The Best of the 1990s

I think I like the idea of this movie more than I like watching the actual movie.
The backdrop is fascinating. As the country moves toward modernization (symbolized by the town of Big Whiskey, where houses are in need of porches and you check your guns at the door), we meet a couple of old gunslingers. Already, the glamorized myth of the Old West is beginning to grow, while those who lived it remember the blood-stained truth. And Eastwood playing the lead lends some sort of meta layer to the whole thing, as he basically undercuts his own career as the hard-as-nails cowboy.
The execution just doesn't do the idea justice. While it is well-constructed, like any Eastwood flick the pace is sluggish and there are too many scenes where the characters sit and talk about who they are and what they're feeling instead of using the plot to show us their development.
It ends up being a better comment about Westerns than it is a Western.

I can't believe I'm going to call "Boogie Nights" underrated, but there it is. This film caused quite a stir when it first came out, beloved by critics and hailed for introducing new stars and resurrecting others past their prime. Yet, as time goes by, it doesn't seem to hold the same water in our pop culture as many of the other 90s hits. And that's a shame, because it is certainly better than almost all of them.
The story is compelling whether you find the subject matter distasteful or not. The acting is top notch and despite the huge cast, each gets their chance to shine. Even the smallest details in the dialogue, costuming and music pay huge dividends. And what P.T. Anderson does with his camera is nothing short of magic. I still shake my head in disbelief at some of the complex long shots he accomplishes, not only the technical mastery of them but that the scenes actually accomplish moving the plot forward, pack an emotional punch and look really, really cool.
I don't think - at 155 minutes - it is as tight as it could be. Things tend to drag a bit once the story moves into the 80s, losing some of the momentum the enormous energy of the first act generates. But whatever minor flaws it has can be forgiven, especially from a story with a scope this enormous that manages to remain as entertaining as it does for as long as it does. So I've got to give it 4 1/2 stars. Great big bright, shining stars.

This is one of the most perfectly constructed, powerfully acted and criminally overlooked films you'll ever see. With 80 speaking parts and a labyrinthine plot full of crime and conspiracies, it is dense and more than a little complex. But it doesn't wander off its path for a moment, building tension and picking up speed until every loose plot thread snaps tight and the characters caught up in its corrupt web are destroyed or redeemed. For most, it's a little of both.
The film doesn't care if you can't keep up and it doesn't dumb itself down to explain it all to you. It embodies 50s detective noir with amazing authenticity, never becoming parody or imitation. It takes noir's dark cynicism, its sharp dialogue and atmosphere and gives it a brutal edge impossible for the time. Mix in career-making roles for Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe as the story's flawed heroes, amazingly cool one-liners and flawless mis-en-scene, and you end up with a timeless classic.

Saying that this is the most important film of my generation feels like I'm overstating it a bit. But I can't think of anything that more perfectly captures who we are as a society at the turn of the new century like "Fight Club" does.
Shocking violence, naked abs and a switcheroo twist ending distract lazy viewers from the movie's real message. Or it's just a hard pill to swallow in our self-improvement-obsessed culture, where every self-help guru and ad agency does its best to make you feel incomplete so it can sell you something to fill what's missing.
"Fight Club" spits in their face and says "never be complete. Stop being perfect. Let's evolve, let the chips fall where they may." And I say amen.