All the Little Animals (1998)

This film brought to mind the quote at the beginning of my film:

Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace. - Albert Schweitzer

Surely, one can see that cruelty towards animals is a sure indicator of the perpetrator's character. This film brings the idea that love of the lowliest of creatures is an indicator of real humanity, but it also presses the idea that man is the cruelest of animals deserving the least respect. I disagree with this posit, but it made for an interesting contemplation.

The film is driven by a young Christian Bale who plays Bobby, a simpleton whose trust fund is controlled by a cruel stepfather. He runs away and finds an off-grid kindred spirit whose mission it is to give proper burials to road kill.

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Festen (1998)

The Celebration is a cross between Monsoon Wedding and Gosford Park with some Noah Baumbach and Lars Von Trier thrown in. The setting is a Danish country mansion where family and friends have gathered to celebrate the 60th birthday of Helge - a successful restauranteur and freemason. We learn quickly of the family's disfunction and several sparks have already flown by the time the real fuse is lit at supper.

Perhaps the most remarkable touch of the film makers is their ability to infuse such brilliant humour in such a dark film. Humour and resilient humanity.

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A Murder of Crows (1998)

Everything is nicely resolved in this mystery/crime drama. It's too bad since it could have been far more dramatic and interesting if things didn't get tied up so nicely - the story is quite clever.

A New Orleans lawyer gets a conscience and subsequently is disbarred. He moves to Florida to write a novel when out of the blue, an old man shares with him a novel manuscript about a man who murders lawyers. When the old man unexpectedly dies, the lawyer peddles the book as his own yielding consequences from the true facts in the novel.

The film was made for the masses, offering little cerebral tension, but Cuba Gooding Jr. shares some life lessons that lend a modicum of meaning to the film. As a mystery, it works on the same level as a good Agatha Christie film.

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Rounders (1998)

Edward Norton and Matt Damon team up in this film about friendship and money.

Mike and Lester work as a team when playing poker - soaking their opponents every time. When Lester gets out of prison, Mike who is now pursuing an honest career feels indebted to him and bows to Lester's invitation to gamble. His grace towards Lester is taken advantage of and the two find themselves deep in debt to a powerful gang.

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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro take a narcotic tour of Las Vegas for our benefit.

The film is a telling of a writer and his lawyer who must cover a race in the desert. They neglect their task in order to achieve great highs (and lows) in sin city. 

The film is a study in self-immolation, fame, and greed. It's a noble cause and a unique story, but it gets slow in parts and somewhat difficult to get hooked into the story about halfway through. The opening sequence is golden however.

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Ringu (1998)

This is the thriller/horror flick that got The Ring franchise started. And, to give it its worthy merit, the story keeps you guessing to the end.

A journalist decides to investigate rumours surrounding the deaths of teens in her town in Japan. The circulating tale is that they watched a video tape exactly a week previous to their sudden deaths and what they saw killed them. She manages to locate the VHS tape and watches it herself making it a matter of time before her doom comes. The race is on.

What is truly refreshing about this film compared to western thrillers is the emphasis on what you don't know rather than the shock value. The elements of grotesque and cringeworthy scenes are present, but simply not the meat of the film. There is great use of showing reaction and backstory in order to heighten the tension.

I thought the unfolding story was very original and at the same time exhaustingly unbelievable.

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Le Comte de Monte Cristo (1998)

It has been 3 years since I read Alexandre Dumas' massive classic and so I was excited to watch this 7 hour mini-series. I can't say I was excited to see a gigantic Edmond Dantes in the form of Gérard Dépardieu - he's a great actor, but there are some parts actors should not play.

Dantes is just promoted to captain of a ship and engaged to his true love when three men send him to prison motivated by self-interest. He wastes away in prison for nearly 2 decades when fortune presents itself and he manages to escape. Armed with virtually unlimited funds, the new Count of Monte Cristo meticulously plots his revenge on the three villains - now all very successful Parisians.

Some of the obscure subplots are omitted, but most are kept and this made it a joy to watch. I even squealed with delight a few times.

The film races through the first 1/4 of the book (pre-prison and prison time). This certainly allowed more time for the vengeance, but it failed to adequately show why and how the vengeance was taking place. There were a number of times when the film strayed far from the book. Fortunately, none were crushing for me; they even added depth at times.

All in all, it is apparent that Dépardieu is all too eager to play as many roles of classic French literature. I'm glad that he is such a tremendous actor in order to make up for not being the suitable body type for the role.

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Dead Letter Office (1998)

An interesting blend between myth and reality, Dead Letter Office is a sweet and quirky film set in Australia.

Alice's father abandoned her when she was young. It didn't stop her writing letters to him. When her life is going nowhere, she decides to see if she can find her dad using the experts at the Dead Letter Office by getting a job there herself. Her supervisor is a Chilean who escaped General Pinochet's death squads. A relationship ensues; the story takes off, slowly.

The acting and direction is fine in this film. The writing is perhaps just a touch over dramatic and there are serious pacing issues about 3/4 of the way through. 

Viewers will likely be drawn into the Chilean's issues as they are more veiled and his social group much more interesting. Alice mopes around in a melancholy funk for most of the film - not exciting cinema.

One of the principle themes as it relates to the title is that sometimes we find ourselves at an impasse, unable to move on. At these points, we need other people to help us regain traction and find a new direction.

Truth: "Where did we come from?" is just as important a question as "Where are we going?" 

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Crime and Punishment (1998)

There have been many film adaptations to Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic book, and this low budget one could probably rank as the briefest.

Rodya Romanovich Raskolnikov, a student in St. Petersburgh, finds himself penniless and with obscure ideas on the nature of man. He decides to commit murder and theft to address both issues only to find that it compounds his problems, even to eternal consequences. The people around him seek to help him, but his pride and fear push them away, all except one.

The acting isn't so bad, despite the inexpensive set pieces, but the accents are weak and the extras stepped out of a TV movie (but I guess that's what this is). Ben Kinsley is particularly good as Porfiri, the chief inspector.

The story is intact however and that's what matters. I read the book 7 years ago and the film brought it all back.

Truth: Salvation comes both as a gift of love and through confession.

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Croupier (1998)

Clive Owen has made his mark as a superb actor in recent films such as Closer and Children of Men, but I think his ability was just as sure back iin 1998 with this film. I honestly did not sense any of his other characters in this one - a calculating and blank croupier.

We follow a reluctant card dealer back into a casino in London. He wants more than all else to be a writer, but wants his book to have depth and not simply a pay check. He claims that he does not gamble and, in the traditional sense, he does not. He only goes for sure things; things that when received, will not demand any thing of himself in return.

The writing is witty. The actors are not all that glamorous, but they are sharp. There are great turns in the story and we are never sure of results or clashes.

What shook me more than anything in the film is Owen's character's lack of emotion. That alone revealed more than a tone of "taker" but also a truth. When we don't give, we don't feel - and that includes guilt or joy.

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A Simple Plan (1998)

A haunting journey into the darkness of men's souls, and women's. The film carries us to the brink of evil and plunges over the edge as we guiltily standby.

Wonderfully contrasting ignorant and educated, the winter landscape and the cozy home, the rule of law and personal moral choices - A Simple Plan is a study in assumptions and human behaviour.

All of the acting in the film is tremendous and we can tell that people fought tooth and nail to be a part of this project. Billy Bob Thornton is especially sympathetic as the village idiot and Bridget Fonda chills us with her cool, objective rationalizing. We are Bill Paxton, forced to choose between conscience, law, wife, and brother.

I didn't enjoy this film when I saw it 7 years ago and I don't think I really enjoyed it this time, but I was spellbound. It gripped me and interrogated me and bluntly asked me what I would do in Bill Paxton's shoes. My answer - I would probably have nightmares.

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54 (1998)

I've been interested in seeing this film for a few years, but never really made the effort. I can't say my life was changed or that I learned much from this film. It's a classic story of bacchanalia and ferocious fight for fame, but this time set in Studio 54, late 70s, NYC.

I was excited to see some serious dancing, but it was limited mostly to what looked like rave dancing - arms in the air, pulsing chests, that sort of thing. It didn't actually seem like all that much fun to be on the dance floor - in the movie anyway. Maybe disco was like that; I wouldn't know, I was only 4.

The film tracks Shane, a bartender at the club, as Studio 54 slides down the hill of tax evasion and debauchery. Shane gets his share of loneliness and ecstasy, but on the whole, he's not very interesting to watch and I had a hard time sympathizing with his struggles (maybe because I haven't bedded dozens of supermodels or done hard drugs). But beyond that, he doesn't really suffer all that much, mild shunning from his family, sleeping in his car and being on the street with no shirt in winter. Poor Shane.

Mike Myers is the one who steals the show completely. He plays 54's owner and the manipulator of the party. Drugs, sex, good looks, reputation, and cheesy sentimentality are his recipe for the most famous dance club in history. Myers physical transformation in the movie (bad hair and modified nose) isn't the only reason he's almost unrecognizable; his acting is amazing as a drug addict with a penchant for young men and money.

The other actors are pretty, but don't draw you in as much as Myers does.

There are a lot of gratuitous sex scenes in the film. Sure it was a part of the club scene, but the lingering shots seemed excessive.

The main theme that I could draw from 54 was the desire for fame and riches. It didn't seem too cut throat like the corporate world. Instead it was a matter of ditching your self-worth and having sex with whoever you felt you had to in order to advance your career or dressing/acting/dancing the way people decided you should. So much for being the place ". . . where all labels were left behind. A place where there were no rules."

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