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Reviews
Gaza Strip (2002)
A chilling portrait of life in the Strip
having just returned from a year in the West Bank, I have seen some pretty difficult to see things and heard even worse stories. But I was never able to get into the Gaza Strip - denied entry by the IDF. Perhaps this film illustrates why. Graphic, moving and disturbing. What kind of person would hide a hand grenade inside a boxing glove so that kids would play with it?
I urge everyone who has never seen what it's like to be Palestinian under occupation to watch this movie.
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Is this it?
Paul Thomas Anderson - is he any good?
I liked Boogie Nights very much, and didn't actualy see Magnolia (people I know either loved it or hated it), but I know there's a lot of hype behind the man. He's the next big thing of American cinema. A 21st Century Scorcese.
Frankly, though, this film was rubbish. An Adam Sandler comedy* is not something I'd usually go out and watch, but given the director and the amount of positive critiques the film had attracted I thought it would be worth seeing. Honestly I'd rather have watched Happy Gilmore.
To be honest Sandler turns in a great performance, and maybe this is what the hype around Anderson is all about - if he can pull a great acting performance out of Adam Sandler, then that's obviously where his strengths lie. But the rest of the film is just overdirected. I found myself unable to enjoy the (flimsy and quirky to no particular effect) plot and the performances because I was being constantly bombarded with "meaningful" long holds on odd things, or elaborate tracking shots, or odd camera angles. I haven't yet been convinced of the hype around Anderson, but it seems that he has.
There are redeeming qualities - the way he invokes the dischord in Sandler's head and the acting, but overall, I was just left with a profound sense of "is this it?"
(*The word "comedy" here is used in its loosest form. You know, it's not actually funny, it's just a bit surreal. I suspect they were contractually bound to put the word "comedy" in the promotional literature to sell the film. "Oh Myrtle, it's that funny Sandler guy, you remember from Big Daddy, and it's a comedy. Let's go and see it. He cracks me up." I have a sense that there are going to be a lot of perplexed people coming home from the multiplex in the next few weeks)
Pane e tulipani (2000)
Rich character portrait
It's so great to see a film which involves in depth character portrayals. All of the characters in this film are extremely well drawn and I really felt that it was about them - rather than about effects, or plot, or scenery. This is what American films used to be about, before form triumphed over content.