Match Point
I really hated the last two Woody Allen movies I saw in the theater. In fact, after we saw Anything Else, Juliette and I decided that was it, we weren't going to see any more Woody Allen movies. So when we heard about Match Point we were a little skeptical, despite the overwhelmingly good reviews it was getting. We were so wrong. It was easily one of the best films we've seen over the past year. The writing was excellent, the locations were beautiful, and the acting was, for the most part, brilliant. The story managed some of the most incredible tension I've ever seen in a movie and the resolution leaves you both satisfied and uncomfortable. Probably the lowest point of the film is Scarlett Johansen's acting, but even so this is probably her best work. In fact, I'm not even sure that the relative shallowness of her performance--relative to the other actors, that is--wasn't on purpose, because it works pretty well for the character. I wouldn't have thought I'd have so many good things to say about a movie by Woody Allen but this one was just amazing.
Viewed: 2/11/2006 | Released: 12/27/2005 | Score: A
The Pink Panther
The 2006 update of The Pink Panther has been receiving generally bad reviews. This review will not break that streak. I think part of the problem for me was that I had reasonably high expectations based on the fact that I thought Steve Martin looked really funny in the previews. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie was only OK. In fact, the funniest part of the movie wasn't even Martin, it was Jean Reno. Reno's deadpan performance as Clouseau's sidekick, Ponton, was the highlight of the film, for me. And the low point? That would be Beyoncé. I honestly cannot figure out why she keeps getting cast in movies. Sure, she's good-looking, but not enough that it makes up for being completely terrible at acting.
Viewed: 2/10/2006 | Released: 2/9/2006 | Score: C
The Matador
In case you haven't heard of it, The Matador is a comedy about a professional assassin, played by Pierce Brosnan, who gets burned out on his job and befriends a regular guy, played by Greg Kinnear, who he meets in a hotel bar in Mexico City. It's not being marketed very heavily so you may not have heard of it--Juliette and I only heard about it when Pierce Brosnan was nominated for a Golden Globe. It's a rather odd film. These days, comedies tend to beat you over the head with the humor but this one is quite a bit more subtle; the humor mostly springs from the ridiculousness of the situations, but the film never goes over the top. I liked it, and not just because it made me laugh--which it did--or because the actors did a good job--which they did. It was also really nice to see a movie that wasn't just the same old formula all over again. As Juliette pointed out about halfway through the film, it was really difficult to predict where the movie was going and I found that to be a welcome change of pace.
Viewed: 1/27/2006 | Released: 12/29/2005 | Score: A
The Producers
My first experience with The Producers was on Saturday, May 31, 2003, when Juliette and I saw Jason Alexander and Martin Short in the Los Angeles production at the Pantages Theatre. I think I can honestly say I've never laughed harder at any other play. It's too bad that I saw it before I saw the 1968 film; the original suffered in comparison--to me, at least. We were excited to see the new film version of the musical, but I'm not sure why--after loving the stage version so much, how could a movie hope to live up to it? And, really, it didn't. There wasn't the same energy to the movie as on stage and, in fact, a fair amount of the production was too theatrical and didn't come off well on screen. To top it off, Uma Thurman just wasn't right for the part. She looked good enough, sure, but she didn't have the voice or dancing talent to carry the role. I think the film's producers wanted to bring some extra star power to the movie, but they ended up kind of killing some of my favorite scenes from the stage musical. Still, the rest of the cast was pretty good. I think I preferred Martin Short to Matthew Broderick, but Nathan Lane was excellent. And I particularly liked Roger Bart as Carmen Ghia. Surprisingly, I even liked Will Ferrell--for once, his overwrought screeching was right for the part. If you have the chance to see The Producers on stage you should definitely take it. If not, I'd say that, even though this version had its faults, the source material is good enough to make the movie worthwhile.
Viewed: 1/6/2006 | Released: 12/15/2005 | Score: B
Fun with Dick and Jane
I wasn't really all that interested in seeing this one, but Juliette and I felt like seeing a movie with her sibs and this was the least uninteresting of the lot. It did get a few laughs out of me, but mostly it was pretty dumb. On the positive side, the acting talent that Jim Carrey discovered during The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind still seems to be present--he hammed it up in his usual style for most of the movie, but during the climactic scene he pulled out a pretty decent monologue.
Viewed: 1/3/2006 | Released: 12/20/2005 | Score: D
King Kong
I would have given this a fourth star if not for the fact that it was just. so. long. It was well-paced, had a lot of good action, and it was cool, but at three hours plus there's just nothing that can be done to avoid it feeling really, really long. But on to the good stuff. To begin with, I think that Peter Jackson did an amazing job with updating this film. The effects were stunning, and the action really sucked me in--and I'm not one to be won over easily by effects and action sequences. The acting was mostly good, although I'm not sure Jack Black was really the right person to cast as the director--he came off as just a little too hammy, in my opinion. What surprised me, though, was that the best acting in the movie came from Kong, himself. I would never have suspected that a computer-generated gorilla would be capable of such a nuanced, intriguing, moving performance, but that is exactly how I would describe it. I would definitely recommend this one, with the small caveat that it's probably not right for anyone with a short attention span.
Viewed: 12/19/2005 | Released: 12/4/2005 | Score: B
The Family Stone
This one actually had me questioning whether I'm a snob about comedy or if I just have a bad sense of humor. The rest of the audience--including all three of the people who I saw it with--laughed at just about every joke in the movie. I laughed at one. I think part of this is just my sensitivity to humiliation; like most films of this genre, there were many moments that fall into the category I call "the part of the movie I can't watch." I do have to give this film credit for being well-written, though. There's a lot more to it than just your typical meet-the-family comedy. In fact, there's enough meat to the script that it gives the cast a chance to really act, which they mostly do quite well. I even thought Rachel McAdams did a respectable job. The only one I wasn't sure about was Ty Giordano. He does OK, but I don't know if he really has much range as an actor--he seemed more or less exactly the same as he did in A Lot Like Love. If you're looking for a good holiday date movie, this one will probably do the trick.
Viewed: 12/18/2005 | Released: 12/15/2005 | Score: C
Brokeback Mountain
It's hardly surprising that Brokeback Mountain is one of the most talked-about films of the year--you couldn't really expect otherwise with a "gay cowboy movie." I'm not quite sure it completely lives up to the hype, but it is a very good film. To begin with, it's visually stunning. You expect that from a Western--landscapes are an integral part of the genre--but what impressed me was how well Ang Lee, who was born and raised in Taiwan, was able to capture such an American feeling in his movie. The combination of lean, spare dialogue with the vast scope of the visuals lends this sort of stripped-down, rugged feeling, at once haunting and empty, but also raw and passionate. That more or less also describes Heath Ledger's performance, which would have been perfect if not for the fact that he had so much trouble with the accent. As for Jake Gyllenhaal, well, I'm starting to be a little unsure if he's quite as good as I've given him credit for being. I think it's just that he's a little too young and doesn't have the range to play a fully mature character. That's fine for movies like Donnie Darko and Jarhead, but by the end of Brokeback Mountain he's supposed to be approaching middle age, with a teenaged son and a wife of nearly twenty years, and I just didn't buy it. The supporting cast was good, and I especially thought the three main women (Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, and Linda Cardellini) did well, but really it was all about Ledger and Gyllenhaal. I don't know if I think this one really deserves a Best Picture or Best Actor win, but I think the nominations it's gotten so far are quite appropriate. And it's been kind of a lean year for movies--in my book, at least--so maybe some wins wouldn't be so bad after all.
Viewed: 12/17/2005 | Released: 12/8/2005 | Score: A
Rent
Rent has always been one of those shows I've felt like I ought to have seen but haven't had the opportunity, so I was very interested to see the film adaptation. Having seen it, I can see why it was such a big deal, even though a lot of what made it provocative in 1996 has lost some of its edge. When a revolutionary show loses its shock value and people lose interest in the issues it presents the show often suffers--Hair is an example of that, in my opinion. Rent, though, manages to survive this transition largely due to the character drama and the great music. Six of the eight members of the original Broadway cast reprised their roles in this film adaptation, and I think that their familiarity with the characters really showed in the performances. The two newcomers, Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms, also integrated very well with their veteran counterparts. The only catch in my mind was that, as good as this movie was, it seemed like the stage musical would have been better. Throughout the film I kept finding myself wondering how scenes had been staged in the Broadway production. It seemed to me that the only thing really gained by turning it into a movie was that people got a chance to see it who otherwise might not have had the chance--like me, for example.
Viewed: 11/25/2005 | Released: 11/22/2005 | Score: A
Walk the Line
With all the buzz generated last year by Ray, it's no surprise that the studios would be interested in putting out more movies about music legends. There's always the danger that the followers won't be as good, that they'll be too derivative and too formulaic. It's impossible not to compare Walk the Line to Ray. Not only are they both about famous musicians, but the storylines are surprisingly similar. Both Johnny Cash and Ray Charles came up from humble beginnings, both were tortured by the memory of a lost brother, both struggled with drug addiction. With such similarities, it's a real testament to the actors and filmmakers of Walk the Line that it manages to be an excellent movie in its own right. From an acting and musical standpoint, this film was superb. Joaquin Phoenix has done a lot that I've liked over the years (and one or two that I haven't) and this is some of his finest work. And Juliette said--and I agree--that this is the best acting she's ever seen from Reese Witherspoon. The chemistry between the two of them, the tortured love obvious in the way they look at each other, would be enough to make this a good movie, even without the music, but the music really did put it over the top. I've been interested in Johnny Cash's music for about five or six years now--not that long, I know, but long enough to hear a fair amount of his music. I have to say, even though everything I've heard and read has indicated that Phoenix did all of his own singing, I'm still having trouble believing it, his impression was that good. When I think of how much work must have gone into preparing for this role, I am quite honestly awestruck. The only problems I had with the film were the pacing--it felt a little scattered and slow to me, though not to Juliette--and the fact that I had trouble getting into the love story between Cash and June Carter because I felt so bad for Cash's first wife, Vivian.
Viewed: 11/19/2005 | Released: 11/17/2005 | Score: A