01. 01.01.2005 - Open Water. (2004) d. Chris Kentis. Grade: F
02. 01.01.2005 - Sideways. (2004) d. Alexander Payne. Grade: A
03. 01.01.2005 - King Arthur. (2004) d. Antoine Fuqua. Grade: C
04. 01.02.2005 - The Manchurian Canidate. (2004) d. Jonathan Demme. Grade: B
05. 01.02.2005 - Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2. (2004) d. Mamoru Oshii. Grade: B-
06. 01.03.2005 - De-Lovely. (2004) d. Irwin Winkler. Grade: C-
07. 01.05.2005 - Notorious C.H.O. (2002) d. Lorene Machado. Grade: D+
08. 01.08.2005 - Million Dollar Baby. (2004) d. Clint Eastwood. Grade: A+
09. 01.08.2005 - Code 46. (2003) d. Michael Winterbottom. Grade: D+
10. 01.09.2005 - The Door in the Floor. (2004) d. Tod Williams. Grade: C+
11. 01.09.2005 - House of Flying Daggers. (2004) d. Zhang Yimou. Grade: B+
12. 01.10.2005 - Vampires: The Turning. (2005) d. Marty Weiss. Grade: F
13. 01.10.2005 - The Prophesy. (1995) d. Gregory Widen. Grade: D+
14. 01.11.2005 - Napoleon Dynamite. (2004) d. Jared Hess. Grade: B
15. 01.12.2005 - Bamboozled. (2000) d. Spike Lee. Grade: B-
16. 01.13.2005 - Good Burger. (1997) d. Brian Robbins. Grade: D-
17. 01.14.2005 - Once Upon A Time In Mexico. (2003) d. Robert Rodriguez. Grade: C+
18. 01.15.2005 - Silver City. (2004) d. John Sayles. Grade: C
19. 01.15.2005 - We Don't Live Here Anymore. (2004) d. John Curran. Grade: C-
20. 01.15.2005 - In Good Company. (2004) d. Paul Weitz. Grade: B-
21. 01.15.2005 - The Village. (2004) d. M. Night Shyamalan. Grade: B+
22. 01.16.2005 - Eurotrip. (2004) d. Jeff Schaffer. Grade: D
23. 01.16.2005 - Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. (2004) d. Sara Sugarman. Grade: D
24. 01.17.2005 - The Firemen's Ball. (1967) d. Milos Forman. Grade: A-
25. 01.20.2005 - The Forgotten. (2004) d. Joseph Ruben. Grade: D+
26. 01.20.2005 - Friday Night Lights. (2004) d. Peter Berg. Grade: B+
27. 01.21.2005 - Ray. (2004) d. Taylor Hackford. Grade: B+
28. 01.22.2005 - Hotel Rwanda. (2004) d. Terry George. Grade: B
29. 01.22.2005 - Mona Lisa Smile. (2003) d. Mike Newell. Grade: C-
30. 01.25.2005 - Slacker. (1991) d. Richard Linklater. Grade: D
31. 01.25.2005 - Alien vs. Predator. (2004) d. Paul W.S. Anderson. Grade: D+

Take Freddy vs. Jason, take out most of the blood and the violence, add the sci-fi story from Stargate, and overcook it in the oven. Voila, Alien vs. Predator.

It would be great if the movie had good acting, it didn't. Characters that are built up die off pretty fast without an ounce of emotion from their "friends" or co-workers. All the characters in fact seem to be in this emotionless vacuum. They don't even sound scared for the most part! Sanaa Lathan is in way over her head as she... get this... tries to charm a Predator, and SUCCEEDS.

The creature effects on Predator look laughable (except for the face). It just doesn't look threatening, what made the Predator origionally threatening was its stealth, speed and evil. The predator here seems all but emasculated.

The Alien effects are done really well though, and it is actually one of the better "Alien" movies (if you consider this canon, I don't) from the effects perspective. Definately better done than Alien3 and Alien:Ressurection.

But in the end the script and the characters just are not strong enough, or fun enough to make this any more than a labor of endless repetative sets (that move like a maze don't forget) where glitter seems to endlessly fall from the roof of the pyramid. I mean, who really cares if http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001971/ gets offed by aliens? Was his abandoned camera supposed to make me feel some kind of emotion?

I really liked the opening credit sequence tho, and some of the underplayed score. The first 40 or so minutes are not really that bad, before the "action" really starts. It is actually even semi-suspensful (although still poorly acted).

I also like the part at the end where the chick gets her backpack burned off so decides to run around without a coat. IN ANTARCTICA.

Oh and the theatrical version, without the lame opening in Antarctica with the 1904 expedition, is better.

That's the best AvP comment I've heard in ages and my second fave AvP related one-liner of all time.

As to your bamboozled comments, yes, I do see what you're saying. Most importantly not about the historical element but why the reception of it is uncomfortable yet unknown. Basically your comments about not knowing "why" to fight. I remember Jada doing all this historical research on it and that there were voice-overs of her tracing its rooots, but it seemed that everyone else just kind of didn't quite understand its offense beyond the visceral level. And we all know media can turn anything thats viscerally offensive into great entertainment. So Lee places a heavy emphasis on knowledge, cultural history, and education. That makes a bit more sense. I always felt unsure of the movie because I could tell it wasn't just a Spike Lee version of "Network," but was in a sense having the same problems as the characters in the movie. I really didn't understand why I responded to it as I did. I was reading it a bit literally (I should know better, but hey, it was a few years back), and I pretty much responded to the whole Mantan and Sleep 'n Eat concept as they did. It was wrong, but "why?" Why not "reclaim" certain elements of an abbrassive history? Afterall isn't nigger a recleimed derogatory word? I thought this was going the same route, and that made sense, but only in so far as Delacroix was bitter. When he started to take off and lost his own objectives I had trouble following his sentiments. I couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or what. But you actually articulated your response quite nicely, so I'll keep in mind when I re-watch the movie.

01. 01/07/05: Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000) ****
02. 01/08/05: Vertical Ray of the Sun (Anh Hung Tran, 2000) ***
03. 01/08/05: Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985) ****
04. 01/09/05: Sleeper (Woody Allen, 1973) ***
05. 01/09/05: Key Largo (John Huston, 1948) *** ½
06. 01/09/05: Out Cold (Brendan & Emmett Malloy, 2001) * ½
07. 01/10/05: Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931) * ½
08. 01/11/05: Just Married (Shawn Levy, 2003) * ½
09. 01/11/05: Battleship Potemkin (Sergei M. Eisenstein, 1925) *** ½
10. 01/12/05: Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, et al, 1980) ****
11. 01/12/05: The Good Girl (Miguel Arteta, 2002) **
12. 01/13/05: Castle in the Sky (Hayao Miyazaki, 1986) ****
13. 01/14/05: In Good Company (Paul Weitz,2004) *** ½
14. 01/14/05: Léon (Luc Besson, 1994) ****
15. 01/15/05: House of Flying Daggers (Yimou Zhang, 2004) ****
16. 01/15/05: The Triplets of Belleville (Sylvain Chomet, 2003) *** ½
17. 01/15/05: In the Mood for Love (Kar Wai Wong, 2000) *** ½
18. 01/16/05: Meet the Fockers (Jay Roach, 2004) * ½
19. 01/17/05: Kiki’s Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki, 1989) ***
20. 01/18/05: Cries and Whispers (Ingmar Bergman, 1972) **
21. 01/19/05: Star Runner (Daniel Lee, 2003) *** ½
22. 01/20/05: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring (Ki-duk Kim, 2004) ****
23. 01/21/05: Iron Monkey (Woo-ping Yuen, 1993) ***
24. 01/22/05: The Laramie Project (Moisés Kaufman, 2002) ** ½
25. 01/23/05: Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994) ****
26. 01/23/05: Princess Mononke (Hayao Miyazaki, 1997) ****
27. 01/24/05: Twilight Samurai (Yoji Yamada, 2004) *** ½
28. 01/25/05: Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, 1995) *** ½
29. 01/26/05: The 400 Blows (François Truffaut, 1953) ****

Wow. What an amazing film. Such great acting, especially by the young lead. And absolutely stunning camera work. It's a fascinating, great film, but there are also so many little things that make this movie great. Little things like panning the camera up the mothers face while she's talking to her son, and the kinda bored look that follows, to show how uninterested in her he is. And the boy running under that big white sign when he's running towards the end. Just so much cooler than had he run around it. And the last 5 - 7 minutes are some of the best, and my favorite 5 - 7 minutes in all of cinema. One of, if not the best film focused on children l've ever seen. Phenomenal. If l were ever able to number my top 100, this would definitely be in the top 20...very likely top 10.

In order of how I liked them

1. Superman: The Movie (1978) -- 1.13 A+
2. Million Dollar Baby (2004) -- 1.21 A+
3. Dr. No (1962) -- 1.16 A+
4. The Aviator (2004) -- 1.7 A+
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) -- 1.18 A+
6. Sleepless in Seattle (1993) -- 1.25 A+
7. The Terminal (2004) -- 1.12 A+
8. Superman II (1980) -- 1.15 A
9. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) -- 1.20 A
10. Anchorman: Unrated (2004) -- 1.9 A
11. Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) -- 1.19 A
12. Super Troopers (2002) -- 1.23 A-
13. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) -- 1.8 A-
14. Coach Carter (2005) -- 1.17 A-

15. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) -- 1.22 B+
16. Comedian (2002) -- 1.10 B
17. Napoleon Dynamite (2004) -- 1.11 B
18. The Big Bounce (2004) -- 1.25 B-
19. The Village (2004) -- 1.13 B-
20. Are We There Yet? (2005) -- 1.26 B-

21. Paparazzi (2004) -- 1.22 C+
22. Elektra (2005) -- 1.14 C+
23. Day of the Dead (1985) -- 1.23 C+
24. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) -- 1.11 C
25. The Forgotten (2004) -- 1.22 C-
26. Open Water (2004) -- 1.22 C-

27. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) -- 1.22 D

1. 1/7/05: Troy (2004, Wolfgang Petersen) - B
2. 1/7/05: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003, Ki-duk Kim) - A-
3. 1/8/05: Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004, Danny Leiner) - B
4. 1/9/05: Akira (1988, Katsuhiro Ôtomo) - C
5. 1/9/05: Being John Malkovich (1999, Spike Jonze) - A
6. 1/9/05: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002, George Lucas) - B
7. 1/9/05: Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004, Alexander Witt) - B+
8. 1/10/05: Cruel Intentions (1999, Roger Kumble) - A
9. 1/11/05: Infernal Affairs (2002, Wai Keung Lau & Siu Fai Mak) - B
10. 1/11/05: Before Sunrise (1995, Richard Linklater) - A
11. 1/11/05: Before Sunset (2004, Richard Linklater) - A-
12. 1/13/05: The Lion King (1994, Rober Allers and Rob Minkoff) - A
13. 1/14/05: Moulin Rouge! (2001, Baz Lurhman) - A+
14. 1/14/05: Maria Full of Grace (2004, Joshua Marston) - A-
15. 1/15/05: The Manchurian Candidate (2004, Jonathan Demme) - B
16. 1/15/05: The Stepford Wives (2004, Frank Oz) - B
17. 1/16/05: Mean Girls (2004, Mark Waters) - A-
18. 1/17/05: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Michel Gondry) - A
19. 1/17/05: The Phantom of the Opera (2004, Joel Schumacher) - A
20. 1/18/05: The Village (2004, M. Night Shyamalan) - A-
21. 1/19/05: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004, Rawson Marshall Thurber) - C+
22. 1/21/05: Open Water (2004, Chris Kentis) - D
23. 1/22/05: Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003, Quentin Tarantino) - A
24. 1/22/05: Kill Bill Volume 2 (2004, Quentin Tarantino) - A
25. 1/26/05: Freaky Friday (2003, Mark S. Waters) - B+

Haha, it just finished on Starz. *cough* :razz:
I'm going to have a triple feature in a few minutes. (Sky Captain, Shindler's List and Mean Creek)

Yikes, Schindler's List right on top of Mean Creek is probably not going to make for a joyful night.

Yeah. Make Sky Captain the last movie

Blah. I watched Sky Captain first! :razz:

1. 1/7/05: Troy (2004, Wolfgang Petersen) - B
2. 1/7/05: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003, Ki-duk Kim) - A-
3. 1/8/05: Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004, Danny Leiner) - B
4. 1/9/05: Akira (1988, Katsuhiro Ôtomo) - C
5. 1/9/05: Being John Malkovich (1999, Spike Jonze) - A
6. 1/9/05: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002, George Lucas) - B
7. 1/9/05: Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004, Alexander Witt) - B+
8. 1/10/05: Cruel Intentions (1999, Roger Kumble) - A
9. 1/11/05: Infernal Affairs (2002, Wai Keung Lau & Siu Fai Mak) - B
10. 1/11/05: Before Sunrise (1995, Richard Linklater) - A
11. 1/11/05: Before Sunset (2004, Richard Linklater) - A-
12. 1/13/05: The Lion King (1994, Rober Allers and Rob Minkoff) - A
13. 1/14/05: Moulin Rouge! (2001, Baz Lurhman) - A+
14. 1/14/05: Maria Full of Grace (2004, Joshua Marston) - A-
15. 1/15/05: The Manchurian Candidate (2004, Jonathan Demme) - B
16. 1/15/05: The Stepford Wives (2004, Frank Oz) - B
17. 1/16/05: Mean Girls (2004, Mark Waters) - A-
18. 1/17/05: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Michel Gondry) - A
19. 1/17/05: The Phantom of the Opera (2004, Joel Schumacher) - A
20. 1/18/05: The Village (2004, M. Night Shyamalan) - A-
21. 1/19/05: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004, Rawson Marshall Thurber) - C+
22. 1/21/05: Open Water (2004, Chris Kentis) - D
23. 1/22/05: Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003, Quentin Tarantino) - A
24. 1/22/05: Kill Bill Volume 2 (2004, Quentin Tarantino) - A
25. 1/26/05: Freaky Friday (2003, Mark S. Waters) - B+
26. 1/26/05: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004, Kerry Conran) - B+

May the bed bugs not bite tonight, Adrian...

Watch Schindler now, then. I don't figure Mean Creek will be nearly as haunting...

Well, I lost... :razz:

Today, I wanted to watch something, but it was my Mom's birthday, and my day was a little busy. School until 3pm. Car dealership (looking for a new car for my Mom) till 7pm, and dinner until 9:30pm. I have no time to watch anything. I could start something now, but I really am tired, so I'm just going to bed. :razz:

Oh well...

I've barely had time to watch anything in about a week. Saw two in theaters, and might see Fat Albert tomorrow. But, I finally got a DVD player again so I'll be adding to my list rather rapidly.

Lost what? It's not a competition. =;

Always good talking with you dolcevita...


The irony about Jada's character is she was incredibly well informed but did absolutely nothing about it. In fact she is lulled into complacency by the overwhelming and endlessly complicated reality of race relations. I thought she yearned for something to really strike out against, which is why she turns out to be so dangerous in the end. Delacroix and Jada (don't you love mixing character and actor names together!) really reach a point of mutual understanding that nobody else in the entire picture reaches. Their reactions are completely opposite.


Exactly, but what's weird about satirical entertainment like Mantan is that somewhere along the line immitation, the black face even, may become someones weird way of an endearing homage. Kinda like Michael Rappaport's entire character was this weird attempt at understanding a culture he looked up to but could never really be part of.


Yeah, but keep in mind that the film (at least IMO) still is pretty deeply flawed. Part of the problem is that any viewer that is going to watch this movie is not going to go into it ignorant of Spike Lee and his other "more important" films. Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, specifically. So Lee's politics and his political slant (based on my perception of him) gets a little mean spirited in places. Also I think a lot of what the Mau Mau's are is kind of left up in the air. There are little political touches that went a little over my head. The film is pretty dense and it could just be my ignorance or my overexpectation.

Also, I really didn't like Wayans or the performances in the movie. Even in a satire the performances can be more subtle than they were here.

01. 01.01.2005 - Open Water. (2004) d. Chris Kentis. Grade: F
02. 01.01.2005 - Sideways. (2004) d. Alexander Payne. Grade: A
03. 01.01.2005 - King Arthur. (2004) d. Antoine Fuqua. Grade: C
04. 01.02.2005 - The Manchurian Canidate. (2004) d. Jonathan Demme. Grade: B
05. 01.02.2005 - Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2. (2004) d. Mamoru Oshii. Grade: B-
06. 01.03.2005 - De-Lovely. (2004) d. Irwin Winkler. Grade: C-
07. 01.05.2005 - Notorious C.H.O. (2002) d. Lorene Machado. Grade: D+
08. 01.08.2005 - Million Dollar Baby. (2004) d. Clint Eastwood. Grade: A+
09. 01.08.2005 - Code 46. (2003) d. Michael Winterbottom. Grade: D+
10. 01.09.2005 - The Door in the Floor. (2004) d. Tod Williams. Grade: C+
11. 01.09.2005 - House of Flying Daggers. (2004) d. Zhang Yimou. Grade: B+
12. 01.10.2005 - Vampires: The Turning. (2005) d. Marty Weiss. Grade: F
13. 01.10.2005 - The Prophesy. (1995) d. Gregory Widen. Grade: D+
14. 01.11.2005 - Napoleon Dynamite. (2004) d. Jared Hess. Grade: B
15. 01.12.2005 - Bamboozled. (2000) d. Spike Lee. Grade: B-
16. 01.13.2005 - Good Burger. (1997) d. Brian Robbins. Grade: D-
17. 01.14.2005 - Once Upon A Time In Mexico. (2003) d. Robert Rodriguez. Grade: C+
18. 01.15.2005 - Silver City. (2004) d. John Sayles. Grade: C
19. 01.15.2005 - We Don't Live Here Anymore. (2004) d. John Curran. Grade: C-
20. 01.15.2005 - In Good Company. (2004) d. Paul Weitz. Grade: B-
21. 01.15.2005 - The Village. (2004) d. M. Night Shyamalan. Grade: B+
22. 01.16.2005 - Eurotrip. (2004) d. Jeff Schaffer. Grade: D
23. 01.16.2005 - Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. (2004) d. Sara Sugarman. Grade: D
24. 01.17.2005 - The Firemen's Ball. (1967) d. Milos Forman. Grade: A-
25. 01.20.2005 - The Forgotten. (2004) d. Joseph Ruben. Grade: D+
26. 01.20.2005 - Friday Night Lights. (2004) d. Peter Berg. Grade: B+
27. 01.21.2005 - Ray. (2004) d. Taylor Hackford. Grade: B+
28. 01.22.2005 - Hotel Rwanda. (2004) d. Terry George. Grade: B
29. 01.22.2005 - Mona Lisa Smile. (2003) d. Mike Newell. Grade: C-
30. 01.25.2005 - Slacker. (1991) d. Richard Linklater. Grade: D
31. 01.25.2005 - Alien vs. Predator. (2004) d. Paul W.S. Anderson. Grade: D+
32. 01.26.2005 - Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. (2004) d. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. Grade: C-

I'm not really a fan of Metallica quite frankly, not that it mattered much in the movie. The music is really secondary.

It follows James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammet on their journey to make their St. Anger record and the trials and tribulations which go along with it.

It's hard to tell from a documentary like this just what is reality and what is little snippets of life. I would like to believe that the nearly 40 (if not older?) members of Metallica are just not NOW going through emotional maturity enough to realize that (gasp!) their actions have consequences on the people around them and make them sad.

The film gets stranger and stranger as their psycho-therapist gets a little nutty and too involved with the band.

I dunno. I just don't think I needed to have a great cry with Metallica.

The MTV Rockumentary (I'm dating myself) was much better done for history buffs.

The most interesting thing about the film was watching the creative process of the songs themselves. But for a much better making-of I highly recommend Aerosmith's The Making of Pump.

Thanks andaroo, the feeling is clearly mutual. You always have very insightful and interesting comments.

Up next...Million Dollar Baby.

Wohoo!

I'm noticeing your top 5 there Libs. My #2 and your #2 match. :wink: I give Baby an A-. unfortunately, I wasn't as into Sideways as everyone else seems to be. I bave it a B+ only, and I'm worried about my grade inflation. I grade in accordance to previous grades, so if I was too high on Rwanda, and some of the docs, everything else that was better had to get a higher grade because of it. I'm pretty sure almost all of my list from Outfoxed downwards should be about one mark lower (B instead of B+) etc.

I'm going to work on my official review tonight. Clkint is a divine storyteller and that's what it comes down to. It was a very humane story, but not particularly transcendental. There was a little commentary about euthenasia (wow I misspelled that like mad) at the end, but besides that it was pretty much an internal movie. Usually I get bored by those, and they are a bit predicatble (emotional wise) but Eastwood is such a strong director that he still made me very intent on every minute. Some of Freeman's voiceover's about counter-intuition to win, and his comment at the end about how some people die while doing dishes, etc really made the movie for me. The acting was excellent, and I expect nothing less from such a cast. Very strong, very personal. A-

What did you think Libs? Andaroo?

I thought pretty much the same thing. However, I felt Million Dollar Baby was an actual masterpiece. Sideways is a different kind of movie, but on an emotional level, I don't think I've seen something as effective as M$B in a long time.

I'm seeing M$B tomorrow or on Saturday. It's expanding so it isn't a hassle to get out to the one theatre that had it...

I can't wait. :razz:

Heh, I saw it at that one theatre (Georgetown).

I love everything about that theatre except the parking. Bleh.

As far as reallt telling narratives, yeah, Eastwood is in a league of his own. Him and Demme, but they have very different ways of building their characters of course. I will say I thought a little higher of Mystic River actually, because the character's personalities and sentiments were a bit more ambiguous there. Here, everyoneis pretty much a "good" guy. There's no way to dislike anyone, except for her family, and they were almost too easy to dislike. That's why I realize in the hands of a lesser director this movie would have been a painfully bad sentimental tear-jerker like, I don't know, The Joy Luck Club (yeah...remember that pain?). but Eastwood really manges to develope an investment in them despite the romanticism, which takes savvy. Sideways to me never struck home. I don't know, I was not that big a fan of any of the three main characters, and I found the final voice message to be painfully flat and in denial. I have a review on it already on the front page. The strength of Sideways was the script. Not the plot. The script was very unique with all the grape metaphors, the setting, and some of the juxtopositions of wine and the mundane. Like when he sneaks the bottle into the diner and puts it in his soda cup. That was heart-wrneching. But the plot and ultimate philosophy of the movie didn't quite win me over.

Me and dolce gave the same grade for a movie for once. :razz:

01. 01/07/05: Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000) ****
02. 01/08/05: Vertical Ray of the Sun (Anh Hung Tran, 2000) ***
03. 01/08/05: Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985) ****
04. 01/09/05: Sleeper (Woody Allen, 1973) ***
05. 01/09/05: Key Largo (John Huston, 1948) *** ½
06. 01/09/05: Out Cold (Brendan & Emmett Malloy, 2001) * ½
07. 01/10/05: Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931) * ½
08. 01/11/05: Just Married (Shawn Levy, 2003) * ½
09. 01/11/05: Battleship Potemkin (Sergei M. Eisenstein, 1925) *** ½
10. 01/12/05: Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, et al, 1980) ****
11. 01/12/05: The Good Girl (Miguel Arteta, 2002) **
12. 01/13/05: Castle in the Sky (Hayao Miyazaki, 1986) ****
13. 01/14/05: In Good Company (Paul Weitz,2004) *** ½
14. 01/14/05: Léon (Luc Besson, 1994) ****
15. 01/15/05: House of Flying Daggers (Yimou Zhang, 2004) *** ½
16. 01/15/05: The Triplets of Belleville (Sylvain Chomet, 2003) *** ½
17. 01/15/05: In the Mood for Love (Kar Wai Wong, 2000) *** ½
18. 01/16/05: Meet the Fockers (Jay Roach, 2004) * ½
19. 01/17/05: Kiki’s Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki, 1989) ***
20. 01/18/05: Cries and Whispers (Ingmar Bergman, 1972) **
21. 01/19/05: Star Runner (Daniel Lee, 2003) *** ½
22. 01/20/05: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring (Ki-duk Kim, 2004) ****
23. 01/21/05: Iron Monkey (Woo-ping Yuen, 1993) ***
24. 01/22/05: The Laramie Project (Moisés Kaufman, 2002) ** ½
25. 01/23/05: Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994) ****
26. 01/23/05: Princess Mononke (Hayao Miyazaki, 1997) ****
27. 01/24/05: Twilight Samurai (Yoji Yamada, 2004) *** ½
28. 01/25/05: Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, 1995) *** ½
29. 01/26/05: The 400 Blows (François Truffaut, 1953) ****
30. 01/27/05: A Very Long Engagement (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2004) *** ½

l have zero complaints about A Very Long Engagement, except that being as it is such a complex film, some of the little things got jumbled and lost in the middle. Mostly dealing with names (i.e. by the time it gets to the hospital bombing, l had no idea who was supposed to have died there - totally forgot the name, though l remembered it being brought up. Otherwise, fantastic. Probably right around 5 - 7 for the year. And *** ½ might be too low. l actually feel compelled to write more, so l think l'll let it sit for a while, and decide for sure later.

Kypade...you have a great list. Did you get to see Koyaanisquatsi yet? I'm looking your stuff over and thinking of recs, but you alreadys said Cleo from 5-7, etc were on oyur list. Lets see....You should see the Double Life of Veronique for sure. I can tell you'll like it.

I'm surprised you found Vertical Ray so pleasant, I though it was atrocious, boring, predictable, and lacked on ounce of creativity. Good we agree on The Good Girl. Also, PE is gonna love all the Miyazaki on your list. I know I say that all the time...but its true.

Very Long Engagement was a bit dissappointing ot me actually. I thought it was pretty clear and actually wished it had been more ambiguous and not less so. Ultimately it still aimed towards a clear eending and tight cleaned up edges, which is unfortunate since that is never the case with such scenarios. I don't like how everyone's history is cleanly resolved by the end. The Tina character was my favorite actually. But I will say Tatou did a great job, and that Juenet realed himself in enough this time so that I didn't feel it was just a self-congratulatory piece of work.

Koyaanisquatsi should be here tomorrow or Saturday. l can't wait. :oops: Double Life of Veronique is unavailable from blockbuster, but a local librarie has it on VHS...l'll definitely check it out. l really liked Blue upon initial viewing, and discussing it in class only made me love it more. Haven't checked out White or Red, yet, but they too are coming up soon.

Honestly, l didn't love Vertical Ray nearly as much as ***/**** might lead you to believe. Going in to it l knew very little about it...my expectations were very low. l found it to be very well shot, and incredibly believably acted. Otherwise, l was definitely pretty bored and not really engaged. l think this is a case were the switch to a **** rating scale kinda inflated my rating. Originally l think l had B+, then B, and l think l settled on B-. Which is probably about ***...but not enthusasticaly or anything.

l thought you gave it a B/B+? Anyway, the style is so similar to Amelie, and that was one of my favorite parts of both films. That kinda "different" and "interesting" editing, all the little things. The voice over worked for me like voice over rarely does - not that l dislike voice overs, generally, but it just seemed very natural to me, here. l thought the acting was generally great, although something kinda bugged me about Tatou...not sure what, and by no means was she bad. And l didn't really like Manech (sp?). l thought he was portrayed in a very naive, even dumb way. Maybe it was too show how lovestruck he was, or the horrors of war. But l don't think anyone would really stand there and wave to an enemy plane as it flies overhead. The cinematography was easily some of the best of last year; despite kinda drab colors, it was extremely beautiful. Mostly because of the lighting, l think. It was definitely pretty clear-cut. But again, l really liked that of it. And like l said, l kinda got lost by alot of the character names and stuff, so it wasnt all that "resolved" to me. l have a couple more comments l want to make right on the tip of my fingers, but l can't quite recall them at the moment.

1. 1/7/05: Troy (2004, Wolfgang Petersen) - C+
2. 1/7/05: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003, Ki-duk Kim) - A-
3. 1/8/05: Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004, Danny Leiner) - B
4. 1/9/05: Akira (1988, Katsuhiro Ôtomo) - C
5. 1/9/05: Being John Malkovich (1999, Spike Jonze) - A
6. 1/9/05: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002, George Lucas) - B
7. 1/9/05: Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004, Alexander Witt) - B+
8. 1/10/05: Cruel Intentions (1999, Roger Kumble) - A
9. 1/11/05: Infernal Affairs (2002, Wai Keung Lau & Siu Fai Mak) - B
10. 1/11/05: Before Sunrise (1995, Richard Linklater) - A
11. 1/11/05: Before Sunset (2004, Richard Linklater) - A-
12. 1/13/05: The Lion King (1994, Rober Allers and Rob Minkoff) - A
13. 1/14/05: Moulin Rouge! (2001, Baz Lurhman) - A+
14. 1/14/05: Maria Full of Grace (2004, Joshua Marston) - A-
15. 1/15/05: The Manchurian Candidate (2004, Jonathan Demme) - B
16. 1/15/05: The Stepford Wives (2004, Frank Oz) - B
17. 1/16/05: Mean Girls (2004, Mark Waters) - A-
18. 1/17/05: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Michel Gondry) - A
19. 1/17/05: The Phantom of the Opera (2004, Joel Schumacher) - A
20. 1/18/05: The Village (2004, M. Night Shyamalan) - A-
21. 1/19/05: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004, Rawson Marshall Thurber) - C+
22. 1/21/05: Open Water (2004, Chris Kentis) - D
23. 1/22/05: Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003, Quentin Tarantino) - A
24. 1/22/05: Kill Bill Volume 2 (2004, Quentin Tarantino) - A
25. 1/26/05: Freaky Friday (2003, Mark S. Waters) - B+
26. 1/26/05: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004, Kerry Conran) - B+
27. 1/26/05: Mean Creek (2004, Jacob Aaron Estes) - B+
28. 1/27/05: Schindler's List (1993, Steven Spielburg) - N/A yet

I'll have to think about my grade for Schindler's List...