IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) - Nov. 27, 2004 (Second Viewing)
A classic. Jimmy Stewart gives a brilliant performance and is perfect as George Bailey, a man who famously comes to find out what life would be like if he had never been born. Of course, the movie is about far more than just that; we see George Bailey go from an idealistic young man to a husband and father with the burden of responsibility heavy on his shoulders. And did I mention how good Jimmy Stewart was? He was absolutely perfect in what has to be one of the best performances of all time. Despite being over two hours the movie doesn't feel long for a second, and was excellently directed by Frank Capra. And then of course there is that ending -- I submit that anyone who doesn't get at least a little bit choked up must be some kind of robot. ****
Short reviews of all the movies I see, rated out of four. Reviews containing spoilers are marked with an (S).
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. (1928) - Nov. 25, 2004
An entertaining Buster Keaton film, featuring the famous shot where a house falls on him. Unlike certain silent comedians (Charlie Chaplin) Buster Keaton's films are almost always funny and entertaining, and this one is no exception. The music on the DVD I watched - by a band Ebert supposedly called "the best in the world at accompanying silent films" - was a bit obtrusive at times. Also, the use of weather forecasts between a couple of scenes reminded me of Magnolia, so it's possible there was a bit of an influence there. ***
An entertaining Buster Keaton film, featuring the famous shot where a house falls on him. Unlike certain silent comedians (Charlie Chaplin) Buster Keaton's films are almost always funny and entertaining, and this one is no exception. The music on the DVD I watched - by a band Ebert supposedly called "the best in the world at accompanying silent films" - was a bit obtrusive at times. Also, the use of weather forecasts between a couple of scenes reminded me of Magnolia, so it's possible there was a bit of an influence there. ***
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Blazing Saddles
BLAZING SADDLES (1974) - Nov. 24, 2004
A funny parody of Westerns by Mel Brooks. While definitely not quite the classic that Young Frankenstein is (the movie itself is not as good and some of the jokes fall flat), it was still pretty good. Gene Wilder was really good (of course), as was Harvey Korman as an evil land developer. ***
A funny parody of Westerns by Mel Brooks. While definitely not quite the classic that Young Frankenstein is (the movie itself is not as good and some of the jokes fall flat), it was still pretty good. Gene Wilder was really good (of course), as was Harvey Korman as an evil land developer. ***
Monday, November 15, 2004
Winter Light
WINTER LIGHT (1963) - Nov. 15, 2004
An extremely slow-paced film by Ingmar Bergman about a preacher who questions his faith. Though the performances were all quite good, the movie was just too slow to ever really get into. It was mercifully short at 81 minutes, but even then it still felt too long. I think half an hour probably would have been a better running-time; there were certainly good things about it, but the glacial pace just made it impossible to care. **
An extremely slow-paced film by Ingmar Bergman about a preacher who questions his faith. Though the performances were all quite good, the movie was just too slow to ever really get into. It was mercifully short at 81 minutes, but even then it still felt too long. I think half an hour probably would have been a better running-time; there were certainly good things about it, but the glacial pace just made it impossible to care. **
Saturday, November 13, 2004
The Motorcycle Diaries
THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (2004) - Nov. 13, 2004
The Motorcycle diaries starts off well enough. About a couple of friends who decide to go on a road trip on a dilapidated old motorcycle -- one of whom happens to be Ernesto "Che" Guevara. The two main performances are really good and we certainly come to like Che and his buddy. However, at around the one-hour mark the film becomes increasingly heavy-handed, intent on showing us how Che became Che. The two run into one downtrodden worker after another, and after a while it's like, enough already. Jeez, we get it. The film does everything short of showing us Che flipping through the Communist Manifesto and nodding approvingly. The film ran over two hours and by the end I was quite happy for it to be over. Which is too bad because the first half was really good. **1/2
The Motorcycle diaries starts off well enough. About a couple of friends who decide to go on a road trip on a dilapidated old motorcycle -- one of whom happens to be Ernesto "Che" Guevara. The two main performances are really good and we certainly come to like Che and his buddy. However, at around the one-hour mark the film becomes increasingly heavy-handed, intent on showing us how Che became Che. The two run into one downtrodden worker after another, and after a while it's like, enough already. Jeez, we get it. The film does everything short of showing us Che flipping through the Communist Manifesto and nodding approvingly. The film ran over two hours and by the end I was quite happy for it to be over. Which is too bad because the first half was really good. **1/2
Friday, November 12, 2004
The Birds
THE BIRDS (1963) - Nov. 12, 2004
A suspensful film about a small town that finds itself attacked by birds. The fact that it is excellently directed is certainly no surprise, and the scenes where the birds attack were especially well-done. I really liked the scene where Tippi Hedren enters the child's room and is attacked. I also liked the scene where the birds gather on the playground. Hitchcock's mastery of editing to create suspense is in full-force here; I think that the scenes where the birds attack are just as good as Psycho's shower scene. I also liked how the film took its time setting up the characters and building suspense. While this wasn't one of Hitchcock's best films, even his lesser films are better than ninety percent of the stuff out there. ***
A suspensful film about a small town that finds itself attacked by birds. The fact that it is excellently directed is certainly no surprise, and the scenes where the birds attack were especially well-done. I really liked the scene where Tippi Hedren enters the child's room and is attacked. I also liked the scene where the birds gather on the playground. Hitchcock's mastery of editing to create suspense is in full-force here; I think that the scenes where the birds attack are just as good as Psycho's shower scene. I also liked how the film took its time setting up the characters and building suspense. While this wasn't one of Hitchcock's best films, even his lesser films are better than ninety percent of the stuff out there. ***
Saturday, November 06, 2004
Saw
SAW (2004) - Nov. 6, 2004
A sort of cross between Seven and Cube. Though not really as good as either of those films, it was still pretty good. Danny Glover was good as a grizzled cop obsessed with catching the killer, Jigsaw. Cary Elwes was a little over-the-top as one of Jigsaw's victims, and in fact the occasional hamminess of his performance illicited some inappropriate laughter from the audience I saw it with. Though the film was perhaps not quite as good as I thought it would be (I would have preferred more of the stuff with the two guys in the room and less flashbacks), it was certainly entertaining all the way through and pretty suspenseful at times. ***
A sort of cross between Seven and Cube. Though not really as good as either of those films, it was still pretty good. Danny Glover was good as a grizzled cop obsessed with catching the killer, Jigsaw. Cary Elwes was a little over-the-top as one of Jigsaw's victims, and in fact the occasional hamminess of his performance illicited some inappropriate laughter from the audience I saw it with. Though the film was perhaps not quite as good as I thought it would be (I would have preferred more of the stuff with the two guys in the room and less flashbacks), it was certainly entertaining all the way through and pretty suspenseful at times. ***
Thursday, November 04, 2004
In the Navy
IN THE NAVY (1941) - Nov. 4, 2004
Another Abbott and Costello movie bogged down by many, many songs and a useless subplot (involving a singer who shuns the spotlight by joining the navy, and a photographer anxious to get his picture). Why can't Abbott and Costello movies just be about Abbott and Costello? Oh well, it was pretty much entertaining the whole time, and the stuff with Abbott and Costello was really good (I particularly liked the scene where Costello struggles to get into a hammock). **1/2
Another Abbott and Costello movie bogged down by many, many songs and a useless subplot (involving a singer who shuns the spotlight by joining the navy, and a photographer anxious to get his picture). Why can't Abbott and Costello movies just be about Abbott and Costello? Oh well, it was pretty much entertaining the whole time, and the stuff with Abbott and Costello was really good (I particularly liked the scene where Costello struggles to get into a hammock). **1/2
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Ray
RAY (2004) - Nov. 2, 2004
Jamie Foxx is electrifying in this overlong movie about Ray Charles' life. Foxx proves once and for all that he is indeed an excellent actor, but the movie occasionally feels like an endurance test. The film is at least an hour too long; it starts to feel really repetitive towards the end, like we're seeing the same scenes over and over again. There were a lot of songs, but they were all actually really good, and welcome relief from the movie itself which was really starting to wear on me towards the end. **1/2
Jamie Foxx is electrifying in this overlong movie about Ray Charles' life. Foxx proves once and for all that he is indeed an excellent actor, but the movie occasionally feels like an endurance test. The film is at least an hour too long; it starts to feel really repetitive towards the end, like we're seeing the same scenes over and over again. There were a lot of songs, but they were all actually really good, and welcome relief from the movie itself which was really starting to wear on me towards the end. **1/2
Monday, November 01, 2004
The Silence
THE SILENCE (1963) - Nov. 1, 2004
The title of this film is certainly appropriate, as in the entire 96 minute run-time of the movie, I think there might be five minutes of dialogue. About a young boy, his mother and her sister, and a brief stop they make in a foreign country when one of the sisters falls ill. The movie essentially consists of long, wordless sequences in which the characters wander around. Finally towards the end of the movie the two sisters get into a fight (they apparently hate each other), but it is essentially meaningless since we don't really know either of them. Ingmar Bergman's direction is pretty much the sole highlight of the film -- at the very least it's usually interesting to look at. **
The title of this film is certainly appropriate, as in the entire 96 minute run-time of the movie, I think there might be five minutes of dialogue. About a young boy, his mother and her sister, and a brief stop they make in a foreign country when one of the sisters falls ill. The movie essentially consists of long, wordless sequences in which the characters wander around. Finally towards the end of the movie the two sisters get into a fight (they apparently hate each other), but it is essentially meaningless since we don't really know either of them. Ingmar Bergman's direction is pretty much the sole highlight of the film -- at the very least it's usually interesting to look at. **
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