Ayyyyeeeee 2 Zeeeeeeeeeee Two

Movies = I like. Others = should watch. A to Z. (Part 2)


L. Lifeboat:
-It's one of Hitchcock's earlier ones, and it's got a script written by John Steinbeck. It's ultimately a survivor tale with a WW2 allegory to boot. I felt that the ending was a bit anti-climactic, (is there any way we can get the word anti-climactic banned?) but it's got great, in depth character development, and has certainly paved the way for many other stories of people stranded in boats throughout the years.

M. Mean Creek:
-Tales of high school bullies and their demise has almost become its own genre in film. This is the best one I've seen. It follows in the vein of Stand By Me, but it's a whole lot darker. Every child actor will surprise you. Not one of them does a bad job. Damn. I need to see this again.

N. Napoleon Dynamite:
-Yeah. No other N's. But I should say that I was disappointed that this movie became so annoying to so many people--people who had previously supported it, and were ultimately the ones who made it over-commercialized.






O. One Hour Photo:
-Give Robin Williams some gray hair and you've got one of the best portrayals of a stalker I've ever seen. This movie is nothing but a showcase for Williams, who went through that short period where he only played villians. (Now, apparently, he's moved into Only Goofy Family Dad territory.) The first time I saw his character's apartment--with an entire wall filled with pictures of same family, I got some pretty defined chills.

P. Punch-Drunk Love:
-What, Adam Sandler can act? And better than most actors?











Q. There aren't so many movies atarting with Q.

R. Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt):
-So, here's the obligatory foreign film. Unfortunately, it's one of the most well-known foreign films here in the good ole' U.S. and there's not too many others I can represent here. I should get on watching more of those.

S. Snatch:
-There's one scene in this movie, where Brad Pitt (playing a fast-talking, wise-cracking gypsy) is screaming at a burning caravan that his mother just happens to be in. Massive Attack's "Angel" is playing in the background and it just about makes the entire movie awesome. It's directed by Guy Ritchie, who doesn;t make good films anymore. (Maybe it has something to do with marrying Madonna?)

T. Traffic:

-Steven Soderbergh is a very prolific man. The same year he made Traffic, he made Erin Brokovich. And they both got nominated for a tremendous amount of awards. Traffic should have won more of them, and Brokovich never should have been nominated. Julia Roberts has weird lips!

U. Nah, nothing here.

V. Vertigo? Sure.

W. The Weather Man:
-Nicolas Cage is so ridiculously iffy lately that I was pleasantly surprised to see him in this role, playing a part that was smart and funny and pretty depressing. All at the same time. There are so many random elements shoved together here that it's just spontaneous enough to work.


X. X-men? Why not.

Y. Nope.

Z. Zodiac:
-Nearly three hours long, this flick never gets boring, no matter how much you think it will. David Fincher is enough of a good director to where he can pile just about all the information you would ever know about the Zodiac killer into the time-frame of a movie and have it all come together effortlessly.

Well that was fun.