The Official Review Thread of 2006

[OscarGuy]

One-track mind, Italiano? You can't EVER form an argument without making it somehow America vs. Europe. I was going to start a topic once about the overt patriotism of America vs. that in other countries, but I realize now that it's most definitely not just an American fault. It's just as much a Italian fault and likely a fault of every nation in the world. I think people here would take your comments more seriously if you weren't always harping on the same thing.

You obsess so much about America sometimes, I wonder if you're just an Italian Criddic. Everything's black and white. America=bad, lack of redeeming qualities. That's it. There's no gray for you, you just have to take any opportunity you can to tear down other people's opinions using the same rhetoric without forming an actual original thought.

Your perceptions have little to do with filmic quality but opinion and since your opinion is so witlessly Euro-centric, it lacks substantive value. When you target Damien, who's seen more films than you likely ever will, including many foreign features, this type of opinion holds not only very little weight, it sounds absolutely ridiculous.

You're so laughably predictable...

[ITALIANO]

This is a picture which to me impeccably captures the mysteries of childhood, the wonders of imagination, the beauty of belief, the brutality of life and the utter goodness of some people who are on earth as a counterpoint to that.

I honestly doubt that the fantasy world of a young girl in Spain in the 40s was like that - it looks more like the fantasy world of a director who's very familiar with American technology and American audiences (the movie seems to be much more popular in the US than it is in Europe). "Labyrinth", quite simply, lacks poetry - true poetry - except, of course, if compared with countless American movies (on the "mysteries of childhood" there are many, many better European movies). So I can understand why it has been so loved on the other side of the ocean - here I guess we saw through it (I think it also lacks honesty), though I am glad to know that some on this board saw through it, too.
Damien's words are perfectly correct, of course, but only if applied to movies which truly deserve them, like, just to name one, that wonderful "Spirit of Beehive" (and no, it didn't have special effects or yoda-like computer-generated characters). Don't get me wrong - the movie is clever, carefully planned and neatly designed - but, unfortunately, the "wonders of imagination" often aren't - and they are definitely not so mechanical.

And I didn't find any effective brutality in it - just superficial violence. But when violence is committed by such a bi-dimensional character, it loses much of its power - it becomes as unbelievable as the fantasy sequences. It's intentional, of course - it makes the viewer think he's watching brutal realism, but it never truly dares to disturb, challenge him - so the "realist" section is as depressingly fake and safe as the "fantasy" one. (Except, again, for viewers who are used to even emptier, more psychologically simple movies).

Magical realism is something else, believe me. And art of cinema is, also, something else.

[Big Magilla]

The bottom line is that Bobby doesn’t add up to much of anything, and most of the vignettes could have been in that 1967 Richard Quine film, Hotel – they shed very little illumination on 1968 America or on Bobby Kennedy himself.

That about sums it up - if I coudl get back the title I wasted on this dud.

[Damien]

I was sorely disappointed by Bobby, which I rented the other day. It's not the camp classic I had anticipated.

Don't get me wrong, it's still not very good, but it’s scarcely an embarrassment, and is even cheaply moving in spots. It's just not a hoot (the way 2006's true camp classic Notes On A Scandal is). The bottom line though is that Bobby doesn’t add up to much of anything, and most of the vignettes could have been in that 1967 Richard Quine film, Hotel – they shed very little illumination on 1968 America or on Bobby Kennedy himself (you’d never know from this movie how ruthless he was, or that it was Eugene McCarthy not Kennedy who was the saint among politicians in 1968).

The parallels to current times are pretty heavy-handed (even a mention of “chads” in reference to voter fraud) and the cultural references are obvious, even as the soundtrack is largely off for the period. But the costumes and, especially, the hair styles are great! The long closing speech is extremely affecting, and the assassination itself is very well-handled. But then you start to give it points for these aspects and then you remember Svetlana Metkina’s absurd turn as a persistent journalist, a bizarre homage to Geraldine Chaplin in Nashville and the nothing-ness of the Martin SHeen/Helen Hunt segments. The acting is mostly good, however, and -- you could have knocked me over with a feather -- Anthony Hopkins is actually very fine and rather affectiing.


And I couldn't disagree more with the Pan's Labyrinth naysayers. This is a picture which to me impeccably captures the mysteries of childhood, the wonders of imagination, the beauty of belief, the brutality of life and the utter goodness of some people who are on earth as a counterpoint to that.

I found it to be an extraordinarily affecting rendition of a new kind of fairy tale, a political film told both literally and figuratively with tropes going back to the Brothers Grimm. One could say that López’s Captain is too one dimensionally evil, but upon further contemplation, that’s how it should be in a fairy tale – and the violence is extremely graphic and disturbing. Baquero is perfect and Verdú is a extraordinarily affecting fairy godmother. It admittedly does take a little while for the fantasy sequences to match the interest of the real world, but eventually they do. The film is fascinating, exhilarating, heartbreaking, and the ending is up there with that of Neil Jordan’s End of the Affair with it's celebration of redemption.

[The Original BJ]

I was a little disappointed by Pan's Labyrinth, too. Oh, I think it's a good film: visually splendid, imaginative, powerful in parts. But given the level of acclaim, I was expecting storytelling that relied less on the obvious (Fascism = bad, clearly signified by grossly overdrawn EVIL captain) and the silly (shouldn't there at least be a reason why Sofia eats the grape...I mean, I thought the warning was pretty clear???)

[Okri]

I was fairly disappointed with it too, actually. None of it was all that convincing, either as a fantasy, fairy tale, or war film.

[ITALIANO]

At long last! This remarkable film finally reached our local theaters.

I must be the only one on this board who hasn't been that impressed by Pan's Labyrinth. It's a watchable movie of course, even good in some parts - but I was a bit disappointed, by the fantasy sequences especially - I was expecting Goya and I got Walt Disney. The Lives of Othes is much, much better, definitely.

[Big Magilla]

Caught up with Miss Potter, a charming family film that was over-hyped, as usual, by the Weinsteins. Maybe if they had let the film speak for itself, it would have found more support than it did.

The film is a primer on the creative process that serves an antidote to the phoniness of similar films, Finding Neverland being a prime example.

Renee Zellweger's facial expressions take some getting used to, but in the end you get a genuine feel for the character, an insular writer who talks to her characters and think they talk back, and the hestiant suitors in her life. You also get a good feel for the stifling streets of London at the turn of the 20th Century and for the bucolic countryside that Beatrix Potter single-handedly saved from over-development. Good support from Ewan McGregor and Emily Watson among others.

[anonymous1980]

PAN'S LABYRINTH
Cast: Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu, Ariadna Gil, Doug Jones, Alex Angulo, Manolo Solo.
Dir: Guillermo Del Toro

At long last! This remarkable film finally reached our local theaters. I resisted bootleg and downloaded versions that circulated in the office and it was worth seeing it the first time on the big screen. Visually breathtaking and an emotional rollercoaster ride, the film is probably one of Del Toro's best (alongisde The Devil's Backbone).

Grade: A

[Precious Doll]

Precious, who does my favorite arrondissement, the 4th?

Gus van Sant directed the segment for the 4th district, 'Le Marais' starring Gaspard Ulliel, Elias McConnell and Marianne Faithful in smaller role.

Of all the segments that I did not think worked with the 5 minute limit running time, this is the one that may have had it been longer. It is also the only segment that focused on gay love. This was nicely shot and minimalist in style.

My favorite district, the Latin Quarter, was represented by 'Qautier Latin' was co-directed by Frédéric Auburtin & Gérard Depardieu. This starred Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, whose frail appearance and strained voice shocked me.

I didn't think much of this segment but it was far from the worst of the bunch. Gerard also has a small role as the barman of the cafe where most of this segment was set.

It's funny earlier the same day we had gone to see The Singer with Gerard in the leading role. In The Singer he was all puffed up and looked quite ill, though some of that could have been makeup.

However Depardieu looked great in 'Quatier Latin' and probably because one couldn't help but compare his appearance to the elderly Rowlands & Gazzara.



Edited By Big Magilla on 1244996897

[Damien]

Precious, who does my favorite arrondissement, the 4th?

[Precious Doll]

Paris, je t'aime (Paris, I Love You) 1.5 stars out of 5

This was quite tiresome to sit through for much of it's running time. It's a big ask to ask a director to make a 5 minute segment about anything and this film is proof of that.

Basically a group of directors from all over the world were asked to make a contribution of a five minute short about love in Paris. Each filmmaker was appointed a district of Paris to set there film in.

By far the best segment was the Alexander Payne '14th arrondissement' starring Margo Martindale as an American tourist in Paris narrating her thoughts in bad French. It's a very touching and quite funny at times. It would be great if someone would give Payne enough money to expand the whole thing to features length. Margo Martindale, once of those character actors who is always impressive, is terrific in this taking centrestage.

The only other short of note Spanish director Isabel Coixet's'Bastile' with Sergio Castellitto & Miranda Richardson as husband and wife. To say any more could ruin it for some, but this was a lovely poignant tale.

The Walter Salles segment, co-directored by Daniella Thomas, Loin du 16ème with Catalina Sandino Moreno was good and made a valid point but I really don't know what it has to do with love, though it speaks volumes of the double standards of our society (meaning Western).

The segments by the other directors, among them are Wes Craven, The Coen Brothers, Gus Van Sant, Alfonso Cuarón, Olivier Assayas. Tom Tyker, Christopher Doyle where terrible.

[kaytodd]

Match Point had a lot of good qualities but I was bothered by its aping of Crimes And Misdemeanors and, especially in one scene, A Place In The Sun. He is not the first filmmaker to do this, but it was disappointing and it turned me off a little. Woody had to know that a large segment of his audience would recognize these scenes. His audience tends to skew older, so he knows they will be familiar with the earlier films. Did he think they would see these as "homages" to the earlier films? Or as laziness on Wody's part? I enjoyed watching Match Point but I think it was laziness.

Oh well, there are Crimes and there are Misdemeanors and this is a Misdemeanor on Woody's part. I liked the performances of Rhys Meyers and both ladies, Mortimer and Johansen. I had a good time even while rolling my eyes.

[Okri]

Yeah, it's interesting that you think Match Point doesn't hold up with a second viewing, because I found myself loving it a hell of a lot more with my second/third/fourth viewings. Except Johansson, anyway.

[The Original BJ]

It's interesting how divergent our opinions are on Woody's recent output. I loathed Anything Else, kinda liked Small Time Crooks and Sweet and Lowdown, and really liked Match Point. The reviews kept me away from Jade Scorpion, Hollywood Ending, Melinda and Melinda, and Scoop, and even though I'm a big Woody fan, I'm not particularly enthused about seeing any of them any time soon.