Review: "11:14"

(2003)

Synopsis: Life changes drastically for everyone at 11:14...

...sounds simple enough, right? Well, not so fast there, Quick-Judge McGee! This movie is layered like an onion grown in Quentin Tarantino's garden... yeah, it's THAT kind of movie. Every character on the screen is somehow connected to the next, and all of their stories (five in all) get traced back to one girl and a bad decision.

Starring Henry Thomas, Barbara Hershey, Hillary Swank, Shawn Hatosy, Colin Hanks, Ben Foster, Patrick Swayze, Rachel Leigh Cook, and Jason Segel, this movie twists you, turns you, flips you over like a pancake and REALLY makes you HATE Rachel Leigh Cook... in a good way - not in that I-Can't-Believe-She-Made-Josie-And-The-Pussycats way.

I saw this movie for the first time two years ago and wondered why it hadn't gotten the support and push from the film company that it truly deserved. Great script, excellent casting, entertaining from the word "go." If "Herbie: Fully Loaded" can get some help in advertising, then "11:14" should have received the same care.

If you're a Tarantino fan, or you like a good mystery, then I HIGHLY recommend this movie.

All smiles on this one! :)

Review: "8 1/2"

(1963) The hottest director going at the time, Guido Anselmi finds himself with a creative block. Feeling pressure from his producer, and fielding frustrations from impatient cast and crew, he retreats to his daydreams to hopefully become inspired.

When I read the synopsis for this movie I honestly groaned a little. "Great," I thought. "I can't wait to watch this seemingly uber-pretentious, semi autobiographical, almost masturbatory, trite piece of shoe!" I'm not a big fan of art films that are artsy for the sake of being artsy.

Blah.

I love spicy food, but I can't stand hot sauce that is hot for the sake of being hot. It has to have some flavor underneath the burn-your-taste-buds-off sensation; some substance!

So... I slowly opened the envelope that my movie arrived in, placed it in the DVD player, gulped, gulped again, and pressed play. Moments later I was dining on a deliciously put together Italian entree with all the right spices.

"8 1/2" has very little to do with Anselmi finding inspiration for his new film through his fantasies, and more to do with those fantasies helping him find honesty in his own life. He prides himself on his movies bringing realism, raw truth, and authenticity to his audience, yet he walks the path of a liar and a cheat; which is why he finds himself at a creative standstill. One cannot bring anything genuine or valid to life unless they are living it themselves. Directed by Federico Fellini, this film effortlessly transitions between reality and dream sequences, and entertains from start to finish. A "dramedy," a film that has both dramatic and comedic elements, Fellini makes you laugh, think, gasp, roll your eyes, and in the end smile with satisfaction. It's yummy, friends.

...and, because the movie was made in Italy is 1963, EVERYONE is smoking EVERYWHERE, which is just so fun to watch. "We're in a movie theatre, let's light up!" "Excuse me Father, for I have sinned...***cough***cough***take a drag***..."

All in all, I give this a smiley face. :)

Review: "300"

I'm a history nut, so it's no surprise that my pic for this week would be "300", a movie based on the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans held off the Persian invasion. Using the imagery of Frank Miller's comic of the same name, this film is epic in it's execution.

In my last post I mentioned that "300" changed the face of film by saying, "this can be done." This may need some explanation.

Since the beginning of film and television, comic books have often been brought to life on the silver/Technicolor screen. More often than not, they don't translate well, and the intensity of the comic becomes laughable, the colors used seem to be too blatant and fake. Comic books are often seen as children's toys with little to no artistic value, and the films carrying their names seemed to have followed suit. Until recently.

"Sin City," "300," and the newest installments of "Batman" have breathed new life in to the tired tradition of comic book movies. They have given the stories credibility. Of course, it helps when you have one of the most talented men to every pen a comic, Frank Miller, at the helm of the artistic vision.

Without a doubt, this film is a smiley face.

Review: "The 400 Blows"

Netflix's synopsis is as follows:

"After young Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) runs away, life on the streets of Paris leads to nothing but trouble and guilt in this gritty feature film debut from legendary director François Truffaut. Though he turns to petty crime to survive, Antoine's remorse often leads him to try to return things he's stolen -- with disastrous results. The film was nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar and the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival."

That description is way more enticing than the film. It was slow to start, and I was wondering when the "gritty" underbelly of France was going to be exposed. When the last frame hung still on the screen with a white "FIN" printed boldly, I thought, "so much for grit!" Of course, this film was made in 1959, and my Tarentino soaked mind may be completely jaded when it comes to my definition of "grit." Watching "Rebel Without a Cause" today doesn't hold a candle to when the film debuted. Stories like this weren't made everyday; the idea that anyone would want to feature a troubled boy and his criminal activity - and be sympathetic to his plight - was as far away from happily-ever-after as you could get. For that, this film is a success.

When I think of "must-see" films, I think about how they changed me, or how they changed the face of film. Movies like "Sin City" and "300" shook traditional film to the core and screamed, "this can be done!" I think that "The 400 Blows" fits this statement in that it spits in the face of the saccharine sweet beach-bunny films of the late 50's and early 60's. Not everybody surfs and giggles.

I am indifferent to this film. I neither hated it, nor felt enlightened by it.

My review: indifferent face.

Review: "12 Angry Men"

It's always hinky when a stage play that takes place within one room is translated to film. It can go HORRIBLY wrong, making the best part of the film the part you missed when you excused yourself to go to the bathroom and refill your nacho trough, or it can be flawless in it's transition, as is the case with "12 Angry Men." Not once do you feel claustrophobic, unless that was the intention of the director, and the intensity translates well from 1957 to today. Watching this film, you do feel like you are the 13th juror, constantly reassessing the facts and credibility of witnesses. It also demands that we address a very serious subject: do we care enough about a human life to take the time to strip away prejudice and stereotype to do what's right, even if that means we miss the baseball game that evening?

My rating: smiley face.

Review: "200 Cigarettes"

What do you get when you combine the style of the 80's, a New Year's Eve party gone horribly right, and an all-star cast including Ben Affleck, his younger brother Casey, Dave Chappelle, Janeane Garofolo, Gaby Hoffman, Courtney Love, Jay Mohr, Martha Plimpton, Christina Ricci, Paul Rudd, and a Hitchcock-ian cameo by Elvis Costello?

You get a deliciously sarcastic comedy stew entitled "200 Cigarettes."

The script, written by Shana Larsen, is superb and believable, which sets itself apart from a lot of similar comedies that have come out in the past. Martha Plimpton's anxiety ridden party host gets a special nod; she's incredible in this movie.

Check it out! It gave me a smiley face.

Review: 2001: "A Space Odyssey"

"2001: A Space Odyssey" is a classic, I know, but I found it to be a complete bore. Perhaps you have to be die-hard sci-fi fan in order to fully appreciate Stanley Kubrick's "masterpiece," but I felt that this story (which comes in at just under two hours and forty minutes) could have been told in just shy of an hour if you cut out the seemingly unnecessary floating-through-space sequences. The meaning of the film gets lost when you, as an audience member, are thinking, "get on with it...".

That, having been said...

Kubrick does have a way of creating fantastic times and places in great detail. From jogging sideways in a round room, to the pseudo-human way HAL speaks, you cannot deny that the director's senses for the specifics gives this film an artist's touch.

Although "2001: A Space Odyssey" is yummy in the eye-candy category, it's not a film that I would recommend as a must-see-before-you-die.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" gave me a sad face.