It Happened One Night

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) - Sept. 29, 2004
Clark Gable is excellent in this romantic comedy, an early entry in the "lots of stuff happening in a short amount of time" genre. Claudette Colbert was also really good as the spoiled daughter of a millionaire who runs away from her father. Wackiness ensues as she and Clark Gable try to get to New York, and of course fall in love in the process (after much bickering). My biggest complaint would be that the part at the end where there's a misunderstanding and it seems like they might not get together was ridiculously long (around 25 minutes). The movie remained entertaining, but this section was definitely longer than it needed to be. The movie was also actually surprisingly funny -- I particularly liked the part where Clark Gable gave Colbert an extended lesson on hitchhiking. ***

Good Bye Lenin!

GOOD BYE LENIN! (2003) - Sept. 28, 2004 (S)
A really good dramedy about a son who goes to extreme lengths to prevent his mother from finding out that the Berlin wall has fallen (she was in a coma when it happened). Though it is essentially plotless, it's always entertaining because of how well-developed the characters are. Though the film certainly has funny moments, it is mostly a drama. I particularly liked the look on the father's face when he realized that he was looking at his son for the first time in years. The fact that the characters are so well-developed makes it seem believable even when the son goes to almost ludicrous lengths to keep up the charade. I also like how, at the end, the mother finds out the truth but never tells her son -- she's happy that he's gone through so much to protect her, and he's happy that he's managed to keep his mother sheltered. ***1/2

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (2004) - Sept. 23, 2004
While perhaps not quite the classic I had hoped it would be, this was still a really entertaining movie. It took me a while to get used to the murky look of the film (everything was in really soft focus, for whatever reason). Aside from that, the movie's visuals were really impressive, especially considering it was pretty much all made in a computer. They were definitely going for an Indiana Jones type of vibe with the character of the Sky Captain, but it didn't quite work. Not that he wasn't a good character -- Jude Law was really good, as usual -- but he was no Indiana Jones. So I was somewhat let down, but my expectations were probably a bit too high. ***

Eurotrip

EUROTRIP (2004) - Sept. 22, 2004
A surprisingly entertaining and funny teen comedy about a group of friends who head to Europe to find a girl. Wackiness ensues. Though it takes place over an undisclosed amount of time, it pretty much falls into the "lots of stuff happening in a short amount of time" genre (and yet further proof that you can't go wrong with this genre, not that I needed it). ***

Metropolis

METROPOLIS (1927) - Sept. 21, 2004 (Second Viewing)
An excellent film about a future society in which the poor live underground, maintaining the machinery of the city, while the rich live in skyscrapers. The special effects are quite good, especially considering when it was made, and the film actually manages to portray a reasonably plausible vision of a future society (no cheesy silver jumpsuits or anything like that). Easily the best silent movie I've ever seen -- but aside from that, it is just a really good movie, not just good for a silent movie. ***1/2

Cellular

CELLULAR (2004) - Sept 14, 2004
A crackerjack thriller. About a woman who is kidnapped, but is able to use her mostly broken phone to connect to a guy on a cell phone. Kim Basinger and Chris Evans were both excellent in the main roles, and Jason Statham was appropriately sinister as the main bad guy. The movie didn't waste any time getting started, and pretty much had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. There was also a surprising amount of comedy in the film, which was nice. For sheer entertainment value, this was probably one of the best movies I've seen in a while, and was easily the best thriller I've seen since Panic Room. My only complaint is that the stupid trailer gave away way too much. Other than that, pure gold. ****

Resident Evil: Apocalypse

RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE (2004) - Sept. 10, 2004
An awful, awful movie. Where the original was surprisingly decent, and probably the best videogame movie so far (not that that takes much), this was just terrible. It fails on every conceivable level. The direction was horrible -- the movie was constantly unappealing to look at (nothing in this movie even came close to living up to the potential of that cool final shot of the first movie), and the action (of which there was plenty) was stupid and incoherent. Plus the action was way way too over-the-top. And Raccoon City looks suspiciously like Toronto -- the C.N. Tower even made an appearance. Plus there was the very prominent appearance of Toronto's City Hall. The quality of the acting ranged from terrible to barely adequate, with most performances falling into the former category. And the dialogue - what little there was - sucked (in fact, with the poor dialogue and acting, much of the movie actually reminded me of the cutscenes from the Resident Evil games, though I somehow doubt that was the intent). That's actually what this movie seemed like: it was like being forced to sit through a poorly-done one and a half hour cutscene for a Resident Evil game, and then not even being able to play the game. 1/2*

Shattered Glass

SHATTERED GLASS (2003) - Sept. 8, 2004
Hayden Christensen and Peter Sarsgaard are both excellent in this film about a journalist who fabricates his stories to make them more exciting. It was well-directed and really entertaining throughout (the 95 minute running-time probably helped). A brisk pace, good writing and direction, and strong performances all around... Not really much more you can ask for. ***1/2

Hero

HERO (2002) - Sept. 3, 2004
After a few good, but underwhelming movies, it seemed like Zhang Yimou's best days were behind him. Clearly, this is not the case. While Hero may not be quite as good as movies like Raise the Red Lantern and To Live (though certainly close -- I think repeat viewings are needed), it was still amazing and almost certainly the best movie I've seen so far this year. Visually -- with the dazzling use of colour and the intricately framed shots -- it was probably one of the best looking movies I've ever seen, and Zhang proves yet again that he's right up there with Kubrick in that arena. The fight sequences were all really well-done and really exciting, and the Rashomon-esque story was also quite excellent. Zhang, you've done it again! ****