Yeah I'm not a big THOMAS CROWN fan. We'll have to disagree on that. I don't think it's terrible but it just never comes alive for me and I've tried watching it a few times over the years since it was first released. Rough score by Bill Conti too...though obviously I can understand why Rene Russo fans enjoy it.

Yellow Submarine

This movie is B-A-D, and unsatisfying on almost every level. Overall, the story is a slow-moving, preachy, psychedelic remake of Seven Samurai, that rather awkwardly builds a series of disconnected sequences around some of the Beatles' existing songs. It isn't even a true "Beatles musical" since none of the songs are original to the production (the "Fab Four" had little to do with the film and do not even provide the voices of their own characters).

Perhaps if John, Paul, George and Ringo had decided to provide their own voices the characters might actually have been interesting. As such they are bereft of any personality or flair. In fact the only truly interesting character in the entire film is Jeremy Hillary Boob, who is funny, sympathetic and has most of the best dialog.

The live action segment at the end -- which actually does feature the real Beatles -- is embarrassing and totally put-on, as they pretend to be the same happy-go-lucky youths from years earlier (when in fact they could barely stand each other by this point -- Lennon's "I'm too cool for this shite" attitude and waning tolerance of his bandmates is especially obvious).

For me, the most striking thing about Yellow Submarine is what a HUGE debt Terry Gilliam owes to this film. The use of cut-out animation in the "Eleanor Rigby" sequence looks exactly like Gilliam's later work for Monty Python, and the the film's surreal visual style -- which re-imagines the familiar in abstract terms -- pretty-much defines Gilliam's work. I guess Yellow Submarine was good for something.

And there is some wonderful original music in the production, but ironically it is not the songs, but George Martin's score, which is gorgeous, and brimming over with beautiful melodies and lush orchestrations. It's a pity he did devote more of his career to his own music.

But an average episode of the old Beatles animated TV show is ten times more entertaining and fun than anything is this extremely dated, pretentious attempt to cash-in on psychedelic youth culture.

The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005): 9.5/10

The most beautiful love story ever filmed.

LINCOLN 10/10

Finally saw this last night (had to go almost 50 miles to do so-local theater either would not play it or the distributor would not allow it [we got TEXAS CHAINSAW 3-D, but this? Nope...]) and I think it is Spielberg's best film since SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, if not his finest work. Glad they only took one specific time period of Lincoln's life-the fight for the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the US forever. There is so much to this man that a single film would never do him justice, and the idea that a movie about the legislative process would be both fascinating and moving is kind of radical in these days of movies edited by Cuisinart. To say that Day-Lewis gives a brilliant performance is to denigrate the man-he inhabits Lincoln, he embodies him in a way that right from the beginning you don't feel you are watching an actor-you are there in those moments where we see the folksy, humorous man we have almost mythologized to the nth degree and also when he loses his temper and strikes someone and tells his friends and politicians that it is time to stop being mealy-mouthed and do what is right. The supporting cast is perfection, with standouts being Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens (his verbal attack on a fellow legislator on the House floor and a scene with another one in his office are acting lessons that should be studied for years), Sally Field as Mary Todd (her scene with Jones is also a pip), James Spader and a nice little cameo by S. Epatha Merkerson as Jones' housekeeper.

Much has been made of this film being a lot of speeches and people sitting around talking. For me, this is like a breath of fresh air. After so many movies where people talk/shout/scream at each other and everything is so fast paced that you wonder why more characters in films aren't dying of exhaustion or strokes due to overexertion (or the crews making them), it was so nice to have scenes where people talk and converse and LISTEN-Tony Kushner's script is so brilliant-and we and the characters are allowed to slow down and digest what is going on rather than having to fight to remember what we just saw.

Spielberg is one of that dying breed of directors-the mature craftsman-who know they really have nothing to prove anymore. His film takes you back to a time in movies when directors trusted their actors and writers to tell a good story in a way that left the viewer exhilarated rather than exhausted and enlightened instead of obliterated. This collaboration with Day-Lewis and Kushner reminds me of films by Sidney Lumet at his best, where the love of making the film extended to the audience as if to say "We did our best work here, and we hope the love and care we put into it is seen and appreciated by you." To this viewer and the others in the audience last night, this film is very appreciated, indeed. This will most definitely be a Blu-Ray purchase, and now I am in a quandry: which to root for next Sunday, this or SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK?

Excellent review Jedbu - I gave it 9/10 several pages back...really liked it. I really liked this comment:

"Much has been made of this film being a lot of speeches and people sitting around talking. For me, this is like a breath of fresh air. After so many movies where people talk/shout/scream at each other and everything is so fast paced that you wonder why more characters in films aren't dying of exhaustion or strokes due to overexertion (or the crews making them), it was so nice to have scenes where people talk and converse and LISTEN..."

Totally agree with that. I doubt LINCOLN will win because there seems to be a lot of backlash against it for a bunch of reasons...I think at this point it kind of represents the "old guard" choice and wouldn't be in vogue with the movies of the time (so to speak). But I am looking forward to the DVD release in March so I can go through it again and really soak everything in.

ARGO
9/10

Not much to say -- just watched the Blu-Ray and loved it. Another assured, fine film from Affleck, so compelling even though you know where it's going, and packs an emotional punch at the conclusion. Great sense of time and place, no ridiculous embellishments or ovely stylized Janusz Kaminski cinematography to get in the way: it's straight ahead, tremendous filmmaking that conveys an unbelievably true story in a no-nonsense yet involving manner. I suppose you could quibble that John Goodman, Alan Arkin, etc. didn't have a ton to do: but the film wasn't necessarily about them, so much as the story itself (perhaps Affleck will do another Director's Cut down the line).

Will be interesting to see if this, or Silver Linings Playbook, comes away with Best Picture. To me it's one or the other, and they're both outstanding films, though obviously quite different. If I had to choose, I'll take both

Coriolanus

Unlike the 90s, which offered a cornucopia of Shakespeare movies (nine in all, if I'm not mistaken) virtually nothing by the Bard has been adapted for the screen since, and as such, Coriolanus is like water in the desert.

I didn't initially warm to this film, as its style (particularly at the outset) reminded me of Titus and Children of Men (neither of which I cared for). It definitely belongs to our time, with its minimal, non-melodic score and shakycam. However Ralph Fiennes' strength as a director is his ability to tell a compelling story and extract great performances from his cast, and he surpassingly achieves both. Fiennes heads a superb group of performers, including Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox. And while I often find movies that "update" Shakespeare to the modern age somewhat contrived, this movie pulls it off convincingly.

Despite my initially cool resistance to the film, I was quickly drawn in, and completely hooked by the conclusion. There's a lot to the story that isn't really digested after only one viewing (making one eager to revisit this film again, and soon).

ARGO: 9.5/10

Finally saw another one of the major Oscar contenders yesterday, and so far I have yet to watch any that have made me cringe like in some years (LIFE IS WONDERFUL? CHOCOLAT? CRASH-which won?). While I was hoping that LES MISERABLES would remain high on my list as award night approached, of the films up for Best Picture it is at the bottom as of now. And while I am still torn between LINCOLN and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK actually taking the big one home, I would not mind it if this one-the one that seems to have all the momentum and has won almost everything it has competed for.

This is the riveting and nail-biting tale of of six US workers who hid out in the Canadian embassy after the fall of the Shah of Iran and the taking of our own embassy, and their rescue by a CIA operative (Ben Affleck-who has pretty much erased PEARL HARBOR and DAREDEVIL from my memory [he still has a way to go for GIGLI, though]-is superb in the role) who puts together a fake Sci-Fi movie called ARGO to do so. Even though I knew the outcome and have known of it for some time, I literally was on the edge of my seat for the last 25 minutes of this film (one scene, in which two characters portrayed by John Goodman and Alan Arkin are delayed for what, in many cases would be a minor annoyance, reminded me of a scene in Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW where Grace Kelly retrieves something while the owner is about to return-you want to scream out "get going, for the love of God!").

There is not one false note in this film, no jingoism, no overt flag waving, plenty of incredibly stupid and inane office politics and rivalry between government agencies that make you wonder how it is possible for the government to actually run let alone not self-destruct. The performances are solid straight down the line, with Arkin and Bryan Cranston outstanding as a washed-up Hollywood director and Affleck's CIA boss, respectively (the latter has one of the most satisfying explosions of temper at government bureaucracy I have ever seen-makes you want to cheer). The recreation of 1979-80 in Iran never falters, and you really appreciate things like cell phones and the internet after seeing what passed for state-of-the-art gadgets at that time (Telex machines, anyone?).

Now that it out on home video, I can finally see why so many have picked this film as the one to beat on Sunday. Like I said, I still prefer two other films to this one, but if it does take home the Oscar, I do not think I will look back and say "Oh, come on!"

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD before Sunday, and I hope DJANGO UNCHAINED someday.

BEASTS was a nice little movie but it's very odd. For me it's another one of those "indie" films critics go crazy about that didn't do a whole lot for me. I liked it, but didn't really see what the fuss was about other than the girl's performance.

IDENTITY THIEF
7.5/10

Sometimes there exists a disconnect between what audiences and critics happen to see. IDENTITY THIEF, a perfectly entertaining comedy/road trip flick from Seth Gordon, is one of those instances. This year's highest grossing film to date has taken critical brickbats and has even seen Rex Reed tear apart Melissa McCarthy's weight (nice going Rex -- plenty of things I can say about you but won't!), but the film itself is a crowd pleaser: good natured, funny in places, not excessively vulgar, and with solid chemistry between McCarthy as the frizzy haired title character and Jason Bateman as the hapless working man whose identity she steals. She's great, and the movie does enable her to do something more than play the "crazy big woman" in its second half, with some surprisingly effective dramatic scenes. Bateman is game too, and while the film isn't hilarious or particularly memorable, it is highly enjoyable especially if you like road-trip flicks with mismatched characters. Certainly there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours at the movies, which is exactly the type of thing that "Identity Thief" functions well as -- a decent timekiller with the two leads playing off each other extremely well. No wonder why viewers have enjoyed it for what it is instead of critics like Rex Reed, who needs to get over himself -- and get a life on top of it.

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD: 2/10

Was not impressed at all with this pseudo-Malick take on denizens of "The Bathtub"-people who live in an impoverished, almost destitute section of Louisiana just south of New Orleans with the central character a little girl named Hush Puppy (Quvenzhane Wallis) and how she deals with a difficult life when a hurricane sweeps through the area and makes things even more devastating. The mystical boars were quite interesting, and the depiction of the storm was a nice use of sound, but all the while I just kept hearing Linda Manz from DAYS OF HEAVEN and a narration that seemed just a bit too sophisticated for a six-year-old girl. I did like Dwight Henry as her father, Wink, but I was not terribly impressed with Wallis as much as so many appear to be. I would be interested to see how she fares in something more mainstream and see if her presence is as strong as it is here.

And as for IDENTITY THIEF and Rex Reed, I only have two words-MYRA BRECKENRIDGE . That film alone totally negates any criticism he gives to any film or performer, good or bad.

And as for IDENTITY THIEF and Rex Reed, I only have two words-MYRA BRECKENRIDGE . That film alone totally negates any criticism he gives to any film or performer, good or bad.

You'd think a guy like him would also be sensitive to personal insults on performers -- never mind making said insults. What a maroon. lol.

Paul MacLean wrote:Continuing with the Bond movies...

You Only Live Twice

Entertaining, but weaker than any of the previous 007 pictures. The Japanese setting is very alluring, but at the end of the day it is mostly window dressing. I'd have liked to have seen more of Tiger Tanaka's ninja school, and more of Bond undergoing its rigorous training -- he comes-off as a little lame in the climax, running around with a pistol while Tanaka's men look infinitely more cool dispatching SPECTRE guards with katanas and throwing stars.

The gadgets in this film are mostly just throwaway gimmicks (and the "Little Nell" scene is silly and pointless). The overall story line concerning the hijacking of American and Russian space capsules is good however (and actually more believable than Fleming's original premise of Blofeld's suicide cult and garden of man-eating plants). You have to admire the production value, particularly Ken Adam's full-size SPECTRE hideaway in the volcano (with a full-scale rocket that actually lifts-off!). Aki is also one of the most appealing Bond girls, as is Kissy (both of whom are not only beautiful, but brave as well). Connery's performance however is not one of his best, and it is clear that he was tiring of the role. A sometimes-silly but entertaining and nice-looking film, though less satisfying than its predecessors.

I finally got around to watching this...Asian girls are HOT!!! Lol...as a film though, entertaining as it was...after FRWL, GF, and TB it is a bit of a let-down. Connery looks like he's phoning it in, the story was getting a bit formulaic (he didn't even really sedue Aki...she just gives herself to him), and they could have done more to take advantage of the Japanese landscapes they had at their disposal. I too would have liked to see more of the ninja school.

Also, some of the chase sequences are weird, and for whatever reason the marksmanship of Bond and his enemies seems to have gone backwards in this film (I am thinking specifically about the scene were Bond is at the docks where the Ning Po is harbored and, as he is trying to escape up a ramp, shoots a dude at point blank range and misses...the other scene is when Bond [aka Mr. Fisher] is walking out of Osata and is missed by a dude with a machine gun).

I did like John Barry's score, though I thought his space music got better for Moonraker. I think this film has lost a bit of favor with me because it seemed like it was missing smooth transitions between moments in the story. I'm not sure how I would rank DR. NO, YOLT, and DAF....probably in that order from best to worst.

mkaroly wrote:I finally got around to watching this...Asian girls are HOT!!!

Damn straight.

"I will enjoy working under you, Mr. Bond."

mkaroly wrote:I did like John Barry's score, though I thought his space music got better for Moonraker. I think this film has lost a bit of favor with me because it seemed like it was missing smooth transitions between moments in the story. I'm not sure how I would rank DR. NO, YOLT, and DAF....probably in that order from best to worst.

I'd put DAF ahead of YOLT a little bit, but not much. I agree with you guys on YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE -- it's pretty dull. One of the shorter Bond movies but feels like one of the longest. Connery phoning it in, and Barry's music is good, but the film itself feels lethargic, even tired, despite some outlandish sets. You can see why he was weary of the part in this film, for sure.

You'd also have thought Roald Dahl would've brought some more offbeat sensibilities to the material, yet the film is pretty much down the middle all the way.