| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blindness - R | It blows me away that such a talented group of professionals are capable of producing such a horrible film. It's obvious that Fernando Meirelles has strong visual sense, but his stylistic decisions aren't enough to carry a whole project and they get wearisome within thirty minutes anyways. I have heard that the source material for this movie is great, so I'm baffled as to where all of the intelligence and potential went. This is an exhausting, brainless, meandering exercise in rigid formula that still feels shapeless. Every character is inexplicable and aggravating, which only magnifies the fact that they occupy a ridiculous and haphazardly executed story. There isn't a trace of logic or entertainment value to be found in this train wreck. I felt a strong, unusual distaste for this one. | January 5, 2010 | N/A | |||
| Up in the Air - R | George Clooney seems to evolve into a more capable, interesting actor with every passing year. In this film, he delivers what may be the strongest performance of his career. Flavored with a lot of humor throughout, this movie's strength is in its more dramatic material. Through the analysis of a protagonist played by Clooney, the picture observes contemporary North American culture with unflinching cynicism without being overly preachy. This film confronts the fact that we are living in a world where technology is beginning to replace human connection, and it avoids any heavy-handed statements in the process. Strong performances and good writing. | January 4, 2010 | N/A | |||
| The Men Who Stare at Goats - R | I admire this movie for several reasons despite its faults. The main reason I admire it is the fact that it's surprising. It's legitimately offbeat in a charming way, and that's what lured me in. However, its weirdness and exceedingly over-the-top humor are only its superficial merits. This film is the vessel of a very troubling, very intelligent social satire. The implications of the material seem to be so elaborate that I feel like I missed a lot on a first viewing. Even dismissing that fact, it is hysterically funny and headlined by a cast of excellent actors. Clooney and McGregor are fantastic leads, but the supporting performances from Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey are the real stand-outs. | January 4, 2010 | N/A | |||
| Gummo - R |
"Life is beautiful. Really, it is. Full of beauty and illusions. Life is great. Without it, you'd be dead."
Hypnotizing, offbeat beauty is interwoven with disturbing imagery in Harmony Korine's directorial debut. In all of its pseudo-dreamlike weirdness Gummo carries the aura of an intensely personal piece. That is what I believe makes it a compelling and maybe even great film. Completely disregarding structure, Korine's series of vignettes imbeds us in a painful and haunting environment throughout the duration of its runtime. Strong use of music and visuals make this an unforgettable experience, and it makes us feel things in a way that movies rarely do. |
January 3, 2010 | N/A | |||
| Julien Donkey-Boy - R | January 3, 2010 | N/A | ||||
| Mister Lonely - Unrated | January 3, 2010 | N/A | ||||
| Trash Humpers - Unrated | January 3, 2010 | N/A | ||||
| Che: Part One (The Argentine) - R | I will write a review when I see part two as well. | January 2, 2010 | N/A | |||
| Donnie Darko - R | Never have I seen a film whose mood is so distinct and powerful. Donnie Darko is a great film because it works beautifully on every level - superb script, jaw-dropping direction and amazing performances. A seamless combination of deep character study and mind-bending thriller. | January 1, 2010 | N/A | |||
| The Prestige - PG-13 | When I first saw this movie, I had a hate-out for Christian Bale and I think that tainted my view of the film. I have long since gotten over my distaste for Bale, and I am so glad I gave this a re-watch. There is so much appeal in this movie's direction and writing, with its gorgeous photography and brilliantly executed story. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman are the stand-outs here, with searing tour de force performances, but it's a fantastically cast work and everyone fills their roles very well. The twists are ingenious, but the strong characters are what give it so much impact. | January 1, 2010 | N/A | |||
| The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band) - R | December 30, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Full Frontal - R | December 30, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Adventureland - R | To say this film surprised me is a big understatement. Adventureland had one of the worst trailers in recent years, and I probably wouldn't have even seen it if it hadn't been recommended to me by an intelligent friend. I am very grateful to that friend for encouraging me to give it a chance. This is a really special film. It's a tender, articulate, painfully truthful study of relationships between young people. Featuring convincing, understated performances from the whole cast and one of the best soundtracks of the decade, this is an extremely satisfying watch. It has a lot of entertainment value, but it is also emotionally powerful and at times had me moved like few other releases this year. Although the two are very different, watching it I felt close to how I did the first time I saw Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I am stunned that I'm saying this... Adventureland is one of the best films of 2009. | December 28, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Three Colors: Red (Trois couleurs: Rouge) - R | Kieslowski's trilogy is so strong because it uncovers something truly profound, and that is what makes it so difficult to describe. This concluding installment finds the most devastating, transcendent moments out of all three films, and I'd say it's my personal favorite. Painted with distinct strokes, this film is clearly guided by the hand of an inspired artist. It is totally unpredictable, which is part of what makes it so absorbing. But it doesn't resort to cheap tricks to keep its audience engaged. This is a piece that relies on strong storytelling and performances. A masterpiece. | December 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Three Colors: White (Trzy kolory: Bialy) - R | A subtly humorous and complex analysis of a protagonist who is, in many ways, unlike any I've seen. Kieslowski's writing is wholly engaging and satisfying on a basic level, but the film gives off the impression that there is much more under the surface. A brilliantly made movie filled with vivid images and performances. | December 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - PG-13 | Even at a regular runtime of two hours, this film feels tediously long. Its rambling, sometimes shapeless plot indicates no clear target audience, and it's hard to avoid labelling it as anything but self-indulgent. The scenes inside the Imaginarium are visually wonderful and imaginative, but they are too brief and too sporadic to hold up the entire movie. The story surrounding it is aggravating and completely uninteresting, filled with juvenile humor that never works. Lily Cole, Verne Troyer and Andrew Garfield all deliver sub-par performances that amplify their confusing and weakly written characters. On the other hand, the film features great work from Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Heath Ledger, Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell. Unfortunately, the A-list stars filling in for Ledger aren't in the film nearly enough, which is more a testament to its production setbacks than anything. I would say this is a fairly interesting failure, but a failure nonetheless. | December 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Cold Mountain - R | A mismatched array of actors occupy this sprawling, disjointed epic. Anthony Minghella is a filmmaker who I respect and admire, but this film contains barely any of the positive traits found in his other work. It lacks the grace, intelligence and emotional impact of his superior ventures, and it also presents a variety of awkward casting choices. It's visually awe-striking, of course, with lavish art direction and photography, but it's a surprisingly shallow movie as a whole. Marred by cringe-worthy narration and condescending manipulation, it provides the audience no room to do any thinking and ultimately stifles interest. Renee Zellweger delivers the kind of showy, self-conscious performance that gives the Oscars a bad name, and Jack White shows up halfway through for no apparent reason. This is a film that I had very high hopes for, and it let me down. | December 25, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Three Colors: Blue (Trois couleurs: Bleu) - R | An entirely, genuinely unique study of loss that employs vivid sensory techniques. Director Krzysztof Kieslowski makes it evident in every scene that this is a personal and original film, luring his audience in with the power of subtlety rather than knocking them over the heads. Juliette Binoche delivers a painful, brilliant lead performance that is always enticing and empathetic. This is a masterful piece of work. | December 23, 2009 | N/A | |||
| All The King's Men - PG-13 | Part of the reason for the brutally harsh reactions to this film is the fact that you can see the great picture buried inside of it. With a cast like this, anything but a staggering masterpiece would be ruthlessly criticized. Steven Zaillian's execution of the plot is loose and quicj, with a haphazard narrative thread and painfully forceful flashbacks. Having said that, the themes of the material are always prevalent, and there are plenty of scenes that are extremely powerful and effective. This is an exquisitely produced movie, with stunning cinematography and art direction. It also features an array of fantastic performances, particularly from Jude Law and Sean Penn. OVERacting is not automatically BAD acting, and I think Penn's work here is unfairly picked apart. He makes some miscalculations and goes for a large performance, both physically and vocally. But he turns in an expertly drawn character portrait that is consistently intriguing to watch. Despite its flaws, I find this film utterly absorbing. With its seductive aesthetic appeal and top-notch acting, it is a picture that can only be admired from a distance. I am a big fan of the original 1949 film, but this is a completely different adaptation of the source material that takes a totally new tonal approach. | December 22, 2009 | N/A | |||
| I Love You Phillip Morris - Unrated | December 22, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Extract - R | December 22, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Father of Invention - Unrated | December 21, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Casino Jack - Unrated | December 21, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Avatar - PG-13 | If this is what the future of cinema looks like, I hope someone invents better 3D glasses. After 160 minutes of digital 3D, my head is throbbing. I also hope the future of cinema comes with more organic-looking films that place greater emphasis on writing. James Cameron's ultra-expensive epic boasts insanely detailed visual effects, but ultimately they fall short of the scope I expected. More than anything, this movie proves that technology hasn't progressed far enough to make something like this look convincing. The vision and the imagination behind it is what's exciting, and it's great to see someone write an original screenplay for something like this. However, that screenplay is also bogged down in Cameron's most painful dialogue to date, and a plot so heavy-handed it will make even the most accepting moviegoers cringe. I wanted to be absorbed in this film, to enjoy it as a piece of mindless escapism. But its attempts at humor fell flat, and I began to resent its feeble attempts at connection and ultimately I pulled away altogether. There are genuinely striking moments, and I guess it's blowing the masses away... but I'm beginning to feel more and more separated from the movies that everyone falls in love with. | December 21, 2009 | N/A | |||
| sex, lies, and videotape - R | Steven Soderbergh's masterpiece is a thoughtful dissertation of relationships, a subject which he explores with great insight and sensitivity. The power of this film isn't due to one particular component, but to the marriage of all its strengths. The acting is uniformly superb, Soderbergh's direction is enticing and graceful, and the screenplay is downright brilliant. This is one of the great contemporary films to be released in America. | December 20, 2009 | N/A |
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