Aree's Talk

My Blueberry Nights

Lets make this clear My Blueberry Nights is sadly isn't the cinematic masterpiece anyone who loves Wong Kar Wai wanted but My Blueberry Nights is still a very good film.
Well first off the idea of Wong Kai Wai directing Meet The Spartans would have gotten me excited. He does a wonderful job directing the film turning it into visual poetry despite replacing Christopher Doyle. The acting is strong throughout the entire cast including my future soulmate Natalie Portman proving everything I love about her talent in this film and the always terrific David Stratharin in his heartbreaking role (The Dude needs more leading roles).
Now it's that fact that's one of the problems with this film. I'm a big Norah Jones fan and she does a good job with her debut but I felt that she was better suited for a more of a supporting role and someone like Portman or Rachel Weisz should have taken over the lead because they could have brought so much more with it. As well the thing that caused the biggest problem was the script. No it isn't Leatherheads bad but considering how brilliant Chucking Express, Happy Together, In The Mood For Love and 2046 are you would have hoped for Wai Wong to have started his international film career with a bang.
Although as a movie itself it's very difficult to complain too much about (The ending is all types of perfect in my opinion.) but overall it's a very minor look for American audiences at the great things that should come from Wong Kai Wai in the future.

Gates of Heaven

It's difficult to give a proper review to Gates of Heaven because there's so much that's great about the film that you can't really explain it. So I'll say 2 things.
1. If you don't get the subject matter of the film and why it's affective you have a heart of stone.
2. This is the film so great that Werner Herzog ate his shoe because of it's greatness.
So just see this wonderful film and hopefully you'll understand.

Stop Loss

After a year of crappy movies about Iraq lecturing us how bad war is, Stop-Loss ends up becoming the best of the Iraq films because it simply doesn't give a f*ck about the politics and instead focuses on the soldiers who are fighting this war.
It's been 9 long years since Kimberly Peirce has made Boys Don't Cry but Stop-Loss is proof that she hasn't lost her edge, heart or focus she had since her first masterpiece.
It's really an accomplishment and a tribute to how talented a filmmaker Pierce is. Without her this wouldn't have worked at all. It's her and her cast's passion and care for the subject that gives the film it's grieving heart. Ryan Phillippe finally escapes his pretty boy image and gives a performance of surprising power. Channing Tatum proves to be more then a pretty boy actor and shows that if he makes the right choices he can have a really great career. Though the best performance comes from Abbie Cornish and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Cornish delivers a breakout performance that doesn't provide a single bit of hollywood glitter and gives a complex performance that's rare in war movies for women. As for Gordon-Levitt? Wake the f*ck up, this guy is clearly one of the greatest actors of our generation and is perfectly cast here. His last scene in the film will stay with you for days.
So is the film perfect? Not really. The film slips into melodrama a bit too much for my liking and there really isn't much of an ending to this film. (Though that kind of works cause it doesn't bother to provide a end to a war that doesn't seem to end soon.)
Stop-Loss may not quite be the war masterpiece our generation need yet (Something tells me the film will age pretty well.) But with Stop-Loss and Boys Don't Cry Peirce has proven herself to be one of the bravest filmmakers right now. (Ironic how one of the few working female filmmakers in Hollywood is also one of the ballsiest huh?)

The War Zone

Recently I've talked to friend discussing who is the best example of a evil on screen. Daniel Plainview, Anton Churigah, Hannibal and Darth Vader were all mentioned. However after seeing Tim Roth's beautiful and underrated The War Zone I'd like to suggest that Ray Winstone's Dad is hands down the best example. This is easily the most overlooked performance of the last 10 years. (I only watched it because we and me friends were looking for a movie to watch at his house.) It's amazing how Winstone can be seem so kind one minute and the next we seem his doing unbelievably cruel things to his daughter and the weird thing is both sides are perfectly believable. Also the actress who played his daughter is nothing short of heartbreaking and Tilda Swinton even with little screen time proves that she's a fantastic actress.
The War Zone left me wondering why Roth hasn't bothered to make another film as a director? He's a extremely gifted filmmaker that doesn't hide anything for a happy ending. Even when the film almost becomes too unbearable to sit through (Some scenes just made me want to turn The War Zone off and just watch Enchanted with my little sister again.) It's a honest, gritty and depressing look at the issues of abuse and a near perfect film.

Overnight

Isn't ironic that the filmmaker of one of my least favorite films (Boondock Saints) has become the subject of one of my favorite documentaries in years. Overnight is a important lesson for any inspiring filmmaker how self worshipping can kill your career. Seriously this is probably the most unlikeable and mean person I've ever seen on screen. (Hell you have to be a egomaniac asshole to agree to doing this)
Is it a enjoyable film? Not really, Well the guy is Michael Scott if he really was a jackass and the see his rants are hilarious I can't say I enjoyed watching his downward spiral. I would say it's important for everyone who wants to break into the film industry to see just how important it is to keep your self grounded.

Overnight

Isn't ironic that the filmmaker of one of my least favorite films (Boondock Saints) has become the subject of one of my favorite documentaries in years. Overnight is a important lesson for any inspiring filmmaker how self worshipping can kill your career. Seriously this is probably the most unlikeable and mean person I've ever seen on screen. (Hell you have to be a egomaniac asshole to agree to doing this)
Is it a enjoyable film? Not really, Well the guy is Michael Scott if he really was a jackass and the see his rants are hilarious I can't say I enjoyed watching his downward spiral. I would say it's important for everyone who wants to break into the film industry to see just how important it is to keep your self grounded.

Funny Games

To be fair I should be giving this film 2 stars but just because Michael Haneke tries so bloody hard to get you to despise Funny Games it seems only fair to grant Haneke his wish.
This is easily the most painful remake since Gus Van Sant thought remaking Psycho was a good idea. Now I also wasn't a fan of the first Funny Games and only saw it because of the cast and the hope Haneke saw why the first film didn't work. I was very wrong in fact I had a more difficult time sitting to watch this film because 15 minutes in the film I figured out that I just payed to see the art house Michael Bay pull his dirty tricks on the audience.
Now as I said this is actually a 2 star film because of the performances from the always superb Naomi Watts and Tim Roth. Plus some decent performances from Michael Pitt and Brady Corbert considering how poorly written their roles are. Also I have to admit Haneke created a well made film.
Then again the problem with this film is Michael Haneke and his thinking that he's taking a high moral route by trying to show us how America looks at violence as a form of entertainment and how does he do this? By forcing his audience to sit through 2 hours of Hostel like violence and torture. Yep he's really sticking it to us and Rambo 4 is really a anti-war film right? What I'm trying to say is that by doing this without any real story and have 2 guys who look like they got kicked out of Alex's group, all Haneke is doing is sinking to the very low levels of the Saw films and at least the saw films know what there doing.
So is Funny Games the worst film of the year? No (Still 10,000 B.C) Is it the most hypocritical film of the year? F*ck Yes. Art house crowd for God's sake please don't give this film the attention it wants. All your doing is suggesting to Haneke that were as ignorant and stupid as he thinks we are.

Jumper

My film teacher a couple of days ago was explaining to my class a couple of days ago how in order to attract a audience, directors will try their best to make a film that attracts the dumbest of audience to make money. If this is true then Jumper looks like it's on it's way to out grossing Titanic. Jumper is one of the laziest and stupidest excuses for an action film that I have ever seen. First off I'll admit I really wanting to see this. It had a great concept, director Doug Liman is one of the best and most underrated hollywood filmmakers out there and a usually strong supporting cast. Problem is that not I can name one thing about Jumper that wasn't horrible. As I said earlier Liman is very underrated film maker but it's going to take a lot to make up for this mess. Either Liman needed money to make his passion project or the mafia was coming to break his legs. Those are the only reasons I'll forgive someone of his talent to make this movie. The effects are cheap, we never get to fully enjoy the concept of being able to go where ever you want and there's no real plot or anything to keep you focused. Look b*tch all you want about how long Jesse James was but that film showed that if a film is well made and engaging that length is not an issue and Jumper proves that a film that fails to grab your interest will feel like forever even if it's less then 90 minutes. As for the cast well I'll spare Hayden (New Keanu Reeves) Christensen since everyone else is going to bash the half-human half-tree stump for his lousy acting and ruining the film that I feel no reason to be apart of it. We all saw that coming so instead I'll have to bring the rest of the cast to Christensen's level. Samuel L. Jackson why? Look I love bad-ass Sam as much as everyone else but this is by far the lamest and dullest performance Jackson has ever done and when Sam Jackson is bogus in the film you know your f*cked. Rachel Bilson is worse, yes she's really great eye candy but if great acting was based on looks Jessica Alba would be the next Judi Dench. She has no chemistry with Christensen and looks like she looks like that all she really wants to do is fire her agent. Jamie Bell is the only guy in the film trying the make the best of the bad writing and the reason why I don't refuse to rate this crap. Now finally the good thing about Jumper. I've been upset this entire week when I found out my girlfriend and her family was moving to Vancouver in June. Still hanging out and trying to make the best of are time we decide to see a movie we both wanted to see and this was it. After seeing this movie me and my girlfriend forgot about the issue completely for a while and we both left the theater pissed that Jumper sucked as much as it did... wait I'm not even sure if that's a good thing. Finally I beg of anyone reading my review to try and prove my film teacher wrong and use your powers to teleport as far away as possible from Jumper.

Hoop Dreams

Hoop Dreams is a film that does something very special. It's belongs in a category of films like Rocky and Friday Night Lights where it makes you understand how important sports is in people's lives. It's a film that people should show in film classes (Hell everyone should be shown this movie.) How there are so many great and powerful stories in everyday life. Director Steve James' film is smart enough to show how the 2 boys grow and their own obstacles in life. I guess the greatest thing I could say about Hoop Dreams is that it really is what every sports movie should be and with a industry filled with awful movies based on sports (Any basketball or football movie with Jerry Bruckhemer's name attached to it.) this movie grabs your attention from the beginning and despite it's 170 minute length never loses it.

Hoop Dreams

Hoop Dreams is a film that does something very special. It's belongs in a category of films like Rocky and Friday Night Lights where it makes you understand how important sports is in people's lives. It's a film that people should show in film classes (Hell everyone should be shown this movie.) How there are so many great and powerful stories in everyday life. Director Steve James' film is smart enough to show how the 2 boys grow and their own obstacles in life. I guess the greatest thing I could say about Hoop Dreams is that it really is what every sports movie should be and with a industry filled with awful movies based on sports (Any basketball or football movie with Jerry Bruckhemer's name attached to it.) this movie grabs your attention from the beginning and despite it's 170 minute length never loses it.

Brokeback Mountain

I know of all the jokes this movie gets about being a gay movie. This is one of the most beautiful story about love and the pain of being seperated because of it. Although the movie's theme of homosexuality does have a great affect about this movie, it not only shows that gay charecters can be more than tokens but you can make a movie with the classic heart of romantic movies and still make it work. Plus with Heath Ledger and Jake Gynenhaal giving there best performances to date. Ang Lee has made that you'll never forget. Although I do get made fun for liking this film. This is a film anyone who's ever been in love can cherish and respect forever. Gay or Straight

Brokeback Mountain

I know of all the jokes this movie gets about being a gay movie. This is one of the most beautiful story about love and the pain of being seperated because of it. Although the movie's theme of homosexuality does have a great affect about this movie, it not only shows that gay charecters can be more than tokens but you can make a movie with the classic heart of romantic movies and still make it work. Plus with Heath Ledger and Jake Gynenhaal giving there best performances to date. Ang Lee has made that you'll never forget. Although I do get made fun for liking this film. This is a film anyone who's ever been in love can cherish and respect forever. Gay or Straight

Persepolis

All can all guess that Ratatouille will win best animated feature but for those willing to give there local art theatre a chance there's something really wonderful about Persepolis. If your not blown away by the wonderful animation (No computers just co-director and writer's Marjane Satrapi pieces of art.) or the heart breaking story of her life (This is based on a graphic novel Satrapi wrote.) you got to give it credit for when they chose to released the film. At a time where Iran is considered by most North Americain's as the bad guys. It's great to see a film where they portray people of the Islamic cultures as real people. With all these reasons and the money you most likely wasted on Alvin and The Chipmunks, Persepolis is a refreshing reminder that animation can have a soul.

There Will Be Blood

I have yet to see a film that is this close to perfection, that it's taken me 2 days after seeing the film before I could write a proper review. While my friend told me that I had to think how great it would be multiple that by a million then multiple it again by a million and it's about as close as you can get to this masterpiece. He's a 100% right. I'll start by stating the obvious Daniel Day-Lewis is a God among actors. He's not just acting like Daniel Plalnview he IS Daniel Plainview. He's just flat out scary as hell (He makes Anton Chuirgugh look like George Bailey) but also makes us understand why he does what he does. In a year of great performances Day-Lewis is hands down the most deserving of the best actor oscar. Now that shouldn't be a surprise to any film lovers but what is surprising is that the entire cast is at Day Lewis' level. Paul Dano proves he's one of the future greats with an equally dark and scary performance and the newcomer Dillon Freasier gives just as strong a performance as Day-Lewis (That says a lot since he plays his 8 year old son H.W Plainview.). It's the best performance by a young actor I've seen. P.T Anderson oh dear God I can't pit into words how f*cking brilliant you are. I expected to love this film but never did I think you would top my list of favorite films. (Yes better then Godfather, Raging Bull and Do The Right Thing.) With it great camera work, set design, score (Radio Head's Johnny Green can do no wrong) screenplay, acting and direction (I couldn't even keep my eyes off it during the first 20 minutes where no one talked!). All that's left to say is thank God in a year of Norbit and Wild Hogs we have you.

There Will Be Blood

I have yet to see a film that is this close to perfection, that it's taken me 2 days after seeing the film before I could write a proper review. While my friend told me that I had to think how great it would be multiple that by a million then multiple it again by a million and it's about as close as you can get to this masterpiece. He's a 100% right. I'll start by stating the obvious Daniel Day-Lewis is a God among actors. He's not just acting like Daniel Plalnview he IS Daniel Plainview. He's just flat out scary as hell (He makes Anton Chuirgugh look like George Bailey) but also makes us understand why he does what he does. In a year of great performances Day-Lewis is hands down the most deserving of the best actor oscar. Now that shouldn't be a surprise to any film lovers but what is surprising is that the entire cast is at Day Lewis' level. Paul Dano proves he's one of the future greats with an equally dark and scary performance and the newcomer Dillon Freasier gives just as strong a performance as Day-Lewis (That says a lot since he plays his 8 year old son H.W Plainview.). It's the best performance by a young actor I've seen. P.T Anderson oh dear God I can't pit into words how f*cking brilliant you are. I expected to love this film but never did I think you would top my list of favorite films. (Yes better then Godfather, Raging Bull and Do The Right Thing.) With it great camera work, set design, score (Radio Head's Johnny Green can do no wrong) screenplay, acting and direction (I couldn't even keep my eyes off it during the first 20 minutes where no one talked!). All that's left to say is thank God in a year of Norbit and Wild Hogs we have you.

Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

You have to give Julian Schnabel credit he's a natural born artist. Which is exactly what he manages to do with the story of Jean Dominique Bauby create a work of art. Yes the film seems about as pretentious as art movies get but it's also brilliantly shot (The first scene of the film alone will be talked about in film classes for years.), top notch performances from Mathieu Amalric and Marie-Josee Croze and quite simply is the best film about this topic since My Left
Foot. But of course once again it has only 3 star rating on flixster. Want my advice forget the rating and see this movie cause in a world where people spend $150 million on Alvin and the Chipmunks, God knows we need to see real filmmakers win for once.

Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

You have to give Julian Schnabel credit he's a natural born artist. Which is exactly what he manages to do with the story of Jean Dominique Bauby create a work of art. Yes the film seems about as pretentious as art movies get but it's also brilliantly shot (The first scene of the film alone will be talked about in film classes for years.), top notch performances from Mathieu Amalric and Marie-Josee Croze and quite simply is the best film about this topic since My Left
Foot. But of course once again it has only 3 star rating on flixster. Want my advice forget the rating and see this movie cause in a world where people spend $150 million on Alvin and the Chipmunks, God knows we need to see real filmmakers win for once.

Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

You have to give Julian Schnabel credit he's a natural born artist. Which is exactly what he manages to do with the story of Jean Dominique Bauby create a work of art. Yes the film seems about as pretentious as art movies get but it's also brilliantly shot (The first scene of the film alone will be talked about in film classes for years.), top notch performances from Mathieu Amalric and Marie-Josee Croze and quite simply is the best film about this topic since My Left
Foot. But of course once again it has only 3 star rating on flixster. Want my advice forget the rating and see this movie cause in a world where people spend $150 million on Alvin and the Chipmunks, God knows we need to see real filmmakers win for once.

Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

You have to give Julian Schnabel credit he's a natural born artist. Which is exactly what he manages to do with the story of Jean Dominique Bauby create a work of art. Yes the film seems about as pretentious as art movies get but it's also brilliantly shot (The first scene of the film alone will be talked about in film classes for years.), top notch performances from Mathieu Amalric and Marie-Josee Croze and quite simply is the best film about this topic since My Left
Foot. But of course once again it has only 3 star rating on flixster. Want my advice forget the rating and see this movie cause in a world where people spend $150 million on Alvin and the Chipmunks, God knows we need to see real filmmakers win for once.