MOVIE CLUB - BEST FILMS OF 2002 (6)
From: Adam Kempenaar
To: Sam Hallgren, Eric Baker
Subject: List hell

I'm only three movies in -- 7 through 5 are below -- and I already hate my top ten list. Did I really like '8 Mile' better than 'Gangs of New York' and 'Far From Heaven'? If I was standing in front of the DVD rack right now and could only buy one disc, couldn't I just as easily walk out with 'Heaven' or 'Gangs' before '8 Mile'? It's keeping me up at night. On top of that, when I made my list I still had an hour left of 'Y Tu Mama Tambien,' which I was enjoying immensely. Without seeing the whole thing, however, I couldn't rank it. Well, I finally finished it last night and loved it, so much so that it easily deserves a spot in the top ten. I guess it will have to be my honorable mention. Sam, your praise of the cast is well-deserved. As I discussed in my remarks on 'Rabbit-Proof Fence,' maybe it's because it is a foreign film, but the actors seem so incredibly natural. Watching the two leads I felt almost like I was watching a documentary, as if Julio and Tenoch were actual friends, which is I suppose why the ending left me so stunned. I don't want to give anything away to our readers, although nothing is particularly surprising about the conclusion. In fact, I'm sure you two have had enough experiences with great friends you had as teenagers to know that the ending was probably inevitable. But the movie stands as a brilliant record of the last gasp before the sterileness of adulthood. The use of narration is magnificent because it does exaxctly what a voice-over should do, which is to illuminate, to add something to the film rather than merely fill in information that should be shown to us in the first place.

As you know, Eric, I too have a fondness for the comedic stylings of Will Ferrell -- at least when he was leading the 'Saturday Night Live' cast. My first reaction to the 'Old School' trailer was what you'd expect from a movie snob, something like, "What in the hell are Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn thinking making trash like this?" And then I saw a longer preview before 'Catch Me If You Can,' and I'll admit it -- at least three or four jokes had me giggling with embarrassment. Although completely the antithesis of Owen Wilson, who is far more subtle a comedian, Ferrell is like Wilson in that they are able to make an unfunny line funny just in the way they deliver it. Come to think of it, Vaughn is exactly the same way. It would truly pain me to pay money for this movie, but I may have to do it. Prediction: the guilty pleasure of the year.

Eric's question about John C. Reilly, Catherine Keener and Jake Gyllenhaal -- "Are these guys getting pigeonholed by agents or directors, or are they merely one-trick ponies finally exposed for what they really are? -- is a good one. I don't really know the answer, though I guess I believe all three are talented enough to tackle other types of characters. Certainly Reilly has proven himself over the years in a variety of roles, and it was nice to see him playing something other than the dimwitted husband in 'Gangs of New York.' Keener and Gyllenhaal, on the other hand, need to branch out. 'Lovely & Amazing' soured me on them both for awhile.

Now back to the list...

7. About a Boy (Chris and Paul Weitz) - I said pretty much everything I wanted to say about this movie in my review, so I'll be brief. I was skeptical about this film because the previews made it seem so sappy, and granted it is pretty sentimental at times. But this is more than made up for by Hugh Grant's quick-witted cynicism. He finally drops his usual bag of tricks -- namely, blinking and stuttering -- and just enjoys playing a cad who cares for himself above everyone else. Like you Sam, I enjoyed Toni Collette as well -- or as I like to call her, the 'female Billy Bob Thornton.' A good book and a good film.

6. Solaris (Steven Soderbergh) - As anyone who remembers our discussion from Dec. 2 knows, I was the only one who really loved this film. Soderbergh's now signature technique of overlapping dialogue with images from past, present and future moments has never been more effective, save for maybe the love scene from 'Out of Sight.' But even then, as in 'The Limey,' it seemed a bit gimmicky rather than in full service of the story. Here the cinematography and editing matches the eerie, perpetually dream-like quality of Chris Kelvin's (George Clooney) predicament.

5. The Bourne Identity (Doug Liman) - Unlike you Sam, who seems to feel a bit guilty about enjoying this summer thriller, I am unashamed about ranking it among my top five. A spy movie that focuses on character over explosions and special effects -- what a concept. Liman's technique is stylish without seeming grandiose, and the penultimate finale -- Bourne's (Matt Damon) hushed, tense confrontation in a field with a spy (the great Clive Owen) who has been assigned to kill him -- is spectacular. I also loved Franke Potente as Bourne's love interest, precisely because she adds a dimension of reality and honesty, as you so nicely put it, Sam -- a dimension usually absent from movies in this genre.

- Adam

E-mail CinemaScoped@attbi.com or start a discussion in the Feedback Forum

MOVIE CLUB: BEST FILMS OF 2002 (5)
From: Sam Hallgren
To: Adam Kempenaar, Eric Baker
Subject: The countdown continues...

I know that we spent some time several months ago talking about the various methods we used to determine our top ten lists. As Adam writes, the process is arbitrary -- not to mention, like any movie-related experience, completely subjective -- and a little silly; but it does give you a chance to really think about what you like and why. As I compiled my list -- particularly as I got closer to the top of my list -- I started to notice a kind of trend. More often than not, it was a performance, or a set of performances -- and not the movie itself (or the script or the cinematography or the soundtrack) -- that set a movie apart for me. And a great performance combined with a unique directorial vision is more than enough to win me over (as you will see shortly in my top five movies). And speaking of great performances, Eric asks how much a good screenplay has to do with the performance. He could be asking the same thing about a good director or a good editor. I’m sure that some great performances have been created in the editing room. I don’t claim to be an expert on the process of movie-making, or what it takes to bring a screenplay to the screen. I can only judge what I see, and unfairly or not, I lay the burden of the performance -- good or bad -- with the actor.

7. About a Boy (Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz) - I saw this movie last March, and for a while, it was the only 2002 film I had any affection for at all. It’s difficult to recall my exact impression, but I remember really loving the kid (Nicholas Hoult) they got to play Hugh Grant’s “ward.” I don’t know where they found this kid, but he is perfect for the part. Not a Hollywood “weird kid.” An honest-to-god weirdo. The movie succeeds largely due to the fun dynamic between Grant and Hoult. Also good is Toni Collette -- who, to be honest, is incapable of turning in a bad performance. You could pretty much put Toni Collette and Cate Blanchett in every movie and it would be watchable because of them. Anyway. About a Boy. Good times. Funny. Well-written and directed. A little forced at the beginning as I recall.

6. The Bourne Identity (Doug Liman) - Maybe I just didn’t expect anything from this movie, but I loved it. We’ll see how it holds up under re-examination. The movie is helped tremendously by Franke Potente in the love-interest/sidekick role. Her presence adds a dimension of reality and honesty to the film that is impossible to overstate. Matt Damon acquits himself nicely as Bourne. When I saw it this summer, I was so pleasantly surprised at its lack of jokiness, its grainy realism, and its uncluttered plotting. At the end of the day, it’s just a simple summer action movie. But while I was watching it, I managed to forget that.

5. Heaven (Tom Tykwer) - It was 10 pm on a Monday evening in November. I was at an art house theatre in downtown Chicago. I had already sat through a movie (Tully) that had left me unfulfilled and sleepy. I had work the next day, but I decided to sneak into Tom Tykwer's’s “Heaven” with the faint hope that it would revitalize me. It did. After sitting through Tully’s lackadaisical plotting and uninspired direction, Heaven was a powerful antidote. Based on the late (some would say great) Krzysztof Kieslowski’s un-produced script, Tom Tykwer's uses brilliant and beautiful cinematography and applies a technician’s discipline to bring Kieslowski’s heavily philosophical story to life. If the story becomes occasionally burdened with the moral dilemma that lies at the heart of the film, the performances by Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi more than make up for it. I’m not sure this film should be so high on my list, but it’s effect on me -- with its potent visuals and committed performances -- has lingered with me longer than many other 2002 movies.

E-mail CinemaScoped@attbi.com or start a discussion in the Feedback Forum

MOVIE CLUB - BEST FILMS OF 2002 (4)
From: Eric Baker
To: Sam Hallgren, Adam Kempenaar
Subject: A Tribute, and a few fine films of 2002

I just watched a masterpiece. After finally reading "In Cold Blood" over the holidays, Truman Capote's 1965 masterwork recounting the brutal murder of a Kansas farm family and subsequent tracking, trial, and execution of the killers, I had to see the film version which was done two years later by Richard Brooks in the very same Holcomb, Kansas where the crime occurred. Ultimately intended as a statement against the death penalty (maybe Illinois Gov. Ryan read it over the holidays, too) because six people died in cold blood, not just the family farm of four murdered on that cool November night in 1959, Capote's work stands as the standard-bearer for a genre. It established true crime drama as we know it and its popularity legitimized the currency of the literary journalism movement taking shape in the 1960s. Anyone preparing to become a journalist needs to read it, even though Tru (I'm one of his friends, he let me call him that) played fast and loose with the facts on occasion. Ebert gives a much better review of the film than I ever could, and puts a few somewhat current events concerning Robert Blake, the lead actor, in context. So why does any of this matter? Because this film marked a watershed period for a cinematographer in 1967, a guy named Conrad Hall who died on Jan. 4 of this year. I'm surprised Adam didn't comment on this, but the more I see of Hall's films, he strikes me as a guy with a vision. His camerawork and lighting have a trademark almost. 'In Cold Blood' was the third Oscar of many nominations for Hall, and Jeffrey Wells over at Movie Poop Shoot is convinced he will win posthumously this year for 'Road to Perdition.' For all the shortcomings I found in that film, I have to admit the shots were pretty magnificent. His resume is vast and varied, but just his films that received Academy nominations include: Saboteur: Code Name Morituri (1965), The Professionals (1966), In Cold Blood (1967), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, for which he won the Oscar), The Day of the Locust (1975), Tequila Sunrise (1988), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), and American Beauty (2000, for which he won another Oscar).

Like Adam, a lot of these films will probably be kicked off my list once likely Oscar nominees like 'The Pianist' and 'The Quiet American' are given wider release, but duty demands a list:

10. Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg) - I've pretty much said it all already. It could have been 'Chicago,' but I didn't like that one as much as 'Moulin Rouge,' or maybe more to the point, 'Dancer in the Dark.' Some critics have complained that it is overly long, but compared with 'A.I.' and 'Minority Report,' they should be happy that Stevie limited himself.

9. The Good Girl (Miguel Arteta) - I think I actually saw this one with both Sam and Adam in the same theater, something of a rarity for our so-called 'club.' The writing (Mike White, of 'Chuck and Buck' fame) was uproarious, and although the ending was unfulfilling, the acting of Jennifer Aniston and Zooey Deschanel is of a high caliber. It's pretty much a movie about people getting shat upon, but with some tender moments, and of course John C. Reilly and Jake Gyllenhall reprising the same roles I complained about in my last post.

8. Warm Water Under a Red Bridge (Shohei Imamura) - A laugh-out-loud adventure film from master Japanese director Imamura wherein a sad-sack and sacked Tokyo businessman travels to a small town looking for a valuable statue he heard about from a street bum and discovers a woman with gushing orgasms instead. How's that for a one sentence run-on exegesis? Just watch it, trust me.

E-mail CinemaScoped@attbi.com or start a discussion in the Feedback Forum

MOVIE CLUB - BEST FILMS OF 2002 (3)
From: Adam Kempenaar
To: Sam Hallgren, Eric Baker
Subject: A great year?

According to every critic I've read so far, 2002 was a very good year for movies. Considering that I have a solid list of 11 movies ranked among the elite of the year, followed by 10 more that just missed the cut, I'm inclinded to agree. Even the bad movies, or at least films I was ultimately critical of, were better than in years past -- films such as 'The Good Girl,' and 'Igby Goes Down, which I will discuss in more detail later. Of course, trying to rank movies in order of greatness is an arbitary and excruciating waste of time, but I find that often it does help me pinpoint exactly what I did or didn't like about a movie. My system, as mentioned in previous CS Movie Clubs, is fairly simple. I ask myself which film I am most anxious to see again/own on DVD, assuming all discs are created equal.

Now for the disclaimer. There are a handful of films I have yet to see that adorn a number of critics' ten-best lists and very well could end up sneaking onto mine at a later date. Recent films include: 'The Pianist', 'About Schmidt', 'Talk To Her.' Older films I wish I had seen: 'Bloody Sunday,' 'Auto Focus,' 'Red Dragon,' 'Full Frontal.' And for all of you Tolkien geeks out there: 'The Two Towers.' I want to see it, I really do. I just didn't expect it to make my top ten list, so it wasn't a priority. I'm ashamed to be comprising a list that doesn't at least consider the first three films I mentioned; I have no remorse about missing 'The Two Towers.' Sorry.

10. Far From Heaven(Todd Haynes) - Some complained that Haynes' lavish recreation of a Douglas Sirk '50s melodrama was like looking at a museum exhibit. But Haynes thwarts this criticism by making the social commentary as relevant now as it was then -- carefully exploring issues of race, gender, and sexual identity. Julianne Moore delivers arguably her best performance as the model housewife and mother whose seemingly perfect world is turned upside down. Her Cathy Whitaker is never a caricature, the woman who is concerned with social status above all else, while Dennis Quaid also turns in a career-defining performance as Cathy's closeted husband. I feared Quaid would seem too virile and macho for the role, but these traits just serve to make his downfall all the more tragic. Both deserve Oscar nominations, as does Edward Lachmann for cinematography and Peter Rogness for art direction.

9. Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese) - Besides all of the usual Scorsese charms, including plenty of graphic violence, 'Gangs' is a must-see for Daniel Day-Lewis' performance as Bill the Butcher. Yes, he's slightly cartoonish with his exaggerated posture and accent, but he's absolutely terrifying as the 'godfather' of New York's Five Points. And like all good villains, he's multi-dimensional -- a character who is capable of feeling love, respect and friendship like everyone else, while also being able to rip out a man's heart without blinking. Even at 168 minutes the film could have used another half-hour -- I never quite believed Vallon's (Leonardo DiCaprio) quick ascension as the leader of the Irish immigrants -- and the voice-over should have been excised completely, but Scorsese's attention to detail and operatic style is irresistible.

8. 8 Mile (Curtis Hanson) - 'L.A. Confidential,' 'Wonder Boys,' and now this. Who knew the director of 'The Hand That Rocks The Cradle' could be so good? Hanson never lets '8 Mile's inspirational story of a talented young rapper trying to survive in a rough section of Detroit get preachy, and Eminem proves he's got legitimate acting chops to go along with his rhymimg skillzzzz. The "battle" scenes between the hip-hop wannabes are electric. It's a movie that's concerned just as much with personal responsibility and integrity as it is music.

E-mail CinemaScoped@attbi.com or start a discussion in the Feedback Forum

MOVIE CLUB - BEST FILMS OF 2002 (2)
From: Sam Hallgren
To: Adam Kempenaar, Eric Baker
Subject: The countdown begins...

10. Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuaron) - 'Y Tu Mama' makes it into my top ten only because, when I tried to decide between it and 'Bowling for Columbine,' I could only think of the things that annoyed me about 'Columbine.' And 'Y Tu Mama' was unlike anything I had ever seen. It’s about class, sex, friendship, loyalty. It’s a road trip movie, a coming-of-age movie, a thoughtful (if incomplete) meditation on modern-day Mexico. If the plot feels a little too tidy at the end, for the most part the film feels incredibly organic. And the acting is honest and relaxed and, in the very best way, improvisational. Maribel Verdu gives the female performance of the year as the boys’ seductress; and Gael Garcia Bernal is amazing as the lower middle class half of the two friends.

9. About Schmidt (Alexander Payne) - As a monument to the sustained greatness of Jack Nicholson, 'About Schmidt' is a great success. Film historians generations from now won’t have to ask, sadly, wistfully, what happened to Nicholson in the latter part of his career. Unfortunately, the film itself is undermined by the larger-than-life presence of Big Jack. What remains is still brilliant black comedy and keen -- if occasionally mean-spirited -- social observation. 'About Schmidt' is a more-than-worthy follow-up to Payne’s 'Election' (one of the best films of the '90s). This film, like a few other best-of-2002, will likely improve on re-examination.

8. Chicago (Rob Marshall) - As promised (by reviewers, friends, acquaintances), 'Chicago' proved to be one of the best times I’ve had at the theatre all year. It’s never more than an entertainment, and it never tries to be more than an entertainment, and that’s part of what makes this film such a fun time. As a general rule, I don’t like musicals -- not on stage and not at the movies. But 'Chicago' has great performances (it’s perfectly cast), great music, and unflagging energy. The film’s creative use of editing is alone worth great praise -- it accomplishes on film what would be impossible on stage. And the film’s cynicism -- a flaw for some critics -- is what made it so much fun for me: there were no heroes in the story and no one is redeemed; and this gave all the singing and dancing a nasty edge that made up for the film’s unapologetic superficiality. It was the quickest 113 minutes I’ve ever spent in a movie theatre.

E-mail CinemaScoped@attbi.com or start a discussion in the Feedback Forum

MOVIE CLUB - BEST FILMS OF 2002 (1)
From: Eric Baker
To: Adam Kempenaar, Sam Hallgren
Subject: From Middle Earth to the Middle Country and back again

[Editor's note: Eric has returned from delivering U.S. military secrets to China to kick off our Movie Club discussion of the best films of the year -- not his list, but a few comments to get us started. My thanks to him because, as usual, I am way behind on getting my first post up. Sam and I will definitely have something posted after lunch -- probably 10 down to 8. Also note that I think his chronology is out of whack in his final point re: Robin Williams' acting. But I don't have time to check and you get the idea. Stay tuned...]

I fully expected to be lambasted upon my return from China for my last comments about 'The Two Towers,' but it appears people didn't really disagree, or more likely, had more important things to do on their holiday. So I've spent the last few days attempting to read and digest weeks of CinemaScoped posts as well as Movie Club comments. Now I only have to dive into the flood waters of Oscar contenders that Hollywood waits to put out until the last possible moment. So far I've made it to 'Catch Me If You Can' and 'Chicago,' though deciding on the latter was a toss-up with 'Nicholas Nickleby' since both screen in Des Moines but not Iowa City. This quip by Jon Popick of Planet Sick-Boy helped sway me: "This Nickleby thing might have more homosexual undertones than an Eddie Murphy film. And just when you think it can't get any more gay, in pops Nathan Lane."

'Chicago' was fine; I enjoy a musical as much as anyone, and it was capably directed, but instead of Baz Luhrmann's eye-popping extravagance, director and choreographer Rob Marshall deigned it more appropriate to stick closely to Fosse's interpretation and merely filmed a lighted stage. Nothing wrong with that, it was a choice based on Marshall's experience I'm guessing, but it didn't have that razzle-dazzle that the lyrics themselves purport. It has been endlessly pointed out that the actors are neither professional dancers nor singers, but I didn't find any of them to be annoying. Zeta-Jones throatiness, in particular, I found intoxicating, and Gere is quite nice, but the level of dancing did appear to be gained from a mere few weeks of pre-production. On a tangent, Adam has mentioned that he thinks Gere is the breakout star of 'Chicago,' and while carrying a film with an admirable supporting cast is one thing, even getting someone to pay admission to a movie that person knows will be execrable is quite another. That's right: I'm talking about a preview I saw for 'Old School,' the Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell vehicle about 30-somethings who open a frat house. It will suck, guaranteed; yet I chuckle at everything Ferrell does. For whatever reason, I thought it looked much better than 'The Recruit,' 'The Hours,' even '25th Hour.' But then I'm the guy who thinks 'A Night at the Roxbury' should be on the Top 10 film list of the last 25 years, so I guess that little revelation isn't going to make anyone crap their pants. Back to 'Chicago' -- I'm a pretty big fan of John C. Reilly, and I really liked his Cellophane Man routine. 'Movie Club' points out how his roles are becoming increasingly homogenous, and I think they even slip in the word cuckold. I notice Sam is complaining about Catherine Keener's tendency to take what seems like the same character or at least play her the same way every time out. And earlier this year I was fussing because a guy I had earmarked for certain Hollywood stardom, Jake Gyllenhall, had proceeded to play the same character in every movie since his breakout role in 'Donnie Darko.' It begs the question: Are these guys getting pigeonholed by agents or directors, or are they merely one-trick ponies finally exposed for what they really are? Reilly, in particular, has enough clout that he could branch out if he wanted.

I haven't had much time to think about it, but I see that Adam is requiring at least part of a top 10 list today, so I'm guessing Chicago might not make the cut. The problem is that I've seen so few films compared to published critics, especially foreign ones, I always feel a little sheepish about revealing a list. I plan to see two more today ('Gangs of NY' and 'About Schmidt'), so maybe they can round out my meager list. 'Catch Me If You Can,' the delightful Spielberg throwback to the 60s, will probably make my list. I think I liked it so much because it seemed like the anti-Spielberg film: no special effects to speak of, no anti-Semites, and no-unwieldy ending. Just straight expository storytelling of a fascinating check-kiter with a great score by Steve-o's meal ticket, John Williams. Reminiscent of 'Ocean's Eleven.' I'm still not a huge DiCaprio fan, but there's nothing disturbing about him either. Maybe that's my problem. Solid all around.

There seems to be a consensus among the critics at the Movie Club that the sole purpose of their top 10 list is to encourage people to see movies they might not otherwise view, and I suppose if any sizable number of people read this blog, that could be a subject of debate here too. But as it stands, I think we'll probably have to settle for recognizing those films we thought were best, because at least in my case, I haven't seen enough to start recommending art house forget-me-nots. Besides perhaps Jonathan Rosenbaum, no critic consistently attempts to include foreign films in their top 10 lists like Dave Kehr. He is one of four movie critics for The New York Times, and it's uncanny how the foreign films on his top 10 lists always end up screening at the Bijou, the University of Iowa's student-run theater. Other critics have included Time Out (Edelstein) or 'I'm Going Home' (Kerr), but it's almost like the Bijou has a direct line to Kehr's office. Adam B. Kempenaar and Sam, you guys live in that hub of culture, Chicago, so it will be interesting to see what foreign films crept into your canon.

Finally, Sam has commented that 'Lovely & Amazing' is the worst film of the year, and furthermore that Nicole Holofcener has her head up her ass. I have to admit I didn't hate the film, but I had some of the same problems Sam did. I think I just didn't find them as galling. For sure, pyschological evaluation can sometimes be funny in a show, such as 'Daria,' but you won't get far with it in a film. And her films don't really resolve anything -- usually the endings seem ill-conceived ways to finish something what didn't really have a beginning or middle anyhow. I still liked both of them, though, mainly because they felt real, especially when the characters were alone. I think Holofcener sometimes makes her dialogue grating, a la Chekhov, to draw the audience closer to the protagonist. At any rate, Sam is right that neither is a masterpiece.

Just something to throw out there: Sam seems sated when a movie has characters who are nuanced, have subtext, and are naturalistic. To what extent is this good writing or is it really good acting? Is Robin Williams really getting better, than worse, than better again in a one-year period when he does 'One Hour Photo' followed by 'Death to Smoochy' followed by 'Insomnia?'
E-mail CinemaScoped@attbi.com or start a discussion in the Feedback Forum

MOVIE REVIEW ROUNDUP - Remember, tomorrow Sam Hallgren and I (and Eric Baker?) will unveil our Top Ten Films of 2002. Actually, we'll start with 10-6 and leave 5-1 for Thursday just to generate some suspense. But first, I'd be remiss if I didn't get a few comments in about a couple of the movies I managed to cram in recently. I'll save discussion of '25th Hour' and 'Catch Me If You Can' for later in the week because -- spoiler alert! -- I expect both films to be in my top ten somewhere.

ADAPTATION - As many people much smarter than me have pointed out, the problem with irony is that if everything is a joke, something to ridicule and laugh at with a wink, than nothing truly meaningful can ever transpire. Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze have given us a movie that begs to be interpreted as a satirical jab at Hollywood (Roger Ebert's interpretation) -- Cage's Kaufman spells out early on exactly what his movie will NOT include (car chases, sex, drugs, characters who grow, etc...) then proceeds to fill his finale with all of those things -- while the "real" story about Kaufman's difficulties adapting 'The Orchid Thief' ends with him having a seemingly serious moment of growth and realization after the mock-tragic outcome of his twin brother, Donald. He seems to want it both ways -- to mock and ridicule and then, perhaps, sting us with seriousness at the end. But it's like crying wolf. By that point, I wasn't listening. As Sam wrote last week, "But the movie "Adaptation" is about Charlie Kaufman. He experiences his own transformation, and so the characters in his screenplay experience one as well." I am typically a big fan of irony and all things post-modern, but 'Adaptation' left me worn out and frustrated. I wouldn't say I disliked the movie by any means, though. I thought Cage and Chris Cooper were fantastic and some of the dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny. The fact that I am curious to see it again is always a positive sign.

ANTWONE FISHER - Denzel's Washington's directorial debut is impossible to watch without recalling 'Good Will Hunting' and its inspiration, 'Ordinary People,' both of which are better films. The title character (newcomer Derek Luke) isn't a genius, but he's a smart kid with anger-management and abandonment issues that only get resolved through the help of his Naval psychiatrist, Dr. Davenport (Washington). There's even the customary scene where the unwilling patient -- Antwone is sent to Davenport by his commanding officer for fighting (just like Hunting) -- initially sits silently through session after session, each character ultimately waiting for the other to blink. One interesting difference is that both 'Hunting' and 'Ordinary People' hinged on the protagonist learning to forgive himself for all of the bad he has experienced in his life ("It's not your fault, it's not your fault"), whereas 'Fisher' is all about Antwone being able to forgive the people who have hurt him -- the mother who abandoned him as a baby, the step-parents who abused him, etc... It would be easy to denouce 'Fisher' as inspirational Hollywood crap, but I was moved by the story and felt that as a director, Washington never let the movie slip too far into sentimentality. However, I can appreciate Michael Atkinson's comments in the Village Voice: "Everything—even life on an aircraft carrier—is sentimentalized... Antwone Fisher is, in the end, a navy recruitment ad writ large and cozy." The scenes aboard the aircraft carrier did strike me as cliched -- Fisher's group of friends inevitably includes one fat guy and a skinny white boy -- but Atkinson's cynicism is perhaps getting the best of him here. The ship scenes total about 10 minutes of screen time and while the movie doesn't try to hide the fact that the Navy played a pivotal role in Fisher's maturity as a man, it by no means implies that it is the only answer. To think that as a director Washington was more interested in promoting the Navy than telling Antwone Fisher's story seems to me a bit ridiculous.

E-mail CinemaScoped@attbi.com or start a discussion in the Feedback Forum

RAIN DELAY & THE HOURS - I've got less than an hour to try to squeeze in some blogging, so here goes. First off, Sam and I will not be publishing our Top Ten of 2002 until Wednesday. There are a handful of movies I have to see before then or else my list could wind up being illegitimate -- namely, 'Y Tu Mama Tambien' (which I rented on DVD this weekend) and 'Gangs of New York' (which I will see Tuesday night.) I hope to fit in 'About Schmidt' as well, but no guarantees. Tuesday I will have brief reviews of all the movies I have seen over the past two weeks that I haven't found time to write about yet -- 'Adaptation,' 'Antwone Fisher,' 'Catch Me If You Can' and Spike Lee's '25th Hour.' I'll also try to throw in some comments about two rentals from this past weekend -- 'Lovely & Amazing,' which was anything but, and 'Unfaithful.' I had to see whether Diane Lane's performance lived up to all the hype.

Considering that Sam's least favorite films of the year so far are 'Lovely and Amazing' and '13 Conversations About One Thing,' both directed by women, I can't imagine he would have enjoyed Stephen Daldry's 'The Hours' had he tagged along to the special screening I attended last Tuesday night. Of course, Daldry is not a woman, but the film is most certainly centered around women and, one could argue, presents the same set of problems as those movies. Sam wrote: "Both scripts suffered from a terminal lack of subtext and an annoying tendency to have their characters psychologically evaluate each other." Congratulations Sam, you just summed up 'The Hours' in one sentence. As is my tendency these days, I hadn't read a single review of the movie before going in, but I couldn't help but recall David Edelstein's quip in the Slate Movie Club that 'The Hours' was the longest pair of 'em he had spent all year. I feared I was going to suffer similarly after the opening credit sequence, which introduces us to the film's three female protagonists and sets up the movie's structural conceit of slipping between three different eras -- the 1920s, '50s and the present day. I expected the connections between the three characters to be clear, but I didn't expect the editing to be so obvious as to cut from Nicole Kidman's Virginia Woolf brushing her hair to Julianne Moore's '50s housewife brushing her hair, to Meryl Streep's modern day woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown brushing her hair, and so on interminably. Fortunately, the credits weren't indicative of the whole film, which isn't to say that Daldry and screenwriter David Hare couldn't have employed more subtlelty throughout. If subtext and characters who don't emotionally undress each other every time they speak is what you want in a movie -- and usually I do -- you will loathe 'The Hours.' Yet, somehow I didn't loathe it. All of the performances were predictably first-rate -- unlike Sam and a few others I know, I love Julianne Moore -- and the story cleverly culminates in a way that connects the three narratives in a literal, and not just figurative, sense. I'm sure some people in the audience saw it coming, but for me it was a "surprise" ending that worked because it felt absolutely organic, rather than shaking the foundations of the narrative. My one major criticism is one that was discussed in the Slate Movie Club to some extent -- the Philip Glass score. I come from the school that says that music in both theater and film should be felt and not heard. If you're actually listening to the score, then it is distracting you from the film. My own personal preference would be to never have to listen music with dialogue. If the screenwriter, director and actors are all doing their jobs, then I don't need music to direct my emotions. In the case of 'The Hours,' the score is not only bothersome because it enduced flashbacks of watching 'The Thin Blue Line' (also, Glass' work, of course) but it is virtually omni-present throughout the film. During the post-screening Q&A, the book's author, Michael Cunningham -- a charming, intelligent, self-deprecating but confident writer who could easily allay any problems you had with the movie -- said that the choice to use the score in such a heavy-handed manner was a deliberate one, though I can't report precisely what the intent was because I wasn't taking notes at this point and his explanation was a bit convoluted... something about standing in for the lyrical quality of the novel (not his novel, specifically, but novels in general). He admitted that it will bother some people because it is not what audiences are used to. It's definitely not background music, and it doesn't necessarily correspond with what is occurring on screen. "I love it for that," Cunningham said. So I guess we can fault the filmmakers for producing a bad/distracting score, but we can't fault them for not understanding how to use music because they clearly made a choice to use it a certain way. When asked what some of his favorite movies were growing up, Cunningham listed Altman's 'McCabe and Mrs. Miller,' 'Chinatown,' 'All About Eve' (which he followed with a humorous "of course," acknowledging the obviousness of a gay man picking that film), and the two Godfather movies.

E-mail CinemaScoped@attbi.com or start a discussion in the Feedback Forum