Movies Reviewed, 2001

Movies Reviewed, 2001
REVIEWS, BY YEAR:

12/31/01
Joe Somebody - mostly awful. down.

12/28/01
Terminator - still good. up.

12/27/01
Dark Days - amazing film which won't allow you to look at homeless people the same ever again. documentaries are great. up.

12/26/01
Killer's Kiss - not the best film kubrick has done, but worth watching because it's considered his first. up.
Ali - missed some things it shouldn't have, dwelled on others too long. not a great ending. will smith did a good job overall, but not great...could have used a boxing coach. it also looked like they hired actors to portray boxers rather than hiring boxers and hoping they could act. if you've ever watched boxing you'll probably notice that. watch 'when we were kings' instead down.

12/24/01
A Christmas Story - simply one of the greatest films of all time. up.

12/22/01
Leolo - pretty good movie overall. well done and very well acted. had some comic moments which were a nice relief from the rest of the story. the poignant moments weren't contrived at all....they were well done and felt real....that's the kind of thing that comes from decent character development; duh. not for those who are easily upset. up.

12/18/01
Not Another Teen Movie - if you liked scary movie or naked gun then you'll like this. up.

12/17/01
Vanilla Sky - a remake of some movie i've never heard of, but that aside it still felt like it ripped off total recall and discreet charm of the bourgeoisie; all the while it had an a.i. feel to it (especially the sad excuse for an ending). if i were to discount all that i'd still find that it completely lacked anything approaching entertainment or intellectual stimulus. it had some comic relief (jason leigh saved it from complete lameness), it was uninteresting and seemed to be a mindfuck just for the sake of being one. it was like a horror movie that used the same cat-jumping-out-from-around-the-corner gag over and over and over again. it got old, it got tedious, it wasn't well done, it got sappy, it dragged its feet, it was just poor. down. p.s. cameron crowe sucks my scrotum.

12/15/01
When We Were Kings - ali is the greatest athelete, mentally, who ever lived. mj would be a close second. above and beyond his atheletic dominance, though, is what kind of person he was/is...this movie shows very clearly the charismatic and affable person that ali was and is. up.

12/11/01
Ocean's Eleven - super funny, super slick, super soundtrack. up.
Coyote Ugly - so bad it's funny. up (if watching with others) down (if watching by yourself)

12/10/01
Erin Brockovich - very good film. up.

12/06/01
Ocean's Eleven - very good movie, not a great film. lots of fun, but didn't have the impact that traffic had. funny and a good time overall. up.

12/03/01
Shallow Hal - pretty good, but not as funny some of the other farrelly brothers stuff. more funny the first time i saw it. neutral.

11/26/01
Traffic - a great film. up.

11/25/01
Princess Bride - fred savage has aged, but this movie hasn't. fantastic. up.

11/24/01
Black Knight - really funny movie. i've grown to like martin lawrence lately. did a good job of working in black culture (from MLK to sly and the family stone). classic fish out of water movie, but done well. up.

11/18/01
Domestic Disturbance - started out rather poorly...run of the mill thriller movie with john travolta as the good guy, but it somehow redeemed itself by the end. it wasn't a good movie, but it was a decent way to spend 100 minutes.up.

11/17/01
Heist - had some witty one-liners, but they got contrived and old kinda quick. it seems as though david mamet writes well, but tries to show it off too much. a pretty decent movie overall, but the script tried to be too smart and there were too many twists at the end so it just didn't seem believable. watch the score instead. down.

11/15/01
Harry Potter - cute at times, tedious at others, mostly just long and formulaic...a lot like episode one (star wars). neutral.

11/12/01
The One - some good action sequences, but didn't measure up to "kiss of the dragon." the highlight was seeing mark borchardt at one point in the movie....i didn't know he had a cameo so it was a pleasant surprise. neutral.

11/11/01
Office Space (DVD)- definitely a sleeper...it seems like people didn't really hear about this one until after it had gone to video, but i've never heard of anyone who hasn't liked it. up.

11/05/01
K-Pax - kinda funny, kinda not, kinda good, kinda not. neutral.

10/27/01
Happiness - man this movie is fucked up, but very good. up.

10/25/01
13 Ghosts - at one point i thought i was going to like this movie, but by the end it had accumulated far too much corny dialogue, bad acting, stupid twists and predictable turns to make for a thumbs up. parts of it were disturbing, and thus effecacious, but overall it was dumb. down.
Riding In Cars With Boys - actually a decent movie. barrymore sometimes lapsed as an actress, but overall had a solid performance. the lead character was pretty much just a teenage girl who thought about herself too much and took a while to learn some of life's most basic leasons so i didn't really empathize with her, but i did recognize her struggle. i empathized far more with her son who lost his father and had a mother who was wrought with all sorts of issues. overall a good movie; you'll especially like this if you are female. i won't watch it again, but it was a good movie for most people. neutral.
Memento (DVD) - fantastic film about a lot of things on a lot of different levels. philosophically dense, well acted, written, and directed. "i can't remember to forget her" was one of the great lines in the movie. i think that a lot of times we can't remember to forget things like a) not everything in life has an answer b) the world doesn't revolve around us (something drew barrymore's character in Riding In Cars With Boys never learned). this is the kind of movie you could form a philosophy course around. up.

10/24/01
The Last Castle - really corny movie. kind of a crosss between shawshank redemption and cool hand luke, only not nearly as good as either. bad writing and acting couldn't save it. the final action scene was good, but it was followed by the same old stuff. another formula film. down.

10/21/01
Don't Say A Word - the first third was pretty decent, but after that it turned into a complete hollywood formula film.down.
Trading Places - eddie murphy is funny. up.

10/19/01
Bowfinger - really funny. steve martin and his hollywood mocking ways be refreshing. up.

10/18/01
From Hell - nothing all that special. a dark film, but didn't really disturb me that much. if you want disturbing then rent "henry: portrait of a serial killer"

10/16/01
Bandits - funny and entertaining despite the love story which slows down the middle of the film. good ending and overall worth watching to have some fun. up.

10/15/01
Corky Romano - pretty dumb overall. had some funny moments, but mostly not worth it. down.
Iron Monkey - better than crouching tiger, hidden dragon in every respect except cinematography. just plain fun. made before (1993) crouching tiger, the matrix, and the rest of the popular martial arts movies of late. up.

10/14/01
Meet The Parents - really really funny movie. up.

10/12/01
Higher Learning - contrived and bad. down.

10/11/01
Hearts In Atlantis - not so great. kind of a cross between the body (stand by me) and the shining. green mile was better. neutral.

10/10/01
Terminator (DVD)- more things were used in terminator 2 from this one than i remembered. obviously a classic, obviously thumbs up.

10/07/01
A Hard Day's Night - quirky, weird, and funny. up.
Training Day - really well made and acted, didn't agree with the direction of denzel's character. up.

10/06/01
Joy Ride - funny at times, scary at others, but also pretty dumb. nothing great, but it kills time. neutral.
Gone In 60 Seconds - dumb movie. down.

10/04/01
Training Day - don't read this if you haven't seen it... really good movie. starts out really really well and then seems to lose some of the guts it had - turns denzel into a completely bad guy and then kills him. i thought that it would have been better if his character had stayed in the gray area. has a good feel to it and despite the one mistake i really liked it. up.

10/01/01
Nick Of Time - good movie with a pretty original idea. the usual ending. up.

09/28/01
Zoolander - really funny. up.
Benny and Joon - a cross between the other sister, what's eating gilbert grape and a buster keaton movie. pretty decent overall, but not really my kind of movie. neutral.

09/27/01
The Hunt For Red October - great film. up there with das boot in terms of submarine flicks. up.

09/26/01
Arlington Rd. - really good movie about terrorism and stuff. up.

09/25/01
Deep End - contrived hysteria. it was a good movie, but not one i really liked. neutral.

09/24/01
L.A. Story (DVD) - really funny exageration of love in LA. up.

09/23/01
Pulp Fiction - fantastic. whenever john travolta goes to the bathroom something bad happens. up.

09/22/01
Pecker (DVD) - eh. makes fun of art and that's funny, but it doesn't do much more. neutral.
Frantic (DVD) - starts off good, but then kinda fades. neutral.

09/21/01
Magnolia (DVD) - great. really good score....excellent first few minutes - introduces all the characters, grabs audience, but doesn't overwhelm. up.
Fargo (DVD) - great. up.

09/19/01
American Movie (DVD) - fantastic. up.

09/17/01
The Big One - michael moore is really cool. smart, funny, political and it all shows here. both serious and funny. up.

09/16/01
In The Company of Men - funny in a messed up way. i feel bad when i laugh at the jokes. up.
10 Things I Hate About You - based on taming of the shrew. has some slow scenes, some mildly funny scenes and some really funny scenes. not going to win any academy awards, but it did it for me. up.

09/15/01
Bottle Rocket - funny, but loses momentum at times. up.

09/13/01
Croupier - probably a book to film deal, but well done. well written and good to the last drop. the english doctor on ER gets naked. up.

09/12/01
Our Princess of the Assassins - really good columbian film about a gay guy and his boy lover who has a penchant for killing. funny and just plain good. up.

09/06/01
Kimberly - dumb movie about four friends who think they've impregnated the same hot european girl. blah blah blah. down.

09/05/01
Election - not as funny as the first few times i watched it, but it's still very good. up.

09/02/01
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion - smart and funny movie. woody allen's character is partially based upon the insurance investigator in double indemnity. good movie. up.
Jeepers Creepers - Clive Barker says it's the most original and scary movie he's seen in a while. i think i agree. the title is dumb and the trailer makes it look lame, but it's a solid movie. not a hollywood cheap thriller, but a pretty solid horror film. up.

08/28/01
High School - very good look at a 60s high school. up.

08/27/01
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back - very funny. makes fun of itself, movies, actors, hollywood, etc. up.
Ghosts of Mars - bad script. okay concept. down.

08/22/01
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure - classic. up.

08/21/01
Fear - don't watch this movie on the usa network. mark and reese do a really good job. entertaining enough for my taste. up.

08/19/01
Dumb and Dumber - har har har. funny. up.

08/18/01
American Outlaws - more funny and more entertaining than expected. not too bad, all things considered. up.
Pearl Harbor - had some good moments, but could have done without all the flag waving and the excessive love story stuff. neutral.

08/16/01
Judge Dredd - pretty lame overall. schneider saved it from complete failure. funny to laugh at. down.

08/12/01
American Pie 2 - college humor mostly. might take some getting used to, or you might not get used to it at all and hate it, but it works for me despite my hating the typical college shenanigans...then again we all love animal house despite its similar humor. up.
Osmosis Jones - a new type of movie...some scenes are animated and others are live action. it goes inside bill murray's body and shows the cells involved in making his body work. an interesting idea. well executed and has a clever script. plus it's by the farrelly brothers. up.

08/11/01
Rat Race - much more funny than i had anticipated. solidily done movie, recomendable. up.
The Others - didn't want to watch this movie at all, but i did since it ended up being free. also ended up being a pretty good movie. not one of the greatest movies currently playing. neutral.

08/09/01
The Game - well done all around. a rollercoaster ride. up.
Falling Down - just well done. up.

08/08/01
Kiss of the Dragon - really really good movie. great action sequences, well directed, good screenplay. an action film that does it right. up.

08/07/01
Rush Hour 2 - funny. jackie chan is constantly coming up with new ways to kill people, escape certain death, and overall impress the audience. up.
Jurassic Park 3 - the best thing about this movie is that it's so bad it'll make sure there isn't another sequel. down.

08/02/01
Final Fantasy - great animation. good story. if you like anime you'll like this. up.

07/29/01
What's the Worst That Could Happen - very funny. up.

07/27/01
Planet of the Apes- good movie overall. sometimes lacked in execution (a surprise considering tim burton directed it). i liked the social commentary. makeup and sfx were good. neutral.
Cats and Dogs - not my first choice of movies, but when you're getting a 2 for 1 you have to take what is playing when you get out. it had some truly cute and funny moments, but it was mostly just dumb kid stuff. down.

07/23/01
Legally Blonde - like clueless, only not. it was actually quite funny because it played on all sorts of stereotypes and didn't take itself seriously. fun, but short. up.
Moulin Rouge! - hmmmm. if you thought that this film was taking itself seriously (which i did) and you're not a total sucker for love stories then you'll dislike this film. if you thought it didn't take itself seriously and was pushing the boundaries of love movies, musicals, intellectual property, etc. then you might enjoy this film. luhrmann shows that he obviously knows his craft very well and i give props to that, but in the first instance this film didn't make me want to analyze it, laugh with it, or feel for it. thus... down.

07/22/01
The Score - well crafted heist movie. good action and comic relief. the end, though somewhat predictable, gets your heart pumping. up.

07/08/01
The Fast and the Furious - ha ha ha. this is a dumb, poorly scripted, poorly acted, but not badly directed movie. it's fun to watch and laugh at and just take the action scenes for one-dimensional testosterone that they are. worth the 2.50 i paid to see it so since it got my mind off of monetary problems... up.
Shrek - probably eddie murphy's greatest performance in his long and storied career. a very very good and funny movie. this is an example of a well done fairy tale, see 7/04/01 for an example of an unoriginal and lame fairy tale. up.
Clue - i guess this one is a classic, at least that's what i'm told. regardless, it's a fun movie which doesn't take itself seriously and is entertaining. up.

07/07/01
Scary Movie 2 - good fun. toilet humor o plenty. up.

07/06/01
Blue Chips - good movie about college basketball...not as great as the documentary hoop dreams or the spike lee film he got game, but still definitely worth checking out. up.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - a classic. up.

07/04/01
A.I. - not a kubrick film. a fairy tale, and a bad one at that. watch Pearl Harbor instead. down.

06/23/01
Batman- the best of the lot...well directed and acted. up.
Romancing The Stone - a classic. up.

06/22/01
Amores Perros - very good movie. owes a lot to the killing and pulp fiction, but still manages to be original, entertaining and engaging. up.

06/19/01
Orgazmo - funny, but didn't make me laugh. had some good moments, but was mostly just a sophomoric attempt at comedy. parker and stone are capable of much better. down.

06/14/01
Animal House - just classic and great fun. up.
Cinema Paradiso - touching characters, good story. the old man is great. it's too bad the little kid had to grow up because he was a much better actor than those who played him as he grew up. up.

06/12/01
Go - the first thirty minutes is intirely umimaginative and seems written and directed by a 20 year old without any good ideas whatsoever. amazingly, the rest of the film is good and makes up for the first portion of the film. it turns funny and even suspenseful. acting is pretty bad in places. overall the film didn't suck and if you took away the first part of the movie it'd be geniunely worth watching. as it stands it's borderline recommendable. neutral.

06/11/01
Lifeboat - presents a really interesting situation and is well made. good idea, well executed. fun to watch. up

06/10/01
Rebecca- good well rounded movie which gets a bit slowish two-thirds through. acting is good and the storyline is great. hitchcock knows how to choose em. up.
Dead Poets Society - really well done...shows both sides of revolutionary teaching. well-acted. mostly accurate, but gets a little over the top in places. solid drama. up.

06/09/01
Weekend At Bernie's- funny and very 80s. good enough to waste 100 minutes on. up.

06/07/01
La Promesse - good film of the same type as central station and lamerica, though not as good. up.

06/06/01
He Got Game - spike lee is great. very well crafted film. powerful, great, just very very well done. up.

06/05/01
Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould - surprisingly good film about the eccentric american pianist. well done up.

06/02/01
Dangerous Minds - has it right in places and really wrong in others. overall it's worth a couple hours. up.

06/01/01
American Pimp - interesting and real look at a segment of society which is often spoken about, but seldom very realistically. good movie, but very offensive. up.

05/31/01
Galaxy Quest - good fun. up.

05/30/01
House of Yes - good indictment of upper middle class retards. sadly all the characters are one-dimensional, base, and overall stupid and not very interesting. eh. neutral.

05/27/01
The Shining - really good movie. scarier than i remembered. quality film making. up.

05/26/01
Evil Dead - watch it with friends and laugh. well done. up.

05/22/01
Casino - very well done. up.

05/20/01
Koyaanisqatsi - puts things in perspective. up.

05/18/01
There's Something About Mary - one of the most funny movies of the 90s. up
Breakfast at Tiffany's - truman capote did this? hmmm. kathern hepburn owns audrey. audrey is just an annoying snobbish ignoramus in this film. neutral. i've known people who have said this is their favorite film...it's no wonder i don't know them anymore.

05/17/01
Jungle Fever - really good spike lee film (mostly) about race relations. does a good job of bringing up lots of issues. up.

05/16/01
Happiness - strange movie by the same guy who did 'welcome to the dollhouse.' funny, disturbing, but good. up.

05/14/01
Damn Yankees - i'm turning gay or this is a good, fun, entertaining movie. up.

05/13/01
Caught - mediocre 1949 film noir about a chick and a rich guy. good cinematography, but overall could have been better. neutral.
Hoop Dreams - an extremely touching documentary about two young men from detroit (edit 01/11/07: actually they're from chicago) who have dreams of going to the nba. touches on all sorts of subjects. very well put together. up.

05/10/01
Do The Right Thing - really really good story about more than just a hot summer day in NYC. up.

05/04/01
Memento - definitely worth watching. very very post-modern. well made, well told story which lends itself very well to philosophical discussion. it's also very entertaining so it works well on both levels. good story and comic relief make it a movie which should please anyone. reminded me of fight club. up.

05/03/01
The Music Man - very good as far as musicals go. great music. up.

05/01/01
The Sting - very good movie. led the way for others like it. up.

04/29/01
South Park: Bigger, Longer, And Uncut - very funny if offensive. up.

04/27/01
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly - excellent. soundtrack is amazing. acting is great. to say it's well-directed would be obvious. up.

04/26/01
Powaqqatsi - good, but not as good as Koyaanisqatsi. the soundtrack was still good, but, again, not as good as that of Koyaanisqatsi. up.

04/24/01
Fargo - excellent. film noir in a lot of ways. very good script, cinematography, score, and acting. up.

04/21/01
The Killing - very well made film. great script. watch it. up.

04/19/01
Die Hard - probably the best action film ever. up.

04/18/01
American Movie - great. the first 54 seconds always strike me as pretty great. up.
Lolita - i haven't seen barry lyndon, but i'll go out on a limb and say this is kubrick's worst film. it's good technically, tells a good story, well acted, but it's not really fun to watch. neutral.

04/15/01
Once Upon A Time In The West - good, but slow. good characters, well directed and that's about as much as one can expect from a western. up.

04/14/01
Bulworth - good movie. funny. warren beaty was good. liked the concept overall. corny at times. up.
Koyaanisqatsi- not as good as i expected, but i expected a lot. the soundtrack is definitely the high point of this movie. could be renamed to "an introduction to chris's thoughts." up.
My Fair Lady - a classic film. about as good as musicals get. music man is better. up.

04/13/01
Vanishing Point - a classic car chase film that really gets me on several levels. pure adrenaline at first and later it gets you on the whole freedom/last individual motif. good stuff all around. up.
The Player - funny at times. good to see that hollywood can sometimes be self-mocking or self-critical. that was the strong point of the film - not the plot or the characters. neutral.
Deliverance - good film overall. makes you fear small town people. up.

04/12/01
Blow - good movie. up.

04/11/01
Full Metal Jacket - kubrick is more of a horror director than i ever realized. just think about his films in that context and you'll see what i mean. the more you think about it while you're watching his movies the more obvious it becomes. funny how i've never heard anyone comment on this ability of his. at any rate, this film is superb. within his top three, in my opinion. up.

04/10/01
American Job - chris smith (american movie) directs this very good dead pan film about joe average who goes from one job to another. you can read a lot into it and think it's great or take it too literally and not like it very much, it's up to you. up.

04/09/01
2001: A Space Odyssey - great movie. lots to say about it. i've only seen it twice in its entirety...i think it's open for interpretation in so many ways purposely. i don't think that arthur c. clarke or kubrick are really trying to make one claim about outer space or spirituality, rather they are trying to tickle your imagination and get you thinking. in fact arthur c. clarke said that in the four years he worked with kubrick on this film they worked very well together and that their main goal was to make people realize a few things about the vastness and potential of space. this film has some of the best cinematography and use of sets and music that you'll ever see. also has some of the most horrifying moments i can remember in film. kubrick is great at creating that - think "the shining," and in a different way "dr. strangelove" and "a clockwork orange" or even the end of "the killing." kubrick is underrated when it comes to creating horrific atmosphere or horrific situations. up. watch it twice and then make a judgement.

04/08/01
Raging Bull - obviously good. let's just say that jake was beaten as a child. the final sequence was obviously an influence on the last boogie nights sequence. this movie is better the second time you watch it (just as taxi driver is). up.

04/07/01
The Song Remains The Same - makes you realize how great led zeppelin really were...especially bonham and page. up.

04/05/01
Demons - good concept, good touches here and there, but not very well excuted. neutral.

04/04/01
Written On The Wind - a very good look at americana, family, the rich...does a good job of showing more and more fucked up shit throughout the film. good narrative. up.

04/03/01
Bride of the Monster - not as bad as they'd have you believe, sadly. it's not so bad that you can laugh at it the whole time, but it's not nearly good enough to be really entertaining. oh well. ed wood wasn't a horrible director, but he shouldn't have ever written a script. down.

03/30/01
Chocolat - cutesy film with good acting. binoche has a good face for the part. up.

03/25/01
Whiteboyz - pretty bad film which shows middle america at its finest. neutral. watch this with some friends and laugh at it.

03/24/01
Quest For Fire - same director as enemy at the gates and seven years in tibet. a pretty interesting way of looking at humanity. makes you think about a few things which you should have already thought about. good film. up.
Pollock - sometimes the script wasn't so hot, but the acting was really good and it told a good (and true) story. worth watching. up.

03/15/01
The Celebration (aka Dogme 1 - Festen) - just wow. an amazingly good film. simply a must-see. don't look up the summary information or read reviews on it, just rent it and watch it. up.

03/14/01
Ed Wood - funny film about an even more funny character. truth is stranger than fiction. up.
Spanking the Monkey - not what i expected, at all. good, but be prepared. up.

03/13/01
Lamerica- a good, but slow film. more educational than entertaining. overall worth the time. up.
El Mariachi - could have made 1000 (literally) of these for the same cost as making titantic, what a shame. a very good film with a distinctive style. good acting from non-actors. very worthwhile. up. it's funny because i just looked at the imdb review of the film and the guy made the same point that i did - namely that this film was made extremely cheaply, yet kicks hardcore ass compared to something like titantic. note: at first i had the figure above at a modest 1000, but after going to the imdb site i saw that the fellow who had reviewed it had more detailed information on the film's funding...it turns out that one actually "could have shot approximately 28571 (!) Mariachi-kind-of films for that amount of cash." that's even more insane than i had remembered. i always remember films like this and night of the living dead being made for dirt cheap (both employed townspeople and friends as actors), but i didn't know that el mariachi was made for only $7,000.

03/11/01
Night of the Living Dead - just an amazing film. shoe string budget, but fantastic. great use of lighting, the actors were obviously well-directed despite a lack of talent, good atmosphere, just straight ahead horror. very good soundtrack. the king of modern horror. up.
Suspiria - argento is one of the kings of horror, this is no exception. good use of colors - red is just about everywhere in this film. the end does get a little weird, even corny, but doesn't ruin the film. a truly scary flick which has a good soundtrack and is just damn well directed. up.
Dawn of the Dead- not only an excellent horror film, but a great film in general. witty, comedic when appropriate, slightly touching at points, gruesome in others, good social commentary, just really really well made. sucks you in from the very beginning. highly recommend. dario argento actually worked on the script and the soundtrack for this one, pretty neat. tom savini is great in the sfx department, as usual. up.

03/10/01
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - only 90 minutes long and seemed less than that. takes a while to pick up, but is funny once it does. lots of situational comedy. a good movie overall. up.

03/06/01
Naked - very good verbal humor. well made and acted. good philosophical discussions, but the subject matter put me off too much to enjoy all that. neutral.

03/05/01
Central Station - a good brazilian film. sentimental, but not contrived. i liked it and think you will too. the soundtrack was really good. up.

03/01/01
City Lights - modern times is better, but this is a very good chaplin flick. the boxing sequence was very funny. the music while chaplin is in the gym is great great great. good love story, funny, chaplin is good. up.

02/27/01
Reservoir Dogs - excellent. up.

02/24/01
Phenomenon - a really really good movie to laugh at and make fun of. down.

02/23/01
Unforgiven - probably my favorite western. very different from most westerns, but really has it all. clint eastwood is just the shit. up.

02/22/01
Rope - if you haven't read nietzsche then you are seriously robbing yourself of the potential this movie has. that's not to say that this film can't be appreciated without nietzsche, but with nietzsche you'll understand and have a framework for the philosophy behind this. of course when one of the characters mentions nietzsche he misunderstands him in the worst way possible, just as hitler did, but such is the nature of philosophy... a great film which is sadly known only for the fact that it's a four reel film and only cuts four times (although it really cuts more like 8 times). great story, acting, and directing. hitchcock's second most entertaining and third best film. up.

02/19/01
Cocoanuts - a good marx brothers film, but too much song and dance. up.

02/17/01
The Apartment - let me first say that looking at shirley maclaine fourty years ago you would never have known she would end up the ugly pseudo-red head that she is now. that aside....this is a great film. billy wilder (double indemnity, sunset blvd...) wrote and directed this great piece of work. as a story it's great, but as a film it's even better. at times it was really really ahead of its time - in terms of social commentary - the things which aren't talked about in the open, as it were. but i guess that's not a problem for ole billy wilder - i hear that the seven year itch had some trouble along the lines of sexual innuendo and politics...at any rate, this was a good film, especially for the hopeless romantics out there. up.

02/12/01
Matador - an interesting film. i'm sure one could extrapolate all sorts of deep meaning from this film, but it didn't really inspire me to try. down.

02/11/01
Pushing Tin - a fairly entertaining film, but doesn't really do anything. kind of strange. what's her face is overrated in all respects. down.

02/10/01
Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai - a very good movie all around. a lot of the intertitles were very nietzschean in their thrust, others were completely the opposite of nietzsche. up.

02/07/01
Hard Boiled - dubbing movies was a bad idea. john woo is great. the last 40 minutes of this film is really awesome, the body count throughout is ludicrous. i guarantee you john woo watched die hard before he made this film. up.

02/06/01
Duck Soup - very funny. verbal comedy at its finest. marx brothers are the shit. some great gags in this one. up.

02/05/01
Dr. Strangelove; or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb - just amazing. a must see. up.

02/04/01
Yojimbo - kurosawa is the man. this movie is so good in so many different ways. the conflicts, both on the literal and allegorical levels, the characters, the direction of the film, the script, the acting, the soundtrack...everything is just really really good. this is a good example of a film that is entertaining, artisitic, and good after every viewing. up.

02/03/01
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - very mixed on this one. the action scenes were really good and so was the soundtrack, but it tried too hard to be more than just an action flick. a) there's nothing wrong with being just an action flick b) having two love stories (one which comes out of nowhere in the middle of the movie) isn't the way to be more than just an action flick. good camera movement and fight choreography. neutral.

01/30/01
The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie - luis bunuel is the shit. this movie is just a rollercoaster ride, but does it well and comedically. up.

01/24/01
Saving Private Ryan - excellent WWII flick. whoever did the sound deserves big time props. up.

01/22/01
Vertigo - obviously a very good film, but not as entertaining as strangers on a train. up.

01/21/01
American Movie - just amazing. real. funny. sad. poignant and profound. up.
Coven- very good visually, the script needed some work. keep up the good work mark borchardt. up.
Erin Brockovich - a good film. julia roberts does a good and convincing job. wasn't contrived or cliche, which is what i kind of expected. even funny at times. steven soderburgh is a genuine film maker. up.

01/20/01
Paths Of Glory - leaves me thinking and feeling the same as at the end of grapes of wrath. one of a kind. up.
A Life Less Ordinary - fun and funny movie. worth watching. up.
High Fidelity - hyped up more than it should be, but still a good movie. one moment was just great. made fun of music elitists, which is great. i might have enjoyed it more if i was single. yea! up.

01/19/01
Snatch- you'll probably like it. neutral.

01/17/01
Boogie Nights (DVD) - gets better every time you watch it. up.

01/15/01
Sex, Lies and Videotape - infidelity sucks. lust will fuck you like nothing else, no pun intended. up.

01/12/01
Almost Famous - i bet cameron crowe just gooed himself after he wrote the screenplay for this piece. within the first five minutes three vws make a cameo - bus, bug, and the ghia. this was the hightlight of the film. the two best characters were seen the least - the mother and the daughter. the mother (franced mcdormand) was great and real and believable, unlike most of the other characters. kate hudson was good for the part, but the part was retarded. what seemed to be the apex of the comedy in this film was when three groupies tried to rape the 15 year old lead character. ha ha ha. some performances stood out - philip seymore hoffman was, as always, very good. jimmy fallon was good. the movie, overall, just seemed very contrived. i could picture the studio execs the whole time in the boardroom laughing their heads off about how they were cashing in on jerry maguire's success. best thing about the movie - the soundtrack. played four led zeppelin songs - rain song, misty mountain hop, that's the way, and tangerine. down.

01/09/01
Los Olvidados - very good film along the lines of an oliver twist story. bunch of boys who run the streets robbing and the like. but that's not the real focus of the story. a good look at the underbelly of a society in trouble (on several levels). the intro basically says it's the story of no one city, but all cities. pulls it off well. up.

01/08/01
Out of the Past - robert mitchum and kirk douglas. good film noir, but shot mostly outdoors, so it was unique in that sense. good script and acting. didn't grab me like double indemnity or some of the other greats, but still good. watch it if you like the genre. neutral.

01/06/01
Boogie Nights (DVD) - just great. not as perfect as pulp fiction, but also tries to do more. very rich and dense, but easily accessible as well. those are the movies that i enjoy the most, and for the longest. up.

01/05/01
Traffic- very very good film. despite the unique and fitting style, the story itself is excellent. acting was up to the job. good comic relief, something which could have easily been overlooked. don cheadle is the shit and so is benicio del toro. up. better than the limey or out of sight. need to see sex lies and videotape soon.

01/04/01
Money Train - has the worst .5 sec. of film, ever. down

01/02/01
Radio Days - used to think that i didn't like woody allen, not sure why. this is a funny movie. up.

Movie Goal of 2001:
350 points by the end of the year, possibly will be raised later. keep in mind i will be on the road for a few months.

Watching a pre-1950 movie in theater - 2.25 pts.
Watching a movie in the theater - 2pts.
pre-1950 movie, never seen before - 2 pts.
pre-1950 movie, i have seen before - 1.5 pts.
pre-1950 movie, seen this year - 1.25 pts.
post-1950 movie, never seen before - 1.25 pts.
post-1950 movie, i have seen before - 1.00 pts.
post-1950 movie, seen this year - .75 pts.

grading scale:

A+ 4.3

A 4.0

A- 3.7

B+ 3.3

B 3.0

B- 2.7

C+ 2.3

C 2.0

C- 1.7

D+ 1.3

D 1.0

D- 0.7

F+ 0.3

F 0.0

F- -0.3

A+	4.3
A	4.0
A-	3.7
B+	3.3
B	3.0
B-	2.7
C+	2.3
C	2.0
C-	1.7
D+	1.3
D	1.0
D-	0.7
F+	0.3
F	0.0
F-	-0.3