CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Y Tu Mamá También

Director

Alfonso Cuarón

Year

2001

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Thursday, March 28, 2002

Two buddies (Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna), who’ve always been very close, encounter a tremendous twist of fate as they meet Luisa (Maribel Verdú), the Spanish wife of Tenoch’s (Luna’s) cousin. Without much planning, the teenagers manage to convince Luisa to go with them on a trip to a beach that doesn’t exist. On their way, the three analyze their pasts and presents, and encounter a fate they never expected.

Insightful, gorgeous-looking Mexican production puts three charming characters in a car and makes them talk and laugh, before unexpected things happen. There is poignancy all the way, as an “off voice” narrator gives us the insights of every situation, as not even the characters can realize. In a set of colorful landscapes of Mexico (looking better than ever in film), we laugh, cry and enjoy the trip as much as they do. And despite the poignant observations of these people’s lives, nothing can prepare us for a couple of shocks towards the end, which completely change the scope of everything—making this trip not only worthwhile, but also unforgettable.

The three main characters are greatly cast: the two teenagers (García Bernal from Amores Perros (2000) and Diego Luna from Before Night Falls (2000)) continuously spontaneous and foul-mouthed, their companion (Verdú from Belle Epoque (1992)) delightful as well as a woman from a different culture. Only these characters, all from a different social stratum, could make up for such a collection of vignettes of Mexican society overall.

Fun, erotic, delightful and shocking, one of the great movies of Mexican cinema’s renaissance and one that should not be missed.

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Review

Ransom

Director

Ron Howard

Year

1996

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Thursday, March 28, 2002

Now that Ron Howard is getting so much attention I wanted to talk about one specific movie of his that I’ve always loved: Ransom.

Tom (Mel Gibson) and Kate (Rene Russo) are a rich married couple with a young kid (Brawley Nolte). Little do they know that a former detective (Gary Sinise) and his band (Liev Schreiber, Lily Taylor and more) are planning to kidnap their son. And so it happens. The situation soon becomes a huge thing that ends up as a twisty game

Ransom can be described in many ways. On one side it is a top-notch thriller impeccably made by its creators, on the other hand it’s a touching drama about people trying to cope with a terrible situation like this and trying to behave as rationally as their hearts and minds let them. Not to say that they always make the right decisions, but that’s how life works and that’s also what makes this movie so entertaining and interesting to watch.

The movie doesn’t deeply delve into human traumas but works more as a perfectly fun popcorn flick dealing seriously with the subject of kidnapping, which means it has a solid storyline. There’s a crucial twist in the middle of the movie that sets everything in motion in ways you wouldn’t expect. If the movie had already been good, from then on it goes up and up until it ends in a cathartic climax.

Mel Gibson could have easily received an Oscar nomination for his performance. There was a lot of talk at the time but it never materialized. That’s too bad since it is one of his best performances. He’s flawless as this man who thought he had everything under control until suddenly his son’s life depended on his acts. That’s pretty tough and he handles it admirably. Rene Russo lends extraordinary support as the wife who doesn’t understand his husband’s actions. I was admired at the credibility of their scenes together.

Ron Howard has a great eye for thrillers and I’m glad for that because he’s certainly done his share of good ones. Here’s the perfect mix of action, drama and suspense to spend one boring afternoon.

“You kill him, you kill yourself, you motherfucker!”

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Review

Bride of Frankenstein

Director

James Whale

Year

1935

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Wednesday, March 27, 2002

Soon after the end of Frankenstein (1931), the presumably dead monster (Boris Karloff) turns out to be alive and well, and keeps roaming around, scaring people everywhere. Its creator, Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive), decides to start anew with his fiancée, Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson), but guilt haunts him. Matters get worse when weird Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) blackmails Frankenstein to resume his experiments. They join forces to create another man-made person, now a woman (Elsa Lanchester), bride-to-be of the lonely monster.

Riotous, spectacular horror film is incalculably better than its predecessor, deliciously directed by Whale in moody fashion. The score by Franz Waxman haunts as well, consistently appropriate to the situation.

The biggest asset of this film is the development of its characters. While the monster learns to talk, yearns for a friend and demands a bride to Dr. Frankenstein, the latter wants out and suffers very much, as he sees his relationship with Elizabeth jeopardized. Thesiger is hilarious as the wacko, whose inventions are amusing as a contrast to Frankenstein’s monstrous creation.

The prologue starring Mary Shelly (also played by Elsa Lanchester), the blind hermit sequence and the final creation scene are only three of the many highlights this great movie has.

Fun, scary and unforgettable, a must-see.

“She’s alive! Alive!!”

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Review

Chain of Fools

Director

Traktor

Year

2000

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Tuesday, March 26, 2002

Warner Bros. has had a lot of difficulty trying to decide what to do with this movie. I don’t blame them. On one hand, the movie is good and solid, but on the other it is not a mainstream production that would do well at the box office. Then again, it isn’t award-winning material, but it doesn’t deserve to go direct-to-video either. In other words, it’s like a puzzle and that’s ironic given the subject matter of the movie itself.

Kresk (Steve Zahn) is an unhappy loser barber whose wife (Lara Flynn Boyle) has just left him. One day a strange man (Jeff Goldblum) enters his barbershop in what turns out to be a life-changing event, since he had just stolen some rare precious coins and through a series of events Kresk ends up with them. Meanwhile, Sgt. Meredith Kolko (Salma Hayek) is appointed to the case. It seems that an important millionaire (Tom Wilkinson) might be involved one way or another. But wait, there’s also the young hit man (Elijah Wood) who is after the man who originally stole the coins, the transvestite nurse (Orlando Jones) who dated this man, the millionaire’s assistant (David Hyde Pierce) who is just doing his job, Kresk’s best friend (David Cross) who complicates matters, the second hit man (Michael Rapaport) on the run and a whole other bunch of characters who get in the way.

Sounds complicated? It is, and therein lies the fun of it. These are all weird characters getting themselves immersed in what originally was a simple revenge scam and making matters more complicated by the minute.

And did I say it was fun? Well, if you’re into black comedy there’s a big chance you’ll enjoy this movie thoroughly. This is black comedy at its blackest, but it is so well-written that it works and provides several laugh-out-loud moments. Black comedy can be difficult to handle because it can become offensive or just unfunny. Not the case here. The writers did a good job and this movie is consistently funny and entertaining.

With so many characters populating the movie there’s not much room for profundity. That doesn’t matter since it is an ensemble and it is a comedy, so things have got to keep moving without losing interest. We know one or two things about each character and we go with it.

There is, for example, a running gag about Salma Hayek’s character having posed for Playboy magazine in the past and the fact that everyone keeps bringing that up when all she wants is to be a serious and competent cop. It plays in a very funny way and so does almost everything else. Elijah Wood’s character is also a standout, as he plays a hit man who keeps telling the same story over and over in a different way until we discover a different side of him at the end. Zahn, whom I’ve always considered a very talented actor, is great as the leading man and Tom Wilkinson is perfectly cast as this somewhat silly man who might need more help than it appears.

Overall the cast works really well together and they all have their moments. Chain of Fools proves to be a successful and unique mixture of humor, action and romance, albeit in a very twisted kind of way.

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Review

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Director

Steven Spielberg

Year

1982

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Friday, March 22, 2002

An Extra-Terrestrial from outer space is accidentally left on Earth by his people after a visit to our planet. The abandoned alien, of whom the government has knowledge, then finds shelter in the home of little Elliot (Henry Thomas), who shares the secret with his teenage brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton) and his little sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore). E.T. and Elliot connect in an internal level, and as one being split in two bodies live the odyssey of hiding from adults, calling home, and eventually facing death in a world mostly populated by enemies.

Winning masterpiece by Steven Spielberg is arguably his greatest film from the 80s, featuring a fictional main character that gets more and more real as the story flows. Told and seen from the point of view of Elliot, this film masterfully expresses the inner thoughts and feelings of a child, their ingenuity, their fears and their frustration when misunderstood by adults. The use of lighting and photography is unique and continuously genius, adding a lot to the story’s intensity.

Some scenes, including Elliot’s heroic moments at school and the bicycle chase are unforgettable.

Featuring one of John William’s great scores and very honest performances by all (including Dee Wallace as Elliot’s mother), this is a must, now as always; the shot of the moon behind the flying bikers is a classic itself.

“E.T. phone home…”

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Review

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Director

Peter Jackson

Year

2001

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Thursday, March 21, 2002

It’s funny how people who had read J.R.R. Tolkien’s books before they saw this movie ended up enjoying it less than those who hadn’t read them. It’s funny but it’s also perfectly understandable. I thought about that a lot and ended up saying I was glad I hadn’t picked up the first of this trilogy’s books. Of course that’s not an encouraging or intelligent thought, but what can I do? It made me realize that I love movies more than I love books even though I can’t live without them both. That remark actually makes me sound dumber than I actually am, but then again, what can I do?

Our story takes place in Middle Earth. Several rings have been made which have been given to a group of selected individuals. Nobody knows that an evil force forged a very powerful one in the hills of Mount Doom. It goes from hand to hand until it ends in the possession of Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm), an old hobbit who has finally decided to let it go. Now it’s up to his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood) to travel to the lands of Mordor and destroy the ring. But he’ll also have some help on this dangerous journey in the form of Sam (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), Pippin (Billy Boyd), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Gimli (John Rhys Davies), Aragorn (Viggo Mortesen), Boromir (Sean Bean) and the wisest of them all: Gandalf (Ian McKellen). Together, this mix of hobbits, elves, dwarfs and humans will go through the unimaginable and discover a little about themselves in the way.

The first installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is actually my favorite movie of 2001 in what could be described as a very curious situation. I had not expected to like this movie so much and it has now become one of my all-time favorite movies. Talk about adventure, excitement, fantasy, drama, romance and action so amazingly bent together in what becomes almost a magical experience.

I loved everything about this movie even if I’m not the biggest fan of this type of genre. I loved the way all the elements came together to form something amazing. From the interaction of all these wonderful character to the epic-sized battle scenes; from the way the power of the ring affects people to the amazing exposure of feelings hidden inside; from the recreation of a world that does not exist yet it almost becomes palpable; from the way the movie begins slowly and builds up to so much in many different ways.

Most of what we experience is seen through the eyes of Frodo. In a way, this could also be described as a coming-of-age story, as he starts up being as innocent as an individual can be yet he keeps learning all there is to know about life from the different events that surround him.

The movie moves in a somewhat episodic way that never ceases to entertain or surprise. There are slow scenes between more violent ones but Peter Jackson, the director, does a great job in not letting them feel unnecessary. This man could very well be singled out as the head behind the masterpiece. It helps to have a classic literary story to back you up, but his work as a screenwriter (along others who were also involved) and as a director is flawless to the point of being scary. The more I see the movie the more I can’t believe they actually got away with it... and in such a way!

Besides the impeccable technical work (which includes jaw-dropping cinematography, amazing costumes and make-up, a larger-than-life score by Howard Shore and visual effects that never cease to impress) there is the great job all of the actors do. Special credit should go to Elijah Wood (marvelous as Frodo), Ian McKellen (who was born to play Gandalf), Ian Holm (a great Bilbo) and Cate Blanchett (beautiful and haunting as Galadriel), but I must say it again: everyone is wonderful; a true ensemble in the best sense of the word.

I can’t wait to see the remaining movies. If only I were a wizard...

“One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”

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Review

I Am Sam

Director

Jessie Nelson

Year

2001

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Wednesday, March 20, 2002

A hard-working, good-willed retarded man (Sean Penn) has a daughter with a chance acquaintance and keeps her, raises her and gives her all the care and love a child needs. However, little Lucy (Dakota Fanning) grows to be much smarter than her daddy, and at the age of 7 has surpassed his intelligence completely, which brings her psychological trouble, thus resulting in the authorities deciding that the girl cannot stay with him any longer.

Shattered, Sam looks for help in stressed, expensive lawyer Rita Harrison (Michelle Pfeiffer), who takes his case pro bono, learning a big deal about life and love in the process.

Tears kept running from my eyes…

This emotionally shattering family drama, sugar-coated by comedy and cuteness all the way, works to perfection. It both transmits its message of love and empathizes its main characters with the audience.

Penn is outstanding as the slow-witted but loving father, Pfeiffer at her best ever as the superficial woman who finds herself thanks to Sam, Fanning excellent too as the little girl who loves her father more than anything in the whole world. Laura Dern is especially touching in a small role towards the end.

The whole film includes references to the Beatles, with which Sam is obsessed. Such inclusions always help in the story, especially when accompanied by songs of the Liverpool quartet arranged and performed by modern artists. This makes the movie a must for Beatles fans. I say, it’s a must for anybody.

My choice for the best of 2001.

“All I need is love.”

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Review

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Director

Kevin Smith

Year

2001

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Tuesday, March 19, 2002

I’m always in for anything in which Kevin Smith is involved. I was quite curious about his fifth outing and didn’t get disappointed. I actually did have a lot of trouble deciding on a rating for the movie but I ultimately thought that even if it has major flaws it still was a lot of fun to watch and I guess that was the intention.

The plot goes something like this: a major movie is going to be made by Miramax based on the comic “Bluntman and Chronic”, which is itself based on the characters of Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith). Thus they decide to go to Hollywood and stop the movie from being made because they don’t want talk-backers in the Internet saying bad things about them.

One has got to stop and think for a minute if a movie about Jay and Silent Bob was really necessary or doable. I think not, but at least I think Kevin Smith tried to do the right thing in his treatment of the material. He chose to have his classic characters as leading men by putting them along many different people so it would be fun instead of tiring. Jay and Silent Bob have never been very profound characters and they continue to be that way here. They live inside a very little world created by themselves and that’s why it’s more fun to have them interact with others instead of just having them uttering the same kind of jokes over and over again.

The movie plays more like an extended sitcom and I guess that’s ok with a movie like this. Along the way many different familiar faces pop up. Some jokes are funny and some aren’t. Their presence ranges from laugh-out-loud funny (Ben Affleck, George Carlin), to very funny (Carrie Fisher, Steve Kmetko, Jules Asner, Matt Damon, Shannen Doherty, Wes Craven, Joey Lauren Adams, Gus Van Sant), to somewhat funny (Shannon Elizabeth, Ali Arter, Eliza Dushku, Will Ferrell, Jon Stewart, James Van der Beek, Jason Biggs, Jamie Kennedy), to not funny at all (Jason Lee, Sean William Scott, Chris Rock, Mark Hamill).

The exact same thing can be said about the way Smith parodies some movies. The attempts at satirizing Scooby Doo, Good Will Hunting and Scream are quite funny, which go in contrast to those of The Figutive, Planet of the Apes and Star Wars.

Still, it’s entertaining to watch all these attempts. The movie works better towards its end when Jay and Silent Bob actually get to Hollywood. While Smith lacks a lot as a director, he is also excellent for dialogue, so even if there are a lot of poop-like jokes, there are also a lot of very funny and smart remarks about the movie industry. After all the whole movie is kind of a self-parody for everyone involved. Movie buffs will have a good time with it.

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Review

King Kong

Director

Merian C. Cooper

Ernest B. Schoedsack

Year

1933

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Monday, March 18, 2002

An eccentric movie director, Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) goes on an expedition with his crew to film what he believes will be the greatest event in cinema. Along he takes a girl (Fay Wray) to star in the already infamous project. At their arrival in a mysterious island, Denham’s crew members realize what the whole thing is about, as they meet Kong, a giant ape idolized by natives, who rules in a world of prehistoric creatures unknown to man.

This gigantic, extraordinary film is as big as Kong, featuring rustic but still unbelievable stop motion animation by Willis O’Brien, which in ways makes the experience more worthwhile than most modern movies featuring dinosaurs and other such creatures. The story follows a Beauty-and-Beast plot (involving Wray), filled with smart dialogue throughout, especially during the first half hour, before we meet Kong. During this time our expectations are raised to the highest level, being later fulfilled completely. Max Steiner’s classic score fits to perfection.

Every minute is golden: on the boat, during the expedition in the island, and certainly in New York City, where Kong unleashes hell. How the creature is unfairly treated but still trusts the human girl who captivated him is compelling.

The scene atop the Empire State Building could very well be cinema’s most representative bit. Up to these days, Kong lives.

“Ladies and gentlemen, look at Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World!”

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Review

In the Bedroom

Director

Todd Field

Year

2001

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Thursday, March 14, 2002

It’s so rare when small movies make it as big as In The Bedroom has done since premiering at the 2001 edition of the Sundance Film Festival. It caused a stir over there and hasn’t stopped yet. Its five Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) are just a small proof of what a movie can achieve when it’s so well done.

Matt and Ruth Fowler (Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek) are a happily-married couple living in a quiet town in Maine. Their son (Nick Stahl) is dating a married woman (Marisa Tomei) with two children and a husband who won’t leave her alone. A terrible tragedy then happens when this man kills his wife’s boyfriend and everyone’s lives are turned upside down.

In The Bedroom marks the debut behind the cameras for actor Todd Field. No one would have expected this man to turn in such a profound and affecting motion picture. This is a movie that is more about the unsaid. There are a lot of obvious moments which Todd doesn’t bother to show us because the intention is other than manipulate or over-saturate the audience. The movie instead is about consequences, about the looks in the actors’ faces, and about emotions.

It is also a movie that reminded me a lot of European cinema in more ways than one. To be fair, there are times when the pace becomes too slow. I guess we could divide the movie in three acts, and while they all work masterfully it is during the middle one that the movie drags a bit. It’s also when the drama is at its highest, so I guess Todd wanted to show us how slow and difficult pain can be. It is as vivid and real a recreation of the aftermath of a son’s death as it is a detailed character study of the things that matter in life and the inner demons we all have.

I loved the way every scene could be read in different ways as well. There’s always an underlying current going on that gives the characters more depth and humanity. Unpredictable things happen along the way that will leave viewers cold. It is especially during those moments that each one of us will have a different point of view and will put to test our ability to judge these people. No matter if we agree or not (after all who are we to judge others?), the truth is that we’ll understand and we’ll find an interesting portrait of situations that are not larger-than-life.

The movie also examines the way people can be affected when justice fails and a guilty and dangerous man can still be out there with nothing anyone can do.

All of these fascinating characters are embodied by actors who are at the top of their forms. Marisa Tomei, for instance, gives the best performance of her career even though she’s barely in the movie. Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek have a very showy scene towards the end that is simply brilliant, but the truth is that their performances are consistently first-rate even when playing pretty common people. He’s extraordinary as an easy-going man who tries to be a tower of strength in a way that might not be so helpful for his wife. Spacek, on the other hand, is astonishing as a protective and sometimes overbearing woman with hidden feelings that could burst out any minute.

The director, the actors, the writers and everyone involved in this movie should be applauded for making one independent movie in the truest sense of the word that is so good, it can appeal to everyone.

Don’t be scared if you feel identified at a certain point...

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Review

Wuthering Heights

Director

Robert Fuest

Year

1970

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Wednesday, March 13, 2002

Mr. Earnshaw (Harry Andrews), surrounded by hypocrisy and materialism in his Yorkshire home, brings an orphan gypsy from Liverpool and integrates him into his family. In time, his son Hindley (Julian Glover) grows so envious that he treats his foster brother the worst way. Heathcliff (Timothy Dalton), unable to abandon his house because of the love he feels for his foster sister Cathy (Anna Calder-Marshall), only finds enough bravery to do so when she rejects him for their rich neighbor, Edgar (Ian Ogilvy). Years later, Heathcliff comes back rich, finds Cathy and Edgar married and decides to destroy them, managing to destroy Cathy and himself instead.

Literary adaptation of Emily Brontë’s gothic novel, set in real locations in Yorkshire, this one looks as real as it could possibly look, unlike the previous versions, which were more dream-like. This doesn’t mean this movie is better than the others; in fact, it’s sad to see the characters treated like mere mortals. Dalton, however, is the best interpreter of Heathcliff ever. He’s the only one to manage both hatred and love and be completely balanced and completely credible. Calder-Marshall is credible too, both as a savage and as a society lady. This version’s Isabella (Hilary Heath) is so good-looking that she adds to the intensity of Heathcliff preferring Cathy. Heath’s performance is good as well.

This version’s Cathy really haunts the viewer as well as Heathcliff; the score by Michel Legrand haunts as much.

The bad thing about such realism is clearly seen in Heathcliff’s fate, which is the same as in Buñuel’s version but treated very differently.

Still a very good adaptation.

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Review

Black Hawk Down

Director

Ridley Scott

Year

2001

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Tuesday, March 12, 2002

Good war movies are always emotional and heart-wrenching experiences because of what they stand for. They’re even more so for people who actually lived during those times and for whom memories come back to provide a backdrop. I myself am relatively young so I didn’t know how that felt until I saw Black Hawk Down, a movie that takes place in 1993, meaning I remember some of the stuff that went on at the time.

Then again, I didn’t know anything about the particular event the movie portrays and I think most people don’t as well. In a few words, the movie takes place in Mogadishu, where U.S. troops have been sent in order to put Mohamed Farrah Aidid out of power. This man was in control of a big portion of Somalian territory and was partly responsible of the famine suffered in the place. One day in October some soldiers are set out on a mission to capture two influential men attending a meeting in hostile territory. Everything that could have gone wrong does, as a Black Hawk is put down and the mission then switches to rescue mode, or in other words, saving each other’s lives.

It’s impressive how even after so many war movies that have been made there’s always a way of telling a story from a different perspective. Black Hawk Down is not a spiritual journey, it isn’t a character study, it doesn’t delve too much into politics, it isn’t preachy, patriotic or moralistic. Black Hawk Down is a movie that shows the absurd nature of war in its simplest form: the battle to survive. As one character mutters towards the end, there’s no way anyone can understand war until they’re there, in the spot, in the middle of the carnage.

This is a war movie in the truest sense of the word. It has a running length of two and a half hours and I’d be willing to say that there are only about 15 minutes or less when you don’t get to hear gunshots. Some people have described the movie as the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan stretched into a couple of hours. I wouldn’t disagree. Black Hawk Down is a continuous battle, an excruciating experience that doesn’t let you breathe until it’s over and even then you feel tired and affected by what you’ve just witnessed. The movie makes you feel as if you were there and that speaks a lot about its powerful resonance.

The ensemble cast is first-rate and they all do solid work. I think Josh Hartnett and Eric Bana are the standouts, but Ewan McGregor, Sam Shepard, Jeremy Piven, Tom Sizemore, Orlando Bloom, William Fitchner and the rest of the actors are equally good.

Add to this the impeccable production values that you come to expect from a Ridley Scott film and you’ve got something special in your hands. It’s got great photography and Pietro Scalia’s editing job is simply amazing. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in his shoes.

All in all, I don’t think I’m overreacting when I call this one of the finest war movies ever made.

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Review

A Shot in the Dark

Director

Blake Edwards

Year

1964

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Monday, March 11, 2002

Bumbling Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers), wrongfully assigned to a murder case in the residence of Monsieur Ballon (George Sanders), blindly trusts the obvious suspect, gorgeous Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommer), despite the fact that everything points exactly the other way.

Adapted from a stage play that featured two detectives instead of one, and customized (by the director and William Peter Blatty, of The Exorcist (1973) fame) to become a Clouseau vehicle, this comedic gem became the actual starter of The Pink Panther series, introducing Commissioner Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), Karate Trainer Kato (Burt Kwouk) and other frequent characters.

Constantly hilarious and elegantly filmed, it features unforgettable gags including the fall in the fountain, Kato’s surprise attacks, the synchronization of watches and Clouseau’s visit to a nudist camp. The final twist is arrestingly funny. Add to this Henry Mancini’s score (later used for the animated Clouseau series), Blake’s precise direction and the priceless presence of Sanders, and you’ve got a winner.

Inspector Jacques Clouseau: There is something... personal... in this?
Commissioner Charles Dreyfus: Yes, deeply personal. I hate you! Every little bit of you! Now get out!
Inspector Jacques Clouseau: You want me to leave?

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Review

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Director

Lasse Hallström

Year

1993

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Thursday, March 07, 2002

This is one of those movies I love so much that it becomes almost impossible to express my feelings the way I’d like. It would be like giving out my heart and converting it into written words. It’s that difficult and there’s no wonder why: this is one of my favorite movies of all-time.

Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp) is a grocery clerk living in a small town of Iowa where nothing ever happens. Since his father committed suicide he’s got to take care of his family, specially his mentally-ill brother (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his extremely obese mother (Darlene Cates). One day a free-spirited girl (Juliette Lewis) who’s vacationing comes around and forms a bond with Gilbert, thus changing everything around.

Simple and poignant movies don’t get better than this. It is a living proof that once you’ve got interesting characters and a good story to tell then you don’t need anything else. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape might be extremely low-key, yet it never fails to entertain and move you. I wanted it never to end, I wanted to spend more time with these people, I wanted to keep sharing all those special moments in their lives.

The movie’s also a touching story about how an individual’s happiness can take a sit-back to family matters and taking care of others. Gilbert is such an extraordinary character. He has spent his whole life looking after everyone else, yet he’s never thought of any other option. Suddenly something great gets in his way and the world around him can’t understand it. But then again, we all have the right to be happy and live our lives, so some adjustments have to be made. This movie is about that, and about the coping of special circumstances thrown in everyday life.

But wait, there’s also an underlying message about the importance of family and the bond that keeps them together. Gilbert is a man with flaws. He’s got immersed in a strange adulterous affair yet we can’t blame him. Nobody’s perfect and that’s what makes him more real. Those are true feelings and true situations and life ain’t any easy for him. Yet again, is it for anyone?

This is the kind of movie only Lasse Hallstrom can do so perfectly. Subtle yet full of emotions. A story about people trying to live each day to its fullest in their own kind of way. I loved those moments when Gilbert actually had a sense of humor about his mother’s state. Through various scenes we’ve come to realize he needs those moments to keep going because he actually suffers for her. I think we can all relate to that.

Johnny Depp becomes Gilbert Grape. He delivers a quiet performance that hides much more beneath the surface. We see the world through his eyes and we come to understand him, to identify with him. Juliette Lewis, on the other hand, is also effectively easy-going as the girl who comes to change everything. Their love story is one of the most touching I’ve ever experienced.

And then there’s the people who have to play the physically-troubled characters. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar-nominated turn is simply breath-taking. Even if it sounds clichéd to praise this kind of performance DiCaprio deserves all the kudos imaginable. He got it damn right. Newcomer Darlene Cates also impresses as their mother. And even playing pretty normal people, Mary Streenburgen, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Laura Harrington and Mary Kate Schellhardt (the last two playing Gilbert’s two sisters) definitely leave a mark.

Beautiful music, beautiful photography, beautiful direction and, most important of all, a beautiful story. What more could you ask?

“I wanna be a good person.”

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Review

Meet Me In St. Louis

Director

Vincente Minnelli

Year

1944

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Wednesday, March 06, 2002

A big, loving family, living in St. Louis, Missouri, expects the World Fair of 1903 and live through it—loving, suffering and learning from experience.

This smashing MGM musical is, at its core, more a melodrama than a musical, but it has outstanding songs throughout. Dance, music and colorful settings make of this a treat to the eye and the ear. Perfectly atmospheric and beautifully photographed, it features Judy Garland in one of her great roles, as the teenage daughter who loves the boy next door. Her performance of Ralph Blane-Hugh Martin original songs is outstanding. “The Trolley Song” is especially fun.

Mary Astor is good as the mother, but Margaret O’Brien steals the show as five-year old ‘Tootie,’ who in real life became Sally Benson, the original writer of this story (published first as several small stories for the New Yorker, then compiled as a novel).

Judy singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (also an original song) to Tootie is one of cinema’s most valuable bits.

Heart-breaking moments and plenty laughs are the icing on the cake.

All in all, this wonderful film is one of the greatest Hollywood musicals, and just one reason to consider Minnelli a genius.

”Oh no John, I don’t hate you! I just hate basketball…”

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Review

Everyone Says I Love You

Director

Woody Allen

Year

1996

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Tuesday, March 05, 2002

Just the thought of having one of Woody Allen’s usual comedic stories set as a musical sounds as if someone has gone nuts. Not so! And the result is simply my definite favorite Allen movie!

The plot is simple: this is a movie about people falling in and out of love one way or another. Joe (Woody Allen) was once married to Steffi (Goldie Hawn). They both had a daughter, DJ (Natasha Lyonne), who serves as our narrator. When they divorced, Steffi married Joe’s good friend Bob (Alan Alda), with whom she had Scott (Lukas Haas), Skylar (Drew Barrymore), Laura (Natalie Portman) and Lane (Gaby Hoffman). Now, Skylar is just about to marry Holden (Edward Norton), but the sudden appearance of an ex-convict (Tom Roth) complicates matters a bit. Meanwhile Joe falls for a beautiful unhappily-married woman (Julia Roberts) and tries to get her with the help of his daughter. Overall, this is the story of one big, complicated family!

Now, one would think Allen had had some experience doing musicals in the past because he’s great at it. There are all different types of musical sequences from big choreographed numbers to simple melancholic ones. What’s greater is the fact that these are all non-singing actors lending their own voices and dancing abilities to create something out of the ordinary. At the core this is just another quirky Woody Allen-ish story, with the slight difference being that here characters suddenly burst into singing.

The songs and the score, by the way, have been gloriously arranged by Dick Hyman from old music. The movie actually has a 40’s flavor to it even though it takes place in modern day.

Allen also creates an ode to the cities of New York, Paris and Venice, as he gloriously photographs them and makes you wanna be there at the moment.

You also have to credit Allen for making one hell of a comedy. That’s what the movie is after all. Not only do the musical numbers have some comic flavor of their own, but Allen’s script is ingenious and funny as usual. He plays his old neurotic persona once again, yet it never becomes tired. On the contrary, he’s responsible for some of the most hilarious moments of the movie, specially those involving him and Julia Roberts. There’s also nothing like seeing Natalie Portman singing “I’m thru with love” with so much sadness in her voice.

And that dancing scene between Woody and Goldie at the side of the Seine river is simply beautiful, magical, glorious.

Overall this is a fantastic movie. It has charm, cleverness, great music, and a lot of heart.

“So I compromised, I became a writer and a patient.”

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Review

Wuthering Heights

Director

Luis Buñuel

Year

1954

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Monday, March 04, 2002

In 19th century Mexico, a revengeful former servant (Jorge Mistral) comes back after a long absence to claim his “rightful” place in the land where he was raised by a foster family, having loved (and still loving) his foster sister Catalina (Irasema Dilián) but having been rejected by everyone else. Finding his true love married to another (Ernesto Alonso), he decides to take revenge on everyone around, first taking his foster house, then absorbing the life of his beloved.

Bizarre and affecting (to say the least), this adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel is probably the most appropriate and the one that dares the most to portray its characters as inhuman. Jorge Mistral is perfect as Alejandro (the Heathcliff character), having revenge as his primary goal, though love and obsession guide him. Dilián is elegant, Alonso vulnerable, Lilia Prado brave as Isabel[la]. Francisco Reiguera is dead-on perfect as José (Joseph).

Abismos de Pasión is not unlike other Buñuel films concerning surrealism. All the film is like a dream and the passion of its main characters can be easily understood through images and few words. However, the dialogues are often rude and raw, like those in the novel, which is a good thing. Ricardo (the Hindley character, portrayed by Luis Aceves Castañeda) hates Alejandro so much that we can feel it. We even pity him, though he’s also a terrible person, mistreating his son Jorge (Hareton, the only character of the second generation that made it into the film, played by Jaime González Quiñones) among other things.

The finale is daring and unforgettable. As opposed to the Hollywood version, this one punishes Heathcliff for his hatred instead of justifying him for his love. A must for fans of the novel.

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