Films recently seen and my Official Dean's List ratings (possible 5 stars):

 

Dean's List: ****

A very charming little dramedy about a woman, married to a sunavabitch, who undergoes a transformation when he knocks her up. Wonderful dialogue, and a big heart. Best part? The inimitable Andy Griffith, who, at 80+, is at the top of his game as the cranky pie shop owner. Adrienne Shelly, the writer-director -costar, was murdered by her boyfriend last year before she could get the film out. Extremely sad, considering what a life-affirming work she created. See it.

 

Grindhouse (2007)

Dean's List: ****

What--did these guys make this film just for me? Sure seemed like it, considering the next-to-nuthin' boxoffice takes. Well, too bad. I enjoyed myself tremendously--it sent me back to my own days sitting in the drive-in watching shite like Macon County Line and Vanishing Point. Culture is wherever you find it, I think. PLUS: I found two new babes whose work I will follow from this point out until I'm dead: Rosario Dawson (see also Clerks II) and the stunningly cute stuntwoman Zoe Bell. Be still my heart!

 

Once (2007)

Dean's List: ****

Wow, how non-Hollywood can you get? A VERY cheap but sweet little film, shot in Dublin and environs, about buskers (street musicians to you) who make a go at stardom and love. The songs are very affecting, and they serve the plotline wayyy better than what takes place in most movie "musicals."  Definitely worth a look.

 

Knocked Up (2007)

Dean's List: *** 1/2

I dug it! Judd Apatow, the brains behind The 40-Year-Old Virgin, strikes again with another ode to how guys joke & josh with each other, and truer dialogue is hard to find. Kinda scary, when you think of it. This time, though, we also get a glimpse of how women talk when we're not listening (wait--isn't that most of the time? Don't tell Deb I said that). Hilarious stuff.

 

Spiderman 3 (2007)

Dean's List * (if that)

What the hell? It was painfully obvious by Bad Guy #3 that the filmmakers decided to just take the money and run on this one. (Sam Raimi?? What happened!!) The first two had so much goodwill pumped into 'em that they just took a break and forgot to write a script that made any sense whatsoever. God, I hate them for that. I want my money back!

 

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Dean's List *** 1/2

Very entertaining Brit take on stupid American action movies (oh wait--that's redundant). From the same team that brought us Shawn of the Dead, and worth every nickle. Fun!

 

 Kal Penn (Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle) has a problem: he can actually act! Here's a terrific drama about an Indian-American tracking down his roots. Excellent.

 

The Lives of Others (2006)

Dean's List: *****

I think this is my favorite movie of the last year. 1980s East Berlin is the setting for a fine and very affecting story about the human price of privacy and surveillance. One that I'll be buying when it's available.  

 

The Descent (2006)

Dean's List: ***

A fine little horror film, jam-packed with great claustrophobic camerawork, about a clutch of plucky gals who go spelunking for a lark and run into some nasty underground mutants. Actually, I think the fillmakers were going for a distaff version of "Deliverance" (a conscious decision, I'm sure, apparent by opening with river-rafters), but I sure woulda hated to hear one o' them humanoids drawl, "You shore got a perty mouth."

 

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Dean's List: ****

Probably one of the funniest films I've seen in years. The most dysfunctional family in America are forced to endure each other's company on a road trip from Albuquerque to L.A., with a stop in Scottsdale (inspiring titters in the audience, seeing as this was where we saw the film--dang rubes). A finer time at the movies just can't be had.

 

Monster House 3-D (2006)

Dean's List: ** 1/2

Perfectly cute, decent-looking animated flick, best seen in 3D. It'll pass quickly from my transom soon, I'm sure, freeing up some room for some other useless chunk of information.  

 

Clerks II (2006)

Dean's List: ***

The original guys from the first film, everybody's favorite slackers, all now fleshy of face and several pounds chubbier, have made a lateral career move from the KwikMart to Mooby's Burgers, and hijinks ensue. Just go with your brain on autopilot and no expectations and you'll have a grand time. Impossibly funny dialogue, hysterically improbable situations, and the heretofore-barely-noticed-by-me-but-now-I'm-in-love-with-her Rosario Dawson. Sigh.  

 

A Prairie Home Companion (2006)

Dean's List: ***

As much as I wanted to love this, I ended up merely liking it okay. So much of the humor of the radio show was not present here, although there were some great moments (among them John C. Reilly and Woody Harrelson's ditty about "bad jokes") and I thought Garrison Keillor should be a movie star. Way too much blather between Meryl Streep's and Lily Tomlin's characters, and the goofy story line involving Kevin Kline and Virginia Madsen coulda been dropped...essentially, if the film were just a filmed episode of the show, I would've been happy.

 

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

Dean's List: **** 1/2

Truly a life- and mind-changing film. Based on Al Gore's crusade to bring the facts of the human effects on the earthly environment to a wide audience, this film puts it all into perspective in a vastly entertaining way that even the densest of us citizens can grasp. Also loaded to the gunwales with ideas on how to shrink your environmental footprint on the planet. Incredibly recommended!

 

The Proposition (2006)

Dean's List: ****

By far the best goddamn western since "Unforgiven," and it doesn't even take place in this country. Nick Cave's script is set in the nastily dry Aussie outback and makes for a dirty, violent, fly-ridden tale about revenge and redemption. A great time at the movies!

 

Thank You For Smoking (2006)

Dean's List: ***1/2

Excellent satire on media, advertising, and public relations has the criminally underused Aaron Eckhart as the smarmiest of tobacco apologists. Fun.

 

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Dean's List: ***

As much as I loathe Tom Cruise, I actually enjoyed this for the pure popcorn spectacle it is. Loud, fast, and gadgety. Plus: Philip Seymour Hoffman as the bad guy? Sign me up.

 

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

Dean's List: * 1/2

Okay, nobody should make any more movies out of books that more than six people have read. This trend of cinemizing really famous novels, and the fear of essentially pissing off the world if you leave out a detail, is the same notion that killed the first two Harry Potter movies. In Da Vinci Code, a pretty interesting story is buried in reel upon reel of exposition and explication, and even though it had the adorable Audrey Tatou and the smashing Sir Ian, it is bogged down by a sleepwalking perf by Tom Hanks and the aforementioned slog of a script. Too bad.

 

Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)

Dean's List: ****

With the singer a longtime favorite artist of mine, I was looking forward to seeing this concert film created by the great Jonathan Demme, who had shown his deft hand at such subjects in the Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense. I was not disappointed. Shot at the scene of the Grand Ol' Opry, Young presents his latest album Prairie Wind, a gorgeously simple elegy inspired by the double-barreled hits he took last year with the death of his father and his diagnosis of a brain aneurism. Many of the songs are drenched in nostalgia, but they're never sappy or overly sentimental. Nevertheless, even Bridgette had a tear brought to her cynically teenage eye more than once. 

 

The Matador (2005)

Dean's List: ***

Entertaining little film with a bitchin' performance from Pierce Brosnan, finally shedding his Bond skin once and for all as a deranged hit man in a midlife crisis. He befriends businessman Greg Kinnear and, well, enhances his life a tad. Worth a rental.

 

King Kong (2005)

Dean's List: *** 1/2

Boy, was I looking forward to this! The original has been a favorite film of mine since I was a lad, being a regularly broadcast movie on TV. And, I have to say, much of the new version was well worth the wait: the effects, as expected, were amazing, especially the scenes over NYC. But there were many scenes that seemed to go on for ever and ever and left me with the distinct feeling that director Peter Jackson was  using filler to pad out the running time for some reason. It could have easily lost about 45 minutes and been a much tighter (and still awesome) work. I hope the "Director's Cut" DVD won't be twice as long!

  

Matchpoint (2005)

Dean's List: ***

Definitely a departure for Woody Allen, this was a well-crafted potboiler, with Jonathan Rhys-Myers and Scarlett Johanson vying for the title of Most Gorgeous Actor In This Particular Film. A draw, I think. Still, great popcorn fodder.

 

The Squid and the Whale (2005)

Dean's List: *** 1/2

Criminally overlooked by the Oscars this year, Jeff Daniels turns in his best performance, well, ever. Playing a stuffy hyper-intellectual professor jealous as hell of his wife's (the always great Laura Linney) newfound writing success, Daniel's character puts their two teenage boys through several flavors of hell as the family disintegrates. Almost a comedy at times, but always hearfelt and definitely a worthwhile rental.

 

Cache (2005)

Dean's List: ****

Very intriguing and challenging French (mostly) film with Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche as a smug Parisian couple whose worldview is gradually shaken considerably by the arrival of anonymous videotapes taken of their apartment. The story moves at a low boil throughout, with a terrific slap in the face about 3/4 through, and it has much to say about international politics and their incursion into personal relationships.

 

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Dean's List: ****

Beautifully wraught, terrifically acted film by Ang Lee about two cowboys who grow close---real close-- one summer, and how their relationship survives two decades of marriages, kids, and death. The cinematography is gorgeous, and I'm sure Heath Ledger will be a solid Oscar contender as one of the lovestruck duo. See it on the big screen if you can.

  

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

Dean's List: ***

Very entertaining noirish spoof starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer as, respectively, a two-bit criminal who falls into a life of acting and a hard-bitten but gay PI tasked with showing RD the ropes before his screen test. Written and directed by Shane Black, who was responsible for the "Lethal Weapon" series all those years ago. His newest is smart, shameless and often furiously funny. Great to see RD Jr back on his game, as well.

 

Walk the Line (2005)

Dean's List *** 1/2

Well crafted biopic of country megastar Johnny Cash, and Joaquin Phoenix plunks along gamely as JC and usually does a pretty damned good job--and there are times he's downright uncanny as the Man in Black---but for my money, it's Reese Witherspoon's show all the way, and she knocks it out of the park as June Carter Cash. Definitely award-worthy.

 

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Dean's List: *** 1/2

Good-looking rendition of the Jane Austen classic has the fetching Keira Knightly as the equally fetching Elizabeth Bennett.  Other plusses include the awesome and inevitable Donald Sutherland as Lizzie's dad and a Darcy that neither conjured up instant comparison with Colin Firth nor made me wanna puke with his handsomeness. Not a bad feat. Deb, being the JA purist that she is, didn't immediately take to the film as much as I (although I'm pretty familiar with the story myself), but I think she likes it more and more in retrospect. 

Aside from the silly Hollywood ending tacked on for Yank audiences, I would recommend it for anyone with a taste for period pieces.

 

Capote (2005)

Dean's List: ****

Focusing on Truman Capote's attempts to get his magnum opus In Cold Blood written, this was a wonderful character study with an amazing acting job by one of today's very best, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Definitely a worthy rental.

 

Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)

Dean's List: *****

A modern classic. The story of CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow taking on the stinking redbaiting machine of Senator Joe McCarthy in the early 1950s (a tale with vast repercussions that sadly linger into our own day)  has been rendered into a visually stunning B&W film with amazing acting by the finally-recognized David Strathairn as Murrow. George Clooney has arrived as a major filmmaking talent, in my opinion. My pick for the best film of 2005--but I haven't seen King Kong yet.

 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

Dean's List: *** 1/2

Finally, the stories are darker and so are the films. Mike Newell takes the reins and really, splendidly, creeps the viewer out. And who couldn't love a new character named Mad-Eye Moody? 

 

The Edukators (2005)

Dean’s List: ***

Very interesting German semi-comedy, about a couple of young Berlin guys who make political statements by breaking into wealthy homes and rearranging the furniture. Their little scheme goes awry, however, when one of their girlfriends gets involved. A little talky in the second third, but some good points about societal inequities are made throughout.

  

The Aristocrats (2005)

Dean’s List ***

Raunchy and hysterically funny “meditation” on the structure of comedy, centering around the oldest “in-joke” among comedians. Interviews with tons of pros, including George Carlin, Robin Williams, Steve Wright, and most memorably Gilbert Goddfried, whose over-the-top take was positively therapeutic in the days just after 9/11.

  

The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)

Dean’s List: ***

Amiably goofy and sweet little flick. Steve Carrell proves himself able to carry a film and the dialogue captures stupid guy-chatter with dead-on accuracy. Great nearly-unknown ensemble, with the luscious Catherine Keener as the ditzy but adorable object of desire. When the very first frame and the very last one (for true movie geeks, I think) make you laugh out loud, it’s definitely worthwhile!  

 

The Wedding Crashers (2005)

Dean’s List: ** ½

While there are some genuinely funny moments, and Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson (whom I normally don’t enjoy) have some great chemistry, it’s easily a half-hour longer than it needs to be, and pulling out (the IMHO never funny) Will Farrell out near the end smells like sheer desperation.

 

March of the Penguins (2005)

Dean’s List: ****

Amazingly shot, very effective doc about the various annual pilgrimages that Emperor penguins undertake in order to survive in the Antarctic outback. Lots of “awwww” moments, and I would really like to take my cats to go see it, pay full admission and all, just so they can see that their little lives aren’t anywhere as horrible as they think. 

 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

Dean's List: ***

As much as I loved the original film, I was really looking forward to Tim Burton's take on the Raold Dahl story (which, unfortunately, I haven't read in years, so details are hazy). I do notice that there is a much darker tone to the new film, and a little uglier, especially with Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka (I defy anyone to watch him and not think of Michael Jackson. Creepy.). The special effects are awesome, for what they're worth. I was really missing that moral quandary handed to each kid in the first film (should I spy for Slugworth or not?) and thought that the narrative's leaning toward Wonka and his issues in the last third kinda pulled the rug out from under the entire project.

 

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2005)

Dean's List: *** 1/2

An intriguing doc about the greatest cable channel in the history of mankind: LA's late lamented Z Channel. I was a subscriber from 1986 until its demise in 1988 and loved its in-depth programming, created for film lovers of all kinds by another film lover, Jerry Harvey. JH was a brilliantly insane bastard who lost his battle with his demons and murdered his wife before offing himself, thus bringing the channel to an ignominius end; but not before touching thousands with a sense of the truly amazing power and beauty of the motion picture arts.

A little overlong, and maybe not as interesting if you weren't in on it at the time, but still very well-made nonetheless. 

 

 

War of the Worlds (2005)

Dean's List: ** 1/2

This year's summer blockbuster season gets underway with this lameassed remake of a pretty lameass rendition of a bitchin' radiocast based on a intriguingly-premised-but-fairly-lameass-book. Although the effects are of Spielbergian proportions, the script, the acting, and just about everything else made me want to constantly yell "ARRRRGGH!" at the screen (such as a moment where, when everyone else's power is cut off by alien technology, a lone camcorder seems to be working just fine). To be fair, though, I think this film boasts the best John Williams score in years. Many are the points where he's echoing--without ripping off---Jerry Goldsmith's brilliant score for Alien, and as long as it pretends to be more of a homage than a direct theft, that's okay by me.

 

My Summer of Love (2005)

Dean's List: ***

A very strange little British flick, reminiscent of Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures, about two fucked-up teenage girls who gravitate toward each other. Beautifully shot & acted, and a worthy rental when it comes out.

 

Dean's List *** 1/2

Finally something to make us forget Clooney in that stupid nipple suit! The Batman franchise has been hijacked back from hacks like Joel Schumacher and placed into the more-than-capable hands of Christopher Nolan (Memento). The darkness that surrounds the origins of Bruce Wayne's psychosis is very much in evidence, and even Christian Bale, whom I've always considered a pedestrian actor at best, acquits himself nicely in the role. Good stuff, and well done.

 

 

Dean's List ****

My new favorite movie! A hilarious pastiche of 1950's horror and sci-fi flicks like Plan Nine from Outer Space, The House on Haunted Hill, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and just about anything shot before 1962 starring Vincent Price. The dialogue is wonderfully deranged, and the special effects laughably bad---but  this time they're meant to be! A perfect rental.

 

Nobody Knows 

Dean's List ***
Intriguing Japanese flick, made by Kore-Eda Hirokazu (who directed the awesome fable Afterlife), apparently based on a true story about a horribly immature woman with four kids who decides that in order to find another hubby she has to leave the kids behind, in the charge of the eldest. At 12, though, he isn't prepared for head-of-household duties (who would be?) but he tries anyway, and slowly---ever so slowly---fails. The kids' downhill slide into abject poverty is shot so tightly and realistically that you feel their claustrophobic world as if you are in it with them. Excellent acting (especially by Yagira Yuya as the young man in charge), a little long timewise, but an evocative, impressive feature.

The Nomi Song (2005)
Dean's List: *** 1/2
VERY interesting doc about a peculiar little German guy from Berlin who sang in a bizarre soprano warble and who, at the onset of the late 70's New Wave period, came to NYC, started singing Germanic-influenced synth-pop and came to represent the NW asthetic. His flame burned brightly, though, and he was one of the first celeb-casualties of AIDS. Excellent evocation of the era, with more depth in describing Nomi's milieu than his actual background.

Alone in the Dark (2005)

Dean's List: Nope, sorry, no stars.

Almost laughably bad, but not quite. While watching, I jotted down every other film I saw this one rip off in some form or another: Raiders of the Lost Ark; The Tingler; Predator; Alien and Aliens; Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Hellraiser; Stargate; The Matrix; 28 Days Later; The Amityville Horror; every werewolf and zombie film ever made and every X-Files episode ever made. Whew! With Christian Slater, Stephen Dorff and the mind-numbingly gawdawful dramatic stylings of Tara Reid running around chasin' a ragin' ball of CGI and spouting classic dialogue like:

"What the hell are you doing here, Carnby?"

"Nice to see you too."

----'Nuff said.

 

Schultze Gets the Blues (2005) Dean's List: ***

Charmingly bittersweet little German flick about a miner, recently retired, who plays accordion as a sideline. Suffering from retirement-and-polka-inspired ennui, he switches on the radio and hears zydeco music for the first time, and his life takes on some very interesting turns: he journeys across the Atlantic to experience the heart of the bayou and the source of his newfound musical inspiration. Very funny in a laconic, hyper-lowkey manner reminiscent of Percy Adlon or Wim Wenders (in his lighter moments), this would definitely fare better with a theater crowd than on DVD, but would be worth the effort.

 

Million Dollar Baby (2004) Dean's List: ****1/2

A truly beautiful piece of American filmmaking, gorgeous to look at, wonderfully acted, and emotional punches galore (sorry, I really tried to avoid all boxing metaphors!). Clint Eastwood has really blossomed into one of Hollywood's best directors, and one who really thinks hard about the stories he wants to give us. This one is a multilayered gem, with spectacular (if understated) performances by Clint himself, Morgan Freeman and Hillary Swank. To try to explain the story would only sound corny, but trust me, it isn't at all (one problem, though---the title sucks). By all means, prepare yourself for a piece of excellent storytelling and go see it.

 

The World's Greatest Sinner (1962)

Dean's List: ****

The height of bitchin' Z-grade iconoclastic filmmaking! Character actor Timothy Carey (The Killing, Paths of Glory, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie)had a sideline gig of making movies himself, among them the incredibly odd TV pilot Tweet's Ladies of Pasadena, in which he played a lummox whose purpose in life is to clothe all the animals of Pasadena while occupying his role as the only male member of a knitting circle of little old ladies. Cool shite. His magnum opus, however, in my mind, is the astoundingly cheap and bizarre The World's Greatest Sinner. Shot between 1958 and 1962 around El Monte and points around LA in the grainiest of B&W and with a pseudo-rockabilly-slash-Edgar Varese score by a young Frank Zappa, this story tells us of insurance man Clarence Hilliard who get the calling to a) quit his job, b) pick up a guitar and c) become a monomaniacal evangelist. In other words, every man's dream! If you can find it, for God's sake, rent it.