a timely manner for a scene or a shot will be thoughtfully/creatively composed. The writing is also fresh and invigorating, enough to keep fresh the standard "coming home" story.

It's both funny and poignant, often at the same time. Zach Braff appears to be a legit talent, at least I hope so. You certainly don't want a film this good to be a one-hit wonder.

My feelings exactly.

Again, my feelings exactly.

--
H

Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby

~Edwin

Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow - I was initially carried away by the concept and designs but after 40m or so much of my interest dissipated. The writing and acting isn't good enough to overcome the familiar territory the story treads. I would have loved this when I was 12, but I need a little more from a movie than this one has to offer. B

Alien Vs. Predator - A simple regurgitation of the slasher elements of the alien drama; isolote some people and have them picked off one-by-one. I enjoyed the brief bits of actual Alien vs. Predator action, but they are far too few, and the movie's generic, by-the-numbers approach produces nothing of particular interest to experience. C

Some 2004 movies I've seen recently and added to my list, by viewing date...

ALL RATINGS OUT OF (FIVE) STARS

Hotel Rwanda
Some real nice material here, but it felt to me like a well shot, well acted TV movie. In the end, the intention of a movie like this is to make you think about what happened and feel guilty, so in that sense I guess it's a complete success.

Sideways
Great great great. The fact that Giamatti did not get an Oscar nomination is ludicrous. Alexander Payne's best film by far. I don't even particularly like wine and this film made me feel guilty about it.

Mean Creek
A group of teenagers (from my home state of Oregon!) take the local bully on a weekend boat ride with the intention of humiliating him. I'm not digging this as much as everyone else, but I appreciate the effort, both directing and acting wise. Who knew the main guy from Eurotrip could be so menacing?

Infernal Affairs
Popular Chinese gangster flick from a couple years back that finally got a release domestically. Overly showy and melodramatic in parts, but some really powerful scenes and great acting from the two leads (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Andy Lau from House of Flying Daggers). I guess there's a whole trilogy associated with this movie, though Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Vera Drake
The three stars are based solely on some great scenes in the first half of the movie, and the overall strength of the acting. Unfortunately, most of what's good here comes to a screeching halt when the abortion issue takes over the film, and the title character does nothing but blubber for the remaining 45 minutes.

The Story of the Weeping Camel (Mongolia) - The only documentary I have seen in recent months that does not purport to advance an agenda.

~Edwin

Since Otar Left - A generational story involving a grandmother, mother, and daughter living in Tbisili who dream of living in France; Since Otar Left is quietly moving in describing the mundane lives of its characters and their yearning for a better, or at least different, life. With strong acting and an economy of style, the film effectively transports us into the shoes of the characters letting us feel their small joys and their sorrow. B+

Bad Education - A superbly powerful performance by Gael Garcia Bernal and the signature style of Almodovar create a deeply moving, complex, and intriguing film. But I feel like I really need to see it again before offering more thoughts about it or giving it a final grade and possible top 10 placing. For now: A-

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou - The film provided plenty of laughs but simply left me cold. Treading what has become Wes Anderson's standard thematic ground of lost father figures, the participants seem to be lacking much energy or enthusiasm this time around. Despite sumptious sets, delightful stop-motion animation, and highly stylized cinematography, the film seems to have little to say that Anderson hasn't already accomplished in better form. Perhaps also, Bill Murray has gone down this road once to often. Still worth seeing, but one of the bigger disappointments of the year. B

Strayed - Veteran French director Andre Techine's latest is the story of a mother (Emanuelle Beart) and her children trying to survive the Nazi invasion of France. Meeting a young man with substantial survival skills on the road, they live together in an abandoned house. We will watch relationships shift and emotional attachments grow over time, even as we realize this somewhat idyllic setting cannot last forever. A sometimes moving and enlightening film, if a bit overly familiar, Strayed is grounded by Beart's sensitive acting. B

Next Up: The Notebook, Zelary

The Notebook - This well-crafted romantic film follows the tried and true romantic formula, but does so with such warmth and heart that we don't mind. The forties period love story takes up the bulk of the running time, but the real reason to see the film is for the framing story featuring James Garner and Gena Rowlands, the part of the film where director Nick Cassavetes most closely emulates his father's work in creating waves of fierce and tender emotions. B+

Zelary - A story of love and community set during WWII Czechoslovakia, Zelary is best at showing us unexpected moments of passion and caring. It suffers from being overly long and in concentrating more on events than just letting us spend time with its warmly drawn characters, but if the pace seems glacial at times, it also includes some heart melting moments that make the viewing experience worthwhile. B

She Hate Me - A stiff upper cut in an age of simplistic storytelling, She Hate Me is Spike Lee's State Of The Union Address for 2004. Wild, angry, humorous, and insightful, the film is all over the map in satirizing, criticizing, but above all celebrating, the modern society and cultural structures we have created.

Misunderstood by critics who couldn't get past the outrageous story, the film is not meant to present reality; we are looking through the artist's lense. With the ample aid of cinematographer Matthew Libatique, that lense is beautiful indeed. Beyond the strong thematic material the film presents, the technique and artistry of the filmmaking, including another outstanding Terrence Blanchard score, reaffirms once again that Spike Lee is perhaps the most unappreciated of America's remaining auteur's. A-

Next Up: something from the theater, My Architect: A Son's Journey, Ray

Nick Cassavetes' The Notebook - I'll second Brook's comments. I should not have hesitated seeing this in the theaters as it features Ryan Gosling and it is based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks. Two positives right there and then. It is very well acted and executed and true to its emotions. I like the way how it tied everything together until the very last frame.

~Edwin

Infernal Affairs
8.5 of 10
High concept at its best, the script is loaded with tension points and real drama. Police mole versus mob mole in a chase to find the other before being caught themselves. It looks a bit too Bruckheimer but great scenes and good acting more than make up for that.

It will be remade I assume, and in my opinion it should. It's too good a concept and script to be missed by American mainstream audiences, much like The Ring or Vanilla Sky.

The Village
8 of 10
A good love story as well as moral tale about preserving innocence, MNS makes the same mistake again by chasing after an ending that feels more like a tacked-on gimmick than a comment on the rest of the film (save perhaps 6th Sense). Better to move some of the ending to the 50-60 minute point and then return the main relationships and drama.

It's also the first MNS that actually doesn't make good on the promise of the trailer (6th Sense the kid could see dead people, Unbreakable Willis was superhuman, Signs there were aliens) and I think that turned off a lot of audiences who have come to expect some substance behind the implications, even though you could guess it a mile away in this case.

The Punisher
3.5 of 10
I couldn't believe how much they missed the point with the character. He's mean, not the bad guys. He is a moral dilemma because his actions in the comics are NOT JUSTIFIED. His character is supposed to be more like Gibson in Payback (or the original version even moreso). Here the villains are made cartoonishly evil and he is made into a "good guy" which totally ruins the premise.

Instead of having the conflict of rooting for a bad guy as the hero we have just another tough guy revenge flick in which all his actions are more than justified.

I did give it .5 a point because of the final line about checking for his work in the obits. The film needed much more of that and a lot less of the sadist villains.


A Very Long Engagement
9 of 10
One of the best WWI epics I've ever seen. It's a cross between Amelie and All Quiet on the Western Front, with some dashes of Paths of Glory and English Patient. It's whimsical like Amelie but often moves into the harsh realities of trench warfare and the secondary suffering felt by the families of victims. Some might find the blend unsettling but to me it just added to its epic scope.

This is the kind of film that were it in English it would be an obvious Best Pix nominee I think.

#43 - Metallica: Some Kind of Monster - *** 1/2

Splendid documentary about Metallica (duh!) that goes beyond chronicling the band's music and dives into their personal lives. They're not rock gods, but ordinary men in extraordinary professions, and no amount of money, sex, and alcohol, is going to make you feel better about yourself. How this didn't get nominated for Best Documentary is beyond me.

#44 - Harold and Kumar go to White Castle - *** 1/2

Hilarious stoner road comedy that had me laughing my ass off, especially when Neil Patrick Harris was onscreen. Yes, it does dive into toilet humor (literally once!) now and then, but on the whole, this is a really funny movie.

Jacob Aaron Estes' Mean Creek - One of the better acted teenage drama this past year that actually has teenage actors in its cast rather than actors in their mid to late 20's pretending to be teenagers (i.e. Better Luck Tomorrow).

~Edwin

Taylor Hackford's Ray - I finally got around to watching this one. The accolades Jamie Foxx is getting is definitely well deserved and he should get the Best Actor Oscar.

As to the film itself, it is insightful in some ways but there is nothing special in its delivery.


Next Up: Goodbye Dragon Inn - No, I won't do a Napoleon Dynamite on this one.

~Edwin

Tsai Ming-Liang's Goodbye Dragon Inn (Taiwan)


Next Up: The Door In The Floor

~Edwin

Chronicles of Riddick (Dir. cut)
5.5 of 10
Great art direction, interesting story/world/characters/situation. The rest? Not very good. Direction, bad. Acting, oh brother. Dialog, anachronistic half the time, generally cornball.

But I really did find the premise and story to be very interesting SF, in line with Dune. It would be nice to see this story remade with a better director and better actors.

Of course Judy Dench stands tall above the rest of the cast. The one bright spot of the film.

Kinsey - A frustrating film whose outstanding qualities are tempered by probems in basic storytelling and structure. The film stays close to standard biopic structure, but that is hardly the problem. Director Bill Condon has such an intensely interesting story that flourishes are unnecessary. In its best moments, fuelled by the performances of Liam Neeson and Laura Linney, it is a fascinating story, not just of a man's life, but the ways in which people so easily trade their free will and compromise themselves to conform to accepted power structures or one's own perception of what is "normal". There is certainly comedy gold in scenes where we can laugh at how little people knew about their own sex lives, and the film is also clever enough that it makes the audience realize how little we still know; how we really haven't come very far at all.

Condon lets the audience down though, in opening up so many windows and doors to different aspects of Kinsey's story, and going through none of them. He launches into scene after scene with gusto, but we are too often allowed no payoff or result from what happened in the scene. I don't know that Condon glosses over Kinsey more than most other biopics do with their subjects, but it is certainly the darker aspects of the story that suffer the most from lack of depth. I think there is a great movie to be made about Alfred Kinsey's life, but unfortunately, Bill Condon did not achieve it. Worth seeing and I liked it quite a bit, but maddening because it should be a much better movie than it is.B+

My Architect: A Son's Journey - A moving story about a son's efforts to learn about his father through the eyes and words of others. The film is informative about its subject, provides clear understanding for the architectural novice (such as me), and delivers numerous moments of emotional impact and empathy. This is a rare work that requires no foreknowledge or even interest in its subject matter to work its magic. A-

Next Up: Infernal Affairs, Last Life In The Universe