Ip Man

IP MAN (2008) - Mar. 31, 2010
A really enjoyable film about a martial artist in 1930s China whose life is turned upsidedown when the Japanese invade.  Featuring a nicely charismatic performance from Donnie Yen as the titular Ip Man, the non-action stuff was actually fairly compelling, which is really just a nice bonus in a movie like this.  The action itself was pretty much superb, with some really well cheoreographed fights, perfectly directed by Wilson Yip.  Yip is such a perfect action director because he knows exactly how to keep things exciting and cinematic, while still letting the action speak for itself instead of obscuring it with quick cuts and other directorial trickery.  ***1/2

Heart Condition

HEART CONDITION (1990) - Mar. 30, 2010
A mediocre film about a racist cop who begins seeing the ghost of a black lawyer he received a heart transplant from.  Despite the seemingly sure-fire premise (and cast!  Denzel Washington as the lawyer and Bob Hoskins as the cop) the film just wasn't all that good.  James D. Parriott's direction was surprisingly poor, and the film looked really dated.  Washington and Hoskins were both, not surprisingly, really good, and the scenes with just the two of them were the clear highlight.  But the film itself was just kind of shoddy, and it dragged in parts.  **

Triangle

TRIANGLE (2009) - Mar. 28, 2010
A mind-bending thriller about a woman and her friends, out on a yachting trip, who wind up getting stranded on a mysterious old cruise ship; temporal shenanigans ensue.  The film was really well directed by Christopher Smith, and featured a narrative that became more and more time travel heavy as it went along; comparisons to Timecrimes are definitely appropriate, though Timecrimes seemed to tie together fairly neatly by the time the end credits rolled -- I'm not so sure if the same is the case here.  There are certain things about this film that are still pretty baffling to me -- particularly the origin of the final Jess.  Where did she come from?  And why was she pretending to be all confused and deja-vu-ridden on the cruise ship when, presumably, she knows exactly why she's there?  Still, despite my lingering questions, this was a stylish and effective thriller, and one I'm sure I'll be revisiting at some point in the future.  ***1/2

Hot Tub Time Machine

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE (2010) - Mar. 27, 2010
An enjoyable comedy about four friends who get into a hot tub at a ski resort, only to find that they've time-traveled back into the '80s.  The four friends definitely have good chemistry, and the film is quite enjoyable and funny in parts (particularly a running gag involving Crispen Glover's arm).  ***

Broken Embraces

BROKEN EMBRACES (2009) - Mar. 26, 2010
Yet another really well directed film from Pedro Almodovar about the affair between a filmmaker and an actress.  Though not quite on the level of the other Almodovar films that I've seen, it was still quite enjoyable throughout despite the relatively long running time of over two hours.  ***

The Ghost Writer

THE GHOST WRITER (2010) - Mar. 26, 2010
A well made but somewhat dull thriller about a man who is hired to be the ghost writer for a controversial ex-Prime Minister, only to slowly (very slowly) find himself embroiled in some sinister shenanigans.  The movie is stylishly directed by Roman Polanski and very well acted -- the main problem here is that the movie just takes such a long time to go anywhere, and even when it does it does it in such a leisurely way that it really makes it hard to classify this as a thriller at all.  Certainly, Polanski fails at evoking the Hitchcockian vibe that he is clearly going for.  But the performances were good, and I was never all-out bored, though I was never particularly into it, either.  **1/2

The Horseman

THE HORSEMAN (2008) - Mar. 25, 2010
An almost absurdly grim and gritty thriller about a father who is out for revenge after the death of his daughter, and who befriends a young girl along the way.  Brutally violent -- and not stylized, Kill Bill style violence; this is gritty, uncomfortably brutal violence -- this was a surprisingly intense, really engaging film.  I could definitely see this film just being unpleasant if it weren't so well made, but first-timer Steven Kastrissios directs this with a sure hand, and some of the scenes were almost unrelentingly tense.  There's very little down-time between the action sequences (if you can call them that), but it definitely works, creating a level of tension that really doesn't let up until the end credits roll.  ***1/2

Yi Yi

YI YI (2000) - Mar. 21, 2010
This is a film that frequently pops up on “best of the decade” lists, so my expectations were fairly high. It’s nice to watch a well-regarded film that really lives up to its acclaim — it’s distressingly common to watch a movie that gets a lot of hype and then walk away wondering what all the hubbub was about (yeah, that’s right — I said hubbub. I like that word; people don’t use it enough). That’s definitely not the case here.  I won’t lie: this is not a fast-paced film, not even a little bit. Acclaimed (and tragically deceased) director Edward Yang’s style consists mostly of unusually long, wide shots, in which things tend to unfold at a slow, meticulous pace. The imdb claims that Antonioni is one of Yang’s favourite directors, which doesn’t come as a particular surprise as the two definitely share a lot of the same sensibilities. However, unlike Antonioni, who always keeps you at an arm’s length, there is a warmth and richness to this film that really draws you in. It’s very long and very slow, and yet you don’t really feel it. Also, unlike the cool, restrained characters of someone like Antonioni, the people here feel much more vibrant, with some scenes almost approaching melodrama, but never in a way that feels forced or artificial.  This is a long film — it’s almost three hours long, which on the surface is a bit daunting. But when you actually watch the movie you realize that the length is pretty much perfect. Yes, some of the scenes go on a bit longer than you’d think they would, but it all adds up to a film that is surprisingly compelling, and one in which you really get to know and like the central characters. Honestly, by the end of the film I would have been happy to spend another couple of hours with that family.  ***1/2

Alice in Wonderland

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010) - Mar. 19, 2010
A surprisingly dull and boring film about Alice's return to Wonderland as a young adult, where she finds the place in turmoil and run by an evil queen.  Featuring Tim Burton's standard quirky visual style, which has long since lost its ability to dazzle or impress (and combined with the drab, grayish colour palette, is actually kind of a bore), the film does a really terrible job of making us care about the plight of the citizens of Wonderland, or even about Alice herself.  It all feels kind of slipshod, like a random assortment of scenes in which the quirky characters get to be quirky, but in which not all that much of interest happens.  It doesn't help that Alice herself is really not an interesting character -- she spends most of the movie stumbling around looking bewildered and repeating that she expects to wake up at any moment.  The characters she's surrounded with don't fare much better.  I really couldn't have cared less about Alice's quest or about the fate of the citizens of Wonderland, which meant that the movie was kind of a drag.  Tim Burton, what happened to you?  Also: I hate 3D so much.  *1/2

The 400 Blows

THE 400 BLOWS (1959) - Mar. 14, 2010
François Truffaut is definitely my favourite director from the French New Wave. I can appreciate guys like Jean-Luc Godard and Alain Resnais, but it’s fairly clear that they were more interested in challenging the traditional notion of what a film can be than actually making something that most people would want to watch. I don’t know how pretentious you’d have to be to really love something like Weekend, but I’m not there yet.  Honestly, I don’t have a whole lot to say about this movie. I’ve seen it a few times now, and I definitely like it, but it’s one of those movies I like and respect but am fairly ambivalent towards. Truffaut does a great job getting really naturalistic, convincing performances from the kids, and the widescreen, black and white cinematography always keeps things interesting on a visual level.  ***

Green Zone

GREEN ZONE (2010) - Mar. 12, 2010
An enjoyable if somewhat heavy-handed film about a soldier in Iraq circa 2003 whose job is to find WMDs, and who becomes increasingly frustrated when it becomes clear that the intelligence they're working with is incorrect.  As an indictment of the way the Americans initiated and handled the war in Iraq, the film was far from subtle -- however it was well made and the action sequences were fairly exciting, if (obviously) a bit heavy on the old shaky-cam.  ***

Pandorum

PANDORUM (2009) - Mar. 10, 2010
A fairly mediocre film about a couple of officers who wake up, bewildered, on a space ship after a long period of stasis.  The film isn't quite as terrible as everyone made it out to be -- it started out pretty terribly, but actually improved quite a bit in the second half (not that that takes much).  **

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS (2009) - Mar. 9, 2010
An enjoyable cartoon about a the shenanigans that ensue after a scientist accidentally invents a machine that makes it rain food.  Delightfully cartoony, this was fast-paced and fun.  It's not exactly Pixar level, but then not much is.  ***

All About Eve

ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) - Mar. 8, 2010
It was interesting to watch this film so soon after All About My Mother, which pays pretty extensive homage to All About Eve. The two films aren’t particularly similar, but Mother outright references Eve at least a couple of times; I’d be interested to watch it again just to see if there were any other allusions that flew right over my head. As for which “All About _____” is the superior film, I’m going to have to go with a tie. Yes, that’s a pretty lame answer, but what can I say? I liked them both.  So yeah, it is definitely a justified classic and deserves its place on the list. Both Bette Davis and Anne Baxter give really compelling, above-average performances. Baxter in particular does a great job of starting out sweet and letting the insidious nature of her character come out really gradually. It’s definitely an impressive performance. The supporting performances are just as good, with the standout being George Sanders as the smug and vaguely sinister Addison Dewitt. The scene towards the end of the film where he completely eviscerates Eve (verbally, of course) was definitely one of the better things I’ve seen in a while. I like Sanders because he’s one of those rare actors who has the ability to liven up even the dullest of material; when he’s given something that’s already good… well then he’s really good.  ***1/2

Universal Soldier: Regeneration

UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: REGENERATION (2009) - Mar. 6, 2010
A mediocre film about a group of Russian terrorists who, with the help of an advanced Universal Soldier, take over a nuclear reactor and start making demands.  The film was decently directed and featured reasonably high production values for a straight-to-video action movie; my main problem with it was that it didn't really bother developing any characters to the point where we care about any of them, and that the action was (for the most part) fairly dull.  It occurred to me about half-way through that the reason why the action wasn't really working was that the evil Universal Soldier was so over-powered that most of the fights were ridiculously one-sided, which is an easy way to drain any excitement out of an action sequence.  Though there was some decent action towards the end, including a pretty spectacular show-down between Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren that definitely had all of the energy and excitement that most of the film was lacking.  Oh well.  **

House of the Devil

HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (2009) - Mar. 6, 2010
About a young girl in the '80s who, against her better judgment, takes a babysitting job at a weird old house in the middle of nowhere.  Not a whole lot happens for the bulk of the film (in fact, much of the movie consists of the girl wandering around the house) and yet there's a surprising amount of tension and a very ominous sense of unease as it becomes increasingly clear that sinister shenanigans are afoot.  Ti West's retro-inspired direction suits the material perfectly, and definitely helps turn what might have otherwise been dull into something special (props must also go to Jeff Grace's nicely ominous score).  ***1/2

Brooklyn's Finest

BROOKLYN'S FINEST (2010) - Mar. 5, 2010
An enjoyable if somewhat overlong film about three cops (one undercover, one about to retire and one desperate for cash so he can move out of his mould-infested house) in a gritty New York neighbourhood.  Pretty much filled to the brim with cop movie cliches, there wasn't anything particularly fresh about this film, though it was surprisingly well directed by Antoine Fuqua and very well acted.  It dragged a bit, particularly towards the end, but then there was a tense and downright riveting finale that definitely redeemed the film.  ***

The Unborn

THE UNBORN (2009) - Mar. 4, 2010
A decent horror film about a girl who finds herself haunted by a sinister little kid.  Yes, yet another film with a sinister kid and a years-old mystery to be solved.  Despite the complete lack of anything even resembling originality, this was basically entertaining if a bit tedious in parts.  Though I'm not sure if there were reshoots or what, but the ending seemed oddly abrupt. **1/2

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE (2009) - Mar. 3, 2010
Meh.  About the struggles of a poor young girl from an abusive family, this was a really well acted and decently made film.  Lee Daniels' direction was fine, though I'm not crazy about the washed-out visual style he employs here, and some of his stylistic flourishes were a bit iffy.  I dunno, it was decent enough I guess, though there wasn't anything terribly memorable about it.  **1/2

Where the Wild Things Are

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (2009) - Mar. 2, 2010
A kind of bizarre film about a kid who finds himself in a strange land (where it's apparently always either dawn or dusk) inhabited by talking monsters.  I have to hand it to Spike Jonze and cinematographer Lance Acord -- this is a visually stunning film.  I have to assume that this is much (if not all) of the reason why this was critically acclaimed, as it otherwise really doesn't add up to much.  It's kind of uneventful, like a low-key indie movie that happens to have monsters in it.  It doesn't help that none of the characters are particularly well developed or likable -- this movie is co-written by Dave Eggers, who (not coincidentally, I'm sure) also co-wrote Away We Go, the recent king of low-key, plotless movies with unlikable characters.  It kind of blows my mind that a big studio greenlit this as a children's film -- not that I'm against studios taking chances, but they rarely do, and this is about as far from a traditional children's movie as you can get.  **