I've seen some real stinkers lately and I'm desperate for something that doesn't make me feel like I've just wasted my money. What movies have you seen lately that you liked? What did you hate? Give me some recommendations or feel free to disagree with me and tell me where to stuff my bad taste

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

Answers

I have to admit "Gladiator" is about the best I've seen lately (in fact I've seen it three times...shhh..don't tell anyone).

I am a little embarrassed to admit that I actually liked "Shanghai Noon" in that weird, leave-your-brain-at-the-door, kind of way.

Other than that, bombs away...

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

Actually, I just wrote about this...So here's part of that entry.

...Thinking about it, though, I think that some of the best movies that have ever been made are small, semi-independant, film noir- esque, kind of dark films. Admittedly, most people in the states have probably never seen or heard of them, and they can be a bitch to find, but...

I should also point out that no matter what anyone says, I hated Run, Lola, Run. Hated it. I seriously think that it was one of the most overrated movies that I've ever seen, right up there with the Blair Witch Project. Great movies...Ponette was a great movie. It's in French with English subtitles and is about a child whose parents die and the effects of their deaths on her. The entire thing is done from a child's perspective. It floors me. I fucking sob every time that I watch it because it just amazes me. The little girl in the title role is adorable and beautiful and incredible. That's a great movie. ((Not fuckin' Run Lola Run)) The Revenge of the Children is a great movie. ((It's actually a French title, but I don't recall what it is. Someone smart translate?)) About a bunch of kids in an orphanage that's harboring Jews during World War II. Amazing. Welcome to the Dollhouse is everyone's childhood. Is parts of my childhood at it's most awkward. That someone could take the worst parts of many childhoods and make it into a palatable film astonishes me. Another incredible film was Dangerous Beauty, which Matt still has my copy of. Venice during the "Holy Inqusition", from the view of a prostitute. Amazing.

In the somewhat more mainstream films...The Crow, of course, always amazes me. The way that they did the "crow vision" and the flashbacks is really impressive - The shifts in perspective and time frame are so smooth and so well executed that the whole thing just gives me chills. The way that the rape scenes are portrayed from Shelly ((the victim))'s perspective is so eerie and so effective that I cringe when I see it. Also, Empire Records is just so fucking well done that it falls into the category of "great movies". It's not meaningful. It's not deep. But it's funny as hell, it spoofs pop culture, and it's got a great soundtrack. There are characters that have actual facets to their personality. Fucking awesome. And, I suppose that now that I've seen it, I have to put Forrest Gump in here. Again, that movie just knocked me on my ass. I don't really even know why - I've only seen it the one time, not really enough to look at it too deeply and catch all the nuances - but it did.

For my money, if you're going to see films in the theaters, see them at art houses or something. If you caught Sofia Copella's ((sp?)) The Virgin Suicides you'd know what I mean. Even though you know that they're going to die, the movie engrosses you in the ethereal way that it portrays time and the elapse of it - It catches you in the foibles of the characters. That's something that is missing all too often in mainstream movies.

I'm not big on movies that leave you all warm and fuzzy at the end. Life isn't warm and fuzzy, and I'd rather that most movies be closer to life than to fantasy. ((Empire Records is the exception. That's like the cotton candy of my movie watching. There's no substance to it, and it's almost unbearably sweet, and a lot of people can't stand it. Tough shit.)) I like being slightly unbalanced by movies. Sleepers was good at that, especially with the portrayls of the children and their experiences in the ward. ((I'm trying not to put any spoilers in here in case anyone's going to go out and rent this stuff on my reccomendation...Yeah, right. I flatter myself.)) I liked the movie Kids because of the incredible imbalance that it left in you when it was over. The ability to leave a movie unresolved is, in my mind, one of the greatest skills that a filmmaker or a writer can have. ((Then they just have to resist making a sequel.))

-Meghan

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

I loved Girl Interrupted, which is the last movie I saw in the cinema, I think. Was probably ages since it was even playing in the States and wherever else, though. My all time favourite is Pulp Fiction, though.

-- Anonymous, June 06, 2000

Have you seen American Beauty? I have two words for you...Kevin Spacey. I'm done.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 2000

I loved American Beauty too, Ditto on Spacey! Only a few more recent films have impressed me a lot, including Memento, AI, Mulholland Drive, Being John Malkovich, and O Brother Where Art Thou. Some of my favorite films of all time are Raising Arizona, The Crying Game, The Wizard of Oz, and Young Frankenstein. My guiltiest pleasure was The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with an audience, but my obsession with that film has moderated over the years. The movies that critics and other people like that I don't include Rushmore, Scent Of A Women, Gone With The Wind, and Damage. The worst movie I've ever seen was probably Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2002