Ordinary People (R) 6.5

Ordinary People (1980): The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father, and the guilt-ridden younger son. (7.9)

Director: Robert Redford
Writers: Judith Guest (novel), Alvin Sargent (screenplay), Nancy Dowd
Stars: Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch

I guess, I'm one of those few people who didn't much care for this movie. In my opinion, the story started at the wrong place. It should have started at the boating accident to make us empathize more with the younger boy. At the time it was made, I suppose, a mellow sensitive father and a tough no-nonsense mother would have been a revolutionary idea, but to me the characters come across as trying too hard and arrogant. Sorry, for me, all the pieces didn't fit together while I perfectly understand that there is a strong story to be told here. Contrary to the title, this is anything but about ordinary people. Yes, the acting is superb, but the bottom line for me is that the storytelling has to be strong. My Rating: 6.5

Identity (R) 7.5

Identity (2003): Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rain-storm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they're being killed off one by one. (7.3)

Director: James Mangold
Writer: Michael Cooney
Stars: John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet

A brilliant story and excellent storytelling.  Nothing in it is what it seems like on the surface. My only quibble is that they killed off Rebecca DeMornay's character quite early, so we didn't get to see her that much. We get to suspect pretty much everyone at one point or the other. Then the end throws quite a few twists. This is one of those movies where you have to think about what just happened after you are done watching the whole thing. John Cusack is quite good in playing a dramatic role. My Rating: 7.5

Monster (R) 7.5

Monster (2003): A dark tale based on the true story of Aileen Wuornos, one of America's first female serial killers. Wuornos had a difficult and cruel childhood plagued by abuse and drug use in Michigan. (7.3)

Director: Patty Jenkins
Writer: Patty Jenkins
Stars: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern

Charlieze Theron is unrecognizable from her usual gorgeous self. She lives and breathes the character and it is quite an amazing transformation. No wonder she won the Oscar for this role. It is quite clear that the woman in the story had turned a corner and gone away from being human and towards being a monster. Yet, the screenplay makes you empathize with her plight. That, in my view, is why this is not a documentary, but a telling of the good true story. A good use of the important points of the tale to tell the audience her side of the story. My Rating: 7.5

Five Senses of Eros (R) 5.0

Five Senses of Eros (2009): Five assorted tales of love in modern Korea. "His Concern": A man and a woman are attracted to each other on the train, but he is nearly tongue-tied. "I'm Here": A wife hides every time her husband comes home, and wonders whether he will still look for her ... (5.5)

Directors: Hyuk Byun, Jin-ho Hur, 3 more credits »
Writers: Hyuk Byun (segment), Jin-ho Hur (segment), 3 more credits »
Stars: Cha Hyeon-jeong, Nan-Hee Kim, Soo-Yeon Cha

When I selected this movie to watch, I didn't realize that it was going to be five short stories. The first one had quite a bit of potential. It was funny, true to the point and engaging. Rest of the stories went downhill from there. Yeah, as five experimental shorts from budding directors, they all had some thing going for them. Then again, getting vampires and eating blood and flesh takes the eroticism right out of the whole experience. Thanks for that; not what I expected from the title and genre this was listed under.  My Rating: 5.0

Ikiru (NR) 7.5

Ikiru (1952) : Kanji Watanabe is a longtime bureaucrat in a city office who, along with the rest of the office, spends his entire working life doing nothing. He learns he is dying of cancer and wants to find some meaning in his life. He finds himself unable to talk with his family, and spends a night on the town with a novelist, but that leaves him unfulfilled. (8.4)

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Writers: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto
Stars: Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Shin'ichi Himori

Another thinking man's movie from the famed directory Kurosawa. Like Rashomon, a simple question turns a man's life upside down and challenges his entire belief system. The story is intriguing, but it is the way of portrayal on the screen that grabs the attention. (It also takes some getting used to the Japanese social mannerisms, but bureaucracy is the same everywhere.) More than the dialog, the pictures and composition tell the story. My Rating: 7.5

Her (R) 8.0

Her (2013)  A lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with his newly purchased operating system that's designed to meet his every need. (8.1)

Director: Spike Jonze
Writer: Spike Jonze
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson

I was surprised to see that they had picked Scarlett Johansson for a voice-only role but it worked perfectly. This is a story without too much action so the dialog is a major part of the acting. Even the role played by Joaquin Phoenix has to do a lot of talking. What starts out as a Sci-Fi fantasy turns into a romantic relationship story pretty quickly and we learn to adapt pretty quickly; and that's the power of both the acting and the screenplay. I very much enjoyed all aspects of this movie, including the story, the acting, the directing, etc. My Rating: 8.0

About Time (R) 6.5

About Time (2013) : At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think. (7.8)

Director: Richard Curtis
Writer: Richard Curtis
Stars: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy

As a romantic comedy, this movie is pretty good. As a time travel sci-fi, the plot leaves a lot to be desired. Yeah, sure using the trick of time travel to land a chic is all fun and good, but you gotta be true to your own premises and time travel rules and besides; and, use it for something more valuable than to fix your awkward social mistakes. As a movie, it is nice. The leads do justice to the characters and play them perfectly. I guess, I expected a bit more from the time travel aspects than "fix what I just said by mistake." Yes, I expect movies to be mostly a storytelling medium and so I put more value on the story than the acting and camera work. My Rating: 6.5

Synecdoche, New York (R) 5.5

Synecdoche, New York (2008) : A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play. (7.4)

Director: Charlie Kaufman
Writer: Charlie Kaufman
Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams

This is a movie that some people, including some high society critics, will love for being obscure and weird. But for me, if I want to see shit, literally, I'd just look in the toilet bowl myself; I just don't want to see it on the movie screen, thank you very much. Longer you watch it, weirder or sillier it gets ... no, I mean, dumber it gets. Had it been a weird, silly, funny movie, I would have liked it. Instead it is weird and gross and irrelevant. If you want a different perspective of this movie, this review from The Guardian might help. I just want my two hours back. My Rating: 5.5

The Machine (R) 6.5

The Machine (2013) : Two artificial intelligence engineers come together as they work to create the first ever self-aware artificial intelligence. A veteran AI engineer secretly hopes to develop technology to help his diseased daughter. (6.1)

Director: Caradog W. James
Writer: Caradog W. James
Stars: Caity Lotz, Toby Stephens, Sam Hazeldine

Good cinematography and special effects. The central question of the story is how you can prove a robot is alive and intelligent. It asks the question the other way around, how do you prove the humans are what they claim to be. I'd seen this asked in Clarke's sci-fi stories a long time ago, so for me, this isn't a new way of looking at the question. Yes, the story has a nice seed inside, but the writer-director should have gone with that theme more than the usual military vs scientific theme in all these type of stories. So, in that sense we have the all too predictable evil military man, the scientist with a personal reason to continue the project, etc. The first half of the movie crawls along so there was more space in it for an expanded story. My Rating: 6.5

Dear Mr. Watterson (NR) 6.0

Dear Mr. Watterson (2013) : A documentary film about the impact of the newspaper comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, created by Bill Watterson. (6.3)

Director: Joel Allen Schroeder
Stars: Berkeley Breathed, Jef Mallett, Stephan Pastis

I love Calvin and Hobbes. Actually, I haven't known others who have the same obsession with them as I do, as that's not something I talk about with others. Apparently, there are many like me. But this is a review of one documentary about the comic strip and its creator. Okay, so the director wasn't able to talk Bill Watterson and there are no interviews, segments on creating the strip, explanation of how it all got started, etc. So, the whole movie looks a lot like an admiration of the art from a far, and to a tiny bit a self indulgence of the director's own obsession with Calvin and Hobbes. That's all fine and dandy, but with a little bit more research, he could have done more historical perspective; given some example strips, etc. Instead, it is a series of repetitive interviews all talking about pretty much the same thing.  I think I leaned to appreciate the strips a bit more; then again, I already valued Calvin and Hobbes a whole lot, so I don't know if there was anything added here. Under the no commercialization clause, I doubt the director would have been allowed to show entire strips anyhow ... so, I'm willing to cut some slack. All in all, it is a good documentary for the sake of nostalgia but read the strips for the best value. My Rating: 6.0

The Rainmaker (PG-13) 6.5

The Rainmaker (1997): An idealistic young lawyer and his cynical partner take on a powerful law firm representing a corrupt insurance company.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writers: John Grisham (novel), Francis Ford Coppola (screenplay)
Stars: Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Claire Danes

Uh, why do I get the feeling that I've seen this type of good lawyer movies before?  Because,  I have.  It is the young, fresh out of college, want to do good lawyer against the big corporations with expensive lawyers in a country courthouse. Danny DeVito is perfect for the cynical side-kick. Matt Damon in his 1997 freshness is also the right casting for the I-haven't-tried-a-case-before-this lawyer. I'm sure the novel is a lot more nuanced than this all the pieces fit right into a nice little puzzle movie. It is enjoyable and you route for the little guy and all, but it is all too predictable. A good movie to kill time with when you like it better dead. My Rating: 6.5

My Girl (PG) 6.0

My Girl (1991): Vada Sultenfuss is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her father runs a funeral parlor. She is also in love with her English teacher, and joins a poetry class over the summer just to impress him. Thomas J., her best friend, is "allergic to everything", and sticks with Vada despite her hangups.  (6.8)

Director: Howard Zieff
Writer: Laurice Elehwany
Stars: Anna Chlumsky, Macaulay Culkin, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis

I supposed those who grew up in that time frame would feel quite nostalgic about the story told in this movie. I couldn't quite get into that, but I understand. The kids part of the story is also quite bitter-sweet and kudos to the writer for keeping it like that and not sugar-coat it. Growing up, love and loss are things a little girl is forced to learn quickly. Perhaps, something in the storytelling didn't resonate with me all that much. My Rating: 6.0

Pretty in Pink (PG-13) 6.5

Pretty in Pink (1986) A poor girl must choose between the affections of her doting childhood sweetheart and a rich but sensitive playboy. (6.7)

Director: Howard Deutch
Writer: John Hughes
Stars: Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer, Harry Dean Stanton

I'd seen bits and pieces of this movie previously, but this is the first time I watched the whole thing in one go. For those who grew up in the US in the 80s, watching this movie now will bring back some memories. Perhaps, it is easy to trivialize the trials of high school teenagers, but at least, the story here makes some attempt at putting a weight behind it. I wish they had revealed a bit more of the southern California locations ... would have been more nostalgic. OMD's "If you leave" is one of the more memorable remnants of this movie. Glad I watched it (again, so to speak). Oh yeah, I'm definitely Duckie, at least these days in my not-so-high-school life. So there's that. My Rating: 6.5

The Frozen Ground (R) 7.0

The Frozen Ground (2013) An Alaska State Trooper partners with a young woman who escaped the clutches of serial killer Robert Hansen to bring the murderer to justice. Based on actual events. (6.4)

Director: Scott Walker
Writer: Scott Walker
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Vanessa Hudgens, John Cusack

The story of Robert Hansen had been used in various other films and TV series, so this isn't an original idea. However, the three actors mentioned above give excellent renditions of their respective characters. The most captivating is that by Hudgens. Nicholas Cage, as usual, gets into his character and blends in with the story. What it lacks in originality of the story, this movie makes up for with the telling of the tale. Powerful and realistic depictions sans the gory scenes. My Rating: 7.0

Dead Man Walking (R) 7.5

Dead Man Walking (1995) A nun, while comforting a convicted killer on death row, empathizes with both the killer and his victim's families. (7.6)

Director: Tim Robbins
Writers: Helen Prejean (book), Tim Robbins
Stars: Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Robert Prosky

This is a movie that questions the place of the capital punishment in our society. Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn perform admirably and true to the task at hand. The brutality of the crime, the aftermath for the victims families and the road to redemption (or not) is clearly depicted. What is not discussed, perhaps, is the usefulness or the lack thereof of putting someone to death from a non-emotional point of view. A superbly written non-fiction by a long-term advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, this is a meaningful starting point for the discussion. As a movie, this excels at pointing out both sides of the argument without being preachy. What it is preachy about is the religion but I'm willing to overlook that given the writer's background and the relevance to the storyline. My Rating: 7.5

reboot

I am going to try to restart the blogging process.  I've been watching a bit less movies and more cricket of late what with the Sri Lankan cricket team having had a fabulous first half of 2014.  Let's see how far this goes.

-pkd