This is what I wrote in my blog when, once upon a time in Indiana, I found myself working late at night with the TV turned on:
All in Drama
The story is simple: in the early 1920’s a young German mail-order bride, gramophone in hand, comes to rural Minnesota to meet her Norwegian husband to be.
Halfway through I thought about stopping but I’ve decided to give this movie another chance after reading the Netflix reviews.
Steven Spielberg's AI: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
I grew up with the science fiction of Clarke, Asimov, and Heinlein. At their best they wrestled with humans coming to terms with very large ideas and concepts in stories that spanned years and vast distances. I especially loved depictions of the far future.
Brad Bird's RATATOUILLE
Number One Daughter was home for the weekend from college. We packed ourself into the family chariot and located the one theater in the Northern Virginia area that was still showing Ratatouille ($3 per ticket - cash only).
Zhang Yang's “SHOWER”
This modern Chinese film is a welcome change from Summer blockbusters and slam-bang cacophony.
King of Masks
I highly recommend this lovely and heart-felt film.
Makoto Shinkai's “THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS”
The creator of Voices of a Distant Star returns to adolescence but with a serious twist.
Makoto Shinkai's “VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR”
It is a fantastic achievement. The art work is better than most of what you see on ADULT SWIM (by a very wide margin), the design of the spaceships and alien vessels is beautiful, the combination of simulation and electronic display inside the power suits looks quite original, and the story, while short at 28 minutes, packs an astonishing amount of information and story elements in while not swerving from the relentless focus on these two emotional lovers, communicating (one way) over a gulf of light years.
This non-political story about a young terrorist-in-training takes place in a series of backwoods training camps in India, culminating in the travel and preparation of a young teenage female to blow up herself, and a target official selected by her mentors, in a crowded public place.
I loved Tykwer’s Run Lola Run, The Princess and the Warrior, and Heaven, but I couldn’t get my heart into Perfume.
Campbell Scott's OFF THE MAP
What a delicate and moving piece of film making this is. It moves slowly and, if you let them, the characters will get under your skin.
Darren Aronofsky’s “THE FOUNTAIN”
This dizzying and perplexing movie bathes the viewer in a warm and beautiful gauze of, love, death, loss, and redemption. Forget the narrative and go with the flow.
Akira Kurosawa's “IKIRU”
This 1952 film by Akira Kurosawa really opened my eyes. I know Kurosawa from films like Seven Samurai and Throne of Blood. Ikiru is different.
Akira Kurosawa's “RED BEARD”
A young doctor with hopes of being the Shogun’s personal physician finds himself assigned to a poor rural clinic lorded over by a stern, tenacious doctor played by Toshiro Mifune – the “Red Beard” of the title.
Initially the young doctor resists the assignment.
Akira Kurosawa's “SANJURO”
The story: Young samurai wanna-be's gather to naively plot action against a corrupt local clan. Before they can cause too much trouble, a wise old samurai played by Toshiro Mifune (Red Beard, Hidden Fortress, High and Low) takes them under his wing after saving them from certain death in a night-time assault by their enemies.
Guillermo del Toro's PAN'S LABYRINTH
Young Ofelia travels with her pregnant mother in 1944 Spain to live with her new stepfather. He is a brutal fascist military officer in charge of a rural army garrison that is hunting down and exterminating resistance fighters.
Michael Curtiz' CAPTAINS OF THE CLOUDS
This 1942 Technicolor film starring James Cagney has some of the most gorgeous aerial photography I’ve ever seen.
John Mathew Matthan's “SHIKHAR”
This is a very disappointing perils-of-greed morality tale.
Never having seen the other Rocky movies, all I knew about them was a montage of images and music — the trumpet blast theme, the silhouettes against the Philadelphia skyline, the sleepy “Yo, Adrian!” mimicry. But I was intrigued by the universally positive reviews and rented the DVD.