Monthly Archives: January 2005

equilibrium

Posted on 1/20/2005 by arnab

why the hell did i watch this? apparently in the future high and low emotions will be outlawed and chemically prevented so as to prevent war and crime. that’s all well and good but why must the new cops who … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict), piece of crap | Leave a comment

whatever happened to john sayles?

Posted on 1/17/2005 by arnab

we watched silver city some nights ago. it was interesting enough but pitched almost entirely like a lecture meets low-key agit-prop. sayles still writes interesting dialog but his films are growing increasingly tedious. it is almost like he doesn’t trust … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict), ho hum | 3 Comments

american cinema in the 70s

Posted on 1/14/2005 by arnab

michael mentioned 70s cinema in connection with “the osterman weekend”. a couple of years ago sunhee and i had quite the 70s festival via netflix: we watched “the parallax view”, “the conversation”, “dog day afternoon”, “network” etc. in quick succession. … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict), the state of things | 4 Comments

So Bad, etc.

Posted on 1/14/2005 by michael

I saw a bit of The Osterman Weekend on TV the other day. It got me thinking–Are there other movies that are really quite bad as conventional movies but that are nevertheless great. The Osterman Weekend, taken as a conventional … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict) | 1 Comment

Horror films

Posted on 1/13/2005 by reynolds

Great horror films, of late? Anyone? Suggestions for late-night viewing? John’s teaching this, so I’m assuming he’ll pipe up. The original “Ringu” films make no sense but are very scary. “Audition” (Takashi Miike) is unnerving. “The Others” was very good. … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict) | 14 Comments

let us not go to “the village”, it is a silly place

Posted on 1/12/2005 by arnab

well, actually all his movies are silly–the plots immediately disposable and not worth holding up to much scrutiny. but shyamalan usually does a very good job of keeping you going till you get to the twist ending. i don’t know … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict), ho hum | 4 Comments

Time of the Wolf

Posted on 1/11/2005 by reynolds

Saw this last night. I came to it as a general fan of the director Michael Haneke, whose “Funny Games” was a brilliant provocation (and scarily funny) and “Code Inconnu” was smart, complexly attentive to social injustices and personal desires,…. … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict), classic, recently watched | 5 Comments

cate blanchett–is there anyone better?

Posted on 1/11/2005 by arnab

among major’ish stars, that is? i was reminded by her amazing double act in coffee and cigarettes of just how good an actress she is. only naomi watts comes close i think. laura linney is also very good but not … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict), actors/actresses | 2 Comments

Maggie at the Movies

Posted on 1/11/2005 by nikki

My grandmother sees every movie that comes out. She’s much more qualified than I am to contribute to this blog. Too bad she doesn’t own a computer. So I offer you her recent reviews, fresh from her snail mail. “Closer–Julia … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict), likey | 3 Comments

Million $ Baby

Posted on 1/11/2005 by amy

It doesn’t seem like that long ago that we were discussing “Unforgiven” and I regret that we didn’t have this blog to debate the merits of “Space Cowboys,” but perhaps we can cover “Mystic River” and this new one in … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict), likey | 5 Comments