annar :D's Talk

Armageddon

I know, I know....but do you ride roller-coasters for insight into your psyche? NO. This is not that kind of movie, Armageddon is a high-octane, rocket-propelled assault on the senses. The only thing that could make this movie more viscerally satisfying is if it were in 3D. It moves along at an unrelenting MTV pace and has some of the best action packed sequences in any movie your ever gonna see. It's big, it's stupid, it's pretty kick-ass!



---Every time I watch this movie with friends we play this great drinking game with it....every time you see an American flag, take a shot (I'm usually unconscious by the middle of the 2nd reel)

Shattered Glass

Shattered Glass is an intriguing portrait of one unremitting pretender who rose to the top and then got caught...

Truth is stranger than fiction - at least in this case. The movie is based on events that took place in 1998. It's a sad state of affairs when a noted publication is caught making up stories. We entrust these people to tell us what's happening in the world, and they lie to us - that's just not right. That's a lot of power and when it's abused, it should be shocking. The recent scandal at the New York Times gives this story even more weight. This movie is not only disturbingly real; it's a gripping story.

You might not think that a movie about how a newspaper reporter gets his stories would be suspenseful, intriguing, and entertaining, but it is - there is a tension that builds as his cover is about to be blown that's as exciting as any thriller around. It's also interesting to see how Glass gets away with fabricating his stories, even in the "information age".

It's also pretty intriguing to watch Glass as a person with some serious issues. He's a huge suck-up but has enough charm that he's not obnoxious and can sell a story full of lies by making it seem based on fact; then his personality starts to change as his world crumbles. When Chuck confronts him again and again, those scenes are both sad and telling as Glass continues to deny any wrongdoing right to the bitter end.

Like a really good story (even one that's made up), the movie grabs you from the beginning and never lets you go, I found it to be.....fascinating.
Oh, and here's a verdict that Shattered Glass makes abundantly clear: Hayden Christensen can act!

He Was A Quiet Man

A real oddity of a film: With its dreamlike flourishes and unrelenting despair, Frank A. Cappello's pitch-black dramedy feels distinctive even if it recalls bits from previous films such as Falling Down and Office Space
It's a more puzzling film than it initially implies, and I was enamored with its mean streak in the early going: a sweaty, feverish Bob cheerfully loading his gun at his desk, or Bob bringing a red button with him on his lunch break to fantasize what blowing up his office building would feel like. It's this sick sense of humor that lends surprise to the film; the rare feeling of watching something predictable turn impulsive and interested in subversive dramatic endeavors.
The nightmare is enhanced by Slater's gonzo performance. It's great to see the once mighty king of cool challenged in "Quiet Man" with a complex role that Slater bites down hard on. Losing himself behind fake teeth and a horrible complexion, Slater's take on Bob is an insular piece, since madness has lulled the character into his own world over the years, leaving Bob conversing with his pet fish or having his suicide note all ready to go, laminated on the fridge. It's all routine and blinky paranoia for Bob, and Slater really sells Bob's tormented inner soul in a very appealing way, he feels like a real person inside his insane world.
An absorbing and well-made film that is an instant cult classic in my book, the only reason it didn't get all five stars was because of the ending, which was good, but I found that the alternate ending shown on the bonus features of the DVD was far better in my opinion.

The Last Unicorn

Le Pacte des loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf)

When it comes to the thrill of the visual, the imagination, the detail and the persona, Brotherhood of the Wolf accomplishes a great deal more than just any ordinary package. It seamlessly blends fact, legend, and outright fiction to create an exhilarating, genuinely scary, and at times moving film.

Brotherhood of the Wolf is a costumed period-piece kung-fu styled adventure, fantasy, romance, horror and religious conspiracy film.
And contrary to my expectations of a somewhat cheesy B-movie with some cool fight scenes, its actually a well-made and highly polished film with excellent production values. Even when the story occasionally gets draggy in-between the action, as it deviates into the courting of Marianne or conspiratorial intrigues, there is always something on screen to hold the attention. Whether it be an interesting bit of cinematography, the gorgeous scenery, or noteworthy performances, Brotherhood of the Wolf is sometimes slow, but never boring. And when the fist and feet start flying, it rivals some of the greatest kung-fu movies ever made.
The performances are solid, and Le Bihan is both amusing and compelling in the lead role. However, it's hard for him to not have the show stolen from him by Dacascos, who prefers to let the fists and feet do the talking

This movie could have turned out to be a huge mess. For some reason, though, it all comes together to create one of the most intriguing films I've seen. Seeing a bunch of guys getting drop-kicked to the head certainly doesn't hurt, either. It may be too much for many moviegoers. But if you can give yourself over to its unique tone and its feverish imagination, you'll be well-rewarded.

Southland Tales

An incomprehensible, self-indulgent mess of post-apocalyptic anxiety and political paranoia, a confusion of half-baked social critiques, pop-culture references, sci-fi whimsicalities, and anti-corporate satire straining for significance. Southland Tales is barely sane gibberish that would be only slightly tougher to understand if it were in Aramaic.

It would almost be easier to list the things Southland Tales does not have than the things it does. It plays host to pop stars, porn stars and presidential candidates. It features a film within a film, and a pair of twins who may not actually be twins, and a team of scientists who uncover "a rift in the fourth dimension". Southland Tales finds room for pretty much everything. Everything, that is, except a plot.

Southland Tales is never boring, exactly. It has a thick vein of self-deprecating humour, and enough wild set-pieces to keep the senses on edge (I particularly liked the moment when Scott's drugged policeman peers into the mirror and finds his image a few seconds out of synch, and the out-of-nowhere set piece that has Timberlake lip-syncing his way through a Killers song). But its frustrating and finally rather pointless. Is there anything going on behind these randomly firing synapses? Is there anything about its mood of zonked-out West Coast paranoia that Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly didn't do better? It is a film that is lively but never truly alive.

Though I did admire the acting. Not necessarily because of the strong performances, because there are none - how could there be when there's nothing to latch on to? - but for the actors' ability to deliver their lines with seriousness and enthusiasm despite the awfulness of their project. The musicians who played on as the Titanic sank comes to mind.

One of the most confusing, ridiculous, pretentious and disastrous cinematic train wrecks I've ever seen.

The Pianist

A searing, often staggering portrait of survival, a film less about refracting all of World War II through the specific conditions of one man, and more about that man lost in its midst.

This movie will break your heart, your soul, your spirit, and then come back to do it again and again. Although it's similar to Schindler's List in it's brutal approach in depicting the realities of the Holocaust, it's unique in that it tells the story from the viewpoint of an actual victim. You have to wonder which was worse: the profound physical suffering and starvation the survivors endured themselves, or the emotional trauma suffered from over and over again witnessing strangers, friends, neighbors, and family brutalized, murdered, and tortured.
And yet, even with all the suffering depicted in the film, the details of what occurred aren't important. What Polanski wants us to realize is the enormity of the loss the world suffered in the Holocaust. Szpilman(Brody) was a singularly talented artist; a treasure of great value to the community around him; a master of his craft, who lifted those around him with his art. He was a Beethoven, a Mozart, a Van Gogh, thrown to the Nazi wolves. His beautiful music was silenced for six years, as he retreated into emotional and physical torture, servitude, and hiding. The silent hole he left as he waded through the Holocaust is unbearable. And figuratively, he stands as a symbol of just how much beautiful music was muted when 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust; leaving the world in a deadly, sickening silence.

This film is so achingly, beautifully acted and created, you'll hardly be able to bear it. Every frame throbs with, begs, and reminds you, in the most horrifying way possible, of the gravity of human existence and the responsibilities we all have to each other.

Hard Candy

Its relentless and nerve-wracking and squirm-inducing. Its the movie where someone says, "Was it good?" and they are met with a long silence before a hesitant "Yeeaahhhh..." Because you don't like this movie, its not built to be liked. Its there to be experienced, tolerated, and appreciated for the wretched, well-executed, difficult, superbly acted, artful, and appalling creation that it is.
Its a disturbing little thriller which makes you think even as its keeping you on the edge of your seat. Its not always easy viewing, but Hard Candy is an intelligent, challenging film which deserves to be seen.

Hard Candy is difficult to lump into any one genre category and just as difficult to get out of your mind. At once a psychological thriller, a horror picture, a twisted wish-fulfillment fantasy and a grim morality tale, the film provocatively questions what might happen if a possible pedophile were to pick up an underage girl just as savvy and calculating as he.
First-time director David Slade and screenwriter Brian Nelson have created an intense and disturbing experience that proves just how effective the power of suggestion can be. Its what you dont see in Hard Candy that makes it so effective. The films central scene - involving a spot of amateur surgery - may have certain audience members crossing their legs, but is all the more wince-inducing for the fact that you see virtually none of it happening, with the focus instead on the nigh-hysterical reaction of our protagonists.

One of the fascinating things about this movie is its constant unpredictability as Slade creates a tricky balancing act of conflicting emotions within the viewer. With the tables constantly being turned and both characters shifting between protagonist and antagonist status, Slade chooses subjectiveness over easy demonization. Jeff may or may not be a horrible pedophile, and he may or may not be involved in the recent disappearance of a young teenage girl in the community; despite the possible evidence of both, he grows to occasionally become a rather sympathetic individual when placed in some nightmarish situations that you would hardly wish upon your worst enemy. Hayley, meanwhile, segues between being a vulnerable, albeit wise-beyond-her-years, child, and a dangerous teen who could be suffering from psychotic tendencies. The war of words between Jeff and Hayley-a battle of the sexes, if you will-is as frightening and unsettling as any gore-drenched horror movie you'll ever see.

Hard Candy is all the more impressive given the fact that its down to Patrick Wilson and Ellen Page to carry the bulk of the film, with the focus on the central duo and the claustrophobic setting. Wilson comes into his own here, but its Page who's the real revelation, switching effortlessly between naive child and creepy, vengeful Lolita. She shows incredible muscle by grabbing the viewer's attention and only letting it go when she decides she's done with you. It's almost impossible to not be riveted by her every word and action, showing what an amazing young actress she is. Their characters are themselves accomplished actors, proof that people who look fully normal to others have the potential to commit unspeakable deeds.

This movie was tough to watch, but it attracts more than repels you. It commands your attention. Once it lands its hooks in you, there's no tearing away.

The Nines

The Nines is an utterly confounding enigma where realities alter, identities blur, minds are messed with - and the solution, when it comes, is a transcendent paradox that satisfies without tying up every loose thread or closing the film off from subsequent, repeated viewings.

Its split into three separate but overlapping segments (and let's not get into the fact that three goes into nine three times, because there is plenty enough of that kind of cosmic "huh!" talk in the movie itself), each featuring the same three actors (Reynolds, Hope Davis and the hilarious Melissa McCarthy from Gilmore Girls) in different roles.

Reynolds is fantastic in all three roles, and it's a pleasure to see him as a sun-blonde Hollywood star, a nerdy-but-cute gay fussypants, and a hot dad all in one movie. Davis delivers in her mysterious, antagonistic roles, but it's really McCarthy who shines here as a psychotic Hollywood player, an actress trying to make it in a business that focuses on waist sizes and conventional beauty more than talent, and a mother trying to keep her family safe.

The film's scrappy, low-budget feel (in two of the segments, anyway) and sometimes jarring shifts in tone are likely to turn some viewers off, but the movie is absolutely unique in its vision, style, and structure. Its got fluidly ingenious writing, truly versatile performances, some very fancy visuals, a gripping set of stories, a surprising lack of violence, and more brain-bending stimulus than all of this year's Hollywood blockbusters put together.

Only the exposition in the closing third, however necessary, comes over as remotely clumsy. All else is sheer (if perplexing) pleasure, as entertaining and thought-provoking as the best episodes of The Twilight Zone.