City of God

City of God

"City of God is based on a true story that takes place in the 60's where in the slums of Rio De Janeiro two boys growing up in the neighborhood take on different paths in life. The story is told through eyes of Buscape, a poor young fisherman's son who dreams of becoming a photographer one day. His story narrates the violence and corruption surrounding the city and the rise and fall of one of the city's most notorious boss'. Li'l Ze. As war wages on the streets Buscape's only way out of this violent life is to expose its brutality the world through his pictures. Along the way the lives of other are put into perspective as their stories intersect with the events that take place."


5 stars

This movie has actually been sitting in my 'Coming Soon' folder for a while. The reason that I didn't want to write the review was because I was deathly afraid I wouldn't do the film justice. It's an automatic lock for my Top 10 Films of All Time list, and I'm a guy who has seen A LOT of movies, so that is saying something. Because there is no way to do it justice, I am going to stick with the theory that 'less is more', so this review will be short.

At it's very core, this movie is about the struggle between doing what is right and doing what you have to do in order to survive. From its basic premise, the story develops into one that is as beautiful emotionally as it is visually. It transitions effortlessly from scenes of sweetly tender innocence to moments of heart poundingly intense reality. The lines of right and wrong are instantly blurred in a hellish world that most of us couldn't even begin to comprehend. Add all of this to the fact that this film is based on a true story, and I find it hard to believe that anyone will walk out of the theatre without opened eyes and a dropped jaw.

As difficult as this film is to review, it's ever more difficult to categorize. After some serious thinking, this is what I have decided on. When trying to anticipate the scope and theme of this movie, imagine that the movies Snatch and Goodfellas had a baby. Then imagine that this baby grew up a hard, sobering life but was lucky enough to eventually meet a beautiful, sophisticated woman who was the result of a single drunken night of passion between The Lord of the Flies and Blood Diamond. Now, if these two star-crossed lovers (born from greatness) were to have a child themselves, City of God would be it. You don't have to understand that convoluted analogy, you just have to watch the movie.

I've Loved You So Long

I've Loved You So Long

"Former medical doctor Juliette Fontaine travels to Lorraine to live on probation with her younger sister Léa and her family. The bitter, introspective and reclusive Juliette has spent her sentence without any visitors and totally forgotten by her family and now she has problems interacting with her brother-in-law Luc and her nieces. She has to visit every other week her probation officer Captain Fauré and seeks a job to rebuild her life. As days go by, Juliette gets closer to the family of her sister and befriends Luc and Léa's friends, specially Lea's colleague Michel. She slowly changes her behavior until the day Léa discovers the truth."

4.5 Stars

Well kids, it looks like you’re going to have to rely on my review for this movie because Robyn decided to read a synopsis before watching it. I usually do the same thing, but the synopsis she read unfortunately gave away an integral plot point that pretty much ruined the whole thing for her.

That being said, I would highly recommend that you avoid reading anything similar before you watch the movie because you really will be robbing yourself of a great film. You probably need to be in a certain headspace when you watch it as well. The pacing is somewhat slow, but it doesn’t really hurt. In fact, I actually think it adds a great deal to the depth and seriousness of the subject matter. The average viewer’s attention span is so short these days that many movies speed through a characters development in an effort to keep the audience interested. All too often, in my opinion, the pace is so fast that it makes development unbelievable. A character can’t be suckin’ dick for blow in one scene and then be driving the kids to soccer practice in a mini-van 10 minutes later. Sorry, was that analogy a little too on the nose? If a movie asks us to buy into a character they have to make his or her development believable.

But don’t think that you will be bored waiting for something to happen in this film. The mystery and intrigue are very strong and the director does a good job at only revealing small bits of information at a time leaving the viewer desperate for the next piece of the puzzle. When the truth is finally revealed, it is definitely a WHOA moment and one that truly causes an introspection by the viewer as to what they would have done in the same, tragic circumstances.
Now, I don’t say this too often, but no one really could have played this role but Kristin Scott Thomas. Aside from the fact that she had to speak in French for the entire movie, the role was so emotionally complicated only a veteran actress like her could even attempt to take on the material. Needless to say, I think she did an exceptional job (one very worthy of the Oscar nomination).

There aren’t a lot of films today that really make you think the way that this one does. You may have to work a little bit for it, but the reward in the end is definitely worth it.

Amelie

Amelie

"Amélie is looking for love, and perhaps for the meaning of life in general. We see her grow up in an original if slightly dysfunctional family. Now a waitress in central Paris, she interacts curiously with her neighbors and customers, as well as a mysterious Photomaton-image collector and one of his even more mysterious photo subjects. Little by little, Amélie realizes that the way to happiness (and yet more subtle humor) requires her to take her own initiative and reach out to others."

4.5 Stars

If I had to describe this movie in two words, it would be “Wonderfully Weird” because that pretty much sums it up. I haven’t seen a movie make so much out of just the simple pleasures of life in a long time. The director really does a great job of seamlessly intertwining the simplicity of the real world to the fantasy world that Amelie has created in her head. But I think one of the best things about the movie is that it doesn’t take the daydream aspect too far. True, there are some strange fantasy sequences here or there, but they don’t overpower the story SO much that you forget what the film is really all about . . . taking chances.

Like many of us, Amelie watches television, movies, and most importantly the lives of other people. She becomes very interested in how people react to situations and, in turn, each other. She maintains a childlike curiosity of the human condition and how it perpetually defies predictability. Amelie also take on a personal mission to better the lives of those around her through both direct and indirect contact. But, as the movie goes on, we start to realize how sad she may really be inside. While she is always surrounded by people, she never truly seems to be connected to any of them. When it comes to relationships she really plays the role of observer more than participant.

This longing for contact manifests itself through the games she plays with a man whose scrapbook she has found. She is in love with him (or at least the idea of him) and decides to engage in a playfully romantic game to learn more about him and hopefully bring herself closer to actually making a true human connection. She tries to convince herself that she is being brave and taking risks that other people wouldn’t dare take, but she is really just fooling herself. I say that because when it finally comes time for the wild goose chase to meet its end, she balks. She hasn’t built up the courage to finally put herself out there and, just like the metaphorical “girl with the glass of water” that her shut-in neighbor struggles to paint, she acts cowardly.

I don’t blame her, though. The reason she acts cowardly is the same reason that most of us might act the same way, because we don’t want to be let down. While the lives of the people around her really shouldn’t be described as sad, they are (for lack of a better word) real. They aren’t like the fantasies she has. The lives are real and are subject to all the disappointments and heart breaks that are a part of life. And that is what scares her most, that when the bubble bursts, will what is left be enough? Luckily her shut-in neighbor gives one final piece of advice and makes her realize that if her heart is never subject to BOTH the joy and pain of love, then it will become just as dry and brittle as his old body.

Now, this movie is visually dazzling and the music does a lot to support the fantasyland motif, but I take something different away from the film. For me, it makes you feel good about believing in the hope of true love. Now, that’s not to say that Amelie necessarily found it. The movie ends where most romantic films do, with a picturesque montage of the happy couple. And you really hope that they ended up staying together for a long time and had a great life, but there is no way to be sure of that. Then again, that’s life and no one can ever really know. That’s why I think this film is saying that it is important to continue to have that hope. Things may not always end up the way we dreamed or planned, but if we continue to put ourselves out there, then hopefully we will eventually get what we need.


Robyn's Response
5 Stars

I love this movie. This movie provides everything the movie-going experience should: visually and musically beautiful, with a unique storytelling style and characters you can't help but fall in love with. Todd said it best when he wrote that this movie does so much with the simple pleasures in life.

The Seventh Seal

The Seventh Seal

“A Knight and his squire are home from the crusades. Black Death is sweeping their country. As they approach home, Death appears to the knight and tells him it is his time. The knight challenges Death to a chess game for his life. The Knight and Death play as the cultural turmoil envelopes the people around them as they try, in different ways, to deal with the upheaval the plague has caused.”

4.5 stars

If you consider yourself a movie buff, this is a movie you have probably seen. If not, you need to put it on the top of your list because you don’t know shit about the history of cinema until you have experienced this film. The fact that this move was made in 1957, literally dumbfounds me. Everything about it from the cinematography to plot elements are light years ahead of its time. It is the calling card and first major success of the legendary director Ingmar Bergman. If you don’t know who that is, then I suggest you go sit quietly at your desk and put your head down until the bell rings.

This movie literally wrote the book on the use of lighting and shadows for all subsequent films. I’m serious; you would be hard pressed to find any film school worth its salt that doesn’t show this as an introductory requirement. The film comes off (like its director) as very pretentious, but in a good way. The story is very straightforward, but it tries (successfully) to be so much more. A disillusioned Knight returns from the crusade angry and confused. These feelings are further manifested by the fact that he is returning to homeland ravaged by the plague where people are dying by the thousands. He then engages in a lengthy game of chess with Death (both figuratively and literally). And that’s really the entire story; there is not much more meat to the plot than that. But it’s Bergman’s exploration through the human condition and dissection of the human psyche that leave you thinking about the movie days after you’ve left the theater.

And the themes really are timeless. How many different generations can identify with the questions about the futility of war and the morality questions that go hand in hand with it? Or the inevitability of death and, to an extent, life’s own inherent futility? Even the most opinionated amongst us would find themselves at least thinking twice about their own beliefs on life and death. Most of the time you go to the movies just to be entertained, but every once and a while you see a film that really makes you think. THIS is one of those movies.

SPOILERS: The Knight makes his journey home and, along the way, meets a wide array of characters that facilitate him reexamining his own purpose in life. He really does come full circle from a person who believes in nothing to a person that believes in the most powerful of human ideas . . . hope. Unfortunately not even his transformation can save him from an inevitable end. So, he shares a ‘Last Supper’ with his new found brethren and accepts his fate. The last scene is beautifully eerie and ends with the only words spoken the entire movie by a mute girl. She looks into the eyes of death and chillingly whispers, “It is finished.”

It really is a tale that, again, we can all identify with. I say this because, as much as we try to avoid losing our own game of chess with Death, in the end it seems Death wins . . . as it always does.

Trainspotting

Trainspotting
"A wild, freeform, Rabelaisian trip through the darkest recesses of Edinburgh low-life, focusing on Mark Renton and his attempt to give up his heroin habit, and how the latter affects his relationship with family and friends: Sean Connery wannabe Sick Boy, dimbulb Spud, psycho Begbie, 14-year-old girlfriend Diane, and clean-cut athlete Tommy, who's never touched drugs but can't help being curious about them..."

4 stars

"Good thing comes to those who wait." That's the concept that came to mind while I was watching Trainspotting. If you're not ready for this movie, it's going to knock you on your ass. The story hits the ground running and immediately throws you into a life of squalor and hardcore drug use. Luckily, there's a tongue-in-cheek feel to some of the scenes that keeps us from falling into a deep depression over the stark reality of what exactly is going on.

The first half hour is not for the faint of heart. There is a scene at "The Worst Toilet in Scotland" that is sure to make Grandma and Grandpa switch over to Wheel of Fortune, and another scene at the breakfast table that has equally shocking "fecal comedy". But in looking back, I think the movie was written this way on purpose to weed out casual movie goers who are not going to appreciate (and in this case deserve) the brilliance of the film.

At about the halfway point, you start to realize two things. The first is that this movie is visually astounding. The influence of "A Clockwork Orange" is evident both literally (in one bar scene) and figuratively with regard to the ingenious camera angles and usage of lighting and reflection. The second thing you realize is that EVERYONE in the cast really can act. You almost forget that you're watching a movie and let yourself slip into the notion that it's actually a documentary. The range of emotion goes from boyishly silly to disturbingly dark almost seamlessly, and the actors pull it off very well.

Now, it's not without its drawbacks. The "love story" between Renton and Diane is grossly underdeveloped and not necessarily even needed in the plot. And the fact that no one in the group ever stands up to the sociopathic, ultra-violent Begbie leaves some sense of incompleteness. But the film tends to stay true to itself and the cult-classic novel it is based off of. In the end, like in life, the characters haven't changed much. There is some progress made, most notably in Renton, but most everyone remains the same. It doesn't fall into the trap of Hollywood movies that take a protagonist from near-death-drug-addict all the way to picturesque-family-man in a mere 90 minutes.

It's real, almost too real. And you come to realize that this movie had to be made in the United Kingdom because a puritanical American production would have butchered it until it had the same emotional significance of Half Baked. In fact, two pivotal scenes were actually removed for the US release because they were deemed to graphic. So, make sure to get the director's cut and see why BAFTA has ranked this movie as the 10th most significant British movie of all time.


Robyn's response:
3 stars

I watched Trainspotting over two years ago, and there are certain images that are burned in my mind. The diarrhea and the suppositories, the filthy apartment that causes Tommy to die of toxoplasmosis (from the cat's litter box), Tommy's dead body, the baby's dead body, and the most scarring of all, the dead baby crawling on the ceiling.

On the other hand, I had to go to wikipedia to read a plot summary and refresh my memory. So does this mean it's a good film or a bad film? Am I just remembering the shocking scenes for their shock value? Or was it good cinematography? Did I block the story from my memory because it was so damn depressing? Or because the story just wasn't that memorable?

Sugar

Sugar
"After he catches the eye of a scout while playing in his native Dominican Republic, baseball prospect Miguel "Sugar" Santos is recruited to play in the minor leagues in the Midwest, where he has difficultly adapting both on and off the field. As much a story about the promise of the American dream as it is about America's national pastime, this film dramatizes the hard lessons learned when hope and reality clash."

4 stars

I love baseball movies, but this isn't a movie only about baseball. It's the story of going from a big fish in a small pond to a very small fish in a very big pond. It's heartbreaking to watch Sugar more or less alone in a country where he doesn't understand the language (except for "fly ball," "home run, " and "I got it! I got it!"). The movie kind of derailed from my expectations in the end, but I like it when movies don't follow the canon. Because of this movie, I'll look at the guys in my local minor league games with a lot of respect. And even the major league guys - they work hard to get where they are.

Minus one point for using a cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah (even if it was in Spanish). That song has become a crutch for directors wanting to convey something emotional and weepy. It's a good song but over used.