seen in 2004
Submitted by taryn on Wed, 01/07/2004 - 08:37
Tags:
- DECEMBER
- dial M for murder (3D)
- 3D shorts festival:
- MOTOR RHYTHM (1939)
- BOO MOON (1953)
- STARDUST IN YOUR EYES (1953)
- M. L. GUNZBURG PRESENTS 3-D (TIME FOR BEANY, 1952)
- DOOM TOWN (1953)
- LOVE FOR SALE (1953)
- BLACK SWAN (1953)
- SOLID EXPLANATION (1953)
- elf - i never think previews for these kinds of movies are funny, and i think it's because my sense of humor is different from everyone else's. the part that made me laugh the most was when will ferrell was in the doctor's office eating cotton balls--it still makes me giggle. i also loved hearing his costar zooey sing... quite a voice on that girl. all in all a cute family movie, and i think ferrell just might be one of the only recent SNL folks not to completely flop on the big screen.
- santa claus is coming to town - my friends were appalled when i said i'd never seen this christmas classic before (there were a few formative years when my family didn't have TV) so it was pretty much mandatory. if i had seen it as a youngster, i'm sure i would've been afraid of the burgermeister meisterburger...
- the year without a santa claus - no, i don't believe i'd ever seen this one before either--and yet the heat and snow misers do seem soooo familiar. (i especially love their song!) these two films were released a few years before i was born--in 70 and 74--so maybe that's why i missed em...
- NOVEMBER
- charade - i always forget which cary grant movies i've seen but it doesn't stop me from appreciating them again. in fact, it helps to forget the plot because it's like watching it again for the first time. isn't there an herb you can take to help your memory? anyway, grant and hepburn are wonderful in this--even if they make too many jokes about the may/december romance thing.
- benji: the hunted - okay, my nephew was over and my mom had bought this movie at a garage sale or something, but i admit i watched this in hopes of evoking some kind of childhood nostalgia. instead, my nephew was bored stiff because there was no dialogue or special effects, and the music made us all feel as if we were stuck in an elevator. my mom's only comment was "i can see why they made those 'look who's talking' movies because you want to hear what they're thinking." poor benji just does not hold up to today's heartstring tugging animal movies.
- OCTOBER
- saved! - not your average teen movie... a painfully true satire of modern christianity, but (hopefully) not the only type that exists. michael stipe produces, and they site a book called "atheism: the case against god" in the credits, if that tells you anything.
- the hours - it took me a long time to see this because every time i mentioned wanting to, someone would say how depressing/sad/"uplifting" it was... but i'm glad i finally got the nerve to rent it, because it was really beautifully done. i'm tempted to read the book as well, partially just to understand how cunningham wove the three narratives together in print, and partially to figure out why the heck these women are kissing women for no apparent reason. i have nothing wrong with it if there IS a reason, but nothing was said about any of it, and it was starting to puzzle me immensely. but talk about an all-star cast--even miranda richardson and claire danes were fabulous in their tiny parts. i was going to be totally impressed with the little boy in it, but then i watched some of the special features and learned he really wasnt reacting to the situation--during one part they told him fairy tales while shooting his reactions and then spliced them in to the scene. still, he was convincing--so kudos to the director anyway.
- three kings - this was a sort of a snafu--i looked at the wrong night on the schedule for the theatre where i work and went to this thinking it would be a silent 20s horror film. oops!! once i got into it, it wasn't that bad--i'm not into war moview and i'm sure it was very hollywood-ized, but i also felt i learned a lot about the realities of the US in the middle east and it does make you think a bit.
- what the bleep do we know? - perhaps not the most artful as a movie, but definitely a cool experience. if not for a few controversial statements about god and some swearing, this would be ideal for an educational film for high schoolers. maybe i would've even studied quantum physics if i'd seen it... at any rate, i recommend it to open-minded folks who can handle a bit of mindblowing about the nature of reality and a healthy debate about the connections between science and spirituality.
- dangerous liaisons (2003 mini) i was excited to see rupert everett in the role of my favorite cad, valmont--especially sexy i hoped because he'd be speaking french... that is, until i actually saw it and i SWEAR it's somebody else's voice dubbed over his (and leelee sobieski's) french-speaking mouth(s). this DVD review makes claims to the contrary but perhaps they refer to a different edition. i could distinctly tell the difference between his trademark laugh and the french voice. at any rate, it's a tad long at 200 minutes but lushly acted/costumed and, for fans of the story at least, a worthwhile adaptation to 1960s paris.
- i "heart" huckabees - i thought this movie rocked harder than any i've seen in a long time, personally--but, like royal tenenbaums, i don't think the humor is for everyone. i won't even go into plot--let's just say it's goin on my list of dvds to own.
- bourne supremacy - (hey it was like a brian cox weekend because he was in X2 as well). a surprise twist at the beginning... ... it was a good flick--though the handheld camera did get annoying, especially during the fight sequences. but this whole series is a good move for matt damon's career--he has yet to truly sully himself like his friend affleck.Spoiler: Highlight to vieweven if i was sad that franka potente didn't get much screentime!
- x2 - i love alan cumming so he was a great addition to the x-team. it's a corny flick, but i got into it on hbo and couldn't stop watching.
- SEPTEMBER
- mean girls - this was okay, but not as great as i wanted it to be. it felt a bit like they tossed a whole bunch of teen movies in a blender and this came out. the funny parts were too few and far between and "heartthrob" jonathan bennett just wasn't. (i mean, michael schoeffling who played jake ryan in 16 candles holds up as a hottie to this day--but then, accounts of him report he's living in PA and owns a furniture company, so i'm sure with my luck bennett will go on to be the next tom cruise..) sadly, even with tina fey, this movie couldn't win me over.
- connie and carla - while i can't really recommend this movie in an unqualified way, i can say it's a guilty pleasure. toni collette is surprisingly convincing as a drag queen (!) and david duchovny is just adorable. the best part of all, though, is the outtakes on the dvd. i haven't wept from laughing in a long time but this had the tears pouring.
- the village - i didn't read any reviews before going, and i absolutely adored this film, and plan to go again. thank god someone's making good suspense flicks these days.
- AUGUST
- garden state - this was a great debut, i thought. somewhat self-conscious in spots, but overall a refreshing film for the younger generation. and i know people either love or hate natalie portman--and i happen to think she's great.
- napoleon dynamite - someone had compared this to royal tenenbaums so my expectations were a tad high, but it does fall under the strange and wonderful category. sometimes i was almost embarassed to laugh but i guess that's part of the joke too.
- rear window - i love hitchcock but no matter how many times i see one of his films, i always forget what happens, so it's like suspense over and over again.
- hellboy - totally lame and forgettable.
- jet lag - pretty disappointing for a juliette binoche/jean reno film. it was okay for what it was--romantic comedy--but i guess i expected something deeper.
- JULY
- before sunset - richard linklater's sequel to "before sunrise" starring (again) ethan hawke and julie delpy... truly a worthy sequel, adeptly pegging the audience who has changed from 20-something romantics viewing the first film to 30-something pessimists hanging by a thread of hope. the ending leaves you hanging, but deliciously. i recommend wholeheartedly.
- two can play that game - an entertaining exploration of the power play between men and women. most girls i know wouldn't make it through day 2 of vivica fox's 10 day plan to bring her man crawling back... but she lost me somewhere around 8. still, a good laugh.
- the lost skeleton of cadavre - a spoof on bad 50s b-movies that had truly painful dialogue and yet made us laugh until our cheeks hurt. the ridiculous plot and special effects made this a hilarious throwback to a more innocent time in film history--before the advent of the sci-fi channel.
- lord of the rings: return of the king - of course this lived up to the hype of the final installment but there were a few unsavory parts: but overall I loved it. now i can say i saw all three. can't even say that for the matrix trilogy!Spoiler: Highlight to viewsuch as the "release the prisoners" severed head cannonballs and the big spider scene...
- wuthering heights - okay so why did no one tell me about this movie? i bought the vhs in a used bin and was shocked to discover how fabulous it was. brilliant performances by juliette binoche, ralph fiennes, and the wonderful janet mcteer (before her better-known work in tumbleweeds and songcatcher) and an uncredited cameo by sinead o'connor as emily bronte!! actually made me want to read the book--which was recommended to me but never assigned so i hadn't gotten around to it yet. a must-see for literary types in my opinion.
- JUNE
- igby goes down - a horrendous film despite its all-star cast of phillippe, sarandon, goldblum etc. i usually love black comedies but this was even too much for me. one big bummer, i thought.
- lord of the rings: two towers - there were a lot more fight scenes in this, and gollem is a freaky little character, but i truly enjoyed this flick--especially the touching scenes between frodo and sam. and the treebeard effects were cool too, adding some environmentalist overtones and another level of thought to the story. i can see why the themes have endured as they have for tolkien fans. looking forward to finding time to catch the 3rd part... and actually getting an ending!
- harry potter & the prisoner of azkaban (sp?) - i thought this was much more interesting than the first one (didn't see the second)... and at the same time strange to see the actors growing up. plus, did anyone find it weird that they were wearing very current fashions? at least in school uniforms you can pretend it's any time period... also, as usual gary oldman rocks (even if i did want to get him a nice bath and a shave) and david thewlis freaks the hell out of me--ever since the movie "naked." at any rate, yay for harry.
- lord of the rings: fellowship of the ring - i know, it took me forever to see this, but the first time i tried i fell asleep... this time, my friend just got a 24" mac monitor and the DVD was amazing! it was much more enrapturing, and now i can't wait to see the next 2... plus, i eliminated all that waiting for them to come out.
- MAY
- supersize me - fabulous documentary by and about the guy who went on an all-McDonald's diet for a month. you will think twice about ever eating there again. highly recommend!!!
- shrek 2 - while i found this pretty amusing , i have serious doubts that kids are going to get it--the plot is way more convoluted than the first and there are lots of in-jokes. i loved the puss-in-boots character, though, and rupert everett did a great job with the voice of the pretty-boy son of the fairy godmother.
- school of rock - it was humorous but i think i wanted more... jack black was a bit too toned down, i thought. and joan cusack was wonderful, as ever.
- love actually - great cast (esp. emma thompson and liam neeson--two of my faves) but perhaps one too many story lines and a tad too... sad, i think. also it runs just over 2 hours and it was originally 3.5--you can tell by the deleted scenes on the dvd that they really should've honed it a little more. in my opinion the "naked couple" storyline could've been cut altogether. i guess i had more trouble with this one than i thought!
- APRIL
- bobby jones: stroke of genius - sneak preview where i work--for the country club set with one of the stars, alistair begg. i didn't expect to enjoy a golfing movie, but this was really great, and helped me to appreciate what the sport once was. also, superb casting, great music... and romance, so even girls will enjoy.
- laws of attraction - super amazingly cast (julianne moore, pierce brosnan, parker posey), great sets (ireland!) and costumes, but very light on the writing... it was a good, romantic cheesy though.
- something's gotta give - perfect movie to watch with my mom and sis over easter weekend... keaton and nicholson were surprisingly fun to watch, and was it just me or did his character really seem to have a heart?! i thought it was a great stretch for him. francis mcdormand is way underutilized but that was my only complaint. more fun than as good as it gets in my opinion.
- MARCH
- garage days - overlooked yet fabulous comedy (!) by the director of the crow and dark city about an unsigned australian band who wants to make it big. hilarious effects (ie, hallucination scenes), great cinematography and loveable characters.
- big fish - loved it. definitely not your usual burton, but really heartwarming and mysterious.
- FEBRUARY
- girl with a pearl earring - not a spectacular movie but an interesting low-key one. it rather reminds me of "remains of the day" in that people might complain that nothing really happens, because so much of the film is unspoken. i enjoyed colin firth's performance but i think i'm a tad tired of ms. johansson.
- sylvia - not a bad movie; visually stimulating although perhaps a little slow. and despite knowing the ending, it did still make me cry.
- lost in translation - i think i appreciate this movie, but not nearly as much as the critics do. and am i the only one who sees thematic echoes of ghost world? if i had to choose between steve buscemi and bill murray as a sexual partner, i really don't know what i would do... *shudder* okay that's enough of that.
- intolerable cruelty - total fluff, very little redeeming about this except for the george clooney eye-candy. (hey, i can admit when i'm being shallow.) oh, and geoffrey rush was a scene stealer--wish his character would've had more screen time.
- JANUARY
- the party's over - an outstanding documentary about the 2000 US presidential campaign, hosted by philip seymour hoffman. begins by questioning why so many people are apathetic about the election process and proceeds to demonstrate exactly why... raises a lot of good issues for all people--despite its obvious leftist leanings--and makes you feel enough digust to actually want to be involved and change things. let's hope in the upcoming election year, people don't allow apathy to make them forget the 2000 debacle. *pardon this momentary soapbox* vote, people!!!
- personal velocity - i've wanted to catch this for a while now and i'm glad i finally did. amazing performances by kyra sedgwick, parker posey and fairuza balk and amazing writing/directing by rebecca miller (aka daughter of "crucible"-playwright arthur miller and wife of daniel day lewis). i'm sure this has been dismissed as a chick-flick and it's really too bad. plus the lack of tidy endings probably makes this thought-provoking film too challenging for audiences to handle... but i say "diamond in the rough" and one of the best i've seen in a long, long time.
- hukkle - an amazing hungarian film (translated: hiccup) that uses almost no dialogue and yet captures the audiences full attention with a small-town mystery.
- (a)torsion - short slovenian film based on a true story of a choir seeking escape from war-torn sarajevo and end up singing to save a cow's life.
- the guru - nice and fluffy fun with indian flavor. tomei and graham aren't my all time faves but they played very fitting roles. i liked bend it like beckham a bit better but this has a lot of laughs.
- a mighty wind - this film was a little more cutesie than i expected but nonetheless a great addition to the brilliant series of christopher guest mockumentaries. and i had NO idea he was married to jamie lee curtis until i saw the oscars--guess i've been under a rock!
- punch-drunk love - i wanted to love this movie. i adore watson, respect the hell out of anderson, and sometimes even take guilty pleasure in sandler... but this was a total disappointment. by the end, i couldn't handle one more walking-down-a-hallway shot or total freak-out scene if you paid me. even if sandler hadn't been in it to jar me out of believing his character, this movie still would've made me tense. it's so wrong, i mean, i love quirky, so why couldn't i connect with this? does it have anything to do with not getting woody allen?
- he loves me, he loves me not - this is one of those movies that you're better off not reading any synopses about... with audrey tatou and roses on the cover it looks like a romantic comedy but it's more suspense. a twist on the storytelling style of run lola run/sliding doors, it was right up my alley with a splash of twilight zone. a great trip--it's just too bad i read the box.
I'm afraid I can't help much with Punch-Drunk Love. I liked it, but I fully expect it to be a polarizing (a word I never used until somebody on Listology used it, thank you very much whoever you were) movie. While I have it on one of my "recommended" lists, it's not a movie I would recommend unreservedly. I couldn't fully articulate why I liked it when I saw it, and I still can't. I can tell you that I don't really get Woody Allen either though, so that's not it.
Jim, have you watched Take the Money and Run.
I have not. Should I?
I think so. Woody Allen's directorial career starts out very strong.
IMDB lists his first film as What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966) but I think that one should be skipped because it was basically just Woody and his comedy buddies dubbing a new soundtrack over a Japanese super-spy movie that they bought. So skipping that we start with Take the Money and Run (1969) and then on to Bananas (1971), Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972), Sleeper (1973), Love and Death (1975), Annie Hall (1977). Six very watchable films in a row. After that he starts to get spotty.
I agree, they're all great but my favorite of Allen's oeuvre is "Manhatten". I can watch it over and over.
Manhattan (1979) would've been part of his strong run except he had to go and release Interiors (1978) after Annie Hall (1977).
Jim, you'd probably get a kick out of the Cool Hand Luke homage in Take the Money and Run. I actually have the DVD. So how much do you think it costs to send a DVD from me to you and back?
I think round-trip it'll work out to $3 to $5 dollars depending on what kind of mailer you use, and what kind of insurance you put on it. I just sent my copy of Hero to LBangs. I put the DVD itself in a slim jewel box, and put that in a padded envelope that I bought at the post office. I deliberated over priority mail vs. first class, insurance, delivery confirmation, etc. I opted for regular ol' first class, no other services, and it came out to a little over two dollars (IIRC), including the envelope. In hindsight, I probably should have paid for some services, since it'll be hard to replace if it gets lost en route. Ah well, I'll settle for keeping my fingers crossed!
As for TtM&R, thanks for the offer! But looking at the numbers it seems like Netflix is the way to go unless it's a hard-to-find title (I just added it to my queue, item #102 :-).
I've kinda got my eye on a subtitled, region-free copy of Ong-Bak selling on eBay. Maybe if I get that we could do a Ong-Bak/Shaolin Soccer trade? I'm not sure I'm going to buy it yet, but I keep wanting to...
i did just want to say that *of* the Woody Allen flicks i've seen, the only one i appreciated was "Sleeper." not sure if that's says anything.
i haven't yet seen Annie Hall--maybe that would help me get a grip on him. sometimes it's hard to decide whether i don't like something or just don't get it--i always want to be open minded...
Hmmmm, maybe it does have something to so with Woody, because I loved the film and Woody's one of my favorites.
I think it connects with guys more than it does with girls. I think it has something to do with repressed neurosis. I know that I'm incredibly neurotic, so that seems likely.
Hear, hear on Punch-Drunk Love.
I loved Parker Posey in Personal Velocity, but I was pretty luke-warm on the film. The constant voiceover really irritated me, and I found a lot of the choices in the film to be kind of obvious and cliche. I think that it could have been a great film, however.
I really think Kyra Sedgwick should get more work. That her mainstream Hollywood career seems to have dried up after Phenomenon is inexplicable to me. I'd chalk it up to her not wanting to work, or her pursuing other projects, but I've heard that wasn't the case. The roles just stopped coming. A shame.
By 'jet lag,' are you referring to Décalage horaire?
Yup.
Hey, how did I miss these August entries, and that you haven't blurbed them?! I'd love to hear your thoughts on 'em; even Jet Lag, which I've never heard of.
Me too, especially on "Napoleon Dynamite."
Thanks for your encouragement, boys... I have been a tad lazy lately--just putting them up there for memory's sake. But I promise I'll get back to em.
Thanks for the reviews! Always nice to see you here. :-)
Hey, long time no see!
as for not loving punch-drunk love... maybe since you're a self-proclaimed lover of hitchcock you can't apreciate a non-hitchcock thriller the same way as you do a hitchcock thriller... it took me a while to get over the fact that no one can do a thriller like hitchcock... and to fully appreciate a movie like PDL you have to see it as a thriller first and foremost and love it for it's secondary humor and romance, and that is how i see it.