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| Film Reviews |
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| 25th Hour Dir: Spike Lee In the wake of the excellent Summer of Sam, comes Spike Lee’s latest – 25th Hour. Although nowhere as good as Sam, there are some great things in this film. That’s why it’s disappointing there’s as many equally bad things. The performances by the main cast are as you would expect – supreme. Even Anna Paquin holds her own against the likes of Ed Norton, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Barry Pepper. The concept of Monty, played by Norton, spending his last day before going to prison for seven years for drug trafficking is something that you cant help but feel should have been handled better. It is just incredibly uneven and about twenty minutes too long. Brilliant scenes like the fight, Anna Paquin and Seymour Hoffman in the club, Pepper and Seymour Hoffman’s conversation looking over ground zero and Norton’s monologue to himself in the mirror are let down by things like the ‘what if?’ ending told by Monty’s father on the way to prison and the clichéd Russian gangster scenes. The September eleven undertones add to the decayed mystique of the film, but it just doesn’t stand up on it’s own two feet and grab the audience by the jugular as it should have. ***1/2 / ***** - Zak |
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| Russian Ark Dir: Aleksandr Sokurov This film seems to have split audiences straight down the middle. They are either for or against the way this hypnotic film was made; shot on digital video and utilizing one continuous, unedited ninety minute take in which we glide through two hundred years of Russian history in the famous Russian state hermitage museum. The film is breathtaking to look at and has a dreamlike quality but does this make it a good film? Well, yes and no. The film is so hypnotic that it almost put me to sleep, which I found annoying, as I really wanted to pay attention to the extreme detail of this film. It’s quite a surreal experience and looks absolutely immaculate. The stark digital look of the film is so crisp and pristine that it makes you wonder why all films aren’t shot like this. It was great to not have grainy cigarette burns all over the screen. Beautiful, but hard work. ***/***** - Zak |
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| The Hulk Dir: Ang Lee With all the excitement in Australia about Eric Bana's big break in Hollywood, it is too bad that The Hulk is so animated. It does suit the style of the movie but, with Ang Lee even using panel screens throughout the film making it very much a comic book movie. Unlike Spiderman it seems easier to get used the animated Hulk and the scenes that Eric Bana is actually in shows how good of an actor he actually is. The ending is a bit disapointing but. *** / ***** - Justin |
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| Bruce Almighty Dir: Tom Shadyac This is a very funny film that is mostly carried by Carrey's physical comedy. The plot is a little bit lazy but great performances by Carrey, Morgan Freeman, who plays a God evryone can relate to and Jennifer Aniston. The one problem with the movie is how similar it is to It's A Wonderful Life but there are many interesting and thought provoking scenes that should keep Carrey going with his luck of great movie roles. **** / ***** - Justin |
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| Old School Dir: Todd Phillips There have been many movies with the same premise as this movie, mostly in the 80's. You know the one where a bunch of 30-somethings are getting bored with life and don't want to settle down so decide to go back to their teenage days and form a fraternity. The movies in the 80's such as "Animal House", "The Pom Pom Girls" etc, were funny in their time but movies that have tried to duplicate it nowadays have not lived up to the past. Old School can't really do it either. The only good thing about this movie is the cast, lead by Luke Wilson(Royal Tenenbaums), Will Ferrell(Zoolander, Night At The Roxbury) and Vince Vaughn(Swingers, Psycho). This ensemble are hilarious and with cameos by Snoop Dog, Sean William Scott, Andy Dick and Juliette Lewis the acting in Old School will crack you up for most of the movie. ***/***** - Justin |
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| Punch Drunk Love Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson’s fourth feature ‘Punch Drunk Love’ is certainly a surreal cinematic experience. The entire film flows much like a musical, without anyone breaking into song, although it wouldn’t surprise you if they did. Sandler is fantastic in his only greatest, meatiest role ever. He plays Barry Eagan, a wholesaler of toilet plungers who is a troubled, lonely man who has trouble maintaining his severe anger problems. He gets in trouble with a phone sex operator and soon his structured, mundane, life spirals out of control. Emily Watson and Philip Seymour Hoffman are strong as usual and bring an obscurity to the film that is unlike any of Anderson’s previous work (it has many Lynchian moments, like the small piano). This film works in many levels and is the kind of visceral film that you can’t get out of your head once you leave the cinema. It stays with you long after. Sandler carries the entire film and it’s hard to believe that this is Mr. Deeds, Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, Billy Madison and The Wedding Singer. Who’d have thought he could act his ass off. All in all, this film is fucking Great. ***** / ***** - Zak |
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| The Pianist Dir: Roman Polanski Roman Polanski’s greatest film in a few decades fully deserves the accolades it’s been bestowed. The best Director and Actor Oscars are the icing on the cake for this devastating tale of survival. Adrian Brody plays Wladyslaw Szpilman, a gifted pianist in Warsaw just before the outbreak of the Second World War. The film follows Szpilman and his endeavours to do one thing throughout the six year war – survive. The entire film is told through his eyes. Just about every moment we experience is with Szpilman, from the building of the Warsaw ghetto’s walls, to the defeat of the Germans. Brody is absolutely amazing as Szpilman and the fact we know what happens in the historical aspect of the film, adds to the tension and plays on our anxiety. We know what’s going to happen to his family, and this makes the scenes they share with Wladyslaw before being sent to the death camps, that more devastating. There is not one sign of Spielberg schmaltz in this tragically painful film, which is possibly the greatest made about the holocaust. Brutal and captivating, The Pianist is a gut wrenchingly, beautiful film. ***** / ***** - Zak |
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| Up & Coming Movies Japanese Story - 25/9/03 Freddy Vs Jason Dumb & Dumberer Kill Bill The Last Samurai Jeepers Creepers 2 Bubba Ho-Tep Once Upon A Time In Mexico |
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| FILMS STARTING THIS WEEK JAPANESE STORY Sandy (Toni Collette), a geologist, finds herself stuck on a field trip to the Pilbara desert with a Japanese man she finds inscrutable, annoying and decidedly arrogant. Hiromitsus view of her is not much better. Things go from bad to worse when they become stranded in one of most the remote regions on earth. Japanese Story is a journey of change and discovery for its two lead characters. Official Selection Melbourne International Film Festival, 2003 and Cannes Film Festival, 2003. From the team who make Road to Nhill While being quintessentially Australian, the film has enormous universal appeal. Its themes, clash of cultures and the spiritual connection between strangers have a resonance that strectches far beyond our shores. Passionate and haunting, Japanese Story is a profoundly affecting experience. STARTS SEPTEMBER 25 at LUNA LEEDERVILLE (M) MONSIEUR BATIGNOLE Paris , summer 1942. France is under German occupation. Edmond (Gerard Jugnot), a butcher whose future son in law is an active collaborator,inadvertently takes part in the deportation of his Jewish neighbour's family. When the neighbour's son, Simon, shows up on what used to be his doorstep, he finds that Edmond and his family are now living there. Feeling guilty and seeking to avoid trouble with the German authorities, Edmond hides the boy who is soon joined by his two little cousins, also orphaned by the war. As it becomes increasingly difficult for him to hide the kids from his family and from his son in law's fascist patron, Colonel Spreich, Edmond finds himself getting more and more attached to them. Risking it all, he decides to help them make their way to the Swiss border. But that's where his troubles begin... The deeply moving story of an ordinary man who discovers extraordinary courage in himself. STARTS SEPTEMBER 25 at ASTOR CINEMA (M) ADVANCE SCREENINGS This Weekend SWIMMING POOL Sarah Morton (Charlotte Rampling) is a famous British mystery author. Tired of London and seeking inspiration for her new novel, she accepts an offer from her publisher John Bosload to stay at his home in Luberon, in the South of France. It is the off-season, and Sarah finds that the beautiful country locale and unhurried pace is just the tonic for her--until late one night, when John's indolent and insouciant French daughter Julie unexpectedly arrives. Sarah's prim and steely English reserve is jarred by Julie's reckless, sexually charged lifestyle. Their interactions set off an increasingly unsettling series of events, as Sarah's creative process and a possible real-life murder begin to blend dangerously together. The new film from Francois Ozon (8 Femmes, Under the Sand) STARTS OCTOBER 2 at CINEMA PARADISO (MA) FILMS COMING SOON SWIMMING POOL - STARTS OCTOBER 2 at CINEMA PARADISO [MA] "A fine sunlit noir, oozing sensuality and menace." CHICAGO TRIBUNE CALENDAR GIRLS - STARTS OCTOBER 9 at THE ASTOR [PG] "... boasts the same winning blend of earthy, working-class humour and familiar faces behaving disgracefully as The Full Monty". BBCi FILMS PERFECT STRANGERS- STARTS OCTOBER 9 at CINEMA PARADISO [MA] "A woman kidnapped by a secret admirer turns the tables on her captor with unexpected results in "Perfect Strangers," an intriguing, virtually unclassifiable romantic thriller fantasy." DAVID STRATTON RAISING VICTOR VARGAS - STARTS OCTOBER 23 at LUNA [M] "What's so wonderful about director Peter Sollett's assured debut feature is the authentic way he captures what it's like to be young." LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS GETTIN' SQUARE - STARTS OCTOBER 9 at LUNA LEEDERVILLE [tbc] "David Wenham is hysterical!" Rachel @ Paradiso SEX & LUCIA - STARTS OCTOBER 16 at PARADISO [R] "It's the kind of intelligent, thoughtful film about sex and love that Hollywood just can't make."REQUEST MAGAZINE INTOLERABLE CRUELTY -STARTS OCTOBER 23 AT THE ASTOR [TBC] "A thoroughly entertaining comedy about love, lawyers and fat divorce settlements." VARIETY LAUREL CANYON - STARTS OCTOBER 30 at *LUNA [MA] *Please note change of location "Francis McDormand is terrific as the perennially foxy rock chick, but Bale contributes the movie's most affecting performance as a son who still longs for the stability his mother could never provide." EYE WEEKLY JET LAG - STARTS OCTOBER 30 at CINEMA PARADISO [M] "Excellent fluff français, leavened with charm, wit and smart observation about the way we love now." L.A. WEEKLY LE DIVORCE - STARTS NOVEMBER 6 AT THE ASTOR [TBC] "Utterly charming and not without those subtle insights into character and culture that mark [Merchant Ivory's] best films." HOLLYWOOD REPORTER IN THE CUT - STARTS NOVEMBER 13 AT LUNA [R] "A serial killer flick filtered through an arthouse lens." PLANET SICK-BOY SPELLBOUND - STARTS NOVEMBER 13 AT LUNA [G] "If the concept of a spelling bee leaves you yearning for an evening of watching paint dry, think again. This compelling documentary is one of the most suspenseful films of the year." PALO ALTO WEEKLY NICHOLAS NIKELBY - STARTS NOVEMBER 20 AT CINEMA PARADISO [M] "The director has produced a colorful, affecting collage of Dickensian moods and motifs, a movie that elicits an overwhelming desire to plunge into 900 pages of 19th-century prose." NEW YORK TIMES INTACTO - STARTS NOVEMBER 27 AT CINEMA PARADISO [M] "A sharp brainteaser of a film, a compelling mind game you compulsively play along with." LOS ANGELES TIMES |