reviews Archives - Page 3 of 16 - Ramblin' with Roger

The 21st century’s 100 greatest films, part 1

Until I read my own review, I had forgotten how much I liked this film

The BBC surveyed 177 film critics “from every continent except Antarctica. “For the purposes of this poll we have decided that a list” of the 21st century’s 100 greatest films “should include the year 2000” because the year “was a landmark in global cinema.”

Though I started this blog in 2005, and reviewed many of the films I’ve seen over the years, I wasn’t as detailed in the beginning. Still my reviews will be the items that are hyperlinked. A few movies I am not familiar with I’ve designated DK (don’t know)

Yes there are three films at 100

100. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016) – DK
100. Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000) – saw this in a not-very-crowded theater; at least half of the audience had seen the before. It was astonishing, druggy psychological drama with Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly. I thought the star, Ellen Burstyn, should have gotten the Best Actress Oscar instead of Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich. It was in my Top Ten Films of the Aughts
100. Carlos (Olivier Assayas, 2010) – DK
99. The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, 2000) – DK
98. Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002) – DK
97. White Material (Claire Denis, 2009) -DK
96. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003) – I enjoyed it quite a bit when I first saw it; classic Disney dead parent film. Still, I can’t but see this initially through the eyes of The Daughter , when she was about 4 or 5, when she was at a party and was terrified by certain scenes
95. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012) – I found it delightful, and the serendipity of seeing it was almost as much a part of the experience
94. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008) – DK
93. Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007) – once I got over the idea of rats and edible food, I liked it
92. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007) – thought to see it, but just never did
91. The Secret in Their Eyes (Juan José Campanella, 2009) – DK, though I had heard of the 2015 American remake, which I did not see

90. The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002) – I thought to see it, but, based on the previews, I knew I had to steel myself to see a Holocaust movie, and just never got to the theater before the film left
89. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008) – DK
88. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015) – even though it won the Oscar for Best Picture, I think it’s somewhat underrated, because most of the performances were understated
87. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) – I definitely bought into the whimsy of the waitress ((Audrey Tautou) who was a change agent in other people’s lives, even as she disconnected inside
86. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002) – I found this film about 1950s Connecticut suburban bliss – but not really – quite powerful at the time in dealing with race, gender, sexual identity, and class. Starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, and Patricia Clarkson. I feel as though I should see this again to find out if it holds up.
85. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009) – I saw the previews of a French film about murder and drug dealing, and I just wasn’t interested
84. Her (Spike Jonze, 2013) – at some level, I thought it was not at all implausible, the way we are tethered to our devices.
83. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001) – I had meant to see it, and just didn’t
82. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009) – I really wanted to see this. It’s about the struggle with issues of faith. Didn’t
81. Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011) – saw the trailer about sexual addiction with Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan as grown siblings. It looked dark – I mean in many ways, including visually, lots of night scenes. If I had seen more films that year, this might have been one of them

80. The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003) – may have seen the trailer of this Russian film about growing up
79. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000) – enjoyed this a lot, actually. A music film is in my emotional wheelhouse.
78. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013) – I picked off most of the Best Picture nominees that year, and I had seen this one. My parents-in-law HATED it, it’s very long, and ultimately I never saw it
77. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007) – until I read my own review, I had forgotten how much I liked this film
76. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003) – saw the trailer, but it didn’t capture me
75. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014) – saw the trailer several times, and was never sure if I wanted to see it; didn’t, apparently
74. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012) – saw the previews, thought it looked TERRIBLE
73. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004) – I have to see the Before trilogy one of these days
72. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013) – DK
71. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012) – DK

70. Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012) – though a mostly low-key documentary, I liked it a lot
69. Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015) – maybe a little TOO understated, but I enjoyed it
68. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001) – I disliked virtually every character in this film, which may have been the point, but I did not enjoy this film. At all.
67. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008) – I took this out from Netflix for four months, and never found the two-hour bloc to watch it. I need to watch a video the first time as though I were in the theater, which means in one solid bloc
66. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003) – DK
65. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009) – DK
64. The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013) -DK
63. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011) – DK
62. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009) – wasn’t sure I wanted to see another gory Tarantino film, so I didn’t
61. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013) – a horror film with ScarJo; the former turned me off

60. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006) – DK
59. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005) – the Daughter was one y.o. We saw few movies in this period, and I’m not sure if this would have been a contender
58. Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène, 2004) – DK
57. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012) – sometimes the politics of the film gets in my way
56. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, director; Ágnes Hranitzky, co-director, 2000) – DK
55. Ida (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2013) – DK
54. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011) – DK
53. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001) – I have the soundtrack to this movie, some of which is fine, even spectacular, but other bits uncomfortably trite, rather like the movie
52. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004) – DK
51. Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010) – this actually intrigued me, the idea of stealing information by infiltrating the subconscious. Maybe I should rent it

Well, that’s the first half. The next part is where I show that I did not enjoy movies some of you love.

MOVIE REVIEW: Gravity

Kudos to director Alfonso Cuarón, who WILL deservedly win the Oscar for Best Director.

So much I hated about going to the movies that Sunday afternoon to see Gravity:

1) It was at Crossgates, a local mall I particularly loathe. Don’t believe I had seen a movie there since Presidents Day weekend 16 years ago, nearly to the day, when I saw L.A. Confidential and Mrs. Brown, both Oscar nominees. But it was the only place locally it was playing, and seeing it later on video seemed to be a much lesser experience. And SamuraiFrog was so fond of it.

2) The movie was only available in 3D. I tend to hate 3D. Indeed, the preview of the upcoming X-Men movie looked like looking through one of those old ViewMasters I had as a kid; boy, I hope the MOVIE doesn’t look that weird.

3) Saw this news piece on NBC “revealing” how they got Sandra Bullock’s character to appear to be in zero gravity, noting that if she REALLY were, her hair would stand up, just one of the scientific errors in the movie.

Yet, I really enjoyed the film, both as a technological marvel, despite its flaws, and as a reflection on life and death and rebirth, sorrow and release. This summary from Deadspin spoke to me: “You want to admire the technical achievement, except it never feels like a technical achievement. It just feels like you’re there. And desperately want to leave.” The Wife was on the edge of her seat, sometimes literally. There were moments I forgot to breathe.

Kudos to Bullock and George Clooney as the astronauts, the cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, and especially director Alfonso Cuarón, who WILL deservedly win the Oscar for Best Director.

MOVIE REVIEW: Philomena

Steve Coogan co-wrote the screenplay with Jeff Pope, based on Martin Sixsmith’s book, “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee.”

I was watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart recently, and Steve Coogan was on talking about the movie Philomena. I must admit that I had no real idea who he was. When I was talking at work about the fact that The Wife and I gave the movie two thumbs up after we had seen it a couple of weekends ago at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany, one of my colleagues said, “But doesn’t it star Steve Coogan?” After I confirmed this, she indicated that he always plays a real jerk in movies, particularly in some comedies I had never seen.

As “world-weary political journalist” Martin Sixsmith, Coogan’s character is more than a little arrogant as he lowers himself to investigate “the story of a woman’s search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.” He finds the now-aging Philomena (Judi Dench) quite pedestrian. But during the journey to two continents, he develops a different relationship with her.

Coogan not only costars in the film, but he also co-wrote the screenplay with Jeff Pope, based on Sixsmith’s book, “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee,” after he happened upon an article about the true story. AND he is a producer of the film.

Ever since I saw the film, I’ve wanted to extol its praises, including the fact that the trailer does not give away too much. But the less you know, the better your viewing experience will be. I will say the second half of the touching film is even better than the first, Dench and Coogan are very fine, at under 100 minutes it is efficiently made, and that a late American President figures prominently in the narrative.

OK, since the Academy Awards nominations were announced – it’s up for Best Picture and Dench for Best Actress – there’s been a debate whether the Church gets a pass; that, I think, is not the film I saw.

MOVIE REVIEW: Frozen

I predict there will be a Broadway version of Frozen by 2018.

It was a very rainy Sunday afternoon. The Wife, The Daughter and I were supposed to travel from Albany to near Binghamton for a family dinner, but the forecast for locations in between were dodgy, with snow and ice likely. Instead, we went out to lunch, and then to Colonie Center Mall to see the newish Disney animated film Frozen.

Some bullet points:
*THIS FILM IS GORGEOUS. Continue reading “MOVIE REVIEW: Frozen”

MOVIE REVIEW: American Hustle

American Hustle is a very fine movie, about crime and ambition and loyalties.

Neither the Wife or I had not been to a movie designed for grownups since July. The autumn was WAY too busy for our liking, and we missed Gravity and Saving Captain Phillips, a couple of movies we might have otherwise seen. Finally, during Christmas break, we got a child sitter so we could go out to the Spectrum 8 Theatre in Albany.

Frankly, at that point, I would have seen ANY of the films playing there except The Hobbit (didn’t see the first one, so seeing the second in a trilogy made no sense.)

My spouse picked American Hustle. I knew little about this except that it featured some of the same folks from Silver Lings Playbook, actors Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and director David O. Russell, who also co-wrote this screenplay with Eric Warren Singer.

Do you remember ABSCAM? It was an FBI “sting operation… in the late 1970s and early 1980s.” American Hustle took the framework of that real event and made it into something else entirely. This couple (Christian Bale as Irving, whose combover should be nominated for something, and Amy Adams as Sydney, who was in Russell’s The Fighter) click as successful con artists until caught by the law and forced to work scams to entrap other bad guys by their overzealous FBI handler (Richie, played by Bradley Cooper.) What’s going on betwixt the gumshoe and the moll? Gumming things up further is Irving’s needy and largely abandoned wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence, who almost steals the movie).

Without giving away too much, this is a very fine movie, about crime and ambition and loyalties, which is at least a couple of times laugh-out-loud funny at lines that, on paper, are not that humorous. Other great performances by Jeremy Renner as a New Jersey politician, and Louis CK as a mid-level FBI guy. De Niro plays that De Niro role, which is just fine for these purposes.

At least some of the critical complaints involve the fact that some of the characters have positive outcomes, which certainly doesn’t seem like such a terrible thing, given the complicated schemes and definite peril they find themselves in. In fact, the plot was occasionally SO convoluted, The Wife wasn’t always quite sure what was going on, which did not diminish from her enjoyment; I THINK I had it all figured out, eventually.

Rated R, but I’d say, in the grand scheme of American cinema, a soft R, in my book.