ET, The Extra-Terrestrial (IMDB) (Netflix)
A boy and his alien ("I'm keeping him"). This is the 20th anniversary edition, with an new scene or two, some small fixes of special effects that didn't work so well back then, and a kow-tow to political correctness (guns are replaced with walkie-talkies). As with his earlier Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Spielberg's government starts out as a menacing, ominous force and ends up a mostly benign, if not particularly effective, presence, requiring the boy, Elliott, to take matters into his own hands.
Worth seeing again, and taking the kids, who will enjoy their movie counter-parts conquering their fears and enriching the lives of others, whatever their DNA looks like. Drew Barrymore's second picture, and the cute little girl that Elliot kisses in school grows up to be Playboy Playmate and Baywatch babe Erika Eleniak.
Sunday, March 31, 2002
2001: A Space Odyssey (IMDB) (Netflix)
It makes sense that the re-release of 1968's 2001 would happen in 2002. Stanley Kubrick was an infamously slow, meticulous director, who died weeks before the opening of his final film, Eyes Wide Shut, and spent years developing A.I.: Artificial Intelligence before handing it off to Steven Spielberg (he also understood the concept of "burn rate," however, and used very small production crews as he negotiated his way through filming). What resulted were films that were always finely crafted, if sometimes lacking life.
I still don't know what the final sequence means (but it's a good bet that David Lynch saw this at an impressionable age or mental state), or what the monolith ultimately represents (Arthur C. Clarke's book was more explanatory, but that's a college memory that's not coming back). There's something about the ambition of the story and the totally unhyped action (this is the only space movie where you can't [appropriately] hear thrusters thrusting, because in the vacuum of space there's nothing to conduct the sound) that keeps you hanging around. Most of the 34-year-old pre-CGI special effects hold up, and it's fun to see what makes the trip into the future: Hilton hotels, Howard Johnson restaurants, picture phones and Pan American Airways, but not laptop computers.
It makes sense that the re-release of 1968's 2001 would happen in 2002. Stanley Kubrick was an infamously slow, meticulous director, who died weeks before the opening of his final film, Eyes Wide Shut, and spent years developing A.I.: Artificial Intelligence before handing it off to Steven Spielberg (he also understood the concept of "burn rate," however, and used very small production crews as he negotiated his way through filming). What resulted were films that were always finely crafted, if sometimes lacking life.
I still don't know what the final sequence means (but it's a good bet that David Lynch saw this at an impressionable age or mental state), or what the monolith ultimately represents (Arthur C. Clarke's book was more explanatory, but that's a college memory that's not coming back). There's something about the ambition of the story and the totally unhyped action (this is the only space movie where you can't [appropriately] hear thrusters thrusting, because in the vacuum of space there's nothing to conduct the sound) that keeps you hanging around. Most of the 34-year-old pre-CGI special effects hold up, and it's fun to see what makes the trip into the future: Hilton hotels, Howard Johnson restaurants, picture phones and Pan American Airways, but not laptop computers.
Saturday, March 23, 2002
Harrison's Flowers (IMDB) (Netflix-no listing)
A determined wife (Andie MacDowell) searches for her missing-and-presumed-dead combat photographer husband (David Strathairn) in the insanity that tore apart Yugoslavia last decade. Give points to MacDowell for making the best of fairly weak writing and direction, both by Elie Chouraqui, who never builds any real suspense (an enemy soldier walks near where she's hiding to --wait for it-- take a leak, then walk away without discovering her) and whose dramatic reversals feel like a speed bumps in a gated community. While the scenes of civilians being murdered are horrific, they seem inserted mostly to make the movie "important." The big winner here is Canon, for pervasive product placement of its cameras.
A determined wife (Andie MacDowell) searches for her missing-and-presumed-dead combat photographer husband (David Strathairn) in the insanity that tore apart Yugoslavia last decade. Give points to MacDowell for making the best of fairly weak writing and direction, both by Elie Chouraqui, who never builds any real suspense (an enemy soldier walks near where she's hiding to --wait for it-- take a leak, then walk away without discovering her) and whose dramatic reversals feel like a speed bumps in a gated community. While the scenes of civilians being murdered are horrific, they seem inserted mostly to make the movie "important." The big winner here is Canon, for pervasive product placement of its cameras.
Sunday, March 17, 2002
Ice Age (IMDB) (Netflix)
An animated buddy/road picture that takes place 20,000 or so years ago, before humans had two eyebrows. An unlikely trio of Woolly Mammoth (Ray Romano), Sabertooth Tiger (Dennis Leary) and Sloth (the frenetic John Leguizamo) team up to return a lost baby to its proto-human "herd," but lets just say that the entire organization isn't fully aligned, and hilarity therefore must ensue. While the plot won't raise your grandmother's blood pressure, the dialogue and voicing by the actors (particularly by Lequizamo, and to a lesser extent, Leary) has enough zip to overcome both it and the occasional sentimentality tar pit. The animation of the animals (from an east coast outfit called Blue Sky Studios) is terrific, but the humans seem oddly first-draft-like.
Lots of giggles from the kids in the audience, and appreciative laughs from the parents, and there's enough above-the-kids'-heads humor to keep other adults sufficiently engaged.
An animated buddy/road picture that takes place 20,000 or so years ago, before humans had two eyebrows. An unlikely trio of Woolly Mammoth (Ray Romano), Sabertooth Tiger (Dennis Leary) and Sloth (the frenetic John Leguizamo) team up to return a lost baby to its proto-human "herd," but lets just say that the entire organization isn't fully aligned, and hilarity therefore must ensue. While the plot won't raise your grandmother's blood pressure, the dialogue and voicing by the actors (particularly by Lequizamo, and to a lesser extent, Leary) has enough zip to overcome both it and the occasional sentimentality tar pit. The animation of the animals (from an east coast outfit called Blue Sky Studios) is terrific, but the humans seem oddly first-draft-like.
Lots of giggles from the kids in the audience, and appreciative laughs from the parents, and there's enough above-the-kids'-heads humor to keep other adults sufficiently engaged.
Kissing Jessica Stein (IMDB) (Netflix)
Even Jerry Falwell might approve of this Sapphic romantic comedy between Helen, a confirmed bisexual, and Jessica, who hasn't had much luck with men since, well, way too long, and tries playing on her own team. The emphasis is on the comedy, which comes from Jessica's tentativeness and how it rubs against the more self-assured Helen, who knows what she wants and goes after it. Some of the supporting characters seem a little broadly drawn initially, but round into shape in time to stay interesting, and the writing (by the leads, who did this first as a play) is smart and virtually cliché-free.
Much better than the trailer implied and very timely, given that we're caught halfway between the holiday and summer blockbuster seasons, and the pickin's are slim.
Even Jerry Falwell might approve of this Sapphic romantic comedy between Helen, a confirmed bisexual, and Jessica, who hasn't had much luck with men since, well, way too long, and tries playing on her own team. The emphasis is on the comedy, which comes from Jessica's tentativeness and how it rubs against the more self-assured Helen, who knows what she wants and goes after it. Some of the supporting characters seem a little broadly drawn initially, but round into shape in time to stay interesting, and the writing (by the leads, who did this first as a play) is smart and virtually cliché-free.
Much better than the trailer implied and very timely, given that we're caught halfway between the holiday and summer blockbuster seasons, and the pickin's are slim.
Monday, March 11, 2002
We Were Soldiers (IMDB) (Netflix)
Mel Gibson is Colonel Hal Moore, a man who loves his men as much as his family. The movie is based on Moore's book about the first major U.S. battle in Vietnam, which he led, and which proved to be far more than anyone expected. While it's inspired by actual events, and certainly more factual than A Beautiful Mind, there's not a single emotional or graphically violent punch pulled, or heartstring unplucked ("why is there war, Daddy?"). Written and directed by Randall Wallace, who also wrote Braveheart (kudos to you, sir) and Pearl Harbor (not so fast, buddy). With Madeleine Stowe as Moore's wife back home, and the modern-day successor to Ward Bond, hyper-manly Sam Elliott as the crusty noncom comic relief. For those who like their war movies intense, moving and shamelessly unhip.
Mel Gibson is Colonel Hal Moore, a man who loves his men as much as his family. The movie is based on Moore's book about the first major U.S. battle in Vietnam, which he led, and which proved to be far more than anyone expected. While it's inspired by actual events, and certainly more factual than A Beautiful Mind, there's not a single emotional or graphically violent punch pulled, or heartstring unplucked ("why is there war, Daddy?"). Written and directed by Randall Wallace, who also wrote Braveheart (kudos to you, sir) and Pearl Harbor (not so fast, buddy). With Madeleine Stowe as Moore's wife back home, and the modern-day successor to Ward Bond, hyper-manly Sam Elliott as the crusty noncom comic relief. For those who like their war movies intense, moving and shamelessly unhip.
Sunday, March 10, 2002
Monsoon Wedding (IMDB) (Netflix)
A very accessible and charming, but not cloying, story of upper-class Indian families, an arranged marriage, and romance that avoids the "but Father, I love Vijay!") sandtrap. This is a pleasant way to get some insights into Indian culture, and the British and American influences on it, and is the type of crowd-pleaser that wins the foreign film Oscar. Most of the dialogue is in English, with some subtitles. By Mira Nair, who also directed Mississippi Masala and Salaam Bombay!
A very accessible and charming, but not cloying, story of upper-class Indian families, an arranged marriage, and romance that avoids the "but Father, I love Vijay!") sandtrap. This is a pleasant way to get some insights into Indian culture, and the British and American influences on it, and is the type of crowd-pleaser that wins the foreign film Oscar. Most of the dialogue is in English, with some subtitles. By Mira Nair, who also directed Mississippi Masala and Salaam Bombay!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)