32 - Croupier

Clive Owen has shown a lot of potential in action, but in Croupier (which is actually an older film; pre-fame) we see him engaged in a character study. Following the thought process and story was engaging and Mike Hodges did a great job mixing narration and normal storytelling.

With all the insight into casinos and gambling, this would make a great companion to Rounders.

31 - Casa De Los Babys

The list of cast members was heavy: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lili Taylor, Marcia Gay Harden, Darryl Hannah, mary Steenburgen, and you can't help but think that the scenes were probably extended to give everyone time to be in their element...and that may have worked against this film. The real heroes of this film, I have to admit, are everyone (and everything) meant to support it: the mexican cast, the location, scenes of Mexican life.

John Sayles told the story of Lone Star really well and maybe I was expecting the same approach. Still, this film exposes a lot of prejudiced views that are not always caught on film and is worth watching, if only to be witness to such realities.

30 - Morvern Callar

I remember seeing bits of this when it was running on cable and was always drawn to how it gives you this drunken feeling. Samantha Morton's eyes can be really terrifying. When she stares at you, you will do her bidding ;). The texture of the film reminds me of Breaking the Waves and, like Emily Watson, Samantha delivers this continuously spaced out personality that may appear lost but is resilient and able to survive.

29 - Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse

Why, of course I had to see the sequel :). The structure of the story is patterned after the original...two cops working on separate cases and then crossing somewhere in the middle. The Nazi past is again the source of the mystery. This movie features Christopher Lee! I was impressed to see him speak german and french...but I also was hoping he'd give his signature dracula scare :).

28 - Crimson Rivers

Ever since Leon, I've always considered anything Jean Reno does as gold...even when he played those bit parts in Mission Impossible, Godzilla, and Ronin. In Crimson Rivers, he plays the lead role and this time I watch him in his natural stage: a french movie.

The story, a murder mystery tied to a long running nazi conspiracy, was really interesting. It's a curious, though sad, echo from human history that still stains us to this day. Vincent Cassel plays the cocky cop...and put up against the stubborn cop (Reno), becomes a tame protege.

27 - I love your work

I'm still midway into watching this movie as I type this...I'm still trying to keep myself interested. I can see that the director is trying to craft a movie and actors at best trying to stay in their element. But there's something missing and I just can't get a beat on it.

Franka has always had this hidden power...like a solid left hook. In one scene, in a fit of rage arguing with Giovanni Ribisi, she walks and flashes a camera crew. I'd like to think that wasn't in the script and that was just Franka being Franka (boom).

Should I keep watching?
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26 - Down in the Valley

I was not too thrilled to see Tobe (October) fall too fast for Harlan...but I guess that does happen in life sometimes. The relationship she shares with her brother, Lonnie, is a typical one...that of the younger, quiet one in the shadow of the older, more sociable and rebellious sister. Where Tobe's character is confused, Lonnie's is more passive and innocent. David Morse's character fills in as a father trying to be a parent. Ed Norton pulls another psychological personality (like he did in Primal Fear) as someone who believes he's a cowboy...and maybe he's supposed to represent a few lost demeanors and realities.

Although the movie revolves around Ed Norton's character, I wish there was more depth in the other, more accessible characters that David Morse, Rory Culkin, and Evan Rachel Wood portrayed. I think it would have blended well with Ed Norton's lost world. Evan and Rory delivered their roles really well, and I believe they could have given more.

25 - Bad Santa

"I'm on my f***ing break!"

Hey...yeah...you gotta give Santa a break sometimes :). I think Billy Bob enjoyed making this movie. It's as if Billy and Tony Cox were released in to the wild and they just flat out started ambushing all the local wildlife. I couldn't find a lot of substance in the relationship with Lauren Graham (other than the fetish) but that would have been a nice subplot to give more depth.

In one of John Ritter's last performances, I saw him reprising his character from Sling Blade...god bless you, John.

24 - Little Fish

I've always had this blank image of Australian life beyond the tourist images. This movie was a real treat to watch. Even though the story was dark, just following all the characters through life in suburban Australia gave me so many memories of my own life growing up...and made me realize that wherever it may be in the world, lower middle class is basically the same. You go through the same inconveniences, ambitions, and dark territories.

It's refreshing to see Hugo Weaving in a different character and I totally forgot his Agent Smith character (Matrix) while watching this movie. Cate Blanchett's Tracy was in such torment that you can't help but pray that life gives her a break somewhere. It was funny to hear her speak some Chinese, too!...or was that Vietnamese?

And boy, Dustin Nguyen...last I saw him was in his 21 Jump Street era...jeez, its been a long time.

23 - Thank You for Smoking

I love how this movie was constructed. It's the grand buffet of debatable topics, and yet it's really telling the story about the life of a lobbyist.

The humor is smart and I just found myself bursting in laughter at all the well placed punchlines.

The MOD squad was a stroke of fictional genius. Can you imagine the top speakers on tobacco, alcohol, and gun control being friends and having regular lunch get-togethers? And somewhere amid all the chaos are bits of love...bond among friends, bond between father and son, hidden bond between parents.

....it was an argument, not a negotiation...

22 - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Jacquer Cousteau was a big part of my childhood. I remember spending a lot of time just watching him in his travels. Even though his programs focused a lot on oceans and sea creatures, I remember being focused more on the journey that was a huge part of his documentaries. It was that life at sea that kept me watching. The Life Aquatic accentuates that aspect, in this case, of Steve Zissou. I love how the movie covers a lot of life stories but wraps them all with this dark humor and smart wit of the characters.

Angelica Houston will always be Morticia Addams for me...and here she kinda brings that back (for me, personally anyway :) ). It was fun listening to all the Portuguese David Bowie acoustic music. Willem Dafoe and Cate Blanchett play excellent character studies and, as expected, just simply deliver.

21 - Full Frontal

The first twenty minutes or so was an exercise for me identifying all the actors. Watching a movie with a huge cast was fun. It actually kept my attention... I'd like to think that the idea here is to play not just a couple stories but an endless series of incidents. Cathy Keener had the oddest scenes (and the most amusing) :)

20 - Hard Candy

Care for some dose of Misery 2? (well, this one ain't a Stephen King flick)

I admire the tension that the director maintained throughout the movie. It was a mixture of dialogue, suggestion, and doubt that just kept you on the edge. It makes you question the actions these characters did and sometimes think in general...does one become a vigilante and make things right? What does right mean? What if you were wrong? But everyone is capable of making a mistake.

The initial hurdle was getting over Ellen Page's character (who was rather annoying)...and then trying to constantly rationalize. It was exhausting and there were scenes that just made me want to turn away (but of course I didn't :) ). The feeling reminds me of Requiem for a Dream...it was very difficult to watch Ellen Burstyn's deterioration in that story. You just want to jump in and give em a piece of your mind.

But hey, it's a movie ;).

19 - Confessions of an American Girl

It could have been a good story, but this movie just did not have enough of a script and this is one of those movies that really needed a director that was obsessed about it.

The casting didn't help either. Jena Malone and Brad Renfro have had success before, but they alone couldn't save this movie. This is one of those situations where a great director could have made a difference, gotten the right performance out of the actors, explored the better aspects of the story, and probably pushed the script, editing, and casting further.

I hope someone does pick-up this story one of these days and gives it justice.

18 - Me and you and everyone we know

What a force! One moment it seems like you're watching just your average life scene...and then something random comes up and you don't immediately realize the meaning, but you feel it...these reactionary pulses form the strength of the movie and that makes it really beautiful.

17 - Garden State

I heard it was really good but for the life of me I refused to see it. I guess somewhere in mind I thought this would just be like Natalie's other "coming home" movie, Beautiful Girls, and I probably just wanted to leave it alone.

It was actually a great movie. Surprisingly, Natalie carries another boy name (Sam) in this movie (in Beautiful Girls, she was Marty). Ian Holm only had a few scenes, but he provided the tension with his rather odd character. I just love how he swithes from Frankenstein to intense to normal in each scene.

16 - The Man Who Cried

Cristina Ricci, Cate Blanchett, Johnny Depp, John Turturo...how could anything go wrong? The movie could survive on all the interaction between these great actors :). Indeed, I was very much drawn to the characters they created more than the actual story itself. Cate is vintage Cate (and what great stage presence) and John Turturo shows his bravado as...an italian opera singer (hey...why do I suddenly have flashbacks of him in Mr. Deeds ;)...sneaky?).

Of course, Christina Ricci's cold stare is in full force...and who could match than Johnny Depp (who has that silent stare himself). I would like to take notice of Claudia Lander-Duke (who played young Suzie). I really liked her performance...I thought I saw Wednesday Addams in her scenes...but hey, she does play young Wednesday Addams :) :).

Why can't I write anything serious today...oh well :).

15 - Unfaithful

I knew it was "Fatal Attraction" from the other side of the equation...but yet I still wanted to rent it, simply because Diane Lane was in it. There's a lot to say about how beautiful she is, but I have to say I've always been drawn to her eyebrows...I just always end up staring at em.

Anyway, the other reason for renting this film is Adrian Lyne. His films have always blurred lines of sensibility and morality and really makes one pause for thought. His version of Lolita explored the taboo of the adult-child relationship and in "Fatal Attraction", the air of infidelity (as is here). In all of them, I guess I can say that it exposes us as victims of random moments.

I really liked that line from one of Connie's friends about infidelity..."...either someone finds out or someone falls in love...".

.....or both :).

14 - The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Just watching Tommy Lee Jones speak spanish made this worth the rental :). I mean, honestly, when he did that opening scene in MIB at the border crossing (hmmm....funny coincidence here) and spoke spanish to the illegal immigrants I wish he just kept at it!

Anyway, this movie was really engaging and I could see Tommy's intention to really bring us with him as he tortured Barry Pepper's character, dragging him all the way to Mexico.

13 - Kinsey

When you see a character with such insane devotion to his chosen endeavor, you know it's all set up for success but at a cost and a sure path to self-destruction down the line. Dr. Alfred Kinsey's life, and life work, is painted in such a fashion. He is bound to hurt the people around him...unless they hang on and wait for a turnaround in some way. To think that it all the events in this movie happened in the 50's is just incredible.

As always, Laura Linney plays the excellent role of Mac (Dr. Kinsey's wife). If there ever was a time to play "stand by your man", this would have been it......unless, you of course remember that Laura played the same persona as the supportive wife in Mystic River!