Entries from November 2007 ↓

Despite a great cast, the characters are just too unlikable to make you like this movie much. Margot at the Wedding prevents us from choosing someone to root for. I am not saying the story isn’t insightful or honest. I know relationships can be complicated but some balance would have made these relationships seem a little more believable. [ RT ]

Like a lot of Bob Dylan’s music I’m Not There is obtuse, vague and sometimes confusing not to mention hard to comprehend. Multiple actor play performers representing Dylan at different times and in different persona. Some performances were out standing. Cate Blanchett’s capturing the “Don’t Look Back” black and white Dylan was excellent. But the bottom line: the film is just to inventive and to unusual in it’s incomplete account of the life and times of Bob Dylan. [ RT ]

It was the ending that stunned me, and I sensed the rest of the audience felt the same way. Some reviewers thought it was “cinematic genius.” Hours later I am over the disappointment and realize that No Country for Old Men is another solid Coen brothers effort. Sparse, crisp, smart story telling. The simple, stark images gives it the feel of a frontier a hundred years earlier than the year 1980 in which the story is set. There is violence and the camera doesn’t turn away for much of the graphic aftermath. But it isn’t relentless. Some of the brutality is suggested . . . left to our imagination. I am still holding out hope that the meaning of the ending will come to me.  If it happens this movie will become one of the year’s best.  [ RT ]

Putting aside how influential Strummer was inside one of the most influential bands in the history of rock and Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten is still a get bio pic. And the music!!! This may be the best sounding movie I have ever seen/heard. Loud, crisp and clear. It’s a great story about how a guy who in the Clash pushed humanity higher and beyond the trite “punk” tag.  Then after that ten year run ended reinvented himself and put together another great band. The movie is well made . . . all the commentators are sitting around a bonfire as the Strummer burned his way through society. [ RT ]

In one review of Lions for Lambs I read the criticism was that not only was there a lot of talking but they weren’t talking about anything important. Argh! That in a nutshell is what troubles me about Americans today. They are too lazy, too complacent, too comfortable to pay attention. Yes, there is alot of lecturing in this Robert Redford film. That will detract from it’s entertainment value. But it gets so much right. It is most the accurate characterization of the current political atmosphere and what went wrong with the press coverage of run up to the current conflicts. It’s too bad that nobody is going to see this film . . . sadly it won’t reach an audience that needs it most. Not that it is a great movie . . . but it’s has so many assertions that need discussing. [ RT ]

I am not even going to attempt to outline the premise of Wristcutters: A Love Story . . . ’cause you would not believe me. All I will say is that it’s suicide back drop will be a determent to box office success. Which is too bad. Because there is really nothing depressing about this story. The journey, the characters we get to know and the ending are wonderful. [ RT ]

Generally regarded as one of the year’s best movies — and a major Oscar contender — American Gangster is a well told story of good guys and bad guys in early 1970s New York. It’s a huge epic with routine performances by Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Yes . . . it’s suspenseful and fairly entertaining but it’s just to generic . . . not that clever or creative. But I gotta say the nearly three hours flew by. [ RT ]

Flat out tour de force performances from Phillip Seymoure Hoffman and Ethan Hawk in this “small” intense drama of human frailties. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead makes you realize how close we all might be to crossing the line . . . forced by relationships blowing up and financial gambles gone bad. Moody, gritty and an impeccably crafted melodrama. [ RT ]