Category Archives: Not Feel Good

2003, Could Be Hard To Watch, Not Feel Good, Suspense, Violent, War

Beyond Borders (2003)

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From NetFlix:

Nick (Clive Owen), a medical student turned international disaster relief worker, and Sarah (Angelina Jolie), a philanthropist socialite, gradually fall in love after meeting time and again against the backdrops of disasters and wars throughout the world. Teri Polo plays Sarah’s sister Charlotte, a globetrotting journalist.

It’s a Hollywood movie!

It’s also violent. Clive Owen is his usual f_____g forceful self (he certainly like to curse). Angelina Jolie is her usual beautiful self (but sometimes it seems to me that every now and then she delivers her lines like a high school sophomore).

One by one the story visits various disaster spots: Ethiopia, Cambodia, Chechnya in which our heroes for the most part overcome adversity. For this reason the film could be hard to watch: vultures wait for starving Ethiopian children to die, The Khmer Rouge arbitrarily shoot people and place a hand grenade in the hands of an infant, the Chechens shoot just about everybody.
But through it all our Angelina manages to be the well-manicured and well-dressed Hollywood startlet she deserves to be.

It’s a Hollywood movie!

2003, Drama, Not Feel Good, Suspense, Unusual, Violent

It’s All About Love (2003)

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From NetFlix:

In this futuristic thriller about love and fate, professional ice skater Elena (Claire Danes) and her estranged husband, John (Joaquin Phoenix), live in different cities. When John heads to New York seeking a divorce from Elena, he finds her life has gone askew: Her friends and family appear to have their own plans regarding her future as a skater, and those plans depend on John’s cooperation. Can he and Elena escape their clutches … alive?

Joaquin Phoenix has never played in a bad film in my experience, and this is no exception. However, he is willing to take chances in unusual films. Consider this film an art film of sorts. It claims to take place in the future but for a while those aspects seem to have nothing to do with the suspenseful plot. Ignore the slow start and stay with the story for awhile. Eventually the extreme weather changes (it seems like just the opposite of global warming) enter into the plot. There is some violence. Since I watch many films, I have the time to spend on such unusual films, but perhaps you might choose another film to watch.

2008, Biographical, Could Be Sad, Drama, Imperfect, Not Feel Good, Redemption, Violent

What Doesn’t Kill You (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Partners in crime Paulie (Ethan Hawke) and Brian (Mark Ruffalo) find themselves at odds after years of pulling dangerous jobs, surviving turf wars and evading a determined detective (Donnie Wahlberg) in this gritty crime drama set in South Boston. The childhood buddies have gone through the wringer together, but when Brian’s relationship with his wife (Amanda Peet) begins to fall apart, their loyal friendship is tested.

I almost did not finish this film. It just seemed like any other film about South Boston hoodlums. However, the last part of the film contains the film’s message. Indeed that half belongs to Mark Ruffalo who beautifully portrays a discouraged former alcholic who desperately wants to be a good father to his sons. This story is based on the life of Brian Goodman who plays Pat Kelly in the movie. The film ends, as do many “true” films, with lines of text that explain what happened in Goodman’s life beyond the end of the film. Note also that the minor role of Detective Moran is played by the brother of Mark Wahlberg. This is only a B-film, but Ruffalo does a wonderful job.

2008, Could Be Hard To Watch, Drama, Independent, Not Feel Good

Frozen River (2008)

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From NetFlix:

On a Mohawk reservation on the Canadian border, Ray (Melissa Leo, in an Oscar-nominated role) teams with widowed tribe member Lila (Misty Upham) to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States. Although the work provides the women with much-needed money, each trip puts them in danger. How long will their luck hold before the authorities close in? Charlie McDermott co-stars in this drama nominated for multiple Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Feature.

Talk about gritty! Ray has two boys and an irresponsible Mohawk husband who disappears to gamble (with sources such as a mortgage payment). Hers is a life of barely getting by. In fact life on the reservation isn’t any better for anyone else. Ray is a gutsy lady fighting to keep her 15-year-old in school when he really wants to get a job. The opening slow pan onto her worn, depressed expression tells you we are in for tough sledding: the 15-year-old tries to invent a scam to steal enough to pay for their rented TV, the kidnapping business might be a tad dangerous, and there’s more! Think of this film as engaging reality TV. If nothing else comes of your watching, at least be grateful for what you have.

For another review see the New York Times review.

2008, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Explicit sex, Not Feel Good, Nudity, Redemption, Suspense

The Reader (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) reflects on the formative sexual relationship he had with older woman Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet, in a Golden Globe- and Oscar-winning role) as a young teenager in this poignant drama set in post-World War II Germany. The passionate affair ended when Hanna disappeared. But years later, Michael learns she’s on trial for horrific Nazi war crimes. David Kross plays the teenage Michael in this film based on Bernhard Schlink’s best-seller.

I am still shaking after watching this powerful, superb, maddening film. I was and am still so angry at the male protagonist. Without giving anything away, he was such a “Hamlet” that he allows his female counterpart to suffer more than she need have. I refuse to accept that he was sparing her feelings. Hopefully one of you will have a different point of view and share it with us. Why on earth did he behave as he did ?

The acting is perfect. David Kross does so fine a job I could have strangled him.

Lots of sex, not for children.

2008, Drama, Not Feel Good, Play Adaptation, Religious Theme

Doubt (2008)

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From NetFlix:

In a Catholic elementary school in the Bronx, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) begins to have doubts about one of the priests, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who seems to have become overly involved in the life of a young African American pupil. But Flynn isn’t the only one she has doubts about. Is she overreacting to the situation or is there a truth that needs to be discovered? John Patrick Shanley’s drama was nominated for five Oscars and co-stars Amy Adams and Viola Davis.

I first saw “Doubt” as the original play with exactly 4 characters: the priest, the two nuns, and the mother of the black student. It was excellent. For this reason I was reluctant to see a remake. That is to say, this film script is the original play greatly amplified by the same author. Fortunately the film is so good that it is a pleasure from beginning to end. The facial expressions of Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman are perfect. The young nun and the black boy’s mother are also excellent. I was relieved to see Streep do so well because when I saw her in a part of “Momma Mia” (I was so embarrassed by her performance that I could only watch part of the musical) I assumed she had begun her senility. Hoffman takes chances with offbeat films and I was glad to see him in a more traditional role.

I would be interested in learning how those of you who are not Catholic reacted to or enjoyed this film. I was a Catholic of the 50s and these scenes are completely accurate. However, Streep plays an embittered old grouch and I can personally assure you that was not at all like the nuns I had teaching me in parochial school.

So … was he guilty or not ?

2006, Car Chase, English Dubbing, French, Not Feel Good, Nudity, Suspense, Violent

Tell No One (2006)

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From NetFlix:

Eight years ago, pediatrician Alexandre Beck (François Cluzet) was the prime suspect in his wife’s murder. He’s put all that behind him, but now, two dead bodies have been found near his home — and once again, he’s the suspect. The case takes an unexpected turn when he receives an anonymous email showing his wife alive — and eight years older — instructing him to “tell no one.” Kristin Scott Thomas co-stars in Guillaume Canet’s powerhouse thriller.

To watch this French film I used the excellent English dubbing (and the subtitles). From the very beginning I was glued to my seat. All the acting is good, but François Cluzet is the center of attention throughout. Suprisingly the film turned out to contain alot of action sequences (running, car chases) and Cluzet is either in very good physical condition or there is some digital trickery involved. But this is French action, so no Hollywood fireworks (except for some car crashes). The plot was clever, involved, with many twists. Even if you get confused by the end of the film all will be made clear and easy to understand.

There is violence, nudity, and abused bodies. Not for children.

If you want a solid 2 hours and 5 minutes of suspensful escape, this film is a good choice.

1000NYTimes, 1001BeforeDie, 2002, Not Feel Good, Nudity, Spanish, Unusual

Talk to Her (2002)

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From NetFlix:

Pedro Almodóvar’s Oscar-winning drama explores the bond forged between two men under tragic circumstances. When a bullfighting accident sends his girlfriend, Lydia (Rosario Flores), into a coma, Marco (Darío Grandinetti) visits her in a clinic where he befriends nurse Benigno (Javier Cámara). Shy and a bit strange, Benigno tirelessly tends to another patient, Alicia (Leonor Watling), a comatose ballet dancer and the object of his obsession.

Recommended in both “1001 Films To See Before You Die” and “NY Times 1000 Best”, for me this film is about loneliness and the difficulty of finding a warm connection with another person.

Almodóvar is an acquired taste and not to everyone’s liking. You have to sit back and accept the film as a “happening”. For example, there is a silent film within the film in which a woman keeps her constantly shrinking lover in her purse until one day he walks into her vagina and lives there forever. This is what I mean by “acquired taste”.

If nothing else the movie is tender, with some surprises, and for me not boring.

1001BeforeDie, 2002, Biographical, Could Be Sad, Not Feel Good, Unusual

Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)

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From NetFlix:

Australia’s aboriginal integration program of the 1930s broke countless hearts — among them, those of young Molly (Evelyn Sampi), Gracie (Laura Monaghan) and Daisy (Tianna Sansbury), who were torn from their families and placed in an abusive orphanage. Without food or water, the girls resolve to make the 1,500-mile trek home. Meanwhile, a well-intentioned tracker is trying to return the girls to the authorities.

Do not expect a happy ending for this film recommended in “1001 Films To See Before You Die”. For historical background see the Wikipedia article. This is a film that tells a story, nothing more. But I could not take my eyes off these determined (and, in the case of the oldest, clever) aboriginal young girls as they struggled for nine weeks and 1,500 miles across a desert in order to reach their mother from whom they had been taken by the misguided British “Protector of Aborigines” because of their unpardonable crime of being half-caste.

1001BeforeDie, 2001, Could Be Hard To Watch, Documentary, Not Feel Good, Unusual

Kandahar (2001)

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From NetFlix:

Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf lenses this haunting drama that was shot during the Taliban era. The movie follows an Afghani-Canadian woman as she attempts to enter Afghanistan in search of her depressed sister. Since it’s illegal for a woman to travel alone in Afghanistan, she must rely on the kindness of strangers, including a scrappy boy and a mysterious American doctor.

I resisted seeing Kandahar (recommended in “1001 Films To See Before You Die”) for a long time because I felt it might be uncomfortable watching. I was correct. If you can just accept what you see as a cultural travelog and try not to grimace or squirm you might get through this remarkable film. I attached the category “Documentary” because among other things, that what this film can sometimes seem to be. For information on the city see Wikipedia. As that article explains there are several languages, especially Pashto and Persian. I have no idea which languages are being spoken, but there are subtitles for those non-English languages. For some reason, however, the principal language is English, probably because the female lead sister is coming from Canada to prevent her sister from committing suicide.

And what difficult things might there be to see in this film ? Remember that the Taliban were in power during the filming. Consider:

  • You watch young children rocking back and forth while chanting the Koran only to be interrupted by the teacher who asks a question such as “What is the use for a Kalashnikov rifle” and expects a word-perfect description of how to destroy the infidel (that’s us, folks!).
  • You see lines of men on crutches because their legs have been blown off by land mines. You see these men badgering or lying to the Red Cross to get more pairs of legs (i.e. feet on poles) for their wives who have also lost legs to land mines.
  • You wonder how the Canadian sister will ever find her way across a non-ending desert while being sometimes helped by not terribly honest men.
  • And the list goes on.

I do not regret seeing this independed film. Warning: it ends so abruptly it took my breath away. I almost cannot believe the ending. Comments are welcome if you ever get to the end of this fascinating adventure.