Unaware This is a well made movie. Such things are rare, and when they come around, we celebrate them. Many extend this celebration to Bening, who is similarly competent. But something is ajar. The project is based on a familiar device: we see a film (really a play) which has a character who is an… Continue reading Being Julia (2004)
Tag: 2000s
Films released in the 2000s
Bee Season (2005)
Letters to God I am coming to believe that no effective movie can be deeply spiritual. We know the problem with cinematic love: how do you show it? Sex? Placed in the midst of larger flows like war? Mystical forces are similar, internal. A bond, a sway that cannot be seen by definition, cannot be… Continue reading Bee Season (2005)
Lovely and Amazing (2001)
Parts TeeVee does this to us all, and I am saddened by it. Drama has a simple legacy: Tragedy where the mechanics of the story are in the world of the story, and Comedy where the mechanics are in the world of the audience. One is used to transport, the other to entertainingly affirm. Shakespeare’s… Continue reading Lovely and Amazing (2001)
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
Space There are from time to time successful presentations in the sense that the characters work. You understand them well enough to have some genuine acceptance of their reality as humans, but that means you realise that there are things going on that do not have straight-line causal mechanics. This inscrutable humanness gets you past… Continue reading Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
Before Sunset (2004)
Reluctance Finally, Linklater does something with his talent. His strength in the past has been to shape the form of his films to match the subject. At least that’s been true when the subject is the tentativeness of existence. He’s done well enough in the past, but since his characters were aimless his projects inherited… Continue reading Before Sunset (2004)
The Fashionistas (2002)
The Movie Within: Clockwork Peaches Yes, this is porn, with some real negatives. One of these is its perversion, pretty much all the pain, bondage and fetish you can imagine. But it is done as a parody. The watcher is being goofed on, tortured for fun. In fact, this is intelligent writing, and may be… Continue reading The Fashionistas (2002)
Better Than Sex (2000)
Freckles, Neck This slight project has nothing to recommend it, except wonder at its reason for being. But that is enough for me. See, the reason behind such a project is that the sexual charm of a woman — a certain woman — is an accelerating capture. Once some level of familiarity is breached, rapture… Continue reading Better Than Sex (2000)
Æon Flux (2005)
Credible World Science fiction movies are an odd thing. They and “detective” movies depend more heavily on literary conventions than other types of films. But you know, where detective movies have swallowed the form and adapted in rich ways, science fiction hasn’t settled gently into film. Its an odd, unintuitive truth, despite the flood of… Continue reading Æon Flux (2005)
American Wedding (2003)
A Franchise Matures Wow. There are few things more interesting than the evolutionary forces of the market that push and pull something to ensure survival. I’m a strong believer in how market forces shape film, even our most exotic art films. This isn’t art, of course, not in the usual sense. But it is a… Continue reading American Wedding (2003)
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Glorious Absinthe Prostitution This film is crafted of many common narrative elements: The rich cad versus the poor lad for the girl (with the conceit that love is unavailable to the wealthy ‘unreal’ class) The girl who must renounce her love to save her lover (only to lose her own life) The notion of players… Continue reading Moulin Rouge! (2001)