[yearly] seen in 2003

One Hour Photo. I'm not sure the movie knew what it wanted to be. Robin Williams was compelling, but the explanation at the end for his actions came so quickly and was so vague as to be unsatisfying, given the rich potential for mental exploration (the dreams, his interaction with families and co-workers). And the only character given any development, it seemed to me, was Robin's. If this was the point, fine. But he obviously thought the family offered something for him to collect their photos in particular. Jake feels pity for Sy, he indulges him, and then what? We don't get the family's reactions to Sy's increasingly desperate actions. If they are ceasing to be the perfect family he imagines, then why do they remain 2D reactives even after the revelation of Will's affair? My friends, brother, and girlfriend all seemed to enjoy it more than me, so I guess I should wait before passing any kind of final judgment.

Scotland PA: a satisfactory Very Bad Things. This is the kind of black comedy I can enjoy, although knowing that the movie was based on MacBeth made things distracting for all of us who watched it, since we were mentally lining up the on-screen events/people with their Shakespearean counterparts.

The Matrix Reloaded Minus the orgiastic Zion scene, this was a darn fine movie, and I was gearing myself up for a sucky movie. Some parts were talky-talky, to the point of dusting me with the Wachowski's convoluted and self-negating leaps of thought, but every fight brought at least one giddy grin, and that didn't happen for the first movie. There were at least a couple times that they lost me, to wit: If Agent Smith could copy himself so often, then where the heck was all of his copies on the 18-wheelers? Reloaded vascillated between a one-on-one showdown with agents or a Neo v. Everyone scenario. Still, the element of doubt introduced about the Oracle was a great touch, and I hope that the next movie sees fit to play up Morpheus' struggle against sticking to the prophecy (and thus, Neo), which was his lodestone for nearly two movies. Very nice film, not as much talking as I was warned about (or at least, the talking was done by interesting secondaries (particularly Randall Duk Kim's Keymaker and Lambert Wilson as Merovingian). Maybe future viewings will dim my surprise somewhat, but for now I'm actually getting excited about the third film.

Man, Old School wasn't no good at all. Colin and I just saw it cos it was that or Tears of the Sun. Weird as it is, Will Ferrell and his holding-back-the-mental-instability persona actually provided most of the too-few bright spots. I enjoyed seeing Craig Kilborn's small role as a smarmy boyfriend, but mostly because it was Kils, and not because he did anything really memorable.

I forgot about Confidence. Saw it in April on campus. It was well-put together, although not so intricate that my roommates didn't pick out the ending halfway through the film. Ed Burns was pretty bland, and he and Rachel Weisz had little chemistry, whether in love or loathing, but Dustin Hoffman's dangerouly loopy crime boss and Andy Garcia's rumpled Fed (nearly unrecognizable to me, but then I don't get out to the movies that much) were compelling secondary characters. The characters were at the mercy of the plot, but thankfully the plot was intricate without hitting the point of ridiculousness.

Says I.