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Thank You for Smoking
***
reviewed by the Phantom
A satire about the perils of smoking. It's a loosely constructed story about a cigarette salesman who doesn't want his son to smoke, so it's kind
of a morality play in addition to being darkly and dryly amusing. It's funny but is so forgettable that after just a
week, I've absolutely forgotten the entire movie. So this is probably one
of those films that you can see over and over again and still find
something to laugh about.
Thelma and Louise****
reviewed by the Phantom
Two redneck women, tired of their mundane lives, meet up with a low-life cowboy, who
pushes them into blowing his ass away, whereupon realizing they have no believable
defense, they hit the road with no destination in mind, and while the authorities scour
the countryside trying to arrest them, they decide to see if their convertible can jump
the Grand Canyon.
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing ***
reviewed by Karen Dale
An investigation of the state of happiness: where it is, how to get there,
and what to do when you get thrown out. Some of the characters get it,
some don’t, and some “really” don’t. This is a film intent on exploring people’s
processes, their search for fulfillment, and their reactions to the crap life throws their way just when they think they’re on the right track. The
characters are interconnected in that nouveau, time-warp, back-up-a-second
style that gained popularity with “Pulp Fiction”. It’s a good movie that
can be analyzed as deeply or shallowly as you’re willing to go. As it’s
summer and I’ve got things to do in the sun, this is it for me today. Check
it out.
June 2002
Thomas
Crown
Affair
(1999) ***
reviewed by the Phantom
I don't remember the old Steve McQueen version so I can't
compare these two movies, like all the other reviews, but Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo
are clearly having a good time with this sexy piece-of-fluff remake. The plot is easy
enough to follow: Pierce, a zillionaire art-collector steals a painting, and Rene, an
insurance investigator, must recover it. The plot twists are interesting, even if they are
sort of unbelievable. I couldn't help but thinking, "Yeah, right!" the whole
time, but nevertheless, I was entertained.
Titanic***
reviewed by the Phantom
It sinks, again.
Tortilla
Soup
***
reviewed by the Phantom
I really loved this movie. We
are invited to feast our eyes upon the most wonderful looking
Mexican food while three Mexican-American daughters come of age in
this delightful comedy set in LA. Their father is a chef, who has
lost his sense of taste, but not his ability to prepare wonderful
Sunday dinners, which he expects his daughters to attend. They do,
reluctantly, and while they are at the table just beginning to eat
the sumptuous food, they make announcements, which usually spoil
everybody's appetite, I guess, because they never eat anything. The daughters all have problems in the romance
department, but lo and behold, so does the father, who is a
widower. Each problem is unique, but not uncommon, and the
solutions run from amusing to delightful as everybody's life
changes for the better. It's a charming feel-good movie, just what
the doctor ordered. Warning: eat first or plan on a meal at an
up-scale Mexican restaurant afterwards.
Traffic ****
reviewed by Karen Dale
Traffic is a less gratuitously violent but far more assaulting testament to the dangers of
living on the edge. It shows us how the illegal drug trade affects lives at all levels, not just on
street corners in the slums. This movie looks at the choices made by people within three different
scenarios, and teaches us that the dishonest schemers get theirs in the end. It also describes clearly how
insidious a problem it is, and how lies and violence beget more of the same until it’s all flailing out of
control with no hope for a cure. We all know this is Oscar-caliber stuff, with great performances and a
deft interlacing of plotlines and characters. Moral of the story: money buys more problems than
happiness.
Up at the Villa ***
reviewed by the Phantom
This film is a real hidden gem. (There was only one copy of it at
my blockbusters and it was on the bottom shelf, but I was thrilled to find
it.) Sean Penn and Kristen Scott Thomas star in this beautiful-looking
movie, which is set in World War II Florence. The story starts out slowly
as we get to know the characters. It's a Summerset Maughm novella,
so it begins as a character-driven novel of manners but then it becomes a
suspenseful mystery. Both actors are superb and quiet believable as two
not-so-innocent bystanders n this intriguing morality play.
Unfaithful
***
reviewed by Karen Dale
The acting is good and the little kid (“Dewey” to “Malcolm in the Middle”
fans) is the only young actor I’ve seen in years
whose performance I really enjoyed. His character is real and he brings talent to the film, even though the
writers don’t really know what to do with him. The mom
and dad are so caught up in their own lives that
their son is generally an afterthought or just an
extra appendage waving in the breeze.
The
adult characters are embroiled
in the secrecy of an extramarital affair which begins and ends inexplicably.
The film comes off as a study of the array of emotions present
in the course of an affair. We see inside all of the characters’ feelings
and interpretations of the situation, and the powerful acting allows
us to experience it with them. It is well done, on an emotional level,
but the subject is one we’ve seen many, many times.
Unfinished
Life***
reviewed by the Phantom
Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez make a modern-day
cowboy movie together and it works. It's really a relationship movie and a
morality play rolled up together so women will probably like it better
than men, but the scenery's lovely and the story rings true.
Urbania
***
reviewed by Karen Dale
A dark and swirling hallucination of a film, Urbania uses a complex storytelling method to relate a
compelling tale. It initially assaults the senses, but once the action begins to flow and the main
character’s quest evolves, the truth then reveals itself slowly and violently. The
heart-wrenching quality of the drama is enough to send the viewer to bed early for an anxious and
fitful sleep. Rush right out and see it!
You Can Count on Me ****
reviewed by Karen Dale
This movie, though not trying nearly as hard, was
much funnier than Saving Silverman. Not that it wants to be a
comedy. It’s one of those great amalgamations of different styles that
comes off feeling so real and warm that you feel like you’ve just
shared something important. You Can Count on Me is story of a
single mom without all the answers who balances her confused love-life
with mothering her young son and emotionally-young brother. The movie is
a snippet of their lives and their attempts at figuring stuff out. What’s
great is that they don’t get it all figured out by the end of the
film. But at the same time, the audience isn’t left hanging, thinking
“That’s it?”. I’m
in agreement with the Academy’s nomination of Laura Linney for Best
Actress, but I would also have nominated Mark Ruffalo for Best Actor. I’m
also willing to admit that Rory Culkin wasn’t half-bad or even
partially annoying in his role. Highly recommended.
Walk the Line
***
reviewed by the Phantom
Johnny's Cash's story seems to parallel Ray Charles in most ways.
There's the drinking and the pills and the womanizing. Of course most of
that stops when he finally marries his one true love, Reese Witherspoon --
err June Carter. It's sort of old fashioned like many of the bio films
we're seeing these days but the music is good and Reese's performance is
first rate.
Wild Parrots of
Telegraph Hill ****
reviewed by the Phantom
This movie is a feature-length documentary about the 200+ wild parrots
that live free and thrive on San Francisco's telegraph hill. For many
years one of San Francisco's odder Bohemians was the unofficial caretaker
of the birds, feeding them daily and caring for them when they got sick.
The film was shot during his last year of duty. He assured everybody that
the birds are wild and would make it on their own once he moved away, and
it appears he was correct. They survived a very cold snap during the
winter of 2007, Channel 7 filmed them just last week (Mar of '07) and they
are indeed fine. They live in two cedar trees on the hill. The trees are
in jeopardy now that the hillside is sliding down, but the City has
guaranteed to watch over the trees so that the parrots will continue to do
well. Whew!
Wonder Boys ***
reviewed by The Phantom
It's Michael Douglas
doing dope in this day-in the-life-of-an-English professor meander.
Highly watchable.
Word Play ***
reviewed by the Phantom
Another movie especially for NPR nutsos like me, who also like to do
crossword puzzles every morning (which I freely admit to -- very
addictive, I must say). It's a documentary about Will Shortz, the editor
of the NYT crossword puzzle, AND the weekend game player on NPR. We all
know him and think as much of him as we do about Garrison Keillor -- and
Click and Clack for that matter. But I digress -- the movie is about
crossword puzzles, how they are constructed, who plays them (Bill Clinton
and John Stewart, for example), and thousands of other sort of nerdy,
pointy-headed people all across America. There is even a crossword puzzle
tournament featured that has been held annually since sometime in the
1970s. All the crossword puzzle secrets are revealed. Cheers for NPR for
hiring such interesting people and another cheer for the movie makers who
are thinking about entertainment for the rest of us occasionally. My grateful
blessings on your collective heads.
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The Duds!
Tea With Mussolini **
reviewed by the Phantom
Florence,
Italy, is really the star of this World War II Franco Zeffirelli film, in which a handful
of English ex-patriot ladies steadfastly stick their collective heads in their teapot,
believing that nothing unpleasant can interfere with their lives, despite the fact that
fascism, Naziism, the deportation and murder of Jews, and all of the rest of the horrors
of war are heading their way. It sort of reminded me of Life is Beautiful in
that it trivialized the war, all the while showering us with beautiful images and
weak acting performances. It's a pleasant story, sort of old-fashioned and charming, with a
little social history blended into it. Worth watching, especially if you'd like to
idle awhile in Firenze.
Tomb
Raider **
reviewed
by Karen Dale
An
obvious and unabashed homage to the persona of Lara Croft and the
miracles she performs with her excellently conditioned pectoral
muscles. The movie stays true to it’s video-game progenitor, in
that it has no need for a complex plot or closely-rendered
characters. The plot goes something like this: So, there’s this
chick, and she kicks alotta ass…and there’re all these guys that
wanna kill her, but she totally
destroys ‘em
all! Suitable for horny boys of all ages. (July
2001)
Topsy Turvy
**
reviewed by Karen Dale
I did not understand the comparison made between the title concept
and the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. This movie focused on the working
styles of the renowned Light Opera producers as it follows them through
the production of one of their best-known works "The Mikado".
The film is filled with scenes from the show, all fabulously sung and
performed. This is a long movie which moves at a slow pace, giving it the
feeling of running approximately twice its actual time. It began with the
suggestion of a plot and some possible drama or intrigue, but failed to
stick with that goal and rather merely told the story of these two men. In
the process, we did get to know the characters quite well and were
encouraged to feel compassion for their aims and desires. There were one
or two brilliantly profound and moving scenes. Overall, I would recommend
it to Gilbert and Sullivan fans, but I’m not sure that anyone else would
really care.
True Crimes *
reviewed by the Phantom
In this Clint
Eastwood drama, this time taking another page from the Dead Man Walking file, we
find Clint portraying a lady's man, married, "seeing" his boss' wife, and wooing
a 24-year-old, all at the same time (dream on, Clint). In an opening scene, the 24-year
old, in rebuffing a kiss from Clint, says: "No, we can't do this,
you're...married." I was shouting to her: No, you're...tooooo old." The
film has very little story to tell (after all, we've seen this plot many times before), so
the writers (Clint?) padded the script with way too many silly, unbelievable scenes where
Clint tries to convince us that he can drink, play sex games, baby-sit his little
daughter, and save an innocent man from a lethal injection all in a
matter of minutes. Skip this one.
Truman Show **
reviewed by the Phantom
After realizing that his life is a completely manufactured
television docu-comedy drama, watched worldwide twenty-four hours a day,
Truman scours the earth for the exit to his artificial existence and the
entrance to an authentic life with his forbidden high school sweetheart
who never stopped believing that he could escape, which he finally does,
to the dismay of TV watchers everywhere.
Two Days in
Paris **
I wanted to love this movie because it's a Julie Delphy film. You
remember her from Before Sunset, right? That wonderful one-day
Paris romance between her and Ethan Hawke? This time it's Julie with
another boyfriend, Adam Goldberg. She must be desperate to put up with
such a loser as him. I think this film is autobiographical, although it's
not billed that way. Julie also wrote and directed it, which is usually a
recipe for failure. This one was, her Parisian family and friends are way
too over the top, and her antics with her boy friends made my skin crawl.
Adam was a total jerk from beginning to end so who could blame her for
coming unglued. Others in the audience seemed to enjoy the movie so
perhaps it's just me. For some reason I do not understand the French sense
of humor. (Don't forget, they love Jerry Lewis. I rest my case). She must
talk Ethan into making one more film with her. We're waiting.
Two Family House **
reviewed by Karen Dale
This movie really tries to do it all. It’s marketed as a comedy--a
period piece full of 1950s-style New York immigrant eccentricities. On
closer review, one finds that the film spotlights some pretty
controversial issues and attempts to address them with due seriousness.
Then, there’s the whole Death of a Salesman, aging male dealing with his
life crises and decisions motif. In it’s attempt to follow one great
style or another, it sacrifices its potential to filmmakers’
schizophrenia. The movie could have been great if it had a more solid
sense of identity. In the wake of it’s indecisiveness, the
characterizations come out flat, the major issues fail to receive the
respect they merit, and the comedy continually misses a beat. I think the
actors probably have some real potential, but they were not allowed to
shine in this hodgepodge production. Rent it if you identify with
mid-century New York culture.
Unbreakable *
reviewed by Karen Dale
I went into this movie with a completely open mind. I even
enjoyed it for about the first hour, even in spite of its drudging pace
and questionable direction. Unfortunately, those small issues turned into
big irritations during the second hour. I don’t think it lost its track,
I think it was on a defective track to begin with. The movie finally
climaxed at its "shocking" ending, which turned out to be
ridiculous and downright stupid. My friend and I actually got in an
argument trying to figure out what the last little "stunner" was
supposed to signify. Undoubtedly the writer/director/producer (Warning!
Warning! Important information to have before buying the ticket! When one
person does it all, it's usually because nobody else wanted to touch the
project.) gleaned great,
deep, spiritual meaning from his contrivances (I was sure someone was
going to die for our sins…). However, they were either too deep or too
flawed to make the impact for which he was obviously going. To make
matters even worse, there’s a very annoying kid in it…’nuff said.
You've Got Mail **
reviewed by the Phantom
Tom Hanks is supposed
to be a big bad book tycoon, (but that's not a terribly believable character for him) and
Meg Ryan is a small, (cute) independent, bookstore owner about to be swallowed up by his
megastore, and they don't like each other in person, but they've both got email, and
that's the setup of this very light and frothy love story, in which there are
simply no
calories at all, but it does no harm either to your brain or your sensibilities, so check
it out the next time you can't find anything else worth renting.
Waking Ned Devine **
reviewed by the Phantom
This Irish ditty is not another Full
Monte, by a long shot, but rather it could more easily be compared to an early rough
draft of The Simple Plan, where a simple deception involving a dead man and a lot
of money becomes a very complicated morality play with some disturbing plot twists, in
Ned's case, seen as necessary to facilitate a happy ending for those strange but loveable
wild Irish brogues, which Americans in general seem to think are quite charming.
Wedding Crashers *
Running time: 1 hr, 59 min. Feels like: I can’t wait for it to
finish to sneak into the next movie (K),
2 hrs. (P)
P—It’s all right. I don’t even remember it that much. I know it has
a good ending. I was really happy when it ended.
K—There were definitely funny parts, but I know I was elbowed a few
times for groaning too loudly at the numerous stupid parts. Probably the
funniest movie of the summer (shame on you, movie industry).
What Dreams
May Come **
reviewed by Tom Beall
This is another Robin Williams' movie that left me shaking my head as I left the
theater, wondering if I really liked it or not. But, like others, I have found that
as it sinks in, I like it more and more. Its life-after-death assumptions will not
appeal to many, but the acting is outstanding (take tissues), and the special effects are
awesome.
What Women
Want
**
reviewed by Karen Dale
Mel Gibson appears to be trying really
hard in this movie, which noxiously
juxtaposes Helen Hunt’s typically
effortless performance. A man gaining the ability
to hear inside women’s heads is not a bad premise,
it’s just figuring out what to do with the before
and after that gets tricky. This one could have used a little more time on
the storyboards to come together better. I’m guessing that it was
probably difficult to draw the line between enough and too-much of the ‘listening
in on women’s thoughts’ gag. I think they actually could have gone a
little further with the joke, as these bits proved to be some of the best
of the movie. It has some funny moments, but Mel consistently lags a step
behind everyone else, which throws off the timing and rhythm of a story
which should really focus on being funny. It tries to go into sentimental
territory and comes out whiplashed and timid. The ending is contrived and
unsatisfying, and really doesn’t do justice to the groundwork
painstakingly laid-out during the first nine-tenths of the film. There are
so many movies to see, please don’t waste your time here.
Winged Migration ****
reviewed by the Phantom
You don’t have to be a bird watcher to enjoy
this superb film. It took the photographers four years to film this movie.
But it’s worth every minute of their time
to experience this treat. The audience gets the thrill of their lives
watching and learning about the dangers and pitfalls on this annual
migratory event. Talk about a quest. These birds are determined and
programmed to fly daunting distances.
Their very survival depends on their reaching their destination. It’s
beautifully, authentically filmed, with
very little voice-over. Just watching it is enough. Children will enjoy
this one too. Be sure to rent Fly Away Home
as a companion piece – you remember the
movie a few years back about the dad and the little girl who train a flock
of
Canada
geese to fly and migrate. Great bird watching!
Woman
on Top **
reviewed by Karen Dale
I had been impatiently awaiting the
release of this film because I love Penelope Cruz, who was luminous in All About my Mother and Belle
Epoche. As great as she was in this movie, I was disappointed by the
premise (ridiculous), plot (slow), and the presentation as a whole. It is
basically a fairy tale with Brazilian spice, inexplicably set in San
Francisco. I think they set it here just to get in a few good (in their
opinion) transvestite bits. The unimaginative plot focused on an estranged
boyfriend trying to win back his woman. The writers tried to add some
creativity by throwing in a whole lot of implausible and uncompelling story
devices.
There was enough realism introduced to make the fairy tale antics
seem simplistic and ridiculous. Some plot twists tossed in for their
zaniness-factor fell flat, as the creators underestimated the savviness of
today’s audiences. Cruz was dependably effervescent but her contrived
personality quirks gave her character a ditzy quality at best. The
character of Monica lent the film most of its wit and flair but, impressed
as the filmmakers were with their own outrageousness, they failed to
develop her into a fuller character. The film was obviously influenced
more than a little by the odd
but beloved Like Water for
Chocolate. It will certainly not be remembered in the same light, if
it is to be remembered at all. Rent it for the bright colors and tropical
music.
Zoolander **
reviewed by Karen Dale
The idea of Ben Stiller as a male model had me laughing before I even entered the theater. Not that he’s ugly or anything, he just doesn’t
really have that empty-headed, je ne se quais that comes to mind when
someone says GQ or Calvin Klein. The movie has some pretty funny bits,
but altogether doesn’t leave much to hang your hat on. Word of the
year: “eugoogly”. Intrigued? Rent it for free when you can get it from
the library. (12/01)
Zodiac *
reviewed by the Phantom
In the 1970s or maybe the '80s San Francisco was visited by a serial
killer that the police were never able to catch. I think his victims may
still be cold cases. There were many of them attributed to this creepy
killer. So somebody decided these unsolved cases would make a good movie.
I disagree. The movie is not exactly a police procedural, but rather is an
investigative reporter procedural, that goes on way too long without any
satisfactory ending whatsoever. But the worst part of the film is the
audio. Everybody mumbles, and that's really bad because it's a very talky
film. I'd just skip this mess altogether if I were you.
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