because you can't have too much entertainment...
July 2003

Dipping A Nervous Toe Back In

Your resident site editor/critic/filmbitch has been shirking the reviews all freaking year long. So, I'm making my last ditch attempt to catch up and rejoin the online "criticism" movement. But I don't work well without a clear head. This means I need to get all these films out of my head before I can start reviewing proper again. Out of my head and onto your screens. Sorry. We'll all feel better once it's over and we're back in the here and now with arguments du jour like: Is Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle the "end" of the cinema?

Cheat sheet help: It isn't

If this movie binge and purge doesn't work... there's probably no hope. No hope at all. [You can't see me but I'm shaking my head in self-chastisement.] So, here are a few brief thoughts on most everything I haven't reviewed this year. Now with LETTER GRADES! I'm not much for grading or point systems because I change my mind too frequently. This is not to say that I make wild about faces, just that with distance some films grow stronger, others more forgettable. It's sometimes difficult to know which way it'll go. I thought for awhile that I should group by letter grades initially on a 5 point system A,B,C,D,F and then return once the movie had sunk in for any pluses and minuses. Then I toyed around with joining the 100 point system mostly out of peer pressure. Just look around and you'll see. It's a fever sweeping the online nation. For now, though, since I have trouble commiting to even the (essentially) 13 point system of letter grades -the 100 point grading is honestly beyond me.

28 Days Later
First things first: I'm ignorant when it comes to the history of horror on film. I don't know George Romero from Stephen King. OK, well I do... but I'm just trying to point out that I'm a wuss so I avoid most of them. The lack of knowledge of the genre springs from my personal squeamishness. So I can't speak on the "hommage or ripoff?" debate. But I do know a few things. One, it's not technically a "zombie" film because the monsters aren't dead. And two, horror hommage or no, the narrative is more concerned with aping Lord of the Flies than any genre conventions. Danny Boyle's last film, The Beach also went to this allegorical well. All of which leads me to believe that this British director has quite a thing for William Golding. I wish he'd get over it because initially this picture rocks. The setup in particular is a knockout example of sustaining tone and scaring the bejeezus out of the audience. Consequently my gripes about the final third of the picture frustrate me even more. It's a good horror yarn well told...but for the first hour I thought this would be scoring far higher than a B-

All the Real Girls
Though some critics are rapturously enthralled with David Gordon Green, I'll cop to not "getting"him. I didn't understand the characters. I was also put off by a few elements including, but not limited to: the Asian daughter being named "Feng Shui", Zooey Deschanel's performance shift upon losing her virginity, the straining for effect with certain shots, and the pace. However, Green feels like an original and the impressionistic storytelling was interesting enough to get me through. Plus there are a few wonderful isolated moments. I may give this another chance at some point...C-

Daredevil
When people bitch about Charlie's Angels being the "end of cinema" or genuinely pronounce that its the worst film in ages or happen to be appalled by its chainsaw editing and narrative idiocies (both intentional, I must add)... I have but one question, "Has no one on this planet seen the excrement that is Daredevil?" F

Dark Blue
A film that tries way too hard. There are performance/casting problems galore (the female characters are all flat and bland and the men are close to caricatures) and just when I thought that maybe I was underestimating it (it's hard to deny the rough power and tension of the riot sequences) it heads straight into one of the most ludicrous court room finales I've ever seen in a motion picture. When you take into account that Hollywood has always loved and overused dramatic and ludicrous court room finales, that is saying a lot. D+

Finding Nemo
Much funner to watch than to think about in retrospect. I fear for Pixar. There's currently no beating them in the animation game (unless your name is Hayao Mizayaki but that's not what we're talking about here, is it? Stay focused.) but each film seems to feel just a little more derivative and formulaic than the one prior to it. Which means that the exuberance, intelligence, and "what will happen next?" comic thrills abundant in Toy Story were possibly only there because the company didn't have a formula in place just yet to fall back on. I'm crossing my fingers that Pixar shakes this off on the way to their next outing. Isn't Disney's sad trajectory bad-example enough? B-

Friday Night
I love Claire Denis but its been rough sailing since her masterpiece Beau Travail. In retrospect her last picture, Trouble Every Day, felt more like an artistic misfire than a failure. Vendredi Soir is much easier to like. And though more successful it may be, it also feels quite like a minor lark. Though I enjoyed its overall aesthetic, I resented its stubborn focus on two characters when the periphery kept looking more and more tantalizing. C+
* If anyone can tell me what they think was up with the dancing CG car letters or wiggly green peppers I would really appreciate any theories, OK? Thanks!

Gerry
Trance inducing and close to brilliant in spots. Particularly loved Casey Affleck's performance (!?) and the abso-f***ing-lutely hypnotic DP work. But the overall effect faded for me, and wasn't helped by the resolution which felt too obvious where the rest of the film had been pleasingly abstract. B

 

The Guru
Blessedly silly and aware of it's own "sell-out" nature -Bollywood gone Hollywood. The studio really shortchanged this film which could have built more audience momentum with marketing support. It's hard to knock a movie with a lead this cute and smiley, and supporting players as talented and underused as Christine Baranski and Marisa Tomei. Harmless fun with a welcome dose of sex-positive randiness to boot. C+

Hafid (The Sea)
Grim and somewhat involving, but I couldn't shake feeling that aside from its chosen milieu, the politically charged fishing industry in Iceland, I had seen it all before in other severely disintegrating family dramas. C

Lilja 4-Ever
Big fan of Lukas Moodyson's work. His first feature Fucking Amal (also known as Show Me Love in the States) rightly established him as one-to-watch and he struck gold, at least to my mind, with his fantastic commune comedy Together a couple of years back. Lilja reconfirms Moodyson's incredible gift with young actors, resulting in vibrantly felt turns from both Oksana Akinshina as Lilja and Artyom Bogucharsky as her sole friend and fellow discarded child. But the film? However well realized the films pervasive sadness may be, it feels distinctly like it is preaching to the converted. Yes, we agree that this a travesty. And...? B-

The Matrix Reloaded and The Animatrix
From my screening log:

"Not five minutes into this movie someone just five seats from me in the next row began snoring loudly. I'm not making this up. Nothing could rouse him. He snored (intermittently) throughout the entire picture. Normally I would be offended but in this context, well honestly... who can blame him?"

Even reminiscing about Reloaded causes boredom. The movie is so intent on explaining/discussing its mythos and mysteries (a common genre film problem these days which is also contributing to the slow and torturous death of Star Wars) that it forgets that these things should unfold for or be discovered by the audience...and not "told" to them. There's no magic here, only exposition. Yet, something very curious happened after the movie was upon us. They released the DVD of the omnibus style The Animatrix which is largely "story by" the Wachowskis and production work and screenplay by individual anime contributors whom they admire. Turns out the tag team exploration of this particular rabbit hole has far more verve and artistic curiousity than the bloated blockbuster itself. What a pity, right? The brothers Wachowski obviously did have some magic left in them. They just froze up and stifled it in The Matrix Reloaded D+ and, perhaps benefitting from much less pressure, just let it flow in The Animatrix B-

Raising Victor Vargas
Sweet and heartfelt. It reminded me a bit of Our Song in its naturalistic, non-actor populated authenticity. The year is still young but this is the best narrative feature I saw from the year's first half. What's perhaps most refreshing about it is that it has genuine warmth. You don't even know the movies are so starved for it until it's right up there smiling at you from the silver screen. A terrific debut for all involved. B+

Spellbound
I could say something incredibly corny like "g-r-e-a-t" but a thousand other people already tried that in their reviews. But it is a delight. My only real gripe (and hence the "B" standing) is that I felt it shortchanged on us on the aftermath of the National Bee. I wanted a little more about each of the featured kids -you invest all this time into their personal dramas and then they're gone so abruptly once they're knocked out of competition. Good sport style comments to the camera and then they're gone. No fair, I say! But as entertainments go... this film is surprisingly tough to beat. B+

-Nathaniel

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