15 May 2005, late at night
The Last Shot is a film about an FBI agent who dupes a director into thinking he’s making a film in order to ensnare some mobsters on racketeering charges. Matthew Broderick plays the director, and Alec Baldwin plays the FBI agent. They both are hilarious. The film is really worth watching. It’s one of those films that probably should have done better than it did. There are so many great moments in the movie. If you are looking for a new good comedy to watch, this should be at the top of your list.
Reviews of The Last Shot at Rotten Tomatoes.
Movies
13 May 2005, evening time
I saw Unleashed (also know as Danny the Dog) by myself at Paramount. I don’t know why I watched it alone, since I know people who want to see it. The film was quite good. Jet Li plays a killer who goes mental when you take off a collar he wears around his neck. He ends up meeting Morgan Freeman’s character, who tries to teach him that he doesn’t have to be a maniac. The fight sequences are pretty intense, really violent stuff. Jet Li is always entertaining to watch, and I think he does a good job playing a precocious maniac. The british gangsters were all wicked-cool. Bob Hoskins does an especially good job playing the lead villain. You should definitely check out the film. The films score, done by Massive Attack, was also awesome.
The official Danny the Dog web site
[4] Movies
7 May 2005, terribly early in the morning
I remember when Electra first came out it was 7% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. This rating remains to this day. I would have to agree with the critics, the film just isn’t very good. I remember when the trailer first came out I thought it looked quite promising, like an attempt to do a live-action version of Ninja Scroll. The movies action sequences are alright, but nothing exceptional by todays standards. The story is pretty stupid. Elektra is sent on a mission to kill some people and she ends up trying to protect them from rival assassins. There isn’t much depth to the story whatsoever. If the film focused more on Elektra and her past it could have been more interesting, but they opted to go a different route with the film. That said, if they keep making comic book movies I’ll keep watching them.
The official Elektra web site.
[5] Movies
3 May 2005, the wee hours
Stephen Chow is really coming along as a director. I thought his latest effort, Kung-Fu Hustle, was really good. The film has touches of comedy, but is for the most part an old-school gangster film crossed with an old-school martial-arts film. The movie is a bit light on plot, but it makes up for it with some really good fight sequences. With the state of special effects nowadays, creative people can do some pretty impressive things that just couldn’t be done before with wires alone. The movie itself is put together quite well. I think Chow has a good eye for cinema. I think in the next few years we can expect more good films from him.
The official Kung-Fu Hustle web site
[3] Movies
30 April 2005, terribly early in the morning
The initial reviews for The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy were not so great—at least this is what I was told; I don’t like to read reviews early. I watched the movie tonight with Dave and some friends, and really enjoyed it. I barely remember the story from the book, which may be a good thing. The movie’s protagonist, Arthur Dent, is saved from the destruction of the earth by his good friend, Ford Prefect. They then wander the galaxy in an attempt to find out what the ultimate question of the universe is. Everyone played their parts superbly. The president of the galaxy was particularly funny. Mos Def plays Ford Prefect, and he is also surprisingly good. The film is definitely worth checking out.
The official The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy web site.
[2] Movies
28 April 2005, late morning
A Perfect Fake was a creepy film to say the least (and the 6th documentary I watched this week). The movie starts of by examining the state of the art in computer animation, and asking questions as to how advances in computer graphics effect our understanding of each other, of beauty, and of art. It then moves on to examine the state of the art in computer animated pornography and virtual women. Oh yes. From there the movie transitions in to the bizarre world of life-like (sex) dolls. We are introduced to some unique characters throughout the film. There is a fellow that has on the order of 40 or so dolls (all of which he has fucked he tells the audience). There is a fellow who takes some amazing (albeit strange) photographs of the 4 dolls he owns, though he doesn’t seem to have a sexual relationship with any of them. I’m not sure if that is better or worse. There are interviews with doll makers, video game makers, and a professors, who all discuss the changing nature of our interaction with the virtual world (and by “our”, I suppose I mean “mens”). The movie was really quite good, though quite graphic at times. The section on computer animated pornography leaves nothing to the imagination.
Information on A Perfect Fake at the HotDocs web site
[3] Movies | Hot Docs 2005
28 April 2005, late morning
Lifelike was the fifth film I watched at the HotDocs film festival, it screened with A Perfect Fake. I had no idea what the film was about, but went because I wanted to see Tyler before he jets off to Seattle. I was pleasantly surprised to find out the film was about the very strange world of taxidermy. The movie looks at the lives of several people; the first set of characters are taxidermists who are preparing for the premiere taxidermy competition in Canada; there is a woman who is having a taxidermist preserve her pet dog; finally there is a fellow who has the largest collection of stuffed animals in Canada. (His collection is very huge; it features: a Giraffe, an Elephant, a Tiger, a Lion, a Rhino, and a slew of other animals.) The movie was quite funny, and surprisingly interesting. It’s definitely one of the better movies I have watched this week.
Information about Lifelike at the HotDocs web site
Movies | Hot Docs 2005
27 April 2005, early afternoon
Little Jesus was the third film I watched at this years HotDocs festival. I should have bought a pass. The movie is a look at how the lives of the filmmaker Andre-Line Beauparlant and her family were effected by the birth (and death) of her brother Sebastien. Her brother is born severely handicapped, which places a heavy strain on her family. Each member deals with this strain differently. It’s interesting to see how each person reacted to the boy; for some he is seen as the very embodiment of God, for others he is a sad figure that evokes their pity and nothing more. I thought her brother was the most interesting person in the film. Sebastien’s life and death seems to have had the biggest effect on him. The movie was quite good. If you are interested at all in religion, it’s pretty interesting at times.
Information about Little Jesus at the HotDocs web site
Movies | Hot Docs 2005
26 April 2005, lunch time
Stroke was the second film I watched as part of the HotDocs festival. The movie was made by Katarina Peters as a sort of diary documenting her life during the aftermath of her young husband’s stroke. The subject matter is very moving, but Peters attempts to inject art-house really detract from the film. At times the movie seems very forced. When she brings the camera back to her husband, the film really picks up. He is what makes the film worth watching. His attitude after the stroke is amazing; he is filled with so much hope and a new love of life. My opinions on the film are mixed. It’s difficult to be critical of a film whose subject is so amazing. The film’s ending was really lovely.
Information about Stroke at the HotDocs web site.
Movies | Hot Docs 2005
26 April 2005, lunch time
HotDocs, Toronto’s documentary film festival has been underway for a few days. I watched two films on Monday, the first being Operation: Dreamland. The movie focuses on the lives of a squad of US soldiers stationed in Fallujah, just before that city went to hell. Shima and Riadh, who I watched the film with, were unimpressed, but I thought it was done well. Though the film-makers were both against the war, the movie itself comes off as quite apolitical. The film’s focus is always on the soldiers themselves, and it doesn’t try to push any political message. The soldiers are an interesting group, some quite bright, others not so much. They surprise you: one soldier, a high-school drop out, argues quite sharply about why they are in Iraq in his opinion (to make money for people like Cheney). There is a lot of cynicism, but at the same time a lot of patriotism. One of the soldiers, very vocal in his criticism of the army, challenges anyone to call him unpatriotic (he is after all getting shot at each and everyday). And I guess that is what it takes to be in the army, a willingness to put aside introspection (at least till you’ve done what is required of you). Gunner Palace is the film about soldiers in Iraq that is getting all the hype at the moment, but I think Operation: Dreamland is well worth a look.
Information about Operation: Dreamland at the HotDocs web site.
[2] Movies | Hot Docs 2005
25 April 2005, the wee hours
Dave, Mezan, Martha and I watched Hotel Rwanda late Saturday night. The film is of course about the Genocide in Rwanda. Don Cheadle plays the manager of a 4-star hotel in Rwanda who works to save the lives of 1200 or so Tutsis who are taking refuge in his hotel. The film was done really well, and deserves all the praise it got. Hotel Rwanda might have been a more life affirming film if there wasn’t another genocide in the making taking place in the Sudan. It’s a little bit sad that in all this time, so little has changed.
Movies
18 April 2005, terribly early in the morning
I finally watched Sideways tonight with Dave and Steph. The film was hilarious. The movie begins with two men, Miles and Jack, heading off to the wine region of California to drink wine, play golf, and spend some time together. One of the men is getting married; he wants to do nothing more than sleep around with women and generally act like a hedonist. The characters in the film are all great. Paul Giamatti does a great job playing the neurotic wine-freak Miles. The dialogue in the film is awesome. The story is quite good. This is definitely a movie to check out.
Movies
18 April 2005, terribly early in the morning
Bay St. Video has a very large selection of Criterion DVDs; my friends and I rented one this past weekend, The Vanishing, a Dutch thriller. The movie is about a man whose girlfriend is kidnapped and presumably killed. The man becomes obsessed with trying to find out how and why she was kidnapped. The film also examines in great detail the nature of the kidnapper, what it is that makes him tick. I liked the way the film was shot. The movie has a very slow pace to it, so I don’t think it’s for everyone. I thought the film was alright. My friends all hated it, except for Mezan. (Sometimes he likes films just to be difficult.)
A review of The Vanishing
Movies
13 April 2005, the wee hours
Sin City was excellent. The movie is based on the graphic novels by Frank Miller that share the same name. I think the movie collects the stories from the first three graphic novels. The people involved with the film did an amazing job bringing the comic to life. The film looks stunning. If you look at shots from the movie against shots from the book (nsfw), you’ll see just how close things match. Sin City is like a very gritty film-noire type movie. The dialogue is very campy, but it adds to the effect of the film. Oh, the violence! The violence was ridiculous. The movie features some of the goriest stuff I’ve seen captured on film; well, stylized gore anyway. You would be a fool—a damn fool—not to check Sin City out.
Reviews of Sin City at Rotten Tomatoes
[4] Movies
11 April 2005, early afternoon
The Delicate Art of Parking was an entertaining mocumentary. The film begins as one jerk of an independent movie directory starts to make a film about the anger people feel about getting parking tickets. The director and his crew end up getting wrapped up in the life of a parking enforcement agent who is very passionate about what he does, and the lives of a few of his friends. The movie is quite funny, if only because the subject matter is so ridiculous. There are some hilarious characters featured in the film, and some of the dialog is brilliant. But beyond the humour and parking enforcement, the movie is really about friendship, loving what you do in life, and treating each other with respect. It was a nice film, well worth watching.
The official The Delicate Art of Parking web site.
Movies
4 April 2005, mid-afternoon
My friends and I saw Volcano High for rent at Blockbuster. The Korean movie had been dubbed, the voices of various hip-hop stars replacing the voices of the Koreans in the film. Nobody should watch a dubbed film, so we didn’t rent it that night. Worse still, the ‘hip-hop’ version of the film is re-cut to be shorter.
A few days later, my friends and I ended up at Bay St. Video, where we rented the original version of the movie. The film is about a high school where the kids all run around fighting each other. Some have super powers. The principal is guarding a secret manuscript that all the students want to read. The film begins with the principal being poisoned, and the students scurrying about trying to find out where he hid the manuscript.
The film is totally ridiculous. The film feels like a live action anime. From the over the top acting to the brief descriptions that flash on the screen to describe characters you are being introduced to for the first time, the film features every cliché one would expect to find in an anime. The action sequences in the film are all pretty blah. It’s all slow-motion Matrix inspired fighting that gets boring pretty fast. Still, the movie is so bizarre you may want to watch it simply to see how ridiculous it is.
Read reviews of Volcano High at Rotten Tomatoes
[1] Movies
4 April 2005, mid-afternoon
Das Experiment is a fictional re-telling of the famous prison experiment conducted at Stanford. The film was good, albeit a bit depressing and brutal. Like the experiment the story is based on, the prisoners and prison guards quickly lose their minds. The guards start to brutalize the prisoners, and the prisoners quickly become shells of their former selves. The acting is great, and the story was also quite good. There are some scenes that were also very much like something you would see in a Wong-Kar Wai film. I enjoyed the film, and recommend people go watch it.
The official Das Experiment web site
[2] Movies
4 April 2005, late morning
I watched Cellular this past Friday with some of my co-workers. In the film, a woman that is kidnapped manages to make a telephone call out on a broken phone to some dude’s cell phone. He helps the woman save herself and her family. The movie is entertaining enough—as action films go anyway. The acting is pretty horrible, but it’s not the sort of film you watch to see stellar performances. The film is funny at times and exciting at times. If you are looking for a action film to watch this one isn’t half bad.
The official Cellular web site
Movies
22 March 2005, late at night
I am 40 minutes in to Swades, and I have to say that the lead actress in the film, Gayatri Joshi, is crazy-hot.
Two hours and change later I can say the film was good. Ashutosh Gowariker follows up the sucess he had with Lagaan with his second film, Swades. The story is a simple one: Shah Rukh Khan plays an Indian scientist who comes back to India looking for his childhood nanny, but ends up finding a sense of fulfilment and purpose in the country. There is a beautiful women, as mentioned earlier, who catches his eye, for if there wasn’t this wouldn’t be a Boolywood film. The music in the film is top notch, as can be expected when it is scored by A. R. Rahman. Visually the film was also a treat. I didn’t think the cinematography was brilliant, but there are a few shots in the film that are exceptional. This film is definetly worth checking out.
The official Swades web site.
[9] Movies
20 March 2005, late at night
I had high hopes for Bride and Prejudice. It has a good cast, a good director, and a novel story. The movie is a Bollywood retelling of the Jane Austin novel Pride and Prejudice. Unfortunately, I would have to say the film was poorly done. The story seems quite muddled. The Bollywood dance sequences are strange to watch, since the singing is all done in English. When the actresses have Indian accents, but then start singing with American accents it is just a bit too bizarre—more bizarre then people just breaking out into a dance sequence. The movie does feature lots of hot women, most notably Aishwarya Rai. Yummy. Though, I think you would be better off watching her in a film like Devdas.
The official Bride and Prejudice web site.
[3] Movies
20 March 2005, late at night
I haven’t watched a Tamil movie in ages. My friends and I all watched one this weekend. The film was M.Kumaran, Son of Mahalakshmi, the story of an Indian kick boxer, being raised alone by his mother. The film was entertaining, though not particularly good. It was still fun to watch. The film features lots of fighting, music, and comedy, all seemingly thrown in to pad out the length of the movie. This film is a remake of an older film from the 80s, which is probably why it felt so retro.
A short review of M.Kumaran, Son of Mahalakshmi
[1] Movies
19 March 2005, terribly early in the morning
I may be one of the last people on the planet to have seen The Incredibles. It turns out Carvill, Mez, and Dave were the three other remaining hold outs. Krishna had bought the DVD, so tonight after a good meal at Blue Bay Cafe we came back to my place at watched the film. I enjoyed it a lot. Visually it was amazing, which was to be expected. The scene where the mother and children are swimming in the ocean looks great. But, the movie isn’t simply good because of it’s eye candy. It’s a funny little comic-book movie, with all the cliches one would expect. The film is definitely worth checking out.
The official The Incredibles web site
Movies
9 March 2005, the wee hours
I’ve been waiting a long time to watch Casshern. When I saw the trailer for the film I was blown away. I decided to pick up a copy of the DVD at Pacific Mall over the weekend, and I watched it tonight. It was good—very good. I’ve heard the movie described as Japan’s answer to The Matrix; I suppose in some ways it can be viewed like that. In a nutshell, a born-again robot boy must fight an army of robots and a corrupt government for reasons that aren’t particularly clear. The film is a serious treat for the eyes; I don’t think I’ve seen another film like it. The film is very much like an anime in its style, both visually and in terms of story: there are huge chunks of the plot that aren’t explained clearly, much of the story is over-the-top and fantastic, and the movie is quite melodramatic. The movie is at its heart an anti-war film. I can’t help but like that I suppose.
The official Casshern web site
[5] Movies
6 March 2005, late afternoon
Saw was quite the thriller; I really enjoyed it. The movie begins with two men waking up in a dark dank room. There is a dead man in the centre of the room, holding a gun and a tape recorder. Each man has a tape in their pockets. The movie unfolds in this room, and through a series of flashbacks. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you engrossed in the film. The ending is quite cool. This film is definitely worth checking out, assuming you don’t scare easily.
I watched 4 movies this weekend, which was excellent. I haven’t done something like that since I started working.
The official Saw web site.
[2] Movies
6 March 2005, late afternoon
American Splendor was the name of a comic book series written by Harvey Pekar. The books were about Harvey’s life, and the things about his life he found aggravating. In this regard, the movie is much like the comic books. American Splendor shows us Harvey’s life from when his second wife leaves him (a hilarious scene) to the present day. The movie is very post-modern; midway through the film the real Harvey Pekar questions how he will feel about watching a movie about himself. The real Harvey Pekar is the narrator in the movie, and several of the real life counterparts of the characters in the film are interviewed throughout the course of the movie. The actors did an amazing job portraying the characters from Harvey’s life. Paul Giamatti who plays Harvey was great. He grimaces throughout the whole film; it’s awesome.
The official American Splendor web site.
Movies
