Surf’s Up
This delightful cartoon, about some penguins competing in
a major Surfing Championship, sets out to send-up the cult
of surfing in a very affectionate manner. I just love the
spoof of Beach Boys music that the cartoon features.
A Woman In Winter
An astronomer falls in love with a mysterious woman, but is
she ‘real’ or a ‘visitor’ from a parallel
universe? Basically, this ‘oh-so-beautiful-to-look-at’
British film, gets bogged down in its ‘arty-ness’
and intellectual pretensions.
Ratatouille
Somehow, I don’t think this cartoon is for children.
It is all about a rat who becomes a chef in a French restaurant.
Most of the jokes are about sauces, and if you don’t
fancy French Cuisine, the movie will leave you hungry.
The Last Mimzy
Astrophysics is a serious subject for a children’s film,
yet this movie is able to pull it off and maintain interest
right to the end. The movie doesn’t answer all the mysteries
of the universe, but it does provide some nifty explanations.
Big Nothing
Naughty British comedian, Simon Pegg, makes a successful Trans-Atlantic
crossing to star in this funny American black-comedy, about
a ‘sting’ that goes wrong. Finally rid of ‘Friends’,
David Schwimmer gives good support.
Killer Drag Queens On Dope
This must be the worst movie ever made, featuring the worst
Drag Queens to ever grace the silver screen. It has absolutely
no redeeming features at all. Its sheer ineptness guarantees
that it will become an instant cult ‘camp’ classic.
Orchestra Seats
The gamin French actress, Cecile De France, plays a waitress
who delivers coffee and good cheer to a theatre, concert hall
and auction house, all across the street from her Parisian
café, in this charming ‘inter-connected’
comedy.
Broken English
A thirty-something New York woman has one disastrous relationship
after another, and she goes blah-blah-blah to anyone who will
listen. Parker Posey presents a peculiar performance, which
hovers between comedy and tragedy.
The Number 23
Like all comedians, Jim Carrey wants to be seen as a ‘serious
actor’ as well. Carrey fails badly as a dramatic actor,
in this bizarre movie about obsession, from established director
Joel Schumacher, who should have known better.
45
As a battered spouse, who extracts her own revenge, Mila Jovovich
presents a fantastic performance in this brutal film. The
diversity and skill displayed in her recent roles suggests
that Jovovich is becoming an ‘important’ actress.
Georgia Rule
Playing grandmother, mother and daughter, Jane Fonda, Felicity
Huffman and Lindsay Lohan explore the ‘generation-gap’
in a typically dysfunctional family. Somewhere in all the
blah-blah-blah a dark theme of incest emerges.
In The Land Of Women
This is another movie that examines ‘relationships’
and the ‘generation-gap’ within a group of disparate
women. This time Adam Brody is caught in the middle of all
the blah-blah-blah, most of which is coming from Meg Ryan.
The Last Time
Michael Keaton turns in another riveting performance as a
cynical and angry salesman, who has to train a new partner.
The drama builds gradually, and it is not until the end that
you realize that you have actually enjoyed the movie.
The Conclave
Set in Rome in 1458, this movie is a lavish costume drama
that follows the procedures of electing a new Pope. The Machiavellian
Renaissance politics act as a pretty good metaphor for the
underhanded politics of our own times.
The Moon And The Stars
A group of glamorous International film-makers converge in
Fascist Rome to make a movie, just prior to the outbreak of
World War II. Like a lot of Italian cinema, this film is gorgeous
to look at, but basically means nothing.
I-See-You
The computer whiz-kid teenage son of another dysfunctional
American family, unbeknown to them, places a camera in every
room of their house, and launches his own internet ‘reality’
show. This comedy will surprise you.
Wind Chill
Emily Blunt plays a college student, who cadges a ride home
from a peculiar fellow student. Along the way they get caught
in a snow drift, but, Emily is so nasty throughout the film
that you don’t give a damn what happens to her.
Perfect Stranger
Investigative journalist Halle Berry suspects that advertising
tycoon Bruce Willis may have played a part in a murder, so,
she gets a job at his agency to snoop around. Halle’s
methods are more like entrapment than anything else.
Comedy of Power
Legendary French director Claude Chabrol has made a chic thriller,
which is inspired by the Elf Affair. A current true story
of French high level corporate corruption. As a tenacious
magistrate Isabelle Huppert is simply sensational.
Shooter
This movie is so ridiculous, that I don’t even know
why I am mentioning it. Mark Wahlberg plays a former Marine
sniper who finds himself accused of trying to assassinate
the American president. The movie is absolutely stupid.
Priceless (Hors de Prix)
There is something unsavory about this so called French comedy.
Are high class prostitutes and exclusive gigolos the new role
models? Is it necessary to glorify a lifestyle which is achieved
at the considerable expense of others?
Disappearances
Frankly, I don’t really understand this independently
funded American film. It is concerned with bootlegging over
the Canadian border in the 1930s, but, the occasional touches
of ‘magical realism’ don’t help to clarify
the plotline.
10 Canoes
I presume you are supposed to admire this film, as it deals
with Australian aborigines and their mythologies. Even so,
the film is awfully dull and takes for ever to get going,
when it finally does, you have lost interest completely.
Boy Culture
Another movie about a hunky ‘gay’ hustler who
sells his body to the highest bidder, while living in a precarious
threesome that tries to ape heterosexual relationships. Somewhere
along the way the film looses whatever plot it had.
It’s A Boy Girl Thing
Body swapping movies, where teenage boys and girls wake up
one morning to find that they have exchanged bodies, keep
coming and coming. This film is another tedious variation
on the same theme with the same tedious results.
The Fearless Vampire Killers Or: Pardon Me, But Your Teeth
Are In My Neck.
Roman Polanski made this black-comedy in 1967. It wasn’t
a big hit at the time, then the Manson Murders happened and
it was far better to forget the whole thing. Time has improved
the film, and it is well worth another look.
