Rating movies I've seen in 2004
Submitted by avmdog on Thu, 06/03/2004 - 03:57
Tags:
- Blue Car B NetFlix. Surprisingly good. David Straitharn, an actor I really like, plays a teacher who gets involved with a female student. The story revolves around the girl and it reminded me a lot of The Virgin Suicides - a similar mood. Not as ABC-Afterschool-Special as you might expect. 6-02-04
- The Party's Over C- NetFlix. Phillip Seymour Hoffman hosts a documentary about the 2000 election. Aimless and pointless really. 6-02-04
- Owning Mahowny B NetFlix. Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays a bank employee with a gambling problem who steals lots of money in order to gamble. Good story, based on true events. Minnie Driver is wasted as the mousy girlfriend. 6-02-04
- Standing In the Shadows of Motown C+ NetFlix. Yet another documentary. This one about the studio musicians of Motown who played on all the #1 hits of the label. They are great characters with great stories but the movie is clunky, and the musical pieces are a letdown. I would rather have more footage of the guys sitting around telling stories. 6-02-04
- Journeys With George B- NetFlix. Nancy Pelosi's daughter is a journalist who filmed this documentary about following Bush around during the 2000 campaign. You can see that he charms the press, but you can also see that he's an idiot. Depressing. 6-02-04
- Capturing the Friedmans A- NetFlix. Gripping documentary about a family torn apart by abuse charges. Fascinating family even without the abuse angle. 6-02-04
- The Piano Teacher B+ NetFlix. Tiring but good. Story of a music professor and her strange relationship with her mother and with a young student. Disturbing but not silly. Isabelle Huppert was great. 5-04-04
- I Am Trying To Break Your Heart B NetFlix. Documentary about Wilco making their last album. The fact that one guy quit or was thrown out and the record label dropped the band because they didn't like the album adds some tension. Otherwise would not have been that interesting. Still can't figure out Jeff Tweedy. 5-04-04
- Shattered Glass B NetFlix. I've been reading The New Republic for years so I remember when this happened. (Young journalist Stephen Glass made up several stories.) Kind of like All The President's Men in reverse. I had no idea the average age of their writers at the time was only 26. 5-04-04
- The Lifestyle B+ NetFlix. A documentary about swingers in the suburbs. Fascinating - these people are not who you would expect to be into swapping or group sex. They look more like a church group. Only a few minutes of actual sexual activity, most of the film is interviews and nonsexual scenes from their parties. 4-23-04
- Carnival of Souls B NetFlix. 1962 grade-B horror movie made in Kansas and Utah for $30,000. Despite some stupid dialogue and cheesy acting there are some genuinely creepy moments. Worth seeing if you like these kinds of movies. 4-23-04
- Kill Bill Volume 2 B You would think that this movie would be better than Volume One, since it has more character and dialogue, but I think I enjoyed the cartoon violence of the the first better. The dialogue isn't up to the Pulp Fiction level, and the characters aren't as interesting as Jackie Brown, so it kind of muddles along. But there is enough entertainment there to get your money's worth. I hope Tarantino's next one is better. 4-23-04
- He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not B+ Audrey Tautou, who was so lovable in Amelie, gets to play a psycho here, albeit a cute psycho. Liked this one a lot - the structure spins in the middle so that you see everything twice - first from her perspective and then from the man she's stalking. A fun thriller. 4-12-04
- Irreversible C+ Alternately boring, fascinating, violent, amusing. Story of a revenge murder revolving around the brutal rape of a young woman. Story is told in reverse so you're not invested in the characters during some of the key moments, but you are by the end of the movie. 4-12-04
- American Dream B+ Just joined Netflix, so I can rent things that I can't find in town. Good documentary about a Hormel meat plant strike in the 80's. The strikers lose in the end. I would have liked more of an update, since this is an old movie - you'd think for the dvd they could provide a better update. 4-12-04
- Ripley's Game B+ A rental. John Malkovich was wonderful and my only criticism is that he wasn't on screen enough so it lagged a bit in the middle. 4-09-04
- 21 Grams B- Started off good, but it was sooooo depressing that I was just waiting for it to be over by the end. Still think it was better than Mystic River. A rental. 4-09-04
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind A- Even if you hate Jim Carrey, like me, you have to admire him in this movie. And Kate Winslet was great too. As was Mark Ruffalo and Tom Wilkinson. My favorite of the Charles Kaufman movies. 4-02-04
- Starsky and Hutch C- Obviously I was desperate for entertainment. A friend wanted to go to the movies and this was the least objectionable choice in town, which is a sad statement. I laughed a couple of times but also had the feeling that people who churn out these movies must really have contempt for the audience. 3-11-04
- The Cooler B William H. Macy should be given one of those National Medal of Arts awards that they're always giving people like Charlton Heston. Alec Baldwin was good too, and so was Maria Bello (a hot ticket). The plot was a little weak, especially the ending, but you can't have everything. 3-11-04
- Miracle B There's nothing wrong with a good B-movie, which this was. Kurt Russell was fun to watch and the hockey players/actors were good too. The hockey scenes were exciting and not too confusing for people like me who know nothing about hockey. 2-23-04
- American Splendor A- Had to rent it because it never showed in the area. Paul Giammati was great as the comic book artist Harvey Pekar, and the guy who played Crumb was really good too. Hope Davis didn't do anything for me in this movie, although I usually like her. The whole cancer element of the plot seemed forced, like "We have to have a story to wrap up!" 2-18-04
- Intacto B+ If it weren't for film festivals there would be no way to see these kinds of movies in Huntington, West Virginia. Great conceit - some people have the power of luck, which can be won or lost in contests against others. Very entertaining. 2-18-04
- Dirty Pretty Things A Good acting, plot engrossing and not too predictable, visually interesting. What more could you want? 2-18-04
- Big Fish C If you graphed Tim Burton's career it would look like a ski slope. This was better than Planet of the Apes but still waiting for a comeback. Random observations: Jessica Lange looks damn good. Some of the visuals were amusing. The father-son story detracted from all the fantasy. Who cares if they reconcile? 2-02-04
- Win A Date With Tad Hamilton D Only saw it because it takes place in, and was partially filmed in, West Virginia. A couple of shots of mountains - otherwise didn't seem like WV. That's probably a good thing, since nobody was missing teeth or talked with ridiculous accents. The female lead was cute as a bug's ear but the guy from That 70's Show was so annoying that she should have gone with the insincere Hollywood hunk. None of the jokes were funny. 1-30-04
- Cold Mountain D+ A combination of pretentious dialogue and sit-com level humor. Could have been a better comedy than a drama. Philip Seymour Hoffman was great. Yet another Civil War movie without black characters. 1-13-04
Author Comments:
Includes Netflix (thank God for Netflix) and rentals. It's in reverse chronological order obviously.
Cool list; I love the comments and the grading scale. I'd be curious to see your Netflix queue, if you don't mind sharing it here. Welcome!