5 Jun, 2010
Seattle International Film Festival - Personal Movie Rankings
22 May, 2010
Seattle International Film Festival 2010 - More Brief Reviews
14 May, 2010
Seattle International Film Festival 2010 - Brief Reviews
A brief look at this week's press screenings:
Soul Kitchen, directed by Fatih Akin (Germany, 2009) 99 min. - Entertaining, somewhat lighthearted drama/romance of a struggling restaurant owner. Sounds like No Reservations, but very different with some unbelievable deux ex machinas.
Father of My Children, directed by Mia Hansen-Løve (France, 2009) 110 min. - Boring, seemingly pointless movie around a family coping with financial difficulty of their movie studio and loss.
The Freebie, directed by Katie Aselton (USA, 2010) 78 min. - Somewhat disturbing movie about a couple planning a night of infidelity. Really just grating and irritating without any empathy or sympathy for the main characters.
The Concert, directed by Radu Mihaileanu (France, 2009) 119 min. - Entertaining movie about redemption of a group of musicians disbanded with the fall of Communism brought together in a somewhat comical way.
Bus Palladium, directed by Christopher Thompson (France, 2010) 100 min. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE - Fun rock and roll, relationship (band of brothers and romance) movie. I would find it brilliant were it not for Almost Famous.
Restrepo, directed by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington (USA, 2010) 96 min. - Very thoughtful and engaging look at one group of soldiers' 15 month deployment in Afghanistan. Even more poignant if you know what has happend since. See the book War.
Skeletons, directed by Nick Whitfield (United Kingdom, 2009) 95 min. - Dark and whimsical fantasy film. Slow build up but worth it when things kind of tie together in the end. The quirky performances are both engaging and endearing.
The Hedgehog, directed by Mona Achache (France, 2009) 98 min. - Very engaging drama about the residents of a luxury apartment complex and their janitor. Coming of age for both a young girl and middle-age woman.
Prince of Tears, directed by Yonfan (Hong Kong, 2009) 122 min. - Beautiful and fascinating movie covering the the early part of the Nationalist relocation to Taiwan and their anti-communist fervor. A movie that really makes you think what the heck happend, I think deliberately but many of us SIFFers ended up debating.
Amer, directed by Hélène Cattet (Belgium, 2009) 90 min. - Just plain weird and disturbing... Hyper reality, terrifying look at the life of a woman. Not sure of whether it was intended to be horror or not. Lots of folks walked out...
20 Oct, 2008
Best of Fantastic Fest 2008 Roundup
OK it has been a few weeks, but catchup at work was brutal....
Here were my favorite of the 34 films at Fanstastic Fest 2008:
The Good, the Bad, and the Weird - Fantastic epic western drama
The Chaser - A classic Asian thriller/crime/horror movie rolled in one. I think a referenccial work that helps define the genre.
Fighter - A great modern day Bend it like Beckham/Karate Kid martial arts flick. Not very deep but sentimentally inspiring.
Zombie Girl: THE MOVIE - A great movie for parents. Simply inspiring true story about a family and friends.
Muay Thai Chaiya - Another great Asian martial arts film. This one is fundamentally a movie about love and brothers. Just awesome.
Chocolate - Brainless rip roaring martial arts flick, aside from Ong Bak reminded me of older Jackie Chan, how did they do that movies.
JCVD - A great Jean-Claude Van Damme movie where its hard to tell the difference between truth and fiction in his life.
Special mention for Martyrs which I thought was just sick... Not quite the ick factor I felt when I first saw Saw, but close.
I should also mention the great Let the Right One In which is probably the fan facvorite of the festival besides JCVD, but I saw that earlier at SIFF...
20 Oct, 2008
Max Payne - Poor Excuse for Action Flick
OK it's not one of the worst movies of the year, but in a bountiful year of action movies (many comic book films) there is little reason for a Max Payne to be made.
Action OK, but everything is just a poor imitation of Constantine and Shoot 'Em Up.
The women didn't get much screen time, and there wasn't enough quality character development to make Max Payne empathetic (see The Fugitive for much better effort in probably less time in setup).
6 Oct, 2008
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - Real Life In A Bizarre Sort of Way
Nick and Norah is meant to be a relationship movie of two ships meant to find each other in the course of a night. Somewhat like Adventures in Babysitting or Go there are a series of unlikely events that bring the two closer together.
This would be a fairly decent movie if the characters were relatable. Maybe its just me, I found them likable but unrelatable. Kind of a mediocre movie without the personal empathy.
2 Sep, 2008
Babylon AD - Could be much worse
Expectations are low given that it is a Vin Diesal movie. This one isn't nearly as bad as I imagined.
It is an OK action movie in the tradition of XXX. Only real problem is that the premise of a techno religion, opposition, and mobsters is not very well developed. Lots of stuff if hinted at and left on the floor. Unsatisfying ending that definitely does not tie things together nor is completely understandable.
http://www.babylonadmovie.com/
28 Jul, 2008
X-Files I Want to Believe - What were they thinking? Made for TV
What a let down... After all these years of waiting for a new meeting, we get one of scope and breadth that might as well not be a X-Files movie. I swear the premiere episode of Fringe is better than this movie in almost every possible way.
Virtually no mythology, too intimate in scope. Arghhh.... I love X-Files including the first movie, but this one should not have been made.
20 Jul, 2008
Dark Knight - A Phenomenal Movie
How strange that the two best movies of the year so far are comic book movies?
The Dark Knight works on so many levels with interesting characters at all levels that you connect with. What are heroism, duty, responsibility, hope and optimism? What is right and wrong? Do the ends justify the means? What is evil? We get a fascinating inside look not only of Bruce Wayne as Batman, but also Rachel, Harvey Dent, and the Joker himself. All are complex characters you end up relating to as the story movies along at a torrid pace.
Action, plenty of that and all performed with adeft and realistic touch.
Stunning, just stunning...
14 Jul, 2008
Hellboy 2 - Improvement on the First
We can only hope that this is a series improving with each release. This one is a pretty decent action movie in a Mummy/Tomb Raider kind of way though not quite as good as either of them. The secondary romance story lines are cut a little too quick for people to care.
I am really looking forward to Batman at this point...
6 Jul, 2008
Get Smart - Why Bother?
First why bother to remake a classic? After getting over that one, how about some decent writing?
This one is a real stinker that seems to attempt to straddle the comedy of the original series with the action and it of a True Lies. Unfortunately this one doesn't measure up in any way. I think some in the audience laughed at times, but the reaction I heard in the hallway was the movie was just OK.
I love Anne Hathaway as much as the next person, but even she could not save this film.
An abrupt end to Steve Carell's winning streak.
4 Jul, 2008
Kit Kittredge - Topical Family Fare
Leave it to a family movie to deal head with the financial crisis and foreclosure. But wait, this movie is set during the great depression.
I probably mentioned that I have a soft spot for message stories, and this certainly fits the category. I think this is a good one to take you kids of all ages. You are never to young or old to realize that almost all of us are just one tragedy or crisis from financial ruin, to hold your head up and never give up, don't judge a book by its cover, reading is fundamental, or we're all more alike than different.
Beyond the messaging, this is just a good solid movie. One might quibble with the theft story line but I think it is an effective vehicle for dealing with all the other topics.
Personally I would take kids to this one over Wall-E anyday.
2 Jul, 2008
Hancock - Low Impact Good Time
The story line seemed a bit weak, but I have not seen the comic book series on which this is based.
Promising story line of the public redemption of reluctant super hero who is basically a bum with amnesia prior to waking up in a hospital years ago. As the story goes on a coincidence leads to Hancock discovering some of the truth of how he came to be.
I would like to like this movie more, and at times I saw the superstar Will Smith instead of the Hancock character. I watched part of Men in Black last eek on TV which is an infinitely better movie.
2 Jul, 2008
Wall-E - Weakest of the Pixar Movies - Still Better than Most
Pixar should stick with the buddy formula, this along with the other non-buddy film (Incredibles) are definitely the weakest in the Pixar filmography.
Still a good movie with a cute sympathetic lead and an interesting commentary on romance, pollution and the life of leisure for humanity. Hmmm... Jetson's is a much more hopeful view of the future. Animation just seemed average for this day and age...
30 Jun, 2008
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - A Few Years Too Late
An entertaining film in the tradition of the original Indiama Jones movies. Somehow this one felt a little dated and a rehash of the original Raiders.
The earlier sequels felt like they offered something more. I think Mutt/Shia's character was probably miscast and awkward.
