Bend It Like Beckham

A pleasant surprise, BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM is a film about cultural progressiveness and assimilation. Also, soccer. Taking place in London, Jess (Parminder Nagra), the daughter of ultra-old-school Indian parents, attempts to break her parents down into allowing her play soccer. She's sort of a tomboy, playing with her friends in the parks and beating them all. One day at the park, she's spotted by Jules (Keira Knightley) who plays on a women's soccer team. Jules approaches Jess inviting her to come along to tryouts, and soon enough Jess' talents are discovered the by teams coach, Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). There's a lot of little subplots that fester around, but mostly the film follows a pleasant relationship between Jess and Jules and how Jess' parents eventually succumb to their daughters wishes. It's basically a feel-good film, and it sure does have its problems: like the title which puts a silly emphasis on a soccer-star who isn't even part of most of the movie, and the length: which draws out many events to unbearably teasing lengths. Despite all that though, the intentions of the film are really genial, and, like CIRCUMSTANCE, shows how the children of old-school people eventually bring them towards the future. It's a more hopeful approach, and is handled in an appealing manner. Unfortunately, it's mired with jarring contrasts between breezy scenes and then the fact that there are a million breezy scenes all mostly about the same thing. Still good, still fun.

★★★

Spider

David Cronenberg's foray into drama ever since, I think, this became a possibility for him, has been rife with great films. EASTERN PROMISES, which was the first film of his I saw, stood as one of the best films I'd ever seen at the time (which was, admittedly, very early in my exposure to cinema). But after watching many of his other dramatic films of this period, I have found that each pleased me more than the last. The same is true, now, for SPIDER, a film about a schizophrenic man attempting to uncover his past. The man, who goes by Spider (Ralph Fiennes), is now living in a sort of halfway home. There's a couple of other oddballs around, an an elderly matron figure. Spider takes long meandering walks about town, puts weird little webs around his room made of string, and generally doesn't say anything very intelligible. In flashbacks we see Spider as a child, under two parents whom he thinks are unhappy and dislike each other. What's astonishing about SPIDER is the craft at work, and the deviousness of Cronenberg's direction as we see the craziness of Spider's mind, and how small notions of his grow to control his life. It's these small notions, these small ideas about the way things are, that ultimately decide who Spider will be, and how he will act. Keeping all of these ideas on a pillar, or, on a level at which we can take them seriously, are Ralph Fiennes' performance, a creepy Gabriel Byrne as his father, and Cronenberg's sad, dirty cities.

★★★★★ out of Five

The Hours

Perhaps due to my reaction to Stephen Daldry's THE READER, I was not hopeful for his earlier, 2002 film, THE HOURS. THE READER was one of the worst films I've ever seen. It still resonates in my mind how much I actively hated it. So many films like THE BOUNTY HUNTER or Katherine Heigl movies I despise, but they eventually subside in my mind. Not Daldry's films. THE HOURS, like THE READER is a work of terrible direction. I place all blame on Daldry, who I would name as one of the worst directors alive, especially because he is so wrongly lauded. With THE HOURS, Daldry takes three lives of three women and likens them to a book nobody's (or at least, few seeing this film) read: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. The first story is that of Virginia Woolf herself, played in a pure, waspy impression not performance by Nicole Kidman. In it, the camerawork is most seductively dank, but the story is a pure impression, a pure 'this is what Woolf looked like' kind of depth. The second story takes place in the late 50's. A mother (insufferable Julianne Moore) considers suicide after reading Mrs. Dalloway. Sadly though, her husband is extremely likeable, the child is unrealistically knowledgable and fakey, and the camerawork, as it is in many of the so-called emotional bits of the film is invaded by grating, manipulative music that isn't a step away from Superbowl commercial sentimentality. Most unlikeable here is the selfishness of the mother. She doesn't come across as independent, but as a sad bi-product of feminism: misplaced selfishness and misinterpretation of independence in the form of self absorption. She leaves her children and husband to live her own "fruitful" life, which seems so full of the knowledge that she abandoned her family. The third story takes place in modern times. Meryl Streep plays a sad lesbian who's arranging a party and seems happy but isn't (as it is in Mrs. Dalloway). She feels none of the constraints of Moore or Kidman's character, but she is just as mopey. Daldry at least convinced me here that people will never be happy with what they get if they're meant to be unhappy. What an anti-feminist statement, unintentionally of course. Gratingly, Daldry plows every scene into our faces with an overuse of music and a poor sense of morality and art. He dilutes everything to simplistic terms, emotion and art both. Every actor is so actorly and over-directed, that they become fake and obvious, pure oscar bait actually. It's the kind of acting where it's so obviously fake and, well, acted, that it seems like good acting. This is a terrible film.
The Hours: ★

Graveyard of Honor

Takashi Miike's GRAVEYARD OF HONOR is unlike anything you'll ever see. I can describe two films that this GRAVEYARD resembles, and those two are in their own right controversial and shocking. Like Martin Scorsese's GOODFELLAS, GRAVEYARD shows the inner workings of the mob, and exhibits a special interest of the director in the mob. Like Scorsese, Miike is no member or even possible prospect of the mob, but he is intrigued by them. In his film though, Miike has a particular interest in the mechanisms of the mob. Certain words and terms are explained in subtitles, commerce and killings are also explained at length. The other film GRAVEYARD resembles is HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER. That film is gross and raw, featuring a disgusting rapist who acts without emotion. GRAVEYARD OF HONOR's main character is similarly evil and unemotional. Entering the mob after saving the boss' life, Ishimatsu (played perfectly by Goro Kishitani) rises quickly. After a kill, or a job, or an escape, Ishimatsu rapes a random girl brutally. Filmed in handheld, Miike exemplifies Ishimatsu's crime, and later, the girl becomes his wife, continuously raped and abused. Ishimatsu goes off the rails, but he's a powerhouse, and Miike shows how an insane character like Ishimatsu in unknowingly used by different mob families. GRAVEYARD OF HONOR is one of the best films ever made about the mob. It is raw and powerful.
Graveyard of Honor: ★★★★

Andy Richter Controls the Universe (S.1)

I was one of the few fans of Andy Richter's most recent attempt at a sitcom. That show was called "Andy Barker: P.I." and it was a silly little trifle that consisted of jokes that were only funny if you were a learned noir fan. In "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" Richter created another harmless show that just wasn't punchy enough to make it. Resembling in its multiple narrator-fantasies a much better show called "Scrubs", "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" is about the lowly Andy Richter who is a writer, but sadly writes manuals for a large company. He has a circle of sitcom friends including a hot receptionist, playboy best friend, steely boss, and nerdy officemate. There are a few good jokes here and there, especially a running theme with college alumni fawning after Andy because he used to be in the same fraternity as them 20 years ago and fought a bear naked. But otherwise, this is such a non-exciting show, that it only serves as white noise while making food or doing some other mundane activity. That makes the show sound bad, and it isn't, it's just that in order to make successful tv, you should really have a twist in your show that makes it funny, but so many of the elements of "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" exist already in better, funnier shows.
Andy Richter Controls the Universe Season 1: ★★1/2

8 Women

Beginning with bright colors and french superstars, François Ozon's 8 WOMEN is a devious little treasure, manipulative and tributary. There are at first seven women in the household. A beautiful, Victorian-like house that would be ideal for a staging of "The Little Nutcracker", with parading women scampering about with colorful dresses playing off of the lurid furniture. There is the mother of the house, Gaby (played by Catherine Deneuve, a French superstar if there ever was one), the aunt, Augustine (Isabelle Huppert), the matriarch Mamy (Danielle Darrieux), the daughters: Suzon who is visiting for Christmas (Virginie Ledoyen) and Catherine (Ludivine Sagnier), the sister-in-law Pierrette (Fanny Ardant), the cook, Madame Chanel (Firmine Richard) and a new chambermaid named Louise (Emmanuelle Béart). These women, in the beginning, seem pure and happy, joyously they sing! Unexpectedly so, this becomes a musical, beginning with a frothy little number led by Ludivine Sagnier's Catherine, with a creepy Gaby in the background looking like some background dancer. This is an offputting beginning, for the film was made in 2002, about 50 years too late for some joyous musical. But as I mentioned before, Ozon is a devious filmmaker, and his odd beginning slowly develops into a dark drama with sad songs, passionate acting, and buried truths. Suzon, home for Christmas, rushes upstairs to see her father. When she opens the door to his room, she seems him lying dead in his bed with a dagger in his back. Catherine locks the door, demanding to keep the room secured for the police. In an awkward lament that seems unwieldy at first, the women seemingly brush off the murder and begin seeking the murderer among them. In Hitchockian reveals, Ozon reveals no killers, but the various skeletons in the closet of the women, who are briskly joined by Pierrette, the sister of the deceased. Ozon begins with a silly little number, and ends with devastation. This is a wonderful little treasure: half critique on the 50's lifestyle / mentality, half tribute to Hitchcock and those 50's musicals themselves.
8 Women: ★★★1/2

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

This is an inferior movie to the first, and it is obviously a filler between the two more interesting parts of the series. Like the first, the story tells of Frodo Bagins and his group of friends as they attempt to destroy the magical ring of Sauron in a volcano so that the world will not be destroyed. In the first film, the silliness of the idea was overcome by the great production value, intense action sequences, and ubiquitous presence of good to great actors. In The Two Towers the story can't help but feel unimportant. I wonder if the entire 3 hour long film could have been condensed into twenty for the beginning of movie three. The film is entertaining as we see more creatures, awesome battles, and impending doom, but for a three hour long film, it feels as if we never really connect to any of the characters, and that we're leading up to a single battle scene (which ends up lasting around 40 minutes long). As characters attempt to convince different creatures, whether that is tree guardians or reluctant kings, the scenes are brief, and all together nothing is convincing but rather feels inevitable. Long scenes don't even matter anymore after its decided that "all the tree guardians are going to war anyway for the reasons you pointed out 2 hours ago!". But this is also such a thrilling film, that it is quite worth seeing. A filler, but good.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: ★★★

One Hour Photo

One Hour Photo is a brilliant and poetic film. It considers a lonely man without anyone to care for or anyone to care for him. This man is Sy, played with ease and nuance by Robin Williams. He works at a K-Mart-esque photo development stand. He has some steady customers, and thoroughly enjoys his job. He is so kind and low-key that you could pass him in the hallway and never consider him again. But in One Hour Photo we delve into that face of normality and see the psychotic. For, Sy has become obsessive over his job. His boss notices that he clings to it too much, and Sy himself keeps extra prints of one of his favorite customers. That customer is part of a family, and Sy often considers himself to be "Uncle Sy" as he has seen the family's child grow up through photos. As we see this psychotic nature come out, we become more fascinated. William performance is the key, but so is the eeriness of the cinematography, and the way that everyone in the film acts how you would expect them to. And the most interesting part of the developing psychotic-nature of Sy is that you could see him as a normal guy, or it could make you consider the inner-selves of all those who walk by and are forgotten. The poeticism and kindness the film has is admirable, and then it is followed to violence and outburst. A hell of a movie.
One Hour Photo: ★★★★

28 Days Later

The talent of Danny Boyle is something that has been seen only in recent years. He made Trainspotting early in his career (and that was damn good), but only recently has he been esteemed (with films like Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours). Nowadays, audiences expect Boyle to churn out good movie after good movie. This was not always the case for him though, for he made the inept The Beach and 28 Days Later (a sort of cult hit). So, does 28 Days Later rank with Boyle's best work? Or does it exhibit the artist about to fledge? The latter, I think, is true. I was not amazed with the film as many have been. The story is pretty obvious and requires little explanation: An unknown virus has taken over London. The infected are zombie-like and vampiric. Meaning that if they bite you, you become one of them. Also, they only come out at night. A man who has woken up 28 days after the outbreak from a coma in an evacuated hospital in evacuated London meets up with a group of people hiding out. They hear word of army-controled land nearby, and make a run for it. But once they arrive at the base, things are not as they seem. Now, Boyle does bring some good qualities to the film. It is much better made than most zombie films, and the opening scenes are very, very good. But, the problem Boyle faces is that he might just end up making another forgettable zombie flick. So, he adds some human drama to the picture, and some philosophical ideas. I'm not sure that that aspect really works though. It's certainly interesting, but perhaps a little to contrived and unconvincing. Frankly, it's a little too abrupt. Again, I don't see the greatness in the film. I do however see that it is entertaining.
28 Days Later: ★★★

Gangs of New York

Martin Scorsese wanted to make this film for years, a tale of the real-life racism, tribalism, and grunge of 1840's New York City. Droves of people come off the boats every day to the awful city. They are met with rocks to the head by the "natives" and made to pay tribute to the gang lords. Corruption is riddled across the city, there are wanton hangings and routine killings. Scorsese has a lot to juggle here. He has to tell the story of this time period he adores, while simultaneously delivering a compelling story. He uses a trio of characters to tell this story. Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the hero. He watched his father killed by the ruthless Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis), was forced to live in a monastery growing up, and now he wants revenge. However, he falls in love with Bill's whore (played by Cameron Diaz). He's grown to even maybe admire Bill, but this truth tips him over the edge, and vengeance becomes his main desire. There's a lot going on here. Amsterdam has friends who are also in love with Diaz, the city is on the brink of the Civil War, racial tension is about to well up out of society. This area is referred to as the Five Points, its ruthless. Scorsese's camerawork here is fantastic, the city is so perfectly captured, and so wonderfully filled with great actors. It's an achievement because it captures the way these people lived. Death is just something that's inevitable, so there is no fear. The film also effuses grandiosity in a great way. The scale is big, the story is big, the bloodshed, the gravity. Gangs of New York is one of those movies where you become lost. Not in a bad way, but it totally engrosses you in everything that's happening; it convinces you of its world.
Gangs of New York: ★★★★

25th Hour

25th Hour is one of my favorite movies of all time. That does not mean, however, that it is one of the best of all time. But, the film speak to me in a way that I understand. It speaks my language, and, most prominently, what it has to say is what I love to hear. We open in darkness, the sounds of an angry dog yelping against the following backdrops of MGM or whoever the hell distributes movies these days. We meet Monty, a drug dealer who is so amicable and loving as he saves the dog. "A real tough son of a bitch" who deserves Monty's time. There is so much humanism within Monty (played by the unmatchable Edward Norton), he has friends who aren't as shady as he is, and a beautiful girlfriend: Naturelle (Rosario Dawson). He's about to go to hell though. That sounds extremist, but Monty is about to go to NYC Prison after being busted by the cops. He has to turn himself in in 24 hours, as he sits on a bench looking over the shore and what might wash into his life next. A junkie approaches him begging for goods, but Monty tells him to "fuck off". Monty will soon be in the desperation of the junkie. Monty goes through his day finalizing his life. His life is over when he enters the prison. If he is not killed, he won't be worth two shits when he comes out. His friends, his girlfriend, his father will have moved on. There are two great scenes in 25th Hour that I cherish. The first is where Monty blames the world for his troubles while looking in the mirror. This anger is one that I feel we have all suffered through, and one that ends with little satisfaction. The second great scene is where Monty's father pleads his son to run away. This would mean that he would never see anyone he loves again, but that he would live. It's so beautiful a scene, so representative of a life and what that means (everything that goes with it), that I have seen it 5 times (meaning I've seen the film that many times). There is not a film in existence that I will remember with such passion. I haven't even mentioned how in technical terms it's gorgeous, but 25th Hour represents what it is to be human. Even though it's through the life of lowlife Monty, he's a man I could imagine many people becoming. Such evil breaks at people so bad in this film, it's their reactions that I see in the faces of people every day. It's realism.

Undercover Brother

Undercover Brother is either a spoof or an homage to blaxploitation films. It's witty and knows all the right ways to make fun of black people. But its the blacks making fun of themselves, and it works. Dave Chappelle especially (who proved on his Comedy Central show that he knows racial comedy) as well as a plethora of black actors who know what they're doing and deliver. The movie is pretty stupid though, its about a black resistance group kind of like a C.I.A. called the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. who protect and preserve blackness across the world. But there's The Man who tries to use a fried chicken chain to ruin and assimilate the blacks into boring white people who know what was on Ross's bedside table before he kisses Rachel in the season finale of season three. So, the Brotherhood gets the Undercover Brother (Eddie Griffin) to infiltrate The Man's company and stir up some heavy shit. Denise Richards appears as the White She Devil who tries to turn Undercover Brother into one of these boring losers. The whole movie is pretty funny, especially because it knows its stupid and its pretty creative. Undercover Brother was directed by Malcolm D. Lee and it ends up being a decent comedy.
Undercover Brother: ★★★

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The actors are slightly older in this second installment of Harry Potter. In Chamber of Secrets, a mysterious force is petrifying the students and causing mayhem at Hogwarts. The trio of friends attempt to discover the culprit of the attacks. This second movie is quite a bit darker than the first film, which was extremely lively. This one is pretty lively in comparison to later films, but contrasted with the first movie, it's definitely darker and presents greater danger towards the characters. One of the more appealing things about the second film, is that in needs little explanation or introduction. Instead, we are thrust into the magical world abruptly. Chamber of Secrets is the second and last great Harry Potter film (unless the very last installment doesn't undermine the penultimate one, in which case the last two are great). It is filled with life and quickness, it is extremely well directed and envisioned, while it stays very close to the book. It is also very uplifting, probably the most uplifting of all the Potter films. Chamber of Secrets is just between too many things going on and not enough. In the later films, so much information demanded by the fans is included, thus slower and happier moments are not allowed. And Sorcerer's Stone is not wholly integral, for their magical skills are limited. However, Chamber of Secrets allows for just the right amount of everything to be in it. It's great.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: ★★★★