Gamer

September 4, 2009. RUNNING MAN meets GLADIATOR with a touch of
BLADE RUNNER and a dash of FORTRESS. Michael C. Hall is a revelation as the cracker version of Bill Gates. The online game Society is the horrifyingly obvious and natural successor to the Sims. The killer dance number at the end is worth the price of admission alone. Visual style reminiscent of CRANK (not too surprising given the directors) and the story line does not mind stealing directly from RUNNING MAN and DEATH RACE. While the ending is weak, the film serves up what it promised. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034032/

Sherlock Holmes

December, 25 2009. In a dynamic new portrayal of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous characters, “Sherlock Holmes” sends Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988045/

Up in the Air

December 23, 2009. Based on the 2001 novel by American author Walter Kirn. Jason Reitman does an adequate job minding the family store (not a Stripes level of performance but then that sets the bar a little too high). I appreciate that the movie takes some unexpected turns, especially in the romance department. It would be easy to have Ryan Bingham (played smartly and convincingly by George Clooney) see the error of his ways and move in with Alex Goran (played by the unfailingly appealing Vera Farmiga) and have a nice happy life ever after. Except when he shows up unexpectedly at her house, he finds her with her nice little family. The contrast between work goals and career expectations versus family is too in your face, especially in the one-dimensional character of Natalie Keener (last seen in TWILIGHT). Clooney’s work is reminiscent of MICHAEL CLAYTON, the angst of man looking back and not liking what he sees. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193138/

Public Enemies

July, 1 2009. This movie shows Dillinger as a depression era hero and romantic. The action is great of course, just as you would expect from a Michael Mann movie. There is the traditional tension between criminals and their loved ones, which Mann explored delightfully in HEAT. But there is also an underlying melancholy involving the end of an era. Melvin Purvis and the FBI use new techniques to bring the criminals to heel, wire tapping and crime scene analysis that will one day become our beloved CSI. But there are also the age-old techniques of threatening the family of the accused and beating witnesses. It brings to mind the eternal question of how far you can go to fight fire with fire. Do you become the monster to destroy a monster? The fact that Purvis killed himself by shooting himself in the head must be considered a partial answer. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1152836/

Jennifer's Body

September 18, 2009. So you asked for a VERONICA MARS reunion with a mashup of MEAN GIRLS and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, well here it is for your viewing pleasure. Diablo Cody wants to be the Elmore Leonard of teen angst but the dialogue is just not hip or real enough. But while Diablo's star is falling, Megan Fox proves she can act, well at least more than in Transformers. The lurid sexual aspect may propel it to cult classic. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1131734/

Nora inu - Stray Dog

August 31, 1963. In Akira Kurosawa's gritty STRAY DOG, a young police detective named Murakami (Toshirô Mifune) gets his pistol stolen on a crowded bus during the oppressive heat of a late 1940s Tokyo summer. Since... In Akira Kurosawa's gritty STRAY DOG, a young police detective named Murakami (Toshirô Mifune) gets his pistol stolen on a crowded bus during the oppressive heat of a late 1940s Tokyo summer. Since guns are scarce at the time, the impulsive Murakami decides to track it down rather than risk losing his position on the force. With the aid of Sato (Takashi Shimura), a laid-back senior officer, Murakami embarks on the determined hunt for the weapon that leads him into the darkest corners of the city's criminal underworld. As his investigation progresses, Murakami discovers that his gun has been used in both a robbery and murder, making his search for the pistol and the criminal even more urgent. Mifune's third collaboration with Kurosawa, STRAY DOG displays the renowned actor's youthful intensity, a quality that would become more mature and refined in later films such as RASHOMON and SEVEN SAMURAI. Tempering Mifune's brash character is Shimura's wise older cop, an endearing figure from his first moment on the screen. The student/mentor relationship between the two proves crucial to the film, and elevates it above many crime movies of the era. Sporting excellent photography, a swinging soundtrack, and an increasingly perilous story line, STRAY DOG exemplifies a time, place, and genre with startling verve. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041699/

Slumdog Millionaire

November 12, 2008. First I must confess that I loved THE BEACH and TRAINSPOTTING. Visually dazzling and emotionally resonant, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is a film that's both entertaining and powerful. The way to story is told in flashbacks from the stage of India's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is very clever but I am a fan of non-linear narrative.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/

Everything is Illuminated

September 16, 2005. Acclaimed actor Liev Schrieber (DAYTRIPPERS, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE) makes his directorial debut in this adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer's bestselling novel about a young Jewish-American writer of the same name. Mixing equal parts black comedy and poignant drama, the film follows Jonathan (Elijah Wood) as he travels to the Ukraine to solve a family secret. There he meets his barely legitimate tour guides: Alex (Eugene Hutz, member of the folk-punk band Gogol Bordello), a cosmopolitan playboy obsessed with Michael Jackson and other American icons; Alex's grandfather (Boris Leskin), a man worn down by life who seems to be losing his grip on reality; and Sammy Davis, Jr. Jr, the "seeing-eye bitch" dog who comes along for the ride. As Jonathan closes in on his goal--to find the story behind the woman who saved his grandfather during the Holocaust--it becomes clear that Alex's grandfather has a dark secret of his own that needs to be, as the film suggests, illuminated. EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED lives up to the quirkiness of its source material, and is similar to films like BEING JOHN MALKOVICH or LOST IN TRANSLATION. Filmed on location in Prague, the film features breathtaking landscapes, including a memorable scene in a field of sunflowers. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0404030/

Burn After Reading

September 12, 2008. Not as good as the BIG LEBOWSKI but better than INTOLERABLE CRUELTY, this movie has elements of both. I am amazed at the Coen brothers ability to get name brand stars like Brad Pitt play ridicules roles. John Malkovich is delightful as usual, playing the villain as usual with just the right amount of humor and realism. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887883/

AngelA

December 21, 2005. Jamel Debbouze is a vision as a super shady qusi-businessman Andre, so full of self-loathing that he positively shimmers on the screen. I am thinking especially of the scene at the bar where Angela is making money in the bathroom. Rie Rasumssen is the perfect contrast to Andre, both in screen presence and in world view. Given the direction by Luc Besson, the Mise en scène is amazing, better than but also reminiscent of the THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. It is both a love story and a morality tale without being too pedantic or sappy. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473753/