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Reviews
Yidl mitn fidl (1936)
Fascinating Glimpse at a Long-Gone World
I'm writing mainly as a corrective to the appallingly ignorant review that complains about Molly Picon being too unattractive, the bad teeth of some of the extras, and the fact that this movie is too much like a musical -- that's because it IS a musical.
Let's be honest -- anyone who seeks out this movie isn't looking for stunning cinematography, a witty plot, or world-class acting. If it wasn't for the uniqueness of the time and place in which it was made, it wouldn't be worth remembering. The plot is creaky, the acting a bit hammy, and the dialogue forgettable. But that's not why you watch this movie. You watch it because it is, to the modern eye, not so much an entertainment as a fascinating and tragic historical document of a culture and a people that was, at the time of filming, about to be obliterated. You watch it because you want to see what an actual shtetl looked like, to get a real life glimpse of a community that had its own language and music and traditions, and because you know that that community is about to be wiped out. There is an eerie quality in watching the film, because you know that most of the people flickering before you, singing and laughing and going about their daily business, would in a short time most likely be rounded up and sent to the death camps.
You don't have to be specifically interested in Yiddish culture to appreciate that aspect of the movie -- you just have to be interested in the ways people used to live, especially when those ways have disappeared for one reason or another. (People who enjoy this movie may also enjoy "Nanook of the North," a documentary about the traditional ways of the Inuit -- you can see how an actual igloo was made.) Perhaps the movie will appeal more to historians or ethnographers rather than the casual movie-goer just looking for an entertaining way to spend 90 minutes. So please, don't complain about bad teeth and unattractive leading ladies, because if that's all you're looking for, there are plenty of better places to look.
Elephant (2003)
Pretty Bad
Frankly, I'm astounded at the number of good reviews this movie has received. I like to think I have a pretty good taste in movies, but this one just left me flat. I have no problem with unconventional narratives, minimalist styles, unresolved endings, etc., but this one felt so amateurish and insipid I couldn't stand it.
The movie follows a bunch of teenagers around on a typical high school day. "Follows" is exactly the right word. For a large part of the first hour of the movie, the camera does nothing but literally follow a random student as he or she walks around the high school, going to class. The first time this happens is okay, as it gives you some breather room to enter the school and observe its inhabitants. But after almost an hour, frankly the gimmick has outworn its welcome.
The movie is filled with such amateurish shots; I felt like I was watching some film school student's final project, which he fills with self-consciously "arty," clichéd shots. There's the endless slow pan around a group of talking students, heck, there's even multiple shots of a sky that's been sped up so we can see the dark clouds rolling in -- ooh, foreshadowing! wow, haven't seen that one before. There's even a scene where a character slowly plays the "Moonlight Sonata" and "Fur Elise."
I hate to say it because I know that they were all unprofessional, but the acting is the worst kind of amateur. I suppose using real kids is supposed to give a type of cinema verite feel to the film, and to give credit where it's due, it *does*, at least in the way the kids look: they're obviously kids, not the usual twenty-somethings you see in most teen films. But the moment they open their mouths to read (or, rather, improvise) their lines, the game's off.
*SPOILER* Well, it's not much of a spoiler that this film ends in violence. The film is very clearly based on the Columbine shootings, and I'm guessing that the reason the movie got such good reviews was not on its own merits, but because it reminds people of the horrible tragedy it was based on. (I've read at least one review that talks almost completely about the Columbine shootings, hardly mentioning the film.) I wonder though how well the movie will play in twenty or thirty years when the memory of Columbine has faded. My guess is that it won't play well at all. *END SPOILER*
I don't want to go overboard in my criticism of the film; it's not bad in the same way a Pauly Shore movie is bad; it's obviously got ambition, but it just comes off as very amateurish and empty. There's a good film out there that could be made from this story, but it's not this one. 4/10.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Too clichéd to be entertaining
Okay, so maybe it's not "Beverly Hills Cop"'s fault that it has been copied so many times that we've already seen everything it has to offer a million times in a million other movies. But that doesn't help make it an entertaining movie again to modern audiences. All the clichés are there: the rookie cop with unconventional methods, the tough lieutenant, the woman in peril, the evil drug-dealer, fish out of water, etc. Been there, done that. I had high hopes for this movie based on the good reviews, but in fact I was just bored most of the time and only got a few chuckles out of it. Yep, Eddie's shtick didn't make me laugh this time. (Check out his comedy albums if you want the real thing.) I can only give it 4/10, and that's being generous.
Les ripoux (1984)
Great fun!
What a great movie! All around good fun -- I'd recommend it to anyone. The lead actors were awesome -- does anyone else think the guy playing Francois looks like a French Baldwin brother? Anyways, the story of two crooked cops hasn't aged at all. Hard to believe this one's not on VHS or DVD yet. See it if you can.
Dirty Pretty Things (2002)
good acting, but too melodramatic
*** some mild spoilers ***
I'd just finished working for 6 months as a night porter in a London hotel when I saw this movie, so naturally the subject matter appealed to me. I worked there legally, but almost the whole staff of the hotel was foreign (South American, Australian, Middle Eastern, etc.), and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were illegal. So maybe having just experienced the world portrayed in this movie made me too close to really enjoy it. But based on my experiences, I'd say this movie was waaaay too melodramatic. Like the scene where the nasty, evil immigration authorities bust into the hotel looking to beat up on the poor illegal workers -- this scene was way overdone, and just did NOT feel real at all, at least in my experience, (and the experience of the many people I know working in London hotels). Audrey Tautou's character, fine actress though she is, was terribly overwritten -- okay, so her life kinda sucked, but frankly it didn't seem bad enough to merit her breakdowns and sobs about life being hell. I think part of what hurt her character was the lack of a sufficient backstory to keep her from going back to Turkey. As far as I can tell, her main reason for leaving Turkey was because she "didn't want to end up like her mom." At least with Ejiofor's character, you know that he d*mned well *can't* go back to Nigeria.
Other points that didn't jive with reality: the night boss, "Sneacky" was way too stock-evil character, with his sneer and cruel motives -- right out of Dickens. Also, why were all the British characters portrayed so cruelly? And -- this one I *know* was unrealistic -- where were all the customers that were staying at that big fancy hotel? The movie gives the impression that night porters do no work after 11pm or so, whereas in real life a place that big would almost definitely have had guests hanging around till at least 3am or so.
The ending was frustratingly out of touch with reality as well (**SPOILER**): okay, so Tautou's character finally gets an Italian passport. And then she heads off to New York?!? What good does she think that's going to do? Italians have to more right to work in the US than Turks do! She's going to be running from immigration officials in NYC as well!! Which means she may as well have skipped the whole ordeal and gone to NYC with her Turkish passport, gotten a fake American passport, or better yet, since with her Italian passport she's now an EU citizen and can work anywhere in the EU, just move to another city in the UK, or anywhere else in the EU for that matter!!! A movie ending hasn't been so illogical since the Von Trapps crossed the Austrian Alps straight into Nazi Germany.
Having said all that, the thing that saves the movie is the acting -- Tautou and especially Ejiofor do great work. The directing's good, and the story's actually not so bad, if you check reality at the door. I should mention that there *IS* of course a real underbelly to London regarding illegal immigrants. This movie just isn't the one in which to see it.
Wonder Boys (2000)
the most realistic screwball comedy I've ever seen
Roger Ebert in effect called this movie a screwball movie slowed down to real life time, and I'd have to agree. Thought of out of context, some of the plot elements are just over the top, but the director and actors put a veneer or reality over the wackiness, which works surprisingly well. Michael Douglas and Robert Downey Jr are great in particular. The tone is pitch-perfect for the first two-thirds, but in the last third some of the "realism" I praised earlier begins to lag and some scenes feel somewhat over the top. Still, overall it's a refreshing movie with unique characters -- highly recommended. 8.5/10.