Ghostwriter, The
Director, Roman Polanski

I've mixed opinions about this film - It's extremely well done (duh - Roman Polanski), I enjoyed, but I have no desire to see it again.

And the shot that Ebert gushed over - the passing of the note (doesn't matter if you haven't seen it): When it began, I said to Romy "He's trying to get artsy!"

But it was a nicely understated film with a couple of twists. Great cast, and I loved that the lead character (Ewan McGregor) has no name - he's "the ghost[writer]." Nice touch.

 - Originally reviewed: 08/31/2010, 9:27 pm

Green Zone
Starring: Matt Damon

Another "Why are we at war in the Middle East" films, this is about a squad in Iraq detailed to find the WMDs that are spelled out in intelligence docs...but are not there.

Based on a true story; still left slanted. Whatever.

Just wasn't that good a movie. I like Matt Damon, and he was good here. But that's not enough.

Like "The Hurt Locker" (which I still think is overrated but, crap, give any of those soldiers over there whatever they want. Not pretty...), it showed how crazy it is for the US to be in the Middle East - and for the most part - the US doesn't "get" the Middle East.

Bottom Line: I'll never watch again nor recommend. Questions?

 - Originally reviewed: 08/19/2010, 9:11 pm

Memento
Director, Christopher Nolan

Guy Pearce stars in - and is riveting in - this movie that just messes with your mind.

Displayed in reverse chronology; the story (at one level) of a man (Pearce) out to get the killer of his wife.

Pearce's character - as a result of the trauma of his wife's brutal death - has left him with no ability to remember anything post her death. He relies on Polaroids, notes, tattoos to help him keep his life in order.

Second time I've seen the movie - loved both times - but I think this is a flick you should get on DVD and watch Saturday and then again on Sunday - I'm certain I'm missing some nuanced issues.

Who is the good guy/gal? Bad guy/gal? What is real, what is not real? One of (too few) movies that prompt discussion about what really happened and so on.

Highly recommended.

 - Originally reviewed: 08/01/2010, 9:30 pm

Inland Empire
David Lynch, Director

Showcasing a stunning, understated performance by Laura Dern, director David Lynch perhaps "out-Lynches" himself.

What's it about? As with many Lynch productions, that's not easy to say. It's a movie (or two) within a movie, and it's hard to keep track of what pieces are from which layer.

It's three hours long, but doesn't drag, even though it is a very slow-placed movie for the most part (portions of frantic edits, surreal imagined (?) scenes supplement the slower, Lynch-like portions).

I just finished watching it a couple of hours ago; it's still playing in my head, and predict it'll play there for some time. That kind of sums up the movie for me.

 - Originally reviewed: 07/17/2010, 3:59 pm

The Blind Side
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron

Not a great movie, but a well-done (for the most part) flick that hits most of the right notes.

It's a little predictable, but that's the remarkable part of the movie - in the first half-hour or so, I could have dictated the entire rest of the move.

*Yawn*

Except it's based on a TRUE story.

Worth a watch; Bullock - whom I like - won an Oscar for this role, but she wasn't that great. Good; not great. Playing, in some ways, the same "smart and sassy" role as Julia Roberts in "Erin Brockovich," Bullock pales in comparison.

There was a lot of material that had to - I'm guessing - be tossed to make a less than 12-hour movie (takes place in Memphis; wealthy white couple and kids pretty much just take in and accept a homeless black juvenile stranger, for example).

Flaws, but good - not great - movie.

 - Originally reviewed: 07/10/2010, 9:57 pm

Superbad
Starring: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Seth Rogen, Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Perhaps "SuperMediocre"- at best.

I dunno, I've seen this movie a dozen+ times before. Dork dudes lust after hot chicks, strange events occur, dork dudes almost/do get hot chicks.

Yeah.

The "McLovin" bit is shout-worthy, but this movie left me cold/tepid otherwise. I just couldn't get into the whole "separation anxiety" issue that's part of the core of this movie. Not - in my experience - a guy thing.

Oh - Michael Cera: In this flick and Juno, he's about as convincing as an Eggo "Waffle."

 - Originally reviewed: 06/28/2010, 8:29 pm

500 Days of Summer
Starring Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

I saw this today for the second time (both on DVD); I can't believe I didn't review it after the first view.

Brilliant: Off-beat, true, quirky, unconventional, understated, non-linear. I could go on with the adjectives. This is a movie about a boy and a girl that the opening narrator explains "is not a love story."

I think I enjoyed it more the second time around; the structure is so unconventional that it makes it hard to predict, so the second time around one can focus on what is happening, instead of extrapolating what will happen.

Clever special effects (not explosions, but - well, see it). Architectural drawings and so on.

Bonus: Awesome soundtrack. Purchased same, as well as a Regina Spektor CD (she has two songs on the soundtrack).

 - Originally reviewed: 06/20/2010, 12:21 am

The Hangover
Starring Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms

Finally got around to seeing this 2009 hit.

Pretty damn good.

Good setup: Four guys go to Vegas for a last weekend of fun before one of the four gets married. What could go wrong?

They wake up the next morning, and no one can remember what transpired the night before. And the groom is missing. And there is a live tiger in the bathroom. And a baby in the closet.

Could have been bad, but they pulled it off. Nice, offbeat comedy.

 - Originally reviewed: 06/13/2010, 9:24 pm

Sunshine Cleaning
Starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt

Quirky and off-beat, Sunshine Cleaning never really gets anywhere, but it's an interesting journey.

Adams, playing the unwed mother of a handful of a son, goes into business as a crime-scene cleanup service. She employs the help of her sister, who is an unmotivated loser who's still living at home with their dad (Alan Arkin).

As the movie progresses, you begin to get a look into how the characters have arrived at this point in their lives.

I liked it - it was a downer, but really spoke to truth, about how things are and how people get where they are.

Arkin was the only disappointment - he plays (minus the heroin) the same character he played in Little Miss Sunshine.

 - Originally reviewed: 04/18/2010, 3:17 pm

Capitalism: A Love Story
Micheal Moore, writer/director

Yep, Micheal Moore taking on capitalism - specifically, the collapse of Wall Street (and how that affects Main Street).

Yet Moore - in hyperbolic ways, in quiet discussions with Catholic clergy (what would Jesus do?) and members of Congress (eep!) - suggests that capitalism is something we can't repair or regulate, but need to remove. He, at one point, equates it with child labor. Some - at that time - said that we (the USA) could regulate so it would be safer for children to work in factories. Fewer hours, higher pay, safety standards.

Moore - and most people - scoff at this: OK, it's now OK for an 8-year-old to work 8 hours at a textile factory??

Socialist talk!

But he does a good job of stating his point (complete with over-the-top Moorisms); interesting film. The extras should be viewed, as well. Dig a little deeper into various areas.

 - Originally reviewed: 04/11/2010, 8:31 pm

The Contender
Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen

A political drama/thriller in the vein of "American President" or West Wing.

A liberal love story - with bad (very) guys on the conservative side.

Not a great movie, but a good one (with a couple of twists). But a good political drama with a person (Joan Allen) that's never been - to me - in a bad movie.

Like West Wing, it kind of makes you hope that how DC operates (for the good guys [whomever they are] ). Probably not, but we can hope

 - Originally reviewed: 04/05/2010, 10:34 pm

Monk - Season 8
Tony Shalhoub

I watched the eighth - and final - season of “Monk” this weekend.

Overall, pretty well done. Monk is not classic TV, just fun.

The last season wrapped up things a little too tightly for me (don’t need full closure on everyone), but I liked the closure with Monk/Trudy. Worked for me.

Monk went out on a high note, and they (writers/directors/cast) seemed to have fun ending it all.

That’s a good thing…

 - Originally reviewed: 03/30/2010, 9:44 pm

The Reader
Starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross

The story about a young man's affair with a woman twice his age in Germany is hard to describe without giving away too much. Fiennes and Kross play the older and younger men, respectively; Winslet plays her character at all ages.

Extremely well done, and Winslet is brilliant: She won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance, and I can't argue with that. Not a "feel-good" movie, but one well worth watching.

 - Originally reviewed: 02/28/2010, 6:05 pm

Garden State
Zach Braff, Writer and Director

Starring Braff and Natalie Portman, this quirky (and not in a Scrubs way) and unconventional movie isn't great, but a great first movie for Braff.

Basically about finding oneself and becoming something larger than oneself, the movie was very understated and characteristically dysfunctional.

Not for all tastes, but I had long wanted to watch it (it came out five years ago in 2004!). Worth the wait.

 - Originally reviewed: 12/27/2009, 10:09 am

Bottle Shock
Randall Miller, Director

A movie in the vein of "Sideways" - about wine, about Napa Valley.

Based on a true story, basically outlining (in a wildly strange way) how Napa accidentally got on the map for good wine (competing with the French) and setting the stage for non-French wineries everywhere to operate on a somewhat even ground.

I.e. Quality is the differentiation, not location (i.e. France).

Not a great movie, but fun. Quirky.

It's "Sideways" meets "The Dish."

Worth a watch - and I don't say that a lot.

It helps to be into wine - in the very slightest way - to enjoy same. Helps. Not necessary.

 - Originally reviewed: 11/01/2009, 12:39 am

Proposal, The
Anne Fletcher, Director

Another one in a long list of "hey, I have to marry someone - anyone - to get my Green Card" movies.

This one is about as unpredictable as a glacier, and about as fast-moving.

I like both Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock (the stars), but come on.

Scenery was beautiful - allegedly in Sitka, AK. Turns out it was all filmed in New England, so it's all matte paintings. Super.

Has its moments, but I'll never rent again.

 - Originally reviewed: 10/31/2009, 6:15 pm

Gran Torino
Clint Eastwood

I really enjoyed this movie.

Slow? Yes.

But it had to sort of be the same, otherwise you wouldn't buy the connections that are made.

I like Clint Eastwood a lot; I like his non-"Dirty Harry" more than the Dirty Harry movies, but he's always good.

 - Originally reviewed: 06/20/2009, 10:07 pm

Roger and Me
Director: Michael Moore

Powerful, painful, funny, not really going anywhere.

But - today (2009) resonates even more.

 - Originally reviewed: 03/08/2009, 6:10 pm

Sicko
Director - Michael Moore

Is it one-sided? Yes.

Is it sensationalistic? Yep.

Does it cherry pick item to get the biggest bang for the buck? Of course.

But the discussion of how the U.S. - the richest country in the world - can't provide the same level of basic health care as less-affluent countries for those who need it the most (i.e. the un-rich) is breathtaking.

Really makes you think, and makes one somewhat ashamed to be an American.

 - Originally reviewed: 05/03/2008, 3:14 pm

Departed, The
Martin Scorsese, director

One of the better movies I've seen over the past couple of years.

What a cast - Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin - and they all mesh to make this tale of the two(?) sides of the law work, and work well.

Filled with trademark Scorsese elements (apeture fade in out; killer soundtrack), the movie - while longish by today's standards (2.5 hours) - goes along at a good clip and you almost wish it would never end.

Highly recommened

 - Originally reviewed: 05/06/2007, 3:37 pm

Beerfest
Jay Chandrasekhar, director

Well, this is not one for the Oscars.

It's Animal House meets Fight Club, mixing in drinking games we all did in college.

Not bad, but - for an over-the-top comedy - it just didn't have that many laughs. Stereotypes, tits and ass, implausible situations and so on.

Not a waste of time, but not a productive use of same.

But it's Saint Patrick's day, so a movie celebrating beer is appropriate.

 - Originally reviewed: 03/17/2007, 9:08 pm

Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl
Gore Verbinski, director

The first the Pirates of the Caribbean films, this unorthodox pirate romp is visually stunning and great fun.

There is a nice plot to it all, and Johnny Depp (of course) steals the show as a foppish, pragmatically indifferent pirate captain.

While it contains many of the essential elements of a pirate movie - parrots, peg-legs, swordplay, "arrgh!!" speak and so on - it's almost a genre unto itself, one that just happens to be about pirates.

I resisted, for whatever reason, seeing this for too long (released in Dec. 2003), but now I want to see part two next weekend!

Highly recommended.

 - Originally reviewed: 03/04/2007, 3:33 pm

Scrubs - First Season
Scrubs is one of those non-traditional sitcoms that you'll either like or hate.

I always enjoyed it, but - having not watched it much the last couple of years - it was fun to sit and go through the entire first year over a weekend.

Damn they are clever - fantasy sequences, fun with sound effects, fun with each other.

Like News Radio and Third Rock From the Sun, you either grok this type of comedy or you don't.

If you don't you are poorer for it...

 - Originally reviewed: 02/17/2007, 11:42 pm

Shopgirl
Anand Tucker, director

Based on a Steve Martin novella, this adaption - starring Martin, Claire Danes and Jason Schwartz - is a disaster.

Maybe it was trying to be true to the book (I haven't read), but there were too many "What the hell...." moments, too many voice-overs by Martin to explain what was obvious, and no true explorations of the characters.

I like Martin and Danes, but I'll never watch this again, that's for sure.

This has the flavor of the movie Martin succeeded with - L.A. Story - but everyone stumbles badly here. (I take that back - Danes was pretty believable.)

 - Originally reviewed: 01/30/2007, 8:31 pm

Da Vinci Code
Ron Howard, Director

Wow, did this suck! I'd heard bad things about the movie, but I thought I'd give it a shot - Howard has done some good movies (Apollo 13), and Hanks is a favorite.

And I had read the book, which - while not well-written - was a good read. Good beach book, let's say.

But nothing compelling here at all. Even the extra disc of special stuff sucked.

Highly unrecommended.

 - Originally reviewed: 01/07/2007, 7:26 pm

Thank You for Smoking
Jason Reitman, director

Highly entertaining, spot-on movie about the lobbying industry and how it spins issues.

Aaron Eckhart plays the head spokesman for Big Tobacco, and he plays it so well you almost root for him. The scenes with his son are painfully accurate, such as when he explains to his son that he (Eckhart's character) doesn't have to be right, he only has to show that other side to be wrong. That means, for the argument, that he is right.

Well done, nicely tongue-in-cheek without going over the top. Enjoyable, but it makes you think, at the same time.

 - Originally reviewed: 11/24/2006, 2:27 pm

About a Boy
Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, directors

A Hugh Grant vehicle in which Grant plays the character he always plays: The boorish, self-centered womanizing cad.

But it's way more than that. At times just a comedy, it's also filled with pathos, insights into "how did we get here and why?" and what relationships mean.

It's about, on many levels, the human conditions.

Understated, very funny and with great performances all around, About a Boy is difficult to classify but enjoyable to watch. It's based on a book by Nick Hornby, who also wrote the John Cusack vehicle, High Fidelity.

Music, by Badly Drawn Boy, works extremely well with the movie.

 - Originally reviewed: 10/22/2006, 10:24 am

Syriana
Stephen Gaghan, director

A very complicated, very interesting, very involved and - ultimately - very disappointing movie.

The movie was about the stability of the Middle East and the behavior of the companies/governments that use the oil from its fields. The message was simple: Nothing is as it seems. The people who run this don't, this that seems like white is black, doublespeak is the language of all, and it all comes down to the almighty buck.

Could be compelling, but - as presented here - it was just overkill and (possibly intentionally) confusing. I thought Three Kings (also with Clooney) did a much better job of showing how the craziness in the Middle East was oil/money/power based - with that religious wildcard, of course.

 - Originally reviewed: 10/15/2006, 4:11 pm

The Dish
Rob Sitch, director

This is not a great movie, this is not a classic - it's just a really well made, beautifully filmed story about that time in our history when we raced for the moon.

The story is set in Australia, which was (and still is) home to the radio dish that handles spacecraft communications when North American dishes can't see the object.

Quirky characters, a strong cast - mainly of unknowns - help elevate this tale of how Parkes Radio Telescope participated in the Apollo 11 program from a pretty boring premise to one that is a compelling watch. This is not The Right Stuff or Apollo 13 - it's closer to October Sky.

 - Originally reviewed: 09/17/2006, 5:31 pm

United 93
Paul Greengrass, Director

I almost passed on watching this movie, simply because the subject matter - a fictionalized account of the 9/11 hijacking that crashed due to passenger intervention - seemed to recent and real to be anything but exploitive or painful.

But I watched, and - while painful - it was very well done and extremely powerful, and not at all in an over the top way.

The use of no-name actors was the key, to me: If one of the stewardesses was Julia Roberts or a passenger was Al Pacino, it would have broken that illusion of something terrible happening to real people.

Not a comfortable movie, but very well done.

 - Originally reviewed: 09/09/2006, 5:46 pm

Forrest Gump
Robert Zemeckis, Director

I finally purchased this DVD, and it's a great movie on a number of levels: 1) Special effects magic; 2) The stor(ies) of the Boomer generation encapsulated in the main characters' lives; 3) Wonderful music, and intelligent use thereof; 4) Just a nice, not too-sweet love story.

Hey, any one of those four apply to almost no movies coming out these days; this has them all...

 - Originally reviewed: 08/12/2006, 4:15 pm

Almost Famous
Cameron Crowe - director

A based-on-fact fictional tale of writer/director's Crowe's teen years as a Rolling Stone journalist. This is not a classic, but a sweet and bittersweet look back at rock and roll, coming of age, journalism and love.

It is!

Always a compelling watch - this was from my own DVD collection - in a very lighthearted, completely enjoyable way.

Kate Hudson steals the movie as Penny Lane, the consumate Band-Aid, and Frances McDormand (as always) brings a neurotic brilliance to her role as the mother of the young Crowe . (Don't take drugs!)

 - Originally reviewed: 07/26/2006, 6:52 pm

The Weatherman
I like Nicolas Cage; I like enigmatic movies. This has/is both.

I still didn't like it; didn't quite get it.

It was fine to watch; had some funny moments, but I will never watch this movie again.

I guess I was expecting something different - the trailers show Cage roaming the city with a bow and arrow. And in this movie, he is very much a man on the edge - I kept waiting for him to go postal and start firing those arrows. Never happened.

Shot (exteriors) in the Chicago area, where I'm from, so that's fun, but - overall - unimpressive.

 - Originally reviewed: 07/09/2006, 7:47 pm

Walk the Line
James Mangold, director

The story of the early life of Johnny Cash, up to the time when he finally married June Carter.

I don't know much about Cash's life, and nada about Carter's, but this was an extremely well-done movie, with outstanding performances by Joaquin Phoenix (Cash) and Reese Witherspoon (Carter). The amazing part is that the actors did the singing for the movie, and - at least for Cash - Phoenix nailed it.

Begins - and ends - in Folsom prison.

One quibble - the sound was a little muddy, at least to me.

 - Originally reviewed: 07/03/2006, 3:47 pm

West Wing Season Five
First non-Aaron Sorkin year, and it shows.

The West Wing didn't jump the shark this year (the following year they did, painfully - I stopped watching), but they came close.

It was a "let's shake it up" year, yet most of the changes didn't (to me) work. There were moments, but - overall - very weak compared even to Season 4 (weakest of 1-4).

 - Originally reviewed: 04/08/2006, 10:18 pm

Brokeback Mountain
Ang Lee (director)

This movie has gotten a lot of press (and launched a thousand jokes), and has been labelled a gay cowboy movie. Many dismiss this, but, at heart, it is a gay cowboy movie. Sorry, it is.

But it's much more than that - it's a great tale with tremendous performances and beautiful scenery and a story line that broaches hard questions without implicitly asking them.

At bottom, it's a tragedy - a love story, a story of forbidden (at many levels) love. Forbidden by one's mores, by society, but what one has been trained to do/not do say/not say.

 - Originally reviewed: 03/19/2006, 3:53 pm

Good Night, and Good Luck
George Clooney (director)

An extremely well-made, well-paced and unbelievably well-filmed (B&W) film.

David Strathairn give a quiet, understated perfomance as Edward R. Murrow, who - with producer Fred Friendly (Clooney) - decided take on the reckless accusations of Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the 1950 communist paranoia.

I don't know if this film would play as well in other years; the parallels to McCarthy and his communist vendeta and the current War on Terror resonate today - a decade from now, maybe not.

I found the atmosphere of the film its strongest point - B&W done as well as (or better than) Woody Allen, the sets, the constant smoking and scotch-drinking: It was the 1950s, and this is a great snapshot of same.

 - Originally reviewed: 03/12/2006, 11:53 am

Broken Flowers
Jim Jarmusch (director)

I like Bill Murray.

I like artsy-fartsy movies.

I like enigmatic movies.

I like all not being spelled out, some questions remaining.

This was all, but it left me cold.

I get the gist of the film, where Murray's character is traveling to try to find out if he has sired a child a couple of decades ago - but it's really a story about Murray's character trying to find himself...OK.

But this is about two hours of my life I'll never get back...

 - Originally reviewed: 02/26/2006, 8:37 pm

Million-Dollar Baby
Clint Eastwood, director

I seem drawn to the not feel-good movies. This, the tale of a white-trash woman who dreams of becoming a title-holding boxer, starts depressing and goes downhill from there.

It's an interesting movie - I especially like the way everything was not all wrapped up neatly at the end - but not as good as I expected. Three stars maybe - but maybe that's because I'm not a fan of boxing. Solid performances all around, especially by Hillary Swank, but not a movie I'll return to any time soon.

 - Originally reviewed: 02/05/2006, 1:45 pm

March of the Penguins
Luc Jacquet, director

Well done, but - given all the buzz about this movie - a disappointment.

My review: A really, really well done National Geographic-type special, about an animal I knew little about, filmed extremely well under what must have been brutal conditions.

But that's it. I borrowed the DVD; I doubt I'll ever watch it again.

Maybe all my Disovery/History channel watching has tainted me...

 - Originally reviewed: 01/15/2006, 6:20 pm

Three Kings
David O. Russell, director

About a disillusioned bunch of soldiers in the Gulf War, wondering just what they accomplished over there. To them, it seems the so-called successes they've had have not really helped the people as a whole.

Oh - and this is about the first Gulf War, early 1990s, not today's (2006) Gulf War.

Dark comedy with very stylish cinementography; it probably resonates more today than when it did upon its release in 1999/2000, if for no other reason than the deja vu factor.

 - Originally reviewed: 01/15/2006, 3:41 pm

Fahrenheit 9/11
Michael Moore

Is this biased? Yes. Does it just portray one side of the story and attempt to belittle the other side(s) of the story? Sure. Does it dwell on just one part of a bigger story? Yep.

Is it exceptionally well done? Yes. Are the clips presented misrepresented? No.

Should this movie infuriate the World? Yes.

Yep, this it your standard Moore film, but an interesting examination of one facet of the war in Iran: His take on just why we invaded liberated Iraq.

Why?

It's the OIL, stupid.

Agree or disagree, the movie raises a lot of points that are difficult to push aside, and - as I've mentioned - it's done very well. Over the top at times, too maudlin at times, but that's my bias.

Lot of facts that are hard to ignore behind the curtain of Moore's ham-handed handling of some aspects of the film. Watch. Discuss. Be informed.

 - Originally reviewed: 08/15/2004, 11:58 am

Mystic River
Clint Eastwood, Director

Well, not the feel-good movie of the year, but a great story well told and with some great acting.

Sean Penn and Tim Robbins both grabbed Oscars for their (very different) portrayals of of individuals on the fringe and on the edge.

Between this movie and Good Will Hunting, I really don't have a burning desire to move to Boston...

 - Originally reviewed: 07/26/2004, 6:56 pm

Big Fish
Tim Burton

It took me awhile to warm to this movie, but I ended up enjoying it.

Not a great movie, not one I'll watch again for some time, but with a sweet, funny and thoughtful story line. And great imagination.

Actually, this is a movie that works better as a preview - its got some great, three-second-long shots that would translate well to previews/commercials and so on.

 - Originally reviewed: 05/03/2004, 8:14 am

21 Grams
I was expecting a drug movie - the 21 grams was the clue - but this movie, while having some drug use, is not about drugs.

It's about the intersection of three people (and - peripherally - the people associated with those three) whose lives accidently intersect, told in a series of out-of-sequence vignettes (some brief, some extended).

Not a feel-good movie; not a great movie, but very, very good. Sean Penn again demonstrates that he's one of the finest actors out there.

 - Originally reviewed: 04/12/2004, 1:01 pm

The Pianist
Roman Polanski

Well, this is not your feel-good movie of the year, that's for certain.

While a certain amount of gravity and declaration of seriousness goes with a Holocaust story such as this, this movie earns the accolades it did receive. One of the better movies I've seen in the last few years; Brody is impressive and the history lesson compelling.

My one nit to pick is the message - in reviews and on the Blockbuster box - that it was the protagonist's (a famous pianist) love of music that helped get him through this terrible time. I just didn't get that from the movie - yes, he loved music, and his celebrity as a musician got him some breaks, but this movie is - to me - simply a tale of survival in horrific times.

 - Originally reviewed: 02/23/2004, 1:03 pm

Chicago
This film - a cross between All That Jazz (another Fosse creation) and Moulin Rouge - was highly entertaining but, untimately, not memorable.

As a modern musical, with rapid, MTV-style edits and a blur between thought and reality, it is extremely well done and fun, but the story itself is weak. But, hey, it's a musical, no War and Peace, right?

 - Originally reviewed: 02/22/2004, 10:32 am