The Official Review Thread of 2005

[Hustler]

I rewatched The Constant Gardener on DVD and came away from it still thinking Ralph Fiennes gives the film's best performance, but Rachel Weisz and Danny Huston are almost as good.

Danny Huston could have been a good choice in the supporting category.

[Okri]

Well, this is just the kind of gay-ass movie I like. Oh, yeah, it's not very deep, the direction is--surprisingly for Stephen Frears--often rather clumsy, and Judi Dench doesn't deserve her Oscar nomination...still, I've been down in the dumps this week and I really needed a snappy, dialogue-driven comedy, and this, at least, fit the bill. It felt good to laugh.

Sorry to hear that (the "down in the dumps" part). Hopefully this coming week treats you better.

[Penelope]

Saw Mrs. Henderson Presents this evening. A funny--and ironic, I suppose, at least from Italiano's point of view--thing happened just as the movie started. Some young men--probably teenagers--were in the back of the theater--I'm guessing they were theater-hopping--and after 5 minutes, bolted for the door, one of them declaring, "What a gay-ass movie!"

Well, this is just the kind of gay-ass movie I like. Oh, yeah, it's not very deep, the direction is--surprisingly for Stephen Frears--often rather clumsy, and Judi Dench doesn't deserve her Oscar nomination...still, I've been down in the dumps this week and I really needed a snappy, dialogue-driven comedy, and this, at least, fit the bill. It felt good to laugh.

[Franz Ferdinand]

TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE

I cannot confess to being a fan of Tim Burton's stop-go animation, and the overall style in general. I watched Nightmare Before Christmas once a long time ago, and I did not generally enjoy it. The aesthetics were fascinating, and the immense work needed to create the film was not lost on me, but it did not really draw me in. Corpse Bride is a sumptuous film to look at, pleasant to the eye, with marvelous attention to detail. The advance Burton makes in the 13 years separating the films is clearly noticable. The characters were all well-sketched and wonderfully narrated. The concept where the living world is in shades of grey and blue compared to the dead world's riotous color was an obvious but well-placed one. So how come I did not enjoy it more? I am sure it has to do with something other than suffering a head cold, or Danny Elfman's well-meaning but ultimately distracting song pieces. Most likely a second viewing will help me out.
Grade: B

GRIZZLY MAN

This one was on the Discovery Channel, and I figured it would be more convenient to watch it on TV than renting it, or buying it on DVD. How wrong I was. Interrupted every 5-7 minutes by 4 minutes of commercials, the 103 minute documentary was stretched to an unholy 3 hours. Ultimately, what really suffered at the hands of the merciless commercials was the gripping story. Grizzly Man was truly a fascinating documentary, a highly enjoyable hybrid between a nature documentary, and psychological insight into the troubled Tim Treadwell. The juxtaposition of not only sweeping natural landscapes, and the blond-haired man with the funny voice (and outrageous rants against his "enemies" in the government), but Tim's naive view of nature with Werner Herzog's pragmatic one of "chaos and murder", was engrossing, but lost to commercial interruption. Tim's inevitable death overhangs the movie, and we are reminded that for all his childish love of the vicious bears and cute foxes, he was doing more harm encroaching on their territory than helping them. This was a fantastic movie that is now on my "Must Buy" list, and I would likely have to shuffle my top 10 around to accomodate it.
Grade: A-

[kaytodd]

CAPOTE

Enjoyed PSH's performance much more than I thought I would and the film itself a little more than I thought I would. As the film started, I was surprised that I was not thinking PSH's performance was mere mimicry. I found his character to be complex and interesting even though I have never given Truman Capote the man much thought in my life.

Then, early in the film, it hit me. This was a charcter with whom I was not familiar at all. I first became aware of Capote when I was in junior high school. He was the awful over the top freak show I would see on talk shows, game shows and in bit parts in films like "Murder By Death."

But I had never seen Capote the working journalist and writer. To me, PSH was protraying a very interesting man who got people from rural America, both educated and uneducated, to open up to him. He was sometimes devious and always focused on his goal of getting his story. Maybe the reason I liked PSH's performance so much is because this person was a new character to me. I did not see it as a mimicry of a famous person. I think Ledger deserves the Oscar more (a much more difficult and complex role), but I will not be nearly as disappointed if PSH wins, now that I have actually seen Capote.

Watching Capote ruthlessly pursue his goal was fascinating. I never thought the story of how he created "In Cold Blood" would be so fascinating but it was and I have to credit Bennet Miller and Dan Futterman. I am looking forward to their future work. The supporting performances of Catherine Keener, Chris Cooper, Clifton Collins and Amy Dewey are all very good (though, IMO, none are Oscar worthy, including Keener's). I liked how Capote saw the opportunity to get more information about the crimes by cultivating Amy Ryan's star struck character.

Grade: A-

[anonymous1980]

WALK THE LINE
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, Dallas Roberts.
Dir: James Mangold

If it had not been for the outstanding performances of Phoenix and Witherspoon, this would have been just another cliched, by-the-numbers, standard issue musical biopic. Every element is there: great music, troubled life, triumph under overwhelming odds, drug addiction, etc. I thought Phoenix and Witherspoon did better than Jamie Foxx in Ray last year.

Oscar Prospects: I wasn't convinced why Reese should win for this performance until the scene in which Johnny proposes to her on-stage. She absolutely nailed it. It should be her clip.

Grade: B

[Sabin]

Rented The Aristocrats. Probably the worst movie I've ever seen that I kinda liked. Not because it's a visual mess (worst editing of the year, period), but because ultimately we're just watching people who are desperate for attention, desperate to be the defining teller of this stupid joke. It's distasteful, really, the ego that exudes from this film. For the most part, they made me feel better about myself. George Carlin in particular takes this joke (as everything he pontificates, really) way too seriously.

But then there's Gilbert Gottfried's ridiculously profane rendition on the Hugh Hefner Roast, Lewis Blacks tangents ranging from incorporating dead celebrities and historical figures into a TV pilot of the joke and how Gilligan's Island was made for kid's with helmets, Sarah Silverman's brilliantly solemn conclusion ("Joe Franklin raped me"), a South Park bit, and Jon Stewart -- clearly, far too important for this joke and this movie -- granting a few disbelieving comments in the makeup room of The Daily Show. Good stuff, a lot of it. Then there's telling the jokes to babies and Bab Saget and a lot of tripe to wade through. There's nothing illuminating about this joke and these people save for the fact that their performance of the joke is just as tasteless as their hunger for exposure.

A better rent than theatrical viewing, I'd wager, with some terrific extra features, like Kevin Pollack telling the joke as Albert Brooks and wondering why he can't be as funny as he is doing Albert Brooks.

[flipp525]

I know people are predicting Langella to sneak in Supporting Actor but I think Ray Wise deserves it more.

I couldn't agree more, anon. Ray Wise's performance was absolutely heartbreaking. Best supporting turn of the film.

[anonymous1980]

GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK
Cast: David Strathairn, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, Frank Langella, Ray Wise, Tate Donovan, Thomas McCarthy, Robert John Burke, Rose Abdoo, Reed Diamond, Peter Jacobson, Alex Borstein, Grant Heslov, Matt Ross, Dianne Reeves.
Dir: George Clooney

This further proves that George Clooney is more than just a Hollywood pretty boy. He's a talented filmmaker as well. This superb slice of history is fascinating, provocative, relevant and passionate. Strathairn lends a quiet yet oddly powerful performance as legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow. Wonderful film.

Oscar Prospects: SHOULD get Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Strathairn), Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography. I know people are predicting Langella to sneak in Supporting Actor but I think Ray Wise deserves it more.

Grade: A-

[anonymous1980]

LITTLE MANHATTAN
Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Charlie Ray, Bradley Whitford, Cynthia Nixon, Willie Garson.
Dir: Mark Levin

It's miles away from A Little Romance but this movie ain't bad (well, it's not THAT good either). Innocuous, charming and funny at times but largely cliched romantic comedy on first love. Should play better on DVD than on the big-screen. Hutcherson's pretty good in carrying the movie virtually all by himself but the precocious voice over narration often crosses that thin line between cute and annoying.

Oscar Prospects: None.

Grade: C+

[Sabin]

Yes, yes, yes...

Match Point is "only" a very good movie. I find myself very divided as to what exactlly makes this such a revelatory Woody Allen film. Although his skill with actors in this film isn't as sure-footed as it once has been, it's certainly a step-up from the past...many, many years. I found Scarlett Johansson's performance strikingly uneven...but goddamn girl!!! (more on that later) I was intensely drawn into Jonathan Rhys-Meyers' inner-life and I believe in a less competitive year, he would be a front-runner for the Oscar. The compulsive deceiver, a rags-to-riches story who is too used to nothing being easy and sabotages his every movie. But Woody Allen's movie is so rich in theme that he compounds Match Point's sense of godlessness that Chris' major act of carelessness is what lets him off at the end. Like so much idiot wind, he can't help it if he's lucky...

I cannot think of another Woody Allen film this side of Manhattan that has as many imaginative compositions in it. Some creek, some are egregiously ripped, but just about all of them work (one winter-to-spring cut aside). His mise-en-scene is very accomplished; I love how he surrounds Chris with wealth at every turn in the beginning, to the eventual effect that he is quite literally "out of place" in Nola's bohemian apartment, rarely appearing on-screen with her or more than a reflection in the mirror or body in the frame. If this is familiar territory (and it certainly is), what American filmmaker has approached it with such gusto? (I'm setting myself up for a barrage of references, I know...)

I do believe I was somewhat emotionally uninvolved in Match Point. A Place in the Sun is more than a little heavy-handed, but I stayed with Montgomery Clift in a way that I never felt with this film. I believe it was Ed Gonzalez who said (on slant in his review of von Stroheim's American Tragedy) that A Place in the Sun's downfall may be that you can find yourself rooting for Monty to just bump off Shelley Winters and be done with her. A stretch? Perhaps, but the inevitable tragedy of Match Point is somewhat distant.

And yet, Match Point resonates with me at least in an abstract sense. What Woody Allen is tackling in this film has kept me thinking. He acknowledges the existence of fate, luck, and morality. And of just living with it. In Crimes and Misdemeanors, Martin Landau recalls how he was told when he was younger that the eyes of god are always upon us; though uneven, it was something of an existential masterpiece. Match Point is less labored at times to spell itself out, though less potent a film as well. I'm inclined to say that in terms of his filmic compositions and theme, he's achieved something pretty amazing.

(ultimately, this paragraph was more for me than anybody. it just concerns the prettiness of Ms. Johansson and was somewhat inappropriate. needless to say, she's got some fine boobies and really that's all that needs to be said about that)



Edited By Sabin on 1137865660

[dylanfan23]

Capote

I didn't know what to think when i left the theater after seeing this film. This film slowing but surely got a hold of me. Truman Capote is one of the best "characters" i've seen on film in a long time. Such a complicated character, and as a viewer your forced to anylize everything about this character. And i didn't find him to be a good person, or a bad person either. But a very complicated person. I'm not sure what his motives were. They were part love, part vanity, part i don't know. But the film itself was told in a rather perfect way, minus a few down times in the middle. But the build up to the end was done in a way that got me on the edge of my seat just waiting for a conversation. A conversation that left me breathless. It was a great story, a great film. The performances were pretty great. Philip Seymour Hoffman has in fact given the performance of the year. He deserves the oscar i think. I have to give it some more thought but he's got my vote as of right now. He transformed himself into this character and by the end of the film, he was that character, i was waiting on his every action....i didn't expect anything less, but i was still amazed. Catherine Keener was wonderful, i would not nominate her though, i actually would rather give a nomination to her in another film i talk about in this thread further down, but i wouldn't give it to her for that either. I think i would nominate Clifton Collins Jr. though. His was another great character. His conversations with Capote were both frustrating and very interesting. And his climactic scene was one of the best i've seen in awhile. The other supporting characters were all done well including chris cooper. Great film, deserves a best picture nomination, and miller deserves a directors nomination to go along with it. 5 out 5 stars.

Broken Flowers

This was a fun movie. Nothing more nothing less. A fun story about a man who finds out he might have a son with one of a few women he thinks it might be. So with the pushing of a friendly neighbor goes out to play detective and try to figure out which woman it is. Bill Murray in the lead is perfect for this part. And its a fun little mission he goes on. The different characters of each woman he looks for keeps the story interesting as it goes along. They all do a pretty good job, the women that is, espesially sharon stone. There isn't much here to get you crazy and emotionally involved with murray's character. And the last scene kinda left me with a weird feeling of what was that. But all in all i can't complain, i had fun watching this story. Bill Murray has been better recently in lost in translation and rushmore...but those were far better written characters then this one. Jeffrey Wright gives a great performance as the neighbor that won't give up on this mission. 3 and half out of 5 stars. A little better then good but not great.

The Ballad of Jack and Rose

I don't know how i missed this when it came out. What an interesting film this is. Weird at times, but always interesting. I was a big fan of personal velocity, rebecca millers last film. She's a great talent. First off, as you can tell by my screenname, i'm a big dylan fan. And this soundtrack is filled with great dylan songs. So that was a plus. This is a story of a father and daughter who live on an island that seems very peaceful, but houses are being built to move people in. And the father is suffereing from some sort of heart illness that will be fatale eventually. So for a couple reasons he moves his girlfriend and her two sons in to this house. It seems the daughter hasn't had much contact with the outside world so she does not act normal upon they're arrival. Her actions became very strange but it made me more interested in her character. The father is played by daniel day lewis...and it's always a treat when we see him on screen. He doesn't act in many films, and he's one of the great talents we have today. And he doesn't dissapoint. He lightens up the screen every chance he gets and its pretty impossible not to fall in love with his character. I just wish more people would get to see this performance because who knows when he's going to decide to take another character. The daughter and the other lead is played by Camilla Belle, she's gonna be really good one day i think. She was pretty darn good here. And in a year of not too many great lead actress performances, she's close to my top five. She stands toe to toe with lewis and really helps the film along. Catherine Keener as the girlfriend is great as well. She just needs to keep working, she doesn't take a misstep ever. At least i haven't seen one yet, she always does a great job. And i think this is her best performance this year. But its the connection between the father and daughter that really got to me and wouldn't let go. The stuff between those two and the other characters were hit and miss with me. But in the end, it was those two that stayed with me, a really powerful relationship, and a really good film. 4 out 5 stars.

[ITALIANO]

I guess many critics were looking forward to finally find a new Woody Allen movie to celebrate as a return to great filmmaking form after so many disappointing movies. And while "Match Point" definitely isn't a bad movie, even I, like Penelope, after reading so many glowing reviews expected something much, much better. It's not the obvious references to past movies - I didn't think of "Strangers on a Train", but it can be that one, too, along with "A Place in the Sun", "Fatal Attraction", and all the others, including some by Allen himself, you can think of - that wouldn't necessarily be a problem though. It's just that - except maybe for the ending - I was never really intrigued by the story and, even more important, by the characters and by their dilemmas. I found the leading man bland and the character he plays uninteresting - and in such a movie, about moral and human choices, this is really a fatal flaw. If you can't I wouldn't say identify but at least sympathize with Raskolnikov, Montgomery Clift or with Martin Landau in "Crimes and Misdemeanors" (which is by the way much better, more deeply felt than this one) - or, well, even with Michael Douglas! - and with their very human weaknesses and ambiguities, you are lost and the experience leaves you cold, emotionally and intellectually uninvolved. And this is what happened to me.

[Uri]

The tennis motive, the ambitious guy of meager background moving up by marrying the daughter of a big shot, having another, less socially appropriate, woman stashed away, and having this problem solved by murder, the tennis motive again – was I the only one thinking of Strangers on the Train while watching Match Point?

[FilmFan720]

Maybe it was the fact that I have only seen A Place in the Sun, several years ago, and the similarities didn't strike me during the movie. I don't know...I also have never really been bothered by filmmakers borrowing from other films before, either, so it could be a personal taste thing.