Category Archives: FilmReview

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.

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.

2005, Comedy, Detective, Occasional gore, TV Series

Bones (2005)

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From NetFlix:

Inspired by the work of a real-life forensic anthropologist and novelist,
this darkly comic series follows Dr. Temperence Brennan (Emily Deschanel),
an employee of a Smithsonian-like institution who has a knack for finding
clues in the bones of murder victims. Called in to assist law enforcement
in their investigations, she’s often teamed with a government agent
Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) who mistrusts the connection between
science and solving crime.

Season 1 of Bones was in 2005. The series has continued up to this year (2009). NetFlix offers many seasons of Bones.

The name “Bones” comes from the nickname that Seeley Booth gives to Dr. Temperence Brennan, the forensic anthopologist, because her specialty is investigating murders by looking at the victims’ bones. The very nature of her work introduces a lot of gore into the show, which is very fashionable today (think “CSI” without the lowcut bras).

But this is really a light-hearted show with a lot of wonderful banter. Seeley and Dr. Bones are constantly at war: She is the intellectual scientist, he trusts his FBI gut instincts. He is a people person, she is a people disaster. She has one woman assistant who referee’s the contest between two male assistants usually vying for the attention of some attractive female. Yes, there is crime solving, but it often seems secondary.

Does it say anything to mention that wife Kathy loves this show ? Of course she closes her eyes at some gore. Anyone care to examine human bones pulled from black bear scat ?

Have fun!

2008, Could Be Hard To Watch, Could Be Sad, Not Feel Good

Rachel Getting Married (2008)

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From NetFlix:

When drama queen Kym (Anne Hathaway, in her first Oscar-nominated role), a former model who’s been in and out of rehab for 10 years, returns to her parents’ home just before the wedding of her sister, Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), long-standing family conflicts begin to resurface. Directed by Jonathan Demme, this touching and humorous drama co-stars Debra Winger and was nominated for a Best Feature Independent Spirit Award, among others.

Leon Tolstoy in “Anna Karenina” writes the familiar “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” If you like disfunctional family films, this film is a doozy. At first I thought this film was a chick flick featuring a spoiled, self-centered, drug addled bitch named Kym. By the end I was hoping for some kind of happiness for Kym. Stay with the film and I challenge you not to get really involved in this well-made film.

Without giving anything away, for me there was one defining moment which seemed to place some real blame on one of the characters. I would be interested in hearing if you found the same to be true.

As unusual and interesting as the actual wedding celebration was, for me it went on much too long. Granted that we were supposed to feel Kym’s pain in the midst of such happiness, but enough is enough!

2008, Could Be Sad, DO NOT MISS, French, Not Feel Good, Redemption

I’ve Loved You So Long (2008)

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From NetFlix:

After more than a decade apart, estranged sisters Juliette (Kristin Scott
Thomas) and Lea (Elsa Zylberstein) try to rebuild their fractured relationship.
But the task is hardly easy, considering Juliette’s past. She’s been in jail
for 15 years — for killing someone. As she settles into small-town life with
Lea’s family, the locals can’t help but talk. Philippe Claudel’s feature film
debut garnered him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Do not miss this beautiful, sad, perfectly acted French film (with subtitles). Kristin Scott Thomas’ French is excellent. (She left England at the age of 19 to work as an au pair in Paris. She was married to François Oliviennes, a French obstetrician. They live in a 19th century country house with their children, Hannah, Joseph, and George.)

Part of the NetFlix description is misleading. Don’t worry about nosy neighbors except at one tense moment at a dinner party. Gossip has nothing to do with the film. Rather, the film is a warm testimony to the enduring and determined love of a wonderfully sweet younger sister (played to perfection by Elsa Zylberstein) for an older sister who has suffered an enormous amount. It is about the sister’s husband and children (and husband’s father) growing to trust and love Juliette. Above all it is about coming to terms with a sorrow that can never go away. You will probably guess early on what happened in the past, but that is nowhere near as important as some amount of redemption in the present.

2008, Biographical, Gay theme, Not Feel Good, Revenge

Milk (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Sean Penn (in an Oscar-winning role) stars in this fact-based drama about
Harvey Milk, the openly gay activist and San Francisco politician who was
murdered along with mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber) by disgruntled city
employee Dan White (Josh Brolin, in an Oscar-nominated role) in 1978. Director
Gus Van Sant’s compelling biopic (nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award)
co-stars Emile Hirsch, James Franco and Diego Luna.

Where to begin! That’s easy: First you could watch The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) which is an excellent documentary. More than that, ‘Milk’ often intersperses parts of the documentary into the film. Secondly, there is an excellent Wikipedia article on Harvey Milk which is long and very detailed.

I worry about a film which is an historical interpretation lest it become an historical distortion. For example, at one point Sean Penn says he thinks Dan White is really a closeted gay. Did the real Milk ever say such a thing? If not, I object to inserting such a gratuitous comment. However, the Wikipedia article together with the documentary lend much credibility to the Hollywood version. The article more than the film shows Harvey Milk as a complicated man who in fact did have many sexual affairs, who had a bit of an an attitude and could be very difficult to get along with, had several lovers involved with suicides (threatened and real), and who in his 40s was pushed into reacting and becoming involved politically by external forces. Granted any film has to focus on some aspect of the subject and there is too much to tell about Milk and his colorful era to put into one film.

Sean Penn captured Harvey Milk surprisingly close in looks but especially in manner as the documentary shows the ever smiling Milk. Josh Brolin looked like and captured Dan White to a remarkable degree. In fact, the very end of the film pairs photos of actors with their real-life counterparts, and the similarities are often striking.

The documentary (and, in all fairness, the film) made it clear that the double murder was meticulously planned. I wish the film had explained more what a joke the murder trial was (e.g. gays were excluded from the jury). The Wikipedia article explains how the “twinkie defense” motivated subsequent California laws which abolished “diminished capacity” as a defense to a charge.

2005, Acceptable Trash, Chick Flick, Comedy, Detective

Miss Congeniality II (2005)

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From NetFlix:

After her triumph at the Miss United States pageant, FBI agent Gracie Hart
(Sandra Bullock) becomes an overnight sensation — and the new ‘face of the
FBI.’ But when the pageant’s winner, Cheryl (Heather Burns), and emcee Stan
(William Shatner) are abducted, Gracie springs into action with the help of
skeptical, businesslike agent Sam Fuller (Regina King). John Pasquin directs
this girl-powered buddy flick.

Every now and then it is important to watch “acceptable trash”. At the very least I got a few good laughs from the movie. Enough said.

But I get a kick out of seeing TV actors appear in movies, to wit:

  • Regina King was ‘Sandra Palmer’ in 9 episodes of ’24’
  • Enrique Murciano is ‘Danny Taylor’ in ‘Without a Trace’
  • Ernie Hudson was in ‘Bones’
  • Diedrich Bader was in ‘CSI’
  • Elisabeth Rohm is ‘Serena Southerlyn’ on ‘Law and Order’
1984, Could Be Sad, Documentary

The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)

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From NetFlix:

Harvey Fierstein narrates this documentary by Rob Epstein about San Francisco’s
most colorful — and unfortunately, tragic — political figure: Harvey Milk. A
staunch fighter for gay rights, Milk helped forge a presence for the city’s gay
community in city hall, becoming the first openly gay member of San Francisco’s
combative city council. But his life, along with Mayor George Moscone’s, was
cut short by infamous fellow politico Dan White.

The New York Times suggested that before watching the Hollywood ‘Milk’ it might be worthwhile viewing the actual film footage from that era. For an hour and a half you can see for yourself what those days looked like in San Francisco, especially in the Castro. You watch interviews, television newscasts, parades, protests, and above all you get to see the almost always smiling Harvey Milk. At certain points you look at Harvey Milk and see how closely Sean Penn has made himself resemble Harvey Milk. I was impressed by Mayor Mascone (also murdered).

I could see how a jury might sympathize with the young, handsome, sincere, devoted family man Dan White. But the facts show clearly how he plotted very carefully to commit two brazen and deliberate murders. The sight of an immense nighttime candlelight march in memory of Milk and in protest of the extraordinarily light sentence given to White is something you don’t forget. And remember, this isn’t a staged Hollywood extravanza, it really looked that way.

There is NO lurid film footage, no nudity in parades, nada! Because of the unusual issues at stake and footage of the dead bodies covered in sheets being carried out of the building this film is probably not for young children.

I confess I have no memory whatsoever of these events. In 1984 I was working as a software engineer at Bolt, Beranek, and Newman busily raising a family. Kathy doesn’t remember the events either. How important was it ?

Where is Dan White today ? And if this isn’t an invitation for a comment, what on earth is ?