greg willis

What with the football and our trip, we didn't run through all that many movies in the second half of last year. (Oh, and I know that this post is about a month behind, so lets not talk about that any more.)

And what movies we did see, not that much thrilled me. But a Top 5 is a top 5, so lets pick

1. Elizabeth I: Disc 1 (2-Disc Series) - Easily the best rental over the last half of aught-six. Helen Mirren is amazing, the production values are high, and the plot is (for the most part) historically accurate. Recommended.
2. Cronos - Another film by Guillermo del Toro (he's the Pan's Labyrinth director). Seems we've taken a liking to his stuff. This film is like a cross between the werewolf myth (an unfortunate accident that afflicts even the pure of heart) and the vampire myth (need blood to live, not keen on sunlight). The film doesn't quite hang together in the end, but it's diverting enough and a clever take on the monster genre.
3. An Inconvenient Truth - Yes, it is a PowerPoint presentation. (Actually a way cooler Keynote presentation, Apple, donchaknow.) And yes it's Al Gore. But it's well done and interestingly paced. Oh, then there's that part of it that's true.
4. Night of the Living Dead - It's just kinda weird that every zombie movie is just a remake of the first one. And they are never about the zombies, always about the group of people trying to survive. No distractions from the action -- efficient and unrelenting.
5. The Wicker Man - Didn't see the remake, but this original 60's Hammer film has got weird in spades. Not your usual Hammer production -- what with the musical numbers and the psychological plotting. They don't quite pull it off at the end, but they were aiming high. Worth a late-night viewing.

Other decent flix:

• Syriana - Even now it's kind of a blur, but a good kind of blur. Pair it with An Inconvenient Truth for an evening of paranoid conspiracy theorizing.
• The Matador - Worth it to see Pierce Brosnan play totally against type.

Full listing below the fold.

It's a rare movie we actually see in the theater. Mostly, it's that wonder of the modern world, Netflix. In posts previous I've listed what we've seen and included a pithy comment on each. Not only is that a lot of pithy writing, I don't think slogging through an unordered list o' crap makes for particularly compelling reading.

So here's the new format, just the top 5.

1. The Devil's Backbone - From Guillermo del Toro, the director of Hellboy, this very satisfying film has a ghost, but it's not a ghost story. It's set in the Spanish civil war, but it's not a war movie. The unique setting and beautiful cimematography complement the memorable story.
2. Bleak House - I never made it through this Dickens novel, but the BBC production is top notch. Well cast, well acted, well adapted. I'd've read the novel if it moved along as swiftly as this DVD.
3. Shaun of the Dead - The name says it all, and it lives up to it. Zombies and funny. Much better film than I'd expected.
4. Grizzly Man - Werner Hertzog's documentary of Timothy Treadwell who lived with, and got killed by, bears in Alaska. Even though Herzog's attitude towards nature in general and bears in particular stands antithetical to Treadwell's, the film shows a balance in it's depiction. As compelling as a train wreck.
5. The Abominable Snowman - I love me some B movies. This is an old black-and-white Hammer film starring Peter Cushing (who is remarkably & comsistently good). Better production & direction than you'd think.

Other cinema goodness (in no particular order):

• Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle - Nothing like well-done stupid.
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - Subversive western.
• The Thing From Another World - There may not be another movie with snappier dialog and better pacing.
• My Left Eye Sees Ghosts - Surprizingly affective Hong Kong film.
• Bad Santa - Nothing like well-done offensiveness.
• Greg the Bunny: Disc 1 - This series is a masters class in how to kill a great show. In the first disc, the show is a sparkling & funny take on the conceit "What if the puppets on the Muppet Show were real." Seth Green and Eugene Levy are the humans, but the puppets steal the laughs. Until the focus-groups, that is. Disc 2 is remarkable only to see how they screwed it up.

Full listing below the fold.

To rent or not to rent, that’s what this list is about.

• Chappelle’s Show: Season 1: Disc 1—sidesplittingly funny
• The City Of Lost Children—wierd, French wierd
• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen—wierd, but not as wierd as Lost Children
• Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter—Hammer studios bad 70’s horror—wondrous