My Favorite Movies

My favorite movie since I saw it on the Champs Elysees. Every performance is legendary, every moment is gorgeous. One I could watch and rewatch.

A nearly perfect film. Reese Witherspoon's Tracy Flick is one of my favorite performances of all time.

A profoundly moving movie-going experience. Pixar continues to raise the bar not only for itself but for film in general; after Ratatouille last year I thought they'd reached a new level, and they had. But WALL-E is a whole different kind of movie, certainly darker and more complex than their entrie thus far. Heartwrenching and hysterical and devastating and poignant and beautiful and breathtaking -- so many things that a movie should be. I had to sit in silence in the car on the way home just to process it, and I don't think I'll really understand how I feel about it for a couple more days. Wow.

One of the most amazing movie-watching experiences I've ever had, and one of my very favorite animated films. Total beauty start to finish.

DAVID LYNCH! You are so TWISTED!

Okay, so I'm thinking "everyone has said this movie is messed up" and I'm going along thinking "yep, it is kinda messed up. Yep, oh, and that's weird. Weirdness hapenning." And then I was like, "maybe this, maybe that..." and then all of a sudden ... WOAH. And then I had no idea. But it was SUCH fun trying to put it together. And I didn't end up being able to, although I was close.

This one, unlike Blue Velvet, might require another viewing actually. I guess there are a bunch of clues to solving the mystery on the DVD, which of course Netflix didn't provide, but I want to watch it again (with someone this time) with those clues in mind. That will help, I think.

Wow. I think I liked this. A lot.

It's so hard not to fall in love with this movie. Would that more foreign flicks could get this kind of following here in the US.

Wow. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have read the book before seeing the movie (in fact, the only other instances that comes to mind are The Shining and Harry Potter.) That included Tom Perrotta's incredible novel, which has been made into an equally brilliant film. The movie capitalizes on the dark satire, the rich characterizations, the disturbing comedy, and its cast of all-around fantastic actors, including never-better Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly (who is normally not outstanding but here she's wonderful) and an incredibly moving turn from Jackie Earle Haley as a recently-released-from-prison pedophile. Phyllis Somerville was so heartbreaking as the pedophile's mother, Noah Emmerich is perfect as the cop with secrets, the supporting cast is all spot-on. Great imagery, wit, passion, everything I want in a movie.

I have only a couple quibbles, knowing the book well, that the film adaptation clearly chose not to abide by, and both really mark the end of the film. Why does Brad do what he does in the last minutes? Why does Jean become so cold to Sarah? It's never explained (though I expected it to be by the narrator, the use of whom might have been annoying except that he added to the scene instead of just narrating it.)

Mmm. This will go down as one of my faves of this year, or maybe any.

I think that I'm not overreacting (although I might need a confirmation second viewing) to say that this is one of my favorite movies of all time. Like, it cracks my top five. That hasn't happened in a LONG time. Since I designated a top five, I don't think it's changed. Now this one is there. Every moment I wasn't laughing, I was on the verge of tears. Every character is drawn so well, the script is SO funny and awkward, the message is so poignant, it's so smart, it's SO well-cast. Man. I can hardly find something to complain about. Sufjan Stevens is even on the soundtrack! I command you to go see this.

Mmmmmm... I had forgotten how good it is to be enthralled in and surprised by a movie.

During the school year, I remember saying that theater can both entertain and enlighten, and the best does both. Same with film. This movie definitely enlightened more than entertained, but on purpose. The story is set in the Rocky Mountain town of Dogville, populated by exactly 15 people (not counting Chuck and Vera's kids, but 15 voters), whose lives are changed when a beautiful fugitive (played well by Nicole Kidman, who normally I'm not crazy about but she was excellent here) wanders into town. A young philosopher named Tom (Paul Bettany) befriends Grace and offers her refuge in the town, but the villagers needs persuasion that harboring a fugitive is worth the risk. Slowly the town opens up to her, but she soon understands that Dogville is not what she originally thought it was.

The fascinating thing about this movie is the set. Lars von Trier (director of Dancer in the Dark, also brilliant) used a large black stage, which looks like it's only about 3000 square feet and the set is entirely chalk lines representing roads, trees, walls, etc. A minimal amount of furniture is used, and doors are mimed. And you never see beyond the stretches of Dogville. This means that you always see what everyone else is doing. I read somewhere that this is a throwback to the reader's theater of the '70s where this technique was employed.

The movie is the first in the director's trilogy called USA -- The Land of Opportunities (obviously an ironic title, because von Trier refuses to set foot in America). It's really a scathing portrayal of America and exploitation and forgiveness and mercy.

Some random notes I took during the movie, because in its last scenes there was a lot to grasp and I wanted to reflect on it:

--One of the characters at the end says: Dogs can be taught many useful things, but not if we forgive them every time they obey their own nature. I think this is such an interesting metaphor for people -- people are, in von Trier's mind, corrupt by nature, and if the world continues to forgive corruption simply because there's nothing to be done, humanity will perish. The shocking final scene of this movie suggests the same.

--There's another great metaphor with some bushes along the street (suggested by chalk lines): the character who tends them hoes them ravenously, and defends that she knows what's best. In the end of the film, the narrator (who would normally be annoying but here provides insight to the story) says "It was like the gooseberry bushes -- if you didn't treat them badly they would be there come spring." It connects to the dog metaphor -- if you don't treat people badly they will stay by you. But is not treating them poorly enough, or do you need to treat them kindly?

--The most interesting and hardest argument to grasp was that forgiveness is arrogance: standing firm in ethics is arrogance. If you believe someone has wronged you, and you forgive them, you put yourself above them in some way ethically, and undermine the importance of what they have done by not acknowledging the gravity of the situation. It is this theory that leads to the climax of the film. Oh wow. Didn't expect it at all.

I wouldn't write this much about a movie (most of the time, my reviews are a paragraph) if I didn't think it was worth watching. It is three hours long, however, and to warn you, if you need lots of action and spectacle in a movie, this will not be the movie for you. But if you like being enlightened and stimulated by the possibility of cinema, check it out. Then call me so we can discuss it. :)

This, by the way, is the original Hitchcock and OMG it was scary! Siri and I watched it on Patty's Day night and wow. I didn't know anything about it except for the shower scene, but wow the story is really awesome. I can imagine that now it's sort of taken for granted but as I understand this was the first real slasher movie. When Lila is looking through the Bates house, the entire time I freaked out. You're on the edge of your seat because SOMETHING is going to pop out at you. Then the basement ... oh jeebus. Wow, it was good. I'd like to see the new one. This still doesn't compare to North by Northwest, just because it's so different from his others. But it's maybe my second favorite.

Ten Word Review:
Suspense, double agents, blond hottie. My favorite Hitchcock so far.

Fast-paced and kick-ass. Fascinating with an awesome soundtrack.

It's as great as everyone's saying it is -- with a story as textured and layered as the title dish, with characters as fresh as the ingredients, and a message that everyone can understand. As perfect as movies come these days.

PS -- I really do look a lot like Alfredo Linguini.

Comic genius start to finish. Every line so quotable, and so rewatchable.

Awww. If you just need a feel gooder, rent this gem from the early 80s. Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn have just about the best onscreen chemistry I've ever seen, they're a married couple in their 70s and 80s, and they could not be any sweeter. It's a tear jerker, so beware, but I had read the play and thought it was so sweet and well, I don't know that it could have been any sweeter. You really have to see it for those two actors -- I realized how shameful it was that I hadn't ever seen anything with Katherine Hepburn in it before. Shame. Fixing that ASAP.

Ethel: Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armor. Don't forget it. You're going to get back on that horse and I'm going to be right behind you, holding on tight and away we're going to go, go, go!

Ellen Burstyn's performance is historical and the crowning moment is her monologue about being old. Mesmerizing.

Wow. This is a well-crafted movie, with such a simple plot and only seven people and an alien. Amazingly good special effects that, despite few hokey moments, have aged REALLY well in almost thirty years. But the star is Ridley Scott's direction, which takes its time like so few horror movies feel they can. Stephanie and I were freaking. out. hard. core. because they're so much build-up to everything. The first six minutes are sans dialogue, and you wait for someone to speak. They intercept messages, and you wait to find out who they're from. They find the abandoned space ship, and you wait to freak out about what's inside.

Oh, man. I'm not huge on sci-fi but I want to rent every sequel.

Plain and simple, this is an extraordinary piece of cinema. I think you'd have to have a pretty hard heart to not fall for this amazing story, beautifully told and directed with unbelievable imagination by Julian Schnabel. The story is of a man who suffers with "locked-in syndrome," essentially full-body paralysis after a stroke. The only thing he can move is his left eyelid, and he dictated the entire novel that this movie is based on one letter at a time. The imagination of Michel Gondry meets the triumph of the human spirit. SO glad I saw it, and just in time for the Oscars!