L'emploi du temps (2001)

Vincent was fired from his job in the finance sector a few months ago, but he still hasn't told his wife. Instead, he departs on lonely "business" trips and returns with lies for his wife, children, parents and friends. The lies become elaborate and rehearsed. He begins extorting his friends and family as a means of maintaining his illusion.

Time Out is a brilliant depiction of the emasculation that has taken hold in the west. Men are no longer men, they are tools in an economy devoid of meaning.

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Das Experiment (2001)

This psychological thriller from Germany takes a look at human behaviour when there are expectations placed on them in a prison situation. The simulation experiment splits a group of civilian men into prisoners and prison guards and observes them for a few weeks. What occurs is tragic and disturbing.

It is an interesting film as the horror builds slowly on things we encounter every day. The story was based on an actual experiment done at Stanford University.

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Invincible (2001)

Werner Herzog tells true stories very well. He doesn't let his protagonist become overdramatic thus allowing for the story to be central and the character becomes greater by being less than the issue at hand.

Zishe, a young and simple Jewish blacksmith in rural Poland, becomes famous for his unbelievable strength. He is recruited to come to Berlin where he can be featured as a strong man at a posh night club where singers, dancers and magicians perform. His boss is an occultist who is on the inside with an up and coming National Socialist German Workers' Party. Zishe has to choose whether he will stand against the rising anti-semitism or embrace the fame he quickly achieves.

Sometimes, Herzog, who also wrote the screenplay, seems to be forcing his own interpretation of the story onto the screen than should be allowed, but it works nonetheless. Invincible is a poignant and very unique film, its simplicity being its strongest asset.

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L'ultimo bacio (2001)

This Italian film takes a post-modern view of marriage, commitment, and love.

Carlo has just impregnated his long time girlfriend and they are considering buying a house together. His chums are going through interpersonal episodes too - getting married, a new baby and conflict with wife, pining over a lost girlfriend, and itching to get out of the family business. Things come to a fever pitch for Carlo when he's faced with the coming responsibilities or enjoying unattached sex with a flirtatious teen.

The film is intricate and engaging as the story weaves in and out between this mass of connected lives. The actors are also great as spoiled Italian late-20s brats.

I was surprised by the ending as it is different from the American version starring Zach Braff.

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La stanza del figlio (2001)

The Son's Room is an emotional investigation into life after death in Italy.

An ideal professional family, active and communicative lose their son in an accident, they struggle to find an appropriate way to live. The father, a psychologist has trouble listening to other people go on and on about their problems when he dismisses these in comparison with the heartache he has. The surviving daughter struggles to continue contact with her increasingly distant parents.

Without stooping to melodrama and a trite answer to the issue, The Son's Room honestly explores a variety of responses to loss. The film won accolades when it came out and it should continue to be watched today.

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Hotel (2001)

This is the worst film I may have ever seen in my life. Its efforts to comment on its absurd self by mimicking itself produces a cycle of boredom and nausea for its viewers.

Film crew and cast descend upon a Venetian hotel. Plenty of chaos and ad lib lines are interrupted with occasional erotica and cannibalism. It makes no sense at all.

The only positive note I can add is that if this film got mass distribution on DVD, so should mine! I just need a few big names attached to it. . .

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Human Nature (2001)

Multimedia director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Be Kind Rewind) teams up with the one of the only original hollywood writers Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich and Adaptation) for this zany take on the artificiality of societal norms.

A man raised as a monkey is taken in by a psychologist obsessed with manners. A nature writing woman with a severe full body hair growth issue undergoes extreme electrolysis to try and reintegrate herself into mainstream life. Of course nature vs. nurture is tackled in a variety of hilarious ways.

Rhys Ifans steals the show as monkey man. So funny.

Other bits of the show aren't as successful - like the lack of empathy we feel for most characters (especially Tim Robbins' scientist).

Official Site | IMDB

I Am Sam (2001)

We're faced with a difficult question in I Am Sam: How should the state respond to parents who may not be capable of caring for their children? The film offers a simplistic answer.

Sean Penn completes a formidable role as Sam, a man with functional autism and diminished mental abilities. Sam fathers a girl and cares for her in his way with a support system. After an unfortunate incident, social services removes his 7-year-old to state care. A legal battle ensues and Sam acquires the aid of a high powered attorney.

The whole tale is quite unlikely, but it makes a great story. The soundtrack is delightful as it's made up mainly of Beatles covers.

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Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (2001)

After watching as a child an animated Japanese TV series about frogs who were frequently killed, I've since avoided Anime films - until last year when I inadvertently watched Howl's Moving Castle. I was blown away and vowed to watch Spirited Away by the same filmmaker (Hayao Miyazaki).

A very young girl, Chihiro, accidentally becomes trapped in another dimension at a spa for spirits. She is forced to use her child-like virtues to survive, but also to transform the oppressive regime. The story is littered with double-agents, magical creatures, and horrifying beasts. We never know what is going to happen next, in fact the major quest in the film is only given towards the end.

The reason these films are so enjoyable is for two reasons: the superbly original animation and the completely different set of rules that the stories are based on (very post-modern).

I look forward to seeing Ponyo on the Cliff very soon.

Truth: Innocence and love are transforming and sustaining powers.

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Who is Cletis Tout? (2001)

Not as fast paced or zippy as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or Smoking Aces, but along the same lines. We get a narrated story from a guy at gunpoint. The man holding the gun likes movies and makes the story into a movie before our eyes. If the movie is good, the good guy will live.

It's easy to see why many good actors flock to films like this one - small part, big money. While the film isn't horrible, it doesn't stick with you for any amount of time after the credits roll either. It's simply meant to entertain and get you going for 90 minutes.

As I mentioned earlier, the story is transformed into a screenplay and old movies get quoted throughout. The screenwriter wants to make us aware that he knows what he is doing and this really didn't work here - not nearly as effective as Adaptation. The story is unique, but quite far-fetched and there really isn't much we can relate to (for instance, my father never spent years in prison, nor have I ever worked with homing pidgeons).

What ultimately fails is the effort to try and exude a 1950's through 1970's film atmosphere - and it's because it tries too hard.

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The Last Castle (2001)

This is a showdown movie, like a western, but set in a modern military prison. It is clear who the good guy is and even clearer who the bad guy is. It is clear that the film makers tried to build some complexity into the these warring leaders, but ultimately the characters are pretty one-dimensional and we are left with a standard action flick.

The colonel in charge of the prison, James Gandolfini, is quite tough on the prisoners and this builds resentment among the inmates. Robert Redford is a general who is sentenced to some years in the prison for disobeying orders from the chief. The prisoners rally behind Redford in order to try and get some reforms in the prison so there won't be more beatings, abuse and unpunished murders by the guards.

The main issue at stake is leadership. The warden is tough and firm from his office window. The new prisoner earns respect from his followers. Pretty basic stuff.

There is the standard confrontation at the end and decent acting from all, but the movie recycles a lot of clichés. I didn't get any chills up my spine either when the trumpet played as the American flag went up the pole.

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The Pledge (2001)

I'm quite impressed with Sean Penn's recent productions. They are quite poetic and try to expose souls rather than attempting to answer life's questions.

Jack Nicholson plays a retiring detective who finds himself promising a woman that he will search out the murderer of a young girl. The pledge he makes is against his own soul's salvation - so, a bit of pressure really. He moves into the area in Nevada and fishes, befriends a local woman and her daughter and continues his investigation. I won't give away the ending.

This project is quite star studded. Many of the actors are dressed up to look like the underbelly of American society - the people who are on the cover of "People Magazine" are playing people who would never make it to the cover of "People Magazine."

We are faced with an internal conflict that depicts how we deal with unreachable goals. The limits we face as mortals and are harnessed with by our co-workers, family, society also teach us that we are weak and can't really achieve all that we would like. These same limits can also strengthen our resolve. It's up to us to decide which goals we resolve to achieve or give up.

I was particularly touched at how this man who wants to do good ultimately loses his soul and had lost his soul through two broken marriages. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, but where would we be without good intentions?

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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

After reading The Lord of the Rings I wanted to make the film. Peter Jackson beat me to it. That's probably a good thing, because he did perhaps the best that anyone could have done. I've watched each of the three movies at least 15 times - many of those times in theatre. They are some of my personal favorites and I could write several pages in response to the films. Here is some of what I think about film 1 (hopefully this isn't a repeat of what the millions of other people have commented on the film):

I watch this film as a gorgeous metaphysical poem. The journey of life which is full of camaraderie, the struggle against sin, prophetic voices, doubt, resilience, and pain. Each of the characters mean so much more than a direct metaphor for some theme or truth because they are dynamic characters in a narrative; they react surprisingly.

Continuing with the characters, this is what really drives the film. And there are so many main characters: The nine in the fellowship, the elven royalty, the enemies and their henchmen, Bilbo Baggins, and the ring of power. A great strength of the film is that it introduces each one of them to us and keeps them alive with revealing dialogue and unique passions.

The pacing of the film is careful and correct, but it still leaves the Tolkien fan insatiated. We want to see the barrow wights, Fatty Bolger, and less of Arwen, but ultimately, the fullness of the story is communicated. The sweeping and majestic panaramic views of Middle Earth say almost as much as the pages of description in the book.

As I consider the work put into the film, be it designing sets to sewing costumes to pondering the lines of the film, I know that it was a film meant to be made. We are all meant to watch it. It is a visual feast.

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Monster's Ball (2001)

These last three movies were all directed by Marc Forster (Finding Neverland and Stay) and the conjoining themes are death and rebirth. Quite a beautiful trilogy.

This was an excellent film. It was often very hard to watch, especially the never-ending sex scene and the execution among other raw scenes. But the difficulty watching plays a role - if we are going to learn to love each other, there are things that we aren't going to go through and not necessarily enjoy.

The transformational power of love, or lack of love is depicted through several characters. Those without love perish or languish and those with love have a glimmer of hope, a chance to rebuild. The execution of an inmate is one of the key movements in the film and the last hours seem to be depicted in real time as we wait with the convict. Death is a reality and this film captures it magnificently in three consecutive scenes.

The camera, as in the previous two of Forster's movies, commands some very odd angles in this film. We are taken to spaces that are often left to cobwebs and to places through doors and windows - as anonymous spectators watching people fumble through their broken lives.

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The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)

Woody Allen himself says that his movies are nothing extravagant. In essence it is a play put on film. His assistants put together adequate sets and costumes. The camera angle almost never changes. What makes Allen's comedies so fun to watch is the writing and the wonderful way they are delivered - everything else is just background, except the music which I absolutely loved.

Allen takes the lead once again as a gumshoe insurance detective and plays opposite a sharp and sexy Helen Hunt. The two antagonize each other throughout the film, but their mutual attraction takes over in the end. The film is set in the 1940s and so they play off a lot of the stereotypes of the day too. The characters deliver deliciously fast one-liners and affectionate insults like

"Don't bother seeing me to the door, someone might think we're together"
"What? Do I look like an organ grinder?"

and

"You probably took notes, you suspicious little inchworm."

The film does fail in originality because it uses such common play props and action fittings like pouring drinks and furniture as obstacles.

The jade scorpion's role is to speak the truth about their characters through hypnosis - they are really thieves deep down and they are also madly in love with each other.

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Enemy at the Gates (2001)

Life and death are in a day's work for two snipers in the Battle Stalingrad. Set in World War II with a very strong German offensive attacking ill-equipped, but numerous Soviet foot soldiers, this film focuses on the propaganda effort surrounding the two top snipers.

Since neither side is really "good" per se, the task of becoming the hero lies with Jude Law's character: a shepherd boy from the Urals with a great shot. If he fails, he could be killed by the sharp shooting German or else possibly be executed in shame by the Soviet side.

The film is a study in jealousy, fame, survival, and morale. Though the acting is substantial and the sets, soundtrack and costumes are premium, there just seems to be a little missing in substance. Even with plenty of grime, blood and unshaven scruff, the film just feels a bit to sanitized, a bit too British like the accents the Russian side bears. The characters are a little too good looking and it's easy to dismiss it all as make believe - though the film is based on real characters and events.

It is enjoyable to watch and there are moments of tension. The most memorable scenes are those in which unarmed retreating Soviet soldiers are shot by their own officers at the start of the movie - really a benchmark the rest of the film fails to reach.

IMDB

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

I could watch this movie over and over again. I have watched this movie over and over again. And my enjoyment of it doesn't diminish either.

I'm usually a junkie for the most realistic characters and stories available, but this one is just too fantastic. The tall tale of a family of geniuses who suffers because their ego-maniacal father abandoned them is dripping with both sentimentality and the bizarre. Co-writers and producers Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson deliver a masterful intricate story that both charges the viewer with emotion and bursts of laughter.

The cast is stacked. Despite some of the ridiculous aspects of the story (including the breeding of dalmatian mice [I just realized something new after writing this, even after a dozen viewings], a dog surviving a plane crash and landing several thousand yards from the crash site, three ridiculous suitors for the abandoned mother, three siblings being an international financier, award-winning playwright, and tennis pro . . . ), the characters are in tact and accessible. We can empathize with the drug addict, the love sick, the lonely, the fatherless, the depressed, the mourner, the awkward, the flaring tempers, the fearful.

Gene Hackman deserved the Oscar he was nominated for. His bold and selfish characterization of the patriarch Royal Tenenbaum can send both shivers down your spine and double you over with laughter, both at the same time. He dominates every scene he is in, and his counterparts are delivering performances of a lifetime. I don't mention narrators very often, but Alec Baldwin always does a super job at this and in Tenenbaums his voice carries an understated poignancy.

The soundtrack is perfect for the film too. The mainly alternative British 70's carries a mood of snobby New Englander and of nostalgia. Mark Mothersbaugh's film compositions are full of fun energy and gentle lullaby.

Easily one of the most successful intricate films that doesn't leave the viewer scratching his head. There isn't a moment where the screen is devoid of something connected to the story and at the same time not essential to the plot. No viewer gets left behind.

I leave this film knowing a bit more about grace, love, forgiveness. A bit more about God.

IMDB

The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

There really hasn't been a Coen brothers' film that I didn't like. This one is no exception. Their sharp wit, eye for the mundane, and amazing sense of texture, genre, character, and story are well rendered in their 10th feature film.

With a theme similar to many these days - living a meaningless life - they bring us back to the fifties and have fun with it. We have Billy Bob Thornton narrating and starring as subdued barber. He's Ed, about as short a name as you can get. He is lifeless and he knows it.

It is in black and white so contrast is a big thing visually. This is then mirrored in the characters: Ed is quiet, his working partner won't shut up. Ed is motionless, his wife is fooling around. Everything Ed touches disappears, but it's still like he's not there.

All of the characters are flamboyant and very interesting to watch. The Coens were able to take some of the fifties melodrama and really ham it up in their traditionally unique characters; I mean names like Nirdlinger, Riedenschneider, Birdy, Big Dave, Creighton Tolliver, Officer Krebs aren't heard everyday.

A reflection of our times when it all began - in the materialistic fifties - the decade of opportunity.

IMDB

No Man's Land (2001)

This is an allegory, though told dramatically, relating the horrible condition that the Yugoslav republics were/are in. It masterfully expresses the futility of war and the tinderbox that this part of the world is.

The players are a Serbian soldier, two Bosnian soldiers, a UN tank full of French troops, a British reporter, and a German mine specialist. Therefore the film is told in four languages: Serbo-Croatian, French, English, and German. This emphasizes the point that the conflict was an international one - one in which we all bear some responsibliity to solve.

The no man's land where the film is set, the banter and attacks from one side to the other, the man laying on a mine, the long summer day, the soldiers with their hands tied behind their backs, the reporters, and so much more are ripe with symbolism. I dare not try to unpack it here as I would be preventing you from enjoying the film independently.

Excellent writing, acting, and sweeping landscape images of the Bosnian landscape make this a watchable film. Though there is violence and tension, there is also humour and humanity infused throughout.

I studied Yugoslavian history circa World War II. In order to do so, I had to go back 1000 years and trace the roots of the ethnic conflict. The land was used as a buffer zone between the Ottoman and Austrian empires. So the Croats, Serbs, Bosnians (all different religions to boot) were hired to fight for one empire or the other and kill each other. It is amazing to me how the country was relatively peaceful for the 45 years following the war. It is still a war waiting to happen, and it always will be, as the film leaves you with a sense of futility. The film left me with an intense desire to solve the problem - I woke up thinking about it this morning.

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