Dekalog, jeden
1988/Kieslowski

A good first chapter to the 10-part series. Very simple in style, setting, characters, and yet Kieslowski still succeeds in creating an interesting atmosphere and posing thought-provoking questions. I really enjoyed the dual main character aspect of this film, focusing equally on both the father and the son, and seem to remember reading that this is a running theme of the series. It really shows Kieslowski's talent that he's able to take all the themes of questioning the purpose of life, reliance in technology, father and son dynamic, and children's naivety, and pack them all into a well-made, hour long film. I look forward to continuing the series tomorrow hopefully.

3.5/5 Stars

THE PACKAGE (1989) - ***

Enjoyable pulpy conspiracy suspense thriller, with an Army Sargent (Gene Hackman) losing his "package" of a convicted Army soldier (Tommy Lee Jones) after an incident in an American airport lounge. Of course, in such popcorn fare, the protagonist finds that things are not what they seem, and that his escaped prisoner wasn't the actual man, but somebody who took his place. Meanwhile, the Americans and Russians are to sign a nuclear disarmament treaty in Chicago, while the prisoner makes his way there...while covert governmental ops try to take down our protagonist. The first of three consecutive films that director Andrew Davis will pair up with Tommy Lee Jones, followed by UNDER SIEGE and THE FUGITIVE.

Black Narcissus
Michael Powell / Emeric Pressburger 1947 UK (1st time; TV)
Nuns at a convent set up in India struggle to entertain duty, madness and sexual craving.
An unusual film in that it's not entirely clear what it's about, but one which works because it is astonishing to look at, and thoroughly establishes itself in its mise-en-scene, however studio-set it is.

American Graffiti
George Lucas 1973 US (1st time; TV)
An eventful night among teenagers in 1962 California.
Personal comedy which conjures its time and place with what is an ultimately heartrending sense of nostalgia; the performances all have an immediate air to them, and the safety of being a teenager, however uncertain of the future, was never more attractive.

Husk
Jerry Handler 1999 South Africa / UK / US (1st time; TV)
A girl settles a deal with the man to whom her father owes money.
The synopsis might become more clear on a rewatch, but the parallel editing in this short is rather abstract. Impressively shot.

The Sopranos Season 6 (no rating)
Various 2006 US (1st time; download)
*****Spoilers ahead.*****
There is a moment in the penultimate episode of this twelve-part series, wherein Silvio tells Tony, upon hearing of a Capo's death, "This isn't about Vito, this is about you". It is a subtle nod to the form of the season as a whole; the plots dealing with other characters throughout are dealt with only in relation to Tony, and how he reacts to them. Vito's homosexuality may frustrate some, but it certainly allows Chase and co. to expose the mentality behind the Mob. If it is more fragmented (episodic?) than previous seasons, and falls further into inconclusive, inconsistent narrative threads, then it also probes deeper into psychological boundaries and proves insightful of characters, most of whom are revised here to have sides to them the previous five seasons fail to show. The seasons have become more and more mature and slower-paced as the show has progressed, and here the tone is heavily reflective, with characters all in some kind of identity crisis: Paulie finds out he isn't the man he thought he was, Christopher spirals back onto drugs, Carmela philosophises in Paris, and Tony dreams of being Kevin Finnerty whilst in a coma, to mention just a few. The show has developed into a darker, more existential series than some may have liked; its self-reflexivity and increasing intertextuality mark it as a highly clever turn, less about the Mafia than questions of identity, and masculinity in particular. Tellingly, early on in the season, Tony awakens from his coma and mutters, "Who am I? Where am I going?" It could just as easily have been Chase questioning who these creations are, and what is expected of them.

The Usual Suspects ***
Very entertaining crime thriller starring Kevin Spacey. Cast also includes DelToro. It keeps the suspense till the end and there are some very good performances.

Dekalog, dwa
1988/Kieslowski

Segment #2, slightly better than the first. This segment had two adult main characters as opposed to the child character of the 1st segment. This provided an oppurtunity for Kieslowski to showcase more of everyday urban Poland, which he didn't get to do much of the first time around. Krystyna Janda, our first female main character, also turns in a great understated performance, doing her best acting with her eyes, which seem to able to run through a wide range of emotions very quickly and all are expressed with such beauty. Aleksander Bardini was also enjoyable as the Doctor although I wish Kieslowski had made more time to explore his personal life.

It's also becoming apparent that Kieslowski isn't striving to stick to the 10 commandments structure that supposedly connects the 10 segments, as neither of the first two parts bore any noticeable resemblance to their given themes. Overall, although the conclusion of this segment was slightly confusing for me, it was still the better of the two so far. Looking forward to Part 3 later on today hopefully.

3.5/5 Stars

Great performances from a great director. One of my personal all-time favorites

ive been watching a lot of documentaries..inc walmart the high cost of low price also enron the smartest guys in the room and a whole lot of docs concerning the 9/11 disaster..which are very interesting..also i watched the movie hard candy;which was ok and das experiment which wasnt that good imo..

Me being a big fan of Walmart, watched that documentary. The trailers were very interesting and the movie was very boring, I couldn't complete it!

Boogie Nights
Paul Thomas Anderson 1997 US (1st time; VHS)
The rise and fall of the pornography industry and the lives of the people therein, just as video is taking over film, at the end of the 70s.
Anderson's style is to give otherwise discardable characters an emotional undercurrent with well-timed asides amidst the stylistic flourishes and pounding soundtrack of the narrative; it runs out of steam after ninety minutes or so, but keeps going with some powerful, if irrelevant, scenes of violence. Its confidence and ambition must be praised, and there are few films which pull off the juxtaposition between disturbing and comedic with such panache. But for a film which shows much early promise in its multi-layered depiction of a film industry (with films-within-films-within-films), the characterisation ends up being rather ordinary.

The Devil Wears Prada **
(First Viewing)

Predictable with a hint of humor didn't make for a very good movie. Meryl Streep was fabulous with her stone cold looks and snide comments. Anne Hathaway and Stanley Tucci were very good too with their respective roles. For those wishing to see this in theaters, you'd probably be better off saving a few bucks and waiting for the DVD later this year

Irish, we wrote nearly the same review.

Wow we did. I guess great minds think alike

so do feeble minds


Just kidding

Superman Returns

Baaaaaaaaadaaaaaassssssssss.

Haha.

Figures, I leave before the credits are over for X3 and miss everything. And I stay til the end for this one and get nothin.

Magnolia (1999) - (10th viewing?)
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
A number of indivduals residing in the San Fernandino Valley, Los Angeles, California are brought together through a strange series coincidence... or fate.
The best movie from my favorite director. For some reason, it hit a nerve this time around. More so than the previous nine viewings I've had of this excellent film. In my opinion, I feel this should have won Best Film for 1999. It's beautiful in every aspect... It's emotionally striking (especially for myself, having been able to relate to the scenes involving the old man dying of cancer), and the performances are flawless. I can't say much that I haven't said before. On a side note, this time around I noticed that the film isn't nearly as long as I had previously believed it to be... Anyone else notice that the end-credts are approximately 45 minutes long?

Glad you enjoyed it bogey! It's probably my 3rd favorite movie thus far this year (behind only V for Vendetta and United 93). I'm glad I didn't miss anything after the previews. I had to piss so badly that I was running after that movie and never went back to see if I missed anything or not

Yeah, I'd like to thank the academy for not even recognizing this with a nomination. I mean I can pretty much agree with American Beauty as the Best Picture winner of 1999, but considering it was probably the best year for movies in the past decade at least, I've never really understood how The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider, and The Sixth Sense took the other 4 spots when films like Magnolia, Fight Club, Election, and The Matrix went unrecognized, which, from what I remember, I consider all to be superior to the 4 Best Picture losers. The Academy needs to go for something a little edgier sometimes.

I consider The Insider better then all of those mentioned, save American Beauty, especially The Matrix of all things.

I'm probably alone in drastically disliking that movie as I remember it.

Fuck CIDER HOUSE RULES. Really, I hate melodramatic coffee table dog shit.

Dekalog, trzy
1988/Kieslowski

The third installment, and definitely my favorite so far. The entire story takes place in one night, Christmas Eve, which allows for Kieslowski to light the film using lots of shadows and christmas lights. This mix shows up beautifully on the low-quality, late 80's film stock that's used, resulting in a nice effect that reminded me of Thief. The plot here was the most interesting thus far as well, with a nice chemistry going between our two main characters, who are ex-lovers. The plot and the solitary urban setting reminded me almost of a 40's noir film. Kieslowski also suceeds in executing some of his best camera movements so far in the series.

4/5 Stars

********************************************

Dekalog, cztery
1988/Kieslowski

An interesting chapter. Kieslowski again uses a dual main character setup, and actually gives the viewers a little more exposition this time around, as we come to feel like we know our characters better here than in the other segments. This story revolves around a 20-year old girl who discovers a letter from her long-deceased mother revealing that her "father" is not really her father. Although I wasn't sure about the slightly sexually suggestive turn the relationship took from there, overall the chemistry was interesting. I didn't quite understand the message behind this one as much as the other parts so far, so it was subsequently probably my least favorite. Still solid though, Kieslowski continues to impress.

3/5 Stars

Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 1)
Various 2003 US (1st time; DVD)
Larry David, co-creator and executive producer of Seinfeld, turns apparent boredom into hilarity; surrounded by fictitious extensions of his real-life friends, and playing himself, he has created here an incredibly creative and consistently funny show. His self-effacing narcissism allows me to connect immediately.

I watched it in two sittings.

MistaMista, I also watched Dekalog in three sittings. :p

The Matrix Revolutions **
(First Viewing)

Well, I guess the trilogy got worse as it went on. I did enjoy the first half of the movie (especially the machines vs humans battle). But after that, it just lost me and I could almost care less (especially during the final Neo vs Agent Smith battle). What a disappointment

Donnie Darko

I thought this film was interesting for a first viewing,i like the concept of Time travelling,did anybody else stuggle to understand the film

I would like to hear other members comments on this film

Donnie Darko is one of my own all-time favorites. I've yet to expirience a viewing of it where I have not been left thinking about it for days on end. It is deffinately a film of a rare species, in which you're literally left thinking in a rather deep manner for days. The best part about this film, I think, is that the ending is far from straight forward. Richard Kelly allows you to form your own theories and opinions of the course of events.

By the way, I reccomend watching the deleted scenes (assuming you watched the superior Theatrical release). The make you look at the film in a different light, although I am glad they were cut from the film. For some reason, I disliked the directors cut--which included the deleted scenes--in comparison to the original release.

I have the original release,havn't watched the extras yet

confessions of a dangerous mind

based on a true story this was a well done film about a man living 2 entirely seperate lives and how it was tearing him apart. there a stylish setting throughout the movie and the story line is just right.

3.5/5

Oh really? I had searched to see other's reactions towards it and I never saw you make any comments on the entire series as a whole, just A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love if I remember correctly.

What did you think of it?

My critique read, at the time:

Brave attempt to bring the Bible to modern day Poland, with ten films comprising one mammoth piece; it's all bleak and melancholy, but not without its rewards, and must be seen to be appreciated.
---
Killing stands out in its truncated form; in their extended versions, A Short Film about Love is one of the best films I've seen.

They're segments 5 and 6 respectively, correct? Refresh my memory.