Val Guest’s businesslike direction and matter-of-fact approach to depicting extraordinary circumstances in a near-documentary style here yield a still-watchable and very entertaining thriller that takes place in London in the early 1960’s.
All in Fantasy
Park Chan Wook's THIRST
Plot summary:
* Devout priest volunteers for medical experiment
* Becomes lustful vampire as a result
* Sex/violence/building-hopping/tragedy/ensue
“Imaginarium” is an inventive and fun film that becomes more engrossing as it unfolds.
Peter Jackson's HEAVENLY CREATURES
Once more DVD technology comes through by making available an older film no longer in general theatrical release, this time Peter Jackson’s 1994 HEAVENLY CREATURES.
Peter Jackson's THE LOVELY BONES
In THE LOVELY BONES director Peter Jackson returns to the more intimate blending of emotion and fantasy that characterized earlier films like HEAVENLY CREATURES.
Ricky Gervais & Matthew Robinson's THE INVENTION OF LYING
What a subversive little film this is. And sweet. And funny. And unexpected.
Hayao Miyazaki's PONYO
This is some of Miyazaki’s best work. It’s enchanting, touching, sentimental, funny, and occasionally, simply astonishing. Miyazaki has a gift for capturing the honesty and wonder of childhood yet he does so without sugarcoating or pandering.
The Hughes Brothers' “THE BOOK OF ELI”
This film breathes life (of sorts) into the post-apocalyptic-road-warrior genre. Denzel Washington is one seriously cool dude as he slashes his way West on foot through a blasted landscape with his secret personal cargo.
Enki Bilal's IMMORTAL
Next time someone says, “Yeah, Avatar was great, but the story sucked,” suggest this film instead. The story doesn’t suck.
Joss Whedon's “SERENITY”
The elements are familiar: Han Solo-style wisecracking captain-with-a-heart-of-gold, rag-tag crew, gorgeous babe good at swordplay and kick-boxing, evil empire, space armadas battling at close quarters, and — I kid you not — flesh-eating outer space zombies.
Wes Anderson's THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX
This is a very funny and beautifully prouduced piece of whimsy. The characters are interesting, the story is clever, the dialog is witty, and the voice performances are superb.
Timur Bekmambetov's DAY WATCH
I see elements from The Matrix, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Resident Evil. And vampires, of course.
Sam Raimi's “DRAG ME TO HELL”
Sam Raimi’s DRAG ME TO HELL is fitfully entertaining. But it commits what I consider the unpardonable sin for a horror movie:
Mamoru Hosoda's “THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME”
At first I thought, “Uh-oh, this is another one of those interminable animes about Japanese high school kids dealing with adolescent angst.” Boy, was I wrong.
Don’t be misled. This is one scary movie.
Brian DePalma's “MISSION TO MARS”
I rented MISSION TO MARS expecting a camp classic, a howler, a real dud.
Pierre Morel's TAKEN
This movie is silly, prepostrous, nonsensical, and the plot has more holes than the strainer I use Sunday mornings to defrost frozen blueberries when I bake muffins.
I loved it.
The Polish Brothers' NORTHFORK
This is a beautiful, entrancing, enigmatic, and mesmerizing movie about death.
Quentin Tarentino's INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
This is some movie. It’s scary, emotionally draining, funny, exciting, tense, thoughtful, violent, whimsical, cruel, and in a few places, just plain weird.
Peter Docter's UP
I’ve seen this movie twice so far. I’d like to see it again in the theater before it leaves. Why? I just enjoyed it so much. It’s funny, touching, exciting, screwball, warm, lovely, and just plain entertaining.