My December 2004 Viewings

Recommended DVDs marked with *. Underlined titles link to reviews.

* De-Lovely 12/31/04 (B)
Phenomenon 12/23/04
* Seinfeld 1&2:1 12/22/04 (B)
The Big Lebowski 12/21/04 (B-)
Shine 12/16/04 (B-)
* The Shipping News 12/16/04 (B)
Coffee and Cigarettes 12/14/04 (B-)
* The Terminal 12/03/04 (A)
The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit 12/03/04 (C)

9/159/159

The Big Lebowski (1998)

.
Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Flea, John Turturro, Sam Elliott, Ben Gazzara, Jon Polito.

Written and directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

My personal rating: B-

The Terminal (2004)

Amelia: Are you coming or going?

Viktor: I don't know. Both.

When Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) lands at JFK Airport, he discovers that he is a man without a country. In the time it took him to fly abroad, his small Eastern European homeland has endured a coup and his passport and visa are no longer valid. The airport manager (Stanley Tucci) is a stickler for the rules and requires that Viktor remains at the airport until the matter is settled.

Hours turn into days and days turn into months. The ingenous Viktor learns to live in the airport, learn English, makes work for himself, makes friends with the airport employees and even falls in love with Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones).

A charming tale of surviving with grace and humor.

Directed by Steven Spielberg.

Run time: 2 hours, 8 minutes

Rated PG-13 for brief language and drug references.

My personal rating: A

My November 2004 Viewings

Recommended DVDs marked with *. Underlined titles are links to review.

Something to Talk About 11/22/04
Never Again 11/22/04
* Midnight Cowboy 11/19/04 (A)
The Stepford Wives 11/16/04 (C+)
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen 11/12/04
Saved! 11/12/04 (C)
13 Going on 30 11/08/04
Kate & Leopold 11/05/04 (C)
* All That Jazz 11/03/04 -(A)
Duplex 11/03/04

10/150/150

All That Jazz (1979)

Based on Bob Fosse's own life as a Broadway choreographer.

Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ann Reinking, Ben Vereen, Michael Tolan, John Lithgow. Sandahl Bergman

Directed by Bob Fosse.

My personal rating: A-

My October 2004 Viewings

Recommended DVDs marked with *. Underlined titles are links to review.

* Waking Ned Devine 10/29/04 (B+)
* Noises Off! 10/25/04 (B+)
The Day After Tomorrow 10/25/04
Jeff Foxworthy: You Might Be a Redneck/Check Your Neck 10/21/04 (C+)
* Chicago 10/20/04 (B)
About a Boy 10/15/04
Hidalgo 10/13/04 (C)
Fahrenheit 9/11 10/13/04 (C+)
* What's Eating Gilbert Grape 10/08/04 (B)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 10/04/04 (C-)
Mystery, Alaska 10/01/04
The Whole Nine Yards 10/01/04 (C+)

12/140/140

Waking Ned Devine (1998)

Waking the Dead

The hamlet of Tullymore, Ireland (pop. 53), has a problem. One of their residents, Ned Devine, has won the national lottery and a huge amount of money is his to claim.

The problem? Ned Devine has died, gripping the winning lottery ticket in his cold fist.

Jackie O'Shea (Ian Bannen) solicits his friends Michael O'Sullivan (David Kelly) to assume Ned's identity and involves his own wife Annie O'Shea (Fionnula Flanagan) and villagers, Maggie (Susan Lynch), Pig Finn (James Nesbitt) and others in an attempt to fool the Lotto official (Brendan F. Dempsey) who comes to investigate the claim of the winner.

Can they pull it off? Can they lay claim to nearly 7 million pounds to split amongst themselves?

What results is a somewhat madcap adventure in deceit that seems near exploding at any moment.

Great fun, directed by Kirk Jones.

Rated PG for nudity, language and thematic elements.

My personal rating: B.

My September 2004 Viewings

Recommended DVDs marked with *. Underlined titles are links to review.

Hammers Over the Anvil 09/27/04
CSI 3:2 09/24/04
* Ocean's Eleven 09/21/04 (B)
CSI 3:1 09/17/04
* Canadian Bacon 09/15/04 (B)
Tortilla Soup 09/07/04
* The Big Easy 09/01/04

7/128/128

My August 2004 Viewings

Recommended DVDs marked with *. Underlined titles are links to review.

Suspect 08/31/04
CSI 2:6 08/30/04
CSI 2:5 08/26/04
CSI 2:4 08/26/04
Secret Window 08/24/04
* Northern Exposure 1:2 08/23/04 (B)
Exit to Eden 08/19/04
CSI 2:3 08/18/04
* Merci Pour Le Chocolat 08/17/04 (B)
* Northern Exposure 1:1 08/16/04 (B)
CSI 2:2 08/12/04
Waiting for Guffman 08/12/04
* The Impostors 08/09/04 (B)
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood 08/09/04
* Amelie 08/05/04 (B)
Innocence 08/03/04
CSI 1:6 08/02/04

17/121/121

The Impostors (1999)

Quirky Zany Frenzied

If you enjoy madcap romps like It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way the Forum, Noises Off, Some Like It Hot, almost anything by Mel Brooks, the Road To... movies with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, Laurel and Hardy, and the Marx Brothers, you’ll probably get a kick out of this one.

The film starts in NYC in the 1930s with two out-of-work actors (Stanley Tucci, Oliver Platt) practicing for roles they’ll never get and trying to scam food. When they insult a pretentious Shakespearean actor Sir Jeremy Burtom (Alfred Molina), they find themselves running for their lives and hiding on board a ship. When they wake up in the morning, the ship – an ocean liner – is preparing to debark.

Of course they’re not going to get off the ship in time because they’ve got big work to do coming face to face again with the pompous actor plus a Nazi ship’s staff director (Scott Campbell), the compassionate and lovely social director (Lili Taylor), a Russian terrorist (Tony Shalhoub), the ship’s lovelorn captain (Richard Jenkins), a deposed queen (Isabella Rossellini), an endangered sheik (Teagle F. Bougere), an impoverished grande dame (Dana Ivey, who flat out startled me in her similarity to Maggie Smith), and her plain and shy daughter (Hope Davis), an egocentric gay athlete (Billy Connolly), a suicidal singer (Steve Buscemi), a neurotic casting agent (Woody Allen), and several others.

Whew! All that in under two hours!

Written, produced and directed by Stanley Tucci.

Rated R for some language.

My personal rating: B

Amélie(2001)

Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

Amélie's purpose in life is to make others happy.

Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Yolande Moreau.

Co-written and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Subtitles.

Rated R for sexual content.

My personal rating: B

My July 2004 Viewings

Recommended DVDs marked with *. Underlined titles are links to reviews.

The Freshman 07/30/04
Donnie Darko 07/26/04
* White 07/23/04 (B)
The Life of David Gale 07/20/04
Hope Springs 07/19/04
The Castle 07/19/04
CSI 1:5 07/15/04 (B-)
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song 07/12/04 (C+)
* Monsieur Ibrahim 07/09/04 (B)
* Red 07/07/04 (B)
* Monk 1:3 07/07/04 (B)
The Other Sister 07/06/04 (C)
* The Magdalene Sisters 07/02/04 (A-)

13/104/104

My June 2004 Viewings

Recommended DVDs marked with *. Underlined titles are links to reviews.

* Kill Bill: Vol. 1 06/29/04 (A-)
The Family Man 06/29/04
* Monk 1:2 06/28/04 (B)
CSI 1:4 ( 06/25/04 (B-)
* Monk 1:1 06/22/04 (B)
* Calendar Girls 06/21/04 (B)
The Station Agent 06/18/04 (B-)
* Mystic River 06/15/04 (A)
Along Came Polly 06/15/04
My First Mister 06/15/04
Under the Tuscan Sun 06/09/04 (B-)
The Banger Sisters 06/08/04 (C)
Mostly Martha 06/08/04
Under the Sand 06/07/04
Monster 06/07/04
* The Cider House Rules 06/04/04 (A)
* Giant 06/03/04 (B+)
CSI 2:1 06/03/04 (B-)
Radio 06/02/04 (C+)
Blue 06/02/04 (B-)

20/91/91

My May 2004 Viewings

Recommended DVDs marked with *. Underlined titles are links to reviews.

* My Dog Skip 05/28/04 (B)
CSI 1:1 05/26/04 (B-)
Diner 05/26/04 (B-)
* 21 Grams 05/25/04 (B)
In America 05/19/04
Masked & Anonymous 05/18/04
Guarding Tess 05/14/04 (B-)
My Fellow Americans 05/14/04
The Basketball Diaries 05/11/04
* Girl with a Pearl Earring 05/11/04 (B+)
* The Triplets of Belleville 05/07/04 (B)
Welcome to Collinwood 05/06/04
Love Actually 05/05/04
* My Life So Far 05/04/04 (B)
* Matchstick Men 05/03/04 (B)

15/71/71

My April 2004 Viewings

Recommended DVDs marked with * . Underlined titles are links to reveiw.

Deconstructing Harry 04/30/04
Big Fish 04/30/04 (C)
Total Eclipse 04/28/04
Life as a House 04/26/04 (B-)
* Mighty Aphrodite 04/26/04 (B+)
The Safety of Objects 04/26/04
Flawless 04/20/04
* American Splendor 04/20/04 (B)
* Network 04/19/04 (B)
* Joe Gould's Secret 04/15/04 (A-)
Flesh and Bone 04/13/04
The Lost Child 04/12/04
Faces 04/06/04 (C+)
Out of the Cold 04/05/04
The Closet 04/02/04
* House of Sand and Fog 04/02/04 (A)
Something's Gotta Give 04/02/04

17/56/56

House of Sand and Fog (2003)

Crossed Paths

Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly) is a wreck. Emotionally broken due to a fragile psyche and devastating divorce, she lives in the SF Bay area home willed to her by her father. But she falls in arrears in her property taxes without realizing the implications.

An Iranian immigrant, Colonel Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley) works at odd jobs as best he can and saves up his money, all the while presenting a successful image to all, including his wife (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and beloved son Esmail (Jonathan Ahdout), so as not to bring shame upon himself and his family. Honor is all for Colonel Behrani.

Fortuitously, he finds out about a house being auctioned cheaply and he sees an opportunity to invest his small savings, make improvements to the house, and sell it for a good profit. The house, of course, is Kathy's.

When he succeeds in winning the house, Kathy is irate that her home could be taken away from her without her having the chance to make it right. She battles to remain in the house by trying to reason with Behrani. But the reasoning becomes harassment.

Lester (Ron Eldard), a policeman, becomes involved in the case -- and in a romantic involvement with Kathy. She solicits him to aid her in recovering her house by whatever means are needed. Lester tries to intimidate Behrani and threats to have him exiled.

What results leaves the house in a shroud of tragedy that touches everyone involved.

This is an intense film that tells the story of how lives intertwine and have profound impact on other lives, whether intended or not. Delicately directed by Vadim Perelman.

Rated R for some violence/disturbing images, language and a scene of sexuality.

My March 2004 Viewings

Recommended DVDs marked with *. Underlined titles are links to review.

* This Boy's Life 03/30/04 (B+)
* The Iron Ladies 03/29/04 (B)
Marvin's Room 03/29/04 (B-)
What's Cooking? 03/26/04 (C)
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce 03/23/04 (C)
Big Trouble 03/23/04
Drunks 03/22/04 (B-)
* Pay It Forward 03/22/04 (B)
Big Trouble 03/17/04
True Stories: Talking Heads 03/17/04
Northfork 03/15/04
Twin Falls Idaho 03/11/04 (C-)
Dinner Rush 03/11/04
Judy Berlin 03/03/04
* Secondhand Lions 03/01/04 (A)
Pieces of April 03/01/04 (B-)

16/39/39

My February 2004 Viewings

Recommended DVDs marked with *. Underlined titles are links to review.

* Unstrung Heroes 02/25/04 (B)
Best in Show 02/25/04 (C)
* The Man Who Wasn't There 02/23/04 (B)
* In the Bedroom 02/19/04 (B)
* Girl, Interrupted 02/19/04 (B)
Lost in Translation 02/13/04 (C)
* Beat the Devil 02/12/04 (B)
That Uncertain Feeling 02/12/04
Playing Mona Lisa 02/11/04
* Normal 02/06/04 (A)
Varian's War 02/03/04 (B-)
Barney Miller 1:1 02/03/04 (C)

12/23/23

Best in Show (2000)

Adventures at dog shows.

Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Michael McKean, Parker Posey, Fred Willard, Ed Begley Jr., Bob Balaban.

Directed by Christopher Guest

My personal rating: C

Girl, Interrupted (1999)

"Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60's. Or maybe I was just a girl...interrupted."

While everyone else in her 1967 senior class is heading to college, neurotic Susanna (Wynona Rider) is on her way to a private mental hospital after chasing a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka.

Her "dorm" for the next year is populated with an assortment of young womenwho are deeply disturbed. Nurse Val (Whoopi Goldberg) tells Susanna she is "a lazy, self-indulgent little girl who is driving yourself crazy" and cautions her "Do not dropy our anchor here" as some of the other girls have.

The assortment of girls include roommate Georgina (Clea DuVall) who is obsessed with Dorothy's Oz, the burn-scarred Polly (Elisabeth Moss) whose emotional scars are much deeper and more profound, the deeply disturbed Daisy (Brittany Murphy) who was sexually abused by her father and obsesses over food.

The most potent, however, is the psychotic, sociopathic Lisa (Angelina Jolie) -- a charismatic and incorrigible rebel who habitually escapes from the facility, is found, returned and endures progressively stronger "treatment" including electroshock.

I was annoyed by some of the melodramatic scenes where Lisa leads the girls on clandestine forays into the bowels of the institutions and midnight raids on the psychiatrist's office to read their files, but I imagine it's all to show how much power a nutcase like Lisa can have over the more vulnerable girls.

It isn't until Susanna decides that she doesn't want to remain sentenced to this dorm of the doomed that she begins the long road to proving herself stable.

Joanna Kerns portrays Susannah's mother while Venessa Redgrave and Jeffrey Tambor play psychiatrists.

Based on the journals of Susanna Kaysen with screenplay and direction by James Mangold.

Rated R for strong language and content relating to drugs, sexuality and suicide.

My personal rating: B

Barney Miller 1:1 (TV Series)

Comedy series debutted in 1975 on ABC-TV.

Barney Miller heads up a squad at a police precinct in NYC.

Starring Hal Linden, Abe Vigoda, Gregory Sierra, Max Gail, Jack Soo, Ron Glass, Linda Lavin, Barbara Barrie, James Gregory.

This was one of my very favorite series of the 1970s, and while watching it again brought a few laughs, the show was really so dated that it wasn't as enjoyable as I'd thought it would be. For that reason, one DVD with a couple of episodes was enough for me.

My personal rating: C

My January 2004 Viewings

Recommended DVDs noted with *. Underline titles are links to reviews.

Kiss the Sky 01/30/04 (F)
* Big Night 01/26/04 (B)
Johnny English 01/26/04
Clockwatchers 01/23/04 (C+)
* The Moderns 01/15/04 (B)
* 13 Conversations About One Thing 01/15/04 (B)
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind 01/12/04 (C)
* Sling Blade 01/09/04 (A)
* Catch-22 01/08/04 (A)
* About Schmidt 01/06/04 (A-)
* Seabiscuit 01/02/04 (A-)

11/11/11

13 Conversations About One Thing (2001)

These are interwoven stories of isolated people whose lives intersect in little ways as they each search for happiness despite the complexities of life, luck, and unpredictability.

Gene (Alan Arkin) is an insurance company middle-manager who suffers in quiet desperation over his lot in life. His sadness comes from his career drive which ultimately lead to a profound breach with his troubled son and his own divorce many years before.

A hot shot young lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) makes a bad mistake one night and is deeply haunted by his sudden loss of happiness. His physical transformation and expressions powerfully and profoundly reflect his angst.

Bea (Clea DuVall) is an innocent and spiritual young woman who is seriously damaged in an accident. A physics professor (John Torturro) and his wife (Amy Irving) deal with infidelity.

Written by sisters Karen Sprecher and Jill Sprecher; directed by Karen Sprecher.

Rated R for language and brief drug use.

My personal rating: B

The Moderns (1988)

Sweet But Devious

1920s. Paris. Cafè society. Looney cocktail parties. Sex. Corruption. Art. All this and more in a wry love triangle comedy.

Nick Hart (Keith Carradine) is an expatriate American painter with a talent for forging art by Cezanne, Modigliani, and Matisse. When he arrives in Paris, he connects with his former lover Rachel (Linda Fiorentino), who has a drinking problem mostly due to her marriage to the ruthless and wealthy art collector Bertram Stone (the exotic John Lone).

Nick spends most of his time hanging out at cafès (watch for Ernest Hemingway writing at the end of the bar) and hobnobbing with Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklais at cocktail parties with his gossipy friend Oiseu (Wallace Shawn).

But when his art dealer (Geneviève Bujold) commissions Nick to replicate coveted modern art that are purchased by Bertram Stone, the love triangle takes a new twist.

Wallace Shawn has some juicy comedic bits -- especially when he dresses in drag to observe what is supposed to be his own funeral -- and he plays them with aplomb

Directed by Alan Rudolph.

Terrific sexy soundtrack!

Geneviève Bujold won the 1988 Los Angeles Film Critic's Association Best Supporting Actress Award for this performance. Mark Isham also won for Best Music -- and I heard why!

Unrated by MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America).

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind () NEEDS COMPLETION

Well, a dangerous mind? How about a severely drugged mind?

This film alternately felt like what I imagine a bad acid trip must be like

and a poignant view at a strange man.

Bottom line, I'm not really sure if I liked it or not. It was...different.

George Clooney, in his directorial debut, seemed a tad scattered at first,but in the end, much of his vision seemed to pull together to weave the tale. I enjoyed his homage to his auntie, Rosemary Clooney.



I very much enjoyed Drew Barrymore's character and thought she played it with real understanding. Apparently it's a role she aggressively campaigned for even before Clooney won the property. She was, perhaps, the only thread of sanity in the whole story.



I'd be curious if the interspersed statements by Dick Clark, Jaye P. Morgan,Gene Gene the Dancing Machine, and others were their real thoughts or were scripted. Certainly they all thought Chuck Barris odd but seemed to have some real empathy for him. But then I wouldn't expected otherwise because of how this movie was crafted with great imput from Barris himself.



Would I recommend this film? Hmmmm...very cautiously and only to certain people. Would I see it again? Probably not in the near future. Maybe in a few years.



Don't know what is is about Barris, but ever since I first saw him I alternated between a great disgust for him and a real curiosity about him. Apparently he's had that affect on a lot of people.






Run time:





Rating:






My personal rating: C+

Catch-22 (1970)

.

Paddling to Norway

A pilot is trying desperately to be certified insane during World War II, so he can stop flying missions.

There really very little I can say about this masterpiece except SEE IT! To give away too much of the story might ruin it. It's to be experienced.

The stunning acting ensemble includes: Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Bob Newhart, Art Garfunkel, Bob Balaban, Martin Sheen, Charles Grodin, Anthony Perkins, Richard Benjamin, Jon Voight, Orson Welles, Buck Henry, Jack Gifford, Peter Bonerz, Paula Prentiss, and Norman Fell.

Based on a novel by Joseph Heller with screenplay by Buck Henry. Directed by Mike Nichols.

My personal rating: A

About Schmidt (2002)

I really don't know why I was drawn to a Jack Nicholson film again. He drives me bonkers. But he just has that magnetic pull in some films. He's such an enigma. Not that enigmas scare/anger/upset me so much, but he's just so far beyond my capacity to figure out. I don't usually get into stuff like that -- but with Nicholson, I can't seem to help it.

Is Jack Nicholson the characters he portrays or are the characters he portrays Jack Nicholson? Has he built up all this "attitude"that he displays off-screen because he's trying to live up to the caricatures of characters he plays?

I really never got the whole fascination with As Good As It Gets. I thought Nicholson was just playing himself and it irritated me that he won an AcademyAward for it. Of course, Helen Hunt was just playing herself, too, and I will never forgive the Academy for granting her an Oscar over Dame Judi's portrayal of Mrs. Brown.

But back to Schmidt.

It shocked me that I loved this move so much! I'm not really sure how and why a film like this gets called a comedy. It's just so poignant. It isn't really a drama. There's certainly humor but the term comedy just doesn't fit for me in reference to this and other films of similar ilk. Anyhow...

I felt great compassion for Nicholson's character and I felt he excelled in actually acting. After watching it once, I was compelled to replay some scenes because I just wanted to relish his performance a little longer.

Of course, I was more than a little green with envy over his RV and the opportunity he'd had to take off traveling. That is my dream --but I seriously doubt I'll ever do it.

I didn't care for some of the extra material on the DVD, but I did thoroughly enjoy the several scenes that had been edited out of the film, complete with explanations about why they weren't included. Gave lots of insight into the director's mind.
I suspect this is one of those movies that either strikes a chord with a viewer or not. For me, it struck several chords and really made me stop and think about my own situation in life.

Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, Kathy Bates.

Directed by Alexander Payne.

My personal rating: A-

Seabiscuit (2002)

Had I not read the book, I probably would have loved the film enormously, but as so often happens, I found the book superior. Granted, the book is huge in its scope and I can appreciate that the filmmaker couldn't possibly fit it all in, but there were certain things I was looking for specifically that weren't included so I felt a little let down about that.

For one, there was no mention of the jockey's nurse-turned-girlfriend-turned-wife which may have left viewers with the impression that he was a complete loner in life. There was also not enough coverage of the fact that the Seabiscuit/War Admiral duel had to be cancelled several times because of problems with Team Seabiscuit -- injuries to both horse and rider, and weather conditions that caused Team Seabiscuit to cancel races at the last moment. Knowing of this from the book added sigificant tension to the whole story.

But as a film, I think it was overall better than average -- especially for a horse lover like me.

Jeff Bridges did a fine job as Seabiscuit's benevolent owner, Charles Howard, who always showed respect for the trainer, jockey, and the horse. He had a few scenes that brought tears to my eyes. The only fault I find with that character in both the book and the film is that absolutely no warts were exposed. Perhaps the real Charles Howard had no warts. Certainly no one has stepped forward to reveal them -- but I just get this feelingthere were things untold.

Toby McGuire was satisfactory as the jockey Red Pollard, though I was left hankering a bit for some other actor. I don't know who exactly, but I guess that means I didn't feel McGuire was the very best choice for the role. There was just something a tad missing in his portrayal.

I think perhaps I was most impressed with Chris Cooper's portrayal of the trainer. Tom Smith. He spoke more than I expected (based on descriptions of him inthe book) but he was sort of that invisible soul who blended into the background and yet had an important impact on that incredible horse's success -- and the whole Team Seabiscuit experience.

William H. Macy's Tick-Tock McGlaughlin character, a total contrivence, was needed for transitions in the film, but somehow he annoyed the crackers out of me.

Though Randy Newman's musical score was a tad more than gushy in some places, it had an overall endearing quality. And there were a few haunting musical phrases that I could hear over and over again.

Maybe the biggest attractions for me were the lush cinematography, the panoramic racetrack views, the outstanding costuming of huge numbers of people, and the continuity. Though I know 15 different horses were used for Seabiscuit, I simply couldn't discern a difference in the beasts; their sizes, conformation, and other features were so perfectly matched.
Based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand. Directed by Gary Ross.

Rated PG-13 for some sexual situations and violent sports-related images.

My personal rating: A-