Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

3/5

The first time I saw this I was much younger and hated it, mostly because I absolutely loved the first Austin Powers movie and thought it didn't live up to the original. But with age, I have grown to enjoy this much more. I laughed an embarrassing amount while watching this (on a quiet airplane, no less), despite the horrendous candy-ditz acting by Heather Graham. There were a lot of unspoken, subtle jokes that I got this time, as well as movie references, that allowed me to experience the movie anew. The comedy was painfully bad sometimes and the jokes occasionally got old or went on for too long, but the movie overall was hilarious. I enjoyed the music very much, as well as the 60's style camerawork and editing. And really, that's all you should be looking for in an Austin Powers movie. It's a lot of fun. I don't really know why I'm writing this review, since the only people who are interested in this movie have probably already seen it. But if you haven't and are interested, feel free check it out.

Note: I saw an edited-for-TV version of this on an airplane with distractions (a baby kept kicking my seat) and a portion of the movie had its audio cut for an announcement from the pilot.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0145660/

Persepolis (2007)

3/5

Persepolis is a decent movie with a lot of positive aspects, but also a lot of negative qualities as well. Persepolis is a mostly funny and sometimes poignant coming-of-age tale of an Iranian girl during the revolution, who is sent to Vienna for her own safety during college. It is semi-autobiographical, as it is Marjane Satrapi's story, for the most part, and she is the director of this movie and the creator of the graphic novels the movie is based on. First, it had a bumpy narrative. (Yes, I know it was adapted from four separate graphic novels, but that's no excuse for the movie's narrative to suck.) There was no overarching direction; it felt like a series of events with no relation to each other or purpose other than having happened to the same person. Not only that, but the first half seemed like a history of Iran during the time period whereas the second half was a personal history; there was no link between the two.

Persepolis had a wealth of achievements as well, though. The animation was amazing. The transitions were artistic, where puffs of smoke becomes trees in the next scene or the border around the entire next scene. I thought the use of cartoons, specifically black and white cartoons, was essential to making this story more universal. The audience don't have the option of looking at the characters and saying, "That's not me. That could never happen to me." The negative side to using cartoons, however, is that the audience loses a certain emotional connection and impact by not seeing real faces. Persepolis had an excellent use of music and movement. I can't imagine how the graphic novels looked and felt, but I'm sure it was an entirely different experience. Overall, I wouldn't really recommend this movie unless you are already interested in the topic. (I hear it's not a very good primer for Iranian political history though, as it has a very biased viewpoint and ignores essential aspects.) I assume most people interested in this movie already have the history under their belt though, so there is nothing to worry about.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0808417/

Promise Me This (2007)

3/5

Promise Me This is a laugh-out-loud comedy, but a shallow one and not much else. The plot follows an aging peasant grandfather who sends his son to the city to get three things: an icon of St. Nicholas, a souvenir, and a wife. There he finds the woman of his dreams and gets into trouble with the local mob. I was excited coming in because the director, Emir Kusturica, has already won two Palme d'Ors and I was hoping this movie would be amazing too. In fact, it is not. The humor is sometimes too over-the-top and exaggerated, such that it is no longer funny. Specifically the flying man (whose inclusion makes almost no sense narratively even) and the demolition of the club near the end show how ludicrous and unnecessary parts of the movie were. Not only that, but the special effects for those two parts were heinous. The flying guy character was worthless, as was the school bully Tomic--there are probably some other characters I am forgetting because they are so forgettable. The story itself was equally pointless; there is no real depth, just superficial fun.

There were many parts I liked about the movie too. It is genuinely funny, as I was laughing pretty much the entire time. And it was a very fun movie; it seemed like a real joy for Kusturica to have made this. The acting was good for what it was, that is, not realistic. The music was exceptional and very fun as well. I like how it was used sometimes as a person's characteristic or trademark (the superintendent trying to woo Bosa). The editing was on point--crisp, succinct, nothing cheesy. There was also some cool action that was fun to watch. Overall a decent movie, meaning I probably wouldn't turn it off if it popped up on the TV, but I wouldn't go out and try to find it.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0479519/

Mogari No Mori (2007)

2/5

Mogari No Mori translates to The Mourning Forest and describes the efforts of an old man in a retirement home named Shigeki to be with his deceased wife in the forest. He is aided by a new worker there, a young woman named Machiko. I found the movie awful, boring, and ugly. The first half and the second half were not connected narratively or linked in any rational manner. Though each half was essential for the plot, what little there was, there was a distinct separation between the two halves in what should have been a fluid conversion from introducing the characters to going on the quest. The first half was filled with nuances and character tics that amount to nothing and the second half is filled with repetitive wandering in the forest. The movie was slow and exhausting with many pointless scenes. It was just too much of the same, narratively and visually. The green was overpowering and the cinematography overall hindered my enjoyment. It was a beautiful landscape that was thrown away by mediocre shots and shaky camera work. The acting was also relatively subpar, I felt, as I knew right away that most of the characters were non-actors. I didn't like the music except for the piano duet near the beginning.

I did like some parts of the movie though. It has a powerful, emotional story; it's just poorly told. The movie had a good idea for a short film, but wasted it by trying to make it feature length. There are some funny parts, some arresting scenes, and some surprises in the retirement home and in the forest. It's just not enough to make this movie good, I'm sorry. I can't believe it won the Grand Prix (second place to Palme d'Or). I'm grateful that Grand Prix winners fade into oblivion from the collective memory, as this movie goes wholly unrecommended by me.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt1016205/

We Own the Night (2007)

4/5

We Own the Night is a gritty, realist crime drama. Joaquin Phoenix plays a night club owner who occasionally dabbles in drugs, while brother Mark Wahlberg and father Robert Duvall serve in the police force. The cops are planning a big drug bust, but the Russian mafia they're trying to take down frequents Phoenix's night club. And things don't go as planned. What follows is an odyssey of constant tension and changing rules. I'll leave the rest of the details for you to discover in the theater.

The movie has a very realistic depiction of characters and events, with no superheroes and where unforeseen consequences can drastically alter the path of one's life. Indeed, Phoenix's transformation throughout the movie is unbelievably real; it is simply beyond good acting. The other actors give subtle, nuanced performances that are fleshed and full. The directing was nearly flawless. Much of the movie reminded me of the Godfather: the scope of events, the life-changing twists and turns, and the importance placed on familial ties. The entire movie seems to be an essay arguing that family is stronger than friendship. The Grusinsky family never betrayed each other, but are betrayed by best friends, father figures, and girlfriends. In fact, I found the end of the film to be the most explicit exposition, with the final words being "I love you" uttered to a family member.

Technically, this movie is rock-solid. The cinematography is beautiful--I loved the sequence with the car in the rain. There is terror and tension in so many scenes that reaches the same level as Michael Mann's best work. The car scene in the rain glued me to my seat; the scene where Phoenix enters the drug labs was heart-pounding; the end scene in the wheat field was on par with the ending to the Silence of the Lambs, where Jodie Foster is being stalked in the dark. The music was fairly perfect throughout, except a bit overbearing in the first scene.

I felt that the movie sometimes felt a bit underdeveloped. It could have benefited from more preproduction work as some plot points don't make much sense. I would have liked it to be a bit longer (15 minutes maybe), as it felt a bit rushed towards the end and as if we were missing some stuff throughout. Some characters were not unique and relied on archetypes, specifically the character of Jumbo. Other than that though this movie was quite an experience. Along with The Band's Visit and No Country for Old Men, it's my favorite of the entire Cannes Film Festival this year. I hope to see it again in theaters soon.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0498399/

À l'intérieur (2007)

4/5

À l'intérieur, or Inside, is far and away, hands-down, without exception or even competition, the scariest, most terrifying and disturbing horror movie I have ever seen in my entire life. Which I guess makes it the best horror movie I've ever seen. The movie follows a pregnant woman the day before she is supposed to go into labor, when a psychotic woman starts stalking her and, as we later learn, tries to cut the baby out of her. It is worse than The Exorcist because it doesn't bring the supernatural into it--it is just gory, gruesome, grisly violence and death. There are stabbings in all parts of the bodies (yes, including the crotch), blunt force trauma (from a toaster no less), shooting (and explosion of the things being shot), self-operated tracheotomy (later to be closed by duct tape), and eviscerations. I'm probably forgetting a couple things.

The sound design and music in this flick was flawless. It had me squirming in my seat and sweating balls with nothing going on visually. The movie is beyond scary; it is grippingly frightening. At one point in the movie, when a cop dies (I won't reveal how), I literally jumped out of my seat. I think it's actually easier to get that kind of reaction in other movies because you're not expecting something so surprising, but for them to be able to get you to do that in a horror movie, where you're expecting it, that's good filmmaking. I like how the title takes on a double meaning, as the pregnant woman gets trapped inside her house. Also, I commend the filmmakers for trying to have you sympathize with the villain (at one point they actually work together), even though the surprise/twist ending as to the identity of the psycho woman was a bit predictable. Also, the final shot is a pretty sweet homage to Rosemary's Baby, a movie I love.

There were some minor flaws in this movie as well. Once it got going, it really got going and never let up, but in the beginning it was kind of slow. They tried to make it more exciting with some cheap thrills, specifically two nightmare sequences, similar to the beginning of The Descent. Also, it seemed like near the end they were either too lazy to or just couldn't come up with more disturbing ways for people to die. The acting was acceptable, I guess. I don't really know what to look for. I mean, I was scared, so isn't that enough? The cinematography wasn't bad, but sometimes it didn't show what I wanted to see. Also, this isn't a fault of the movie, but it hindered my experience nonetheless--the audience sometimes laughed at it, which cut the tension and took me out of the mood. Anyway, if you like horror movies, this is without a doubt the one to watch.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0856288/

Karl Rove, I Love You (2007)

4/5

I went into this movie knowing nothing about it except the title, and was probably better off that way. It was actually finished ten days before the festival, so far has no distributors buying it (as far as I know, since we got to see it with the potential buyers), and there is virtually no information about it anywhere. But it is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen and also one of the best this festival. Personally, I think it is unlikely that it will get any kind of major release and you will probably never actually see this movie unless you stumble upon it by chance, but I will write my review anyway. So, on to the synopsis. It is actually a mockumentary, although you don't know that for certain until the end, about Dan Butler, "the great supporting actor," who wants to do a stage play about Karl Rove, the ultimate supporting actor in the world stage, and ends up falling in love with him. What a great idea!

Karl Rove, I Love You is a hilarious, hilarious movie. I laughed so much during this movie. It had an incredibly inventive and original idea that was carried out flawlessly. It draws you into the story. Perhaps you too might fall in love with Karl Rove, his chubbly smiling face and sparkling blue eyes, as they float endless photos and video of him in the movie. Technically, it is no masterpiece, so I won't even try to defend it on those grounds, but it's such a clever idea with amazing characters you end up loving (yes, including Karl Rove). I loved how it pushed the idea a little too far, but then came back to reality so you never really knew for certain that it was all fake until the end credits.

I absolutely hated the cinematography and shoddy DV camerawork. It was ugly, amateurish shooting, which is what they wanted and worked well with the idea, but I don't care. I hate ugly movies. The editing, on the other hand, was quite good. It cut out the unnecessary parts and kept it succinct and to the point. The acting was fine, I guess--it's a mockumentary, what acting is there gonna be? The music was effective overall, but sometimes a bit too melodramatic. The ending was a bit slow in tying up loose ends and bringing closure. Also, unlike The Sixth Sense or The Usual Suspects, there is no one moment at the end where you think, "Wow, it's all fake! This isn't a real documentary! I've been had!" (In fact, I knew quite early on that it wasn't real because of the way they shot one of the scenes near the beginning, and it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the movie--so don't get all up on my case about "ruining" it for you or whatever.) Anyway, I enjoyed this movie very much and highly recommend it, although I doubt you will ever get to see it.

IMDb link: Unavailable at this time

Smiley Face (2007)

2/5

Smiley Face is an awful teen stoner comedy, a complete 180 from Araki's previous project--Mysterious Skin, about child molestation and its effects--which I thought was extremely well-done and worth watching. This, on the other hand, shouldn't even be on a festival circuit, unless the festivals it's running are pot festivals and dumb comedy festivals. I don't even think the pot community would like this movie, as it paints a horrible portrait of pot users.

The movie follows Jane F as she gets high, eats a ton of pot cupcakes and gets even more high, and goes on a series of misadventures throughout the day. There are, admittedly, some funny parts where I laughed, but these parts are swallowed whole by the dumb parts. The entire movie I couldn't stop thinking, "How is this stupid movie in the Director's Fortnight?" The story itself was throwaway; nothing about the movie's plot was essential. She loses pot, so she gets her secret stash, only to flush it down the toilet when she thinks the cops are after her. The acting? I can't even separate it out into a subcategory and give it some sort of rating. It's just part of this disgusting movie. The characters, all of them, were worthless and impossible to relate to. Nobody would like anybody in this movie, as they are all portrayed in negative, biased stereotypes. I hated the editing, which relied too heavily on fades, post effects, etc. They looked cheesy and ugly to boot. The music, on the other hand, wasn't bad, but the movie relied too heavily on the music. The cinematography actually wasn't bad. The movie had a lot of small indie comedy actor cameos (like Hyde from That 70's Show, that guy in The Office, and Danny Trejo), but the characters they were always playing were worthless and had like five lines. Jeez, I hate this movie. I hope you are not the kind of person who does like this movie.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0780608/

Du Levande (2006)

2/5

Du Levande translates to You, The Living, and it follows the last moments of the citizens of a Swedish city before it gets bombed, while they are still alive. You don't know this until the end though, so it's basically a collage of random bits of pieces of people's lives. The entire time I was watching it, I thought, "What am I watching?" and half the time I didn't know. Some of the last moments are funny, some sad, some drab, some dull, none exciting or bright. The movie has too many characters (most of them meaningless) and no story--not a good combination. The movie relies too heavily on composition; it is filled with static wide shots and almost nothing else. There are no close-ups, so no facial expression, human connection, or emotion can be gleaned from the movie.

I guess the music was pretty good. It was eccentric, which fit the mood of the movie perfectly. And some of the movie was really, really hilarious. The first dream sequence where a man tries the tablecloth trick to cheer up a gloomy family he doesn't know, fails, gets tried in front of judges that have beer brought to them before they make their decision, and then is executed in an electric chair for it--brilliant! The rest I didn't care for, though. It was a terrible movie, with a couple funny parts, but no redeeming qualities. Don't waste your time with this movie. Hopefully it won't even get released in the States.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0445336/

Funuke, Show Some Love, You Losers! (2007)

4/5

This Japanese movie is amazing fun from the start to the end. For being "one of those quirky Japanese movies," it's surprisingly not as weird as I thought it would be going in. The characters are really unique, fleshed out by wonderful acting. I love all of them so much, especially the excessively jovial wife Machiko. The plot sounds complicated when writing it down, but is really easy to follow in the movie, so I'll just give you the general gist of it. Basically it's about a dysfunctional family brought back together following the death of the parents (in a hilarious car accident at the beginning of the movie), although dysfunctional is an understatement. Simuka has never forgiven her younger sister Kiyomi for a manga drawing four years ago that caused Simuka to be the laugh of the town and unsuccessful at getting a job as an actress (although it is ostensibly because she has no talent), and takes pleasure in tormenting Kiyomi. There are much more complications, but it all comes back together in a very satisfying way during the finale. I actually found the movie to end on a rather poignant, poetic note, where the sisters end up needing each other to get what they desire.

There is beautiful cinematography and delicious post-production effects. The story is gripping and interesting from beginning to end, although in terms of the build-up and release, they may have ended the movie a bit too late (it lagged a bit in tying up loose ends). The music was really well-done; it was effective but not overpowering. There is a comic book animation near the end that I loved, which reminded me a bit of the Snow White thing in Annie Hall (although Funuke is not nearly as cinematically creative as a whole). The movie's idea was original, funny, and touching, and one I won't forget for a good long while. I wholeheartedly recommend it; it's like Life as a House meets The Life Aquatic in terms of family drama and bizarre comedy.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0910888/