Battle Dancer This is a replacement comment. Though the dance was passable here, the story is so vapid and unembellished, I sat there looking for another movie. And I found one, battling to get out. It was clever and true, overlooked because of the mediocrity placed in front of it. You can find the tragedy… Continue reading Billy Elliott (2000)
Tag: f2000
Films released in 2000
Cheeky (2000)
Nonchalant Openness Some films are simply about the appeal of one character. That’s all that matters. There seem to be two types: those that depend on the charm of attractive women, and those that have to work some other engagement. Often that’s the acting challenge. I’m thinking in particular of Audrey Hepburn and “Funny Face.”… Continue reading Cheeky (2000)
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)
Beat (2000)
Off Beat Off I will travel to see a film that is “folded“ in the simple sense this one is: writing about writing, especially when the story is historically based and most especially when the literary tradition in question is all about just this manner of folding. I also admire when a writer succeeds in… Continue reading Beat (2000)
Arabian Nights (2000)
In the Lamp One key to master storytelling is the art of folding. That includes all sorts of techniques of overlapping narrative, spanning from overarching metaphor to stories within stories. It is an ancient technique, as old as any story we know. It is especially present in the “Arabian Nights” stories, signified by what’s inside… Continue reading Arabian Nights (2000)
Aqua Teen Hunger Force (2000-2015)
Abstraction Along the Folds The game of animation is in large measure a matter of moving further and further into abstract universes. The game of modern movies is a matter of folding along self-referential dimensions. The rate of abstraction has been pushed pretty far, from Beavis to South Park to the contenders today. The whole… Continue reading Aqua Teen Hunger Force (2000-2015)
Amores Perros (2000)
Panting Astrology I believe that the future of film is now firmly in the hands of Spanish-speaking filmmakers. Not that they make the best films, but that they have the current crop of ideas. We saw Italians introduce us to the notion that a camera can be tethered to the soul of a character and… Continue reading Amores Perros (2000)
Italian for Beginners (2000)
Red Hair in Venice You know, intelligent filmmakers are faced with all sorts of philosophical dilemmas, not the least of which are controversies over storytelling styles. Let’s call them the North and South. The Northern style is a matter of creating a world whose fabric is a bit wrinkled and in the niches and loops… Continue reading Italian for Beginners (2000)
102 Dalmatians (2000)
Character Engineering Disney has the world’s most advanced character lab. That’s what these kinds of movies depend on. What we see are the broad strokes, but what’s more interesting are all the little touches that are added based on the science of discovery through tests. It all revolves around the notion of the wheels of… Continue reading 102 Dalmatians (2000)
Memento (2000)
Skin as Photograph I rate this very high on my scale, primarily for its ambition and intellect. Usually I get annoyed at IMDB comments that report the story as if it were important, but it is here: —Lenny’s home is attacked, wife raped, him injured. He develops this ‘condition’ which has no physical cause. In… Continue reading Memento (2000)