As far as really really good movies I've had the fortune of seeing recently the one that really stands out is a overlooked movie that came out last year called "The Virgin Suicides." The movie while one of the more depressing movies in recent memories is just brilliantly directed by first time director Sofia Coppola (it was also her first screenplay - quite impressive indeed). I thought you know going into this movie A) I'm a guy and B) depressing movies just sometimes make it really really tough for me to like the movie they have those endings where its like you emotionally feel like you have just fallen off a cliff... yet despite A) and B) I was very moved by this movie... the directing, cinematography, acting, music - all work extremely well hand in hand complementing each other. This movie will make you even more so want to enjoy every second and moment with those rare & special people you meet on the roads of life.
Josh Hartnett as Trip Fontaine turns in a very cool performance. Kathleen Turner turns in a performance that is so good you wonder how she got overlooked when it came Oscar time... and of course James Woods is incredible as are all the Lisbon sisters. Kirsten Dunst is intoxicatingly beautiful in this movie and really proves she is going to be an amazing actress to watch in the years ahead.
Probably my favorite sequence in the movie is the telephone sequence towards the end... the scene starts out and your not quite sure where it's going to go... but once the needle on the record strikes and the Todd Rundgren song "Hello It's Me" starts to play it transports you into a genuinely touching movie moment (and a great use of split screens) as you watch the boys and Lisbon sisters phone each other back playing music that perfectly fits. Another favorite scene is where Josh Hartnett leaves the Lisbon house... and you know he is sorta on this "not-really a date - date. The montages throughout the movie and their interludes with the music by the band "Air" combined with the beautiful cinematography by Edward Lachman are just pure movie magic.
All in all a movie that draws you in despite its slow moments, depressing moments, and haunting moments... a movie full of life, quite moments, passion, imagination, reaching out, and those moments in life not usually seen in movies that are beautifully captured in a very passionate way. Going back over the movie I find that when the movie works you become much like the boys in the movie fully enthralled with the Lisbon sisters and searching for clues and answers as to "why... why... why"... as key and subtle moments pass by... its very hard not to fall in love with the Lisbon sisters... and though they exist solely in the realm of this movie... you feel that they are real as if they were someone you know in your life either as sister or a friend that you care about deeply and you feel their ups and downs... yet at the same time you can't reach out to help... though you desperately want to...
Josh Hartnett as Trip Fontaine turns in a very cool performance. Kathleen Turner turns in a performance that is so good you wonder how she got overlooked when it came Oscar time... and of course James Woods is incredible as are all the Lisbon sisters. Kirsten Dunst is intoxicatingly beautiful in this movie and really proves she is going to be an amazing actress to watch in the years ahead.
Probably my favorite sequence in the movie is the telephone sequence towards the end... the scene starts out and your not quite sure where it's going to go... but once the needle on the record strikes and the Todd Rundgren song "Hello It's Me" starts to play it transports you into a genuinely touching movie moment (and a great use of split screens) as you watch the boys and Lisbon sisters phone each other back playing music that perfectly fits. Another favorite scene is where Josh Hartnett leaves the Lisbon house... and you know he is sorta on this "not-really a date - date. The montages throughout the movie and their interludes with the music by the band "Air" combined with the beautiful cinematography by Edward Lachman are just pure movie magic.
All in all a movie that draws you in despite its slow moments, depressing moments, and haunting moments... a movie full of life, quite moments, passion, imagination, reaching out, and those moments in life not usually seen in movies that are beautifully captured in a very passionate way. Going back over the movie I find that when the movie works you become much like the boys in the movie fully enthralled with the Lisbon sisters and searching for clues and answers as to "why... why... why"... as key and subtle moments pass by... its very hard not to fall in love with the Lisbon sisters... and though they exist solely in the realm of this movie... you feel that they are real as if they were someone you know in your life either as sister or a friend that you care about deeply and you feel their ups and downs... yet at the same time you can't reach out to help... though you desperately want to...