Two new reviews. Pardon the legnth but they're taken from my movie review section I do on MySpace.
Review: The Brothers Grimm
Terry Gilliam is just about my favorite director. I've been following the production of this movie, as well as another of his which is already in post-production (Tideland), for a long time now. I recall early-production photo releases, ever-changing slated release dates, and my excitement when the poster was first released. When it finally approached release date, I was confused to see it getting bad critic reviews. I didn't see the movie when it first came out, so I also encountered bad reviews by people on forums I frequent (this is you TFP'ers!), as well as from some real-life friends. Complaints included jumbly story lines, excessive hollywood-ness, etc. I never got my hopes down though and assumed that even if the story and screen play sucked that I'd still recieve a visual treat from Gilliam no matter what. Anyhow, what's to expect ? Almost all of my favorite movies (aka my favorite Gilliam movies) have largely been considered financial flops.
All in all I really enjoyed the movie. I kept on feeling my imagination stirring, similar to the way fairy tales affect youthful minds (the grimm brother's wrote many original fairy tales). This what I expect from Gilliam, and this film proves he's still good at it. My only choice is to ask haters of this film "where's your imagination?" I didn't see subliminal Coca-Cola ads, the main female character wasn't an advertized Scarlet Johansen, nothing was dumbed-down for the general Amerkian public, and everything seemed pretty true to the era. The film was simply about the *film* instead of the money bringer-inners (call ledger and damon what ever you want, I loved their acting). I'm sure any true Gilliam fan will enjoy the film as it's a swirling carnival of goofy actors, goofy situations, and awesome art direction. I mean c'mon, how perfect does this lineup sound? Matt Damon plays a selfish smartass, Heath Ledger is a slow-thinking romantic third wheel, Jonathan Pryce a jaded Nepolianic French leader, and Peter Stormare as Pryce's deranged second-hand man(the German nihilist from The Big Lebowski).
-3/4 stars-
very mild Spoiler:
Two things that were Gilliam dead giveaways (both of which I loved) were the "high-tech" stethoscope Damon uses and the Pryce scene with the huge elegant dining hall that turns out to be just a small group of guests surrounded by mirrors.
For more Gilliam info:
http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/
And a site/magazine with movie reviews I frequently agree with:
http://www.premiere.com/
Review: My Architect
I was recommended this film by a cool guy I recently befriended who's really into industrial design. Anyhow, I stumbled upon it at Blockbuster and had to check it out.
In short, it's a documentary about Louis Kahn, a famous architect of the 1900's. The film is directed by Nethaniel Kahn, Louis' son, and it stars himself. Throught the movie, he traces his father's life, which included three different wives/families whom he disregarded due to extreme focus on his work. Nethaniel never really knew Louis as he died a mysterious death when he was eleven, so the film basically plays off his emotions as he pieces together who his father was through first time interviews of people he worked or had families with.
I don't think I could decide how many stars to give it because the star system is usually in comparison with other films, mostly being "movies." I'll just say that I recommend it to anyone interested in architecture, design, or even family values. It goes into nice detail of how radical Louis was about his work and his complete ignorance to how much he was affecting the loved ones around him.