MY WEEK IN FILM

Due to a fucking piece of shit for a computer, I didn't get to put this up, as planned, last night, so here we are. And, by the way, the computer is fixed and set up with a new firewall and anti-virus, of which is supposed to be the best free PC protection on the net...

http://www.comodo.com

In addition to the new security, I'm trying to run the computer on Firefox for basic operations, such as blog maintenance.

Here we go...

MY WEEK IN FILM
7/6/2008 through 7/13/2008
THE LIST
-American Pie 1999 - Paul Weitz
-Deconstructing Harry 1997 - Woody Allen
-Angel Heart 1987 - Alan Parker
-The Departed 2006 - Martin Scorsese
-Children of Men 2006 - Alfonso Cuaron
-The Air I Breathe 2007 - Jieho Lee
-Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001 - Peter Jackson*

*Film is not considered for best or worst of the week, considering I have seen it before and watched for the sole purpose of viewing the IMDB Top 250.

THE BEST
THE AIR I BREATHE
Mr. Jieho Lee makes his directorial debut, and let me say, that it is an impressive one. In the tradition of 21 Grams and Crash, we meet a group of four strangers who are drawn together in a series of unforseeable circumstances. Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kevin Bacon and Forest Whitaker, star in four small tales of fate and chance. Gotta say, this was a great movie, that I came upon by chance on the Netflix instant viewing portion of their site and was not disapointed at all. Believe it or not even Gellar turns in a good performance and Fraser stunned me and showed some serious acting muscle as the man who can see mere moments into the future. Whitaker as the down on his luck, stuck in a dead end job and desperate man and Bacon as a doctor who seeks rare blood. Definitely check this one out and enjoy it, because it's a great film.

THE WORST
AMERICAN PIE
There are some comedies that can be extremely crude, while at the same time being clever (The 40-Year Old Virgin, for example). American Pie, however, is not one of them. I mean, c'mon folks, I live in a college town, so if I really wanted to see guys jerking off into glasses of beer, a girl telling me of her sexual escapades at band camp and a guy fucking a pie, I could probably go down on Main Street and see it live and in color. I do not, however wish to see that, and certainly not when I sit down for a film. I guess I really brought this on myself, but seeing how American Pie is considered a modern comedy classic, I decided to take the journey one more time, and one more time I was appaled and not impressed with this garbage. Give me Clerks, Caddyshack or Knocked Up anyday, over this one. Thumbs way down.

THE REST
The Departed comes in really really close behind The Air I Breathe, as I finally got a chance to see the film that finally won Scorsese an Oscar. And while it may not be as good as some of his other films, it is certainly a treat. The last 30-40 minutes of this one will have you gripping the edge of your couch, as you watch everything unravel. A cop (DiCaprio) goes undercover into the crime underworld, while a thug (Damon) goes undercover into the police force. Nicholson plays the extremely intimidating crime lord, with rat Dicaprio as his new right hand man. The plot really thickens as things start to unravel and suspicions are raised. Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin turn in good performances as well.

Another great Woody Allen movie, in my opinion, in Deconstructing Harry. Tells the tale of Harry Block who has just finished a book loosley based on his life and the women in it are not pleased. It all culminates on the road, as Block is headed to his old alma mater to be honored, along with his son, a dear friend and a hooker he met the night before. Allen's classic paranoia is in full swing and Allen entusiasts will be pleased.

Angel Heart delivers nothing to write home about, with the exception of the last ten minutes, which is quite the little swerve. Rourke turns in an acceptable performance and De Niro is just sppoky as Louis Cypher (hint hint).

I watched Children of Men for the second time, since I saw it in the theatres. I remember when I saw it in the theatre the hype far out measured my actual opinion of the movie. And I have to say a second viewing didn't do too much more for me. Now that's not to say I hated it, becasue there are some great things about it, such as Owen's performance and the stunning cinemtography as the filmmakers paint a very bleak and dreary futuristic United Kingdom. And I have to mention the long camera takes, that the were captured that are just beautiful. But the general plot to me is not a very fulfilling one. I wonder, what Cuaron is trying to say with this film. A future without children is not very much of a future? In the future we see a world gone to hell, and are forced to contemplate if it's because of the departure of children, or maybe, the lack of youngns' is just the tip of the iceberg. We see an infant carried from an abandoned building and everyone gets their first look at it, and all of the violence stops for just a moment only to begin again. Are they trying to tell us something with that action? There are many theories and many views but a child-less 2029 doesn't do a whole lot for me, I'm sorry.

Lord of the Rings continues to be eye pleasing, as well as delivering a dozen different other forms of awesomness. Definitely a modern classic.

See ya next week.

Andrew
7/14/2008