Rosewood (1997)

This drama is based on actual events that were only recently recorded and acknowledged. The grim account of a massacre outside of Gainesville, Florida in 1923 that was essentially ignored by the state government and police.

A relatively affluent black town neighbours a white town and while racial tensions persist, they coexist peacefully until a woman makes a grave accusation that she was beaten and raped by a non-descript black man. A posse is formed and lynching ensues - men, women and children are beaten and the atrocities persist for days. Black women and children hide for their lives in the nearby swamps as they are tracked by hounds.

The film embellishes the story by including a black superhero (Ving Rhames), but the essence of the story is enraging and you can not watch this film without considering what kind of country simply allows this kind of injustice.

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Funny Games (1997)

I wonder what film maker Michael Haneke would say if he knew I watched both versions of Funny Games. This horrifying presentation of violence is meant to provoke and interact with the viewer. The American version is almost scene for scene a replica of the German one.

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Vegas Vacation (1997)

Chevy Chase offers another tribute to family with this slap stick, ridiculous comedy. Just a few laughs really, usually when Randy Quaid is onscreen.

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Bent (1997)

So many films have been made about the Holocaust, but the subjects have typically been Jews. This film focuses on the persecution of homosexuals in Germany prior to and then during the war.

It is based on a play, so the film is beautifully composed and the dialogue is rich. Clive Owen and Canadian actor Lothaire Bluteau provide powerful bodies and characters to bring the story to life.

It is a desperately sad story, nearly devoid of hope.

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Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

Clint Eastwood presents this moral tale in the deep south. A magazine writer becomes entangled in a scandalous murder trial of a local celeb and self-made man. There big twist in the story is that everyone knows the defendant is gay, but when it has to come out into the open, people cease to support him.

The story is full of colourful characters and a twisting plot making it a fun watch.

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Gridlock'd (1997)

Two addicts wander around Detroit under the influence as they try to seek help with their addiction. Both hilarious and a serious comment on society.

On new year's eve Spoon and Stretch drop their friend off at the hospital after she overdoses and make the decision to deal with their own addictions, but only after taking one more hit. As they move from one government office to another they are haphazardly embroiled in more and more trouble with a drug lord and the police. Their lives are saved and their efforts thwarted at every turn.

The acting in the film is brilliant. Tim Roth and Tupac Shakur demonstrate agility in their comedy and drama. Gridlock'd also contains a most hilarious stabbing scene.

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Metroland (1997)

I watched this because Christian Bale has rarely made a film that I have not enjoyed - plus Emily Watson has always impressed me too. The two don't disappoint in Metroland (a British word for suburbia), but it does pan out a little thinly.

It is the late 1970's and Chris is happily married and works as a photographer for an advert agency in London. When his old friend visits and brings with him a lifestyle from the late 60's that Chris used to enjoy, he is force to re-evaluate his priorities and choices over the past decade.

The film presents an essay on being a cog in the system, being content with familiarity and monogamy, and regret. The acting performances are superb though the story as a whole won't move you too much despite the great themes explored.

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Nightwatch (1997)

I saw this tense thriller years ago and wondered why it never became as prolific as some of its counterparts in the genre did. After seeing it again, I guess it does contain some very disturbing material. It's still scary as heck!

Martin takes a night job to pay for his final semester of law school. He is a night watchman at a morgue at the height of a serial killer's rampage through the city. The killer targets prostitutes. While Martin becomes suspicious of his best friend who recently becomes more and more insensitive and daring, Martin himself becomes the focus of the investigation.

The film is a mystery and while we do find out who the killer is about half way through the story, it still manages to keep you guessing until the end. The acting in the film is quite good (for the genre) with big names like Ewan McGregor, Nick Nolte, Josh Brolin and Patricia Arquette.

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Ta'm e guilass (1997)

This is a very slow and reflective film about the purpose of life. It brings a unique perspective to western viewers as it comes from Iran.

Taste of Cherry is shot in the wilderness outskirts of Teheran where a man is driving around in a Range Rover trying to find someone to help him in his suicide project. Everyone is reluctant to help him, though he tries to hire a Kurdish soldier, an Afghan cleric, and finally a Turkish natural history museum worker. The each present their argument to remain living: the state/government, Islam, and nature.

The acting is intriguing because there is very little emotion until the Turk comes on scene. The man wishing to die does not explain why he wishes such, but he maintains a strong resolve throughout the telling of his story.

There is a mysterious postlude to the film shot on on videotape and placed after the close of the film and before the rolling of the credits. I read different interpretations as to its purpose, and I can see it's usefulness, but it served as a distraction to me more than anything at the time.

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The Edge (1997)

I don't really want to like this movie. Some aspects of the story just don't seem believable. But I guess that's not the point of the film.

I've always liked survival stories: Robinson Crusoe, Alive, Cast Away, etc. I wanted to participate in the Survivor series, not for the $1 million, but for the experience: marooned! Yeah! Watching The Edge kind of gets me going thinking "what are they doing sleeping at the top of a mountain?" and "as if they would ever try to trap a squirrel."

Though survival is the conscious desire and it is also what drives the plot, the most satisfying element is the subtle transformation of the billionaire played almost too subtly by Anthony Hopkins. In the beginning, he reveals that his life doesn't have much meaning as he can have whatever he wants and his head is full of knowledge, but he never has opportunity to test himself. As my friend Bernd says, he needed to "test the fabric of his being." Alec Baldwin does his character very well too, with lots of slobber and snot.

The stunts look quite real too, and I was impressed how the actors tore through the woods. I imagine they scraped themselves up quite good.

Though I have admired several of screenplay writer David Mamet's films before (Oleanna and State and Main), the opening 10 minutes of this film are way too wooden. The obvious foreboding regarding the rich guy's wife and a looming plane crash are almost unbearable.

Kudos to Bart the Bear too. Very ferocious!! I don't want to forget to mention that this was all filmed in and near Banff, so it was cool to see mountains that were quite recognizable. Very majestic!!

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The Peacemaker (1997)

This was an intelligent thriller with some over the top action. It was interesting watching an attempted terrorist attack on NYC that still had the twin towers though.

George Clooney and Nicole Kidman team up as counter-terrorists for the United States. In this world, the USA is watching out for the earth, so when a nuke goes missing in Russia (and one is detonated too), they have the responsibility to catch it. In this film, the United States are nearly flawless and all the motivations are altruistic. It is the rest of the world that has fallen prey to becoming terrorists and using the bomb for their own purposes.

The action in the film was suspenseful and the acting was enjoyable. An inevitable romance didn't develop, so that was refreshing. The film takes you around the world as though it were a Bourne film - Russia, Austria, New York, Bosnia, Azerbaijan, Turkey.

The terrorist is made to be sympathetic, but his motives, losing his wife and daughter, ultimately don't tug too strongly at your heartstrings... after all, several tens of thousands of people are killed in the first 15 minutes of the film.

The procedures seem well researched and you have the sense throughout the entire film that there is always someone higher up that they need to get permission from in order to carry out an operation, so it's not Rambo. The story is contrived and the characters a little to superhuman for my liking when the film isn't as entertaining and far-fetched as Die Hard. It's fun. It's just not that great.

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Roseanna's Grave (1997)

A film made back when they still tried to sell romantic comedies with good actors, not just pretty actors. This one even went so far as to situate itself outside of the USA!

The story is quite original: Roseanna is dying of an illness and there are only 3 plots left in the church cemetery where her daughter is buried. Her husband has pledged to bury her in one of those plots, but it's a race against time because people keep dying before his wife does. He's torn - keep his promise or lose his wife. There is a subplot of the church trying to acquire land adjacent to the graveyard, but the land owner is unwilling, for personal reasons.

The lead actors are familiar supporting actors that you will recognize. The supporting actors are not familiar, but do a swell job. Everyone holds their own as Italians speaking English too. I would have preferred Italians speaking Italian with English subtitles. The producers called the shots though; English = more cash.

A blend of slapstick humour, gorgeous Italian scenery and genuine affection between these middle-aged lovers make this film enjoyable to watch. But this film is easy to forget because so little of it is easy to identify with. The more original the film tries to be, the further away it leaves the audience.

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The Apostle (1997)

Robert Duvall should have gotten the Oscar for this.*

I saw this about 8 or 9 years ago and I've been looking for the DVD ever since I started collecting. There wasn't too much that I forgot about this movie, so watching it a second time wasn't much of a refresher so much as looking at it through new eyes.

The Apostle E. F. is an honest character. He's also "intense" to use his own adjective. He's a Holy Ghost preacher in Texas that has led not only an accomplished spiritual past, but also a checkered one and it catches up to him and culminates in a crime of passion. This sets him on a journey towards redemption that ends up in Louisiana.

What I truly love about this film is that it reveals humanity at it's best and at it's worst in the same character. The Apostle E. F. kind of makes my skin crawl, but then he makes me want to rejoice. In an interview, the producer of the film says that it's probably the only film endorsed by both Howard Stern and Pat Robertson. I actually respect Stern's endorsement more than Robertson's, but that's another story.

I think the reason the film carries such weight is because it is real. This is the way people actually have conversations and talk about God and bicker and pull together and form bonds. It's also a very accurate depiction of real "Holy Ghost" churches in the south. There is no pretention in showing what is real and asking for a response.

Duvall wrote, produced, starred in and directed this film. I think he did them a favour by not forcing his own agenda for or against charismatic Christian churches, but rather giving an extremely realistic and honest depiction of what he studied as an American subculture.

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*Jack Nicholson won for his role in As Good as it Gets

The Full Monty (1997)

A wonderful tale of the underbelly of society, globalization, and manhood. As factories close and the city of Sheffield, Scotland becomes unemployed, more than just a lack of income ensues. People lose their faith, their relationships, their pride and most importantly, their hope.

Terrific performances by some now very big names in acting ensure that you will sympathize with the films protagonists - losers of society. Issues such as body image, divorce, fatherhood, pride, and suicide are touched on in a humane way. You can walk away from the film rejoicing even though you've been challenged deeply by the pain the characters experience.

And so it's a light film balancing heavy topics. The lightly melancholy jazz soundtrack and the 70's dance tracks outweigh the funeral scene and the child custody battle. In this way it succeeds because it becomes accessible to all - well, those who can wink at male stripping anyhow. The rating of the film is based on the mature subject matter and the swearing - which is a must in any realistic, urban Scottish film.

The strength of friendship brings the film to its end and leaves you wanting more, unlike the spectators at the finale in the film; they get the full monty.

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The Boxer (1997)

Director Jim Sheridan (In America, In The Name of the Father) says this at the end of a featurette:

They say "all is fair in love and war," well, if there's a conflict between the two, love wins because it comes first.

Essentially, this is the point of the film.

We are thrust into the drama of prison wives in Northern Ireland. Their husbands are IRA POWs and they are left supported in this kind of regimented way to ensure that they are faithful to their husbands. Next, a couple of dissident Irish are added to the plot, dissident to the IRA and the fighting.

To be honest, I never gave much attention to Northern Ireland. I didn't know anyone personally from the area and there isn't anything I can do to effect change there. I understood the situation clearly enough, but I couldn't give you a clear account of each of the four main political forces. (this afternoon, a friend told me that some major progress has been in the news lately - I'll have to read up on it) This film ensures that you don't need to know those forces to be drawn into the story. What we see are people in extraordinary circumstances.

Sheridan is a genius at casting top actors. With lesser actors, the film would have appeared melodramatic, though the writing is very good. Daniel Day-Lewis, Emily Watson (one of her earliest films), and Brian Cox deliver amazing performances. The family dynamics are solidly portrayed too.

The Boxer is a love story, not a sex story, and I appreciate that very much. Sheridan is a master of drawing out dignity in ignoble situations. Boxing is a side story which subtly and powerfully depicts the poor, the divisions, and the passion in a Belfast suburb. The film is not about Irish culture or Catholicism or Protestantism or freedom. These all play in the background as multiple antagonists. There are rich moments of public raw emotion, both tolerance and deep-seated hatred. There is the clash of decency and perceived indecency.

Treachery is cultivated on several levels: marriage, army, country, friendship, parent-child, rules of the game. Without seeing the film, some of the story line may seem cliché, but I didn't find it such at all, as I mentioned, the acting prevented that from happening. Everything that occurs appears plausible.

And the most gripping is the undercurrent of something so foreign, that there is a war on, but you're not in a WWI trench or a WWII barracks or in a submarine. The war is happening in your neighbourhood. The film becomes fantastical in this way, bordering reality. And that's what films are for.

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