Entries from January 2008 ↓

Cassandra’s Dream isn’t Woody Allen’s best or worst film. When looking at an Allen picture without him in it, as is the case here, I always try to find the character that he would be if he were in front of the camera. That was a challenger with Cassandra’s Dream. It’s probably Colin Farrell . . . at least here he is in a role that is different than anything I have seen him play. So fascinating I could hardly take eyes of his wimpy neurotic character. The most positive thing I can say about the story is that unlike alot of caper films this plot was very easy to follow. Faint praise? Yep. But that is the only good thing I can say about Woody’s latest. [ RT ]

Sure The Bucket List gets several reality points wrong. Sure it’s sappy and somewhat corny. But these two acting giants (Nicholson and Freeman) have enough charisma and talent to over come most of the faults of this flawed film. If you are over 60 years of age you will find value and entertainment here. In fact you might find the film to be smart, sophisticated and witty. [ RT ]

Lots of sky, impressive sets and the early oil business are the backdrops for Daniel Day Lewis’ character in There Will Be Blood. And what a performance. Unfortunately we learn really little about how the oil business works in these early days and we only see one side of Lewis’ Daniel Plainview. And it’s not his good side. Maybe he doesn’t have one. In any case I couldn’t get a handle on him. So really had no feelings about him one way or the other. [ RT]