Romeo + Juliet

This is the Baz Luhrmann version with Leo and Claire. This is certainly one of the movies that have had a major impact on how I view film. Even though it isn't Baz's best work (that would be Moulin Rouge) it has a certain flair and style, merging these two worlds into some new thing entirely its own. Teh reason why it works is the same reason anythign by Baz Luhrmann works: he's unapologetic in his delivery. Teh whole world could stand up in disgust, and he wouldn't care. You have to admire balls like that. Among the other things that certainly influences the apeal of this movie is the fact that it came out right around that time that I was becoming aware of the world around me in terms of movies and music, finding my own taste, and also at that time where I was turning into a full-blown teenager with acne, relationships (or lack thereof), mood swings, angst, frustration, and so on. This came at the right time to epitomize all that.

Total: 136

Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves)

The copy that we watched looked like it had been mastered (it was on VHS) from about five different reels, some of which were subtitled, others which were not. The subtitles would drop out at some very inoportune moments leaving long stretches of important dialogue (I'd like to assume) untranslated. However, I must mention, due to the simplicity of the story and the characters, their everyday-ness, much of what they say can be inferred anyway. Knowing before hand that the two main characters were not trained actors, I was amazed at how fluid their performances seemed. Maybe that's teh Italians for you, less culturally self-conscious about things like cameras and being watched. It would make perfect sense if that were the case. Throughout the film I was consciously impressed by how crowded it was, knowing that those crowds were the real every-day crowds of Rome.

Total: 135

The Bourne Supremacy

Once againI've managed ot write out a fair bit of commentsary on a movie, and then shut the window by accident, thusly losing all my writing. I really liked the first one, and the second one is certainly a worthy sequel. It reminds of of why Bond was good in the first place. I'm caring less and less about watching people doing crap in front of a blue screen, or being CG'd in, unless we're talking Hellboy or Spiderman and their like which are structurally an entirely different story (fogive the pun). I could go on for days.

Total: 134

Erin Brockovich

I don't really know what's up eith the current run of movies aside form the fat that my dad brought home a stack of DVDs that are normally at school with him for his classes, and I've been in need of somethign to quell my thirst for film, and use as a plausable excuse for not studying.
When I became conscious of the fact that Soderbergh directed this movie it did somethign to me. Most of that somethign is found in a realization of the fact that it doesn't matter who directs a Julia Roberts movie, it's going to be built around her and a director is there almost as a formality.
I remember when this came out I heard dozens and dozens of comments in the media focusing on the profanity and her outfits since Roberts is a national institution. the only line that surprised me to hear coming out of Julia's mouth was the comment about 643 blowjobs in five days.

Total: 133

Glory

I'm tired and I don't want to forget to put this up so my comments will be brief. Civil War movie filmed in the late 80's, earned three Oscars in 1989, and shows both the care and concern that went in and the telltale signs of pre-DVD productions. Very good, but a lower budget than we're used to in these sort of stories in the post-Braveheart world.

Total: 132

The Incredibles

I just have to say first that they did NOT run the Episode III trailer before hand, and I seriously considered walking out and getting a refund, then coming back tomorrow. I'm glad I stayed for the movie, but at the same time the same movie would have been there tomorrow, possibly plus Episode III. Anyway...
This movie really does hold pretty much everything I could ask for from an animated movie that doesn't involve Miazaki. One, it's been put together by Pixar, lords among animators, and really the seminal computer animation team. Two, it's directed by Brad Bird, the man responsible for The Iron Giant, which is quite easily among my favorite movies of all time, has been there for a while, and is expected to stay there for quite a while more. There is something about Brad Bird's films (all two of them) that has left me able to admit the flaws of the product, but at the same time feeling like I just watched something that's involved so much love and care, that you know you're seeing something special. Aswell, it certainly helps that he has a firm grasp of character and the little things that make them special.
Quite certainly worth your money, even at a first-run theatre. Definetly one to bring your date too.

Total: 131

Supersize Me

This is the second time I've seen this movie, and the first time I've seen the first three or four minutes of it. Not that those minutes really change much of anythign, but it's a nice cohesive feeling. Morgan Spurloch poisons himself for the sake of entertainment ans editorial. It really is one of the ballsiest movies out there right now, and certainly commendable for the respect it's garnered.

Total: 130

Collateral

I love movies. I especially love watching movies in the theatre. Somethign about the experience of paying money to put up with anoying employees (yes, I know where the theatre is. I knew where they were when I came in four days ago, I knew where they were when I came in last week, I know where they are still), dumb advertisments and trivia slides (which have managed to get more irritating jsut within the last month with a shorter rotation cycle, sync'd music, and the inclusion of C2 commercials, meaning you hear the same three songs, see the same two trivia sides, and watch the same commercial, with the same four advertisments at least twice apiece if you arrive with any time before the movie starts), a painful seat, and no pause button makes movies more enjoyable for me. I'm probably crazy.
I really enjoyed watching this movie. I was torn between this and purpously subjecting myself to pain with Resident Evil: Apocalypse or watching this which I've had on good report is an excellent film. Which it is. I really enjoyed watching it. I found myself looking forward to what was going to happen, how it was going to end. It's actualyl kinda rare for me to be feelign that through a movie. I generally know how most movies are going to fall together before hand, largly just as a function of having seen so many movies. I'm not sayinf I was surprised by the ending, as it's not meant to be a surprise, and there was the general knowledge of "yah, they'll survive" just because it's that kind of movie, but I found myself looking forward to how they would get there.
I do share the sentiments of many people in trying to figure out when Jamie Foxx woke up and decided to learn how to act. I am far from disappointed, but it is surprising that this is the same guy who brought us Booty Call with a character named "Bunz".

Total: 129

Miss Evers' Boys

It's hard to really describe reactions to a movie like this without taking time to really digest the film as a whole. It really is writing these posts that does me a lot of good in figuring out how film is put together, how it works and doesn't. Part of the problem I have with movies is that I find it hard to hate a movie. Even somethign like Raising Helen or 13 Going on 30 I can make myself sit through and "enjoy". Not that this has much of anything to do with Miss Evers' Boys.
The story, as a character study, is quite well done as we watch Miss Evers (Alfre Woodard) trying to grasp her place in something that is beyond her control. She does what she can because she cares for those in her stewardship. She hold on to an increasingly faint hope that leaves one, by the end, wondering if it ever really existed. Those causes we fight with no end in sight and no reason in memory.
As a political force, the movie is okay, this for the very reason that the cause lacks sense or reason. They hold on to the idea that what they are doing is proving that negros are not physically inferior to the whites, but to a great degree their cause becomes lost when the subject becomes moot point, i.e. what does it matter who catches syphilis more if a ready cure is availible? I suppose my point here is that the personal grasping at logic, and the lack of logic they struggle with, is the very reason why it loses political force. It's hard to make a statement about a cause that you, by definition, do not understand.
I'm probably wrong and have missed the point all together.

Total: 128

Dawn of the Dead: Director's Cut

Okay, so it's only marginally different than the version Tim and I saw in theatres back in May but this time we saw it with the girls present. I've found since my orriginal writing that we've decided to use the word zombling regularly to describe the zombie baby, as an interesting side note. That scene has been slightly extended to change the pacing and intensity of it. It's less shocking, but heavier, as there is more screen time devoted to the baby, allowing us to see it's helplessness, shots of characters reacting, and a shot of Sara Polly lining up her shot. The majority of other scenes removed are for the same reason that most sceness are removed from any movie: pacing, redundancy, and length. If you've seen it before in the orriginal cut you sit there and think "gee, that's why this was cut" even though aa few of them have some interesting lines that are referred to later, like CJ sitting in the holding cell reading an article in a women's magazine about trust being the number one ingredient in any relationship.

Total: 127

On The Waterfront

Rightfully the winner of the Oscar (trademarked and protected by martial law) for best picture of 1954, this is really a powerful story, superperbly acted, of people doing what is right when teh whole world is against them. My favorite touches of realism are those little moments that serve to cement the world this takes place in. So many movies that claim a presence in "the real world" leave me wondering 'where are the police?' or 'does anyone else actually notice?' Little touches, like the police officer at the beginning saying 'yah, I know you don't like police, but someone's gotta talk', produce a living, breathing environment for the story to take place in. In so many ways this is an example of a movie done right.

Total: 126

Raising Helen

Well, it's not bad. It's not spectacular either. It uses some pretty heavy material as the foundation of its story, asking you to accept a fair bit in terms of how the characters respond to the deaths in the family. The adults act like adults, grieving when they can, struggling with the loss, but the kids... Well, I'll give the film-makers this: it's notoriously hard to get the intensity of performance out of children that an accurate portrail of loss demands, and when they are caught on film, the results are usually so heavy that it would entirely destroy a "dramatic family comedy" and instead turns it into "the most disturbing 'family' movie ever". Think Radio Flyer for a good example of how this interplay works.

Total: 126

Aladdin

So, long time childhood favorite. It's really a great movie, if you're willing to just accept the imposition of 20th century Western morality and forward-thinking social feminism on 12th century Middle-Eastern society. Marrying "for love" is a pretty new luxury. New enough that we still find a sense of purpose in trans-class romance, in spite of living in a society with a "transparent class system." For a contrast, even the template for most romances, Romeo and Juliet, has its characters on the same class level as each other, and to the best of my recollection, someone please fill in the blanks if I'm wrong, most of Shakespere's works adhere to these rules. Whatever. It's got good music and humor that has aged well.

Total: 125

The Conversation

Gene Hackman plays Harry Caul in this tense story about a man who has spent so much time spying on others that he has become all but incapable of opening his private life to others. The events of the film centre on the days following a shady job that he is hired to do. After recording the conversation of a couple he begins to suspect that there is a greater plot at hand than immediatly appears. Probably the richest part of the film is who the soundtrack is integrated into the story line and the symbolism of the story. The recorded conversation with its innocuous and dangerous strains is played repeatedly in the background layering meanings on top of the life of Harry. since Harry's job is the business of recording, the business of sounds, we hear the world as he hears it: taps, knocks, white noise, interrupting static, footsteps, the clicks that locks, doors, shoes, rings, and just about everythign else makes, and a cool blue jazz long play on the hi fi.

Total: 124

Alien: The Director's Cut

i've seen this movie a number of times before, it being among those movies that have existed through my entire existance, but still not being as prevalent as Star Wars, I actually watched this movie for the "first time" a number of years ago after I fell in love with Ridley Scott's work through Blade Runner and Thelma and Louise. It's hard to say anything truly unique about a movie that has become so much a part of our cultural pastel. So much exists in the form of homage, theft, and parody that there is very little new ground to be broken in discussing this film. One of the things that was discussed while we were watching the film was about the nature of phenominae, sitting here wondering what the next "revolutionary" film will be. What will be the next Star Wars, the next Alien, the next Saturday Night Fever? Has our culture become so conscious of these phenominae that we're looking too hard for them and as a result crimp the chances of their happening? I don't know, but I do know that Alien is a film that has aged very well. In spite of hundreds upon hundreds of chest-burster rip offs and parodies, the orriginal is still one of the most intense pieces of film making in existance. Partly because, as I found out during the viewing, the actors' response to the spurting blood (they were told what would happen but weren't told how much blood was being used) is not simulated. Thinking also of the M*A*S*H episode where Radar informs a room full of cast members about the death of Lt. Col. Blake while they're under the impression they're filming pick-ups, a little real emotion can work wonders that acting can not.

Total: 123

I, Robot

I really thought that I was going to be more offended by this movie than I was. To start, this movie bears little more than a passing resemblance to the orriginal novel, and I found it curious that the crdits at the end use the phrase "suggested by Isaac Asimov's book" instead of the typical "based on" or "inspired by." Part way throught he movie I reviseted one of my orriginal hypotheses about this movie that it'd be better called by a different name, but that poses two problems. If you remove the Asimov connection you have to alter the three laws in some ways to prevent being cited for plagarism, a difficult task seeing as Asimov devoted his life to these kinds of theories. It would be a monumental task to come up with a comprable set of rules. Second problem is that the name "I, Robot" is just so cool. I tried to think up a different name for the movie that would be equally applicable and still sound good, but "Sonny" was the only one I could come up with, and it's not as cool, it just isn't. With these taken into mind it becomes very easy to disconnect from Asimov's work and just accept what's going on on screen.

Total: 122

The Limey

"Limey" is a slang term for Englishman, making "The Limey" the Englishman. I mention this because of the use of slang. It's typical to have the dialogue reflect the person, the character, as much as possible. This really is the only ideal setup as our daily uses of speach often reflect our background and personality. In Resevoir Dogs the characters issue a nearly non-stop stream of profanity, a vocal counterpart to the violence of their existance. In The Limey, Wilson is a recently released convict (yes, of English descent) and a thief by trade. His style is the language of the streets, a neverending stream of jumping thoughts and slang terms, a counterpart to the instability of his life (in and out of prison) and the visual stream-of-though created through Soderbergh's editing. He's on a personal crusade to find the man he feels is responsible for his daughter's death. In the end it's touching in how well the story falls together as we discover that we're following a man who does not seek for revenge, but seeks to put the time he's lost into context with the life he knows.

Total: 121

The Empire Strikes Back

The first thing that I noticed about this new version (which may have been in the standard Special Edition) is that C-3P0 has a whirring, servomotor noise added to his motions. I found it immensely distracting at first, just because I kept listening to see if I was hearing correctly. I suppose it's not a bad touch, just noticable becauseI'm not used to it being there.
This is still my favorite Star Wars movie, largely for the lighsabre duel at the end. I still hold firm that the Cloud City duel between Vader and Luke is the best of them all, because of the tension involved. Vader knows who Luke is, but Luke fights believing that this is the man who murdered his father. Luke pours in all his energy and focus, fighting like he's never fought before (though he honestly doesn't have much experience) and Vader still manages to waste him through much of the battle using only one hand. That touch is quite significant in itself because George Lucas was very adamant during the production of the movies that Lightsabreas are very powerful and difficult to weild, that the force of them hitting requires two hands to keep it under control. Luke uses this two-handed fighting style. Vader keeps one hand under his cloak.

Total: 120

The Fellowship of the Ring

The last time I saw this was almost a year ago, the day that I came home from my mission. We watched the extended edition that night, so this was the first time I've seen the theatrical edit. I noticed some of the differences right off, but most have been lost to the fact that I've only seen the movie once before. If I were to watch the theatrical edition of The Two Towers, that would be something different.

Well, what do I love about this film? I love how well it has been put together. I love the sense of care and concern that went into making these movies. Plus Sean Bean is here. His character is wonderful, carrying a sense of power, yet weakness, all at the same time. It really is difficult to try and dissemble something like this that has become such an integral part of our culture. I'll leave it that I love this movie, as I'm watching The Empire Strikes Back right now.

Total: 119

Happy Gilmore

There's somethign to be said for a good comedy. Sure this isn't exactly highbrow comedy, but it
is a great party movie with lots of quoteable lines. It's also a pretty good story. The characters are likeable/hateable as needed. Happy makes enough of a personality change that we can forgive the wild, irresponsible, angry person we see at the begining of the movie. Plus it has Happy beating up, and getting beat up by, Bob Barker. Easily one of the best scenes in modern physical comedy. I've also noticed that this movie is rife with so much product placement that I'd be surprised if Subway and Pepsi didn't pay teh studio to have the film made.

Total: 118

The Truman Show

I love this movie for so many reasons. The flavor, the texture, the acting, the story, the characters... pretty much everything. My favorite scene is probably when he's in the square, starting to realize that somethign is very not right with his life. The music that plays as he very deliberately moves around with these broad sweeping motions that almost say "I am gaining knowledge. I am empowering myself." It's wonderful. Then, the power of the final lines:

""Say something! You're on television! Live in front of the whole world!"

"If I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night."

Total: 117

Full Metal Jacket

I'm not entirely sure what to say about this movie that hasn't already been covered in many better ways by just about everyone else. In my opinion this is Gomer Pyle's story. His arc sets the prescident for the rest of the movie, as the second half of the movie mimicks the first, with Joker shooting the Viet girl in parallel of Pyle shooting the drill seargent. both represent a spiritual death, a giving in to the most carnal and destructive elements of humanity. the difference is that Pyle then turns teh gun on himself, where Joker goes on to live. He's alive, but for what? M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E.

Total: 116

Troy

I have a small confession to make. Brad Pitt is my hero. Okay, maybe not my hero, and I say things like that often enough that it's not really a confession. I've loved his work ever since 12 Monkeys (which I havn't seen in a while, note for pay day...) and have taken the good and the bad in stride. The thing that threw me off for a long time (I didn't see 12 Monkeys until it was well past new) was that he was a pin up face in the girls lockers at the same time as that kid from Home Improvement, and I hated him. As a general rule through my life I've considered the phrases "teen idol" and "mediocre hack" to be somewhat sysnonymous, at least in the "all widgets are wikkits, but not all wikkits are widgets" way. I mean, let's break this down:

The Spice Girls - can't really sing, but they're willing to gyrate on stage for million of horny boys and tell all the little girls that this is "Girl Power" winning the favor of the girls because "they're famous and successful women."

The Backstreet Boys - can harmonize okay, but aren't stretching anythign vocally, stylistically, or intellectually. Not inept dancers, but they're certainly not channeling Tina Turner.

Jonothan Taylor Thomas - can't act very well, can't sing, can't dance. Can pose for a poster with his shirt off and his boxers hanging out very well.

Hillary Duff - how do I put this in a way that can scathe as many people as possible in as little space? Spears and Aguilera got out of control, so Disney let them go and built Duff to replace them, implanting chips into her brain rendering her into a total slave to their wims, ensuring she won't go renegade like the two previous versions.

He didn't have things stacked in his favor. I suppose I'm sacrificing my point in order to slam the pop culture I hate. I'll stop and get ot the movie. Brad Pitt can normally act.

Troy feels like the majority of the cuts included were the 87th takes: the actors were tired of pouring their emotions into it and were just doing it to get it done. tehre are moments where things shine through, the story isn't THAT BAD, but generally it just feels detatched and uninvolving. Plus Orlando Bloom's character is a total whiner. I hate whiners.

Total: 115

Willow

Once upon a time there was a man named George. George liked making movies. He made a bunch of really good movies. Among these was a movie named "Star Wars." Up until the day that George died, he was never able to escape this movie. He tried, though. He tried really hard. He made movies about other fantasy worlds. He made a whole new series of movies about a wisecracking paleontologist. He told authors to take his work and rape it through any orifice they chose, but even with this he couldn't convince himself to let it be. This is not Star Wars. This is one of the diversion attempts.

This movie is fairly typical of George Lucas' fantasy works. The main characters are either inherently good in every instance, or are much better people by the end of the story. The action relies a lot on the main characters having script immunity and an acceptance that everyone who does not have script immunity is a pawn under the most opressive hand destiny has ever turned, eliminating reason, logic, and talent. Think Stormtroopers. Still, enjoyable muchly.

Total: 114

Kontroll

This is easily among the best movies I've seen this year. I have a mandate (assignment) from my film teacher to watch one or more films at the Calgary International Film Festival and write a thorough analysis of one. I intend on seeing several more films (would regardless) but I'm fairly decided that this will be the topic of my essay. What follows is not my essay, but a hashing out of ideas.

Kontroll is from Hungary, is in Hungarian with English subtitles, and stars a number of people whos names I can't pronounce.

The film opens with a disclaimer from the Budapest Metro Authorities declairing that the characters involved do not represent the actual Ticket Inspectors employed by the authorities. In an interesting turn, this disclaimer is used to introduce the central theme of the film and establish some of the "ground rules" of the film. The man from Budapest Metro explains that the characters are broad representations of the struggle between good and evil and the events depicted are symbols of this spiritual battle. We then proceed into a world that exists only underground, the land above being, to the main character, as unreal and distant as heaven. In this world below heaven people come and go, some drifting in and out without so much of a thought as to their surroundings while others lock in a battle for control with those in power. Our main characters are a posse of Ticket Checkers, the most hated men in Budapest. They struggle to maintain control in this world: maintain order, maintain control of their own lives, and maintain their personal authority. The tone vascillates widely between moments of spirited fun and dark humor as the posse attempts to catch a career vandal/fare dodger and moments of claustophobic intensity and insanity as a co-worker goes over the edge of reason.

There is more, much more, as the entire film is largely symbolic. I could go on about the metamorphosis of the love interest, the presence of a serial "pusher" in the system, the struggles between separate enforcer teams, and the bizzar sport of "railing" but I'm going to save that for my essay.

If you have the chance to see this movie, go. You will not be disappointed.

Total: 113

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Here I sit, after years of waiting, with the DVD firmly in my sweaty palms. Much ado has been made which in the ultimate course of all history and futurity, amounts to very little. However, within the realm of those who understand the power of the dark-side, those of us who are Jedis like our fathers before us, those of us who are no good, stuck up, scruffy looking Nerf herders, all us scoundrels, and, yes, even those of us who are simply as clumsy as we are stupid, this means a lot to us. We've looked forward to this day, perhaps even had a wet dream or two about it, and now it's here. The only thing that remains: was it worth the wait? A delicate question that is.

I'm going to break that into two separate things: one it is good to finally have the DVDs. My wide-screen VHS copies of the original edit are wearing thin. The soundtrack fades in and out of existence at the beginning and end of each movie. I needed a replacement. So, part on is wether or not the DVDs in and of themselves are worth it, yes they are. The print quality is superb, the sound quality is excellent (I'll get to sound editing later, if ever) and the bonuses are okay. But the wait? Is there something here to justify the fact that we weren't looking at this box four years ago? Well, all too much of that is going to depend on Episode III and wether or not the Special Editions should have ever existed. With that, as I only watched Episode IV last night, I'm going to only talk about Episode IV.

Seven, almost eight years ago the Special Edition was released I left the theatre unsure of what to think. I never really saw Star Wars for the first time. I'd seen it so many times as a kid that I have trouble remembering a time when I couldn't recall some image from these movies, it along with Princess Bride have just perpetually existed in my life. This was different though. I had seen the original footage of Han talking to Jabba on the cassette "Star Wars to Jedi" that came with our Wide-screen boxed set, pre SE era, and I also remembered that footage in the context of George Saying "we wanted to do this, but we didn't have the means, or even really an idea of what Jabba was like." they then go on to discuss the several different conceptual renditions of Jabba produced for Return of the Jedi. So, when I saw the footage with the CG Jabba my thoughts traced a line somewhere along the lines of "Jabba doesn't look real" and "this doesn't look like the actions of the Jabba we see later." The reason why Jabba sent Greedo in the first place also comes to mind. the scene is redundant and included largely to show off, in my mind. I'm not really going anywhere in particular with this, so I hope you don't feel like I have a point. Greedo. Why can't Han just ice the bastard? Han being so self centered later in the movie with his "I'm in this for the money" speech is more believable when we know he's willing to shoot first. At least in the current incarnation their shots are all but simultaneous. It makes Han's actions seem more premeditated (well, he does sit there and loosen his blaster) as if he's still planning on shooting Greedo regardless, but also anticipating Greedo's actions. In all honesty, those are the only two things from the Special Edition of this film that upset me. The final assault on the Death Star was disorienting that first time in the theatre, but mostly because I was expecting to see what I'd seen dozens of times before. This edit retains it's ultimate purpose, builds up to the same end, and in many ways makes more sense, especially in relation to Luke's interactions with Edge and Biggs. I remember for years before the SE I wondered why he made the comment "It'll be just like Beggar's Canyon back home." This always struck me as odd because in my mind no one else there would know what Beggar's Canyon was. It's a weak comfort to tell people "don't worry, at least I'll be able to pull out."

Okay, I think this has been more than aimless enough for the time being. I'll leave it with this: I'm very glad to have them on DVD as now I can watch them, really, wherever I want, and the changes to this version definetly show (along with the disapearance of Metachlorian references after Episode I) the George is willing to make concessions to the fans, but he's still a curmudgeonly old man when it comes down to what he wants.

Total: 112

Election

this is essentiall an essay about how we ruin our own lives. It's quite funny, but still very unsettling, watching the characters fall victim to their mistakes. the only character to avoid this fate is Paul, who doesn't actually make the mistakes. He's just sort of there, with the world swirling around him. He realizes that his life is, in the scheme of things, pretty good and takes things as they come. Mainly, though, this is about Jim and how in spite of watching his friend ruin his life through an affair with Tracy, goes on to make the same mistake with (the irony) his friend's wife and uses the same excuses. He loves his job, has a pretty good life, but hasn't learned how to communicate with the people around him. When he's confronted with a challenge he reacts rashly, usually trying to find an immediate solution without thinking of the consiquences. Tracy's life is a sort of parody of Jim's. Where Jim's good intentions earn him failure after failure and ultimately a total meltdown of his life, Tracy's self-serving and megalomaniacle intentions earn her success and prestige. Still, at the end of the affair, neither have much of their dignity in tact, only Jim realizes it and Tracy doesn't.

Total: 111

Ghostbusters

A classic from childhood days, I used ot have Slimer and Stay Puft Marshmellow Man toys. They were awesome. Some of the special affects are horribly dated, but alot still stand up pretty well, surprisingly. It's nice to see how they did things before the days when EVERYTHING is CG. That's really more a knock at movies like Congo, Troy, and Resident Evil, rather than Sky Captain. Which actually brings out somethign I'd like to mention about 28 Days Later I recently read in an article, I believe in Wired magazine, where the interviewee was talking about digital technology bringing power to the little guy in filmaking. Then he clarified "I'm not talking about everyone making Jurassic Park or Troy or Lord of the Rings. I want to see the little studios being able to have that one effects shot of 1930's New York skyline out the window. That one shot that makes the movie possible." 28 Days Later has four or five such shots that stand out because you know they can't be real, but visually look convincing. It's the way this technology should be used. In the "old days" they used painted mattes, like here in Ghostbusters. Mattes are used to add the appartment building to the skyline, and there's one shot of a gargoyle as Sigourney's car is first pulling up that's actually a matte painting. Nice.

Total: 110

28 Days Later

A zombie movie that's not fully a zombie movie. Why? The people aren't dead yet.
I really, really enjoyed this movie. It's rich with texture, symbolism, meaning, character, emotion, and heart. It is also genuinly creepy. The roots I found most obvious would be in John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids, as others have thankfully pointed out (I'm glad I'm not alone.) The scenes of Jim walking around deserted London bring back feelings of when I first saw Quiet Earth. My favorite scene of the movie would have to be when the initial trio is walking to Jim's house as an a capella version of the old English hymn "Abide With Me!" is played.
I had a lot more that I wanted to say about the character development, Jim's empowerment transformation at the end, and such, but I can't seem to find words right now.

Total: 109

Casablanca

The world needs more movies with this kind of style and heart. Men are gentlemen and women are ladies. People wear suits and are cordial, even in attempting arrest. People have class and a sort of dignity that has long disappeared from our culture. Perhaps it's thesee movies that have inspired me to start wearing neck ties everywhere, collared shirts, slacks and nice shoes.

Total: 108