I'd rank The Godfather movies and Apocalypse Now ahead of it, but The Conversation is extremely close...much closer than people give it credit for.

Great character study.

The 40 Year Old Virgin - (Judd Apatow;2005;USA)
A 40 year-old virgin is pushed by his co-workers to lose his virginity.
A surprising film. The first half is great, with many moments that actually transcend their comedic exaggerations and can actually be relevant to real life, especially the poker scene. There are many cliches ignored, and some taken but it proves to be a wonderful ride. The second half is more rocky, mixed with cheap laughs and genuine ones. Truth be told, this is one of the funniest films I've seen recently. Good comedies are ridiculously rare today. It doesn’t stay in good form the whole time, but for the most part it doesn’t resort to cheap jokes to put a smile on your face. I would probably give this two stars, but Steve Carell made this that much more enjoyable.

Glad you enjoyed it, DV. You're review pretty much nails the way I felt about the film. Steve Carell is just hilarious.

I was watching Bruce Almighty earlier, and the scene where Jim Carrey manipulates Carell's news report is just hilarious. Carrey's facial expressions coupled with Carell's made that scene enjoyable.

Just wait until you watch The Wedding Crashers. The best comedy I've seen in years!

Syriana (2005)

[img]http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:CMNLEBEW1oUJ:www.christopher-plummer.com/syriana_poster.jpg[/img]

* * * 1/2
3.5 Stars

Directed by: Stephen Gaghan
Main Cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper

Summary: A political thriller that unfolds against the intrigue of the global oil industry. From the players brokering back-room deals in Washington to the men toiling in the oil fields of the Persian Gulf, the film's multiple storylines weave together to illuminate the human consequences of the fierce pursuit of wealth and power.

As a career CIA operative (George Clooney) begins to uncover the disturbing truth about the work he has devoted his life to, an up-and-coming oil broker (Matt Damon) faces an unimaginable family tragedy and finds redemption in his partnership with an idealistic Gulf prince (Alexander Siddig).

A corporate lawyer (Jeffrey Wright) faces a moral dilemma as he finesses the questionable merger of two powerful U.S. oil companies, while across the globe, a disenfranchised Pakistani teenager (Mazhar Munir) falls prey to the recruiting efforts of a charismatic cleric.

Each plays their small part in the vast and complex system that powers the industry, unaware of the explosive impact their lives will have upon the world.

Review: I had average expectations going into this one. I knew that it would probably be heavily influenced by Traffic, which it was, but this wasn't necesarily a bad thing, as Traffic is one of my top 10 favorite films of all time.

Stephen Gaghan, taking both the writing and directing chairs this time around, as opposed to just having written Traffic, opted not to use the color filters that I thought gave Traffic an especially unique feel and look to not only its cinematography, but the film as a whole. Gaghan did decide to go with a storytelling format that leaves the viewer with no true idea of who our main character is.

I wasn't opposed to having the interweaving storylines, and I felt like I was able to effectively decipher the plot through some confusion. The only storyline I didnt really like was one that focused on a young Arab boy who is put out of a job and is eventually persuaded to join a terrorist cult of sorts. This part of the story dragged a bit and didn't truly get interesting until its conclusion. I thought George Clooney did a good job, nothing that he'll be remembered for or anything, but still a solid performance.

Matt Damon seemed to shine I thought, as an emotionally distraught financial advisor for a large oil company. He was really allowed to show his full range of emotions, whereas some of the other cast were somewhat stifled in their steely-faced characters I felt. The music was a somewhat negative aspect for me, as I felt Gaghan tried to replicate Michael Mann and Steven Soderbergh's use of strange, echoey, atmospheric type music, but ended up with a score that sometimes sounded like something out of a bad action movie.

This is ultimately a film that I could probably only watch once or twice before taking a long break from it, considering the complicated storyline and semi-boring subject matter

Still a solid effort though, and I'll definetly be checking out anything further that Stephen Gaghan directs.

Direction – 17/20
Acting – 18/20
Story – 11/15
Rewatchability – 12/15
Music – 7/10
Depth – 10/10
Cinematography – 4/5
Supporting Cast – 4/5
TOTAL = 83%

83% = 3.5/5 Stars

Best Quote: "You want to know what the business world thinks of you? We think a hundred years ago you were living out here in tents in the desert chopping each others head's off, and that's exactly where you're gonna be in another hundred. So yes, on behalf of my firm, I accept your money."

Mista, I wonder why your rating is fine granular (out of 20) for some aspects and coarse (out of 5) for some others?

Rubber Johnny
Chris Cunningham 2005 GB (1st time)
A mutant child, watched by a dog, struggles to communicate to those observing him, but enjoys dancing when the eyes are off him.
Curious, rather unsettling short which could have been even more interesting had it stayed in within the cinema boundaries, and not instead strayed into something resembling a music video, with the soundtrack from Aphex Twin and frantic cutting producing some sort of hallucinatory experience.

Bad Santa ****

I've been watching this movie annually this time of year and it seems it never gets old. That's part of the reason that I gave it such a high score but also due to it's originality plus the casting of Billy Bob Thorton, Tony Cox and Bernie Mac. I just love that this movie wasn't afraid to go against the "holiday norm" and made a more vulgar/adult holiday movie.

PS - I know this is off subject but I was thinking about it as I was watching this movie (it was briefly brought up) but what is everyone's thoughts on the movie Seabiscuit? I've yet to see it and know that I need to, along with Master and Commander and L.A. Confidential.

I didn't like the humor of Bad Santa, sometimes it was more cruel than humorous. Even if it was christmas spoof, it might have slightly more enjoyable, but this was outright bad.
0/5

The movie may have been cruel but understand that the main character was a drunk piece of sh*t. I enjoy this type of humor and I guess that's what it depends on.

Death Wish (1974, Winner) ***

A New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his wife is murdered by street punks in which he randomly goes out and kills would-be muggers on the mean streets after dark.

A very nice gritty, Bronson-esque movie. He and others were very good in this one. It started off a little slow in the beginning, but got better as it got along.

Funny enough, DEATH WISH itself was based on a book that actually condemned vigilante revenge. I wonder how the author felt when his book became a pleasing hit-revenge flick.

I just think that certain aspects of a film contain more importance to the overall quality then others.

For example, I give direction a score out of 20 because I feel like a film could not have good quality without good direction, so that score is a large percentage of the total score, while I give music a score out of 5 because I feel as though a film could still be good even if it had shitty music.

The categories are scored out of the set amounts because they reflect what I feel is their importance to the overall quality of the film.

OK, I misundderstood your rating. I didn't realize it added up to 100. I thought when you give 10/20, you convert it to 50/100 and similarly 4/5 becomes 80/100 and so on and you finally average them all. I don't know why I thought you would do that, it is indeed a very complicated method that way

Abre los ojos /Open Your Eyes - (Alejandro Amenábar;1997;Spain/France/Italy)
An imprisoned man tells a psychiatrist how he fell in love and became disfigured in an ex-lover's car crash which led to him committing a horrible crime.
Vanilla Sky brought three different things to this. Longer pacing, a lot of pop-culture references, and an attempt to take a gritty film and make it very polished. I have to be honest in saying that I enjoy the remake more, naturally. However it is not superior to the original. This film was a lot more dark, and what it succeeds the most in, is making the audience feel horribly isolated. At times I felt like this was the loneliest film I ever saw. Vanilla Sky never reached that, aside my basic emotions of sadness out of care of the protagonist. I was compelled to give this three stars due to the quicker pacing, which made the ending a little less memorable to me, but I can't help thinking about this film in terms of a masterpiece. It touches so many levels, and many times I felt like I heavily related to the film in terms of dreams, and how they can either hurt us, or leave us with an empty desire that makes us dislike waking up. I definitely need to see this again. The Sea Inside felt relatively generic to me, but I can't believe it was directed by the same man.

I most deffinatly have to see Open Your Eyes soon. It sounds great; although, based off of your description, I can already see myself enjoying Vanilla Sky more-so on a personal level.

I was just watching Vanilla Sky for the first time in a while the other day too... And I have to say, I forgot how great the cinematography was. And, naturally, I've always loved the soundtrack--especially the intro--for obvious reasons... For anyone who didn't catch on, Radiohead provides the music for the opening scene, and later on in the film, I Might Be Wrong (Radiohead Song) is played very quietly in the background; didn't even notice it was there until I had read the entire track-listing and gone back to the film.

The problem I have is that Crowe adds nothing to the remake that makes it a good movie. He basically saw an excellent film, and remade it for American audiences, polishing it with more emphasis on most scenes (which is why scenes like the final jump will be more memorable on the remake), and adding things like the mountain of pop-culture references. It's an unneeded remake. The music in Open Your Eyes is thriller/drama-ish unlike the soundtrack-style of Vanilla Sky. Hell, the remake's title is a reference itself.

Vanilla Sky can probably get into my top 100, but I can't give it any stars. As for cinematography, I liked the original better as well. In fact, the final scene feels better. It doesn't have the CGI vanilla skies, but it has a natural beauty that feels heavenly, mixed with the VAST Spanish landscape. I love the remake more, but it's the original that is the masterpiece.

Bad News Bears (2005) ** 1/2

I enjoyed this movie more than I expected. I didn't think it was as funny or as good as the original but Billy Bob was his usual good self. Other than that, I could have died a happy man without a remake of this movie.

Four Brothers ***

I enjoyed this in the theaters and on DVD (gonna buy it tomorrow). A very interesting story about 4 adopted brothers whose mother is gunned down by a gangster and they seek revenge. Mark Wahlberg and Andre Benjamin really stood out to me the most. The DVD itself doesn't seem to have many special features but the money is worth the price of purchase IMO. Plus I like John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood, Higher Learning).

The Professional (1994)



* * * *
4 Stars

Directed by: Luc Besson
Main Cast: Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman, Danny Aiello

Summary: Mathilda, a twelve-year old New York girl, is living an undesirable life among her half-family. Her father stores drugs for two-faced cop Norman Stansfield. Only her little brother keeps Mathilda from breaking apart.

One day, Stansfield and his team take cruel revenge on her father for stretching the drugs a little, thus killing the whole family. Only Mathilda, who was out shopping, survives by finding shelter in Léon's apartment in the moment of highest need.

Soon, she finds out about the strange neighbour's unusual profession - killing - and desperately seeks his help in taking revenge for her little brother. Léon, who is completely unexperienced in fatherly tasks, and in friendships, does his best to keep Mathilda out of trouble - unsuccessfully.

Now, the conflict between a killer, who slowly discovers his abilities to live, to feel, to love and a corrupt police officer, who does anything in his might to get rid of an eye witness, arises to unmeasurable proportions - all for the sake of a little twelve-year old girl, who has nearly nothing to lose.

Review: I really liked this one. Surprisingly good performances by the entire main cast. I was going to list them individually, but I realized all 4 of the main players just fully embody their roles and turn in stellar performaces.

Besson's direction is near perfect as well. As far as shot framing and scene selection go, I had no problems, but I did feel like the film was a little too fast-paced at times. I'm definetly a fan of a methodically moving, well developed film, and I just felt like at times, Besson was rushing it. Specifically the day right after Natalie Portman comes to live with Jean Reno, and she proposes the whole deal and everything, I just felt like it was inaccurate and not believable.

I was really kind of dissappointed to see the cliched "time passage" montage here. Yeah, I understand, the same type of thing was going on for a long period of time, and the relationship between Reno and Portman was slowly forming, but I felt there had to be a better way to show this then the Rocky-4-type montage set to happy music that we got. I was really enthralled up to that point and then I kind of lost interest for a bit.

The music, also, was a bit of an issue for me. Besson, for some reason, chose to use the same 20 second clip of a melancholy string piece like 10 times over. I dont know whether he thought the viewers wouldnt notice, but it bothered me. Although sometimes, the music worked really well, especially during the scene with Natalie Portman and Gary Oldman in the bathroom.

I thought the strange relationship between Jean Reno and Natalie Portman was developed excellently. Its really well shown how the two feel like lovers sometimes, father and daughter other times, and sometimes just friends.

I had trouble appreciating the humor in this film, and I thought it just didnt fit. Once and a while, sometimes seemingly out of nowhere, there would be an attempt at humor, and most of the time I just felt it came off awkwardly. One notable exception to this is the scene where Natalie Portman impersonates Madonna and Marilyn Monroe, and somewhat accidentally shoves her youthful sexuality in Jean Reno's face. I thought that specific scene worked especially well as both a dramatic and a comedic piece.

This film also did suffer from a weak supporting cast, as several of the minor characters were played by people who acted like they belonged on TV. Although I was really happy to see Mario Todisco as Tony's barber, A.K.A the screaming Clarence "Drop" Johnson from Miller's Crossing. Quite a memorable face.

Overall, a film that I went into with mixed expectations, and was pleasantly surprised. An excellent piece of work.

Direction – 19/20
Acting – 19/20
Story – 13/15
Rewatchability – 14/15
Music – 7/10
Depth – 8/10
Cinematography – 5/5
Supporting Cast – 3/5
TOTAL = 88%

88% = 4/5 Stars

Best Quote: "I don't give a shit about sleeping, Leon. I want love, or death. That's it."

Thank you, XDcX! I can almost hear the soundtrack!!!

Wedding Crashers - (David Dobkin;2005;USA)
One of two wedding crashers falls in love with a woman at the latest wedding he crashes, only to find she's got a boyfriend.
Unlike The 40 Year Old Virgin, this falls into cliche much more. It begins very funny but soon falls into 100% pure cliche plot. I knew what would happen, the role of the bad boyfriend, and everything before it happened. Hell, I even knew who "Chazz" would be, though that cameo was enjoyable. This film proves to be a good, funny comedy, although it doesn't achieve anything better. Vaughn and Wilson make their otherwise average characters very likable.

SPOILERS I was expecting Ben Stiller since he was in 6 movies last year with most of these guys in it. I should have expected Will Ferrell though END OF SPOILERS

"He's doing funerals now, he's really cleaning up"

I just rented Manhattan and Mullholland Drive from Blockbuster. My thoughts will come within the next week.

Good film

Aeon Flux * 1/2

I only saw this movie because I got a free movie ticket from work in the AEON FLUX game. I was a little excited going into it but those emotions were quickly put aside. Some action but I felt the story was weak and so was the directing. The fighting scenes weren't bad but I've seen better from Charlize.

The Crush ** 1/2

I haven't seen this movie in years but I always enjoyed it. 17-year-old Alicia Silverstone playing a 14-year-old girl was enough for me not to mention Cary Elwes (who's always good).

Weather Man
This was more of a dark humor than the introspective movie I imagined it to be. I didn't like it that much, but a decent film still. Nicholas cage is convincing as the successful weatherman who otherwise is a total failure.

About Schmidt
Very nice movie. As usual Jack Nicolson does a great job in the character of a newly retired person. It is a nice character study. The final scene brought a tear in my eye, almost synchronous with schmidt himself. I guess the movie achieved its purpose, I almost was feeling like the character at that point.