Wanderlust (2012)

Just a comedy about a commune in the spirit of Funny Farm or The Great Outdoors - city folks are just funny out of their urban environs. This film is full of cliché and one-liners.

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Edvard Munch (1974)

A great skill was used to develop the film I just watched. It paints the portrait of celebrated and groundbreaking 19th century Norwegian artist Edvard Munch - famous for "The Scream." For three hours and forty minutes we survey scenes from Munch's life filmed as though it were a documentary where the characters are aware of the camera. Some characters are interviewed. Munch's diary is read as it was written, in the third person. And a narrator pronounces the chronology.

Beginning in a Protestant Christian home as a part of the middle class in Norway's capital city, Munch is surrounded by death, illness, and a social order that extorts and mistreats the lowest classes and their children. After losing his mother, he emerges into manhood and begins his rebellion with a group of bohemians who challenge every aspect of their culture. It is here that conflict arises between he and his father, but more strikingly it is where the great theme of his life's work begins: the threads that bond men and women together.

The series of failed relationships cast the learning and altogether rejected artist into a class all his own. He depicts the world in swirling colours, faces with pale and sickly complexions, and fades the sensory organs of his subjects where they meet their lovers.

Edvard Munch gains enormous popularity during his life while being lambasted by nearly all art critics across Europe. Pressing through all of this, Munch advances his new art form: visual psychology.

This is a masterpiece, unlike anything I have ever seen.

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Cinema Paradiso (1988)

Sweet, sweet nostalgia in romantic Italy with a fairytale ending - what could be better?

Toto's father is killed in the war and is sort of adopted by the local projectionist at the village theatre. The two form a close bond and we watch Toto mature and ultimately leave the village only to return decades later.

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Good Dick (2008)

This movie stays clear of sentimentality as it deals with a couple really broken people. The first is a homeless video store clerk. The other is one of his patrons - a hermit who rents porn. He becomes fascinated with this hardened woman to the point of obsession, but in a good way. Helping her helps him grow out of his slump (plus he can crash at her place).

It is ultimately a story of redemption, and a good one at that.

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Taking Woodstock (2009)

Ang Lee is remarkable in how diverse his projects are and this one pushes into remarkable territory. While he maintains the sensitivity that most of his films have, he captures americana during an era of transformation in a collision between rural and urban, the hippy and silent generations, and the peace that was necessary between all of the shifting tectonic plates of the 1960s.

Taking Woodstock takes the legendary summer concert to a personal level by focusing on the planners and more specifically, the family/town who hosts the hordes.

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The Informers (2008)

The writer of American Psycho presents another morose view of humanity and American culture on the west coast. It's the mid 1980s when drugs had grown up, music was synthesized, and AIDS was detected.

Some rich, spoiled kids stir it up in their broken families while demonstrating horrific disaffection towards any painful experience. There's lots of sex, lots of treachery, and lots of brokenness giving way for any rejoicing at the least emotional reality.

The film is well-made, its the sentiment that is hard to watch. I did have a hard time sorting out the dozen young men who make up the younger generation cast.

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The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

Despite the disclaimer at the beginning of the film stating that this film is not based on the gospels, it begs the question: What is this film based on then?

I was both blessed and challenged by the closing 45 minutes of the film where Christ is tempted to withdraw from the cross and enjoy a human life and his ultimate decision not to. The opening two hours were more of an insult to the Christian faith than anything, not because the filmmakers were meaning harm, but because of the shallowness of the screenwriter's understanding of Jesus' message, life and death.

I remember the controversy when this film was released. I've always been intrigued by the concept and, being a Christian, felt it was my duty to give Scorsese and company the benefit of the doubt. But, John the Baptist is depicted as a hippy nudist colony leader and Jesus as a neurotic demoniac. I appreciate that Christ's humanity was emphasized, but his holiness was ignored.

I found it odd too that the North African culture was so prominently displayed rather than attempting to portray anything remotely Hebrew.

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Babies (2010)

Documentary film maker Thomas Balmès films and juxtaposes the lives of four babies during their first year of life. The babies grow in the diverse environs of San Francisco, Tokyo, Mongolia and Namibia. With all the obvious diversity, it's a blast to see how the babies are so similar developmentally and so happy in their world.

What is really interesting though is how the babies are cared for by their moms. Two of the babies live in the poor world and the other two live in privilege. The question posed to me is "Which ones will have a healthier view of the the world, life and others?"

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Ciao maschio (1978)

This weirdo movie was a big hit at Cannes back in the late 70's. Bye Bye Monkey is an art film contemplation of gender roles, aging and history.

An immigrant man in New York (a very young Gerard Dépardieu) finds work at a historical wax museum and as a tech at a tiny art theatre house. He is seduced/attacked by the actresses there, one of whom he develops a more lasting relationship with. With more friends they find the carcass of King Kong on the beach and then adopt a baby chimpanzee. Things just get stranger and stranger as the story drifts into more and more surrealism.

I found very little about the film to be appealing and even less to be meaningful.

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Old School (2003)

Silliness on a college campus.

Three old friends a decade after college return to a campus as a relief from their lives of responsibility. When the "evil" dean of the college decides he doesn't want them around, they form a fraternity. Lots of parties and initiation rituals.

Will Ferrell is hilarious and that's about it as far as good things in this movie. It descends into a Revenge of the Nerds story that can hardly be related to by real people.

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Four Rooms (1995)

Each of four directors tackle 1/4 of this quirky film. Tim Roth is the strand that holds the story together.

A new bellhop on his first day on the job on New Year's Eve is called to four different rooms. At each room he is asked to do things that are expressly forbidden either by his job description or by the law.

What is surprising about the film - which resembles more a collection of short films or four TV episodes than it does a feature - is that all four of the episodes are great. I expected Tarantino's to the best (which it was), but the other three were just as hilarious and suspenseful.

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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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Il Postino (1995)

The Postman is one of the gentlest and most beautiful films I have ever seen. Absolutely enjoyable and touching.

Mario, very simple Italian island peasant (played magnificently by the late Massimo Troisi) who isn't interested in fishing takes a low paying job at the post office. He has one delivery to the famous poet Pablo Neruda, a political exile from Chile. As the two become friends, Mario's life begins to take form and he gains much confidence and purpose. But Neruda is not left unaffected either.

The poetry in the film is superb as it actually comes from Neruda. I loved the film for its portrayal of innocence and the power of friendship. It also demonstrates the potency of poetry and beauty and its accessibility to everyone irregardless, of social standing.

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A Single Man (2009)

It is evident from the beginning that this film is about style and mood. The two incredible aspects of it are the cinematography and the design bringing the viewer back five decades into the austere environment of the 1960's.

George is a university professor who has recently lost his lover. He is so consumed by his loss that he endeavors to kill himself that evening. As he prepares to leave the world, he loosens up and life slowly returns to his heart.

The issues of loneliness and the sterility of the society towards homosexuals are well presented through the stylish cast. Wealth and polite friendships can not substitute for the depth of relationships and love.

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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).

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Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

A prison drama with a fantasy element delivers surprising depth.

Somewhere in Latin America, Luis shares a cell with Valentin a political prisoner. Luis is a flagrant homosexual who despite repulsing Valentin, is able to entertain him with stories of a bewitching spider woman. Luis is bribed to spy on Valentin by the warden and the tension mounts as the viewer is teased by the possibility that Luis would give up his cell mate to the secret police for his own freedom.

The acting in the film is compelling and the simple story is overshadowed by real human drama. I must say that the dream sequences and story telling is a bit out there and difficult to correlate with the main tale.

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Lady Chatterley (2006)

The French offer their take on one of D.H. Lawrence's most scandalous novels.

Lady Chatterley lives with her paraplegic mine owning husband in the English countryside. Her ventures into the nearby woods bring her closer to nature and to the gameskeeper. Her affair with the muscular and nature loving man develops into a loving relationship as her status becomes more distasteful to her.

The film is superb with little cliché. There is quite a lot of gratuitous nudity, but the story and character development remain the focus.

While the book achieved much controversy and subsequent film interpretations garnered the same, it does provoke some excellent questions regarding socially imposed expectations, commitment, love, and instinct. I am certain that my conclusions would differ with Mr. Lawrence, but I do appreciate his take on justice.

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I Am A Sex Addict (2005)

I Am a Sex Addict is an autobiographical film accounting for the struggle the protagonist, Caveh Zahedi, has with sex with prostitutes. Entering adulthood with ideas of free and open relationships, Caveh meets every temptation with full honesty giving way to multiple sexual partners. His marriages and dating relationships fall apart even though he is completely open with them about his desire for other women.

This is an exploration of addiction: the innocence, the temptation, the encounters, the pain, the weakness, the cycle. Fortunately, Caveh doesn't leave us defeated with him, he presents hope in the least likely (for him) of places: a traditional marriage and a counseling group.

The film was shot on digital film, but it is very well done and is fine on TV. The filmmaker is honest to his viewers so much so that the budget for the film nearly becomes a character in the story.

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Elegy (2008)

Penelope Cruz and Ben Kingsley serve up a sensuous tale of aging in the selfish world.

Kingsley plays the playboy literature professor who manages to snare young students every semester without consequence. As he nears retirement, he discovers both how lonely he is and love for the first time. This is juxtaposed with his writings on the bacchanal heritage of the U.S.A. which permitted him such a selfish life.

The film is gentle and it comes from a female director so it doesn't glamourize anything. It is an honest look at what people who lived for the 60's are faced with today.

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