Category Archives: 2001

2001, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime, Detective, Drama, Religious Theme, Suspense, Violent

Frailty (2001)

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From NetFlix:

Director Bill Paxton’s gripping thriller has evil at its core — and a family in the crossfire. FBI agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe) is trying to track down “God’s Hand,” a notorious murderer who’s resurfaced years after terrorizing a Texas town. The Meeks family — Fenton, Adam and their dad — gets involved when past and present converge and a long-tormented conscience is assuaged. Levi Kreis and Matthew McConaughey co-star.

Because I couldn’t stop watching, I knew I had stumbled on an excellent, suspenseful, psychological thriller and mystery with wonderful plot turns. More I will not say. But if you get confused, you can always read the Wikipedia article. The marvel in the film is that most of the film action takes place at a natural easily explained level of understanding. That, in part, is what makes watching this film so difficult. Indeed there is violence and killing. But the film is too intelligent to engage in explicit gore.

Matthew McConaughey, for once, is not a glamour boy. He, and all the actors, play their parts to perfection.

Toward the end of the film the film offers a new perspective. If anyone watches this film, please let me know how you reacted to this change.

2001, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime, Detective, Drama, Drugs, Horror, Imperfect, Medical Theme, Mystery Film, Occasional gore, Suspense, Violent

From Hell (2001)

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From NetFlix:

Johnny Depp stars as an opium-huffing inspector from Scotland Yard who falls for one of Jack the Ripper’s prostitute targets (Heather Graham) in this Hughes brothers adaption of a graphic novel that posits the Ripper’s true identity. Ian Holm and Robbie Coltrane co-star in this genre-bending drama that marked Albert and Allen Hughes’s laudable attempt to break out of their pigeonhole as “black directors.”

Dark, gory, not Depp’s best. In a sense this is a mystery story: who is Jack the Ripper ? It’s almost as this film goes out of its way to discredit the Victorian power structure and especially the royal family. Give this film a shaky B and find something else.

2001, Could Be Hard To Watch, Drama, Kathryn Bigelow, Not Feel Good, Nudity, Violent

The Weight of Water (2001)

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From NetFlix:

Two couples (Catherine McCormack and Sean Penn, Josh Lucas and Elizabeth Hurley) head off to New Hampshire to look into the double murder of two sisters in 1873. The film, based on Anita Shreve’s novel, volleys back and forth between the past and the present, dredging up not only the past killings but the modern-day relationships of the foursome, as well.

Kathryn Bigelow, who directed this film, has been in the news lately. So I am now trying to see as many of her films as I can. She has a reputation for pulling no punches in her films. Eventually in this film you experience this in the murder scenes and in the storm at sea. But just as unsettling are the motives for the murder. The scenes switch back and forth from the past (the murder) and the present (the foursome on the boat) with great rapidity and in a clever way by matching the mood in each scenario.

My attention never wavered. I am now officially a Kathryn Bigelow fan.

2001, Comedy, Drama, Feel Good Not For Children, Imperfect, Sci-Fi, Unusual

Happy Accidents (2001)

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From NetFlix:

Ruby Weaver (Marisa Tomei) is tired of being the “enabler” in relationships and has decided to give up the role of doormat. She’s also on the verge of giving up on love. But a sweet, small-town guy, Sam Deed (Vincent D’Onofrio), changes her mind, and it seems Ruby’s finally found a sane boyfriend. Or has she? Soon, Sam’s divulging that he’s a time traveler from the year 2470 … and Ruby must decide whether love conquers all.

Why would I ever watch this film ? Two reasons: I am a Vince D’Onofrio (Law and Order Criminal Intent) fan, and I like quirky films. Of course that is redundant because D’Onofrio is synonymous with quirky. Rate this date flick a B. Some of the girl-talk conversations are insipid. But the idea behind the film is fun and the projections of what the future holds are thought provoking. Should I tempt you: He comes from Debuque Iowa which is on the Atlantic coast. Now are you interested ?

2001, Could Be Sad, Feel Good Not For Children, Revenge, Stephen King, Suspense

Hearts in Atlantis (2001)

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From NetFlix:

This coming-of-age drama set in the 1960s is another one of Stephen King’s short stories adapted for the big screen. Anthony Hopkins plays an elderly man with bad eyesight and a second sight who’s a boarder in a widower’s home. He befriends the woman’s young son, who reads to him and learns of his mysterious power and the danger he’s trying to escape. On the heels of the success of King’s The Green Mile, this film’s tepid reviews surprised many.

Anthony Hopkins has not been a consistently good actor. In fact, as I see it, he has been in some really second-rate movies and his acting at times has been horrible (examples: Dracula or The Mask of Zorro). In “Hearts in Atlantis” he is acceptable. It is the story that held my attention. You do have to suspend some disbelief because the supposedly 11 year old boy has some lines that are just too mature and observant for a kid that age. And did J. Edgar Hoover, for all his cross-dressing faults, really employ psychics to fight communism ? Maybe I should read the original Stephen King short story. I would still call this a feel-good, but not for children (who might not understand the mother’s rape scene). There is one bashing scene, but this is not a violent film.

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.

1001BeforeDie, 2001, Comedy, Feel Good Not For Children, French

Amelie (2001)

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From NetFlix:

Impish gamine Amélie (Audrey Tautou) lives alone and works in a café. When she finds a trove of toys hidden for 40 years behind a baseboard in her apartment, she’s inspired to repatriate the items, an impulse of generosity that sparks more benevolent acts. A celebration of life, Amélie reminds us of the small wonders that abound around us … if only we paused to look.

In recommending this film, the book “1001 Films To See Before You Die” says this is a sweet Parisian travelog about two hearts finding each other. For me there were some funny sightgags. In fact the review in the book suggests that we really should watch two other films by the writer/director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, namely, “Delicatessen” (about Parisian cannibals) and “The City Of Lost Children” (a mad scientist literally steals children’s dreams).

1000NYTimes, 1001BeforeDie, 2001, Animated, Japanese, Unusual

Spirited Away (2001)

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From NetFlix:

Adapted from the Japanese original, director Hayao Miyazaki’s adventure tale won the Best Animated Feature Oscar for its story of 10-year-old Chihiro (voiced by Rumi Hiragi). During her family’s move to the suburbs, Chihiro wanders into a magical world where a witch rules — and those who disobey her are turned into animals. When her parents are turned into pigs, Chihiro must find a way to help them return to their human form.

This is not your mother’s Walt Disney, far from it! When I first saw this film (recommended by both “1001 Films to See Before You Die” and The “NY Times 1000 Best”), I also was “spirited away”. If you have never seen a Miyazaki animated film, and you are willing to watch an animated film, you have a new experience in store. Imagine a scene of normal-sized characters intruded upon by a GIGANTIC baby that throws destructive temper tantrums. Brace yourself!

1001BeforeDie, 2001, Detective, Explicit sex, Feel Good Not For Children, Redemption

Lantana (2001)

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From NetFlix:

Love, sex and deception rule the day in this psychological drama from director Ray Lawrence. Detective Leon Zat (Anthony LaPaglia) dives headlong into a missing-persons investigation just as he’s grappling with guilt about his extramarital affair. His case crisscrosses the lives of four couples, all of which have secrets — including Leon’s wife, Sonja (Kerry Armstrong), and her secret psychiatrist, Dr. Sommers (Barbara Hershey).

“1001 Films To See Before You Die” points out that this film is very Australian in tone and deed. In fact the actors are Australian. It was the first time we had ever seen Anthony LaPaglia (now appearing in the TV series “Without a Trace”) who is at the center of the film. He was born in Adelaid, South Australia.

The film is a “Crash” film, meaning that many plot threads interweave just as “lantana” is an Australian creeper bush with flowers on top but a mass of sharp, nasty branches underneath.

One detail that I always remember is that LaPaglia has stolen a tape recording of one of his wife’s psychiatry sessions in which the therapist asks her if she loves her husband. He is so guilty about having an affair that he cannot bring himself to listen to the answer. You will have to see the film to hear the answer.

1001BeforeDie, 2001, Musical, Unusual

Moulin Rouge (2001)

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From NetFlix:

Naïve young poet Ewan McGregor falls in love with cabaret star Nicole Kidman, and their ill-fated romance serves as a convenient peg on which to hang a dazzling array of numbers that span musical idioms (from snatches of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music” to Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”). But the real star of the show is director Baz Luhrmann, who came up with this infectious concoction.

You will either love or hate this film which was recommended by “1001 Films to See Before You Die” and won 2 Oscars. At the very least you have to like musicals. If nothing else, you get to see yet another side of the multi-talented Ewan McGregor.