movie night history 2004

Good Bye Lenin!

The movie starts in East Germany before the fall of communism; our hero, Alex (Daniel Bruhl), describes how his mother (Katrin Sass), a true believer in the communist cause, has a heart attack when she sees him being clubbed by police at a protest. She falls into a coma for eight months--during which the Berlin Wall comes down. When she awakens, her fragile health must avoid any shocks, so Alex creates an illusive reality around his bedridden mother to convince her that communism is still alive. Good bye, Lenin! delicately balances wry satire with its rich investment in the lives of Alex, his mother, and other characters around them. Funny, moving, and highly recommended.

German with English subtitles.

Elephant

Ebert: "I want the audience to make its own observations and draw its own conclusions," Van Sant said at Cannes. Of course a movie about a tragedy that does not explain the tragedy -- that provides no personal of social "reasons" and offers no "solutions" -- is almost against the law in the American entertainment industry. When it comes to tragedy, Hollywood is in the catharsis business.

I loved the long shots with the cameras following people through the school. I loved the emotions and details delivered so skillfully without the crutch of too much dialogue. I was, however, shockingly bothered, by the film basically taking the Columbine story, changing almost nothing, but making the boys gay. How is that "making it's own observations and drawing it's own conclusions"? Why have I not seen anything else about that elsewhere? It made me dislike this really well made film.

Mulholland Drive	September 1st	Ebert review	movie trailer
I'll read a list of clues before the movie starts, and then read the salon.com explaination of the movie afterwards, for those that feel like sticking around. "This movie doesn't feel incomplete because it could never be complete--closure is not a goal." "If you require logic, see something else." "The movie is a surrealist dreamscape in the form of a Hollywood film noir, and the less sense it makes, the more we can't stop watching it." Salon.com has an excellent, and very thorough FAQ on Mulholland Drive. Flak magazine has put out "the audio commentary that you wish the DVD had".

Swimming Pool	August 25th	Ebert review	movie trailer
A sexual thriller from the U.K. It takes an unexpected turn at the end, that is pretty amazing if you don't expect it. The problem is that I knew about it, and was dissapointed when I finally saw all that it was.

Bubba Ho-Tep	August 18th	Ebert review	movie trailer
A retired Elvis, and JFK (they didn't really die!) are roommates in a nursing home, and all is normal. But... An Egyptian mummy begins sucking the souls of the aged, and it's up to our two heros to take care of the situation. I ended up enjoying it, despite several warnings from friends that it wasn't that great.

Outfoxed	August 11th	NY Times review	movie trailer
Outfoxed examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news. This film provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public's right to know.

Happiness of the Katakuris	August 4th	review
A Japanese family starts a guest-house on the top of a hill but it seems to be jinxed -- all the guests who visit them have an unfortunate habit of dying. Dead bodies not being the best thing for business, the family has to come up with a creative way to hide the corposes. They choose to do this while singing along the mountains. The predicament is funny itself. But the story telling is uniquely impressive as it effortlessly switches between melancholy romance, adventure, horror, mystery, singing, dancing, flying, some interesting claymation with weird creatures, crooks impersonating members of the british royal family, and even a volcano. It's like watching several different threads of the movie simultaneously, but somehow Miike holds it all together.

Rabbit-Proof Fence	July 28th	Roger Ebert review	movie trailer
Everyone that's seen this, tells me it's really moving. It's the story (based on true stories) of three girls escaping horrible racial programs that Austrailia practiced til 1970!

Pecker	July 21st	Roger Ebert review	movie trailer
My favorite John Waters movie! The outline of the story is made just like a Brady Bunch episode, or any opther 70's family TV show. I usually love roger ebert's reviews, but he doesn't like this one, and i'll have to disagree, and I, of course, am obiously right.

Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control	July 14th	Roger Ebert review	movie trailer
Erol Morris weaves four people's stories of their life's passion together in an amazing way. It reminds me of music.

Shakes the Clown	July 7th	Roger Ebert review	short video excerpt
The "Citizen Kane" of alcoholic clown movies... or so the back says. I don't think that i've ever seen reviews be so accurate. They all said that this movie had a lot of potential, but really just sucked. I think that that sums it up. The Boston Globe

June 30th - cancelled

Sex and Lucia	June 23rd	Roger Ebert review	movie trailer
A novelist is writing a new novel about a former lover, after having met a new lover. The lines between the novel and reality blur. I've seen it four times now, and am still having trouble understanding some parts.

One Hour Photo	June 15th	Roger Ebert review	movie trailer
A sterile, white, suburban environment with a very normal guy working at the photo stand. Or so it seems on the surface...

Secretary	June 9th	Roger Ebert review	movie trailer
A very honest look at a complex BDSM relationship between a male lawyer and his female secretary. Quirky, but very real characters are what make this movie so good, especially when dealing with a topic that's so difficult to approach.

Wild Style	June 2nd	Onion A.V. Club review DVDtalk review	official website
The first Hip-Hop movie ever. Guess where the Beastie Boys sampled "I hear she's been givin' that stuff out to all them graffiti guys" and "Shut the fuck up, chico man."?

Punch Drunk Love	May 26	Roger Ebert review	view trailer
What a fucking nut! I'm not an adam sandler fan at all, and i absolutely loved this movie! That's that!

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