2008 was a great year for fans of the cinema, as many critics have pointed out. Unfortunately, this meant that a lot of very worthy films were overshadowed when it came to awards season. JCVD is most definitely one of those films. It did recieve a good amount of support from the critics and had it been released in a less crowded year, it probably would have recieved more award attention. I must admit, despite the critical acclaim it did get, I was skeptical; of course, that only made it that much sweeter when it turned out to be an excellent flick.

If you pick this flick up looking for the Van Damme of Bloodsport or Kickboxer, you might be disappointed. The only real action of the type seen in Van Damme films of old comes in the opening minutes – a brilliant tracking shot by the way. After that, it is a wonderfully lit and shot movie involving a great deal of introspection with Van Damme’s character… uhm, Jean Claude Van Damme. With all the hype about Mickey Rourke’s comeback in The Wrestler, which was also brilliant, Jean Claude didn’t recieve nearly the appreciation he should have for the work he did in JCVD.

Wow! What a wonderful surprise. Before I go any further, I must first admit that my knowledge of silent film is far from expert and that what exposure I do have has come within the last year or two, mostly as part of an avocational venture into the history of a medium I truly love. I have watched quite a few movies now from the pioneering decades of film and always with a sense of curiosity and respect, but few of them have grabbed me with anything much more than an intellectual and historical interest. How wonderful it was to finally see this masterpiece.
Sunrise is a wonderful story told remarkably well. While I must admit that the storyline had a crazier mood swing than a pregnant woman with a bi-polar disorder, it really didn’t bother me. I was simply to entranced by all of the amazing things I was seeing. Every shot was obviously very well thought out and some of the lighting, camera tricks, editing, and special effects left me with a grip of material to rip-off should I ever get around to actually making a film. While there was no dialogue, this really can’t be called a silent film. The soundtrack added to the story wonderfully with some beautiful choices in music and sparingly, but well used atmospheric noise and sound effects. Finally, the acting was wonderful. Melodramatic emoting seems to be an evil necessity in silent film, and this flick certainly had its share of it, but there was also some subtlety and depth of character in the acting that I found refreshing for a film of this period. Wonderful movie regardless of age or era.

I am a huge fan of David Fincher and, yes, this film was brilliant in so many ways. Great story, beautiful cinematography and overall production design, and the makeup and special effects were phenomenal. Really, I want to make it clear that I enjoyed this film and will no doubt watch it many more times in the future. That being said….

What really fascinated me, was the striking resemblance that this movie had to one of my other all time favorites. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Forrest Gump, Redeux. Now before anyone gets all uppity aobut it, let me first say that yes, I realize that Button was based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story that pre-dates Gump by 73 years. No, I haven’t read it, but given that it is a short story, I would suspect that the screenwriters had plenty of room to work when it came to the adaptation. Of course, for all I know, Winston Groom lifted from Fitzgerald when he wrote Gump. Perhaps it is sheer coincidence. Wheatever. Don’t really know or care. What I do know is that the similarities are most definitely there in premise, theme and storyline.

The moment of clarity came after I turned to my buddy and said, “You know, this movie isn’t even about Benjamin.” Then it hit me like a ton of bricks and continued to throughout the movie. Like Forrest Gump, this movie uses an exceptional character as a vehicle to tell the story of the characters he encounters and the times they live in. After that realization, the parallels in the story itself were glaringly apparent at times, but it was definitely different enough, as well. I love Gump and I love Button and I would most definitely never steer anyone away from watching either of them. I’m just saying…check it out.

I went into this movie with high hopes, yet reserved expectations. I left the theater feeling like a kid again. I knew going into this that it was going to be somewhat of a reimagining of the Star Trek I grew up with, but I really wasn’t prepared for the excellent job that the creators did in making a relevant modern blockbuster while still remaining true to the original where it counted. Also unprepared for how funny it was at times. Excellent visuals, good story, great casting, and a feeling of new life for an old favorite. Awesome.

If you are a student of history or a student of film, this film is definitely a must see, but I would suggest that you come at this movie from the proper perspective. From a film history standpoint, the film was responsible for defining many of the visual and story elements that are standard even today. From a historical standpoint, it is fascinating, but not as a study of the American Civil War. The historical fascination of this movie lies in its perspective, in 1915, of a war that was not very distant for the people alive at the time. It most certainly takes a controversial viewpoint of the Ku Klux Klan and the reconstruction of the south, but it is important to keep in mind, that this film was made a mere 50 years after the events portrayed in the film and many of the beliefs and ideals of the period depicted in the movie were still alive and well amongst people who had lived through the war themselves. As I write this, we are 94 years removed from this film, 144 years removed from the American Civil War, and I recently helped elect America’s first African-American President. Birth of a Nation, indeed.

I think I set myself up. I really wanted to like this flick and I guess my expectations might have been a bit too high. I wanted epic and gut wrenching and what I got was mediocrity. The story sounded really interesting, but it never really grabbed me. I think that might have something to do with how disjointed everything about this movie seemed. Just when things would start to get gritty, Spike would come out of left field with these unfunny moments that had me thinking the guy has been hanging out with Roberto Benigni. Then he would start up with a romantic subplot and never really do anything with it. It felt like he just couldn’t figure out what kind of movie he wanted to make. I heard that Roger Ebert said this movie had the best comabat sequence he had ever seen next to Saving Private Ryan. I don’t think Roger and I saw the same edit of this movie.

First things first. If you have issues with graphic violence, this is not the movie for you. On the other hand, if you get that this classic Marvel character does not dole out his punishment with time-outs and a stern talking to, you might enjoy this adaptation. I found it soooooo much better than the first one. It was dark and gritty and really did the brutality of the character justice and the action sequences and fight choreography are fantastic. Some of the acting was a little disappointing when it came to a few of the more minor characters, but Ray Stevenson did a much better job with the role of Frank Castle than did Thomas Jane in the first one. Also of note was the performance of Doug Hutchison. That cat may be an incredibly fine human being in reality, but he sure has played some very creepy characters extremely well.

I am George, I am.

I can’t believe I let so many years go by before I watched this movie. It may have something to do with only knowing Elizabeth Taylor as that crazy lady who got married (and divorced) a lot, made perfume comercials and hung out with Michael Jackson. Thankfully, as I’ve gotten older, wiser and more mature (debatably), I’ve made efforts to catch up on all the classic films to which I turned my nose up in my youth. In doing so, I continually find myself being rewarded with gems like this one. Incrdible acting by the whole cast, but Burton and Taylor blew me away. Why, I’d almost believe they were really married! (ahem) Some wonderfully dark cinematograhy to match the pitch black dialouge. I felt absolutely brutalized at points.

Excellent movie. Sean Penn was most definitely worthy of the Oscar and deserves all the praise he has gotten for the role. Has it really been 27 years since my friends and I went to the Midniight Movies every weekend to watch the antics of Jeff Spicoli and his friends? (Usually in a very similar state of consciousness.) Whoa… Anyway, in addition to Penn’s performance, what really grabbed me was the editing; the movie had a great flow to it. Fortunately, for we the consumers, there was stiff competition this year in every catagory and the powerhouse Slumdog Millionaire sent a number of deserving flicks home empty handed.

Very good movie, but I wouldn’t recomend watching it if you aren’t emotionally stable at the time. This movie started off melancholy, gets sad quickly, then rushes headlong into major depression. The opening sepuence is brilliant in the way it sets the mood for the rest of the film; I knew exactly what I was in for with the opening shots of the lead actress. It was an emotionally wrenching ride full of hard choices for the characters and dumbstruck disbelief fot the viewer. Beautifully shot with some outstanding acting by the whole cast. Really glad I watched this flick, but I’m going to have to scrub my brain with a mindless comedy after this one.