Short Cuts - ***** - Great Movie. A load of freaky Americans getting their rocks off, falling into despair, and killing each other and themselves. There's a lot of people drinking and watching TV, which gave it a self-reflexive feel, as that's what I was doing at the time. Very human. Character driven. Featuring Tom Waits, Tim Robbins ("a cop who appears to be freelancing," Roger Ebert), Julianne Moore, Jennifer Jason Leigh, others.
The Weight of Water - *** - Giving this one three stars is a stretch, but I liked
the movie. Sean Penn, a poet with a moustache, Elizabeth Hurley diving around, Sarah Polly a Norwegian immigrant. The plot is juxtaposed between a modern-day foursome on a sailboat, one of which is writing a magazine piece on murders that happened on an Island one-hundred years ago. The other plot is Norwegian immigrants, one of which (Sarah Polly) is slowly going crazy while everyone's out playing fishermen.
Monster - ***.5 - Great performance by Theron. The movie itself sort of dragged at points, and felt predictable. For instance, the couple on the run, freaking out in hotel room after hotel room. Theron plays a John killing whore, who keeps on bringing her victims cars home. Hah. Ricci plays a dumb brunette with hardly any willpower. She plays it well, and is absolutely adorable, if not slightly annoying.
Quiz Show - *** - Starts of nicely, but very American and as one reviewer put it, "the most boring movie made of the most boring scandal."
The Delicate Art of Parking - **.5 - Could've been great. The first 27 minutes are hillarious, but the movie quickly progresses into mocu-mentary, in the obvious, this isn't real mocu-mentary. My disbelief was not suspended. Features a documentary filmmaker plunging into the world of parking ticket givers and tow truck drivers.
Bread and Tulips - **** - Hated this one at first. Starts off with an Italian mother being clumsy for about 30 minutes. Then she goes to Vienna and things pick up. There's an accordian, a masseuse, general Italian goofyness.
Shaolin Soccer - **** - An unfortunate four stars for this thinly disguised Communist propaganda flick. The effects are awesome, and the cast of characters goofy enough to hold my interest and make me laugh a lot. At least it's a sports movie that gives a twist on the "Mighty Ducks" style of sports movies. Instead playing soccer well, the Shaolin Monk soccer players just use their Shaolin techniques, which tends to invovle a lot of fire and flying around.
Cool reviews. I thought the scene at the end of Monster with Christina Ricci on the phone to Theron was really well acted. I got quite drawn into the whole thing.
And now I must check out Shaolin Soccer.
Posted by: Clifford's Mojo at July 25, 2004 4:59 PMI remember the scene you're referencing. Joy caught on that the cops were in the background before it was apparant, but bringing the cops into focus most way through the scene proved effective. Another similar moment is when she's about to kill the second John, how the music gets dramatic before the drama.
Posted by: matt at July 26, 2004 12:24 AM