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- The Virgin Suicides
- Oh wow. This was great. But not entirely what I expected. I mean,
the storyline was what I expected, but the narrative method (through the
eyes of the boys next door, as remembered when they were adults) was not.
And it was so well done. Man.
- Red Trousers
- What a great a documentary on Hong Kong stuntsmen! It was awesome
watching the stunts (people getting kicked in the face, people falling
many feet onto a concrete floor on their backs, etc), and it was even more
awesome listening to them describe what they thought of their lives. They
were so self-effacing ("I just want to do the best job I can so the
director doesn't have to waste film by re-doing shots. Film is
expensive.") Also, the interviews with the kids at the Peking Opera school
were poignant; so many poorer kids treat this as their chance to make some
money for their families, and they were getting weepy about it already ("I
just want to be able to do something in return for my parents"). And oh,
they practice kicking their own heads! Their own heads! How
masochistically limber is that?
- Junkers Come Here
- Cute! Cutie cute cute! Cute dog, cute characters, cutie cute. A
little too much a kids movie for me, but cute! So cute!
- Distance
- I'm not afraid to say that while I enjoyed the images and lingering
discussions of the movie, I totally don't understand the ending. Maybe
it's just that I missed the first ten minutes of the movie. But who was
that guy?
- Shattered Glass
- Hilarious! All the more so for mentioning Georgetown Law repeatedly.
Plus, the events partly inspired the setting for my so-called novel.
- Barbarella
- Wow! Unlike most bad movies, this one was fun! And the sets were so
incredibly fabulous. Jane Fonda's acting left something to be desired,
though.
- Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
- I was lured into this movie mostly because I kept wondering, How would
they depict the loss of memory? How would that work? And oh, the
visualizations did not disappoint. They were incredible. And wow, I
loved the movie, despite the Jim Carrey factor (thankfully, he was not as
spastic as usual). Part of it may be that Kate Winslet had blue hair and
Jim Carrey looks a little like D (esp. when he doesn't make all those
awful faces). Part of it may be that it reminded me of Ubik. And part of
it is that when I think of giving up my memories with D, I almost cannot
breathe. And the movie made me feel this.
- On the downside, the ending was a little too tight; without
it, the movie would've been sublime---grand, as opposed to merely
beautiful---a comment on the importance of memories. Also, I didn't like
the side characters so much. And sometimes Kate Winslet looked a little
too much like Madonna. And there is one logical flaw in the movie. And
D, silly boy, got worried about too much of Joel's brain getting zapped.
- The Fog of War
- Wow. How much of it was sincere and how much of it was
rationalization and how much of it was sincere rationalization? Not sure
we'll ever know, but wow. It was a stunning portrait. Errol Morris is a
pretty great documentarian.
- The Triplets of Belleville
- We were cracking up throughout most of this movie! First, the biker
was so funny---all skin and thighs. Second, the dog was funny. Third,
the grandma was funny. Fourth, the triplets were funny. Okay, everything
was funny and it was so cute. Yes yes yes yes.
- Roma
- A nice depiction of Rome, arranged in themes (much like Calvino's
Venice in Invisible Cities). Whimsical and lush at the same time.
I especially liked the underground mural scene, as well as the scene
while everyone was eating at the restaurant. D fell asleep, though.
- Touching the Void
- Okay, there's the thing: the acting was okay, the cinematography was
not spectacularly unique---though the scenery was incredible, and the
movie was only moderately well done. But wow. It stuck with me all
weekend. Part of it was the circumstances that this movie covered---the
survival of a mountainclimber after breaking his leg---but part of it was
the honesty of the climbers being interviewed afterwards. They confessed
to all the trivial things you never hear about: wondering whether their
partner was "annoyed" with them, realizing that no, they didn't really
believe in God, feeling stupid for putting themselves in the position they
were in, getting terrible songs stuck in their heads while almost dying,
etc. It really burned into my head, it did. So yeah, I'm very glad I saw
this movie.
- The Underneath
- Hmm, a 1995 Steven Soderburgh movie we'd never heard of. It was an
adaptation of an older film noir flick, and it was pretty decent, meaning
we liked the atmosphere and were held in suspense. But there were
definitely some flaws (like the flashbacks, which didn't totally work, and
the very very end, which was a little silly).
- Dr. Death
- Fascinating. Was Leuchter mean and antisemitic, or naive and misled?
- Monster
- Oh wow. I mean, wow. I didn't know Charlize Theron had it in her. I
kept running the movie over and over again in my head after it was over,
it was so good.