Just saw this today with my roommate and loved it. M. Night Shyamalan has really earned his place as one of the best and most reliable directors out there these days with yet another wonderful film.

Of all of Shayamalan's films this could be my favorite. The story is great and really showcases the depth of Shyamalan's imagination. I can only think of a handful of other writers/directors who are making films as unique and thoughtful as Shyamalan.

It's almost hard to say, but Shyamalan has what I would now consider an eye for storytelling that could match Hitchcock, the master himself. Shyamalan still has a ways to go to truly match Hitchcock's inventiveness, but he certainly has a way of seducing the viewer that could only be described as Hitchcockian.

Check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Last night I watched the anime film Steamboy, the latest film from Akira director Katsuhiro Otomo. The film itself showed a lot of potential and sounded like a cool story, but ultimately fell flat from lack of a cohesive story. The end result was some nice visuals and interesting ideas that lead nowhere.

The film may not have been that great, but the theme is still one of my favorites ... the conflict between technology and humanity. I have always thought that how humans have managed the relationship between technology and humanity is in many ways the defining characteristic of our species. I think Einstein summed up the state of the relationship nicely ...

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity."

Last weekend I was hanging out a bit with my dad and we decided to kick back and rent a couple of classic westerns to watch and i noticed something odd. I noticed was that unlike the rest of the video store, which is basically all movies from the past 20 years, the westerns section is basically all movies 20 years or older.

So I got to wondering, "how did the entire Westerns genre just die?" I mean, I can understand a bit of a loss in interest, but the death of the whole genre?

I think westerns kick ass and the genre should be revived. My dad and I watched The Magnificent Seven and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and they were both pretty good. Seems strange that people just completely lost interest in that whole genre when there are so many great movies that are westerns.

I just logged in to netflix to update my queue and what do I find? Battle Royale as one of my top recommendations.

The truth is that I have already seen this one, but I was a bit suprised to even see it available on netflix. Quoting from the netflix description ...

Kinji Fukasaki's explosive drama takes place early in the new millennium, with Japan on the verge of societal collapse. When even the schoolchildren begin to abuse the system, the government introduces a strict new punishment whereby a randomly chosen group of students are taken to a desert island and forced to fight each other to the death.

This is not for your everyday movie watcher, but personally I loved it. Crazy story filled with blood and gore and grade school kids running around killing each other, what's not to love? This is like watching kung fu films ... strangely pleasing.

Kudos to netflix for having this film and double kudos for actually recommending it to me. They really do know what I like!

my second *amazing* movie in one week ... i am feeling a bit overwhelmed right now.

so as i sit here trying to think of something meaningful to write about this film, hoping to convey even the smallest iota of all the thoughts and emotions currently racing through my body, i realize that words suck. they are completely inadequate. a feeling of defeat washes over me because i am realizing for the umpteenth time that some ideas; some thoughts; some feelings; just cannot be expressed through language. sigh.

as i think back, replaying bits and pieces of the film in my head i realize that what touched me so deeply was the way the film deals with intimacy. to me, intimacy is that one thing in a relationship that can never be faked because it functions as a completely pure form of communication. it represents the way we interact without rules; without barriers; without fear; completely uninhibited. and something about the thought of that warms my heart beyond belief.

to relate this back to the film, the story is essentially about a trio of friends who share an extremely intimate relationship and eventually there is a falling out and the trio goes their separate ways until reconnecting 10 years later. the film centers entirely around these three characters and their relationship and i won't go into any details about that other than to say, if you like a good film that deals with very real relationships then xx/xy is definitely worth a viewing.

The new king of comic book movies?

I saw this one yesterday with the gang and it has definitely raised the bar for comic book films. Sure, you could claim that both the Spiderman films are up there as well as the X-men films, but Batman Begins has done for comic book films what Dark Knight Returns did for comic books, it has brought *real* depth of character to stories that have traditionally been very superficial.

Finally we get a chance to learn a little more about Bruce Wayne than the fact that his parents were killed when he was young and that he became a vigilante. Batman Begins goes beyond that and not only provides a much more interesting interpretation of Bruce Wayne/Batman, but also gives you some very real and interesting villans such as Rhaz Al Ghoul. But I suppose this is what you expect when you hire a quality directory like Christopher Nolan and let him build a quality cast which includes Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Robert Altman, and a good performance from Christian Bale as Batman.

It's nice to see that comic book films are being taken more seriously now, rather than being treated more like kids films as they have in the past. Anyways, this film is highly recommended.

Been a busy week and I almost forgot ... Oscar nominations are out.

I still haven't seen a couple of the big ones like Sideways and Million Dollar Baby, but this looks to be a pretty tough year. Lots of excellent films to choose from, unlike some other years :p

Just checked out the new trailer for Frank Miller's Sin City.

I can't believe how big comic movies have become. They have been slowly building momentum over the years and it seems that they've really hit full stride now with a huge variety of films each year being adapted from comics or graphic novels.

After seeing the trailer I must say that i am pretty excited for this one. I've read the comic and, like all Frank Miller stuff, it totally rocks. My favorite thing about Frank Miller is his ability to create excellent mood with his art ... it really sucks you into the stories he tells.

Anyways, from the trailer looks like it really recreates the visual mood of the comic. Definitely keeping this one on the radar.

A cool little quicktime video showing some behind the scenes footage of the production design being done by WETA for the narnia films. Looks like more of the good stuff we saw WETA do for Lord of the Rings.

This was an incredibly interesting film for me because as someone from a younger generation I had never heard of Kinsey and in fact had not spent much time considering the fact that only about 50 years ago the whole topic of sex was basically considered an unmentionable. Today sex seems to be *the* topic of choice which you couldn't avoid even if you wanted to, quite a change in just 50 years.

The film itself does well by diving into Kinsey's character from a personal and emotional point of view as well as to follow the path of Kinsey's research from it's conception all the way up until his death. A lot of time is also spent on showing Kinsey's interview method and how he was able to get people to open up and talk about their sex history. This is a good film for those of us from younger generations who take for granted the fact that sex is such an open topic these days.

Well, I hate to say it, but this film was a disappointment. I suppose I had high hopes considering that it is an Oliver Stone film, but in the end the film just didn't seem to have any real direction or purpose. It felt like regurgitated history with no angle of intrigue. The characters were weak, uninteresting, and poorly defined (plus they had horrible accents). Overall it was just boring. If you want to see something more interesting about Alexander try ... Reign: The Conqueror.

Uhh ... incredible? This film is absolutely spot on, just exemplary film making to say the least. Everything from the characters, to plot, writing, pacing, cinematography, animation, etc, it's all just great. So do yourself a favor and go see it. The one thing I do feel is weird though is that so many people have commented to me that they thought the animation "is so real!"

Hmm, I think people are being duped by their animation. I agree that 3D animation technology has grown by leaps and bounds, but still, show some appreciation for the level of detail and texture that makes up the *real* world. Animation does not even come close, and hopefully it isn't actually trying to. If you want to really test this then freeze a frame in the film and go back and forth looking at that frame and out your window. I hope you see what I mean.

This is by far the most suprising film I've seen so far this year, way better than the trailer suggests. It's quite likely that someone read The DiVinci Code and decided to apply that same idea to American history, because that is kind of how National Treasure plays out. And while the concept may be a bit derivative, in the end it works. The characters are funny and likable, the writing is fine (i.e. not overly cliche), and the plot, littered with pieces of American history, makes the film very enjoyable.

This is just a good solid action/adventure film ... well worth it if you are just out to relax and watch a simple film.

Rounding out the 3 day movie hat trick was Shaun of the Dead. I always hate to repeat myself, but once again this film fit nicely into my state of mind at the time and provided some much needed simple entertainment and comic relief. To be totally honest, after all the rave reviews I expected this film to be even funnier. It certainly has some really funny moments, but I was suprised at the number of serious and dramatic moments where they really were not trying for comedy. Regardless, it's entertaining and worth a watch.

Friday night I saw The Motorcycle Diaries which really matched up with the bit of depression I was feeling after getting the report about my torn acl. This film does a wonderful job of staying focused and not trying to be more than it needed to be ... 2 friends travelling accross a continent just for the experience. This film also strikes a chord with me because I consider myself a traveller, and so any film about the journey and discovery involved in travelling just gets me excited. I really shouldn't say too much about this film though, it's one of those "just go see it" type of films.

Finally saw this last thursday with a couple friends. The funny thing was that neither of my friends were really fans of anime and they both really liked the film, while I have been a huge anime fan for years and felt that the film was just ok. My 2 gripes with this sequel is that 1, it was a bit slow for me and 2, i think some of the 3D animation was over used.

Both of my fellow viewers felt the exact opposite, that the pace was fine, and that the visuals were totally amazing. And while I do agree that the animation was quite amazing, I guess I just prefer less of that polished 3D animation feel. Anways, it was a good watch despite my crits.

ended up seeing this with my roommate last night and thinking back i don't really know how i feel about it. It was an incredibly slow and boring film for the most part, but then at the films climax you are actually thrown into a bit of a whirlwind. I'll elaborate for a sentance or two.

The whole film is about a guy on the road back from the east coast to L.A. and all you really know about him is that he is a very timid and quiet person who is undergoing some kind of psychological struggle related to a girl named Daisy. When he is finally back in L.A. Daisy shows up for 1 real scene and all is revealed. The film is very slow and would bore most people right out of the theater, yet it does have that quiet intrigue that will benefit the patient viewer who can wait 'til the films climax. I guess I would say that this is the type of film that is good to see, but not to sit through. hmmm.

We had a cool roommates night out on Monday and went to go see Garden State. It was everything I expected and some. I don't know what it is, but any story about coming of age or self discovery just does a number on me. I suppose the feeling is also compounded by the fact that I am currently caught in a whirlwind of change with the whole moving up to the city situation. Anyways, I'm not really sure how or why, but these kinds of movies always trigger so much self reflection. Amazing how powerful a couple hours of video can be.

I saw this film with the fam on Friday and was totally blown away. This one is right up there on the list of the best films I've seen so far this year. This is a French film and the basic story is about 2 kids growing up who were enfatuated with playing the "dare" game (dare someone to do something, once they do it they choose one for you). You get to see them as children all the way through their lives and things get really interesting once the whole love element comes into play.

Anyways, this is easily one of the best films out right now so see it if you can.

Saw it tonight and thought it was pretty blah. The beginning was really lame and not funny at all. Once the story gets going and the characters have more of a purpose then it becomes a bit better. No comparison to the original though.

** Side note. Not sure why, but Cameron Diaz voice behind the female orge character just really doesn't jive with me. I found myself constantly annoyed by this throughout the film.

I was a bit suprised by this one based on the lackluster reviews I had been getting from people. I guess I can understand why many ppl thought it was just okay, but aside from the first 20 mins or so I would say this was a very enjoyable film. I give big bonus points for the fact that it had an epic feel and didn't rush the story for the "benefit" of an impatient audience.

The beginning was quite rushed and had me a bit worried, but once the Greeks set out for Troy then everything falls into place and we get to enjoy seeing battle after battle as the Trojan war takes place. So with a little patience I believe this film is more rewarding that watching say ... Gladiator. My opinion anyways.

-- AG

Just checking out the oscar nominations now ... looks a bit sketchy to me. Anyways, shit, I've got to get to work if I'm going to catch up.

The list:
-------
Pirates of the Caribbean*
House of Sand and Fog
Lost in Translation
The Cooler
21 Grams
Whale Rider*
Monster
Pieces of April*
Thirteen*
Brother Bear
The Triplets of Belleville
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Master and Commander
Seabiscuit*
Big Fish
American Splendor*
The Barbarian Invasions
Dirty Pretty Things

Not once, but twice. In the same weekend. Ugh.

I remember back in the day ... T2 was the coolest f*#in' movie ever made. I think it lost its appeal because I watched it so many times. Well, don't think I'll feel the same way about T3 even though it turned out much better than I thought it would.

All I have to say is that the ending is perfect. Nothing fancy. Nothing twisted. Just a good ending to a meager movie. What I hated is that the whole movie seemed to take place on a nice sunny day. I missed the darkness of the first film. Plus the terminatrix was a bit of a joke. She should have kicked somebodies ass. Now I just hope there is a Terminator 4 that shows the war with the machines.

Viewed:	June 13, 2003 @ 8:00 PM
Theater:	Camera 7
Algee Says:	Bit childish, but fun. Definitely worth seeing.

Pixar is just one of those movie studios that isn't afraid to take the time to do things right and it really shows. They do an excellent job in breathing the utmost life into all of their characters, whether they be fish, bugs, monsters, or toys.

Of course this film has great animation, but what is even more noticable is how much time and effort was put in to the charater of the film. The great thing about animation is that everything must serve a purpose, because you have to manually put every single item into each frame.

Anways ... above all else this is just great filmmaking.

Viewed:	June 8, 2003 @ 5:20 PM
Theater:	Camera 7
Algee Says:	Eh. Good comedy, but South Park is funnier.

Bruce Almighty certainly brings back the good 'ol slap-stick Jim Carrey that we all know and love, but it still seems a bit too tentative and reserved to be "rolling on the floor" hilarious. I found myself laughy regularly throughout the film at some really great scenes, but there could have been a lot more.

I think this film just suffered from a bit too much seriousness weighing down the comedic moments. The serious bits are great and probably would have been perfect in a separate movie with someone besides Carrey, but what we really want to see is nonstop goofball jokes and we don't quite get there.

This is still certainly a good time out and worth seeing, but still doesn't come near the comedic legacies of Dumb and Dumber or Ace Ventura.