APOCALYPTO (2006)

FILMS FROM THE 21st CENTURY

(Post 40 of 50)

Some quick takes on the most relatively recent listings from the
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list

You got to give Mel Gibson some credit, he does make an exciting adventure film here about a culture we don't often see depicted in American films (except maybe in reference to the white man coming) and using the Mayan language no less! I do admit all the booby traps set by the hero of the film to thwart his pursuers did make me think we were seeing a more deadly and Mayan version of Home Alone, but there you have it. 

PARADISE NOW (2005, PALESTINE)

FILMS FROM THE 21st CENTURY

(Post 39 of 50)

Some quick takes on the most relatively recent listings from the
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list

The way you view Paradise Now may depend on the political perch upon which you sit. From the pro-Palestian perspective (and the filmmaker's perspective) the two young men recruited to go on a suicide bomber mission are doing their duty. The Palestinians are outgunned and oppressed by Israel and certainly don't have anything reassembling an Air Force like Israel, which the Israelis use to persecute the Palestinians around the clock. Even more so, one of the men talks about how Israel not only oppresses, but cleverly uses public opinion to make it seem that Israel is the country that is oppressed, or victims of aggression from the Palestinian state.

However, the other side of this controversial coin is offered up in the article linked below by Irit Linor from Israel Culture. The author of this article condemns Paradise Now for basically being a propaganda piece featuring two nice-looking Palestinians and sanitizes or excuses most Palestinian blame for violence any chance it gets.  Also, noted is the lack of visual violence in the film which makes the actions of the bombers seem almost peaceful when they carry out their missions.

No matter what your point of view is, the implications brought out in Paradise Now is a lot to take in. See the movie, but see it with an open mind. 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3212503,00.html

CRASH (2005)

FILMS FROM THE 21st CENTURY

(Post 38 of 50)

Some quick takes on the most relatively recent listings from the
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list

In terms of Oscar history, Crash is noted as the film that the academy quickly shoveled the Best Picture award to so they wouldn't have to give it to the gay-themed Western, Brokeback Mountain. That's kind of an unfortunate way to think of it, because though I don't think it should have taken home Best Picture, I think Crash is a film that is very well put together and has a real perspective about race relations, human interactions and how we deal with others in general-even if we have to occasionally crash into them just to get their attention.
 

My choice might have been The Constant Gardner for Best Picture for that year, a film which wasn't even nominated!

GANGS OF NEW YORK (2002)

FILMS FROM THE 21st CENTURY

(Post 37 of 50)

Some quick takes on the most relatively recent listings from the
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list

Most of what I knew about the New York draft riots that took place during the Civil War, I learned about through Ken Burns' mini-series on the topic. So what could Martin Scorsese add to that mix in a somewhat fictionalized account of that time? A lot as it turns out, as Gangs of New York is a very impressive and brutal American historical testament. You've got to give it to this film for the recreation of the time (though it's a long film, as Scorsese's films tend to be) and also from the casting of Daniel-Day Lewis, who as the horrifying Bill the Butcher is as good here as he is in any of his Oscar-winning roles.