Les Misérables (5/5)
After the lament of Rob Roy this Liam Neeson picture was not high on my list until, of all people, my Little Brother got me this as a present. He has good taste, or his mom does. A perfect film, so perfect that I dare not say why it worked. It's like saying why you love Ok Computer, don't bother, just nod your head and move along like a good boy.
Public Enemies (2/5)
What a let down. A lackluster, drag of a bio pic that puts bad use to some of Hollywood's best talent. I don't think I can call myself a Michael Mann fan anymore--I adore two of his films (Heat and The Insider) and half respect the rest. Teardrop.
The Hurt Locker (4/5)
There was plenty of good press for this Iraq War film, so much that I ran out to see this in the theater--full price, with popcorn and soda. They did a fantastic job of growing the intensity in each scene and the action moved things along with diverse settings and fascinating technological/warfare details. There wasn't much of a narrative to sustain the third act though, and if it weren't for the sublime final moments showing the soldier's ...
Towelhead (2/5)
Disturbing content, and not the kind that awakens new ideas or challenges the status quo, the kind that has you wishing the filmmaker's weren't driven by their need to win another Oscar for exposing the shocking, sexually deviant, scummy underbelly found in America's suburbs. Ok, we get it already.
Frequency (4/5)
After Vantage Point, I found myself in a Dennis Quaid mood, which led me to this favorite from 2000. An odd take on the time-travel genre that has plenty of good ideas, characters, and drama.
Vantage Point (3/5)
Decent acting and script, great editing and photography despite a few poorly conceived action shots. Quite forgettable.
Hunger (3/5)
Every short while, I try to watch historically important films such as this, with their realism, bleakness, lofty ideals, martyrdom, which then reminds me how much I enjoy film as entertainment. I will say that the first ten minutes of exposition were quite clever; focusing on the tragic reality of the Irish prison guard life--we see him check underneath his car for a bomb before heading to the office--and then the film casually moves on to the ...
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (3/5)
Corporations can be so depressing. I would like to believe that all the greedy assholes who ran this thing into the ground got their comeuppance, but I doubt it. I have a thing for justice.
Another sail on the ship.
We've finished the music up for Urban Hymnal 4. It is good, but honestly, when Matthew Whitney attended rehearsal and sketched up this evil empire, we all felt like another sail was raised on the ship. Very excited to see this thing come together.
My Kid Could Paint That (3/5)
To quote one of the art critics regarding the titular 5-year-old's work: "Nobody is saying 'fuck you' in this picture [painting], she is just saying, 'I am a happy girl who loves painting'."