A very successful attempt to portray an artist in artistic terms. 32 short films illuminating his life and music. Very fragmented ( Like watching a picture being put together from broken pieces of a mirror said one critic) and extremely dark (the mother - Watts - is trying to survive the death of her husband and two young daughters) Del Toro & Watts nominated for acting Oscars At its heart is an exploration of people surviving after a death but changed (maybe diminished) by it. Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Benicio del Toro Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel)Ī Math professor, a suburban housewife and a recovering ex-convict are brought together by an accident and organ transplant situation. This is more like George Lucas trying to be profound. What s missing is Kubrick and his understanding of art. Plus, the other touchstone of the plot - a near breakout of war with Russia - is dated in a far worse way than any of the amusing little errors in 2001. Clarke s plot provides an explanation for the monolith and what s going on at Jupiter, but it seems small and obvious. It s well done and reasonably enjoyable as a sci-fi flick, but has none of the eerie uniqueness and ambiguity that made the original so special. This is a seriously-intended, big budget sequel to 2001. Roy Scheider, Helen Mirren, John Lithgow, Dir by Peter Hyams. (One reason the images are so good is that they weren t done with opticals, but were multi-pass exposures of models etc on 70mm negative) ![]() Also, the final section - Jupiter and Beyond Infinity - is still as provocative, visually stunning and enigmatic as ever, worth comparing to Contact (possible to be revised after I see 2010 the semi-sequel that purports to explain it all. Still, a lot of images have become cultural touchstones (e.g. Ground-breaking in 68, it seems distant and overly slow today. It s a dramatic conclusion we care about.Īrthur C Clark & Stanley Kubrik. More importantly, the first /two acts are all about character, so it isn t just swords and blood. The final act is a long, very bloody battle scene - the greatest ever shot - that actually makes sense in the story. The Shogun won t act, so his senior minister recruits a retired Samurai to put together a secret assassination plot. In 1844, the Shogun s half-brother, Lord Naritsugu, is a sadistic monster who is creating hatred for the government everywhere he goes. ![]() ![]() Kiji Yakusho, Goro Inagaki, Mikijiro HiraĪ Samurai epic that, while not quite the equal of The Seven Samurai comes close. Won the best Picture Oscar and newcomer Lupita Nyong o won Best Supporting Actress.ĭir by Takashi Miike ( Audition, Ichi the Killer. Several critics have noted that this may be the film that finally makes it impossible to ever again release a movie romanticizing the life of the old south. And therein lies the power, art-house director McQueen uses all the old Hollywood dramatic tricks to totally draw us into the world of the slaves and to viscerally feel the horror of their life. ![]() Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Lupita Nyong o Solomon Northup s aurobiography, published in 1853Ī very straight-ahead telling of the true story of an educated, articulate free black man, Shanghaied off the streets of NY in the 1930s and sold into slavery. The initial jury vote is 11-1, but the one guy with doubts slowly starts others beginning to doubt their first instinct (and in the process we get a inside view of each one s history and foibles.) Doubly interesting in light of current press about how Russia s jury system is often just sham, and how reformers are just now starting to challenge thisĭir. A young man is accused of murder and it seems and open and shut case. Set in Chechnia, with lots of Russia-specific references and character traits. Dir Nikita Mikhakhov (who did Burnt by the Sun )Ī conscious Russian adaptation/remake of Sidney Lumet s classic 12 Angry Men.
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