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eileen2020
Reviews
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
Well-meaning but I would have loved a re-write
By now folks know the story, or at least the premise. Who isn't against the brutality of the Bay Area tech sector, and its destruction via cash and more cash of the zeitgeist of San Francisco? The forcing out via arson and eviction of poor renters, ditto. Horrendous. But this is a quiet buddy movie, evidently, with a Victorian house as the object of their ... affection? Obsession? There are several women in it, bit parts of no importance. Why? It's all about the guys. Jimmie, the lead, believes -- implausibly to the point of absurdity -- that his grandfather built the house in 1946. He wants to own the house. It means everything to him. This conceit becomes an important part of the story. The music is beautiful, the acting is perfect, the cinematography is gorgeous, but this viewer wanted so much more.
Death of a President (2006)
US Constitution, anyone?
The ease which with "Patriot Act III" becomes law in this believable fiction is frightening, and ought to serve as a reasonable warning to us all. "Death of a President" is a compelling cautionary tale.
The US Constitution is the thing that's threatened so readily in this scenario.
This is a good movie with a believable script. File footage is used seamlessly where it's needed. It's excellent technically,unencumbered by the use of movie stars (instead, terrific unknown actors delivering great performances) and well worth a viewing.
I found it online at http://www.teambio.org/2006/11/death-of-a-president-full-film/.
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Snoozing through war
This movie is a disaster. What it lacks in plot or even a decent script it tries to make up for in crashing, banging, whooshing, flying, dropping, spinning, blinking blinding bright lighting, thuds and - you get the picture. If it didn't have a beautiful multiracial cast I would give it a zero. As it was I shut my eyes to avoid the seemingly unending wartime strobe effects. The noise was constant and the fights were much too lengthy. Enough already! After the first fifteen unpromising minutes this movie provoked nearly nonstop daydreaming and then yawning and finally a bout of planning my week, planning the month, and working out a budget. The costumes are good and Keanu is fine. Do not waste your money on this terrible movie.
Panic Room (2002)
Much deeper than the previews
I went to see this mostly because its director did "Fight Club," which I thought was terrific. This film's previews made it look like a scare-you-to-death drama about expensive real estate: a multimillion dollar NYC townhouse. (Yawn) In fact it's about a lot more. It gives you time to think, and the script is great. This film's done tightly, intelligently, and totally grippingly. It's agonizing in places, and it's plenty violent, too. Like "Fight Club," the story asks some questions about violence, and about what hurts the most.
Foster plays a soon-to-be-ex-wife - and there's plenty of food for thought right there. She has a daughter, around twelve, who's terrific in her role. Forrest Whittaker as usual is complex, in complete control - and utterly successful. The story is not what I expected. There are some shots that left me breathless, and they do not depend on violence to make their point. There were young teenagers in the theater with their parents, and they seemed to enjoy it, too. A smart, great film.
Intimacy (2001)
When the center doesn't hold
This amazing movie is a look at the ways that a man, the protagonist Jay (Mark Rylance) once-married, and a once fairly conventional husband and dad, can utterly fall apart in divorce, the heartbreaking ways he might try to put a life back together, and the ache for connection and communion that can't necessarily be soothed within or without "happy" marriages.
By now the plot and the fact of its depiction of acts of sexual intercourse are well-known. There is a woman, Claire. She shows up at Jay's door, Wednesdays at 2 PM. We don't know anything about her at first just that once she's in his apartment, her clothes (and his) come off. The five to ten minutes of intense once-weekly sex on Jay's apartment floor is no less important for being quick and wordless; it is a sort of a pact between the couple, and their shared illness, really. But it can't, ultimately, do the trick, and the film succeeds - unmoralistically in showing us how and why. The urge to find either oblivion or ecstasy whether via alcohol or sex or other means - fuels the couple. There are amazing surprises along the way, via a script that is utterly believable and natural.
In fact, every aspect of the protagonist Jay's life is in fact shown harshly, "graphically," whether it is his hectic job tending bar, his messy, depressing apartment (further evidence that he has lost his moorings), his several friends, or his frantic travels through London. (The camera chases him, and he is chasing her). We're by turns frustrated, confused, and focused. One's attention never wanders during this story.
Children (Jay's and Claire's) are used well in this film. They can tell the truth, and they do. They use the word "love" and the adults in this movie really can't. In several scenes Jay is at his ex-wife's apartment, bathing his beautiful little sons. He lies on what was the marriage bed and makes a sort of sad and frantic fetish of his ex-wife's underwear, and is interrupted by his son, who needs his help. We are never asked to be voyeurs, but witnesses to a lot of sadness, distress and the difficulty, really, of the attainment of happiness.
This is an astonishing film about broken hearts and what people might do to try to mend them.
Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001)
Less than charming
Amelie is a young woman stuck (probably for life) in the latency phase of childhood. How does this play out? She longs to do good deeds; she occasionally feels mischievous. She visits her dad, who is still quirky. She has little or no interest in sex or in her peers - other than in a childish sort of outsider-looking-in way. She is a gamine, an imp, and has innocent hopes toward sainthood. For heaven's sake, she does not even carry a purse, a bag, or anything as she scampers through Paris; that is how light she is. This film hits one over the head with this cloying image of female "innocence," gossamer and "goodness," and its inevitable companion: Amelie's utter lack of (gasp) sexuality.
Bounce (2000)
Senselessly light - and NOT a comedy
The interesting story, the perfectly good cast, cinematography and seamless music could have added up to a film that is thoughtful, intense, sensitive - and even sensuous. Unfortunately the script doesn't permit that. The big themes of love, loss, chance, and early widowhood are emotionally minimized by the script and the direction. It's as if the writer and the director were made uncomfortable by the subject matter, and made a choice, early on, to lighten its impact on the viewer - throughout. To supplement the thin script, Paltrow's character bites her lip often in order to signal her suffering, and Affleck - a high-powered ad exec - is provided with little to say - or do. Even the love scenes are bizarrely brief. There are a few silly bloopers in this film, but the biggest one is the disappointing shallowness of this movie.
Margaret Cho: I'm the One That I Want (2000)
Depth and Poignancy, too
I agree with all the rave reviews of this wonderful film. One thing that stayed with me longest, though, is Cho's brilliantly comic and emotional portrayal of her (self-described) "cool" mom. The layers of outrageous humor and friendly exasperation at first conceal, and eventually reveal, intense two-way love and loyalty. Cho's vignette about her mother's favorite Mother's Day is incredible. Cho's "mom" routines are fully realized portraits - of a relationship, an immigrant experience, and the best stuff of families. This film is worth watching at least a few times.
Lucky Numbers (2000)
Silly fun
This is a goofy caper movie with a tidy but interesting plot and terrific actors. Kudrow plays a ditzy sociopath, Travolta a hapless TV weatherman and failing businessman who is nonetheless a celebrity of sorts in town. Ed O'Neill and Tim Roth are great at what they do in this movie. It's funny, light but not flyaway, satirical, and fun. Many laughs.
Nurse Betty (2000)
Cute and funny, with reservations
There is much that is gracefully funny and truly, kind-heartedly weird in this light (but surprisingly bloody) film. My gripe is with the script. Chris Rock does a good job in a familiar role for African American males: the hairtrigger, rageaholic sociopath (Samuel Jackson and others have been cast in this role before). It's as much of a cliche, and an oppressive one, as past stereoptypes of African Americans have been.
Autumn in New York (2000)
Suspend disbelief - it's a fable
I was surprised at this film. It has good production values, for one thing. At first I fretted that Richard Gere had been miscast as the shallow playboy, but as the film progressed, he seemed just right for the story. The plot is eighty-five percent predictable. It could have been nauseating, but in fact it was not. The film is being criticized for being "unrealistic" but isn't suspension of disbelief what we do for art? I liked it and would recommend. There are a few affectingly sad parts, and others which were not so obvious. A few plot twists add interest to this film. For an American movie it's reasonably thoughtful and compassionate, and this is no small thing.