Netflix Roundup #2

Just a small one this time... Sadly, I've had little time for movies the last month or so... also, what Netflix has sent me has been a string of somewhat depressing films that I've wanted to see, but never quite been in the mood for - to that end, Ray has been sitting on my desk since mid-December. Maybe that'll be tonight... anyway, like I said, not a big list this time. Again, based on the 5-star system, and the titles will jump you to Amazon.

City of God: * * * *
As far as I am concerned, this should be the poster child for foreign films in America. The most common complaint is that the language barrier is too jarring, and keeps people from becoming engaged in the film. That isn't at all an issue for this film. Across the board, this is a very unconventional film (as I write this, I am reading the trivia section on IMDB.com, and it's making me appreciate the film even more). Very few of the actors were professionals, and many of them came from the slums around Rio de Janeiro, some even from the City of God. This is, for all intents and purposes, an American mobster movie, but it gets a very nasty edge to it because these are children. There are a number of sequences that are unscripted or improvised because these kids told the director that this is what life was like, and he felt a need to include that. The film is compelling enough as a story, but carries so much more weight with the knowledge that some of this really happens, and only the kids involved could ever have introduced that.

Rushmore: * * * *
I didn't know what to expect at all for this one. This is about as quirky a movie as you can find, and that may very well turn some people away. But most of the characters aren't so quirky as to be annoying, which allows them to create some really fun relationships. Bill Murray was my standout, as Jason Schwartzman inched a little too close to the line for my liking. It's a great cast all-around, with a somewhat ridiculous, over-the-top backstory supporting them, but that's something that Wes Anderson has repeatedly shown he can handle well. He's still a bit unpolished here, but if you've been a fan of anything else he's released since, chances are you'll get a kick out of this.

The Reckoning: * * *
The concept of this really appealed to me - a medieval drama about a traveling theatre group, and the priest who falls in with them. Great idea, great cast, lackluster execution. Everyone pulls their own weight, with Willem Dafoe, Paul Bettany and Brian Cox shouldering more than others, but there's nothing terribly interesting about the script, which might be the reason this one never saw anything spectacular. It might serve as a nice hidden history lesson for theater or medieval enthusiasts, but nothing significant.

Raising Arizona: * * * *
Yeah, this was all kinds of fun. This is Coen Brothers craziness before they established the people they work with on every movie. As such, Nicholas Cage is fantastic in a role that no agent would ever allow him to take now. Admittedly, this is a little more frantic than most of the Coens' later films, but that energy works well with the plot - when you're stealing someone's baby, you may need a little bit of crazy energy. It seemed maybe a little long (even though it's not), probably because the idea was starting to wear thin on me, but the cast pulls it through and keeps it fun. Why John Goodman isn't a huge comedic force outside of the Coen efforts, I'll never understand. This may be another one that fans of the Coens will enjoy more than others, but I think it's worth a laugh from everyone.

The Recruit: * * *
So yes, I saw the end coming the minute the main characters stepped onscreen, but the journey to get there was kind of fun. It's movies like this - movies that I assume a studio picked for him - that make it no question why Colin Ferrell has become the star he has. He is a bright point in this otherwise formula and blah movie. Al Pachino is good as well, but does he really have to try to do these parts anymore? The twists are pretty standard, but I kind of feel like Ferrell's character is a little bit smarter than the average pawn in this sort of film, if only because he KNOWS he's getting jerked around from the very beginning, he's just not sure by who. It's fun once, if you can bookend it with something better.


Closer: * * * *
I'd been sitting on this one for quite awhile, never quite being in the mood to rent it. A shame. This is a lot of fun. The only downfall of this film is that the script comes almost directly from the playscript, and while it is modern enough to be easily transformed, there is still a very presentational style to some of the language. But that isn't enough to seriously hinder the film. The four leads are perfectly cast, and provide some great voyeuristic fun. Anything involving the two men (Clive Owen and Jude Law) is a lot of fun, as they play the animosity perfectly. As for the women, Natalie Portman is adorable (as if she's ever not), and Julia Roberts needs to take more parts like this. She's mean, she's bitchy, and she's actually realistic. At times, I actually forgot I was watching Julia Roberts, which is a difficult thing, considering her name. The actual relationships aren't believable, nor should they be - it leads to some fantastic fights, especially the final fight between Owen and Roberts. In fact, Owen's character is the one to watch in the film, though if I remember the trailers correctly, you'd never know it. It's also very well made, considering there are NO auxiliary characters. There are no more than ten lines of dialogue from anyone other than the four stars. That's hard to pull off. I would love to see this onstage, once the subtlety that film allows has been removed.

Comic Book: The Movie: * * *
This was in my queue for entirely geeky reasons: the Bruce Campbell appearance, and the morbid curiosity to see what happened to Mark Hamill's career. Not a pretty sight. The film is shot like a documentary, starring writer-director Hamill. It's kind of amusing, but it falls short because it's a little too much of the same thing. Someone talks about this Commander Courage character, Mark Hamill does something stupid, the studio gets angry, hilarity ensues. This is funny for a few rounds, but sooner or later you have to wonder why Hamill isn't getting the point. After that, it's just painful. The ComicCon stuff is interesting, just to see the huge variety and organization that go into such an ordeal. If you know about this movie, chances are there's a specific reason you want to see it. If this is the first you've heard of it, then you have no reason to pursue it beyond here.

That's all I've got so far. It's been a pretty lackluster month for movies, and I probably ought to be catching up on likely Oscar noms, but I'm kinda lacking funding as well. Hopefully things will pick up a bit in the coming month.