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Films Watched 2008 Part 3
Here is another batch of reviews for films that I have watched...
| AFI Top 100 | ||
| The Grapes of Wrath (1940) | 8 | The classic John Steinbeck depression-era novel adapted for film, with Henry Fonda and John Carradine. |
| Fantasia (1940) | 6 | I saw this as a kid and had forgotten how truly bizarre this film actually is. Basically it is Disney making a film showcasing classical music under the direction of Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra set with video to random Disney animated shorts. Everyone remembers the famous Mickey Mouse segment The Sorcerer's Apprentice, but there is so much other truly bizarre animation in this one. Do you remember the section about the natural history of the Earth from formation to the evolution of the first lifeforms into the creation and eventual extinction of the dinosaurs? Do you remember the section about Greek mythology times and centaurs and (sometimes topless) centaurettes? Do you remember the Night on Bald Mountain segment where the demon Chernabog summons fire and lava to destroy the damned skeletons, witches, dragons, ghosts, and demons he has created? If not, then you might want to watch this one again. This is one of the strangest Disney films ever I feel and one that I had mostly forgotten about. |
| Bonnie and Clyde (1967) | 9 | We're all familiar with the story of Bonnie and Clyde but this film does a great job of profiling the young bank robber couple and in brilliant color. It also showcases the young acting talent of Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, and even Gene Wilder. |
| The Wild Bunch (1969) | 7 | This western, starring William Holden and Ernest Borgnine, is a pretty good excuse to watch some amazing gun fights. I can't say that I especially cared for the plot but the shots of the wild west, railways, Mexico, and battle scenes made this one worth my while. |
| Sophie's Choice (1982) | 9 | Meryl Streep, as Sophie, accomplishes one of the best female acting performance ever (she deservedly won the Oscar that year too). I was blown away with how great she pulled off the Polish accent and I was immediately drawn to her sad sad character. This is a pretty depressing one (aren't all holocaust survivor dramas?) but I highly recommend it. |
| Tootsie (1982) | 7 | I rewatched this one recently since I hadn't seen it since I was a youngster. Sydney Pollack directs this film about struggling actor Michael Dorsey (played by Dustin Hoffman) who is out of work and assumes the role of Dorothy Michaels, a spunky say-what's-on-your-mind red-haired soap star. A young Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Bill Murray, and Geena Davis appear in this one, as well as Pollack himself. This film is moderately funny but probably not worthy of the AFI Top 100. |
| Horror | ||
| The Killer Shrews (1959) | 3 | I'm a bit obsessed with the larger-than-life animal horror genre (see "Night of the Lepus"). In this one a ship's crew get stranded on an island where a scientist is performing experiments on woodland shrews. Something goes wrong with the experiments, causing them to mutate, and you can imagine the rest. This film is great because of how horrible the special effects on the shrews are, basically just mangy dogs with some fur extensions added. |
| Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) | 7 | This is the 70s remake of the original Body Snatchers starring Donald Sutherland and featuring Leonard Nimoy and Jeff Goldblum. This film has that creepy late 70s horror vibe that I love and the shots of the pod people screaming are absolutely terrifying. I'm glad I didn't see this one when I was a kid because I think it would give me nightmares. |
| The Frighteners (1996) | 8 | Peter Jackson's last movie before he began work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Some of the same computer effects are used in this film and watching it even twelve years after it's release, the CGI and special effects still look great. Like the other earlier Jackson films, there is a certain comedic feel to this film while still maintaining itself in the horror genre. |
| Documentaries / Biographies | ||
| Baby Snakes (1979) | 7 | An interesting Frank Zappa documentary / live concert performance with some nutso clay animation thrown in for good measure. The music from this era of Frank Zappa represents some of my favorite stuff by him. |
| American Hardcore (2006) | 7 | A documentary about the history of hardcore punk. This documentary neglects to mention The Dead Kennedys or Misfits but is pretty complete otherwise and a pretty good starter for the history of this genre of music. |
| The Notorious Bettie Page (2006) | 8 | Gretchen Mol portrays the famous pin-up model Bettie Page. I expected this film to be somewhat raunchy but it actually had a handful of sweet and tender moments and leaves you with a good feeling after watching it. |
| Foreign | ||
| Tsubaki Sanjûrô (1962) | 7 | Famed Japanese "Seven Samurai" director Akira Kurosawa's black and white tale of an aging samurai recruited to save a young man's uncle. This film had some comedic elements and also a great final battle. This film would probably be better known if it had been copied as a western like some of the other Kurosawa films. |
| The Loves of a Blonde (1965) | 9 | This is an early Czech film by director Milos Forman, famous for later work on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus. It is a coming of age story about a young woman who falls for a piano player and wrecklessly seeks him out in his hometown after he fails to get back with her. I really liked this film and found it both touching and funny. |
| Lola (1982) | 7 | Lola is one of the last films by German director Rainer Fassbinder's. It is a tangled web of drama surrounding a singer at a bordello, a city's new building commissioner, and an influential builder. |
| Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987) | 8 | A sad film surrounding young boys sent to a French boarding school during World War II that had been accused of housing Jews. French director Louis Malle directs this film that is based on an incident from his own childhood. |
| 3-Way (2004) | 6 | A down on his luck handyman overhears a millionaire kidnapping plot and a scam is planned with his new girlfriend. There are a lot of twists in this film, most of them unbelievable, but it kept me guessing and I didn't find it as bad as a lot of the reviews have for this film. |
| James Bond | ||
| Octopussy (1983) | 6 | This is not one of the better Bond films. Starring Roger Moore, this plot revolves around Soviet involvement with a fake Fabergé egg. Bond encounters Octopussy and her band of trained women fighters as well as the east Berlin circus. |
| The Living Daylights (1987) | 7 | The first Bond film with Timothy Dalton. I didn't expect much of this one but it actually was suprisingly good. Maryam d'Abo plays an assassin that Bond is to kill but eventually becomes his ally as a drug ring in Afghanistan is uncovered. |
| Licence to Kill (1989) | 5 | This is probably one of the worst Bond films ever and the last one that Timothy Dalton appears in. I see why they took a long break before making the next one. The only thing that makes this one worth watching is the fantastic diesel stunts in the final chase scene and the appearance of a young Benicio del Toro and former Fratelli brother Robert Davi. |
| GoldenEye (1995) | 6 | Pierce Brosnan's first film as James Bond. A traitor Russian programmer is a member of a crime syndicate responsible for reprogramming GoldenEye satellites weapons. I feel indifferent about this one, nothing special - not altogether good and not altogether bad. |
| Alfred Hitchcock | ||
| Suspicion (1941) | 7 | Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine star in this film about a rich girl who falls for a playboy scammer, who just might be a killer. This film thrives on fear, the big what-if, the wondering suspicion. |
| Strangers On a Train (1951) | 9 | This is a pretty good one. A crazed man attempts to blackmail a famous tennis player to perform an unsuspecting murder swap, his father for the tennis star's cheating wife. |
| Werner Herzog | ||
| Stroszek (1977) | 8 | A ex-jailbird, a prostitute, and an eccentric old man leave Germany for a new start in Wisconsin, but find it is not always easy to escape their old habits. This film was sad on so many levels, needless to say I loved it. |
| Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) | 8 | A documentary about German-American Navy pilot and Vietnam veteran Dieter Dengler who survived being shot down and captured by the North Vietnam army. After much torture, he was able to escape and the tale of his escape back to Laos is unbelievable. Werner Herzog interviews him personally and suprising gets him to agree to reenact several of the scenes from his ordeal. |
| Misc. | ||
| Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) | 4 | This film has been the butt of jokes for a good twenty five years now so I decided it was finally time to see why. This is the sequel to the breakdancing film Breakin' and features the same cast of lead characters. This film is worth watching for the much copied dancing-on-the-ceiling dance sequence alone. Twenty five years later and I'm still amazed at how they created that effect so seamlessly. |
| Prizzi's Honor (1985) | 8 | John Huston directs this great mob comedy / drama / romance starring Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, and Anjelica Huston. The plot of this film will remind you of Mr. and Mrs. Smith or Intolerable Cruelty, predictable but fun. William Hickey as the aging mafia don was absolutely delightful. Jack Nicholson is my all-time favorite actor making this one a must see. |
| 24 Hour Party People (2002) | 6 | This film has the great setting of Manchester in the late 70s to early 90s as punk music evolves into new wave evolves into dance music. Tony Wilson creates Factory Records, signs Joy Division and the Happy Mondays, and then starts the club The Hacienda. This is a great bio of a pivotal place and time with a fantastic soundtrack. |
| Brown Bunny (2003) | 6 | This self-indulgent Vincent Gallo film is probably best known for its now famous beejer scene between Chloe Sevigny and VG. I went into this film with low expectations, the main complaint being a) it is too long and b) it is Vincent Gallo. The first point was taken care of by the shortened DVD release of the film. The second point wasn't as bad as I thought. I actually don't mind Vincent Gallo as an actor, he's believable enough - and I really liked the film Buffalo '66. The story was decent enough, posing lots of questions of what is real and what isn't, and the sprawling travel footage was almost relaxing at times. I think I liked this film more than most though. |
| Thank You For Smoking (2005) | 7 | A satire about a Big Tobacco representative and his relationship with the outside world and his son. What will happen when his rivals and allies turn against him? |
| Strangers With Candy (2005) | 5 | I loved this TV show for years, starring Amy Sedaris as Jerri Blank, an ex-con who returns to her new family and high school after years in the slammer. Unfortunately, like a lot of movies that spin off of TV shows, this one wasn't very good either. Some of the original characters from the show weren't even the same. I think I would have preferred a couple new episodes of the show instead of a full movie. If you enjoyed the show at all though, it's still one that you have to watch. |
| The Hawk Is Dying (2006) | 7 | Paul Giamatta stars in this story written by one of my favorite authors Harry Crews. Giamatta deals with heartache and disappointment by attempting to rear a falcon. His obsession and history of failure has everyone worried. Because of this film, I became briefly obsessed with the idea of falconry but there are some definite holes in it. |
| Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) | 7 | An extremely dark romantic comedy with the setting of purgatory for suicide victims. Sounds morbid right? But it's actually pretty entertaining and heartfelt. I can't think of many other films in this same genre. |
| Art School Confidential (2006) | 6 | A series of killings occur in an art school community during a student's first year in this comedy / drama. This was a recommendation from a friend who attended art school and claimed that a lot of the satire in this film brilliantly captured what it is like to be in art school. Terry Zwigoff who directed Ghost World does this one and in some aspects it reminds me of that film, but it misses somehow in the end. |
| Lars and the Real Girl (2007) | 8 | This dark comedy was just bizarre. Newlyweds suspect something is wrong with the husband's brother and this is soon confirmed when he introduces a life-sized doll as his new girlfriend. Family and friends go the supportive route as they help him deal with his recent delusions. |
| Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) | 7 | A comedy about lost love in a tropical setting. Most of this film is pretty unbelievable but it has it's charming moments. I found it to be more drama than comedy with the exception of the annoying character of Sarah Marshall's new rocker boyfriend. One of my favorites Mila Kunis appears in this one. |
| Semi-Pro (2008) | 5 | Will Ferrell plays the owner, coach, and player of the American Basketball Association's Flint, MI Tropics. It's pretty much your typical Will Ferrell film, mostly dumb with a few moments that really get you laughing. How they got Woody Harrelson, Andre 3000, and Maura Tierney to agree to do this film, I will never know. |
| Zach and Miri (2008) | 7 | Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks play lifelong friends and roommates who decide to get into the world of adult films after a high school reunion shows them how depressing and disappointing their life has actually become. This film seems like it would be really stupid comedy but it had some really touching moments in it as well. It was the perfect film to see while still hung over after Halloween night. I think this is probably the best film Kevin Smith has directed in years. |
| Baby Mama (2008) | 5 | Tina Fey plays a working woman with her biological clock ticking who recruits Amy Poehler's character to carry her baby. You can imagine the rest, pretty much your typical SNL-cast movie with the lead characters playing roles you've probably already seen. |
| Fling (2008) | 6 | This film stars Brandon Routh of Superman Returns fame. It covers the topic of an open relationship between a young couple and the problems that ensue when they find themselves interested in other people. The amazing thing about this film is that it was filmed entirely in Kansas City. It is full of familiar scenery, shops, backgrounds, and locations and has a great soundtrack with several Kansas City bands. The director John Stewart Muller is a Kansas Citian and it was nice to see him show off his hometown. Several premiers and parties were thrown around KC for this film and I was fortunate to catch one of the screenings. |
| Synecdoche, New York (2008) | 8 | Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as an obsessive theater director struggling with all the women in his life. This film has a great cast and that fantastic Charlie Kaufman way of blurring reality and fiction to the point where you don't know what is what anymore (similar to his other works Being John Malkovich or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). I really liked this film but I can see how people could find the plot to be too much, too cerebral maybe. This is a good one to just get lost in I feel. |
Here are my other lists. 2008 List 1 and 2008 List 2. 112 films watched over the course of 2008, not too shabby.
-ick!
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