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clarissatheclown
Reviews
The Girl in the Café (2005)
Bill Nighy RULES!
I have to be frank, I was a little put off by the rather heavy-handed political theme of this movie. That's why I gave it a nine rather than a ten. I personally think that the responsibility for eliminating poverty rests primarily with actual people practicing personal unselfishness not just with governments, who have an awful lot of other things to do. I found plucky little Gina a bit of a bore. Then again I'm an American and we all know how uncaring the Yanks are. We have only bailed out half the world in the last century, including the victims of many disasters not our own.
But all this is minor. What makes this movie a must-see is the absolutely mesmerizing performance of Bill Nighy. We never find out exactly where his character has been that he is so utterly clueless socially. But from the moment Nighy appears on screen with that egg-shell treading walk, apologetic eyes and hesitant speech, we care about this guy. Even when his ineptness leads to comedy, as in his flustered and doomed efforts to avoid sexual impropriety in the hotel room he shares with Gina, he is never a buffoon. Just a sweet, sad, flawed, very sympathetic man.
In spite of the sparse information the script reveals, both Nighy and Kelly McDonald give us fully fleshed-out characters. They know who they are, even if we don't. The two play well off of one another in their awkward but charming date scenes and the entire relationship is refreshingly free of clichés. (Have you ever seen a romance in which the repressed man is even more uptight after they have sex than before?) But again I have to be frank. The ending is ambiguous, and I don't think the two end up together. Each has changed the other's life and now they move on. Speaking of "Lost in Translation."
Le chat (1971)
Tagline
Depressing but mesmerizing, this movie is like a horrible traffic accident - you know it's going to be gruesome, but you can't look away because you MUST know what happened to these people. The acting - in fact the entire film - is typically French, grittily realistic, yet artistically satisfying. No pie-in-the-sky happy ending. People are cruel sons of guns who can't even love without corruption. Deal with it. Simone Signoret's wild eyes as she cuts up her husband's prized newspapers ("Look what you have done, Kitty!") will stick with you for years afterward. I know. I saw it in the theater when it came out. There was a tag line for this film, one of the best I've heard, since it summarizes the plot exactly: "A love-hate relationship so strong it destroyed everything - the man, the woman - even the cat."
Richard III (1995)
Fine film with a James Cagney ending
I could have done without the extreme on screen violence (in the play it all takes place off-stage) but other than that I found the performances to be fine all around and all elements true to the rather cock-eyed world in which the film is set. (Of course it doesn't exactly resemble the real England of the'30's. It is a world all its own and that's the point.) I didn't have time to read all the comments, so I don't know if anyone else noticed that the final moment of this film is a direct steal from James Cagney's violent end in "White Heat" right down the words "top of the world." The only thing missing was the mother complex (Cagney's words were actually, "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!") This was another reference to the 1930's.
Drive (1997)
A low-budget treat
I discovered this movie after I fell asleep in front of the TV one night and woke up to see this to-die-for guy doing a horizontal spin off the side of a boat. I was hooked immediately. The excellent moves of Mark Dacascos are the main draw (even if you are a novice in the martial arts), but Kadeem Hardison pumps up the humor (and human) factor, and Britney Murphy shines as an endearingly loony teen. Dascascos' acting skills are limited, but he has a kind of shy, goofy sincerity that sells and even a certain amount of humor. ("What's your name?" "Samo Hong.") Also I don't think I've ever heard a martial artist sing that well (or at all, really.) Rather a shame that he has been reduced to playing the host on "Iron Chef America." I could do without the cartoon violence (a machine gun with a severed arm still attached to it.) Why bother, when you've got jaw-dropping fight sequences? And the last bit goes on wa-a-ay too long. Still the movie is highly original. I'm glad to see that there are so many others who appreciate it. Up to now I've always felt a little guilty about liking a cheapo chop-socky production, but it appears that a lot of people agree with me - this little gem is well worth watching.
Seabiscuit (2003)
Spirits need a lift? Love to see the underdog come out on top? Seabiscuit is the movie for you.
What a heartwarmer! Seabiscuit is the ultimate underdog picture with no less than three tragedy-stricken "losers" making comebacks in racing and life.
Tobey Maguire is intensely sympathetic as the hard-knock jockey dealing with more than his share of tough breaks (though that thick shock of blindingly red hair takes a little getting used to); Chris Cooper's understated performance as the softspoken trainer with a magic touch keeps "maudlin" out of the reviewer's vocabulary; and Jeff Bridges is - well, Jeff Bridges in his "power of positive thinking" mode. William H. Macy nearly steals the show as a gimmicky sportscaster who speaks for the common man. Period touches are satisfying. Unfortunately, the only interesting woman in the film, Valerie Mahaffey as Bridges' first wife, departs about forty-five minutes in, leaving us with paper dolls (Bridges' bland second wife) and stereotypes (Macey's bored blonde wife.) Still, if you're looking to lift your spirits, Seabiscuit is the movie for you.