This is perhaps my favorite Shakespeare adaptation film. Kurosawa controls what the camera sees through light, smoke, and movement in a masterful way. Character entrances/exits and scene transitions take on a seamless and ghostly quality. The scenes in Spider's Web forest are particularly interesting.

The best part is, despite the big cultural gap, this is in fact a VERY faithful adaptation of Macbeth. If you've not seen it, don't expect swash-buckling adventure like Sanjuro or Seven Samurai.

My reviews of Pixar films tend to be rather short. Why? Because people know what they are getting. There is no studio I can think of, animation or otherwise, that has consistently delivered such great writing and high overall quality year after year. The Disney board of directors should resign and just turn their entire company over to these people.

As Usual:
Yes UP is very funny.
Yes UP is charming.
Yes UP features a script that is for kids but does not insult the intelligence of adults.
Yes, I recommend UP fully as what will likely be one of the best films of the year.

So, why don't I test out this much maligned new RT journal with a review? Good idea...

SIDEWAYS (Alexander Payne, 2004) -- 2nd viewing

The most important thing that elevates Sideways is its humanity compared to other comedy films. Where many comedies let characters fall into archetypes or stereotypes, some well and some very badly, Sideways propels itself as a character driven story with a side-helping of humor. As opposed to most modern comedies, which delve out the humor and expect the story to come after.

Miles is such a rich character played by Giamatti very effectively with an appropriate mix of hysteria and subtlety. He is the emotional core of the film and propels it forward. Thomas Hayden Church, who plays Jack, Miles' old-college friend whom he is taking out on a trip before Jack gets married. Jack is the source of a lot of humor and is believed to be a shallow grown-up frat-boy. His arrogance and naivety off-sets Miles' morose attitude and down-trodden outlook. However Jack hints at evolving past this shallowness later in the film. Sandra Oh and Virgina Madsen, who play two California WIne-Country locals who become the source of sexual interest of Jack and the reluctant romantic interest of Miles. Oh's character is rather flat but Madsen's character, Maya, compliments the film beautifully--both contrasting and complimenting Miles' emotional plights.

The crafting of the film is very warm and subtle. This film feels like it was loved from beginning to end. This was a labor of love, which compliments the themes of the film very well.

I highly recommend this film.

9/10

Regardless, Sansho the Bailiff is a beautiful film and typical of Mizoguchi's deliberately subtle and minimalist style. It may not have the swash-buckling samurai adventure that many Kurosawa fans crave from Japanese films of the same period, but it is a fascinating moral journey.

9/10 :fresh:

Wall-E (Stanton, 2008)

Pixar have delivered their masterpiece. That is all that I can and will say on the matter.

10/10 :fresh:

Mongol (Bodrov, 2007)

Mongol was quite enjoyable. Good music, solid cinematography, and I was really involved in the script. It also reeks of authenticity with great sets and costumes.

One of the downsides is turning the protagonist Temudjin (Ghengis Khan's real name) into some action star. There are some moments when the action will be quite brutal and realistic, then something "hong-kong-ish" would happen and stretch believability too far.

Overall, it was a solid historical epic. I enoyed it and would recommend it for anybody who still wants to give Oliver Stone a backhand for that film which shall remain nameless.

7/10 :fresh:

The third sub-plot, which is supposed to be the big dramatic punch of the story, involves two young volunteer soldiers as they are pinned down in a botched operation, masterminded by the afforementioned Senator. These moments of the film carry the closest thing resembling poingnancy but get diluted by poor pacing and poor editing--especially since the director felt the need to remind you of how important a moment was by showing it to you in slow motion with no sound and dramatic music. Gee, thanks Mr. Redford...I had no fucking idea that this moment was supposed to carry some dramatic impact. It's so hard to distinguish actual dramatic power when it's superimposed against the sheer cinematic powerhouse of an hours worth of rhetoric being shot back and forth between the same characters, much like that sad little square in Pong. Only not nearly as interesting as Pong. Or masterbation. Or clipping my nails.

I was also absolutely gripped by the 10-minutes worth of panning over pictures of characters in their character's office, namely the Professor and the Senator. The Senator's office was filled to the brim of badly photo-shopped pictures of the Cruiser with various Republican elite. (But I have to admit I got a kick out of the addition of Cruise in his Academy uniform from Taps got a chuckle out of me).

And oh no, we can't have such an important movie without having that big--OMG THE STORIES ARE CONNECTED!-moment. And don't get me started on the complete crap "Get up and do something! IT'S IMPORTANT"-ending.

Only good things I can say: the performances were solid despite the deluge of rhetoric and impractical dialogue and it was under an hour and a half.

2/10 :rotten:

Don't forget, this movie is important.

In Bruges
(McDonagh, 2008)



Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are a pair of Irish hitmen who have been ordered by their crime-boss to hide out and await further instructions in Bruges (pronounced Bruhz) Belgium. Ken is a mature man intruiged by the art and history of the city and Ray is an impatient young man interested only in pubs and girls.

Overall, I'd classify In Bruges as a dark comedy. However the characters and subject matter is taken relatively seriously. The tone of the movie shifts frequently, which might put off some, but I only think it resulted in it being a little uneven. It will float from awkward situational comedy to graphic violence quite abruptly.

In addition to being uneven, the film had some major elements that I found predictable. However this really didn't take away from the film as I still found myself interested in the character development. The performances of Farrell, Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes carried their characters and I was engaged by the story and it's humor.

I rather like it, but some will not be able to get around it's tonal shifts.

7/10 :fresh:

Michael Clayton
(Gilroy, 2007)





Who is this Tony Gilroy guy anyway? He appears to be an accomplished screen-writer from imdb and this is his first directorial work. Well good damn job Mr. Gilroy. The cinmetaography was solid, the music was good but not intrusive, the script was good, and one of the films strongest points is it's editing. It's editing is really slick and beneficial to many scenes.

*MINOR SPOILER UP AHEAD*

My only problem with the film is the second repetition of the car bomb scene with the hit-men included. It was an important and well executed scene, but I felt it could have been edited tighter.

*END OF SPOILER*

Michael Clayton was a very pleasant surprise and deserving of it's nomination.

9/10 :fresh:

Eastern Promises
(Cronenberg, 2007)





I've yet to dislike a Cronenberg film, but I think Eastern Promises is his strongest post-90's work.

SPOILERS CONTAINED IN REST OF REVIEW

I found the character dynamics to be very fascinating. Particularly Kirill. At first I thought he forced Nikolai to **** the girl just because he was a controlling psycho...but I eventually figured out that he was hoping Nikolai was gay.

The only major issue I have with the film is: I knew right away that Nikolai did not harm Anna's uncle. The cut from Nikolai approaching his apartment to the next scene was too contradictory to the rest of the film. Cronenberg never shys away from a violent image or situation, so it was a big red flag that gave away Nikolai's true nature too early.

Otherwise, I was pleased and engrossed with just about all other aspects of the film. Including the performances from Mortensen and Watts. And the script was really solid as well. It was significantly better than A History of Violence, which had it's strong points but didn't come together as well as Eastern Promises.

9/10 :fresh: