What is the Last Film You Watched? - Part II

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Golden compass.

Entertaining.

The CGI bear was fine. The other mammals were so-so. The birds were . The only good one was a Tawny owl. But of course, that was a real one.

[Morlock 11]

Waitress. Fluffy and charming. Keri Russell is very good, and is a sight for sore eyes. The film was essentially shot like a fantasy, so all that dramatic lighting and backlighting is fantastic. Nathan Fillion was fine. I think it kind of failed at the charming idea of a pie for every occaision. As all of the pies seemed to have no more than two or three ingredients, it didn't convince me. But the movie is worth watching for Russell. **1/2/****.

Secret Honor. Fantastic! I don't think I've ever seen a better one man show on film. Starring Phillip Baker Hall as Richard Nixon sometime after his resignation, it's remarkable how engaging and fascinating the film is, concidering that it's one man, in one continuous monologue, in one room, for an hour and a half. No cut-aways to flashbacks. It's quite an impressive film from a technical standpoint, how Altman managed to make one man in one room so interesting. Despite the confined space, the film is not at all static. The camera is extremely mobile (which it has to be, to keep up with Hall). And Altman makes great use of the TV mointors and portraits, as the only thing he has to cut to.

Hall is spell-binding. It's fantastic how -even though he really doesn't look or sound like Nixon, and given that the movie starts with a totally sincere disclaimer saying that nothing in the film is fact- one really gets a sense that he understands the man more afterwards. The dialogue is essentially one prolonged sentence, as Hall rarely finishes a thought, and often interrupts a thought with several others. But Hall gets so much mileage out of the dialogue, even after the film develops a rythem -one thought snow-balling in one massive argument or complaint against himself or others, than Nixon suddenly deflating midsentence, before he starts another thought, innocently enough, which again snow-balls.

A bravura performance, and a bravura piece of filmmaking. The Criterion DVD (as most Criterion releases) is not jam-packed with extras, but what it has is perfect- a commentary by Altman, and an interview with Hall. After so many DVD packed with useless, dull features, it's a relief to find a DVD with tastefully selected extras, with no stupid frills.

A big bravo to the filmmakers, actor, and Criterion. ****/****.

[A24 4,331]

The Sheltering Sky: Good performances, complex characters, sharp dialogue, beautiful cinematography, attractive score, and yet the last 30 minutes warped me out of the movie. Also, Debra Winger has an 80s aura that can sometimes be distracting.

Alex

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

Across the Universe - I'm a bit of the Beatles fan, so I enjoyed this very much, despite the cliched story, uneven pacing and being overlong by about 20mins. Loved the radical alterations on some songs, especially I Want To Hold Your Hand. A good looking film, both visuals and cast wise. I also think the Let it Be sequence is probably the goosebumps moment of the year.

3.5/4 stars

[Morlock 11]

The Let it Be sequence didn't really work for me the first time, but it did the second time. I absolutely loved the movie both times. Big Julie Taymor fan, huge Beatles fan.

[AI 0]

The last fim I watched was Max.

ehe, ehehe, that's all; I have to say.

No that's not all you have to say AI, didnt you think this film was a pile of doggarbage that glorifies Hitler?

Maybe.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

The Let it Be sequence didn't really work for me the first time, but it did the second time. I absolutely loved the movie both times. Big Julie Taymor fan, huge Beatles fan.

I think it was the moment it changed from being an above average High School Musical to a pretty darn good movie.

[Morlock 11]

Billy Budd. Excellent film version of the Melville tale. Directed by Peter Ustinov in 1962, the film has an excellent cast, headlined by the film debut of Terence Stamp. The cast is uniformly good, Stamp as the angelicly kind-spirited Budd, Ustinov as the ships captain, Robert ryan as the antagonist, and several familiar British actors as the ship's crew. As the film entered it's final stages, I was worried that it would get bogged down with simple-minded humanism, but the trial and deliberation scenes were quite intelligently staged, and the last scene quite powerful.

Terrific cinematography by the legendary Robert Krasker.

On the DVD, there's only one bonus.....but it's a fantastic commentary with Stamp reminiscing about the film and his career, with Stephen Soderbergh guiding the conversation. Laid back, informative and funny.

***1/2/****.

[John Crichton 4]

Futurama: Bender's Big Score

Marvelous. They take full advantage of the movie format by telling a very complex, time paradox filled tale that all comes together perfectly at the end. Add in great charater moments, good laughs, and continuity porn virtually every mintue, and I say Futurama is back with a bang. Nice cliffhanger into the next movie, too.

[Hitch 57]

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE: One word for the movie: LAME. One word for the score: SUCKS. Aaron Copland is rodeoing in his grave.

[Trent B 337]

I watched Star Trek II The Wrath Of Khan last night as I hadn't seen it in a while. Still love the film to this day.

[indy4 155]

The Mummy: Well, it certainly was a nice action movie, but that's all it will ever be, in my eyes. It was a very Indiana-Joneish movie, from the Universal logo turning into a sun in the movie, to all the underground scenes with torches and collapsing chambers. . . . I will defenetly be giving the score another listen soon, it worked very well in the movie. **3/4/*****

[John Crichton 4]

I enjoyed The Mummy decently enough, my main problem was that a lot of the humor felt flat and forced. It's a nice Jerry score.

[indy4 155]

Some of the humor was nice, but it will never compare to that of its inspiration (Indy).

[Romão 2,274]

If you want cliché pharoh hollywood music, the Mummy is a great compilation. Still such a fun score.

[indy4 155]

But since I don't really have any other "pharoh" music, it seems totally original to me!

I could've sworn I reviewed Polar Express a few days ago, but I guess not:

I've seen it many times by now, and it never lost its sense of magic and amazement. I would say that it is my favorite animated movie ever, only Nightmare Before Christmas is in its league. The cinematography is wonderful, I love how the viewpoint goes under the ice and the words in the dictionary, as well as many other techniques Zemeckis uses. I also love the music, I really realized by watching it that a decent releaese really ought to be made. The only complaint I would have about the music is this: I absolutley LOVE the main theme, it is so beautiful and mysterious and Christmassy. My only issue is that Silvestri seems to play it every single time something profound (or not profound) happens. Still a brilliant piece of music. This movie is one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time. *****/*****

Oh, and the book is a pure masterpiece, too.

[GoldsmithFanatic2000+ 0]

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

What a terrible film.

I re-watched the DVD last night to remind myself of just how low it sank into dreadfulness, and all I kept thinking was "Wow! Supergirl was never THAT bad". Supergirl is the type of film where "so bad it's good" is applied. Faye Dunaway's camped-up performance as Selena cracks me up every time. The story and script is what mainly hurt Supergirl, a pity. Technically, it was excellent for the time, Jerry Goldsmith's score was very memorable, second only to Williams' Superman. There isn't one person I have come across that didn't guess the signature theme as being either Superman, or Supergirl.

How a minority of Superman fans even have the audacity to compare such an amateurish disgrace like Superman IV to a technically well-made film like Supergirl is beyond me.

To be perfectly honest... The only Superman film that ever was truly worthy of being labeled as a cinematic experience was the original 1978 film. I love it to bits. It's a splendid film.

It's amazing how incredibly dated the second film now is in comparison to it, considering back in its day it was considered to be superior.... hardly. That's what happens when you go for the cheap joke, camp up a perfectly good storyline and cut and paste two entirely different films together.

That being said the second film is still enjoyable, and decent enough, even with all it's Salkind/Lester related flaws.

I don't think the lousy editing job done by Michael Thau on the more recent Richard Donner Cut of II was anything to write home about either.

It just added another film to Superman's list of cobbled together entries:

Superman II (1980) - John Victor-Smith's editing of the film wasn't even close to being atrocious like the entries below it.

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)

As for the last two with Reeve, well.... Supergirl is a much better, more enjoyable film then Superman III IMO, and there is just no comparison with IV. Supergirl doesn't deserve it. Supergirl gets lots of slack, from mainly US folk I might add, that it just never deserved. It tanked there due to its terrible treatment by the studios that were meant to be promoting it mainly. It didn't help that TriStar (who bought release rights to the feature domestically from the original distributer "Warner Bros.") cut the film to shreds in the US either. It was a big hit in the UK, and everywhere else it was released.

Supergirl is extremely camp, and cheesy, yes! It's also fun, and harmless.

Superman IV is merely headache inducing.

[indy4 155]

Elf: I've seen it several times, it is a hilarious movie. I love it, in almost every aspect. ****/*****

Finally managed to sit through Independence Day: Once it got a plot that was not "buildings blowing up pointlessly," it was rather enjoyable. The Star Wars influences were extremely obvious, some of the shots were almost excactly like SW. **1/2/*****

[QMM 4]

I Am Legend

Overall I liked it. Although they might as well have not called it I Am Legend since it changes so much of the book (there's so much great stuff they could've used!) but from the synopsises of the other adaptations I've read, this one is the closest to the novel. I really liked that they don't explain everything and force you to use your eyes to figure out what happened, and Will Smith really does some great work in the role. JNH's score is very sparse and really only goes between the main theme (with some really excellent string layering later) and some ok action music but it's overall pretty good, I have no idea how what they're going to put on the album though since there's maybe 15 minutes of score at the most. The only thing I didn't like was the CGI used for the animals and infected. I understand that they tried to use live action people but they couldn't get the movements right which I can believe but still.

As for the ending, I can understand why some people wouldn't like it but it didn't bother me nearly as much as I thought it would. Just don't go into the movie expecting the book and you'll like it, especially the first third or so of the movie.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

We rented Stardust. ***** What a wonderful fantasy film! This really should have been a blockbuster, and why it failed at the US box office is beyond me. Luckily it was able to make it's money back overseas where it fared much better. I honestly believe history will be kind to this film. It deserves to become a classic like The Wizard of Oz, and It's a Wonderful Life (which also bombed at the box office, but went on to become a well-loved national treasure).

We also recently did a Christmas movie night which was a lot of fun. Miracle on 34th Street (original version) ****, Scrooge (the 1951 Alistair Sim version) absolutely wonderful ***** for being the best movie adaptation of A Christmas Carol ever made (with the Muppets a close second!), and The Snowman *****, lovely animation, music (Howard Blake) and storyline. A magical Christmas tearjerker for all the family.

[Ollie 1,059]

I finally saw the Polar Express, I bought it for my nephew and niece for Christmas and we opened presents with them yesterday.

All I can say is boorrrriinngggggggg. What a dumb and pointless film, now I'm glad I didn't waste my money and go see it in the theatre or buy it for my family.

What the hell happened to Robert Zemeckis? He used to make good films.

I did enjoy Silvestri' music in the film and his mixture of traditional Christmas songs within the score.

[indy4 155]

[Morlock 11]

La Vie En Rose. M-E-H. Boring musical biopic. I didn't feel I learned anything about Piaf, and I didn't really care for her. I love Marion Cotillard, but I just did't care about the character. And far too little of Piaf performing to even give it some kind of ancillary interest. **/****.

Metropolis. Flat out friggin' amazing. Everything people have said about it. The grandaddy of all science fiction films. Saw the Kino DVD of it, great looking, with it's fantastically Wagnerian Gottfried Huppertz score in a glorioud rerecording. The movie is a feast for the eyes. Concepts and images up the wazoo, that seem to have inspired elements of every single serious science fiction film I've seen. Some absolutely amazing technological concepts for a film to have 80 years ago, and brought off so well, technically speaking. The characters are not particularly well-drawn...but the visuals dwarf them anyway. The ending is one of the corniest things I've ever seen.

I mean, I've been going 'wow!' to myself ever since I saw it, just upon thinking about the film.

And I thank heavens for Kino....I can only imagine what the Giorgio Moroder version sounds like. The score is glorious, strong themes, strong colors, and all in perfect sound.

Really, a miracle of filmmaking (and restoration). ****/****.

[John Crichton 4]

I finally saw the Polar Express, I bought it for my nephew and niece for Christmas and we opened presents with them yesterday.

All I can say is boorrrriinngggggggg. What a dumb and pointless film, now I'm glad I didn't waste my money and go see it in the theatre or buy it for my family.

What the hell happened to Robert Zemeckis? He used to make good films.

I did enjoy Silvestri' music in the film and his mixture of traditional Christmas songs within the score.

The animation still kind of creeps me out too, despite the work they did to smooth it up.

[nightscape94 965]

I watched The Science of Sleep the other day. Interesting, even if not quite successful, flick. It had a lot going for it in terms of visuals, but very little to do with character. Still, worth a rental.

Tim

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

I finally saw the Polar Express, I bought it for my nephew and niece for Christmas and we opened presents with them yesterday.

All I can say is boorrrriinngggggggg. What a dumb and pointless film, now I'm glad I didn't waste my money and go see it in the theatre or buy it for my family.

What the hell happened to Robert Zemeckis? He used to make good films.

I did enjoy Silvestri' music in the film and his mixture of traditional Christmas songs within the score.

The animation still kind of creeps me out too, despite the work they did to smooth it up.

I totally agree, Mark and John...I actually haven't watched the film from start to finish, but I've seen a good amount of it on TV, and it's just strange. The kids are really creepy looking, and I don't really care for the whole depiction of the North Pole (chanting elves, celebrity Santa, etc). But yeah, the score's good.

[Henry B 50]

I Am Legend

Will Smith was amazing.

The rest of the film was only passable. Easily the worst thing was James Newton Howard's score, which sounded like it had been written in about fifteen minutes.

[indy4 155]

It is beyond me how anyone could dislike Polar Express. Oh well!

Marnie: Hmmm, it certainly was not a bad film. The plot was nice enough, as was just about everything else in the movie. Nothing really blew me away, and there were a couple dull bits, but it was overall a nice movie. Not one of Hitchcock's best, though. ***/*****

[Delorean90 42]

What was so creepy about the animation?

I like The Polar Express. It's got a nice feel to it, with "cinematography," score, and other things contributing to it. And Eddie Deezen is a hoot.

[indy4 155]

I agree.

The Golden Compass: For the most part, it was pretty . It was incredibly cliche, it was uninteresting, the acting was merely okay. The book was much much better. I was shocked when they ended it so soon (and believe me - it wasn't because I was enjoying it; They left out a major chunk at the end). But there were a couple of good parts to it. I thought the music was nice. Nothing spectacular, but not bad at all. It had a very otherworldy feel to it--almost a futeristic feel, but not excactly. The CGI was great, the daemons changed form very smoothly and realistically. I also loved all the strange ways of transportation, they were very imaginitivley thought up. **1/2/*****

[Morlock 11]

And Eddie Deezen is a hoot.

I wanted to bash his head in. He is one of the most annoying presences I've ever encountered in the cinema.

Red Dragon. All the talk about it last week made me see it again....terrific, terrific film. Superb script, nice, rich cinematography, nice characterizations by all (except for those who provides great characterizations), and one of the very best scores Danny Elfman has ever composed. May noy be a great album, but he adds more to this film than any score of his, save for the early Burton ones (And this score sounds so classy...Main titles is one of the best sequences of it's kind, and it's scored to perfection). ***1/2/****.

[indy4 155]

Torn Curtain: Great! A bit slow at first, but I loved it, especially the third act. The music in the bus seen was thrilling. I think I will defenetly get the soundtrack, should I get the rejected Herrmann score too? ****/*****

[Neimoidian 14]

Nightmare Before Christmas for the 1st time.

Amazing, imaginative, captivating, magical, beautiful.... Easily one of the greatest Elfman's scores.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Pursuit Of Happyness

A rags to riches story about a man struggling to survive as a salesman while learning to become a stockbroker. Doesn't sound exciting, but it's better then it deserves to be.

The formula for this type of film is as old as the hills, main character suffers adverity, recovers slightly, suffers more adversity but with the promise of better things to come, then has the ground dissapear from under him, only to emerge victorious in the end.

This film faithfully follows the formula, and there really are not many surprises. What saves the film is the performance of Will Smith as Chris Gardner. Smith is in pretty much every scene of the film, and even though his smooth looks have been toned down a bit with the 80's hairstyle and facial hair, he's still as likeble as ever. We like his Chris Gardner, therefore at the end of the film, when he finally succeeds against all odds, we feel our hearts warmed. (Smith wisely underplays that moment)

The only other actor in recent years better in a movie like this that I have seen was Anthony Hopkins in The World's Fastest Indian. (though that film defied the formula by almost, but not quite having the main character hit rock bottom)

His real life son Jaden Smith is surprisingly good as his character's son, and there moments together are actually not always smothered in a thick coat of honey.

The only other role of real importance is Thandie Newton, who has the thankless role of the wife and mother abandoning her husband and child.

Direction by Gabriele Muccino and score by Andrea Guerra are precisely what you expect for this type of film, nothing more, nothing less.

Shamelessly commercial and sentimental, but professionally put together, and with some heart to go with it.

**1/2 out of ****

[Ollie 1,059]

Torn Curtain: Great! A bit slow at first, but I loved it, especially the third act. The music in the bus seen was thrilling. I think I will defenetly get the soundtrack, should I get the rejected Herrmann score too? ****/*****

Yes because it is much better than Addison's score and should have been left in the film.

[Morlock 11]

The Sweet Hereafter. Now this is a film. A real film. A powerhouse of a drama, where the key to the story (IMO) is only hinted at.

The movie is not told chronologically (even though the first and last shots are in fact the first and last events chronologically). It tells the story of a Canadian town, where a school-bus gets into a harrowing accident, and all the childen on it are killed, save for one girl, who is crippled (Sarah Polley), and the driver. A lawyer (Ian Holm) comes to town, trying to get the parents of the children to join a class action suit (even though, he really has no idea who to sue, as the accident seems to be due to weather). The movie shows, out of order, the life of some of the character before the accident, the accident, the lawyer's quest to get people to join the suit, and, two years later, a conversation the lawyer has on a plane wiht a friend of his daughters.

The movie is outwardly about the parents dealing with the loss, and the surviving girl's own traumatic life. It also is about the Holm character's motives. It's there that the key to movie lies, and it's something very subtally hinted at. I'm not even 100% sure it's there (the director and author are cryptic about it in the commentary). But it can be there, and it made me think about this movie long and hard.

The acting is uniformly superb. You get a glimpse at several many parents, some seemingly good, some seemingly bad, all an example of parents setting boundries for children, or not. And it's all reflected in Holm.

The movie has a very somber look, a very fitting look.

The score, by Mychael Danna, is excellent. He gives it a midievel sound, which gives the town a kind of timeless-ness.

Great drama. Another terrific movie to come out of 1997. ****/****.

The Gingerbread Man. Robert Altman's film of a John Grisham "original" story. The result is far more Grisham than Altman, but, really, both sides lose out. A very by-the-numbers thriller, with the usual twists, and the law of Economy of characters is followed in spades. Kenneth Branagh is just wrong. I couldn't even tell if his accent was okay, his presence in the setting was so distracting. Cinematography is a bit jerky at times. And I couldn't stand the electronics Marc Isham provided.

Total miss.

*1/2/****.

[A24 4,331]

The Sweet Hereafter

Thanks for the tip. I never heard of it before. I hope its drama isn't too self-indulgent?

Alex

[Morlock 11]

Although it's impossible for me to judge that, concidering how effective it was for me.....I would say that no, it is not too self-indulgent. And the fact the there's an element in the film that is never clearly stated makes for very rich drama. I daresay there's a chance you'll like it.

[David Coscina 3]

I watched I AM LEGEND and thought it was a whole lot better than reviews led me to believe. No stupid cheesy lines, no inappropriate humor, no overdone editing/music, mostly a quiet introspective film that focuses on the insulated character of Robert Neville (Will Smith). JN Howard's main theme is actually as good as anything he's written in the past few years with a somber piano/string elegy that recalls UNBREAKABLE or even the Wayne Theme from BATMAN BEGINS. I'm glad I pre-ordered the soundtrack from Varese since this is a good CD to listen to away from the film too.

The only thing I did not like about the film was

1. Too short and a little underdeveloped narratively speaking.

2. CGI zombies. What the heck was the director thinking?

Aside from those two minor points, it was a great film. I personally do not think they "copped out" at the end.

[Morlock 11]

Those don't sound like small points.....for me, the movie sounds like it can be terrific, until the zombies come into it. I will see the film, but I cannot fathom how this as a zombie movie can be any good.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I thought it was not a Zombie movie?

[A24 4,331]

28 Days Later isn't a zombie movie either. I can't imagine that I'll prefer the Will Smith vehicle over Danny Boyle's film.

[David Coscina 3]

Morlock, I AM LEGEND is not a zombie movie but more a character study of someone in isolation. It's very much like CAST AWAY with a similarly strong performance by Smith. The zombies play a minimal role and you don't see them a lot. My only guess as to why the filmmakers went with CGI is that they did not WANT to personalize the zombies. They were dead and as such were meant to be de-humanized.

I also think someone else's comment about the score being written in 15 minutes was way off the mark. Just because there isn't a lot of music in the film does not denote poor quality or a quick composing schedule for the composer. I think the music is very poignant in places it's supposed to be. I could not make out the scary music too well when I saw the film so I'll have to amend my complete review when I listen to the score in its entirety. But the string/piano cues are very nice.

[Morlock 11]

Morlock, I AM LEGEND is not a zombie movie but more a character study of someone in isolation. It's very much like CAST AWAY with a similarly strong performance by Smith. The zombies play a minimal role and you don't see them a lot. My only guess as to why the filmmakers went with CGI is that they did not WANT to personalize the zombies. They were dead and as such were meant to be de-humanized.

Hey, I plan to see the film. But, from my experience, I do not like the concept of zombies in a movie. Taking the Cast Away example....the section of the film that really worked is the section when he was alone. Once he came back to humanity, the film took a nose dive. I'll see this for that section. Anything with an army of dehumanized bad-guys doesn't appeal to me.

[David Coscina 3]

Morlock, I AM LEGEND is not a zombie movie but more a character study of someone in isolation. It's very much like CAST AWAY with a similarly strong performance by Smith. The zombies play a minimal role and you don't see them a lot. My only guess as to why the filmmakers went with CGI is that they did not WANT to personalize the zombies. They were dead and as such were meant to be de-humanized.

Hey, I plan to see the film. But, from my experience, I do not like the concept of zombies in a movie. Taking the Cast Away example....the section of the film that really worked is the section when he was alone. Once he came back to humanity, the film took a nose dive. I'll see this for that section. Anything with an army of dehumanized bad-guys doesn't appeal to me.

Lucky for you most of the film (80%) is Will Smith. The zombies are more of a plot point than anything. There are more than a few memorable scenes- one of the most powerful scenes just hangs on a tight camera shot on Will Smith's face. It's an amazing scene and there's no music during that from what I recall. Amazing. I really respect directors who don't have ADD and cut away from lingering shots like that. For a character piece such as this, it's almost mandatory. I think you'll like the film mostly because of the style of direction and Smith's performance.

[Henry B 50]

I also think someone else's comment about the score being written in 15 minutes was way off the mark. Just because there isn't a lot of music in the film does not denote poor quality or a quick composing schedule for the composer. I think the music is very poignant in places it's supposed to be. I could not make out the scary music too well when I saw the film so I'll have to amend my complete review when I listen to the score in its entirety. But the string/piano cues are very nice.

Actually, it has nothing to do with quantity. It's just that the music itself is so simplistic and uninspired. It appeals only to the most typical senses of loss and isolation. Last man on Earth? No, it doesn't reach that far. As for the action music, I honestly couldn't hear it much, but it was very boring.

This film could have worked with no music at all except for the Bob Marley in the end credits.

Saw Sweeney Todd today. It was certainly pretty good, but the singing could have been better, and the casting was a Harry Potter villain reunion. Another problem was the watering down of music. Just like in Phantom, the conversion of lyric to spoken word is not convincing; it seems caught trying to decide. Do it operatically or don't do it at all. I must admit, though, the orchestral arrangement of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" (main titles) is awesome. I might buy the soundtrack just for that.

[Romão 2,274]

The main titles do sound great indeed, but did they really need to cut all the sung renditions of the Balad?

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Well, they had to cut something and there was no plot developed in the reprises. I haven't seen the movie but a friend of mine detailed all the changes to me and I couldn't agree more with the decisions made. Although "Ah, Miss" and its humor will be sorely missed, I'm surprised "Not While I'm Around" made it at all. I know it's the show's signature song but it feels so out of place, and has so little to do with the plot, I was surprised to see they left that one it.

[A24 4,331]

The Dead Girl: Drama for the sake of drama.

Reign Over Me: Uneven (sometimes insultingly simple) and mellow but watchable (probably because it's less glossy than standard Hollywood fluff).

National Treasure: Seen through a child's eyes, this is better than one would expect but I feel asleep anyways.

Alex

[Morlock 11]

The River. I guess I happened to be in the right mindset. Worked for me. Gibson is an idiot in this, and looks too young to be the father of two and married to Sissy Spacek....but, still, I liked it. Nothing exceptional about it, but it is a solid and forgettable against-all-odds film, with finale that's rousing enough (even though, ultimately pointless). Very nice cinematography by Vilmos, and a lovely score by JW. It's nice to see a small drama that actually has very strong themes in it. Even the Chinatown-ish love theme works. Although it's ultimatly less than that, I'd rate my experience as a **1/2/****.

Sleuth (1972). Wonderful! God, the new one looks so much worse after this. This one is so bright and warm and lovely. It is so such a joy to see Olivier so free and loose...I was surprised by how loose he was (in an entirely positive way), doing accents, running around like crazy. Caine is terrific. The anger of his character is always evident. Oswald Morris' cinematography and Ken Adams' terrific set do a fantastic job of keeping things visually alive, even when we're basically stuck in three rooms for 138 minutes.

Many wonderful moments. In particular, Olivier's introduction (in the maze that cannot be solved), and Caine's pathetic 'break-in' in a clown suit.

SPOILER ALERT:

I was very impressed with Caine as the detective. I saw the new one without knowing the plot, and it's telegraphed to you that Law is coming back as the detective, and the makeup does notthing to conceal that. Over here, I KNEW that Caine was coming back as the detective, but the makeup was so good, and the voice so convincing, that initially, I actually had to look hard to be 100% sure that it was indeed Caine. Fantastic makeup.

John Addison's score is initially annoying, that harpsicord is so heavy-handed, I almost thought that it would be as terrible as his Tom Jones score. But it got much better, and the score for the final trick is terrific.

Overall, a wonderful romp. Although it sounds long at 138 minutes, it didn't feel a bit too long to me. ***1/2/****.

The Great Debators. Average high school success story in the mold of every sports movie in history. It was dissapointing in how it always had this debate team debate it's own point of view. It would have been infinitely better if they would debate an opposing view (one of the best aspects of a debate team). Still, it holds together well enough. The young actors are fine. As much as I might like to hold it against Washington for giving himself the juiciest part in his own movie....he was the best thing in the movie. I felt he was kind of sleep-walking through American Gangster, and though what he does here is nothing new for him, he does it splendidly (obivously taking a leaf from Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society). Score by JNH didn't sound particularly special. Did it's job. Maybe a couple of fun cues.

**1/2/****.

P.S.- while I understand combining chracaters in a movie based on fact, I can't STAND when they offer the 'what they did after the movie' line at the end. They give a full bio on someone who is based on two or three different people. Just like what they did with Tom Hanks' character in Catch me if you can.

The Savages. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney as two siblings having to deal with their elder father (Phillip Bosco), who suffers from Dementia. I can't really judge this film. It was far too real for me, as I witnessed my grandfather's decline due to dementia, with the film mirroring many of my own family's experience. Presumably, that means it was very well-acted and written.

Only specific things I can comment on are the two things I didn't like- the very end, which seemed like a strange attempt to inject some optimisim in the story, and the score, which was mostly a derivative mix of David Kitay's Ghost World theme, and a general Carter Burwell rip.