The Godfather #3 on the AFI Top 100 List ****

The story begins as "Don" Vito Corleone, the head of a New York Mafia "family", oversees his daughter's wedding. His beloved son Michael has just come home from the war, but does not intend to become part of his father's business. Through Michael's life the nature of the family business becomes clear. The business of the family is just like the head of the family, kind and benevolent to those who give respect, but given to ruthless violence whenever anything stands against the good of the family. Don Vito lives his life in the way of the old country, but times are changing and some don't want to follow the old ways and look out for community and "family". An up and coming rival of the Corleone family wants to start selling drugs in New York, and needs the Don's influence to further his plan. The clash of the Don's fading old world values and the new ways will demand a terrible price, especially from Michael, all for the sake of the family.

One of my favorite movies of all time and for good reason. The cast was fantastic, as was the writing and directing among other things. I don't think anything else needs to be said that hasn't been said here before about this masterpiece

I just watched The Conversation for the first time. Very very underrated movie by Coppola. Gene Hackman's performance was one of the best I've ever seen. I definitely recommend this film to ANYBODY.

The Godfather Part I 10/10
The Sopranos: Second Season 9.5/10

Im going to watch New York, New York and The Bridge on the River Kwai over the weekend...

Casablanca #2 on the AFI Top 100 List ****

In World War II Casablanca, Rick Blaine, exiled American and former freedom fighter, runs the most popular nightspot in town. The cynical lone wolf Blaine comes into the possession of two valuable letters of transit. When Nazi Major Strasser arrives in Casablanca, the sycophantic police Captain Renault does what he can to please him, including detaining Czech underground leader Victor Laszlo. Much to Rick's surprise, Lazslo arrives with Ilsa, Rick's one time love. Rick is very bitter towards Ilsa, who ran out on him in Paris, but when he learns she had good reason to, they plan to run off together again using the letters of transit. Well, that was their original plan....

This was my first time watching it and I did enjoy it but I didn't feel upon viewing the movie the greatest of it. Don't get me wrong, it was very good and enjoyable but I was expecting something great to be #2 on the list and I just didn't see what the big deal with it was. Sure there were memorable lines that I'd heard before but overall, I didn't think it was better than The Godfather

Irish, the film seen today may seem less of an impact, but it was different for it's time, with it's final scene, ending the way it did, which was a complete U-turn from cliche at the time. Not to mention the memorable lines and acting. Definitely one of the greatest romances of all time, though not better then The Godfather to me.

Citizen Kane is hard for me to say whether it was better or worse then GF though, due to it's complete change of cinema, decades ahead of it's time, and special effects brilliance (explain with Ebert's commentary).

Jarhead - (Sam Mendes;2005;USA) -
A platoon of Marines come into the Gulf War expecting action, but soon become bored that bombers and such are clearing any action ahead of them.
This film is unlike any war film I've seen. Instead of a story of 'war is hell' or some other formula we've seen, we get an entirely different perspective on war. The characters aren't really honorable men, but average Joes who simply want to fight and kill others. They seem to be in the war because they have nothing to look forward to outside of it. There's a good blend of humor and seriousness throughout as well. What struck me the most was the amazing cinematography through the second half. I really felt like giving this four stars but I felt it could've been even better at times. The soundtrack was also great. My favorite musical moment was probably Nirvana's "Something in the Way" played during the bathroom dream scene.

SPOILER
One moment I really loved as well, was the ending where all of the marines, aside Jamie Foxx, end up back home in the jobs they hate, with only one casualty being a victim of society rather than a battle.
SPOILER END

Walk The Line (2005, Mangold) ****

The story of Johnny Cash. Re-tells the Man in Black's early life in Arkansas to the release of At Falsom Prison in 1968.

Amazing. That one word that can describe this film. Joaquin Phoenix gives an EXCELLENT performance as Johnny Cash. Reese Witherspoon? Is this the same Reese Witherspoon from those crap Legally Blonde movies? Hell fucking NO! She is also great as June Carter. Other supporting players are also wonderful. I also have to mention the cinematography, as it is wonderful here. Dark and gritty visuals, wonderful vibrant colors, and the MAN IN BLACK. It's all here. And of course, the freaking music. Excellent. Overrall, this is a great film.

Call me crazy, but if Joaquin Phoenix doesn't win an Oscar, or AT LEAST get nominated, I will be surprised.

So far, my Movie Scorecard for 2005; (In no particular order...)

Walk the Line ****
Sin City ***1/2
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith **
Crash ***
Batman Begins ***1/2
Kingdom of Heaven ***
The Longest Yard **
Rebound NO STARS

Office Space - (Mike Judge;1999;USA) -
Three office workers who hate their jobs decide to steal money from their company.
A hilarious film that paints an unfortunately accurate picture of work in a corporate setting. Judge, while most memorable for his excellent Beavis and Butt-Head series and film, manages to produce his best work here. I was only disappointed with the short running time, although it might've been better off short. The cast is one of those few casts where you wouldn't change anyone, because they all fit their roles perfectly. One of the funniest films in recent years....with flair.
In top 100

Glad you liked Office Space. Definitely one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.

I just saw it tonight. I'm not going to lie. Slightly dissapointed.

It was like Ray, with white people. It covered the same areas of being a misguided musician in the earliest era of rock-music. The musician bio-pics seem over-rated. I will say, I like this better than Ray, because I enjoy Johnny Cash's music more than Ray Charles's music.

I'll write out a more in depth post when I can be bothered.

DA glad you liked Walk the Line. I still wanna see it. There's a lot of movies coming out before the end of the year that I wanna see

Citizen Kane #1 on the AFI Top 100 List ****

Multimillionaire newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane dies alone in his extravagant mansion, Xanadu, speaking a single word: "Rosebud". In an attempt to figure out the meaning of this word, a reporter tracks down the people who worked and lived with Kane; they tell their stories in a series of flashbacks that reveal much about Kane's life but not enough to unlock the riddle of his dying breath.

I was quite disappointed with this movie. First let me start by saying that I did enjoy it and the end had a nice twist, but overall I was hoping to feel some greatness from this picture and I do feel some, but not as much as I thought or hoping I would. When you have a billing as the greatest movie ever made, you have to deliever. I personally enjoyed The Godfather more, but I did enjoy Citizen Kane more than Casablanca. The movie also seemed to move rather slow although it's only 2 hours long. However, I did absolutely love the directing!

Well, WALK THE LINE interests me to see later today or tomorrow for several reasons:

*As I detailed in my COP LAND review, Director James Mangold is mostly talented when it comes to his actors, and considering the many reviews I've read so far, that is the main highlight for WALK THE LINE.

*Jaoquin Phoenix, like his late brother River, has always been quite a talented actor. I mean, he friggin took a cardboard villain in GLADIATOR and made him tragic and sympathetic, yet still a bastard. Anyway, mostly like Jaoquin will get an Oscar nomination at least for Best Actor.

*The source material is worth working with. Quite unfortunate that the really cool story of Cash's last years couldn't be told, in how Nashville(the Hollywood of Country Music) kicked him out of town, and of which he then worked for an alternative music label, and was able to slowly revitalize himself and his legacy. Consider that one of his songs for that new label, which was played by many rock/contemporary stations at the time and made the sales charts...well, how many country music stations directly linked to Nashville played it at the time? ZERO.

*Besides, its country music before it went quite stupid with the cowboy hats, pyrotechnics, belt buckles, and other silly Texan stuff.

*The last major reason for which I've never related before, but I'm actually related to Cash. No really, apparently he is a distant relative far back in my family tree, as found a couple of summers ago. Real interesting to be linked somehow to a film biopic.

I've had a busy week. Here goes...

Love + Hate
Dominic Savage 2004 United Kingdom (1st time; big screen)
A young Muslim girl and an English boy fall in love, despite racial tensions of the community.
A schematic drama which fails to offer anything new. The usual Romeo and Juliet stuff which never rises above credibility.


Mój Nikifor My Nikifor
Krzysztof Krauze 2004 Poland (1st time; big screen)
A mentally and physically disabled artist forms a trusting bond with another painter, and is nurtured to national fame.
A curious tale of a real-life painter who left behind more than 40,000 images; the painter, a male, is here played by a woman, and to poignant effect, as his lack of conscience provides first humour, and then a warming tale of two artists becoming friends through their mutual trade.


Lad de små børn Aftermath
Paprika Steen 2004 Denmark (1st time; big screen)
A couple struggle to come to terms with the loss of their child; while the wife, a welfare carer, takes an interest in a child abuse claim, the husband secretly tracks down his daughter's accidental killer.
A sombre directorial debut of Denmark's most established actress brings out good performances, which are here wasted on characters and situations which never ring true.


Fjorton suger Fourteen Sucks
Filippa Freijd, Martin Jern, Emil Larsson, Henrik Norrthon 2004 Sweden (1st time; big screen)
A teenage girl desperate to fit in ends up making a fool of herself at a party, but she finds comfort in a skater who returns her interest.
Music video theatrics make a post-Dogme, visually interesting film, shot in tones of summer oranges and yellows. But the script succumbs to the usual teen drama clichés: the portrayal of teenagers is one of stereotyped banality.


Mørke Murk
Jannik Johansen 2005 Denmark (1st time; big screen)
When his brain-damaged sister commits suicide on her wedding night, a journalist suspects the husband; he then finds that he is marrying again, and the bride-to-be is also disabled…
A mystery with which the audience is never in doubt of its conclusion; the killer here, played by Nicolas Bro, has a certain likeable charm about him, and the sense of a close-knit community unappreciative of outsider's meddling brings back memories of The Wicker Man.


Kongkabale King's Game
Nikolaj Arcel
2004 Denmark (1st time; big screen)
When the favourite candidate for the next Prime Minister is injured in a car crash weeks before a General Election, a journalist uncovers political conspiracy and a power struggle within the government.
A tense, engaging political thriller shot in moody blues and greys; the acting, visuals and script have a rare weight behind them, invoking memories of All the President's Men. It won eight Danish Oscars.

Anna Karenina
Clarence Brown 1935 US (1st time; big screen)
A well-to-do wife of a strict disciplinarian falls for a soldier.
A star vehicle for Garbo at MGM, and a tragic one too; Basil Rathbone, as the husband, steals the show, while everyone else tends to grate, not least of all Freddie Bartholomew who plays Anna's son.


The Gourmet Club
Juha Wuolijoki 2004 Finland (1st time; big screen)
A doctor, deeply in debt and running into trouble with gangsters, begins to find new luck when he serves tonsils at a secret, exclusive club wherein the members wager bets as to what they're eating.
A fine comedy made for Finnish television, set awkwardly in the past but with a contemporary touch to it.


Ett Hål i mitt hjärta A Hole in My Heart
Lucas Moodysson 2004 Sweden/Denmark (1st time; big screen)
An amateur porn filmmaker, his best friend, female star and his son all ive in the same apartment; while the latter never leaves his room, the other three suffer the highs and lows of hardcore porn filmmaking and food fights.
A ferocious film made in the vain of Weekend but alienating audiences with its serving of Pasolini leftovers. Vomiting into another's mouth, and sex scenes spliced with graphic footage of vaginal cosmetic surgery, this is a film to push boundaries and challenge censors.


Fajnie Ze Jestes Nice to See You
Jan Komasa 2004 Poland (1st time; big screen)
A university student panics when her father shows up unexpectedly.
A short which won awards at Cannes, with a stunning opening shot and a curious, rather unfathomable, and ultimately forgettable script thereafter.


Wesele The Wedding
Wojciech Smarzowski 2004 Poland (1st time; big screen)
On his daughter's wedding day, a rich man runs into trouble with a car, the police, his father, the band for the party, sanitation, catering, a drunken female wedding guest, and a corpse.
A wittily black comedy which piles on upheaval after upheaval in an almost surrealist fashion; it is the kind of film Godard may have once made, in which the protagonist, a charming and despisable millionaire, solves all his problems with money, of which he has an endless supply.

Voksne mennesker Dark Horse
Dagur Kári 2005 Iceland/Denmark (1st time; big screen)
An irresponsible graffiti artist falls for the crush of his best friend, a training soccer referee.
An offbeat, lingering comedy told in a series of Godardian episodes, each with their own chapter titles. Lovingly shot in black and white, it embraces its characters with admiration and a Jarmusch sentimentality. Rewarding.


Der Wald vor lauter Bäumen The Forest for the Trees
Mauren Ade 2005 Germany (1st time; big screen)
A young teacher arrives at a new school, desperate to make new friends. But her over-enthusiasm and lack of control over the pupils fail to bring happiness.
A tragic character study with an amazing final scene but a repetitive (perhaps necessarily so) narrative bogs it down.


The West Wittering Affair
David Scheinmann 2004, GB (1st time; big screen)
A man, proud of never having an affair, confesses to a therapist that he had sex with two different women on the same night; the therapist's girlfriend is one of them.
A fantastic, low-budget comedy which hits the strings both aesthetically and emotionally; it is a fresh, original piece on relationships, beautifully written, played and edited.


Queen Christina
Rouben Mamoulian 1933 US (1st time; big screen)
A young queen of protestant Sweden risks all for her love for a Catholic Spanish emissary.
Historical hokum and Garbo's finest hour; the camera loves her, and she loves being photographed, relishing the chance to shine as one of the most memorable female characters in cinema.


Luffarpetter Petter the Tramp
Erik A. Petschler 1922 Sweden (1st time; big screen)
The last remaining eight minutes of an early Garbo feature.
This comedy, now lost, features Garbo as a bathing beauty; encouraged by her performance, she successfully applied to the Royal Drama School in Stockholm, and thence to stardom.

The Overcoming
Tomas Gislason 2005 Denmark (1st time; big screen)
Documentary on the CSC Pro-Cycling team, and it's attempt at winning the Tour de France.
A fascinating, original subject is here opened up and explored rewardingly; for a subtitled film, however, the director clumsily also has English titles overlapping, causing information overload where a more subtle approach is needed. Herzog would have had a field day with this.


Mata Hari
George Fitzmaurice 1931 US (1st time; big screen)
An exotic dancer and undercover spy falls in love and is betrayed because of it.
Another MGM vehicle for Garbo, with striking visuals and a commanding performance which overrides everything else on screen. She was fond of her tragedies, and this is no exception.


Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
Michael Winterbottom 2005 GB (1st time; big screen)
The adaptation of an unfilmable novel is narrated by one of the story's characters, played by Steve Coogan, who also plays himself in the filming of the film.
An exceedingly playful and clever film which pushes boundaries in a fast, exciting way; the intertexuality is here used to explore both the novel it is adapting, and to offer a witty insight into the filmmaking process.


Diva
Jean-Jacques Beineix 1981 France (1st time; big screen)
A postman records a performance of an opera singer who has never made a record, and is pursued by gangsters who want to make a pirate copy. He is also pursued for a tape implicating a police chief in a murder case.
The explosion of France's new New Wave, of sorts, catalysed by this beautiful fusion of thriller and surreal romance; obsessed with surface detail, any critical exploration of this film is redundant, as it's all in the film's language and style.

Highlights of the Northern Lights Film Festival, all must-see films, were:
Bleeder (1999)
Kongkabale King's Game (2004)
Wesele The Wedding (2004)
Voksne mennesker Dark Horse (2005)
The West Wittering Affair (2004)
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005)

I've had to multiple post as you're only allowed eight images per post.

Mick

Irish, how can you give a film four stars if you found it disappointing?

Irish, before you get rid of the DVD, I think you should rewatch it twice, the first being with the Ebert commentary. Just a suggestion.

My head just exploded.

For a headless person, your typing is rather good.

My head just exploded. [/b][/quote]I like your av. Good to see I'm not the only Radiohead fan in here.

I put on both commentaries and watched the last scene with them as they were explaining "Rosebud". I've got too much crap to watch now but some day maybe I'll get around to watching it with the commentary

Dukes of Hazzard **

A funnier comedy than I anticipated in the theater but didn't have the same kind of emotion the 2nd time around. I don't think there'll ever be another Catherine Bach to play Daisy Duke but I give Jessica Simpson props in her attempt. Burt Reynolds shined the brightest for me as Boss Hogg and I really enjoy David Koechner's work. Linda Carter & Willie Nelson had some nice cameo's and Sean William Scott & Johnny Knoxville worked very well together as Bo & Luke respectively

My head just exploded. [/b][/quote]I like your av. Good to see I'm not the only Radiohead fan in here. [/b][/quote]:) Radiohead is my favourite band. Ever.

Unfortunately, they are slowly becoming the death of my PC. I have about 5 or 6 gigs worth of live Radiohead concerts on my hard-drive.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Another masterpiece by David lean. A movie that exceeded my expectations. One of the best war movies Ive seen, even if "war movie" is not the only category it belongs to. Alec Guiness gave a superb performance as did most of the cast. I feel this is a better movie than Dr. Zhivago but not better than Lawrence of Arabia. My 2nd favorite David Lean movie, will have to get myself others of his.

9.5/10

aziatic, such a great film. Glad you liked it as well, especially the ending with Sir Alec Guinness.

WALK THE LINE - ***1/2 out of 5

Director James Mangold proved with his earlier pictures(COP LAND, GIRL INTERRUPTED, KATE & LEOPOLD, IDENTITY) that his best gift was his knack to get very talented actors to give their best when its essential. The same goes as well for arguable his best film yet as a filmmaker.

Joaquin Phoenix will get an Oscar nomination at least for Best Actor, while I for once(which I can't believe) with the New York Times and other publications in that Reese Weatherspoon will probably the Oscar, though she was very good in this film, so its not a major problem for me.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith ** 1/2

A good summer blockbuster that I wasn't crazy about the first time but wanted to give another try. Jolie & Pitt worked very well together and you can always count on Vince Vaughn to lighten the mood when needed. He probably stood out the most to me but overall (at least in the theater) I was disappointed somewhat with this movie. One of the things that I probably couldn't stand the most was the "office" that Jolie worked in was all girls. I can understand having a few but I felt like it was the Babysitters club up there while Pitt only consoled with Vaughn.

I just watched "Stealing Home" for the first time and I was blown away by the story. What a wonderful sleeper and a great character study!

Mark Harmon plays a baseball player who never quite made it to the big leagues (and through a wonderful series of flashbacks we learn why). He's in his mid 30's and he gets summoned home to handle the ashes of his true love who had just committed suicide (Jodie Foster). The movie (similar to "Godfather Part II") goes back and forth between the past and the present and ties everything up neatly.

For anyone who has lost a loved one and has felt beat down for a time this is a MUST-SEE! Your emotions will get a workout.

I saw "Walk the Line" over the weekend. Excellent movie! I don't know much about Johnny Cash or the Carter family, so I don't know how true to life they were portrayed, but it was very well done. You even forgot that Reese Witherspoon was acting as June. They did such a good job. I really enjoyed the whole story, I can appreciate Johnny Cash and June both a lot more now. Also, I didn't know Roseanne Cash was Johnny and Evelyn's daughter, I always thought she was June's daughter (not Evelyn's).