Category: 2000s

Posted on 2022-04-02 | No Comments |

The Missing (2003)

When her family is attacked by a rogue band of Apaches, Cate Blanchett teams up with her estranged father Tommy Lee Jones to rescue her eldest daughter Evan Rachel Wood from being sold in Mexico. The story is a bit of a long, slow burn that I experienced better when watching in two sessions. It has a rather stacked cast with the phenomenal performances by Jones and Blanchett bolstered by the likes of Ray McKinnon, Val Kilmer, and Elisabeth Moss. The craggy New Mexico landscape is well shot with the cold winter adding to the atmosphere of dread and desperation.

Posted on 2022-04-01 | No Comments |

Prom Night in Mississippi (2009)

In the 1990s, Morgan Freeman offered to pay for the prom in his hometown of Clarkston, Mississippi if they agreed to have a desegregated dance. When he tried it again in 2008, the school and students took him up on the offer, but inexplicably white parents still decided to host a separate whites only prom. I went to a large enough high school that while dances were still a big deal to many, the whole community didn’t get involved as they seem to do here. The documentary suffers in that only one opinion is shown and those who try to interpret the other side’s reasons do so with the most unsympathetic interpretation. Not that I can imagine they’d come off as anything but racist or bigoted as their lawyer seems to fear, but it’d still feel more complete to hear them say why. It’s also very weird that the integrated prom then started with a prayer, but I guess it’s one issue at a time.

Posted on 2022-03-31 | No Comments |

The Bolero (1973)/God Sleeps in Rwanda (2005)

The first half of The Bolero is a behind the scenes look on the Los Angeles Symphonic Orchestra’s preparations before performing Ravel’s famous work. The second half is an actual performance. I didn’t get much out of the preparation part, but the performance is quite fun. I love seeing the 1970s fashions, but also the presentation and framing of the performance is quite nifty and memorable.

God Sleeps in Rwanda follows the experiences of five women whose lives were irrevocably changed by the 1994 genocide. The stories presented are powerful and the strength and the courage of these women to rebuild their lives after the atrocities they faced is immeasurable. Unfortunately the production quality and depth of the stories is somewhat lacking for such a powerful subject matter.

Oscar Win: Best Short Subject, Live Action Films (The Bolero)

Oscar Nomination: Best Documentary, Short Subjects (God Sleeps in Rwanda)

Posted on 2022-03-31 | No Comments |

Troy (2004)

Loosely based on Homer’s Iliad, when Orlando Bloom steals away Brendan Gleeson’s wife Diane Krueger during peace negotiations, Gleeson grabs his war-mongering brother Brian Cox to get her back. These actions ignite a war that brings Eric Bana and Brad Pitt into battle against each other. The cast is utterly stacked and the production values are exceptionally high, but it’s apparently mostly unfaithful to its source material. Brad Pitt’s disregard for the side he was recruited for is admirable, but I’ll never understand modern interpretations of the Trojan horse and it doesn’t make any more sense here.

Oscar Nomination: Best Achievement in Costume Design

Posted on 2022-03-26 | No Comments |

Nobody Knows (2004)

Based on a true story, a young mother secretly moves her four children into a new apartment and later abandons them to the care of the eldest, not yet a teenager. It’s an obviously heartbreaking tale and it goes on for long enough that it feels verging on tragedy porn. The film is mostly scenes of the children acting amongst themselves and this is handled delicately and naturally, letting the kids be kids even while the outside world puts very real pressures onto them.

Posted on 2022-03-14 | No Comments |

Constantine (2005)

Based on a comic book character, Keanu Reeves is the title character, an exorcist who previously damned himself with an attempted suicide and is now caught up in the battle between Heaven and Hell. The film is best when it leans heavily into its comic roots, which unfortunately it does not do nearly enough. Reeves is the perfect actor for a character such as this, someone who is barely human and somewhat ethereal. Tilda Swinton also plays to her strong suits as an impish androgynous angel. I don’t recall his presence in other movies, but Gavin Rossdale has a surprisingly strong presence here as the demon counterpart to Swinton. Both the plotting around and the acting in Rachel Weisz’s twin roles is a bit wooden which as the main guiding force of the film really drags all its positive points downward.

Posted on 2022-03-09 | No Comments |

Moolaadé (2004)

In a remote west African village where battery operated radios and the occasional outside visitor are the only connections to the world beyond, one woman causes upheaval when she offers protection to four young girls who escape a genital mutilation ceremony against the wishes of the village elders. For such a dark, intense subject, the film does not get bogged down by bleakness. The village and its denizens are colorfully portrayed and fully realized with interactions and relationships that intertwine. But in the end, it doesn’t shy from presenting a thorough indictment of the practice and the necessity for change no matter the risk to the society built around it.

Posted on 2022-03-08 | No Comments |

Paradise Now (2005)

Two childhood friends living in Nablus are recruited to carry out suicide bombings in Tel Aviv. On the day chosen for the attack, they make it through the military checkpoint, but are forced to flee from guards, separating for the remainder of the day with neither knowing what happened to the other. It’s a delicate, human telling of the two young men’s histories and the conditions in their lives that lead them to this point without necessarily glorifying the choices they have made.

Oscar Nomination: Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Posted on 2022-03-05 | No Comments |

Lovely & Amazing (2001)

This movie revolves around the lives of four females: Brenda Blethyn and her three daughters Catherine Keener, Emily Mortimer, and Raven Goodwin. All four of them suffer from extreme self esteem issues and make incredibly poor decisions because of it. The only one who I give a pass to is Goodwin as she’s a child and has little adult guidance as her wealthy mother leaves her in the care of her sisters while she gets liposuction. I either had forgotten or hadn’t realized Goodwin acted as a child; she’s easily the best part of this film. The film itself is very evocative of indie films of the era and I wasn’t surprised to see that it shared directors with Friends with Money. I think I had seen both films soon after their releases. They have great casts but are equally unmemorable.

Posted on 2022-03-01 | No Comments |

Whoopi Goldberg: Back to Broadway (2005)

Twenty years after her original one woman show was filmed on Broadway, Whoopi returns with some familiar and some new characters added to her repertoire. Though I’ve only seen a tiny piece of the original show, I have not yet watched it in full. This collection is a bit more contemporary (including jokes about Spongebob Squarepants) and political (multiple mentions of George Bush and September 11th). I think my favorite chapter in this set was Lurleen, the Southern belle going through menopause. The jokes were funny but also felt personal with the line between Whoopi and the character she was playing somewhat blurred.