American Gangster

AMERICAN GANGSTER (2007) - Oct. 31, 2007
Denzel Washington is awesome as usual in this otherwise underwhelming and way overlong crime drama about a drug kingpin and the gritty cop trying to take him down. One of the film's main problems is that Washington's character is far more interesting than Russell Crowe's, and they probably get an equal amount of screentime -- and this being a two hour and forty minute movie, that's a lot of time. Though Washington is clearly the standout, all the performances are quite good. Another problem with the film is that the direction is surprisingly bland; it's hard to believe that it's directed by the same man who made Blade Runner, which is probably one of the most visually stunning movies ever made. The scene in which Crowe and Washington finally confront each other was pretty much electrifying, and I was always entertained, but this was still pretty disappointing. **1/2

The Darjeeling Limited

THE DARJEELING LIMITED (2007) - Oct. 31, 2007 (Second Viewing)
Yep, this was pretty awesome. Compelling characters, eye-popping direction, humour, warmth -- what more can you ask for. If I had to rank Wes Anderson's films I would do so as follows:

1. The Life Aquatic
2. Rushmore
3. The Royal Tenenbaums
4. The Darjeeling Limited
5. Bottle Rocket

Darjeeling may be towards the end of that list, but that's only because Wes Anderson is awesome. These are all four star movies (except maybe Bottle Rocket -- I've only seen it once and I need to see it again). ****

Saw IV

SAW IV (2007) - Oct. 26, 2007
Though the Saw films have been getting progressively worse, this is the first one that's outright bad. It probably doesn't help that aside from Tobin Bell's Jigsaw, there isn't a single decent character in the bunch -- they're all underdeveloped and uninteresting, and a couple of them look pretty similar, making things even more confusing than they have to be. Then there's the film's plot, which gets more and more convoluted as it goes along, and by the end... so, that guy on the chair was in on it all along? Is he the new Jigsaw? Why? I don't get it. Did the projectionist miss a reel, or what? Plus, Darren Lynn Bousman's direction is as mediocre as ever, and the whole film has a really flat, unpleasant look to it. Even the sequences with Jigsaw's traps weren't that great; they were starting to get old two movies ago, and now they've definitely lost whatever impact they might have once had. Boo-urns. *1/2

Gone Baby Gone

GONE BABY GONE (2007) - Oct. 24, 2007
I guess Ben Affleck has been on the wrong side of the camera all along. This was a surprisingly good movie about a private investigator who's called in when a little girl is kidnapped. Affleck's direction is actually quite good, and the film is entertaining throughout. The film is also filled with some really good actors and they're all at the top of their game. Casey Affleck, in particular, gives a really impressive performance; he was excellent in the Assassination of Jesse James, and he may just be even better here. ***1/2

A Clockwork Orange

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) - Oct. 23, 2007 (Fourth or Fifth Viewing)
This is it. From the indescribably awesome opening shot to the equally awesome closing shot, this is as good as it gets. Stanley Kubrick is at his best here, and every shot is pretty much perfect. The use of music is perfect, as is, well... pretty much everything else. This is easily one of the best films of all time. ****

30 Days of Night

30 DAYS OF NIGHT (2007) - Oct. 20, 2007
A violently effective horror film about a group of vampires who descend on a small Alaskan town (which happens to have no sunlight for a full thirty days). It was entertaining and well directed, though it can't quite top David Slade's previous film, Hard Candy, which -- even on a much smaller scale -- managed to have an almost consistent level of tension which this film wasn't quite able to maintain. ***

The Last King of Scotland

THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND (2006) - Oct. 19, 2007
An entertaining film about a young Scottish doctor who goes to Uganda and winds up becoming Idi Amin's personal physician. Forest Whitaker was deserving of all the accolades he received for his performance, and James McAvoy held his own and actually managed to give a performance that was just as good as the doctor. ***

Things we Lost in the Fire

THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE (2007) - Oct. 17, 2007
A well acted (particularly Bencio Del Toro, who is probably one of the best and most intense actors working in Hollywood today) and well made film about how a man's death affects his wife and his best friend, a recovering heroin addict. There was nothing particularly wrong with it, but the egregiously slow pace keep me at a consistent arm's length. **1/2

The Darjeeling Limited

THE DARJEELING LIMITED (2007) - Oct. 17, 2007
Awesomeness. Pure awesomeness. If there were any doubt remaining that Wes Anderson is one of the greatest living filmmakers, this movie completely squashes it. I don't think anyone else has his knack for consistently, eye-poppingly good visuals and well-drawn, compelling characters. Wow. ****

Michael Clayton

MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007) - Oct. 12, 2007
Featuring a really strong performance from George Clooney (as well as equally good performances from people like Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton) this was a well made drama about a fixer who gets embroiled in shenanigans involving a crazy lawyer and a massive lawsuit. First time director Tony Gilroy does a really good job keeping the film compelling, even during the more baffling stretches (the film takes its time giving out all the pertinent information, which actually works really well). ***1/2

We Own the Night

WE OWN THE NIGHT (2007) - Oct. 10, 2007
Wow! I guess I need to watch the Yards again. Though I remember that movie as being interminably slow, if this film is any indication then James Gray is a much better director than I gave him credit for. Gray, who obviously has more than a passing affection for crime movies of the '70s, takes his time telling this story, but it's absolutely never boring, and riveting in parts (including one of the most thrilling car chases of recent memory, and a really fantastic scene in which a drug deal goes horribly wrong). This is definitely a character-driven film, so it helps that the performances are uniformly excellent. Joaquin Phoenix, in particular, gives a really stunning performance that's probably his best ever. Maybe it helps that I went into this film with very low expectations, but I liked it quite a lot. ***1/2

Flash Point

FLASH POINT (2007) - Oct. 6, 2007 (Second Viewing)
There's probably less action in this film than I remembered. The first hour or so, though punctuated with a few brief scenes of action, is basically just setting everything up. This stuff is all pretty mediocre -- it passes the time, but there's certainly nothing all that good about it. But then when the action does kick in (no pun intended)... Wow. Donnie Yen proves that he can stage and perform action with the best of them, and Wilson Yip's direction does exactly what it should do (it makes the action exciting without calling attention to itself). I cannot possibly say enough good things about the final action scene, which pretty much defines the word "awesome". ***1/2

The Kingdom

THE KINGDOM (2007) - Oct. 5, 2007
About a group of FBI agents who go to Saudi Arabia to investigate the bombing of an American compound, this was a mediocre film. The main problem here is Peter Berg's awful direction; he takes a page from Paul Greengrass' book and shoots the film with an annoyingly jittery camera, going into overdrive during the action scenes and making them almost completely incoherent and unwatchable. Aside from that, the majority of the film isn't particularly compelling, with the stock characters investigating the explosion (sort of -- they spend days there and yet all they seem to find out is that the bad guys used ball bearings in their explosives, and that the evil mastermind may or may not have missing fingers). The whole thing would be passably mediocre -- but then there's Berg's annoying direction, which always keeps you at arm's length, reminding you at all times that you're watching a movie and making it pretty much impossible to get wrapped up in the story. **

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD (2007) - Oct. 3, 2007
To say that this film takes its time would be a huge understatement; it's two hours and forty minutes and it feels it, with a lot of long scenes in which not all that much happens. And yet there's something about it which keeps it from crossing the line from slow into boring. Roger Deakins' impressive cinematography probably helps -- this is certainly a very handsomely made movie. The performances are also a stand-out -- Casey Affleck is eye-opening as the somewhat odd Robert Ford, and Brad Pitt was just as good as Jesse James. ***