Goldmember
2002
- Jay Roach
A rather sad way to start out the new year, with
perhaps one of the most forgettable films I’ll end up seeing
all year. Not that I was really expecting much. The intro, however
is pure brilliance, and is arguably worth the cost of a rental, but
after the opening credits roll, it would be just as well to watch
re-runs of Elimidate. I just don’t understand why it’s
become so hard to make good fun mindless movies that still make you
laugh. American Pie and Airplane are still awesome. Mike Meyers needs
a new project.
Monsoon Wedding
2001
- Mira Nair
Once again Mira Nair proves herself one of the most
sensitive and tantalizing film-makers around today. Monsoon Wedding
is one of those rare treats wherein you never feel that you’re
actually witnessing a film, but instead feel that you are getting
a very special and intimate glimpse into the lives of the several
characters whose activities are weaved around the arranged wedding
of a young woman who does not love her groom-to-be. Nair has a gift
for noticing the subtle details that we tend to take for granted,
and it’s just these details that create the fabric for the rich
tapestry of Monsoon Wedding. Beautiful.
A Beautiful Mind
2001 - Ron Howard
Would it be too un-PC to use the words “over-hyped”
and “over-rated”? A Beautiful Mind is both, and without
a doubt, should NOT have won for best film. Granted, Russell Crowe
delivered a fantastic performance, but the films direction was spotty
and the enormous time-lapse gaps in the story left huge unanswered
holes in the progression of John Nash’s illness as well as
the process he went through in terms of his recovery. The chemistry
between him and the character Jennifer Connelly played as his wife
was non-existent, which I cannot buy: A woman would not stand by
so selflessly with a paranoid schizophrenic without a deep rooted
love and commitment to that love. The performances between Russell
Crowe and Jennifer Connelly displayed neither. Finally, the film
is focused largely around John Nash’s “beautiful mind,”
and his remarkable accomplishments (which eventually won him the
Nobel Prize), but the film does little to attempt to explore the
ideas that John Nash developed, and that is perhaps the films biggest
short-coming. Overall, a nice film, but one that was ultimately
dumbed down for mainstream Hollywood. Nicely produced, average fare.
Y Tu Mamá También
2001 - Alfonso Cuarón
Although it’s marketed as a lustful road movie, Y Tu Mamá
También isn’t that at all. Sure, a portion of the film
takes place on the road, and it is while on the road that the explicit
sexuality takes place, but the focus of the film is really about identity
and emotional freedom. The two protagonists are a couple of adolescents
(Tenoch and Julio) whose girlfriends are away on vacation. During
that time they meet the sensual Luisa who leaves her husband for his
almost compulsive cheating. Tenoch and Julio convince Luisa to accompany
them on a trip to a made up beach. The supreme fantasy of each of
the boys is to get into Luisa’s pants, which ultimately both
do, but jealousy ensues between the two of them causing a destructive
rift in their friendship. They of course, cannot understand that Luisa’s
actions are borne from her pain and emotional desperation, and that
she has absolutely no emotional connection to either of the boys.
She quickly loses patience with their selfish and adolescent behavior,
and in the end, all go their separate ways. |
Once Upon a Time
in America
1984
- Sergio Leone
Forever an enormous favorite of mine, this film is in so many ways
a perfect template of the gangster tradition in film. Directed by
Spaghetti Western director, Sergio Leone, he maintained his collaboration
with Ennio Morricone for the film score composition, and that is
probably the ONLY place where I have a bit of a problem. There’s
no other way to put it: the music is cheesy! One particular difference
with this epic gangster film is that the heroes are Jewish instead
of the stereotypical Italian portrayal. The film spans five decades
and follows the lives of two childhood friends (played by Robert
DeNiro and James Woods) from childhood through the early 60’s.
The two men left standing have to come face to face with the choices
made along the way, and in the process take stock in their betrayals
of each other. It’s a bittersweet moment, but remarkably humane.
Other actors worth noting are William Forsythe, Treat Williams,
Danny Aiello, a very young Jennifer Connelly and Tuesday Weld. The
film is a masterpiece, a nostalgic look at a time long forgotten.
Written on the Wind
1956 - Douglas Sirk
I had heard that this was considered one of Douglas
Sirk’s crowning achievements, and while I did enjoy the film,
I thought that All that Heaven allows (from the previous year) was
a much stronger film. Written on the Wind seemed remarkably dated
and overwrought to say the least. A Technicolor and saturated story
of love, deceit and jealousy, it’s about the excesses of wealth
and the abuse of power. The story focuses on a self-destructive alcoholic
playboy played by Kyle (Robert Stack). Mitch Wayne (Rock Hudson) is
at the center of the storm as Kyle’s browbeaten childhood friend
who has spent his life picking up the pieces in Kyles wake. He is
quietly in love with the intelligent Lucy Moore (Lauren Bacall), but
Kyle manages to buy the “love” of Lauren Baccall, the
ultimate deceit between best friends, and a disappointing blow to
the viewer, who believed that Lucy was perhaps the glimmer in the
tarnish that the film attempts to expose.
Monster’s Ball
2001 - Marc Forster
A nice end-piece to another
dark drama about shattered lives (In The Bedroom) Monster’s
Ball tells the story of Hank (Billy Bob Thrornton), an embittered
prison guard, who lives with his father, a hateful racist (played
by Peter Boyle), and his son, Sonny. Hank and Sonny work for the
local prison where they are preparing the electric chair for a black
inmate. After the man is executed, Hank meets Leticia (Hally Berry
in a stunning performance), the inmate's widow, and (of course)
falls in love with her. Their relationship is charged, with both
Hank and Leticia clinging on to what little the other can provide
for emotional support. Hank struggles with his racist upbringing,
and comes to term with his own hatred for his father, as well as
the hatred that his son feels towards him. The characters are simple
at their core, but the film takes an intimate look at complex emotional
turmoil. It is a dark portrayal of empty lives and damaged souls
teetering on the edge of collapse, trying to find meaning in a cruel
world. There’s no real catharsis, no pink bow to tie it all
up. Monster’s Ball is brutal and raw, but is a compelling
film. I thought is was a powerful piece of work, but I cannot recommend
it for anybody in a frail emotional state.
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