.Movie Review Diary

1. The Battle of Algiers (1965)
2. Open City (1945)
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
4. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeouise (1972)
5. Aventurera (1950)
6. Girl, Interrupted (1999)
7. Almost Famous (2000)
8. Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
9. Shoah (1985)
10. Mulholland Drive (2001)
11, 11'09''01 - September 11 (2002)
12. Frailty (2002)
13. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
14. Blowup (1966)
15. Day for Night (1973)
16. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
17. American History X (1998)
18. The Shipping News (2001)
19. Before Sunset (2004)
20. Touching the Void (2003)
21. A Perfect World (1993)
22. Chinatown (1974)
23. The Professional (1994)
24. Dark City (1998)


1. The Battle of Algiers (1965)
Ebert hits the crux of this film in his review:

"At the height of the street fighting in Algiers, the French stage a press conference for a captured FLN leader. "Tell me, general," a Parisian journalist asks the revolutionary, "do you not consider it cowardly to send your women carrying bombs in their handbags, to blow up civilians?" The rebel replies in a flat tone of voice: "And do you not think it cowardly to bomb our people with napalm?" A pause. "Give us your airplanes and we will give you our women and their handbags."

It's this harsh reality, and this moral ambiguity that makes the film so powerful. The Algerians are willing to do anything for their freedom, and the French are willing to do anything to keep it from them. War is a messy business. Both sides think they are fighting for goodness, and both do wrong to achieve it.

What's more, the film's events and characters might as well be ripped from any war - though it fits the war in Iraq especially well. The French banned The Battle of Algiers when it was released - would the U.S. try to ban a similar film about the Iraqi war that depicted American troops as capable of evil as the Iraqi terrorists? I'd like to find out!

Back to Pontecorvo's film. The reality of the film is increased by newsreel-liked direction. Algiers is better realized as a maze of danger and mystery than Rio de Janeiro in City of God. Pontecorvo furthers the realism with the Neo-Realist approach of using non-actors (excepting Jean Martin as Colonel Mathieu). But real life is usually boring, and The Battle of Algiers never is. Awesome film.

2. Open City (1945)
A common fault of Neo-Realist pictures is their sentimentality. An overtly melodramatic score doesn't help Open City. But it's clear that films like this are more than just movies. They are the record of a people - no, the heart of a people and a time. Perhaps these films are beyond criticism. Trying to review the mettle of Open City as film feels like trying to review the Holy Bible as literature. Yet, The Battle of Algiers shows that one can make an important, relevant record of deeply emotional events without the sentimentality. But I can't find it within me to fault Neo-Realist directors for letting their hearts show through their deeply personal pictures.

3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
This is one of the clearest statements on the importance of screenwriting ever made. Kaufman's brilliant script is one of the best ever written (yeah, you heard me). It shapes and enables everything. I hated Kirsten Dunst's performance in Spider-Man 2, but here she shines because she's given good dialogue and action to perform with. Jim Carrey, too, gives his best performance here. Kate Winslet is nearly unrecognizable (thought not as unrecognizable as Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich), which means she also gave a great performance. I'd also like to think that Kaufman's script suggested Gondry's excellent direction, but Gondry still deserves full credit (in the same way Pirates' script suggested Depp's performance, but Depp still deserves full credit).

As much as I adore Being John Malkovich, it's stunning how superior ESotSM is. Kaufman has finally harnessed his stunning talent and originality into a script with heart, social importance, and a solid ending. Though I'm sure he'd hate it, Kaufman deserves to be a superstar.

4. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeouise (1972)
I will never be a movie critic because: This is a fantastic film and I loved it but I can't think of a damn thing to say about it.

5. Aventurera (1950)
I don't hate melodrama by default. But it is usually done with unforgiveable laziness and stupidity, and Aventurera is no exception. And I'm not part of the 'so bad it's good' camp. It's a very important picture in a very bad way; in part, it inspired the godawful musical melodramas that dominate the screens in Latin America and India today. Cinematography better than it deserves and several above-par musical numbers elevate it from shit to garbage.

6. Girl, Interrupted (1999)
I think some critics of this film let the awful last ten minutes blind them of all the great stuff before it. Excepting the end, this is an insane movie about insanity. Does Susanna belong in the institution? Is the institution doing the right thing? Is Lisa in control? Is Valerie (Whoopi's character) right? Each of these questions appear to have several consecutive, temporary answers throughout the film - which means no answers at all. These questions are what drive the film at such a terrific pace. I never wanted to leave my seat because I wanted to know what came next - the answer to a question - and I was rarely able to predict it (except for... well, you know). This film has a lot to say, and says it well, and I hope nobody covers their ears when they see a few bits too pleased with themselves or come to the...

Hey, at least when the driver asked, "Where are you headed?", Susanna didn't answer, "Home."

7. Almost Famous (2000)
A movie that follows all the classic rules of filmic storytelling and proves they can still work. Scarily, Crudup's central character nearly sinks the film, but there's enough else that excells to love this movie. I've mentioned its triumph of classical filmmaking principles, so I don't need to tell you about all the great characters, scenes, subplots, insights, humor, and of course behind-the-scenes scoops. Kate Hudson's performance is especially exceptional. My brother watched this with me and when William told Penny that Russel sold her and Penny turned to him with a weak smile, he said, "That's the saddest face I've ever seen." Ditto.

8. Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
People who make 'Jesus' movies have other priorities than historical accuracy, but you'd think that one of the dozens of existing Jesus movies would be decently accurate. I haven't found one yet. Still, at least this telling tries to be a decent movie. (Okay, miniseries. Shut up.) Its 6 hours enable it to manage the large number of Biblically available characters and events more comfortably than any 2-hour movie.

Still, Zeffirelli does not manage to avoid the uneasy, unnatural feel that plagues so many adaptions of ancient history. The forced fusion of modern speech rhythms, white actors, and especially contemporary values with the ancient, foreign setting fails in every scene. This criticism may seem unfair. It seems like a superhuman requirement to accomplish so much, and it is. But filmmakers should be up to the challenges they undertake.

The common stumbling caused by this harsh burden is not the only thing to sink this film. The movie's best moments are those that elaborate on the situations suggested by the gospels, but these are few. The strict literalism of most of this picture chokes the life out of so many scenes that would otherwise be awesomely powerful. I've seen the literal 'He who is without sin cast the first stone' scene so many times in the exact same way that what could be a tear-inducing moment is dry and cliche.

There are some bright points of light in this grey fog. Olivia Hussey's Mary is nearly as mesmerizing as Maria Falconetti's Joan of Arc. Surprisingly, she upstages (albiet barely) the impressive veteran cast, but that says as much about Zefferelli's ability to find a face as it does about Hussey's performance. The sets are also impressive, and often extensive. The scenes of Jesus' childhood were a special treat, as these are understandably cut from shorter Jesus movies.

Thankfully, this noble failure is not Zeffirelli's best work. I haven't seen his Romeo and Juliet, but Brother Sun, Sister Moon is superior.

9. Shoah (1985)
This is a 9.5 hour Holocaust documentary with no archival footage - just interviews with survivors of the camps and surroudning villages. Its length is unjustified by its lazy pace and unfocused agenda. We're left with a sprawling mess of accounts that are sometimes surprising and powerful, sometimes dry and boring (a lengthy, uncut examination of train schedules comes to mind). There's also no reason for this to be a film - it would be just as effective as a book with some glossy photo pages. It doesn't utilize any of the particular strengths of the film medium, and it doesn't reward its epic length. If used as a massive archive of bits and pieces of Holocaust data, it's not too bad. As a film, it fails.

10. Mulholland Drive (2001)
Like Kubrick's 2001, this is a gorgeous and stunning film even if you don't understand it. But it's even better if you can make sense of it. And for me, finally making sense of this movie was even more rewarding than it was with 2001. In the end, 2001 is a rather simple but beautiful film. Mulholland Drive has so many layers of meaning and gorgeous interplay that even after my fourth viewing I feel I could watch it several more times and always get something more from it (and don't think I won't do just that!). Explaining my own take on the film (not that I'm the only one to interpret it that way) is beyond the scope of this minireview, and has potential to detract from your own interpretation (though I'm willing to share in <spoiler> if you like). I'm telling you, this is one of the 20 best movies ever made, and fully worthy of the elusive 10/10 on my harsh rating scale. I'll be surprised if we get another film this good this decade.

11. 11'09''01 - September 11 (2002)
Several short films about different peoples' reactions to September 11th. Some good ones (#1, #2, #8) and couple bad ones (#3, #7) average this one out to just above mediocre.

12. Frailty (2002)
This is a merely decent execution of two abnormally fantastic ideas:

(At least, that's my reading.) I'm dying to know what ideas like this would result in if someone like Kubrick was at the helm. The 'current day' portion of the film is entirely unnecessary.

13. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Not nearly as good as I remember. Stuffed with fantabulous ideas, but it's clear that Speilberg is no Kubrick. There's way too much thorough explaining and 'look what we can do with CGI!' and not enough mystery and magic. Speilberg only takes his ideas as far as he thinks mainstream tastes and a PG-13 rating will allow, which is pretty close to where they begin. It's surprising how many scenes don't work at all. The only ten minutes that I thought really worked were from when the world froze to when the blue fairy started explaining everything. Everything else was beautiful and full of potential but ultimately unsuccessful.

14. Blowup (1966)
Like La Dolce Vita and the paparazzi, Blowup is a fascinating picture of 60's London swingers. Somewhere in here there's also a strange and occasionally very tense plot about a man discovering a murder in his own photographs. The tensest scenes play without any score at all, and they're more powerful that way. The mystery goes unsolved, and somehow didn't leave me wondering because I was more interested in the unnamed central character and his surroundings than the murder - never thought I'd say that!

15. Day for Night (1973)
I could've watched this forever. As a definite movie lover, everything in this film about making films fascinated me. It's like the ultimate set of 'behind the scenes, on the set' documentaries. Now I want every major director to make a film like this chronicling their experiences in making movies. Peter Jackson especially.

16. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
I suspect this film ends up on many 'best films of all time' lists solely due to its importance. It's also explicitly racist. So I can understand the reaction I've seen against it; cinemaphiles fleeing to Intolerance or Broken Blossoms as the definitive Griffith masterpiece. But this is unwarranted: Birth of a Nation is not just an important film - it's also a really, really good one (yes, a masterpiece).

Melodrama is out of style these days, and next to the narrative complexity of Pulp Fiction or the thorough character development of La Belle noiseuse, Birth of a Nation can fell like a frantically paced vignette of characters and events we never have a chance to care about. But the narrative maturity of Birth of a Nation is unmatched for its time (except for the works of Feuillade, which were 1/4 as epic and twice as long).

Critics might also cite the incessant title cards, which may feel as though they hold the audience's hand and explain too much with lazy exposition. But the necessity of this device becomes obvious when we realize that Birth of a Nation is populated with far more locations and plots and subplots and characters than the simple comedies that serve as most viewers' primary exposure to silent cinema.

Understandably, the loudest complaint made against the film is a moral one. Its portrayal of blacks is unquestionably offensive. I will admit to 'solving' this problem by completely avoiding it - I honestly don't care if it is morally reprehensible. A great film that opposes my own morality is still a great film. An artistic masterpiece that stands for something I oppose is still an artistic masterpiece. Birth of a Nation is bad morality, but great art. As a moral person I could choose to dislike it, but as a film-lover, it's awesome.

For me, that takes care of 'the bad', and I'm left with a groundbreaking epic, a touching portrait of a time and people, a masterwork of direction, an unparalleled cinematic innovation, and a great story.

17. American History X (1998)
There's a really great story hiding in here but it's outshined by Norton's performance and buried in poor dialogue. And too much slow-motion photography. And a ridiculous score during a basketball game. But I love that I thought some points of Norton's racist arguments were momentarily convincing. Hitler was probably even more convincing, and that's why millions of intelligent, rational people embarked on a slaughterfest. I guess I just love a good mindfuck. But the film didn't quite live up to its ideas.

18. The Shipping News (2001)
Cate Blanchett disappears into her role, Judi Dench gives a wonderful performance without acting for a second, and Kevin Spacey plays a similar character to Lester from American Beauty but gives an even better performance here. Despite every character and plot point essentially being grafted from a hundred other stories, the delight is in the details that seperate it from its peers. This is why good stories can still be written even though there are no new stories.

19. Before Sunset (2004)
It's a romance, sure, but most people didn't notice it's also of the horror genre. Here are my running thoughts on the film: Ah, this is great... ... oh, great... ... ...yes, thank God this is so great... ...mmhmm, yes... ...oh shit, his plane is coming... ...yes, get on the boat... ...damn, that's the dock in the background! Yikes! No!... ...Get in the car, please get in the car!... whew... ... No, don't leave!... ...yes, thank goodness... ...no, don't let it end!... ... ...oh, shit, how are they going to end this... damn, I have no idea... ... ...ohhhhhh... yessssssss...

20. Touching the Void (2003)
Some people on this planet are friggin' morons. These people scale the most excruciatingly painful and reliably fatal mountain faces... for fun. Then, after the mountain kicked their asses and they just barely made it out of hell with their lives, they do it again as soon as possible. Friggin' morons. Sure makes for a great movie, though.

21. A Perfect World (1993)
Somehow Eastwood managed to turn this stellar story and edgy material into clichéd, 'safe', unbelievable tripe. In its ambitions and the messages it could've preached, it's a noble failure, but definitely a failure. The kid's loyalty, affection, and especially trust for Butch could've been supported by abusive parents, but Philip defends his mother at the end. The movie could've had wonderful (read: daring) things to say about its characters and societal stereotypes, but instead opted for a safer route by concluding things as we'd expect. It feels like there's a fantastic movie in here silenced and redressed by studios (or Eastwood) as yet another pseudo-edgy high concept flick. At least

.

22. Chinatown (1974)
Perhaps the most perfect movie to ever come from Hollywood. Every scene is precisely perfect and causes the next, every character is cleverly developed, every subplot is woven perfectly, every line of dialogue is great, every twist is truly shocking. The acting is superb, and the setting is beautifully realized. After these terrible reviewing shortcuts, I'll draw attention to one specific moment. When Gittes throws Evelyn down on the couch and she explains,

, it's the most shocking moment of the film - an incredibly powerful instant. But instead of letting this sink in, the moment is interrupted by a 'common sense' issue: Evelyn's assistant has heard the noise and descends the stairs, but Evelyn tells him to go back upstairs. Most movies would ignore this 'logistical' issue and let the power of the moment percolate, and the audience wouldn't notice that the assistant was strangely deaf to the noise, anyway. But Chinatown is too perfect for even this tiny conceit.

23. The Professional (1994)
Okay, no review. Just some random thoughts. The Professional (Léon) was half totally 'cool' and half extremely problematic and predictable. That it is #58 on the IMDB Top 250 bewilders me.

Natalie Portman was a good actress before and after TPM/AotC, so it's obviously George Lucas' direction at fault. He's also to blame for the reliable Sam Jackson and his performance in those films.

When I say, "That movie made me cry..." I almost always mean "I had to hold back tears." This time, I really mean it. When Mathilda stand at Leon's door and begs to be let in, I cried. And my younger brother was in the room playing a videogame. I'm such a pussy. Props to Portman, though.

For a 'professional', Leon sure has unprofessional ways of doing things. Why on earth would he try to lower a noose perfectly around someone's head when he could just blow their head open with a silenced pistol? And if the only reason he trains a little girl to kill is because he has compassion and she makes him 'feel alive,' why would he consider shooting her in her sleep that first night? And good gravy that last shootout scene is over the top. 300 cops? Don't think so.

24. Dark City (1998)
I had fond memories of this movie. They've been rewritten (with a rewatch). This film was conceived of a few good ideas and themes (which are shockingly similar to those of The Matrix), but the score is bad, the acting is bad, the script is so-so, the shot selection is bad, and the editing is awful. Geez, let me take a breath. Let the scene mean something. Let it sink in. I had to check to make sure I wasn't watching some TV-edited version of the movie. Terrible, terrible editing that irked me unabated.