Is It Too Late To Turn This In? - Films of Late September, 2004 (brief reviews)
Submitted by lbangs on Mon, 09/27/2004 - 01:16
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- Love, Actually - A disappointment, actually. Several plot lines could have made excellent Valentine card commercials, but a great cast cannot save the film's spastic attention span hopping between underdeveloped stories like a frog on a frying pan. **
- Monster - Terrific duo of Theron and Ricci pair with interesting direction to help a screenplay that lapses at times. The film begins better than it ends, and I am sick of trying to milk irony from crappy arena rock ballads, but I enjoyed it. ***
- The Royal Tenenbaums - This film is still flat-out fantastic. ****
- Hellboy - A bit better the second time around, but some of the CGI still looks horrid. ** 1/2
- The Goodbye Girl - TNT again provides an interesting drama the major studios would not touch today. While it can't run a race with the original, Daniels certainly gives Dreyfuss a worthy rival performance. ** 1/2
- The Triplest of Belleville - Delightful, subtle feature that nosedives in the last few minutes. Until it hits bottom, though, it is one of the best recent animated efforts. It is tough to rate a film which takes such a U-turn from being a complete masterpiece in the last ten or twenty minutes.***
- Citizen Kane - Certainly not my first viewing for this incredible film. Certainly not my last. Few films can even breath the air this film soars above. ****
In your opinion, what are the films that freely breathe the air Citizen Kane soars above?
Now confess; you are simply trying to get a sneak peek at my top 100 list, while everybody else must wait until I finish it, probably around 2010 or so (although that film is not on the list).
Well, just to spit out a few films at random, surely Chinatown, Andrei Rublev, North by Northwest, 8 1/2, The Maltese Falcon, Hannah and Her Sisters, Pulp Fiction, Once Upon a Time in the West, and Cabaret qualify.
And, of course, for my money, Hal Hartley's Amateur and Simple Men are in the running as well...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Damn, ya caught me :-)
"A disappointment, actually."
:-)
I liked it (I had to catch myself from throwing an "actually" in there). Perhaps it's because I too have a spastic attention span (and I know yours is preternatural). But regardless of attention span, I thought Bill Nighy was nigh perfect.
Bill Nighy nigh perfect, eh? Excellent...
I believe I enjoyed the entire cast. The shifting to different stories would not have bothered me as much if a few of them weren't so darned slight. (Really, what was there to the PM's story, for example?)
Additionally, some of the ones that intrigued me the most had endings that played like quick wrap-ups. Mixed with other endings that were utterly predictable, I just found the entire finale lacking.
Not a film I hated, but one I just couldn't like, and I *really* wanted to like it.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I really enjoyed "Love Actually". I think if you watch it in a light mood, and don't expect too much from it, it's a great film - just don't expect a masterpeice!
I was expecting a fun film along the lines of Four Weddings and a Funeral or Notting Hill and was disappointed.
Many of my friends dig it, though, so you're not alone! :)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs