2005 Film List (1 Viewer)

[Edwin Pereyra]

Mike Newell's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - After the third installment (Prisoner of Azkaban) I have lost faith in this film series as its narrative relies heavily and is more or less a litany of deus ex machinas and eye candy. Still this fourth installment is better than its predecessor and gets a mild recommendation for what it is.

~Edwin

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Updated with Lodge Kerrigan's Keane


Next Up: Best Foreign Language Film Nominee Paradise Now

~Edwin

 

[Brook K]

The Best of Youth - In Roger Ebert's review of The Best of Youth he says (paraphrased) "If the running time of most films turns them into short stories, The Best of Youth is a novel". The film primarily tells the story of two brothers, but their families, friends, and lovers figure prominently as well. Originally developed as a multi-part television film, the 6 hour runtime allows the film to fully develop its characters and tell their story through almost 40 years of Italian history in a delicate fashion that never feels rushed or episodic.

The film is simply drama at its finest; providing us with characters so richly drawn that we are willing to follow them anywhere. The length of the film allows us to see the characters change over time as their dreams give way to reality and then reality becomes their dreams. We see the characters inhabit episodes from Italian history, but such scenes never feel intrusive or a stunt. History is always in the background while the film is firmly in the hands of the characters.

The film is superbly mounted, sets, production design, cinematography, score, all are top notch. The one slight nitpick here is all the driving scenes feature Hitchcock quality process shots which stand out like a sore thumb in a film of this epic quality. However, this is easily forgiven in a film with so many other treats. The actors, especially the two leads must be given praise as well. With so much story to work with, they effectively portray their characters from college students to middle age with never a false note and it is there warm presence, even in scenes of profound sadness, that helps make The Best of Youth an unforgettable experience. Certainly one of the best films of the past year, or any year; I could have watched these characters another 6 hours. - A

The Bad News Bears - Utter dreck that is inferior to the original in every way. While I usually like Billy Bob Thorton, his and I assume the script's attempts to not have him imitate Walter Matthau create a character so acerbic and vicious that I can't imagine any parent would let their child spend 5 seconds with the man. After directing a warm-hearted comedy with kids in School of Rock, director Richard Linklater seriously misfires here. It's strange that the film takes so many of the scenarios and structure of the original, only to alter that film's best moments in a completely wrong-headed fashion. - D

 

[Brook K]

Dear Wendy (2005) - Jamie Bell stars as a teenager living in a hermetically sealed West Virgina mining town. After the death of his father, he finds himself living alone with a dead end job at the local grocery. Inspiration strikes when he buys what he thinks is a toy pistol from an antique store and it turns out to be the real mccoy. Finding that owning a gun gives him a new sense of self-worth, he forms a group of likeminded teens and they name themselves "The Dandies". Adopting a philosophy of pacifism mixed with marksmanship, frilly old west clothes, and naming their pistols, The Dandies give Bell a family he never had. But when a newcomer changes the group dynamic, all of Bell's philosophical talk can't stop human nature from emerging.

Directed by Thomas Vinterberg from a script by Lars Von Trier, narratively it resembles Dogville and Manderlay, though Vinterberg stages it with proper sets rather than Von Trier's chalk line experimentalism. The title provides the film's narrative device, a letter written to Bell's pistol, Wendy. The story is mostly told through this narration as the dialogue is generally sparse. While the subtext pokes fun and wonders at societal obsessions with guns and NRAish tropes like guns make one safer, the story and characters were enough to hook me. Bell really impressed me with both his acting and his vocal abilities which carry the film. His character is possibly disturbed, giving a personality to a gun after all, yet never plays that in any sort of a conventional manner. In a key scene one is unsure whether he is more upset that someone else touched his gun, is liked by a girl he may or may not have a sexual attraction to, or by his sudden loss of status within the Dandies. A film and a performance with many layers to offer.

The finale, though, is somewhat problematic. It is filmed very oddly with freeze frames and even digital artifacting that had me wondering if the DVD was screwing up. He may not have had the budget or desire to show a full scale gunbattle, but the choices he makes in presenting the ending are "different" that's for sure. - A-

 

[Brook K]

Paradise Now - Offers compelling material about the philosophies and organization of a Palestinian terror group, mixed with character drama and odd touches of humor. I can't help but question the motives of the film in putting a human face on the practice of incinerating a busload of innocents. - B-

The Forty Year Old Virgin - Entertaining comedy that milks more raunchy laughs than one might think possible out of its subject matter. I thought the "sweet" qualities of the film were overstated and I'm not much of a fan of Steve Carrell's comedy style, but the more than solid supporting cast makes the film a winner. That said, I would have liked it more if the "musical" finale had been deleted. Painful. - B

 

[Adam_S]

that musical finale was so unexpected and so deliriously over the top that it had me completely rolling, it took a lot of balls so I give it a big

 

[Adam_S]

Kings and Queen - :star::star::star:

superbly acted film I never cared much for, it took me almost four weeks from starting it to finish it. It's brilliantly acted and too well written for it's own good. the editing style is influenced by Godard, but is intelligently employed for the good of the overall film--I didn't have a problem with it but it requires an adjustment.

It took me to eventually break down and read the netflix envelope to figure out what was going on though.

AS I can figure it:

Nora got pregnant by a slightly deranged and probably bi-polar guy who she's now idolized, she drove the guy to kill himself and/or killed the guy. She then had his baby and obsessively pursued getting his surname legally passed onto their illegitimate child. Her famous father covered up for her. In the meantime she fell in love with a musician Ismäel who comes from a truly wonderful family (but has an annoying sister), Ismäel and Nora essentially raised the boy Elias, but they broke up for some odd reason, probably Ismäel going slightly deranged himself, but Nora may have been sleeping around, or he may have been, I'm not very sure on this point. Regardless, now Nora is engaged to a really rich guy she doesn't love at all, but that's okay because he's rich. Meanwhile Elias is staying with Nora's father, except he's terminally ill, which Nora discovers when she shows up for his birthday (this is where the movie begins, the rest is filled in later). Ismäel's musician buddy and his sister have him comitted because he's pretty bipolar and he definitely acts totally masochistically insane in his first scene. In the meantime Nora goes off halfcocked because her Daddy is dying and her wacky sister is virtuallyunreachable. So she traumatizes Elias running him randomly around the country for no discernable reason other than somehow getting to Ismäel who she now wants to adopt Elias, despite their being divorced and her marrying another man in a few days. The father dies but not before writing a truly nasty letter to Nora, but it's vague enough we initially think it's to the wild and wacky sister and that the father molested her and thought that the sister had seduced him (a likely rationalization) but we eventually come to realize that it's directed at Nora, who, don't forget, probably killed Elias' father or drove him to kill himself and seems to have probably driven Ismäel mad too. So in that sense the letter is brutal cold and utterly vicious but a little satisfying and really depressing because Nora is a warm presence to the film while all the men are cold or nuts or bitter or cyphers.

Elias and Ismäel have a long deep discussion and Ismäel doesn't adopt him, the end.

Just never got into this well made and very well acted film.

Adam

 

[Brook K]

Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story - A warmly emotional family film about a young girl (Dakota Fanning) developing a relationship with her workaholic horse trainer father (Kurt Russell) through their rehabilitation of an injured champion horse. Fanning handles the scenes of youthful exuberance, the firework dramatic scenes, and the quieter, sadder material equally well. Russell provides solid support, as does the quality supporting cast of "B" players like David Morse (chewing scenery as the "evil" local horse mogul), Luis Guzman, Kris Kristofferson (crusty grandpa), Elisabeth Shue (mom) and Oded Fehr ("good" Middle Eastern horse mogul). Of course one can predict the ending before even putting disc to DVD player, but that doesn't really matter for this well executed and consistently engaging film. Dad's with daughters (like me) may experience a little dustiness in the house. - B

Two for the Money - Al Pacino and Matthew McConaghey star in this film about a down-and-out former college QB who experiences a brief taste of the good life as the star of Pacino's sports gambling service. The first half of the film is goofily over the top in a ridiculous-but-pleasant way. This is Pacino in full-on "Pacino" mode so YMMV, but for me Al is one of the all-time great scenery chewers so I enjoy this material. It also features Jeremy Piven basically playing his "Arnie" from Entourage character. Again, I'm a big fan of that show so I was amused by his turn here as well.

Unfortunately, the film never fully commits to this type of story and the entire second half is far more serious and leaden. This involves McConaghay's conflicted feelings over ways he has to compromise himself to succeed, an unpleasant scenario involving Pacino's jealousy/self-hatred and an imagined affair between his wife (a "still has it" Rene Russo) and McConaghay, and finally a ridiculous waste of time subplot featuring Armand Assante as an offshore gambler/mobster. So while I did enjoy parts of the film, it only escapes being labled a disappointment by the fact that I had no real expectations of quality going into the film. - C+

Flightplan - Yet another "Tale of Two Movies", I thought the first hour or so was an effective, surprisingly well photographed (cinematographer was Florian Ballhaus, son of Michael Ballhaus), suspenseful thriller about a woman (Jodi Foster) desperate to find her lost daughter on an airplane. It did an excellent job of capturing the indifferent and casual attitudes that others treated her crisis with and how, as her stress level increased, she became less and less able to deal effectively with even those people who were trying to be understanding.

The 2nd half of the film, when the "twist" is revealed, turns the film into a generic genre piece that is as clumsily executed and eye-rolling dumb as the trailer made the whole film look. - C+

 

[Brook K]

Hostel - While I somewhat enjoyed the early scenes of sex and partying as a bit of male fantasy wish fulfillment and the setup of the plot, the horror material was a distinct disappointment. The male leads have no presence or personality onscreen, killing any attempt the film makes at humor. The supposedly "sicko" material is far briefer than I had been led to believe and not in any way disturbing or entertaining. KNB's makeup and gore effects are terrible, amateur stuff. And really outside of a couple of scenes, Hostel is much closer to an action movie, complete with gun battles and even a car chase. All performed by an actor I would just as soon see filletted as play the hero. I enjoyed director Eli Roth's humorous slasher debut, Cabin Fever; Hostel feels like a step backward into a dead end. - D

Matchpoint - As a fan of Allen's work I was excited to hear the positive critical reception of this, his latest film. So I was even more disappointed when I actually saw it and could not share those views. I found it to be perhaps his most generically written film. His familiar voice seems to be missing as if it was scrubbed out in the transition from NYC to London. I know many have tired of Allen's neuroses spread out over 35 years but I'm not one of them. Bereft of that voice this felt like just another movie, albeit a well-polished one.

The second problem has become all too familiar for me lately - the lead actor. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers bland metrosexuality generated no enthusiasm from me to follow his character arc. The more embroiled he became in moral ambiguity and even criminal acts, the more ridiculous the whole plot became to me. I have pairs of socks with more personality than Meyers. Indeed the whole movie was rather lifeless in this regard, even with actors in other roles that I have a built-in interest in watching such as Brian Cox and Scarlett Johanssen. Really the only moment in the film that made me sit up in my chair was the anticipation that comes with seeing a long shot of Ms. Johanssen walking through the rain, that Allen carefully draws out to generate a Pavlovian response from male audience members before rewarding us with the begged-for close-up of her drenched torso.

At least there is the small consolation that has been one constant throughout Allen's career - if you don't like his current film, there's a new one coming right around the corner. - C

Shopgirl - Steve Martin's novella turned into film, Shopgirl offers an enthusiastic performance from Claire Danes, Martin in "serious" mode, and a generally lukewarm romance. While there is quality dramatic material in the situation Danes finds herself in; torn between two suitors and at something of a crossroads in her life this is her meatiest movie role and best performance in some time, neither man seemed worthy of her attentions. Martin a first rate cad and Jason Schwartzbaum, an actor I can't stand who's not too annoying here, is a goofy "alternative" type who undergoes a personal transformation in a series of ridiculous throwaway scenes that are eminently fastforwardable to get back to Danes. - B-

Breakfast on Pluto - Cillian Murphy stars as the cross-dressing Patrick/Patricia "Kitten" Braden in Neil Jordan's latest film. Left on the doorstep of an Irish church as an infant, the adult Kitten goes to England to find the mother he never knew. Set against the backdrop of "The Troubles" in the early 70's, Breakfast on Pluto is structured chapter-style, with Kitten learning a "lesson" in each chapter; a structure that quickly brings diminishing returns. The humor falls flat (a framing device featuring narration by talking birds is excruciating), and the character is so impossibly nice and passive he/she quickly becomes a bore. Murphy's lauded performance has nothing on John Cameron Mitchell or Terrence Stamp. The film only comes to life during the brief appearances of Brit-film vets Brendan Gleeson (as an amusement park hedgehog) and Stephen Rea (as a seductive magician). - C+

Mrs. Henderson Presents - A crowd-pleasing musical comedy that works as inspirational homefront story, a call for sexual freedom, and simply as a showcase for the talents of Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. Though the script is somewhat formulaic, the story is told with wit, verve and emotion, and is easily absorbing. I found myself moved on several occasions and enjoyed the musical sequences to the point that I wish the film contained more of them or contained full songs rather than going the montage route. Mrs. Henderson Presents is another fine example of the strength and resiliency of the human spirit. - B+

 

[Seth Paxton]

Well I have to figure out what all I have posted in this thread. I lost my hard drive back in March and that really killed off my posting around here. Trying to get back in the groove. I have caught up on many 2005 flicks lately, a few S&S films and a couple of 2006 ones even but haven't posted anything about any of them.


I know for sure that I didn't yet mention:

The New World
10 of 10
I really badly screwed up by not seeing this in 70mm at the Arclight back at Xmas. But at least I finally did. For me this was Malick's best work yet. I was totally mezmerized by the film from the first seconds to the final shot. The minimalist dialog and abundant use of sound are powerful tools in his hands, but ultimate it is his direction, choice of shots, and editing that make the picture so powerful.

I found Aguirre to be amateurish at times which ticked off plenty of people, but New World struck me almost like a consistantly high quality version of Aguirre, where the actors and mise-en-scene were always up to par with the director's choices.

It also has to go down as the best representation of Native Americans ever brought to film. Malick had me believing that he had simply gone to this time period with a camera and then put a nice score to his collected footage.

This film becomes my #1 for 2005.


Jarhead
9.5 of 10
Another film that really blew me away, especially after the mixed reviews. I know some people loved it but so many others seemed coolish to it that I had my doubts. Sarsgaard and Gyllenhaal work fantastically off each other, and Foxx turns in yet another outstanding effort (this goes in line with his Ali and Collateral efforst as one of his best IMO).

The cinematography by Deakins was just fantastic, and even moreso considering the variation of looks the film had. Also the Visual FX came off as amazingly real, primarily when they hit the blown oil wells. I felt like the film really put me in that time and place effectively.

This moved into my top 10 at the #8 spot just behind Crash and just ahead of Munich.


Malick and Mendes - I guess I really shouldn't have been surprised that these films were both so well done.

 

[Adam_S]

I agree with your overall thoughts Seth, though I don't place either film quite as high. I love the portrayal of the Native Americans, but I dislike how we perceive them through Smith's perspective, although I find the counterpoint between the two fascinating. I think the film can easily lend itself to furthering the 'primitive mysticism' stereotype if that's all you're looking for but I think Malick deliberately coopts and recasts that to make the movie more effective. I really want to see the longer version.

 

[Seth Paxton]

See I read it as an appreciation for a higher culture, and specifically I think Malick made a strong point of this by contrasting the beauty Smith experiences with the Indians against the ugliness of the fort when he returns. It is shot in a bleak light and clearly the art direction is meant to suggest just a pathetic squalor.

It's not just that they are poor, but that they are living a lesser quality of life and have taken everything beautiful and turned it into dirty brown muck.

I couldn't help but think that the Indians would suffer some of the similar issues, that they would have areas washed out by rains at times or deep with dirt turned to muck, but Malick doesn't show that or try to express the situation that way.

I wanted Smith to return to the Indians and by the end of the film I felt that Smith had intentionally run from culture in the pursuit of natural beauty when he agreed to continue his search for a western passage. To me Malick cast him more as a Thoreau type with the Indian camp being his Walden. It didn't feel like mysticism to me, but rather that he saw the natives as living the sort of life he wanted for himself, in total communion with nature rather than at odds with it as he saw the settlement as.

I felt very aware of the impact of civilization throughout the film, and moreso than with Dances with Wolves I was saddened to see it push the Indians out.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Some others I've seen since my late Feb updates, big update here

Corpse Bride
7.5 of 10
A decent film but musicals need great numbers to truly be great films and this one was a bit lacking in that department. For me it was mostly like Nightmare Before Christmas diet flavor.

Bad News Bears
7.5 of 10
I saw this way back when the DVD came out, but somehow seemed to have left it off my 2005 list or postings despite posting about other films I Netflixed after it. Maybe I posted about it elsewhere and overlooked it.

Not a bad remake and Linklater maintains an artful touch, but some of the better plotlines of the original script have been trimmed back which cuts into the charm factor. It's not a bad remake at all, it's just not as good as the original film which to me is a classic.

In Her Shoes
8.5 of 10
Very pleasantly surprising film adaptation of the book, which my wife tells me was fairly similar. You can't go wrong with Collette and Diaz seems capable of keeping up when surrounded by strong talent and in a role that is within her range, which this character is. Collette has really been on a hot streak the last few years and while she has gotten notice, it probably still hasn't been enough.

The Aristocrats
7 of 10
A pretty good documentary on the art of joke telling. So much was made over the nature of the joke that it overshadowed what the real topic of the film was, which is the variety of styles that are available to comedians and how delivery is far more critical to a comedian's success than material is. It wasn't on par with some of the stronger docs of the year, but pretty solid.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose
6 of 10
At times it presents some pretty interesting topics for debate, but in the end it seems to back off the promise of tackling those issues and choses to placate all sides, especially the religious/supernatural point of view.

Saraha
3 of 10
Cheap, cornball action flick lacking in real laughs and action mostly due to the fact that it cribs so badly from the genre's cliches. Paint by numbers script and direction with acting that was at least above phoning it in level (otherwise it would have ranked lower)

Domino
5 of 10
This is just too much Tony Scott gone wild. He's always been the stylish director type, but somehow he managed to stay a few steps back from the full-on Bruckheimer mold. For this film he apparently got an overdose of Oliver Stone in his system and went hog wild on cuts, variety of media and the general Natural Born Killers angle. He then took that NBK approach and did it with his own stylings instead. The results was a script and set of performances that are often trampled on by the direction and editing.

Too bad because I think he could have had something with this story and that cast without trying to hype the craziness of it all himself.

Happy Endings
7.5 of 10
A pretty enjoyable little multiple storylines intersecting film that works primarly as an actors' vehicle. Kudrow was a bit better than expected, Gyllenhaal is here typical quality. I don't think it really was aiming for top notch Oscar power so it isn't as though it misses it's goal, it tries to be solid but not specatacular and does so very well.

The Brothers Grimm
4.5 of 10
This was a film that had the production value to be better but just seemed lost most of the time. Actually I forgot that it was Gilliam and found myself thinking halfway through that it was another director trying to do a poor impersonation of a Gilliam film. Sadly he was doing a poor impression of himself. Not sure why it turned out this way but to me it seemed like a commercialized version of Gilliam's work, as though he had compromised in order to shoot for a summer blockbuster rather than staying true to himself. Based on the stories I read after seeing the film, it sounds like he just might have been backed into accepting some rather unflattering compromises just as it appeared.

The Fog
2 of 10
The standard method of failing with a remake - misunderstand what aspects made the original so charming in the first place and latch onto all the meaningless parts instead (see Rollerball for one of many examples). That's exactly what happens here. Isolation and the unknown - forget it, we have to see the monsters now, we have to have characters actively interacting with each other more and we have to dumb things down and explain it to the audience all along the way. This film in this form never should have been green-lit. It made me long for the shot by shot remake of Psycho which would have been a more effective method for remaking The Fog than this was. Ugh, what a waste of a story that was perfect for remake status. Strike 2 on Carpenter remakes (not counting Ghosts of Mars aka Precinct 13 ).

Elizabethtown
3 of 10
How can Crowe miss so badly? Um, maybe by trying to put about 5 different story ideas into one film and then jumping from plot to plot like a schizophrenic. When Sarandon comes in for 10 minutes of dancing late in the film as though its just hit its emotional climax you think "when did this film become about her?" At other times its about Bloom dealing with personal failure (ala Jerry McGuire's first half), but then its about him dealing with a quirky romance he can't quite latch onto (see much of Almost Famous). Let's not forget dealing with the loss of his father, or his inteaction with the father's other life in E'town...so on and so on.

The film has zero flow because of this and often seems to have very little emotional logic to it. Crowe appears to have thought up many great moments and some strong character arcs, but failed to recognize that they didn't all belong in the same film. He should have just done a 2nd (or 3rd, 4th or even 5th) script, saved some of this stuff for later filming, and paired this film back to one key central relationship.

It has several great Crowe style scenes to it, but as a film its a disaster.

Doom
1 of 10
So its going along okay, albeit rather confused (think the gaps in the opening part of Stargate) and general cheap popcorn corny. But then it pointless forces in a sequence in which you experience the film from the first person POV of the original game??? Why? Stupid. This is the film version of the game, not the game itself. When will these 3rd rate directors ever learn.

This turned into House of the Dead quicker than you could say "Boll is a hack". Bartkowiak has made a career out of being the DOP for plenty of cornball flicks, and has now unleashed that "experience" with a series of gimmickly shot films. I wish I could think that Doom might bring that trend to an end, but he's been in the biz too long for that.

2046
9 of 10
Wong's sequal to In the Mood for Love took a nice step forward from the languid pace of that film, a pace that kept me from loving it despite the incredible photography and art direction. Here he keeps that same caliber of visual styles and manages to increase the tempo for viewers without actually changing the pacing of interaction between characters.

This is accomplished by having more characters and scenes to the plot, some of which stems from the futuristic versions of the experiences the writer is having. By introducing these fantasy moments as well as a greater number of women in Chow's life the film gives the illusion of faster pacing, even though the scenes themselves remain as deliberate and taut as in the first film.

Casanova
7 of 10
Generally enjoyable film that allows Ledger to comically shine. In the end it is a bit trite and cliched as a plot, but the craft behind creating the world itself makes it pretty entertaining most of the way. Platt and Irons get to ham it up a bit in a popcorn film manner without taking it to the point of annoyance. The biggest drawback is the wrap-up for the plot which really drops the overall quality.

Match Point
8.5 of 10
A surprising effort from Woody Allen, though the dark side of relationships has always been a staple of his films. In this case though he leaves no escape for the audience, no bit of condemnation of characters or humor at their expense. This is pure cynicism.

***** Spoiler alert, this film follows the plot of another film/book which I now mention and explain *******

The main thing that keeps me from rating it higher is that it was a better film when it was called A Place in the Sun. As far as I know Woody didn't cite "An American Tragedy" as the source material, but clearly it is even if some aspects are slightly inverted (the plain girl is now the rich girl but the beautiful option still comes along 2nd and puts him in a "I wish I had waited" spot, the pregnancy is still with the poor girl, but after the marriage into wealth, and in the more cynical view he gets away with it here.)

The fact that he twists things a little kept me happy with the film, but at the same time I couldn't be blown away by the script knowing that most of it came from other material, and the script is a big part of the film's strength.

 

[Seth Paxton]

More additions for 2005

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
9 of 10
Modern noir with a great edge to it and a fantastically written script. Outstanding dialog

Pride and Prejudice
8.5 of 10
Fantastic version which proves that its not remakes that are the problem, but rather bad filmmakers. Any story can be done or redone well and make for an enjoyable viewing. Love Knightley in this role.

The Ice Harvest
8 of 10
Not the same type of writing as Kiss Kiss, but still a noir, more in the Coen Bros vien of noirs. It's not nearly as sharp as their work and the script isn't as bouncy and tight as Kiss Kiss, but the odd setting and circumstances combined with Cusak's effort make it a good viewing.

Mrs. Henderson Presents
7 of 10
Dench is great, Hoskins is pretty solid, but overall this script is just terribly bland. It doesn't find anything really gripping to say about the major plot items. It's all rather matter-of-fact with some tacked on efforts to force your emotions. It fails to find the real meat of its own story and ends up like a paint by numbers flick.

Rent
7 of 10
Poor direction by Columbus, especially having no eye for the bringing the dynamics of stage work to the screen. Once again he is painfully literal with his direction and he totally misses the chance to have a film as strong as Marshall's Chicago. The show itself creeps out from behind his lens in its better moments, but not enough to make it shine.

Breakfast on Pluto
6.5 of 10
A poorer version of Jesus Son, with tons of cameos showing up in Murphy's life as his adventure to find his mom leads him to see the history of IRA violence and English oppression from a detached 3rd person view. It tries to be cute and clever like Hedwig as well, but it never really gets there. The cameo acting is some of the best stuff, but Murphy struggles a bit in the lead.

London
6.5 of 10
The poor man's version of Before Sunrise/Before Sunset. The interaction is no longer between the romantic couple but rather between 2 male leads reflecting on the failed relationship. Statham is very strong, the rest of the cast is moderate. It's not bad per se, it just brings very little fresh to the table.

Flightplan
5.5 of 10
Thriller rip-off of Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" with swiss cheese plot holes and a cast that isn't always inspired by the content. It's okay at times, but its not really going anywhere. Sadly this role is just way too close to Foster's Panic Room role, and without the dynamic direction of Fincher to help it along.

 

[Brook K]

Haven't updated this in 2 months, but since Seth is keeping the light on....

These are all reprinted from the "Track the Movies You Watch" Thread. No new material.

Transamerica - Felicity Huffman stars (and was Oscar nominated) as Bree, a pre-operative transexual tasked by his/her therapist (the too little seen Elizabeth Pena) to reconnect with the son he never knew he had before the therapist will sign off on the operation. Travelling to NYC (from LA), Bree finds the now teenaged boy, Toby, is in jail, a runaway, prostitute and drug addict. Bailing him out without revealing her true identity, Bree pretends to be an evangelical missionary while giving the boy a ride to LA where he dreams of meeting his father and getting into the movies.

Following road movie structure, the pair have adventures as they drive across the country. Parental skills and caring come easier to Bree than she ever thought they could, and Toby realizes he still needs a parent. While conventionally plotted, the script provides a mix of humor and emotionally weighty material that raise the film above a genre exercise. In addition to Pena, the film benefits from other veteran character actors like Graham Greene (who gives the pair a ride and woos Bree) and Burt Young (as Bree's put-upon yet caring father). The film truly comes alive when we meet Bree's family and see how her mother view's Bree's behavior as the ultimate rejection of her parents. But such matters are pushed aside to hilarious, and sad, effect as soon as mom finds out she is a grandmother. The film stumbles at the end with a rather perfunctory ending following the revelation of Bree's identity to Toby which we've waited most of the film for. Setting this aside however, Transamerica is a surprisingly sensitive film about love, loneliness, gender identity, family and the responsibilities and sacrifices that come with being a parent. - B+

The President's Last Bang - A black comedy about the real (or should that be reel?) life assassination of Korea's president in 1979, Last Bang packs a surprise around nearly every corner. Poking fun at the lifestyle and attitudes of career politicians, in some ways the film feels like it could take place in any country. There are more laughs than anyone could reasonably expect from a political thriller. Yet the film also knows when to rein in the humor as the coup, which might have begun for no better reason than the chief of the KCIA was tired of having his balls busted by his superiors, is executed with, well let's say something less than deadly precision. The same can't be said though, about the events that occur in the aftermath of the coup.

As a Western viewer with no knowledge of the history or background of what I was watching, I did feel like I could have used a scorecard for the film. It throws so many characters and names at you, especially early on, I found it impossible to keep everyone straight. However this becomes only a minor annoyance as the film proceeds the viewer's underlying sense of what is happening snaps into place. Recommended as The President's Last Bang is one of the more unique and inventive films to be found in the past 2 years. - B+

The White Countess - Merchant/Ivory's last film stars Ralph Fiennes as a burned out diplomat living in Shanghai. Blinded in a bombing that killed his wife, his only solace is the dream of owning his own bar and the company of a lovely White Russian countess (Natasha Richardson) that he encounters. Some luck at the track allows him to open the bar and employ the Countess, but his timing proves awful as the Japanese invasion looms. The film offers solid drama and romance with top-notch production values and becomes more poignant if one is familiar with the history of the events that would occur directly after the film ends. - B

The Producers - Filled with dated comedy and so-so song and dance numbers, The Producers is surprisingly flat and boring. Nathan Lane tries his best to bring energy to the film, but is working against lifeless direction and material that is more silly than clever. This must be far better on stage as I have a hard time believing anyone would pay $100+ a ticket to see this show. (I've never seen the Mel Brooks original film) - C+

The Family Stone - A "Meet the Parents" type comedy starring Sarah Jessica Parker as a self-absorbed sophisticate meeting her boyfriend's parents at Christmastime. Featuring a large cast of recognizable faces (Dermot Mulroney, Craig T. Nelson, Diane Keaton, Luke Wilson, Claire Danes, & Rachel McAdams), the film goes through the motions of the usual misunderstandings and redemptions. There are a few solid dramatic scenes, but the film is quick to set those aside to go for more laughs which elicited only groans from this viewer. - C

Pride & Prejudice - Finely mounted version of the literary classic with Keira Knightly lighting up the screen in the role of Elizabeth Bennet. Knightly inhabits her character with ease in a superb break-out performance. The supporting roles are generally well cast, particularly Donald Sutherland as the father. It leaves behind a good deal of the novel's class satire in favor of a more strictly romantic focus, which caused me to get bored with some of the story machinations that feel tacked on. However, these are relatively few and this is a lively and entertaining film that continually impresses and delights as it spins toward its inevitable wished-for conclusion. - B+

 

[Adam_S]

I'd disagree that The Family Stone is a meet the parents style farce, it's more of a Lubitsch relationship comedy/drama, imo. the basic logline, of the movie, to me is, "what would your family do if you were getting married for the sake of it (ie its the next stage in life, highschool college job marraige) rather than for the right person.

but it's not perfect, I just illogically love it in totality, despite weaknesses in the parts. Structurally there are issues with the film in when it brings in Meredith's sister, Julie; it's even later, by comparison, than when the girl in 39 Steps comes in. It's too late to really mine the potential, but enforced plot machinations prevent an earlier meeting, annoying.

And I'm still trying to figure out how a corporation's asian representative/negotiator would be so tactless and clueless at picking up signals and oppurtunities for a gracious out at the major dinner scene. Again this can be explained away, and I tried in my review, it's a powerful scene but a SILLY scene. It makes no sense other than to harshly force the plot to another direction.

I love the chemistry and the dialogue and all the unspoken relationships between each different combination of family members, that feels terribly real and is wonderful to see and when the movie opens up those personalities to the non-family characters (meredith's sister shows up, amy's old boyfriend shows up etc) the film just hits perfection for me just on characters alone. The heart of the film is truly in when this family opens their borders to bring in new family, and the characters really start to work well for us, but again it happens too late in the movie because of the plot structure.

I think the film is also deeply hurt by the 'smuggling' of out of place liberal elements to maneuver the plot and add 'character development'; Diane Keaton plays two characters, a loving and attentive leader of the family, and a nasty shrew whose barbs shove the plot to someplace it needs to be. Too me it's sexist and repulsive that Meredith is only attractive/interesting if she's drunk or high, that's an infantile (well, collegiate, but they are infantile too, imo) view. Yes it supposedly lets us see another side of her, perhaps she's not so 'appallingly conservative' if she asks for pot, but there are other, more interesting ways to expand our understanding of her. Look only at the scene between Everett and Julie, vastly more interesting character development than that Meredith is a bit loopy when she's loaded.

The director has extraordinary sensitivity to how characters are subtly different in varying companies of people and his skill with actors is magnificent. now if he could learn to let his characters tell their story, rather than reaching in with a stern hand to force it back he might achieve something truly remarkable. something almost as good as the gentle, subtle and magnificent Mrs. Henderson Presents.

speaking of, what do you think were the tacked on elements, Seth? The son from World War I or the subplot of the girl that can't resist any man and so avoids them? I found the script to be very good, maybe not extraordinary, I have it from netflix now, so I think I'll rewatch it and let you know what I think of the script. I think the incorporation of the numbers is brilliant, especially Ella's old standard "All the things you are" I've got some thoughts about the film being about absolution, (Dench's, Hoskins', the homefront, the soldiers etc) as an aspect of war and identity but I'll need to think that out.

 

[Brook K]

Except that Lubitsch was funny, witty, charming, and sophisticated. The Family Stone is none of those things, so I'll stand by the "Meet the Parents" comparison. You obviously feel passionate about it; for me I saw all the weaknesses you describe, but very few of the positives. There are a few dramatically satisfying scenes; the film is just too quick to get these over with so it can go back to trying to be funny.

I can agree with you on Mrs. Henderson though. I don't think I'd go so far as magnificent, but I liked it a good deal, and the numbers were excellent. So much so that I wish they'd included full songs instead of edited/montaged versions.

However, I think I disagree with just about everyone on:

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Modern detective story starring Robert Downey Jr. as a crook who gets mistaken for an actor and becomes embroiled in a murder mystery, and Val Kilmer as a Hollywood private eye along for the ride.

While there is some pleasure in watching Downey, and especially Kilmer, have fun with their roles, Kiss is its own worst enemy with its incessantly hip tone and Cheshire cat grin at how clever it's being undermining any genuine emotions the film tries to generate. I laughed out loud 3 times so I'm giving it a "+", but mostly the film tired me out by laughing at its own jokes far more than I did. - C+

 

[Seth Paxton]

The talking money, monkey, ficus dialog in KKBB was a prime example of what I liked about it. I didn't see it as a character piece but rather as a hip tone piece as you describe. That's what I liked about it, that it wasn't being a character piece but rather a situational/dialog piece.


Mrs Henderson - I thought the hook-up, dumped, baby, dead bit was really rushed and therefore felt forced and a little tacked on (the baby and death parts at least). Most of the time it felt like an idea from outside plotlines was being forced onto...and then there was the time the almost closed the theater, and then there was the time I had a fight and wouldn't go to the theater at all, and then...

To me those plots felt more external, like the characters and themes were being asked to come to them rather than those moments being born from the characters. I understand the basic stubborn characters, the stuffy surroundings, etc, but that's also dime a dozen plot conflict. So if its a formula situation I'd at least like to see the situations develop more naturally/smoothly.

Don't rush one in and out before then moving on to the next. You have to have multiple plots going on at once to give them the proper time to expand and then resolve. To rip off the Coens, this film was "one at a timing it" with conflicts. That made most of them feel glued on rather than integrated into the film and with each other.

 

[Adam_S]

I just rewatched Mrs. Henderson last night, and I think I get your criticisms, I've always thought that the girl/boy subplot was a bit offtrack, but I like the Coen's description.

However what makes me really truly love this movie is the incredible dialogue. Structurally the script is okay, having some plot issues as you pointed out, but God, I love the dialogue, so much fun, so dry and witty and brilliant. The performances are all outstanding and I really like the look of the film. The tableaus had a much greater impact on the big screen than on the small. I love the sense of the homefront commerce of the theatre, it's a way at looking at the War that shows us a lot of other things indirectly.

But I've been listening to my screener of the soundtrack and its a real bummer that they didn't add 10 minutes to the runtime and let some of these numbers play out longer. I was especially put out that 'all the things you are' was cut, which I didn't realize before.

Next up is a revisit of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

 

[Adam_S]

Rewatching Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with friends and damn if I laughed as long and hard at the movie just as much as the first time. I'm actually loath to send the movie back to netflix because I keep wanting to show it to everyone. just so fucking brilliant and...
fuck.
can I say fuck, some more?



I think I'd bump this up to the very top echelonof my list from last year, definitely one that really holds up and perhaps even improves on the next viewing.

Adam