previous reviews here.
Frost Nixon: Watergate Interviews (1977) – clips from the original Frost/Nixon interviews that the Oscar nominated narrative film is based on. it’s just a series of interview clips so don’t expect any drama. if you’re interested in actually seeing Nixon speak — i thought about it and realized that i don’t think i had seen him speak before i saw this — and getting to know a former US president at one of his lowest points, have a look. what shocked me right off the bat was how friendly and approachable he seemed. and accommodating. kind of surprising since he’s always been portrayed to me as a grumpy asshola. his intelligence shines through but that’s no surprise as he’s commonly remembered as a political genius. so if you’re interested you might give this 3 stars or more. if not, you’ll fall asleep.
The Thin Red Line (1998) – terrence mallick’s WW2 art film starring a huge cast of well known actors. don’t watch this to watch a war film because even though it’s set 100% in the Pacific theater of war, its slow pace, contemplative voiceover and long shots of nearly still images, make this anything but. i loved Mallick’s The New World, which is a similar style film, but The Thin Red Line, an earlier film is too disjointed to carry my interest for very long. it drags its feet. i’ll give it points for looking gorgeous and for toying with a new and very risky kind of filmmaking, but i can’t give it more than 2.5 stars.
Bigger Stronger Faster (2008) – documentary challenging the prevailing wisdom regarding steroid use. as far as eye-opening and informative documentaries go, this is one to remember. i think i was being naive or maybe i just never thought about it but i had no idea that steroid use was so rampant in America. and so open! this young filmmaker grabbed a camera and talked about how all his old heroes were busted for steroids so he did some investigating and revealed the abuse to be everywhere, even in his own family. he has people saying some crazy stuff on camera, like his own brother admitting that he’ll probably be on steroids for the rest of his life. it’s a ballsy film, and pretty fun to watch. 3.5 stars.
Burn After Reading (2008) – Coen Bros. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances Mcdormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton. a return to the Coens’ sillier side following their serious and dark Oscar winner last year, No Country For Old Men. brad pitt and frances mcdormand play two doofus gym staffers that stumble on a cd of “CIA secrets” and try to blackmail Malkovich for some money. Pitt is great playing a role that’s right in his wheelhouse, the kooky oddball nut. Clooney is pretty entertaining as the kooky oddball g-man. the film is kooky and odd and entertaining enough while it was happening, but when it was over i couldn’t help but wonder… “so?” 3 stars.
American Teen (2008) – a documentary that was marketed as the real life Breakfast Club, which is true enough. this filmmaking team followed five very different high school students through their senior year in a small town Indiana high school. while i question some of the filmmaking/editing used here, i will admit that i was completely absorbed in the actions and thoughts of these teenagers as they navigate a seriously confusing time in their lives. the filmmakers catch some real drama on camera, and whether this is an honest look or not — who knows what the kids are like when the cameras aren’t around — i couldn’t not watch. personally i was surprised and appalled at different turns and that’s really much more than any documentary should have to promise. it’s all about the kids. 4 stars.
Man On Wire (2008) – a while back this frenchy nutcase stretched a wire between the twin towers and walked across that wire several times, without a net, without a harness. this is a documentary about that guy and that feat. it has real interviews with the actual people involved, including said frenchy nutcase, i forget his name. M. Petit. i think that’s it. and basically just retells the story of how it happened in pretty good detail, along with some re-enacted scenes and a few minutes of real footage. a lot of people loved this movie and found it “uplifting” and all that, but i think that depends entirely on how engaged you are with M. Petit. and i was not very. 3 stars.
The Band’s Visit (2008) – an Egyptian band lost in Israel, relies on the hospitality of Israeli strangers. one of those culture clash type films with predictable results, but that’s not to say that it didn’t have one or two moments of interest. 3 stars.
Appaloosa (2008) – ed harris directed. starring ed harris, viggo mortenson, renee zelwegger, jeremy irons. it’s an honest to goodness western, and i generally like those. ed harris plays a legendary law man Virgil Cole, and viggo is his bad ass sidekick lugging around an ominously humongous shotgun. this movie is a mixed bag for me. the good parts were really good but the bad parts were really bad. first the bad: the campy dialogue, juvenile cliches and some weird pacing. that’s pretty much how the movie starts, like one bad cliche. unimaginative lines and overly simplistic settings and situations, etc. all done in a campy way. i had to roll my eyes. but the good develops later on: realistic violence and interesting character development. the gun fights, though few and far between, seem like they could really happen that way. it surprised me when it happened even though i was expecting it. in addition to the good spurts of violence, the characters that started so one-dimensional and stupid ended up deep and contemplative. surprisingly so. so, how do i reconcile these two movies, the simple first half and the deeper second half? in this case, i can’t and that’s the filmmaker’s fault. 3 stars.
Step Brothers (2008) – will farrell, john c reilly. two 40 year old loser man-children are thrown together when their parents marry each other. you know what to expect. it’s silly. it’s stupid. it can’t be taken seriously at all and you shouldn’t have any expectations. “that was like a combination of fergie and Jesus!” it is what it is. silly if you’re up for it. unwatchably dumb if you’re not. 2.5 stars.
The Wrestler (2008) – directed by Darren Aronofsky. starring mickey rourke, marisa tomei. a former pro-wrestling superstar is old, without many options, and trying to gather the pieces of his life now that his hey day is over. i love this movie. a lot is being said about mickey rourke’s comeback performance in this film (i guess robert downer jr. didn’t come back enough?), and it’s all justified, of course. he’s awesome. (and to anyone that might suggest that it’s easier for him since he lived the role already, that’s bullshit. while having experienced similar situations in his own life might help him relate, it does not help him bring it out in an outstanding and realistic performance in front of a camera, cast and crew. that’s like saying some actress doesn’t deserve credit for a break-up scene because she’s been in a relationship before.) but that shouldn’t steal attention from what i think is the actual foundation and strength of the film, the fleshy and three dimensional character and the layered story that was written. everyone here collaborated to create a full and real character with real vulnerabilities. in addition to that, the actual story of this performer parralleling his real life with his life in the ring is ambitious and well-played since it pretty much melts into the background and subtlely controls the film. throughout the film i couldn’t help but feel sympathetic with the wrestler. i hurt when he hurt. and when it was all over i couldn’t stop thinking about this film and the tragic life of the wrestler. and it’s for these reasons that this movie should go down as an instant classic, in my book, and why i think Aronofsky, again, proves himself a genius filmmaker. 4.1 stars. btw, i’ve said this before and i’ll say it again, Evan Rachel Wood should become one of the next great actresses.
Wall-E (2008) – pixar. the earth, crushed by overflowing garbage, has been adandoned by the humans and left to be cleaned up by a mini trash compactor robot called Wall-E. wall-e strikes up a relationship with the slick, ass-kicking probe robot sent to earth, EVA, and together they try to save the planet. the end. ha! actually there’s more to it than that. in addition to being an attack of excessive and irresistable robot cuteness, the film is also a direct social commentary satirizing our increasingly obese and lazy culture. (which reminds me of an unknown and underrated film from a few years ago called Idiocracy) but really it’s mostly about really cute robots. 4 stars.
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