Amelie is looking for love, and perhaps for the meaning of life in general. We see her grow up in an original if slightly dysfunctional family. Now a waitress in central Paris, she interacts curiously with her neighbors and customers. Little by little, Amelie realizes that her path to happiness requires here to take her own initiative and reach out to others.
Little Amelie Poulain (Flora Guiet) had anything but a normal life. Misdiagnosed, by her father, Rufus (Raphaël Poulain), with an unusual heart defect, she was educated by her mother at home and spent much of her childhood alone, developing a vivid imagination. Now, adult Amelie (Audrey Tautou) is healthy, quite pretty and works in a small cafe. When Princess Diana is killed in the fateful car crash in 1997, Amelie finds an old metal box stuff with a child's memorabilia hidden in her bathroom wall, she decides to try to find the owner, thinking that, if she is successful, it is a sign that she should make it her job to bring happiness to those around her.
Through her detective work, she finally locates the box's owner and secretly watches him emotionally go through his old treasure, changing the lonely man's life. This prompts her to bring together one of her coworkers, hypochondriac Georgette (Isabelle Nanty), and an ill-tempered customer, Joseph (Dominique Pinon). She then sets her sights on an old, shut-in neighbor, Dufayel (Serge Martin), through the miracle of video, shows him a world of wonder outside the confines of his home. She also becomes smitten with a lonely young man, Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), who works in an adult video store and moonlights as a funhouse spook. He also collects discarded pictures left at photo booths around Paris, creating an imaginative portfolio with his finds.
When the local grocer (Urbain Cancelier) picks on his simple, but kind, assistant Lucien (James Debouzze), Amelie begins a campaign to drive the cruel man crazy and make Lucien finally like his job. She also helps her building concierge resolve a longtime remorse over a husband who left decades before. The rest of the numerous cast members all lend their efforts to create a wide variety of folks populating Amelie's world.
Ameli is a fabulusly whimsical and quirky yet clever little film with originality and style galore as pretty Amelie works hard to make positive changes in the lives of those around her. With a variety of gimmicks that are sometimes ridiculous and sometimes sublime, but always entertaining.
Nearly everyone in the theatre was laughing at one point or another during this wonderful movie, some of us were laughing a lot, and I for one was howling at several points. This movie is a 'feel good' movie that really delivers. Do NOT miss this one!
Blackhawk Down by Director Ridley Scott, who brought us Gladiator and G.I. Jane has a talent for creating a polished, photogenic vision of battle that gets across the blood and brutality of it all. While bloodier than I think necessary, the firefights are as real as anything I have seen, in the cinema or on the news. What this film captures, and captures well, are the collective sensory perceptions of its soldiers -- abject frustration, dedication to duty, fear, grief, a desire for retribution, and above all, heroism in the face of impossible odds.
If the film has a lead, it would be Josh Hartnett, he plays a young army seargent that is sort of the Army's collective conscience -- an idealist who genuinely believes in the Somalian mission of humanitarian aide. "We can either help, or we can sit back and watch them destroy themselves on CNN," he preaches as his unit prepares for the ill-fated raid.
Other relatively recognizable names appear in largely anonymous roles, including Ewan Mcgregor, Tom Sizemore, Jason Isaacs, William Fichtner, Ron Eldard, Jeremy Piven, Eric Bana and Ewen Bremner, all playing soldiers or doomed Black Hawk pilots who watch, trapped in their crashed helicopters as hoards of Somalian street soldiers descend on them.
Strangely, the one indelible image from these events, the image that made them front page news, is not included in the film -- the bloodied bodies of American soldiers being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. That did take place the day after the events in the film, however, and the film is faithfully adapted from a detailed book by Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Mark Bowden. "Black Hawk Down" focuses solely on the mission gone wrong, following several small groups of soldiers, including some pinned down in a bombed-out building by hundreds of trigger-happy militiamen, and some in a convoy trying to reach the crashed choppers but finding an ambush along every route. At times it's hard to keep track of the manifold narrative, but that's not entirely by accident -- the confusion draws a parallel to the minds of the young soldiers.
Scott taps all his Hollywood know-how for the picture's jarring firefights, but he shows restraint in unsettling pauses that make you realize how much every bullet counts. The same is true of the helicopter crashes that begin the whole nightmare, which are all the more staggering for not being souped up with action movie explosions.
This is one of the best war movies that you will ever see. Don't miss it!
Impostor is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's 1952 short story that combined witchhunt-style paranoia with futurism fears. The film is 10% blade runner 10% Escape from New York and 80% padding done on a bad B movie budget. There are but a few thrilling moments, a few brief moments of decent acting and very few surprises.
Director Gary Fleder who brought us Kiss the Girls and more recently Don't Say a Word, really let us down on this one. One would think that with Gary Sinise, Madeline Stowe, Vincent D'Onofrio, Tony Shalhoub and Elizabeth Peña, the film would fly even with a mediocre script. . . but you would be wrong.
Gary Sinese and Madeleine Stowe are a lovely couple, as far as anyone can be lovely in a 2079 where the sharp line between what is human and what is robot or alien is no longer clearly visible. So when Sinese, a weapons expert, is suspected of being an android with a neutron bomb in his chest he has to be hunted down. D'Onofrio is the relentless hunter. Is he a mistaken Tommy Lee Jones out to destroy an honorable figitive? Will Stowe, a good doctor in a world more adept at killing than healing, still trust that her man is her man and not a cyborg? These type of questions pop up one afer another filling your head as you just pray the movie ends.
With any luck, there'll be a long line at the popcorn counter, and you'll be able to miss much of the film
I am not usually drawn to documentary films, but when I heard that Director George Butler's film The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition was in town, being familiar with the incredible story of Shackelton's expedition, I eagerly sought out a theatre showing it. I was not disappointed in the least. A very well told tale, with commentary from a handful of the crew's surviving relatives, actual film footage of the 1914 journey, journal comments from the crew, voice commentary from crew interviews 80 0dd years ago and many of the 127 photographs from the expedition's photographer. Liam Neeson did a splendid narration fo this adaptation of Caroline Alexander's book.
Shackleton's British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition set sail from England on the Endurance in August 1914 with the goal of crossing Antarctica from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea via the South Pole. However, in January 1915, before reaching Antarctica, the Endurance became trapped in pack ice in the Weddell Sea. The ship remained stuck in the drifting ice for ten months before it was crushed and sank. Shackleton and his crew of 27 men abandoned the ship a month before it sank. They lived on the floating ice for almost six months before their ice floe, drifting north, broke apart. The group then embarked for the South Shetland Islands in three small boats taken from the Endurance, sailing seven days from ice floe to ice floe before reaching uninhabited Elephant Island.
Leaving all but five of his crew on Elephant Island, Shackleton set off to seek help in one of the boats, the 7-m (23-ft) James Caird. His target was a whaling station on the island of South Georgia, 1,300 km (800 mi) across the open South Atlantic Ocean. After 16 exhausting and extremely perilous days at sea, the six men reached South Georgia, accomplishing one of the greatest feats of navigation in history. They had landed on the opposite side of the island from the whaling station, however. Shackleton and two of his men then hiked for 36 hours straight, completing the first crossing of South Georgia's mountainous interior, to reach help at the whaling station. After three unsuccessful attempts over the next four months, Shackleton rescued his men stranded at Elephant Island on August 30, 1916, in a tugboat lent to him by the government of Chile. In the end, not a single member of the Endurance expedition was lost.
If you think you've seen and read everything about Shackleton and the Endurance expedition, you haven't. Seeing Hurley's photos on a giant movie screen makes them even more amazing and hearing the tale from the families of the survivors makes this a unique experience. The commentary is always interesting. The images are arresting and the music is haunting. Find out where this film is playing and see it immediately! Shackelton fans will be enthralled, and viewers not familiar with the story will be amazed at the things the members of the expedition endured. Seek this out... you will be glad that you did!
Thank you George Butler.
One of the most unusual films this year is the campy Moulin Rouge. The story follows a poet (Ewan McGregor) who defies his father by moving to Monmartre, France, the 19th century equivalent of Andy Warhol's Factory. He falls into the world of Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo) and his entourage, and is drafted to write a nightclub spectacular. In this seedy world of sex, drugs and electricity, he begins a passionate but ultimately doomed love affair with the club's highest paid star and courtesan (Nicole Kidman).
Moulin Rouge" is one of those films that you either love or you hate. It's a wild, churning ride that lavishes the screen with opulent colors, gyrating dances, huge chorus numbers, dwarves and freaks and courtesans and dreamers. It tells us the story of a writer and a burlesque star who fall in love. And it does so in amazing ways.
Baz Luhrmann, who directed the pop-culture-crazy "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet", paints his picture in lively Technicolorlike tones, takes his camera on improbable sprints around his sets and covers everything and everyone in the loudest, most exciting fabrics imaginable. Yard for yard, "Moulin Rouge" may use more red velvet than any other film in history.
One of the greatest things about this film is the sound Track, with music from Elton John, The Beatles, Nat King Cole, Madona, Rogers and Hammerstein, and many many more. all being performed in turn of the century Paris.
Satine (Nicole Kidman) is the top draw at the Moulin Rouge, a bawdy dance hall where wealthy men go to consort with beautiful young women. It's an upscale brothel masquerading as a variety show. Satine dreams of becoming a legitimate actress. In a parallel to the story of thousands of women who get lost in Hollywood every year, she longs to be respected for her talents, not just her body. For now, she must cram herself into corsets and descend on swings over the teeming dance floor.
As fabulous as Nicole is, this is Ewan McGregor’s film, and he achieves something remarkable with this role that takes him through the peaks and valleys of love lost and love found. As the film's struggling writer/hero, McGregor is required to sing such songs as Elton John's "Your Song," Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," Sting's "Roxanne" and even "The Sound of Music. " You don't hold back on songs like these. You either give them your whole heart or you're lost. McGregor meets the challenge by committing to the film as he has never committed to a film before.
Russle Crowe, tha star of A Beautiful Mind once again absorbing himself completely in his character, plays Nash, a handsome loner from West Virginia. Nash arrives at Princeton as graduate student with practically no social skills and quickly distinguishes himself from his classmates . . as much for his unconventional behavior as for his academic accomplishments. He has a gift for finding patterns in numbers, and he becomes obsessed with cracking a universal mathematical explanation for the most seemingly random occurrences.
He ignores class work and classmates on an obsessed quest to find "a truly original idea," scribbling elaborate formulae on the windows panes of his dorm room and looking for invisible algorithms everywhere. His goal is to make a discovery that will distinguish him. "It's the only way I'll ever matter," he says with an irrational fear of anonymity creeping across his face.
Upon graduation, he accepts a teaching/research position where he teaches a class and he comes to the attention of shadowy U. S. intelligence agents, who recruit him as a top-secret code-breaker. Meanwhile, his genius and lack of artifice attract a different kind of attention from one of his students, the lovely Alicia (Jennifer Connelly).
Then Nash makes a horrifying discovery: All of this intrigue has taken place in his mind. The mysterious agent, the high-tech listening station in an abandoned government building, the complex Soviet codes he's been obsessed with finding in the text of magazines -- even his charismatic college roommate. None of it was real. Doctors diagnose full-blown schizophrenia, and attempt to treat it in the accepted manner of the day -- drugs and shock treatment.
Howard -- who gives the whole film a very real 1950s feel, deploys his best Hollywood trickery in the code breaking scenes, showing us what Nash sees on pages of endless data by having certain numerals begin to glow as he recognizes their patterns. It's a powerful and visually stimulating effect.
Throughout the entire film, you get the feeling that Howard set out to deliver an Oscar winning film, While it was a good film with a lot of suspense, about half way through the movie, it starts to become clear that the suspense is all for naught. Personally, I think we could have had an entertaining biography without all the false suspense. . . but then, I'm not a director, am I?
at 2 1/2 hours, I found the film to be rather long, and still believe that the car chase scenes and a lot of the suspense could have/should have been eliminated from the film. Since this was based on a true story, I think the time would be better spent explaining Nash's troubles, rather than trying to get us to guess who is the spy and who is betraying Nash.
I like quirky as much or more than the next guy, but The Royal Tenenbaums feels as forced as the family is dysfunctional. This black comedy about a clan of child prodigies who fall apart at the seams when their loutish lawyer dad abandons them. Decades later the down and out dad returns and tries to pick up where he left off.
Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) and his wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston) had three children -- Chas (Ben Stiller), Richie (Luke Wilson) and Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) -- they were a family of geniuses -- and then they separated. This film is the story of the family's sudden, unexpected reunion one recent winter.
As always, papa has an ulterior motive -- in this case, the fact that he's dead broke. But it's one of the film's numerous charms that while dad fakes a terminal illness to worm his way back into the family's good graces, the not-so-wily con artist learns his life lessons before his brainy brood learn theirs.
All three of Anderson's movies (co-written with actor/childhood friend Owen Wilson) fudge the distinctions between childish and adult behavior. In Tenenbaums, the kids behave like grownups and the adults have the emotional maturity of children. The film's most entertaining sequences detail the efforts of Royal to teach Chas' sober young kids to shoplift, jaywalk, hitch rides on passing trucks and throw stuff at passing taxis.
While the film tries to be an emotional roller coaster, the highs merely bring smiles, and the black moments are a medium gray at best. It was interesting to watch the dysfunctional family (saw myself in some of Royal) ;-), but the movie fails to deliver any real quality entertainment.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is absolutely delightful. Fantabulous. Stupendous!! Not since the original Star Wars or the original Raiders of the Lost Ark have we been treated to such a grand 'sweep me away' fantasy adventure. Peter Jackson has brought the myth of 'The Ring' alive, and a supurb cast makes you feel the passion and fear the evil.
This film is so superior to Ralph Bakshi's 1978 mess of a movie that it is laughable to compare the two. Jackson knew that for this to fly, it had to not only appeal to "Harry Potter" types, but also to the 50 odd years of 'Ring' Culties that expect a high degree of accuracy in the production of this story.
Unlike Bakshi, who stopped his movie halfway throught the Two Towers (the second bok of the trilogy), Jackson kept his film confined to the Fellowship of the Ring, and delivered a masterful production.
Jackson's sets of 'Middle Earth' were breath taking in the detail and the granduer alike. I was reminded of my first time flying a small plane, soaring like a bird, and being in awe of the breathtakingly magical splendor of the coastline of Southern California.
Fellowship of the rings is a constant visual feast. From the peaceful sets of Hobbiton, a village of the small hairy-footed people, to the misty Golden Wood of Lothlorien, from the nightmarish opening Battle of Dagorlad to the Boschian underworld of Moria, the movie is a parade of otherworldly sights, visual spectacles and enough nightmarish mayhem to deserve an R rating.
Jackson seamlessly weaves magnificent computer graphic effects into a parade of action scenes that seem to out-do each other, giving the view a three hour adrenaline rush that leaves you wanting more.
My only complaint, is that I'll have to wait a full year for the next story... No matter though, it's time I re-read the Two Towers story again anyway.
Cameron Crowe ought to know that there is only one reason to do a remake of an earlier movie: to make it better. With Vanilla Sky, Crowe failed to make it even almost as good as the original. The 1997 Spanish language film Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes), was more artfully done, had a more believable cast, and less pithy, whining dialogue.
Abre Los Ojos was directed by Alejandro Amenábar, who earlier this year showed us once again, his ability to deliver a supernatural thriller when he directed The Others (with Nicole Kidman). While being a first rate film maker in his own right, Cameron Crowe misses the soul of the original film (which is where it's real magic comes from)and fails to add enough of his own to this stab at a translation to make it work.
What Cameron did, was use the enchanting Penelope Cruz to play Sofia Serrano, the same role that she so delightfully played in the earlier film. Unfortunately, Penelope has never been as comfortable or as believable in her English language roles as she is in her Spanish films (Belle époque (1992), Jamón, jamón (1992), Celestina, La (1996), Hjørne af paradis, Et (1997), Abre los ojos (1997) (and over a dozen others)). Next, Crowe added the handsome looks of Tom Cruise to star as David Ames and be her love interest. The easy parts, smiling and playing the successful bachelor, Cruise could have phoned in, he's been playing this role for over 15 years. Unfortunately, he difficult part- real acting, was just beyond his reach. Cruise fails to convince us of the anguish and the nightmarish confusion that a man in his position would be feeling.
Cameron Diaz plays Julie Gianni, the psychotic fashion model of the month, that develops a 'fatal attaction' with Tom's character. Cameron is the only actor in this movie that will have advanced their career by being in this movie. Diaz delivers a highly believable 'in-love' attitude, and when spurned, we get a splendid look at the type of woman we pray that we never meet.
David Ame's best friend Brian Shelby is played by Jason Lee (Dogma & Almost Famous) his acting is weak and whinny, and his playing drunk is the worst that has ever been captured on film. This is Lee's poorest acting ever. For some reason, Crowe then stirred in an extra plotline, that of David Ames fighting an ouster attempt by his Board of Directors. He is befriended by a company lawyer played by Timothy Spall, whose role is never really used, nor is the plot line followed thru with... as if half way thru shooting, Crowe changed his mind.
I have deliberately avoided describing the main storyline because to describe it would be to spoil it more than Crowe did by filming it. As much as this film misses the mark, it's concept can still be followed. This is a very suspenseful thriller with a futuristic twist. Unfortunately, even those that have not seen the original film, will know that they are missing something here. Cameron, who is know for infusing a sense of humanity in his films such as Jerry McGuire and Almost Famous seems to drain the humanity out of a classic Spanish treasure.
Do yourself a favor, and rent Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) It is five times as enjoyable.
Fast Food... that's what was going through my mind as I left the theater after watching Gene Hackman in Behind Enemy Lines. It was just like eating a big juicy burger complete with lots of mustard, onions and tomato... quite delicious as you devoured it, but right after, you find yourself asking "why did I do that?"
This was a beat-your-chest, all American military hero action movie ala Rambo. Loads of fun to watch, as a couple of young Navy aviators flying a reconnaissance flight over Bosnia, see something they were not supposed to see, and get shot down and then after the pilot gets executed, the navigator, Lt. Burnett (Owen Wilson) spends the rest of the movie evading the bad guys as his Commanding Officer (Gene Hackman) tries to get authorization from a NATO Admiral to rescue the man.
Even while eating this burger though, you find yourself asking "why didn't they parachute to the top of the hill after getting shot down instead of drifting over the high ground and opting to drop down through a canopy of trees of a forest in a valley"? To make matters worse, the Pilot breaks his leg, and rather than dragging him to some cover, the Navigator leaves him out in the open as he climbs to the top of a hill so that he can use the radio to call for help. (See why we always land on high ground?).
Burnett, evading the enemy army manages to swap uniforms as the soldiers chase him through a building. This was such a cliché maneuver; just once, I'd like to see the enemy come around the corner as the hero is still striping the dead body.
There are so many scenes where it is painfully difficult to believe that you are seeing what you are seeing. For instance, there is the Bosnian sniper whit a huge scope on his rifle, that fails to shoot Burnett while Burnett wearing dark clothes sits against a white wall less than a hundred yards away. This inept sniper misses perhaps a couple dozen other 'easy kill' opportunities through out the show.
In the final scene, three Marine choppers come in to rescue Burnett, and while nearly 100 Bosnian soldiers on the ground fail to shoot Barnett (who is within range and without cover on a frozen lake), 9 Bosnian tanks fail to shoot the 3 choppers... It is just waaaay beyond the realm of believability.
But... like I said, it is a fun movie to watch, a couple of scenes will have you sitting on the edge of your chair. I've only given this film 2 1/2 pints due to the holes and unbeliveable story line, but if you like action scenes, and lots of blow up fun... see it anyway!
The Condor retiring? Director Tony Scott's latest film, Spy Game brings us Robert Redford once again as a CIA spy. This time he plays Nathan Muir, a senior operative on his final day with the agency as he is retiring. The movie opens with his protégé, Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) being arrested in China for attempting to spring a prisoner.
Muir's bosses have decided to allow Bishop to be executed rather than step in, admit that he's with the CIA, and jeopardize ongoing trade negotiations. Nathan gets a call from a friend notifying him of Bishop's situation. The next 24 hours is all that Muir has to set up a rescue from half way around the world, and with no official help from his agency. As the movie progresses, we begin to understand more of the relationship between Muir and Bishop, and Muir's determination to aid his friend.
During most of the movie, Muir sits in a room, being interrogated by his bosses, as he describes his recruitment of Bishop, his training and mentoring of Bishop, and several of the missions that they worked together. Muir comes off rather convincingly like Smiley of John Le Carre's novels. Tony Scott switches back and forth between Muir's narration, and present day in a crisp and concise manner, frequently flashing the time on the screen to remind us that Bishop's time is near.
Muir conducts his orchestration of the rescue from within the agency's headquarters, with some improbable maneuvers to avoid being caught by those wishing to cover up Bishop's act.
Tony Scott is a master storyteller, and could make an action scene of a peanut butter sandwich being made. His movies include Crimson Tide, Days of Thunder, Top Gun, Last Boy Scout, The Fan and Enemy of the State. I enjoyed this movie a fair amount more than I expected to, go see it.
This movie was two and a half hours of pure delight, and my wife said that I was laughing like a little boy. Witness as eleven year old, orphaned Harry Potter goes off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in England. Here, he pals up with the proverbial 'poor kid' and a darling little classmate. The three adventures battle the class of mean classmates, a three headed dog, evil professors and a whole assortment of other distractions to their studies.
Excellent performances by Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, John Hurt and Alan Rickman as headmaster (Harris) and teachers. The three main youngsters, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Rupert Grint as pal Ron and the darling Emma Watson as Hermione were all excellently cast, and wonderfully portrayed. The movie was a bit on the long side, but this was understandable considering the commitment to stay as true to the book as possible, and I'm sure that it paid off for book fans... and it was not too noticeable for first-timers either.
Sorcery and magic abound in this fun filled film that reminds me of the Saturday after noon movies that I watched as a boy. There was a fabulous scene where the kids flew on broomsticks in an aerial game that resembles a cross between soccer and roller ball. If you enjoyed Raiders of the Lost Ark, you will enjoy this great kid's movie as much as I did.
While I'm reviewing some of my favorite movies, I'd be sadly remiss if I skipped 2 Days in the Valley. This is one of those films with multiple story lines that all seem unconnected until the end, where we are finally shown the tie-in. Other films in this genre include Robert Altman's Short Cuts ('93), and Quentin Tarentino's even yummier Pulp Fiction ('95)
2 Days is a dark comedy and a crime thriller all rolled into one. I won't go into the plot line here, as it would take as long as watching the movie, but the film has an excellent cast with Danny Aiello, Charlize Theron, James Spader, Eric Stoltz, Jeff Daniels, Paul Mazursky, Teri Hatcher and several others.
Each of the wacky characters is developed in such a manner as to make you feel that you have known them for years. You get the feeling that nearly every one of them has been reaching for the brass ring of success for years, but never quite getting it. From the hitman with a heart, to the self important art dealer, to the vice cop that refuses to bust a massage parlor, you will find yourself rooting for the misfits one after another.
This is one of those movies that I could (and have ;-) watch over and over again. I highly recommend this most entertaing movie
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis added a few more to the list with At War With the Army '(50)and Jumping Jacks ('52), and there have been dozens since, but none come close to the timelessness of Stripes . Nor, has any other been a showcase for as many up and comers such as Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dave Thomas, and Joe Flaherty. Stripes was also the first movie for Harold Ramis, Timothy Busfield, John Diehl and Sean Young. Additionally, it was only the second movie for Bill Paxton and Judge Reinhold.
Bill Murray stars as John Winger, a down and outer cabbie that loses his job, his girl friend and his apartment all in one day. John, deciding that it's time to make some changes in his life, talks his friend Russell (Ramis) into joining the Army with him.
From here, Bill Murray has license to be his smartassed self against them military establishment. He and his unit full of misfits, never miss an opportunity to get into mischief at every turn.
From the get-go, we are inundated with army cliches, from the hair cut scene, to the orientation with the drill sgt. from hell to the marching and singing scenes. But through it all, writer Len Blum (Meatballs) provides a dialogue that is choc-full of Murray's smart-assed reparte.
In situation after situation, this young, but stellar cast, provides comic relief that has remained timeless for 20 years now. This is not high brow, intellectual type comedy, let's face it... but if you enjoyed Caddy Shack, then perhaps it's time to head to the video shop and rent Stripes again.
Robert Redford and James Gandolfini are both enjoyable in The Last Castle, and if you can suspend all belief for a couple of hours, you will enjoy this better-than-average movie tremendously.
A three-star General (Redford) court-martialed and sentenced to a military maximum security prison rallies the 1,200 inmates to revolt against the corrupt warden (Gandolfini) and his guards. The trite plot has holes large enough to drive a mountain through, but this should be no surprise, coming from director Rod Lurie who gave us The Contender and Deterrance.
In one of the biggest acts of disbelief in recent years, at the time of the uprising, the prisoners roll out a catapult the size of a truck. How anyone can possibly believe that this could be built and stored 'un-noticed' in a prison yard is beyond me. Never the less, good performances by both, and by some of the supporting cast as well.
While I am always up for an Angelina Jolie movie, Tomb Raider was a big disappointment.
Jolie's performance was great...all she has to do is show up ;-), but this cinematic adaption of the popular video game so closely resembles the original Raiders of the Lost Ark that it is impossible not to compare the two.
Angelina is far, far more attractive than Harrison Ford (although my wife disagrees...), and she even pulls off the wealthy adventurer role. But there it stops. When you virtually copy another film, you'd better do it better. But Raiders of the Lost Ark had far more (in fact non-stop) exciting action, where as Tomb provides only a few decent action scenes.
Tomb has the arch enemey adventurer that continuously steals from the hero, the artifact that aligns with the sun to open secret powers deep within the earth... and the globe trotting race to win all the power of the universe.
Video game fans will probably enjoy this, but action/adventure fans will be disappointed, as will serious movie fans of any genre and even Angelina Jolie fans. The movie really offers nothing but a couple of hours of 'deja entertainment'
The war setting aside, it is more a love story with the proverbial triangle (the third being Pelagia's fiance who gets called off to the war.)
While I don't really have a lot of faults to list for you, it's more a matter of failing to bring anything new to the screen. Average performances from average actors, this film is an enjoyable yet vanilla love story that, at just over 2 hours, seems like a very long cliche.
Martin Sheen plays Captain Willard, a war-torn character who does not see any hope in life or humanity anymore. He has a mission and it is to capture Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) who has fabricated an army of existential soldiers on the outskirts of the Cambodian jungle. Throughout the film we encounter mant disturbing scenes.
The most unforgettable are the dawn helicopter attacks. Robert Duvall's character Colonel Kilgore is a classic example of the basic American army brain: to search and destroy and then destroy some more.
The new version adds several scenes and lengthens a few others, delivering a masterful, thought provoking, more masterfull film that is essential viewing for any movie fan, and a definite 'must see' for Coppola fans. Excellent supporting cast includes: Harrison Ford, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, Frederic Forrest, and Sam Bottoms.
A real treat to see this in the theatres again, even if only briefly.
When an eccentric and wealthy ghost hunter dies, he leaves his house to his down and out nephew, who along with his son and daughter, goes to move into the house. With the house come two unexpected pluses: the house has 13 ghosts which can only be seen with a special pair of glasses, and there's a fortune hidden somewhere in the house... but they have to stay alive to enjoy it. Few surprises here, and fewer reasons to see this movie
As his psychiatrist, Dr. Brewer (Jeff Bridges), tries to figure out exactly how to help him, the doctor gradually begins to realize the so-called alien is having a remarkable effect on the mental health of the hospital's other patients. Determined to prove the stranger is nothing more than a tragic victim of multiple-personality disorder, the doctor soon finds himself doubting his own diagnosis.
A rather shallow film that never quite rises to it's potential, it nevertheless provides a thought provoking ending that will keep you wondering. Short of being a great movie, but Spacey's performance just may land him an oscar nomination. Definitely worth watching.
Both films have an ageing thief, trying for the last score before retiring, and both theives face double crosses within their crew... and both double crossers were forced upon the thief. I really expected a more original plot from Mamet (who brought us such great movies as Glenngary Glen Ross, Wag the Dog, The Spanish Prisoner, State and Main and Ronin
Mamet fans will still enjoy the dialog which is as good as you'd expect from him, and Hackman's performance is as enjoyable as ever.
This movie may not be all that ground breaking to those who have seen Shrek, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast or any of the hundreds of others that have been produced in the past few decades, but for this movie goer, it was fabulous... complete with a totally unique story line, lovable monsters and an absolutely adorable little girl, this movie had me laughing like a little boy.
Please do yourself a favor and see this... even if you NEVER go to cartoon type movies... you will be glad you did!
Ethan is on his first day of service on an elite undercover police squad, and Denzel is his training officer, and the team leader. Ethan goes thru a wide range of emotions as he discovers that what is expected of him is diametrically opposed to what he imagined the job to be.
An emotion packed violent movie to be sure, and much like Fight Club, it is far more a psychological story than a violent one. Denzel is my pick for the Best Actor this year.
David Lynch's Mulholand Drive is one of the very best movies that I have sen in the past 5 years. I doubt that it will win him many new fans, but for those of us that enjoy David's twisted mind, this is real candy.A woman is abandoned on Mulholland Drive, following a car accident, suffering from amnesia. She makes her way to an apartment where she meets an aspiring actress who helps her put the pieces of her life, and the mystery of it all, back together. Elsewhere, other stories and characters weave into this ensemble piece, including a director with mobster problems, and a mystery man reminiscent of Lost Highway.
This is a film that will have you asking yourself "what in the hell was it about" ... and the question will remain for days to come. Surreal and dreamlike, yet woven together with Lynch's masterful sound track and trademark lighting, this is David Lynch's finest work to date.
