The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

It's about time I reviewed this. As a DVD and film freak (not necessarily in that order), I own both the original August release and the extended 4-disc November release. I've been watching, on and off, the featurettes on the extended version (of which there are dozens) and finally finished watching the film while listening to the cast commentary (which is only one of the 4 commentaries available). I won't give a synopsis of the plot. I mean, who doesn't know what Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings is about, at least in brief? So, I'll just move onwards to raving about how this is another one of those "complete package" films. It is well-written, not exactly ripped straight from Tolkein's pages (and if you want to argue that it isn't Tolkein's book on film, I have a few choice words for that), uses special effects both subtly and extraordinarily, keeps us entertained, sports actors who both know what they are doing and have the gravitas that brings an air of intelligence and wisdom to the film, and is impressive in the quality of its detail, particularly as it's necessary to maintain this detail across three films. We've all heard how Peter Jackson has helped the economy of New Zealand by building his studios there, including his digital arts studio, and including such lovely vistas in his film that everyone wants to take a trip there. But after watching the featurettes, it starts to dawn on you what a massive undertaking this was, from making two copies of each set, both big and small (props were also made in two sizes, so there were two sizes of chairs, candlesticks, books, beer mugs, ...), to the several month-long creation of the scary model of Bilbo that we see for only a few seconds on screen, to the sounds effects guys taking an afternoon to hammer bottle caps into their shoes and walk around on a parking lot, creating that unique sound for the Orcs skittering out of the ceiling in the depths of Moria. I think I've seen the film 4 or 5 times now (and usually I pick the extended version to watch, as it is definitely better) and I become more impressed with both Ian McKellen and Orlando Bloom. There is no better actor for Gandalf than McKellen, but it's hard to go wrong with someone so tried and true. Bloom, on the other hand, was just out of acting school and he does wonders portraying elf-dom mostly through his posture and facial expressions. I'm looking forward to what he does with the character in the third film, but currently I'm looking forward to the DVD for the second film so I can see how they filmed his jaw-dropping horse-mounting scene so that it looked like he was actually doing it.

year: 2001
length: 178 min. theatrical release / 208 min. extended release
rating: 4.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120737/combined

Rivers and Tides

Andy Goldsworthy is one of my two favorite artists (the other being Agnes Denes), so I had to go see this film. Goldsworthy creates art out of natural elements, i.e., things he finds lying around in the countryside. This film focuses on his artwork that reflects water, hence the title. As a friend of mine said, "he's a bit obsessive," and it's true that his work is highly fragile and requires him sometimes to re-create the same work more than once, but I think I'd characterize him more as someone who perseveres, who is driven to create. He mentions in the film that he has, naturally, good days and bad days and on the days when he's creating good art he never notices the cold, the wind, or the rain. As if it warms him from inside. I marvel at the apparent simplicity of such a life, even when I know that it can't really be that simple. The filmmaker has worked hard to weave the finished products with the process of creating them, and juxtaposes this with shots of nature on its own. I found that this gave me a glimpse through the artist's eye -- this is what Goldsworthy sees when he is starting to create a new piece. Goldsworthy does try to explain the "reasons" for his creations, but I confess I remember none of them because the pieces stand on their own -- beautiful creations mimicking and representative of nature, and also wholly manmade. If you want to see what I'm talking about, start here and use the previous and next buttons to view a few of his many artworks.

year: 2001
length: 90 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307385/combined

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

I never expected to go see this flick. Action-adventure, tent-pole blockbuster, middle-of-summer trash is what I assumed. Then I heard inklings that it was a pile of fun so I succumbed. And it really is. It's all about pirates (duh), there's a complex plot plus love story, and a lot of money was spent on special effects. That's all you need to know going in, except maybe to get into the right mood first. What I mean is, it's rare that I've seen a film that relies so heavily on cliches. I'm sure that if I'd been in a sour mood this would have made my mood sourer, but if you're feelin' happy, this film will make you feel even more so. You have all the "Arrrrs!" you need, parrots on shoulders, gangplanks being walked, and more swordplay than you can shake a sword at. It's over the top, and it's supposed to be. The major drawback is its length. I love watching swordplay, but after 4 major fight scenes I was starting to wonder when they were going to wrap things up. Far and away the best thing about the film is Johnny Depp (although Orlando Bloom puts in a very nice performance). I think he's missed his calling. He should have been another Charlie Chaplin. He takes all those cliches and twists them around by creating a mad, fey character who will have you in stitches for nearly all of his scenes. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that he is chosen by Tim Burton for the title role in the new Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory film...

year: 2003
length: 143 min.
rating: 3.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325980/combined

Z

This is quite unique. It's a French film based on the assassination of a prominent Greek senator in the 1960s who leaned too far to the left for the majority of the population. The government tries to cover up the assassination, initially calling it an "accident," while a judge and a journalist try to get at the truth. The most chilling part of the film is the last one minute, which I won't give away here. I will say that the film is part mystery and part thriller, with a lot of exposition which could be considered boring by some. Costa-Gavras' strength lies in how he puts together the pieces of the story, both on a broad story-arc level and at the scenic level. In one scene, he shows government officials being indicted by the judge, but instead of showing you just one official as an example he shows them all, filmed nearly exactly the same. Naturally after the third official we get the point, but the repetition drives home how involved the government was in the tragedy.

year: 1969
length: 127 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065234/combined

Seven Samurai

I goofed and watched The Magnificent Seven before I saw this film. The former is excellent, but this film is better than excellent. I can wax poetic (again) about Toshirô Mifune (who plays kooky with abandon, purpose and brilliance), but the great strength of this film is actually its length. Akira Kurosawa gives us enough time to learn the entire story. It's in three major sections: the Japanese peasants looking for samurai to help them defend their village against bandits who steal their grain, the seven samurai figuring out how best to complete the defense, and then the fight itself. In addition to the usual themes of bravery and loyalty, we grow to understand that to fight alone is dumb and to fight together is smart. Because of the length, we get to know particular samurai and particular townsfolk, and how their stories interweave. Kurosawa even uses slow-mo during some fight scenes, I expect to draw your attention to the skills of samurai, without which there would be no film. You are always rooting for the "good guys," which grows as you learn more and more about the characters, but you never actually forget that the goal is to kill all the bandits. It gets pretty violent at the end, and at points I found myself feeling sorry for the bandits, something I'm sure Kurosawa never intended.

original title: Shichinin no Samurai
year: 1954
length: 203 min.
rating: 4.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047478/combined

The 10th Kingdom

My silly TV rental for the week! I gather it didn't do too well on TV, which surprises me because it's very well done for a mini-series. Perhaps the over-the-top fantasy elements stuck in some people's craws, but that's the appeal of the series. Instead of Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Cinderella being characters in children's books, they are part of 9 kingdoms that exist in a parallel dimension to our own kingdom, which is, you guessed it, New York City. Magic exists and mirrors help you travel and communicate between the kingdoms. Two NYC denizens inadvertently travel from the 10th kingdom to the other 9, and adventures ensue. If it weren't for the talents of John Larroquette and Scott Cohen, the series would have been a dud. They are comic relief from the apparent seriousness of so silly a tale. (At one point, after having it explained that they must guess someone's name or else have their heads chopped off, Larroquette's character says "What IS it with you people? What kind of twisted upbringing did you have?") And the places they filmed! It's almost worth it for the gorgeous scenery. You really can rent all the best fantastical TV series nowadays. I have The X-Files, The Twilight Zone and Twin Peaks all on my list of to-watch TV series. Now if only Quantum Leap would come out...

year: 2000
length: 417 min. (9-part mini-series)
rating: 3.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0207275/combined

Seabiscuit (PBS American Experience)

Having read the book of the same name, and loving the description of the horse races (and the whole book; it's one of the best books I've ever read), I wanted to watch the actual races. This documentary describes the life of Seabiscuit, a downtrodden horse with a failed jockey and a reclusive trainer, who captured the hearts of Americans during the Depression. It's an incredible story, and if you only have an hour, watch the documentary. If you have many days (and you won't be able to put it down), read the book and then return to this film to watch the racing. I'll admit that I found the descriptions more enticing than the filmed races, no matter how much they slowed them down. This may all change if I watch the Hollywood film that's coming out in a few weeks, also by the same name, because my guess is that they've done some fancy footwork putting together the racing shots.

year: 2003
length: 53 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372513/combined

Wings of Desire

This was my first Wim Wenders film, and I wasn't aware of his process for creating film. There was no script, just dialogue written by a scriptwriter friend that he received each day of filming. Perhaps that was his method for just this film? 'Cause I would consider that fairly scary for all involved! The film concerns angels watching over Berlin (the translated German title is Heaven over Berlin), and the need for one of them to fall to Earth and become human in order to touch, taste, see and feel for himself. As my hubby says, it's lyrical, and at times I'm afraid that the lack of script made it a bit too lyrical, i.e., lengthy and ponderous when it didn't need to be (remember, I have trouble with poetry). And yet it's one of those films that will be etched in memory for a long, long time. I, unfortunately, watched the "remake" of this -- City of Angels -- before seeing the original. Could have been a very bad mistake, but in fact it was an exercise in contrasts and similarities. While the remake is in the final analysis banal, the director did use the same library scenes, and I remember enjoying the equating of libraries with peace, quiet and spirituality, as well as a place where the angels seem to get their reading done. And Peter Falk! I didn't know he played himself, and so enchantingly. I'm a bit too young to have gotten into Colombo, but I was aware when I lived in Germany that they thought the world of that series, so it's no surprise that Wenders asked Falk to be in the film. In the end, what struck me most were the shots of the Wall (this was filmed before it fell) and the grittiness of Berlin and that entire 1980s punk-pop era that was at its heyday when I lived in Germany. And the idea that angels watch over Berlin, that sad, proud city.

original title: Der Himmel über Berlin
year: 1987
length: 127 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093191/combined

Good Morning

The appeal of this film for U.S. audiences lies in the incredible contrast between middle-class living here and in Japan. They are packed like sardines in the suburbs of Tokyo, yet seem perfectly content with that. No one ever knocks, they just walk in, slip off their shoes and call out "Anyone home?". Makes me shiver. The film revolves around the veneer of politeness that exists in such situations. Under the surface, everyone suspects everyone else and conversations among neighbors play out like that old game telephone tag. Two of the children in this suburb are desperate to watch TV, a new thing at that time, and beg their parents to own one, which they refuse because of the expense. The children are scolded and take a vow of silence to prove their point. As you can imagine, silence ends up being much more effective than talking. Yasujiro Ozu has a very simple touch; there's really just the story and not much else, but that doesn't deter from the effect of the film. The most amusing thing for me was a portrayal of what was considered a "bad woman" in the suburbs. She wore red and listened to jazz music -- gasp!

original title: Ohayô
year: 1959
length: 94 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053134/combined

A Bug's Life

I keep thinking I've reviewed this, but that's because Pixar films all sit in the same memory space in my head. As much as I love all Pixar films, this one is a cut above. It seems to have more moral heft (persevering in the face of daunting odds, chasing your dreams, learning confidence) than the others do. That could be gaggy, but it's placed in such a whimsical setting that we don't notice the educational overtones. Besides, you giggle through the entire thing. A caterpillar with a twisted German accent? A droll walking stick? A bumbling inventor ant? The characters are brilliant creations, but I think what sets Pixar films above other animated films is their storylines. Granted, this is fantasy, so you have a lot of leeway, but I never notice plot holes, continuity problems or dangling sub- plots when I watch these films. I don't know much about screenwriting (okay, I don't know anything about screenwriting) and the differences between writing for animation and for live- action, but they must be doing something better at Pixar or else I'd be as much in awe of Disney's animated works. OK, sure, the animation is like photorealism. It's mind-boggling. Still, I think without their genius at telling a good story, Pixar would never be where it is today. Beloved by 3-year olds, in body and in spirit, everywhere!

year: 1998
length: 96 min.
rating: 4.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120623/combined