Tuesday, April 30, 2002

The Celluloid Closet

An interesting look at how Hollywood has portrayed homosexuality on screen over the years. At first, I got the impression that the filmmakers are reading too much into the subtle "clues" -- perhaps looking too hard for something that isn't really there. However, various interviews with the screenwriters and actors involved in those films do reveal that it was their intention indeed to add gay characters and undertones in a very subtle way so that they wouldn't get censored. I wish the film contained more film footages though. Majority of the movie is just a bunch of people sitting and talking, and it soon becomes a little repetitive.

Sunday, April 28, 2002

Y Tu Mamá También

Why can't Hollywood make a teen/road-trip movie like this? After a series of juvenile, gross-out teen-comedies, Y Tu Mamá También really is a breath of fresh air. It's fast-paced, realistic, sometimes serious, but most of all, immensely funny and entertaining. There's plenty of laughter and drama, not to mention lots of (but not gratuitous) nudity. I also liked the use of the omniscient narrator, à la Amélie.

Saturday, April 27, 2002

Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

Part biopic, part documentary and part "music video", Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould is a collection of vignettes that outline the life and work of the acclaimed Canadian pianist. Many of the segments, especially the documentaries, shed light to the inner world of the eccentric genius that Glenn Gould was. Other segments, however, are not as successful, and if you are not familiar with Glenn Gould, you may have a tough time putting together the pieces of puzzles that are offered in this film. Nonetheless, it's an interesting and innovative piece of filmmaking, and you'll get a plenty of great music, if nothing else.

Saturday, April 27, 2002

Shower

Grand-prix winner at the SIFF a couple of years ago, Shower is a heart-warming and touching film even though the story and premise are rather contrived. It's hard not to enjoy this sweet, quiet drama despite its unabashed cheesiness.

Thursday, April 25, 2002

The Acid House

Let's face it: Irvine Welsh is a one-hit wonder. Trainspotting was a great book (also a great movie), but all his subsequent works have been rather disappointing. The Acid House is no exception. Based on his short stories, it's mildly amusing with glimpses of brilliance that made Trainspotting so successful, but ultimately unsatisfying.

Wednesday, April 24, 2002

The Lion King

Arguably the best animated feature Disney has ever produced. The animation is superb (especially the stampede scene), villains are interesting, funny and well-developed, and the story is endearing, if a bit cheesy. It's also quite edgy for a Disney flick and perhaps better suited for grown-ups than little kids. It would've been much better if it wasn't for those atrocious Elton John songs, however.

Tuesday, April 23, 2002

The Spanish Prisoner

The Usual Suspects, it ain't. The Spanish Prisoner is an intricately constructed thriller, but most of the twists are rather predictable, and like other Mamet films, the characters, situations and dialogues are a little too artificial. Still a fairly entertaining ride, reminiscent of much superior The Game.

Tuesday, April 23, 2002

A Chinese Ghost Story

I remember back in the late 80s when this movie made Joey Wang a cultural phenomenon in Asia. Well, I finally had a chance to check it out, and I must say that it was one of the most chaotic movies I've ever seen. It's a messy combination of slapstick comedy (with Leslie Cheung playing a goofy character against type), Crouching Tiger-esque high-flying kung-fu action, and a love story. It was pretty fun in a guilty-pleasure kind of way though, and I rather enjoyed it despite the cheesy B-movie special effects and atrocious subtitles.

Monday, April 22, 2002

The Age of Innocence

What a beautifully filmed movie! The gorgeous set/costume designs would put any Merchant-Ivory productions to shame, and Martin Scorcese's crisp direction captures the high-society New York in the late 19th century in such meticulous details. The story, however, isn't the film's strong point. It reminded me a little of In the Mood for Love in how the two main characters are involved in a non-existing affair, but it was rather slow and downright boring sometimes. The wonderful visuals almost make up for the lack of exciting plot though.

Saturday, April 20, 2002

A Civil Action

Bound to be compared to Erin Brockovich, A Civil Action starts off promisingly. The first half of the movie is fast-paced and establishes the characters well as it focuses on the subject matter of the case. However, the movie shifts its focus almost entirely to the financial problems faced by John Travolta's character and his colleagues, and I just didn't find it compelling nor interesting.

Saturday, April 20, 2002

Changing Lanes

This should've been a much more entertaining movie. The "fight" between Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson is interesting, but never thrilling or surprising, thanks to the trailer that gives away pretty much everything. The movie also becomes a little too preachy towards the end. If I wanted a lecture about how messed up our justice system is, and how dirty a lawyer's job is, I'd watch The Practice.

Friday, April 19, 2002

Howards End

Merchant/Ivory are single-handedly getting me into period movies. I passed on this movie when it first came out because it "looked boring" but it's a wonderful story with great acting and set/costume design. I think this would've been better told as a mini-series though. A lot of the times the movie feels rushed as story moves rather swiftly.

Thursday, April 18, 2002

Wall Street

Back in '87, my sister went to see this movie and then told me that I'd really enjoy it since "it's about money." I finally checked it out after 15 years, and she was right. Wall Street is a fast-paced, exciting film even though it does get a little sloppy towards the end. Even if you don't know much about stock trading (and half of what the characters talked about in the movie went right over my head), it's always clear what's happening, and it's an exciting ride. Michael Douglas is superb in his Oscar-winning role, and rest of the cast (minus Darryl Hannah) is excellent as well.

Thursday, April 18, 2002

Dr. Strangelove

A brilliant satire -- only Kubrick could've pulled off a comedy about doomsday/nuclear war. It's darkly funny, gripping and extremely entertaining, but it's also chilling at the same time because the scenario really isn't all that far-fetched.

Wednesday, April 17, 2002

Notting Hill

A fairly enjoyable romantic comedy despite the fact that this movie is basically just a series of cliché, contrived and exaggerated dialogues and situations.

Tuesday, April 16, 2002

No Man's Land

This year's surprising Best Foreign Picture winner at the Oscars. Its trailers/previews seem to depict this as a screwball comedy, but No Man's Land is more of a drama -- and a very compelling one at that. The story of 3 soldiers (2 Bosnian, 1 Serbian) trapped inside the trench in the no man's land is intriguing, darkly funny and realistic. There are no Hollywood-esque sugar-coating and cliché moments here. Every moment seems authentic, and Danis Tanovic manages to turn a rather simple premise into a gripping and complex story. It's also a commentary on the absurdity of war, and Tanovic successfully conveys his points without being preachy or pretentious.

Monday, April 15, 2002

Gods and Monsters

Somewhat reminiscent of Love and Death on Long Island, but darker, messier and not as entertaining. There are too many needless flashbacks that never get elaborated, and the story remains rather stagnant.

Saturday, April 13, 2002

Donnie Darko

Dark, eerie and interesting, but not well-executed. It's almost as though writer/director Richard Kelley had half a dozen ideas in mind and just decided to cram it all into this one movie. The movie lacks a clear focus and leaves too many loose ends. The premise and build-ups are interesting enough, but the payoff is confusing and disappointing.

Thursday, April 11, 2002

Erin Brockovich

We all love David vs. Goliath stories, and the unlikely story of Erin Brockovich is tailor-made for Hollywood. Well, the movie didn't quite work out that well despite the presence of Julia Roberts and Steven Soderbergh. The story is interesting, but never exciting, and it's told in such a matter-of-fact manner that there is hardly any character developments. The 2nd half of the movie, especially, is rather slow as it focuses on the mundane details of the case until it comes to an anti-climactic conclusion. Soderbergh's trademark shots (quick succession of disjointed segments) works extremely well in the earlier stages of the movie, however.

Wednesday, April 10, 2002

State and Main

Fairly entertaining Hollywood satire, but I couldn't really get into it. David Mamet's dialogues are funny and well-written but they are *too* clever and verbose at times (à la Aaron Sorkin).

Wednesday, April 10, 2002

Trick

Surprisingly slow, dull and unfunny. The "plot" is wafer-thin, and the void is filled with awkward, silent moments, lame musical numbers and annoying and hackneyed supporting characters.

Sunday, April 7, 2002

Bugsy

A stylish tale of how the vision of one gangster, Ben "Bugsy" Segal, made Las Vegas what it is today. The movie unfolds as more of a love story though, and I just didn't think it wasn't fascinating enough.

Sunday, April 7, 2002

I'm the One That I Want

Quite possibly the funniest hour and a half captured on film. I laughed so much that I'm still in pain (and this was my 2nd viewing). Here's my review from Amazon.com:

I'm the One that I Want is a hysterically funny and heartfelt chronicle of Margaret Cho's rise and fall (and another rise) in showbiz. (It's basically a taped version of her performance at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco.) She comes across as someone who overcame many obstacles in her path to success (racism, sexism, weight problems, substance abuse, criticisms from the Korean-American community, etc), someone who took the high road and used the all the negativity towards her as inspiration. Some of her routines get a little too stretched out (especially her impersonation of her mother), but overall this is by far the funniest movie I've seen in years.

Oh, Margaret Cho also wrote an autobiography of the same name -- stay away from it. It's a long, boring, poorly-written book that is occasionally funny only because it reminds you of her routines from this movie.

Saturday, April 6, 2002

The Cutting Edge

One of my all time guilty-pleasure favorites! Hopelessly formulaic, cheesy and predictable, but there's no denying that this is a super fun movie to watch, thanks mostly to the always likable D.B. Sweeney. Extra kudos for ending the movie at the right time instead of going for even more cheese.

Friday, April 5, 2002

Steel Magnolias

The ultimate chick-flick. Can you say estrogen overload? And my gosh, do these women ever shut up? My ears are still hurting. I enjoyed it for the most parts, but I thought the movie was too disjointed with rough transitions, and events seemed to happen too abruptly and matter-of-factly.

Friday, April 5, 2002

Farinelli

Sometimes fascinating, but mostly predictable story about a castorato. The music was great (male and female voices were blended using computers in order to recreate the singing voice), but I felt that it was a little overdone. Take away the singing, and you aren't left with much else. The production and custume designs were excellent though.

Thursday, April 4, 2002

The Remains of the Day

My first Merchant-Ivory experience, and it was a doozy -- a quiet, subtle but absorbing storyline, excellent cast (Anthony Hopkins, especially), and also that wonderful upstairs/downstairs dynamics that I enjoyed so much in Gosford Park. 2.5 hours didn't seem long at all.

Wednesday, April 3, 2002

The Last of the Mohicans

Beautifully filmed with great music, but I just couldn't get into it until the final few minutes. The story is predictable and the movie tries to compensate with elaborate battle scenes and other fancy visuals (à la Gladiator and Braveheart), but it's not quite enough.

Monday, April 1, 2002

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Great Pine Awards! Here are my picks for the year 2001.
(also see: last year's winners)

Best Picture: Memento

No contest here -- Memento was the most innovative, intelligent, and entertaining movie in years, with a brilliant screenplay, flawless editing and an impressive cast.

Honorable mentions: Sexy Beast, Moulin Rouge, Gosford Park