Ten Recent Movies
Submitted by Macheath on Wed, 03/31/2004 - 05:42
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- Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1941) - ***
- Spencer Tracy plays Hyde a bit more straight than in the previous version with Fredric March, the sex is toned down, and the make-up work is pretty light, so overall it's much less interesting than it should be. Ingrid Bergman is quite good, though, the year before Casablanca and film history.
- Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004) - *****
- Since Being John Malkovich I've been waiting for a Charlie Kaufman movie to blow my mind again, and here it is. The idea is brilliant but the movie has so much heart, which puts it over the top for me. The minor subplot , but with everything else happening it's easy to forgive. Easily the most I've ever enjoyed a Jim Carrey performance.Spoiler: Highlight to viewof the Mary/Howard affair unnecessarily diverts the story away from Joel and Clem
- Audition (2000) - ****½
- I watched the trailers, I read the blurb on the back of the DVD package, I read the reviews, but I still wasn't prepared for what was about to happen. I literally squirmed in my seat for the last 20 minutes, and even for about another 10 minutes after the movie was over. And I enjoyed it tremendously.
- A Woman Of Paris (1923) - ****
- Chaplin's gift to frequent co-star Edna Purviance was apparently a flop at the box office (and seemingly ended her full-time acting career) but it's a very good movie about lost love and happiness that doesn't seem to look down upon anybody. We get a good Adolph Menjou performance out of the deal, though.
- Masked And Anonymous (2003) - ***
- Not just the title, but a perfect description of the plot. Director (and co-writer w/ Bob Dylan) Larry Charles said that he wanted the movie to come off like a Dylan song, but instead of being Desolation Row or Bob Dylan's 115th Dream it ends up more like Ugliest Girl In The World. The shots of Bob and his band are terrific, though, and saved this from being a disappointment.
- Shoot The Piano Player (1960) - ****½
- Charlie coulda been a contender, he coulda been somebody. Well, actually, he was, until circumstances brought him from the concert stage to a tiny dive where he plays for paltry wages for folks who probably aren't even listening. Truffaut's ode to American gangster films keeps opening up more and more with each succesive viewing, but the first time is always a joy.
- Gaslight (1940) - ****
- This earlier version features Anton Walbrook (who was always excellent in those Powell/Pressburger films) and Diana Wynyard in the roles that Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman (swoon) occupied in Cukor's 1944 film. I kept thinking that this wouldn't hold up to the more well-known film, but I just couldn't find anything wrong with it. The performances by the leads are quite good, the story is a bit more brisk, and the conclusion is pretty strong. I think I like both versions about the same, but I'd probably recommend this one first.
- School Of Rock (2003) - ****
- I guess I wasn't paying attention to the press because I wasn't readily prepared for this being essentially a kid's movie. Nice job of using the PG-13 rating to rope in grown-up rockers like me, guys. Jack Black is perfect here, totally at ease interacting with the kids (no surprise, since he's just a big one himself) and doing the rock thing. And I can't forget to mention the kids, with all that talent, bringing it all together. Kinda reminds me of me at that age when I was rocking out. (sh'yeah)
- Tokyo Joe (1949) - **½
- After WWII, war veteran Bogie returns to Japan where he ran a bar pre-war and finds that his presumed-dead wife is still alive and married to a business man involved in the rebuilding of Japan. There's more than a striking resemblance to Casablanca here (the old flame's new man even looks a bit like Paul Henreid), but it comes up well short on all accounts. The main plot of the film (involving smuggling in war criminals to aid in the rebellion) doesn't come off as being all that engrossing or urgent, unlike the papers that Peter Lorre carries around. It's more for Bogie fans than anything.
- The Triplets Of Belleville (2003) - ****
- Almost without dialog, The Triplets Of Belleville held my attention from beginning to end with slow pacing, an impossible boat journey, and that damn catchy theme song. The look of it reminded me of a much older style of animation, like maybe Max Fleischer in the old Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons of the 30s. This is probably the sort of thing that Luis Buñuel would have come up with had he done animated features.
Author Comments:
I'm using the 5 star rating system here, which breaks down as:
***** - freakin' awesome
**** - freakin' good
*** - freakin' okay
** - freakin' lame
* - freakin' awful
Great comments, and a very interesting selection of 10 to start with. It's telling that we both used the word "squirm" in our Audition reviews. Now THAT'S a movie that stuck in my craw. I'm surprised you haven't seen Zatoichi yet. What's the holdup? :-)
Oh, don't worry, Zatoichi is coming up soon. I'm shooting for the weekend, when I can spare plenty of time to enjoy it all. In the meantime, I'm really digging the trailers on the disc.
Audition is a good one for squirming, ain't it? It reminds me of how some scenes from The Exorcist can still bring chills down my spine. I gotta see more from this Miike dude now.
I definitely have to see more Miike too, although I'm not sure which, of his stuff that's currently available on DVD. Of the very recent stuff, I'm looking forward to his take on The Ring.