Sicko (2007)

Chances are you already have an opinion on Michael Moore. Personally, I miss the happy-go-lucky, less agenda driven satirical truths of his TV Nation days, and while I find many points and politics in his presentations and documentaries that I agree with, more often than not the frequently dishonest methods he uses behind the scenes simply turn me off. With that out of the way, Sicko might be the finest piece of work Moore has done since the early 90s. Gone are the mixed messages of Bowling for Columbine and the blunt force trauma smear campaign of Fahrenheit 9/11. Here it's replaced with smooth and very entertaining storytelling that, while certainly slanted to a specific world view and advocating a specific issue (in this case, government run health care), is nevertheless an interesting examination into an argument that is sure to piss you off in a productive way. And it's not as politically charged as one would guess, either. He throws darts at both sides of the aisle; in the middle of taking down one right-winger after another, he saves the hardest hit for Hillary Clinton! But really it's all about the human stories in all of this, and whether fabricated or not (the lack of outrage in this department makes me side with “true”), what's here is effective and at times heartbreaking. Even his big stunt at the end comes off as a far more involving and soulful than expected, though still too saccharine. If you have an opinion on Moore, you already know if you're going to see this film or not. But for those of you who are neutral, or who just miss what he used to do before he became a his own punchline, Sicko may just surprise you, and may make you ask some good questions.

9 out of 10.

Beowulf (2007)

Once I got over this not being an adaptation of the classic poem, but rather an imagined “real” story that would inspire the classic bit of lit, enjoying this film became much easier. Otherwise, it was pretty much what you'd expect it to be: an ultra-macho guy fantasy tale of larger than life heroes and the demons that torment them. Hey, it worked for 300. What sets it apart are it's literary origins, and that it's an animated CG film. While it maintains a loose grip on it's source, Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery's script does a decent job of presenting a well fleshed out version of the tale. It has all the major plot points, characters, and items in one form or another. As to the animation and acting, it's a mixed bag. Trying to maintain a high level of realistic visual fidelity lands the entire movie deep in the uncanny valley, where things look close enough to real to feel distractingly fake. It's a step forward for the film making style, but still very far from perfect. The actors all did motion-capture to give their performances nuance and detail, but as good as Anthony Hopkins' Hrothgar, Ray Winstone's Beowulf, and especially the very nude Angelina Jolie look in the film, some characters just look wrong, most notably Robin Wright Penn's Queen Wealthow. Meanwhile the action and sets all look great, particularly the massive finale, which might be the best action scene of the year. The end result of all this is a film that's difficult to define, but extremely interesting to look at. It's not the poem it's based on, and the animation is both disturbing and beautiful at the same time, but as a whole there's enough good here to warrant the price of admission.

7 out of 10.

Note: If you can catch the film in 3D, do so. While it contains more than a few instances of obvious 3D silliness (swords and arrows flying at the audience, foreground fire and snow, etc), the film's finale is made all the more spectacular by seeing the action swoop all around the audience.

Into the Wild (2007)

Alternating between being an purposeful and thought provoking meditation on society's many ills, and being agenda driven snobbish tripe, this is a movie that's extremely difficult to love, but easy to admire. It's clear that a lot of passion and dedication went into the making of this film, but despite its real-life trappings, much of it comes off as a bit too idealistic. Director Sean Penn paints his scenery and characters in fairly clear black and white: Nature and hippies = Good. Cities and people with jobs = Bad. This is absolutely backed up by the score by Eddie Vedder, with folk tunes about wilderness and the supposed joys of being penniless. There's certainly merit to the thinking, but as it's portrayed here it comes off as too simplistic. On the other hand, Emile Hirsch puts on an amazing performance as the brash, and very real, Christopher McCandless. Likewise, the location scouts did an outstanding job of finding gorgeous locales to set the film in. While the central conceits of the film are a bit too basic, the excellent settings and great acting make this an interesting example of what happens when idealism crashes head-on with reality.

7 out of 10.

In July (2000)

Also known as Im Juli.
What to make of this strange little road trip flick. It's not perfect by any means, but it still a very enjoyable way to kill 90 minutes. Basically you've got your sort-of Oscar Wilde tangle of misplaced affection, a quasi-cross-continent road trip in which shenanigans ensue, and an almost heartwarming story of looking for love in many of the wrong places. Along the way you see a bit of somewhat nice scenery, and nearly a few lessons in both German and Turkish (Gurkish?). What doesn't work so well is an intentionally, but perhaps overly misleading story, and a generally miscast lead. Maybe it's my dumb-American sensibilities, but the lead male just never looked the part throughout the whole film. At least the acting is decent, if a bit overt. The road trip movie is well past its heyday, but a few gems peek through from time to time. In July is hardly a great film, but it serves very well to show the sweet and fun side of the genre.

7 out of 10.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Also known as El Laberinto del fauno.
Guillermo del Toro said that crafting and directing this movie nearly killed him. Had he died to make this, it still could not have been a better film. Beautiful, thrilling, mysterious, uplifting, dark, haunting, depressing, and exhilarating, Pan's Labyrinth is as close to perfection as it could ever hope to be. At it's heart, it most resembles the original fairy tales, before they were edited for modern consumption, where evil and scary things happen, and the answer is always more involved than a simple moral, and where the endings weren't always wrapped in a neat package. This is an adult fairy tale, crafted with style and brutality, with sympathy and grace, and with the knowledge that sometimes what seems best isn't always what's right. This is the kind of story that sticks with you, that frightens you, and brings back bittersweet memories for the kid in all of us who sees a world of infinite, and sometimes terrifying possibility. You simply cannot ask for a better way to spend two hours.

10 out of 10.

Fido (2007)

Ladies and gentlemen, the first Zombie Satire! This is just a great idea done right. Take 1950s industrial enthusiasm, mix in domesticated undead, squeeze in some excellent script work that takes full advantage of a ludicrous concept, and pepper with just a dash of blood and guts. The result is delightfully twisted, frequently hilarious, and even just a little bit touching in a morbid sort of way. The deadpan (no pun intended) humor is spot on, while the acting takes full advantage of the very quirky nature of both the era and the concept, particularly Carrie-Ann Moss as the socially conscious mother and Billy Connolly as titular zom-pet Fido. If anything works against the film, it would be it's generally middle budget trappings. Some big ideas are tossed about but are either poorly realized or not shown at all. Still, that's no reason to bite into this great little flick about a boy's love for his reanimated best friend.

8 out of 10.

The Lives of Others (2006)

Also known as Das Leben der Anderen.
Deeply melancholy, darkly methodical, and effortlessly compelling, this slice of German film craft is a beautiful piece of sympathetic cinema. It's got almost all of the earmarks of a good paranoia spy thriller and political commentary, in this case being critical of 1984 East Germany's policy of radically extensive surveillance of its citizens in order to ferret out dissidents. What unfolds is a brutally slow-paced, but remarkably interesting interplay between a government spy and his completely unwitting target. It works extremely well, in a kind of polite One Hour Photo sort of way. While its painstaking pace can make it at times a chore to follow, the end result is stoically touching, satisfying, remarkably topical, and well worth sinking in to.

8 out of 10.

The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

Also known as Diarios de motocicleta.
Che Guevara has become a symbol of rebellion of late, but few people born after his death seem to know who he was. With Motorcycle Diaries, we get a glimpse into the man behind the ever-present t-shirt, and into the boy before the revolution. There's very little of the revolutionary here, merely the true story of Che's trip through South America with his good friend Alberto Grenado. Quiet, contemplative, and filled with character moments, Gael Garcia Bernal's portrayal of Che is both introspective and layered, playing a man who slowly gives up his boyhood to take on his mantle of responsibility, while Rodrigo De la Serna's take on Alberto is an exceptional foil to Che's burgeoning self. While it has almost none of what would make Che Guevara infamous in his final years, what's painted here is easy to interpret as the genesis of all leaders, for better or worse. Che eventually became an enemy and target of the United States, and perhaps that is a more interesting story, but the tale of the boy before the man is just as worthwhile.

9 out of 10.