tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85065404275012219492012-01-28T13:04:21.993-08:00(c) 2009, William L. SinclairJose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-13560963139480830962009-06-24T18:05:00.001-07:002009-06-24T19:09:39.440-07:00

Photo: John Cassavetes' HusbandsThis is a poll of polls, taking many lists into account, around 1800, and putting all that on a computer and letting it rank all those mentioned, with additional weighting given to some more important lists. This list is from They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? Great film site, check it out!Citizen Kane, Dir: Welles, OrsonVertigo, Dir: Hitchcock, AlfredRules of the

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-76524805834099536992009-06-24T17:07:00.000-07:002009-06-24T17:14:21.852-07:00

This blog was an interface test for 1000 DVDs to See. We've decided to go with the ProBlogger template and converted that blog.We're going to only post reviews there from now on, which includes movies, tv miniseries and shows, and live concerts - in short, anything available on dvd.We will move some of these reviews, like the best 100, to our most popular site, Worlds Best Films, which is

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-57024991807097549462009-06-24T00:22:00.000-07:002009-06-24T00:24:08.347-07:00

Sofia Coppola, 1999 (7*)I watched this film without knowing anything in advance, and was pleasantly surprised to find it was Sofia Coppola's first film as director, and she co-wrote the screenplay. This starts like most other teen infatuation films, a group of male high school friends ogles a group of five sisters, each born a year apart, each with her own charms. Kirsten Dunst will be the most

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-86035186773703745372009-06-21T00:21:00.000-07:002009-06-21T00:23:47.790-07:00

By the Coward Robert FordAndrew Dominik, 2007 (8*)This is an account of the last days of Jesse James, from a novel by Ron Hansen. A bit slow, the film nevertheless has a leisurely grace and almost epic length, and with some stunning cinematography by Roger Deakins, becomes another in the line of recent elegaic westerns (The Claim, Open Range, Unforgiven).Casey Affleck shines as the Ford brother

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-64841416353778455532009-06-20T00:12:00.000-07:002009-06-20T00:14:00.108-07:00

Charles Laughton, 1955, bw (9*)This is one of the creepiest, most spine-tingling films ever made, and the best from actor Robert Mitchum. Oscar-winning actor Charles Laughton directed his one and only film and it's a film noir masterpiece. Mitchum plays a convict who finds out about a woman alone with her kids who may have money stashed from another criminal's robbery. When Mitchum gets out of

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-74072967943573053652009-06-18T23:54:00.000-07:002009-06-18T23:58:52.324-07:00

Stephen Daldry, 2008 (9*)This is Kate Winslett's finest performance in a stellar career, and was rewarded with her first Oscar® for best actress. She plays a woman, Hannah, whose spontaneous act of kindness to a sick teenager, Micheal, leads to his first love affair. Her favorite pastime when they are alone is to have Michael read classic literary works to her. Michael's life is changed by this

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-61941983513964938692009-06-18T20:10:00.000-07:002009-06-18T20:12:07.180-07:00

Darren Aronofsky, 2008 (8*)Golden Lion, VeniceThis gritty film from Darren Aronofsky deservedly won Mickey Rourke many awards for actor in 2008, including the Golden Globe, but unfortunately not the Oscar. Its hard to imagine that he'll ever be better than this, and more than carries this powerful Aronofsky film about an over-the-hill wrestler now running into health problems from a career of

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-12931068117687733332009-06-17T23:58:00.000-07:002009-06-18T00:00:34.266-07:00

aka Spider's Web CastleAkira Kurosawa, 1957, Japan, bw (8*)This is actually another of the great Japanese director's early masterworks, it's not really a horror film in spite of the lurid title. Based on Shakespeare's Macbeth, Kurosawa made it entirely Japanese, building his castle on Mt. Fuji, and mixing elements of Japanese theater into the film. Kurosawa even trucked in the black volcanic soil

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-66973937749548138252009-06-16T22:06:00.001-07:002009-06-16T22:21:33.588-07:00

Aka StayBobcat Goldthwait, 2006 (7*)Sometimes we do something we immediately regret, like Melinda Page Hamilton in this film, while alone at college with her dog. Later the question comes up, how honest and revealing do we need to be with those we love? This is such an outrageous premise, with some appropriately funny dialogue that when the final credits roll and you see written and directed by

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-69424197188577759402009-06-16T20:58:00.000-07:002009-06-16T21:41:58.807-07:00

Peter Berg, 2007 (7*)This is a surprisingly good and timely action-adventure from actor-turned-director Peter Berg as it involves anti-US terrorism in the middle east. There are several gripping action sequences that will stand out from standard car chase fare. The film begins with a horrifying terrorist attack on a U.S. residents kids softball game in Saudi Arabia. After all the carnage, an FBI

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-81282760677782793582009-06-14T18:45:00.001-07:002009-06-14T18:47:03.259-07:00

Bryan Singer, 2008 (9*)Even if you know this story from high school history or reading William Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (excellent if you like WW2 history), director Bryan Singer and screenplay authors Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander have made an excellent suspense film with a tightly woven story of an attempt to assassinate Hitler just after the D-Day invasion, July

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-30176053051147534982009-06-11T21:28:00.000-07:002009-06-11T21:32:56.357-07:00

Darren Aronofsky, 2006 (8*)This is such a unique personal vision that it's really hard to describe, in a line: yet another mind-bending film from the talented vision of young director Darren Aronofsky. This, just his third feature film, followed Pi (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), and preceded The Wrestler (2008). Aronofsky's films are intensely involved in each subject, usually involving a

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-49699847014827482732009-06-09T22:42:00.000-07:002009-06-09T22:47:05.673-07:00

Paul Haggis, 2007 (8*)This surprising mystery is a terrific small film that got absolutely no PR at all. It quietly slipped past most people apparently. Tommy Lee Jones turns in perhaps his finest performance, garnering a well-deserved Oscar nomination for best actor as a dad hunting for his AWOL son who's returned from Iraq and immediately disappeared. Charlize Theron is also excellent, in

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-67696645768737561512009-06-03T20:00:00.000-07:002009-06-09T19:40:08.939-07:00

Shari Cookson and Nick Doob, 2009, HBO (10*) The Memory Loss Tapes is the first part of four films in the HBO series The Alzheimer’s Project, and it’s an extremely powerful documentary that touches on the most basic human emotions, those that flow naturally from love, caring, and mortality. The film was brilliantly constructed by producer-directors Shari Cookson and Nick Doob to slowly reveal

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-89745831561454307492009-06-02T18:55:00.000-07:002009-06-02T18:57:47.478-07:00

aka Nema-ye NazdikAbbas Kiarostami, 1990, Iran (7*)This is a small, sub low-budget pseudo-documentary that has much of the story re-enacted by the original participants. It involves the true story of an unemployed Iranian family man, Ali Sabzian, who impersonates a director he idolizes, Mohsen Makhmalbaf (director of "The Cyclist", the film he admires). Meeting another fan on a bus, he gains

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-1735109770267237362009-05-29T18:49:00.000-07:002009-06-02T18:48:44.057-07:00

Martin McDonagh, 2008 (9*)This is a thoroughly enjoyable and creative black crime 'dramedy' (more drama than humor), about two affable hit men hiding out in Bruges, Belgium, the best preserved medieval city in Europe. Rookie director Martin McDonagh got the idea for this film while visiting the city once, and the two characters represent his own split feelings about the town: beautiful and

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-10415589498194166552009-05-28T22:01:00.001-07:002009-06-09T22:33:50.593-07:00

Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953, Japan, bw (9*)This is one of the greatest Japanese cinema classics, in spite of some exaggerated acting. Moody, atmospheric, bewitching, with music to match, you'll be mesmerized by the beautiful visuals and the camera of director Kenji Mizoguchi which seems to always be in motion. The story is about some village peasants in war-torn 16th century Japan. A farmer who also is

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-39998626804616693172009-05-24T22:40:00.000-07:002009-05-24T22:43:14.417-07:00

James Marsh, 2008 (7*)Best Documentary (AA)[Note: it's hard to be a spoiler here, it's on the dvd cover and the film description.. plus it's well documented history by this point]This was an amazing event in 1974, and James Marsh has done an admirable job in assembling the story from the present day to re-create a documentary looking backwards. He's used the technique of interspersing interviews

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-59846472107019420882009-05-23T19:25:00.000-07:002009-05-23T19:29:13.868-07:00

a.k.a. ChinamanHenrik Rueben Genz, 2005 (8*)This is a small independent Chinese-Danish film, that manages to tell quite a poignant tale about loneliness and affection. An everyman-type plumber named Keld, played by Bjarne Henriksen, finds that his wife of 25 years,Charlotte Fich, has decided that their marriage 'is a funeral', and moves out. Keld remains optimistic, hoping its just a separation,

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-82121119687759640522009-05-23T18:16:00.000-07:002009-05-26T23:58:13.659-07:00

Danny Boyle, 1994 (7*)After Slumdog Millionaire, I decided to check out the few Danny Boyle films I hadn't seen, like the early (pre-Trainspotting) Shallow Grave. I expected some sort of crude cheap-looking B movie, like Bogdanovich's early Targets, which was cheesy and cheap in spite of a retiring Boris Karloff (playing "Orkov"). Instead what Grave showed me was a clever tongue-in-cheek parody

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-16847133010084439752009-05-21T20:38:00.000-07:002009-05-21T20:53:25.864-07:00

Gus Van Sant, 2008 (9*)Milk is a terrific and inspiring film from Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy) about San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, brilliantly played here by Sean Penn, who really captures his mannerisms. I was in the Bay Area when all this happened, and I was appalled by U.S. voters, who recalled the attitudes of the Nazis who also attacked homosexuals - and gypsies, and jazz

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-28320652665946832892009-05-19T22:22:00.000-07:002009-05-20T00:28:45.340-07:00

William Wyler, 1942, bw (8*)Best Picture (AA)This was the first film of the great William Wyler to win best picture after a string of consecutive nominations, seven in all, still a record. He would eventually be nominated for director 13 times, with 12 best picture nominations, by far the most for one director. His films still have the most nominations and awards total.Mrs. Miniver is a beautiful

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-68147504448005668832009-05-18T22:55:00.000-07:002009-05-19T23:01:12.809-07:00

Stanley Kubrick, 1957, bw (9*)This early film of Kubrick’s is one of the few classics of the anti-war war film genre. The story is about World War I, when the armies were locked in trench warfare. This was really a stalemate, as neither line could advance in the face of heavy machine gun emplacements and the defensive positions of the other side. This didn’t prevent the commanders from trying,

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-78401410697923103852009-05-17T03:32:00.000-07:002009-05-17T03:35:55.023-07:00

Alfonso Cuarón, 1995 (9*)This is one of those little unexpected gems of a movie you get sometimes, and you ask where the heck did that come from? This wonderful and magical children’s film came from a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett and has the look and feel of a 50’s Disney film that adapted a Victorian novel. The story is a about a little girl named Sara, whose dad tells her all little girls

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-51821928674680370662009-05-16T02:52:00.000-07:002009-05-16T03:06:45.540-07:00

Sydney Pollack, 1969 (8*)This is a gut-wrenching yet engrossing indictment of the exploitation of everyday people during the Depression, in the name of entertainment. Does this sound familiar? Using the lure of a contest prize of $1,000 or more, venues were able to get average folks to dance non-stop (except for short restroom breaks) for days, with the last couple standing getting the prize, the

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-58653852686403896522009-05-15T22:47:00.000-07:002009-05-16T03:11:33.029-07:00

a.k.a. Madame De..Max Ophuls, France, 1953, bw (8*)This is a gorgeously crafted and beautifully filmed truffle (rondelay?) about what else: a romantic triangle among the French aristocracy. The Madame "De" (we aren’t given her last name to protect the guilty) begins the film searching through some jewelry and clothes, and eventually finds some earrings to sell, which were a wedding gift from her

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-84442071310853312562009-05-14T22:15:00.000-07:002009-05-16T03:08:06.931-07:00

Ron Howard, 2008 (7*)One of the best active directors, the reliable Ron Howard tackles the nearly anti-climactic closing chapter to this pivotal point in American history, as Richard Nixon was the first U.S. president to resign, forced to by impending impeachment by Congress for his part in the authorization and cover-up of crimes that flowed like a river after the Watergate break-in, not just

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-56780527333545819272009-05-13T16:53:00.000-07:002009-05-13T16:58:50.568-07:00

Tom McCarthy, 2008 (9*)Once in a blue moon, you get an excellent little indie film, like The Visitor, with powerful performances by the entire cast. Richard Jenkins, an overlooked character actor (he played the dead father’s ghost on cable tv's Six Feet Under), received a well-deserved Oscar® nomination for best actor for his best career role, as a professor of emerging economies named

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-71197836448181398912009-05-12T21:20:00.000-07:002009-05-12T21:24:02.430-07:00

Jehane Nouhaim, 2004 (9*)[In English, with some subtitles]This is an excellent documentary, obviously shot by director Jehane Houhaim with a modest budget and crew, but one given a wide degree of access to all concerned with presenting the war. The film attempts to show the coverage of the Iraqi war from both sides of the issue, and expose the bias inherent in all newsmedia. We see more of the Al

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-59988234576699270692009-05-11T22:00:00.000-07:002009-05-12T21:25:01.521-07:00

Gus Van Sant, 1989 (10*)This is just about the perfect anti-drug film. Matt Dillon, is really in his acting element here as a disaffected youth without any goal in life other than getting high, and he leads a small group of junkie friends, including girlfriend Kelly Lynch in her best role, in robbing pharmacies in order to get the drugs. They use a number of ruses to pull some robberies, and

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-33285160845998738692009-05-11T20:47:00.000-07:002009-05-16T03:19:46.149-07:00

Luis Bunuel, 1961, Spain, bw (8*)Palm d'Or (Cannes)The surrealist Spanish director Luis Bunuel (Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie), friend of painter Salvador Dali, can be a difficult filmmaker to understand. For those who would like a more normal, non-surrealist intro this is a good early film with a nearly straightforward story. A nun named Virigiana, played by Silvia Pinal, gets word that her

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-10030356316936081082009-05-09T20:55:00.000-07:002009-05-11T21:02:43.285-07:00

Billy Wilder, 1959, bw (8*)A ludicrious premise like this in the hands of anyone short of a master director like Wilder and this classic comedy could have been another forgettable farce. Two musicians, played by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, witness a gangland slaying and flee to avoid being the next victims. Naturally, the best place to hide out? An all-female big band, with none other than

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-40125794891095053982009-05-07T03:31:00.000-07:002009-05-11T22:06:53.897-07:00

David Fincher, 2008 (7*)I'm always a fan of David Fincher's films, each one is different, each has an element of fantasy, yet is made to seem real. Fight Club had Ed Norton battling his insanity, with friends; The Game found Michael Douglas running from unseen enemies as a birthday present from brother Sean Penn. Only Zodiac attempted to be factual, and that was based on the theory of a

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-47790112741736905952009-05-04T18:42:00.000-07:002009-05-04T20:13:10.084-07:00

F.W. Murnau, 1928, silent/bw (8*)I'm not usually a fan of silent movies, not in an age of digital 5.1 surround sound, or even the archaic 'age of stereo'. In complete silence, there's obviously something missing, throw in a honky tonk piano and I'd just as soon turn the sound down, or even strangle myself (like Dr. Strangelove). That leaves the dvd's that have a music soundtrack added, which

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-6376861127202980842009-05-04T00:39:00.000-07:002009-05-04T00:41:36.773-07:00

Lasse Hallstrom, 1999 (8*)This is now my favorite John Irving novel transformation to films (most are so successfully made), and earned Irving an Oscar® for adapted screenplay. The title refers to a set of hand-written rules in a workhouse at an orchard where a young Tobey McGuire (in an effective dramatic part) goes to work after growing up in a nearby orphanage. Delroy Lindo has a terrific

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-68874164709033988672009-05-01T22:06:00.000-07:002009-05-01T22:16:41.440-07:00

Alexander Payne, 1999 (9*)I'll have to admit that this was the surprise comedic hit for me in 1999. Reese Witherspoon really hit her stride, especially for comedy, as an agressive, self-assured high schooler, named Flick, so "Pick Flick", who will do just about anything to get elected class president. She's ambitious and knows how to use her femininity to get what she wants. Matthew Broderick is

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-59862230502357430782009-04-30T22:30:00.000-07:002009-05-12T21:27:28.436-07:00

Mira Nair, 1988, India (10*)This is one of the great Asian films. One a few films I'd call a masterpiece, and probably my favorite film by a female director, replacing Lina Wertmuller's Seven Beauties.Unbelievably, this is director Mira Nair's first feature film - "fiction" that is. (Most will recognize Monsoon Wedding as hers, which wasn't nearly this good). After making 5 documentaries, she

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-55002797336105949212009-04-23T02:04:00.000-07:002009-04-23T02:15:58.931-07:00

Les Blank, 1982 (9*)Whether you liked, or even saw, Werner Herzog’s ambitious epic Fitzcarraldo, this documentary on its making is one of the best films about filmmaking ever made. Herzog became so obsessed with his story that he repeated the hero’s prodigious feat: bringing opera to the Amazon rainforest by moving a huge steamship inland over hills and up to a huge lake where it could move

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-75440549891176665842009-04-22T13:59:00.000-07:002009-04-23T02:14:44.659-07:00

David Fincher, 1999 (8*)Simply great entertainment, as are most David Fincher films (The Game, Benjamin Button), with a few statements thrown in about nihilism, freedom, anarchy, and self-absorbed insanity. Edward Norton brilliantly plays a bored corporate lackey fed up with his nowhere life. One night he runs into Brad Pitt at a bar and they have a fistfight that has a cathartic effect on each

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-20912367521131169812009-04-21T22:20:00.000-07:002009-04-22T22:30:20.202-07:00

Guiseppe Tournatore, 2000, Italy (8*)Malena is from the Guiseppe Tournatore, director of the classic Cinema Paradiso (Oscar® winner for Foreign Film), and if you enjoyed that film you should also like this one. Tournatore again returns to his childhood for inspiration. In this story, a young teenage boy in a small Sicilian seacoast town named Renato, excellently portrayed by Guiseppe Sulfaro in

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-74717599203800019472009-04-18T21:38:00.000-07:002009-04-18T22:09:14.817-07:00

Neeraj Pandey, 2008, India (9*)Lately, I've been disappointed that every Bollywood film I see injects ready-made music videos into just about any story, such as Ghajini, which was inspired by Memento; it had five music videos included with the crime drama, with music and songs by double-Oscar® winner A.R. Rahman. Suffice to say that: (a) there are no music videos in this film (b) the running

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-89208586491832382342009-04-14T20:24:00.000-07:002009-04-14T21:00:36.907-07:00

aka La Grande IllusionJean Renoir, 1937, France, bw (9*)I’ve often searched for the greatest classic French film (Children of Paradise, no), and I’ve often been disappointed, that is, until I saw Grand Illusion again for the first time in over 40 years. Most critics place Renoir’s Rules of the Game near the top of their lists (it’s #3 on the 1000 list, Illusion is #26, they are 1 and 10 for

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-53931465202026075992009-04-13T18:59:00.000-07:002009-04-14T19:48:38.349-07:00

Michaelangelo Antonioni, 1960, Italy, bw (9*)Cannes Special Jury PrizeThis is one of the more pleasant film surprises of my lifetime. As I'm not an Antonioni fan (Blow Up, Red Desert, Zabriskie Point - all overblown bores, in my opinion, lacking real stories), I avoided this film since college, over 40 years. I finally gave in and saw the excellent Criterion version, and watched the commentary.

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-5651022206562675232009-04-12T13:18:00.000-07:002009-04-14T21:19:46.777-07:00

Natasha Richardson, 1963-2009 Volcker Schlondorff, 1990 (7*)This is a dystopian (opposite of utopia) science fiction tale is based on the Margaret Atwood novel, and was, in my opinion, Natasha Richardson's best film. The story is not that pleasant, but the cast is superb: Natasha co-stars with Oscar® winners Robert Duvall and Faye Dunaway, with Aiden Quinn as the romantic interest.The story is a

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-47327526858956781752009-04-10T00:23:00.000-07:002009-04-12T00:30:18.392-07:00

Steven Spielberg, 2005 (9*)I've always been puzzled that for some reason, this film didn’t receive the acclaim of other Spielberg films, yet it’s just about as good. The story is based on the true story of an Israeli agent, played by Eric Bana, who, along with four others (including Daniel Craig), relentlessly hunts down all the planners of the Munich Olympic terrorism that led to the deaths of

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-59971016659066366172009-04-09T22:37:00.000-07:002009-04-11T23:28:28.449-07:00

Zhang Yimou, 2004, China (8*)Following his tremendous success with Hero, top-grossing film in Chinese history, Zhang Yimou continued his enchantment with martial arts action-adventure epics with this story of a group of women who oppose the Tang Dynasty's male leaders continually involving the kingdom in wars. Believing if they overthrow the men and allow the women to take over, they can stop

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-30415234504561183662009-04-08T21:16:00.000-07:002009-04-11T21:26:34.745-07:00

Chen Kaige, 1998, China (8*)This is yet another spectacular Chinese historical epic from Chien Kaige, director of The Emperor and the Assassin, with what also looks like the entire Red Army recreating the Chinese Communist revolution. Once again, we get the same scope and style of films about China, such as The Last Emperor and Zhang Yimou’s Hero, and western epics like Lawrence of Arabia and

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-58766972470138377072009-04-07T20:55:00.000-07:002009-04-11T21:08:13.262-07:00

Wong Kar-Wai, 1995, China/Hong Kong (9*)When I heard this had been remastered for dvd, I had to watch this Wong Kar-Wai film again, as I couldn't remember it very well from over a decade earlier (and likely saw the terrible full-frame video tape version). I was surprised and riveted by the stunning visuals. Kar-Wai is a visual master, and this is one of the most visual of his films.This is the

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-53914362373999042322009-04-06T00:37:00.000-07:002009-04-09T00:46:04.957-07:00

Christopher Guest, 2000 (8*)Former SNL writer and actor Christopher Guest has made a series of small indie comedies, some funny but mostly not; however Best in Show is definitely his best, a hilarious spoof of the big Westminister dog shows that we can now see on cable. The story follows five dogs to the big show, beginning with each in their home town. Four are owned by couples: two married

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-43003952763112388682009-04-02T00:47:00.000-07:002009-04-11T23:26:03.098-07:00

aka Crimes of Dr. MabuseFritz Lang, 1933, Germany (8*)This is an amazing film for its era, also known as "Dr. Mabuse, Gambler" - gee, are three different titles enough? Most just call it Dr. Mabuse. Those who had Poltergeist make the hair on their neck stand up will likely feel chills from this film as well. Master director Fritz Lang is more well-known for M (Peter Lorre as a child killer) and

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-6785449229951155892009-03-31T22:59:00.000-07:002009-04-01T01:20:28.021-07:00

Danny Boyle, 2008 (10*)Best Picture (AA,BAA,GG)Slumdog was worth the wait, as it never came "to a theater near me", so I waited for the dvd. Fans of either British director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary) or Bollywood movies won’t be disappointed. You know you're in a Boyle film from the very beginning, when this story of two brothers growing up as orphans in the streets of

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-28482287028024820082009-03-31T00:23:00.000-07:002009-03-31T00:35:35.464-07:00

Wolfgang Becker, 2003, Germany (9*)This is a heartwarming German comedy about the fall of the wall and the GDR, and the resulting German reunification. While you're watching, you realize that in time it's a very poignant tale of a son's love for his mother, touchingly portrayed by Katrine Sass. A single mom, she turns her interest to the socialist government after her husband leaves her with two

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-2051639992470048852009-03-29T22:07:00.000-07:002009-03-29T22:27:53.803-07:00

Grigori Chukhrai, Russia, 1959, bw (9*)- This Russian film is one of the most beautiful black and white films of any era. it was one of the first to be released in the U.S. after the Stalin reign ended and there were more liberal attitudes, ushering in a new wave of young fimmakers. This is a simple anti-war tale about a nineteen year old soldier, played by Vladimir Ivashov. It reality, it

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-88118621557888561982009-03-27T17:03:00.000-07:002009-03-29T17:10:40.972-07:00

Chen Kaige, 1998, China (8*)This is a spectacular looking Chinese historical epic, with seemingly a hundred thousand extras, making it similar in scope and style to the films The Last Emperor and Zhang Yimou’s Hero. Running over 2 ½ hours, this film concerns the emperor of Qin, wonderfully played by Li Xuejian, before the kingdoms of China are unified in 220 B.C., a dictate left him by his

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-11279744279091585302009-03-25T18:27:00.000-07:002009-03-26T18:30:22.570-07:00

Brad Bird, 2004 (8*)One of the more sarcastic and humorous of the recent animated classics, the Incredibles actually referes to a family of ex-superheroes of that name, led by the voices of dad Craig T. Nelson and mom Holly Hunter. They are now in the witness protection program, and bored to death. Of course, unless they jumped back into action, we wouldn’t have a film, so you can expect the

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-73622116638185456822009-03-23T09:01:00.000-07:002009-03-23T09:01:05.355-07:00

Philip Kaufman, 1983 (9*)This is the true story of America’s early astronaut program. The men who had the “right stuff” were test pilots, who were the first selected as astronauts, even though they weren’t really doing any piloting at that stage. Kaufman’s film has a big budget and a giant cast, and it shows. Admittedly a Hollywood version of a patriotic story, it’s nevertheless very exciting and

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-39129430526827773492009-03-22T12:31:00.000-07:002009-03-22T22:53:56.389-07:00

Jean Renoir, 1951 (7*)The French master Jean Renoir discovered Ms. Rumer Godden's 1946 novel about living in India, The River, but couldn't find anyone to back the film as the story lacked the usual action elements of most western films about Asia. Eventually a florist tycoon, Kenneth McEldowney, backed the film but they didn't have enough capital to hire big Hollywood actors, so the cast is

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-67160868689044988602009-03-21T16:58:00.001-07:002009-03-29T22:34:50.723-07:00

'Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment'Karel Reisz, 1966, bw (8*)This small and unique film made actor David Warner a star. He’s more lovable here than as Evil Incarnate in Time Bandits, or the evil computer program in Tron, as he plays Morgan, a zany but lovable psychotic who’s obsessed with giant apes, Communism, and ex-wife Vanessa Redgrave. However she’s moving on and about to get re-married

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-19112890253087628922009-03-20T22:44:00.000-07:002009-03-22T22:48:14.927-07:00

Anthony Minghella, 1999 (8*)This was the second film version of Patricia Highsmith’s novel Mr. Ripley, the first being Rene Clement’s 1961 French film Purple Noon. In this more sinister version from director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient), ‘frat boy’ Tom Ripley is played by Matt Damon, going out of character. Tom is in Europe with his childhood friend Jude Law, trying to earn money from

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-19409345721829131862009-03-16T20:41:00.000-07:002009-03-16T20:56:31.818-07:00

John Pirozzi, 2009 (8*)Mostly in English, with some subtitles. Available this AprilThere’s a very unique L.A. band called Dengue (‘din-gay’) Fever, whom you might have heard on NPR. They play a unique sixties-based 'L.A. filtered' Cambodian rock, which they say was derived from surf music, but you couldn’t tell from what Dengue Fever puts out, it sounds closer to psychedelic rock to me, with

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-64461080080659155602009-03-14T23:59:00.000-07:002009-03-17T00:19:59.136-07:00

aka, The Crazy StrangerTony Gatliff, 1997, Romania (8*)Now, when have you ever seen a film that shows the passionate lifestyle of gypsies, and not just the gypsy catfight in From Russia With Love? We finally have one, and it full of music, drinking, dancing, and passion. A young Parisian is seen walking in the beginning, and it turns out that he’s a gypsy descendent, and is in Romania searching

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-84559214924556832002009-03-12T12:02:00.000-07:002009-03-17T00:03:38.688-07:00

Thomas Riedelsheimer, 2003 (9*)This is an amazing documentary that is not like any other because the artist Andy Goldsworthy is so unique. It's slow to get started but once you see how and why he does what he does it all makes intuitive sense. Its all about time and the ephemeral nature of living things. He uses natural media he finds in nature, rarely planning anything in advance. Only his rock

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-64685328005016308602009-03-10T00:38:00.000-07:002009-03-10T00:44:48.697-07:00

Wong Kar Wai, 1994, China (8*)Redux Version 2008This film is a work of art. Director Wong Kar-Wai never films a straight narrative story, but makes cinematic art: visually stunning, lyrical, a visual statement about time and memory, yet done with the seasons cycling around as if to imply all of life is circular. In a way, this is like a Chinese spaghetti western, about a man who hires swordsmen

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-88340275621849369512009-03-08T01:30:00.000-08:002009-03-29T22:36:05.698-07:00

..I thought it my duty to warn people of some films to avoid. Here's a recent batch of forgettable wastes of time.The Ninth Gate (Polanski, 2003?) - Occult garbage about rare books about the devil (who knew he was an artist to boot? I think his pseudonym was "Rockwell"!) with Johnny Depp and Frank Langella both wasted; Rosemary's Baby this isn't, awful it is. 3*Untraceable (Gregory Hoblit, 08) -

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-28156234971247138052009-03-04T18:12:00.000-08:002009-03-07T18:14:53.597-08:00

Sam Wood, 1935 (7*)This Marx Brothers gem features probably their most famous scene: the stateroom on the ocean liner that is a phone booth to begin with (Groucho’s line) and they cram about 15 people in, from stowaways to maids to waiters, who fall out when Margaret Dumont (yes, she's on hand, thankfully) opens the door. However, like kissing scenes in your Saturday westerns growing up (when

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-33449817287662160962009-03-02T00:40:00.000-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.008-08:00

Roland Suso Richter, 2001, Germany (8*)Based on a true story from the 50’s of East German swimmer Harry Melchior who defected to West Germany then enlisted the aid of an odd assortment of diggers to see if they could dig a 145-meter tunnel to the east to help their relatives also escape to the west. This is a riveting film, if lengthy (nearly 3 hrs), that manages to maintain its tension

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-71930378643734694652009-02-28T22:52:00.000-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.072-08:00

Alexsandr Rogozhkin, 2002, Russia (9*)One incredibly beautiful location, an alpine Finnish lake without a settlement in sight, makes this small, sparse anti-war film a rare treat. The story begins with a condemned Finnish soldier being chained to a rock as a sniper, and we follow his story in this locale, which appears to be a very rural area of Finland. The tale eventually involves another

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-21070146640383766022009-02-27T18:26:00.001-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.410-08:00

Danis Tanovic, 2001, Bosnia (8*)Best Foreign Film (AA,GG)This is a riveting story about the futility of war and how politics can sometimes reach unbelievable absurdities, using a really simple story on the surface. A couple of soldiers in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian conflict wander into the no man’s land between the two artificially and diplomatically drawn lines. Pretty soon one from the other

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-70319766813705548712009-02-26T18:00:00.001-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.361-08:00

Fabian Bielinsky, 2000, Argentina (7*)The title of this Argentinian con artist story refers to a sheet of nine stamps of Queen Wilhemina of Germany, now worth a small fortune, and a small-time con artist who has a chance for a big score. He runs into a street criminal after losing his own partner in crime (who disappeared) and the two pair up "for a day". Suddenly each is contributing their time

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-28726979127857894632009-02-25T01:06:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.739-08:00

Danny Boyle, 1997 (8*)I always liked this wacky romantic comedy best of all of Boyle's films. The story is just farfetched enough to be unique: two angels, now on probation, hilariously played by Delroy Lindo and Holly Hunter are being forced by the Big Guy to make two loveless people on earth fall in love with each other. Cameron Diaz is a spoiled rich girl, who likes to shoot apples off butler

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-11478061787487015402009-02-24T01:00:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.291-08:00

Peter Jackson, 1994 (8*)This is one of the more compelling docudramas of a true crime you will see. The film is an early one for director Peter Jackson, and is the first film for Kate Winslet - I believe she was 17 at the time. You could already see that she was going to have major impact as an actress; at one point she even sings an aria to the sunrise. This story involves two teenage girls who

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-74646240519422975672009-02-22T00:01:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.108-08:00

Victor Fleming, 1939 (6*)Best Picture (AA)Much ballyhooed epic long considered the “most popular” movie is really just a too lengthy soap opera – it needs an hour-long trim as each scene runs on and on - with an overblown budget (and music score) and one good war scene: the train platform at Atlanta littered with hundreds of wounded and dying soldiers. Unfortunately, author of the Pulitzer-prize

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-51573112248134709662009-02-21T19:12:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.229-08:00

Woody Allen, 2008 (7*)Best Comedy Picture (GG)Lightweight romance, heavier on that than comedy, from the Woodman about two friends, Scarlett Johansson, the more Bohemian (‘slutty’) one, with engaged friend, Rebecca Hall, the uptight one, who travel to Barcelona for a break because ‘soon-married’ Hall wrote her thesis on artist-architect Antonio Gaudi, whose work defines Barcelona. While there

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-78633120856659648722009-02-19T23:53:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.937-08:00

George Cukor, 1950, bw (8*)You’d have to look hard to find a comedic performance as funny as Judy Holliday in this film, which won her a well-deserved Oscar®. She has a perfect delivery, just the right lilt in her voice to show bored disdain. Wealthy junkman Broderick Crawford is in DC to “get the government he paid for”, renting in an expensive suite with girlfriend Holliday, his lawyer and a

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-73341115643684044682009-02-18T21:33:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.968-08:00

Rolf Schubel, 1999, Germany (8*)This is a very interesting romantic story that eventually involves the holocaust. In a gourmet restaurant in Budapest, the owner, pianist, and a visitor from Germany all fall in love with the ravishing hostess, played by Erika Marozsan. Over time, she, the pianist and owner all form a close knit friendship and agree having half of Erika is better than nothing. The

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-79917725858226375022009-02-16T22:11:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.800-08:00

Andrew Stanton, 2008 (10*)This terrific science fiction comedy is Pixar's best so far. It's rare that an animated film combines both a great story with terrific and imaginative artwork. You would think that after the Toy Story films, Cars, and Monsters Inc that the creativity there would slow down, but Wall-E tops them all. It's basically about a garbage compacting mobile robot living on an

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-81071616464894433242009-02-13T20:05:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:33.097-08:00

Kim Ki-Duk, Korea, 2003 (8*)The title refers to the stages in a person’s life, as well as those in nature, and the cycles of both. The mandala or “wheel of life” is a common motif in Asian theosophy. Filmed in a national park, this Buddhist-Taoist allegory or parable is a stunningly beautiful and simple tale of an ascetic life as a monk aboard a floating monastery in a lake in the mountains. One

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-30526798984952473322009-02-12T17:00:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:33.066-08:00

Tony Kaye, 1998 (8*)This is a tour-de-force performance by Edward Norton, as a white supremacist who wants to keep younger brother Edward Furlong out of the same trouble he's had. As a boy, his fireman father was killed answering a fire alarm at a drug house, so Norton harbors deep racist convictions from this one incident.The film is a searing indictment of a racist lifestyle, but unfortunately

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-80578425627937913262009-02-11T03:05:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:33.033-08:00

Mira Nair, 2001, India (7*)This is, as director Mira Nair said, “organized chaos”, like life in India. Unfortunately I couldn’t tell this was a drama and not a big, enjoyable party film until about 90 minutes in. Nair weaves together several stories of people of different classes and circumstance as a family comes together for the hastily arranged marriage of the daughter of Lalit Verma (

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-5563918621427204882009-02-06T23:44:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.770-08:00

Darren Anorofsky, 2000 (10*)This film is without doubt the most intense movie I've ever seen – in fact, I had to take a break halfway and finish it later, one advantage of dvd over the theater. It’s a total work of art, but one that will leave you emotionally drained. It’s a story of addiction of all kinds: drugs, tv, food, hope. Ellen Burstyn, who is mind-blowing in this (and spent 4 hrs a day

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-62757850720315360062009-02-04T23:44:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:35.067-08:00

George Stevens, 1943, bw (9*)Classic B&W comedies don't get any better than this one. Talented and terminally cute actress Jean Arthur actually thought of this story to get work, director George Stevens liked it enough to have the screenplay written and filmed. Washington DC has a severe housing shortage during WW2, and people are sharing their apartments, people are sleeping in foyers, and

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-90305591391252135262009-02-03T00:20:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:35.424-08:00

Denys Arcand, 2003 (8*)Best Foreign Film (AA)This touching and poignant film is about the last days of a middle-aged Canadian man with cancer. Remy gathers his family and close friends around, and after abusing the healthcare system by occupying an entire unused hospital floor, the whole group moves to a peaceful country cottage on a lake for his final days. Instead of being morose and gloomy,

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-44872593320132666352009-02-01T23:08:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.833-08:00

George Sidney, 1963 (7*)I recently saw this again in widescreen, first time since it bored me as a child. This time I understood it, and the ws format allow you to see the dancers rather than imagine them offscreen! It’s basically a campy satire of bad Elvis musicals, the story is even about every girl’s favorite heartthrob rock star being drafted! (when I was a kid, only girls liked Elvis, at

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-65125585143422339082009-01-31T22:21:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:35.390-08:00

Richard Brooks, 1960 (8*)This terrific expose of organized religion and revivals exploiting the faithful masses was based on Sinclair Lewis’ novel, set in the midwest in the 20’s. Burt Lancaster was never better, winning his only Best Actor Oscar as the title character, a grinning salesman enlisted by a revival preacher, Sister Sharon (well played by Jean Simmons) to help “sell the Lord”. Her

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-85332959962319799492009-01-30T01:15:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:36.626-08:00

Donald Petrie, 1993 (7*)I didn’t remember liking this so much until I saw it again recently in widescreen (Odd Couple didn’t fare so well, like one long bad marriage argument). Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau play two neighbors who have basically grown into a couple of bickering curmudgeons, without their kids or wives around to keep them civil. Much of the action here centers around new neighbor

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-30593394993495548502009-01-29T21:24:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:35.354-08:00

Francis Ford Coppola, 1988 (8*)This is the true story of Preston Tucker, American entrepreneur, engineer, and inventor. He saved US lives and made his fortune by designing the ball turret on the B-52 bombers that allowed the machine gunners easy mobility. After the war, Tucker, played with joyous optimism by Jeff Bridges, wants to build a radically different auto for the public: one that’s safe,

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-17063374696665531222009-01-28T18:32:00.003-08:002009-03-19T17:38:48.392-07:00

Yoji Yamada, 2002 (9*)This is a beautifully simple story of a samurai in 1870's Japan who has grown weary of battle and who now just wants to take care of his family. Seibei is just a low-paid storeroom worker at the clan castle helping keep up with the emergency food supply in case of war or siege, and is derided by his fellow workers as the "Twilight Samurai" because he no longer even goes out

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-82581206998805276992009-01-27T19:46:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:37.060-08:00

Jim Sheridan, 1982 (8*)This is one of the most involved and excrutiating performances in cinema history, as Daniel-Day Lewis won his first Best Actor Oscar (when basically unknown) portraying the true life story of Irish poet and artist Christy Brown, born with cerebral palsy and nearly completely paralyzed, but who learns to use his left foot. Amazingly he writes and paints with this foot in a

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-38186017159932376172009-01-27T19:42:00.003-08:002009-03-16T20:45:07.792-07:00

Philip Kaufman, 1988 (8*)Kaufman is best known for directing The Right Stuff, five years after that epic docudrama came this erotic romance set in Prague about a philandering neurosurgeon during the turbulent years of Russian occupation. Daniel-Day Lewis, in an early role, plays the doctor, Juliet Binoche, Oscar winner for The English Patient, plays his wife, and the super-sexy Swedish actress

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-81678385610783255852009-01-27T19:40:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:35.145-08:00

Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007 (7*)Daniel-Day Lewis is one of a handful of great actors working in our generation, along with Gene Hackman, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, and Anthony Hopkins. Blood is based on the Sinclair Lewis novel “Oil”, it’s a descent into the emptiness of a man without a soul. Lewis is probably the only actor who could pull this off, and deservedly won his second Oscar for

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-36572705787612222082009-01-25T20:01:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:37.029-08:00

Gregory Hoblit, 2000 (8*)This terrific SciFi film is also a murder mystery, and it’s hard to believe it gets overlooked on SF film lists with a plot this involving. Jim Caviezal listens to short wave radio as a hobby, and has had his entire life altered by a tragedy. One night he picks up what he thinks is his deceased father’s voice, played by Dennis Quaid. His father may or may not be in an

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-75932275833023262052009-01-24T20:46:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:35.957-08:00

James Brooks, 1986 (9*)One of Brooks’ (Terms of Endearment, As Good As It Gets) best films, an expose of how major network news operates from behind the scenes. This is my favorite Holly Hunter performance (Oscar nominated), as news producer who is so distraught by her job that she regularly takes crying breaks, then she’s ok again. Her best friend, reporter Albert Brooks, keeps her and the film

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-13262848923604147322009-01-23T19:25:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:36.995-08:00

Martin Ritt, 1970 (8*)This is a hard-hitting and Pulitzer prize-winning play by Howard Sackler about boxer Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champ. James Earl Jones recreated his Tony-winning Broadway role, and it rightfully made him a star – he even looks like a good boxer, not an actor boxer (like Stallone). Jones was nominated for an Oscar, and should have won. Jane

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-91749203865117424562009-01-21T00:01:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:32.169-08:00

David Swift, 1967 (8*)Window cleaner Robert Morse, in a career-making musical comedy role, buys a book with shortcut methods to get ahead in the business world and applies them with hilarious success. One of the pointers is to create a name with an initial, so he comes up with J. Pierpont Finch, and joins the poorly run multinational Worldwide Wicket Co. He starts in the mailroom, then uses the

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-13535282167232538142009-01-19T12:24:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:36.727-08:00

Frank Capra, 1939, bw (8*)The perfect film for an inauguration and new era of optimism, Mr. Smith is Frank Capra’s idealistic tribute to the spirit of democracy. Jimmy Stewart is a populist Senate candidate, one who vows to bring government back to the citizens and fight for what’s right, even standing up to his own party in Congress. Naturally he becomes hated in Washington by those in power

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-41143267985929895602009-01-19T00:01:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:36.859-08:00

John Korty, 1973, tv (9*)Emmy, Outstanding SpecialOne of the best tv films ever, based on the novel by Ernest J. Gaines, this drama follows the life of an African-American woman, Jane Pittman, born into slavery in the South during the 1850s and who surives to become a 110-year-old who tells her story from her days as a slave all the way up to involvement in the civil rights movement in the early

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-59048467050161157232009-01-18T15:37:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:36.826-08:00

Richard Brooks, 1967, bw (9*)Journalistic filming of Truman Capote’s Pulitzer-winning non-fiction book about the ruthless killing of the Clutter family of Kansas by two burglers, who had heard in prison that the family had a safe in the house. Director Brooks has made this chilling account more realistic and frightening by the use of flashbacks in the killers words, and a slightly grainy ‘

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-7927191453625710692009-01-17T14:43:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:36.962-08:00

Ashutosh Gowariker, India, 2007 (8*)This has to be India’s Gone with the Wind (only better), an epic 16th century historical tale with beautifully ornate palaces, jewels, costumes – it even effectively mixes in some haunting and entrancing musical numbers (but not many). My favorites were a wedding night song and dance performed by whirling dervishes of the Sufi sect (trance inspiring!), and a

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-52332397725431021872009-01-17T00:01:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:37.168-08:00

Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1943 (8*)Entertaining spoof of traditional 18th century British military aristocracy, which became a mid-war critique of the ‘gentleman’s war’ mentality of previous wars, now being rendered obsolete and ineffective against the Nazis. This version is a restored 1983 one that added back originally deleted footage, so now the running time is over 2.5 hrs, making

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8506540427501221949.post-18481420432555989232009-01-16T00:01:00.003-08:002009-03-05T23:38:35.176-08:00

Sergei Bodrov, Russia, 2007 (9*)Stunning cinematography and visual images make this biopic of the early life of a Mongol named Temudgin, who was later to become Genghis Khan, a must see for all cinema fans. The faces of the actors are all perfect, as we start with a nine-year old Temudgin on a trip with his father, who gets poisoned. The next couple of decades are not only a fight for survival,

Jose Sinclairnoreply@blogger.com0