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About A Boy
****
Good, feel-good film version of Nick Hornby's book with
some minor changes from the original printed version. The boy is excellent but Hugh Grant is not convincing for me as the
30 something, selfish but sensitive protagonist - he is too set in my mind as the typecast, foppish Englishman to
be convincing as a different type of character. A very good rather than outstanding funny, heart-warming film with excellent
music by Badly Drawn Boy.
Released - 2002
Seen by me: 23.5.02 (with James)
About Schmidt
****1/2
One of the vagaries of being a new parent is that
you are unlikely to see a film all the way through in one sitting. With the slightly
archaic help of our trusted video, we saw About Schmidt over two evenings and it felt rather like a film of two halves with
the first part excellent and second a tad disappointing.
About Schmidt is about Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson), an insurance
executive who is retired to make way for a younger man then loses his not-particularly-loved wife very suddenly. Alone and lonely, Schmidt muses about what little he has ultimately achieved in life in a series of letters
to an African boy he sponsored one bored afternoon after watching an appeal for aid.
He then goes on a road journey of sorts, checking out places from his past en route to his daughter’s wedding
to the well-meaning but not terribly bright Randall (Dermot Mulrooney) an event he is hoping to persuade her to call off.
All of this is done with a mixture of melancholy and humour in another superb performance by Nicholson who specialises in
playing the lecherous but likeable older man these days.
About Schmidt looks set to become a funny but deeply thought provoking
classic but is somewhat let down by the flatter scenes once Schmidt arrives at Denver for the wedding despite some excellent
support acting in a spirited performance by Kathy Bates as Randall’s sexually voracious mother. Maybe these comments are a bit harsh and I need to see the film in one sitting next time! On the whole though, About Schmidt is an excellent, introspective picture with some strong characters and
fine performances - however many sittings it takes to see it!
Released: 2003
Seen
by me: 31.3-2.4.07 (with Naomi)
Adaptation
***¾
Complex, thought provoking film within a film starring Meryl Streep and Nicholas Cage
as an insecure script writer suffering from writer's block. Possibly a bit too clever for its own good for a single viewing,
Adaptation is still intriguing and well worth seeing.
Released - 2003
Seen by me: 11.5.03 (with Naomi)
A.I. Artificial
Intelligence
***1/2
Strange sci-fi adventure directed by Steven Spielberg about
an artificially created boy who is “bought” by a couple whose own son has an incurable disease. A cure is found and the real son is returned only for him to get steadily jealous of his android “brother”
who is eventually abandoned at the grounds of the cyber-company who created him.
A.I.
Artificial Intelligence is a weird not very cohesive film which has some echoes of the great (and also not totally cohesive)
2001. Despite this looseness it is worth seeing.
An interesting, thought-provoking film.
Released: 2001
Seen by me: 18.3.06 (with Naomi)
Almost Famous
****
A film by Cameron Crowe borne from his personal experiences
as a teenage music journalist touring with Led Zeppelin in the early 70s. Shows the highs and lows of touring with a band
in those hedonistic times as well as the rather tragic hangers on and groupies around the band. A good film with some more
emotional subplots and a fantastic soundtrack - Neil Young, Black Sabbath and many others including a superb scene around
Elton John's Tiny Dancer.
Released - 2000
Seen by me: 30.11.03 (with Naomi)
Amelie
***1/2
Cleverly made intricate film about a modern day Good Samaritan
- a young lady who goes out of her way to engineer situations to bring others happiness. But can she bring true love and happiness
to her own life? The characters in Amelie are archetypal French - i.e. the romanticised ways in which we like to see the French.
Although Amelie's schemes are charming, playful and whimsical, they can easily be seen as weird and disturbing in another
context - as can the various oddballs she tries to help. Nevertheless, it's a life affirming and charming film which is very
innovatively put together -almost like a series of mini newspaper cartoon strips. An excellent film.
Released - 2001
Seen
by me: 25.12.03 (with Mum) and 25-30.3.07 (with Naomi)
Annie Hall
*1/2
I was a Woody Allen fan, especially
in my early 20s and really enjoyed his excellent return to form with Midnight In Paris from a few years ago. So, I was looking
forward to seeing his award-winning Annie Hall again but, oh dear, how the film (and maybe me, too) have dated.
Whilst I used to enjoy and partly
relate to Allen's usual nervy, neurotic film persona in the past, now I just found him and his pseudo-intellectual co-parts
annoying and tiresome. Although Annie Hall's jumping forwards and backwards in time was clever at the time of release, I can't
really see now how the film and its performances warrant the acclaim they still receive. Maybe it's because it's something
of an urbane New York 70s period piece though I'm afraid I just found it dated and quite excruciating at times.
Seen by me: 16.8.13
Around The World
In 80 Days
****
A surprisingly good, over-the-top adventure
comedy, Around The World In 80 Days stars Steve Cogan as Phileas Fogg, the eccentric inventor set an impossible challenge
and Jackie Chan as his valet Passepartout. Despite being largely panned by the critics I think it’s
an excellent farcical film with some imaginative new twists added to Jules Verne’s novel. The two
leads are excellent and well cast - Coogan epitomises the nerdy inventor and Chan’s martial arts and fighting sequences
are simply astounding. Further over-the-top hamming by the support cast makes Around The World In 80 Days
into a glorious, farcical, comic adventure.
Released – 2004
Seen
by me: 24.10.04 (with Naomi)
As Good As It Gets
***1/2
Romantic comedy starring Jack Nicholson,
Helen Hunt and Greg Kinnear in which Nicholson and Hunt won Oscars for the best male and female lead actors. Nicholson plays Melvin an unpleasant, bigoted romantic novelist who lives alone and has an obsessive cleanliness
disorders whereas Hunt plays Carol, a single-mother waitress at his local diner who is about the only person who tolerates
him. Kinnear plays Simon, a gay painter and Melvin’s long-suffering next
door neighbour. Simon is horrendously attacked and crippled and is forced to
ask his neighbour’s help resulting in a car journey across the US for these three unlikely cohorts which changes their
lives. As Good As It Gets has some good moments and performances though the final
romance is a bit too difficult to conceive. Worth seeing though not quite as
good as its awards imply.
Released: 1998
Seen by me: 7.4.05 (with Naomi)
Austin Powers: The Shy Who Shagged Me
***¾
Second
film made by and starring Mike Myers as the cool but nerdy swinging 60s spy. A clever, funny and highly entertaining James
Bond spoof with modern, subtle humour and some good music. I wish guys like Austin really attracted all the pretty girls!!
Released
- 1999
Seen by me: 9.2.03
Aviator, The
***
Interesting
yet frustrating biopic of the mentally unstable inventor and film-maker Howard Hughes starring Leonardo Di Caprio. The Aviator is frustrating in that it doesn’t cover all of Hughes’ life (just from adulthood
to his second and final mental breakdown from which he never fully recovered) and, in particular, that it doesn’t deserve
the plaudits it’s received. Making a film three hours long doesn’t
necessarily make it an epic classic – in this case it’s overlong and at times, poorly focussed. Probably the reason why The Aviator has been so over-praised is that it’s directed by Martin Scorcese
who has (undeservedly) never won an Oscar - predictably it received a raft of nominations for the 2005 ceremony, ahead of
more deserving nominees, but came back with very little.
Having said this, The Aviator is not a bad film – it is
thought provoking and provides an insight into the complex personality of the obsessed Hughes who is superbly played by Di
Caprio. It’s just frustrating that it’s over-rated and could have
been so much better.
Released – 2004
Seen by me: 29.1.05 (with Naomi)
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