Merry Christmas (4/5)
And yet another profound film that reminds me of the power of music--among many other great themes in this true story.
28 Weeks Later (5/5)
All apocalyptic films should be shot in London, on dirty film, with raging bloody zombies, helicopters chopping off heads, and a score by John Murphy. Loved it.
Dan In Real Life (3/5)
I predicted every major plot point in this movie-by-numbers. The setting wore a bit thin and Dane Cook wasn't as horrible as I always imagine. I like my enemies to be consistently bad people, as a general rule.
No Country For Old Men (4/5)
There is no score for this film, which makes me wonder if music is used as a crutch more often than not--a cheap and quick way to make a scene emotionally deep or haunting. As a musician I certainly prefer to have the visual experience augmented by sounds and chords, but when filmmakers can draw me in without it I am certainly impressed. The Coen Brothers make filmmaking look easy--as nearly all other directors prove, it certainly is not.
The Karate Kid (2/5)
Surely, a good dose of nostalgia with the finest company (thank you Meaghers for the movie night). The racism wasn't as nasty as I was expecting--there was the oriental flute theme that preluded Pat's scenes (who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, surprisingly), but we decided that his bad English and other stereotypical Asianesses were not derogatory or inflamatory in nature. That doesn't mean Asians weren't negatively affected by this ...
Michael Clayton (4/5)
The opening scene is brilliantly executed, the end credits as well. Making the villain an actual person who sweats and faints also made for interesting cinema. I will have to see Duplicity against the advice of two favorite critics to see if this writer/director got lucky here; I hope not, I do fancy the writer/director species.
Macintosh is a type of apple.
We really should be offended when a corporation advertises that we are their product--"I am a Mac", "Which iPod are you?" for instance--but we aren't.
Dead Calm (4/5)
Usually a thriller is only as good as its hero is foolish--to the extent your lead makes idiotic choices to empower the bad guy, the more you're cringing or yelling at the screen. Not so in Dead Calm, a compelling ride that pits wits against madness. Kidman's character is a refreshingly resourceful and fearless hostage at sea facing a boyishly sinister Billy Zane. I feel compelled to list the extraordinary things that Kidman's character was ...
The Story Of The Weeping Camel (5/5)
The absolutely unthinkable power of music. I am stunned.
JCVD (2/5)
Guest reviewer and conceptual designer of this particular double feature (JCVD & Eagle Eye), Mr. Chad Brian: --- Riding the swell of the biggest hit of his career, "Timecop", Jean Claude Van Damme gave an interview to Movieline magazine claiming he was just one movie away from being as big a star as Stallone or Schwarzenegger. The movie, he went on to explain, would have to be slick, a lot of smoke, some comedy, some action, team him with ...