“I suggest a new strategy, R2: let the Wookiee win.” — Anthony Daniels as C-3PO in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977).
Two notes for my reader(s?), before I get to the reviews:
- I have built up a huge backlog of movie reviews to post here, and promise to try to catch up over the summer.
- Partway through this set of reviews, I quit linking to Barnes & Noble and switched to the Internet Movie Database. B&N, for some reason, doesn’t list all the movies I review. I’ll be linking to IMDB in the future (although I’ll probably still link to B&N for book reviews).
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The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) I read an interesting article about Wes Anderson in The New Yorker. It described his control of and power over actors; his ability to get the most out of them. All that is on display in The Royal Tenenbaums, in spades. Even the dogs, mice, and hawk were great, never mind Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, and the rest of the cast. And who knew Ben Stiller could act? My new project: order all the Wes Anderson movies and watch them again — there’s more to this guy than I first realized. |
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Phoebe in Wonderland (2007) One doesn’t see many movies about people afflicted with Tourette’s Syndrome — certainly not movies that deal frankly with the devastating effect Tourette’s has not only on the young children who suffer from it, but on their parents, classmates, and teachers — but I would watch this one again and again just to savor the brilliant acting. Phoebe in Wonderland is one you’ll remember for a long time. |
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Miracle Mile (1989) How is it that this sleeper of a movie has been around for 20-plus years and I never heard of it till now? There’s a made-for-TV vibe to it, but let me tell you, once the story begins to unfold you’ll be on the edge of your seat right up to the closing credits. What hooks you is that you don’t know any more than Anthony Edwards’ character does. And all he knows is that the guy on the other end of a ringing pay phone he just happened to pick up says a nuclear war is starting and that LA will be hit in an hour and ten minutes. Suspense, panic and societal breakdown ensue, and the ending . . . well, it’s actually pretty damn good. |
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Enduring Love (2004) Right at the beginning, it says “This film rated R for sex, profanity, and a disturbing image.” What, I said, just one? No worries, there were four: a man losing his grip on a hot air balloon and falling to his death, the same man’s smashed corpse sitting shockingly upright in a field, Samantha Morton bleeding to death on a kitchen floor, and Daniel Craig and Rhys Ifans swapping spit. Disturbing images? This film delivers. When Jed shows up on Joe’s doorstep the second time, you start getting Fatal Attraction chills. Later, as Joe lashes out at his lover and friends, you’re reminded of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe. Then the relationship between Jed and Joe takes a strange turn and you start thinking Brokeback Mountain. Also “oh no” and “get me the hell outta here!” But never fear, Joe’s just trying to get the knife away from Jed . . . whew! I thought it was all very well done. Intense, depressing in parts, frightening, but ultimately rewarding. Curiously enough, it makes me want to read the Ian McEwan novel. Usually it’s the other way around. |
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The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) I liked it. The critics tore into this remake, but I went in with the assumption that it would be an entirely different movie, and maybe that’s what made the difference for me. I thought it was suspenseful and well-acted, and if it wasn’t as clever as the first version, well — it isn’t the same story. The critics also tore into John Travolta, but I thought he was great. You know what? Screw the critics! Some night when there’s nothing on TV (which is pretty much any night these days), this DVD will get you through it. |
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Is Anybody There? (2008) British sentimentality tinged with wry humor in a sort of Michael-Caine-meets-Son-of-Rambow-at-Fawlty-Towers way. It’s okay, but if you took away Michael Caine it would be just another dreary British drawing room ho-hummer on PBS. |
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Terminator Salvation (2009) When did the Terminator series of movies turn into Transformers? Who is this Marcus Wright dude, and how come fires attract Skynet some nights and not others, and why did they put a CGI Arnold Schwartzenegger in there? This is just a bunch of special effects, inexplicable plot lines, and careless mistakes thrown together. It’s crap for boys. I suppose it helps make up for that atrocious Mamma Mia movie the girls inflicted on us, but puh-leese, we deserve better. |
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Nobel Son (2007) I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: any movie with Alan Rickman in it is automatically worth watching. And Bill Pullman . . . I’m liking that guy more all the time. Mary Steenburgen is great in this too. Professional critics seem not to have liked Nobel Son, but I thought it was well paced and clever, and had a darn good time watching it. |
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Lymelife (2008) There’s been a glut of movies like this, dealing with the whole suburban adult-midlife-crisis and teenage-coming-of-age thing, but this one has a damn good cast and it more than kept my interest — to be honest, there were a couple of scenes where I was talking back to the actors, and I usually don’t get that involved with a movie. Alec Baldwin has been consistently good in every movie I’ve seen him in, and he’s excellent in this one. Well worth watching. |
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World’s Greatest Dad (2009) Who’d a thunk they could ever make a comedy about auto-erotic asphyxiation? But they did, and World’s Best Dad is a nice surprise, filled with curiously uplifting black humor, an absolutely great vehicle for Robin Williams. I would not recommend watching this movie with your teenage children, however, unless you don’t mind mutual death by embarrassment. |