December 19, 2003
Permanent Midnight (3 stars)
With Permanent Midnight Ben Stiller leaps into dramatic mode, and portrays real-life TV writer Jerry Stahl. Stahl moves to LA so that he can pursue his writing career and get away from drugs. His career takes off as he becomes the head writer for the sitcom "ALF", but he certainly can't get away from the drugs. He is an avid heroin addict that also experiments with other drugs throughout the movie. The movie is about his spiral downward and his attempts to pull himself out.
The movie is not groundbreaking, heroin and drug addiction has been handled many times before, but I thought Ben Stiller did an excellent job playing the highs and lows of a man that was slowly losing his mind to drug addiction. The scene where he shoots up in a car with his baby daughter sitting next to him is down right creepy. Overall it was worth the watch and I would reccommend it, but I doubt I'd watch it again.
December 11, 2003
Road to Perdition (3 stars)
In Road to Perdition, Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks), a hit man working for John Rooney (Paul Newman), an Irish mob boss, faces a dilemma when what he does is witnessed by his twelve-year-old son. A hit man from the same mob is sent to kill Sullivan and his family, but only kills his wife and son, Peter. Michael, Sr. and Michael, Jr. then set out to get revenge on the man who killed Peter and Mrs. Sullivan. Meanwhile, Maguire (Jude Law), another hit man who had done some work for Mr. Rooney in the past is sent to kill Sullivan.
The movie felt a little too overly pretentious and long winded for my tastes. Jude Law and Tom Hanks are excellent in their roles, contrasting styles of hit men, one who is somewhat ashamed of what he does and another who takes pleasure in his killing. It's worth a watch, but I doubt I'd sit through it again.
December 10, 2003
One Hour Photo (4 stars)
In One Hour Photo, Seymour 'SY' Parrish (Robin Williams) has been doing photo development for 20 years. He has a vast knowledge of modern photography and develops photos for various customers at the Sav-Mart. His biggest customers are the Yorkin family, and they seem to have everything in the world. But when SY begins spying on the Yorkins, he begins to feel that he wants to be in the Yorkin's life. But SY discovers that the Yorkins are not as perfect as they seem and becomes a man on a mission to expose the imperfections of the Yorkin family at any cost.
Williams is excellent in the role of an obsessed, socially inept photo clerk. After all the roles as the "funny man" this was a big departure in many ways for him. The plot is nothing new or ground breaking, but it had just enough twists to keep me interested the entire way through. This is definitely a movie I could watch again.
December 1, 2003
The Ring (2 stars)
In The Ring, Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) is a young journalist with a divorced husband, Noah (Martin Henderson), and a son, Aidan (David Dorfman). Her niece was recently found dead with a look of pure shock embedded in her face as if something scared her to death. Upon learning that her niece's three friends died at the same time, too, and hearing about a disturbing videotape that is said to kill you seven days after watching it, Rachel comes into the possession of that same tape. Now, as time grows short, Rachel and Noah race to save their lives from impending doom and discover what the tape has to do with a tragedy-stricken horse ranch and a very strange little girl named Samara (Daveigh Chase).
I rented this movie because it had gotten so much press attention as a great horror movie. I wasn't overly impressed, and the ending (like so many movies these days) left the possibility of a sequel open. Rent it if you're curious, over wise I'd say stay away.
Life is Beautiful (4 stars)
Life is Beautiful won an Oscar for Roberto Benigni and it was well deserved. The film starts in the 1930s when Guido (Benigni) relocates from the country to a large Tuscan town where he falls in love with schoolteacher Dora. She is already engaged to another guy, but Guido stills fights for her. The story continues 5 years later, during wartime, Guido is married to Dora and they have a son called Giosue. Guido is of Jewish origin, and he is sent to a concentration camp with Giosue and Dora follows them, only to be sent to another camp. Throughout the movie, Guido uses his humor to cope with the ills that are brought upon him and his family. He keeps Giosue's spirits up in the camp by telling him that it's all a game and that winner wins a tank, all the while people are dying around them.
This by no means a happy ending kind of movie. If you're a bit more emotional, be prepared for a bit of a tear jerker. The movie is in Italian, but I believe the DVD had an English soundtrack (I prefer to watch with subtitles). If you're in the mood for a moving drama, then this would be a good choice.
