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. 

HERO (2002, CHINA)

FILMS FROM THE 21st CENTURY

(Post 36 of 50)

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

Hero is a film that is beautiful, colorful, philosophical, political, inspiring and filled with impressive action sequences. It was also one of the biggest non-English language film hits ever in the United States.

It seems obvious to compare Hero to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragaon, a film it shares many elements with. I must say on second viewing, I think I actually prefer Hero..though both would be on my 1001 watch list.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE (2004, ITALY)

FILMS FROM THE 21st CENTURY

(Post 35 of 50)

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

I really got drawn into this movie quickly. Well dressed Titta spends all his life hanging around a hotel seeming to do very little other than try not to form attachments. It reminded me of the Five Characters in Search of an Exit episode from The Twilight Zone. Maybe Titta has no idea where he is. Maybe he is in an alternate reality? Maybe he's in hell?

Nothing so outrageous as it turns out. I was actually disappointed when I found out why he was living the life he lived, but I eventually got into that story too. At least the more realistic part of my brain did. Alternate reality...how silly of me. 

LAST KING OF SCOTLAND (2006)

FILMS FROM THE 21st CENTURY

(Post 34 of 50)

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

I have a minor quibble with The Last King of Scotland, the story of the tyrannical reign of Idi Amin in Uganda and the young doctor who looked after him and became derisively know as Amin's "white monkey."

The quibble is, that although most of the facts of Amin's rule seem to be thoroughly researched, the fact that is missing is that there was NO white doctor that looked after Amin! It really isn't even an amalgam of other people, it's just an utter fabrication of a character.

But that isn't to say it isn't a good movie. It is and Forrest Whitaker is certainly imposing in his Oscar winning-role. James McAvoy is also quite good playing the fictional doctor.

And I do like the fact that the movie reaches it's dramatic conclusion during the raid on Entebbe, mixing fact with fiction effectively, I must admit. 

VOLVER (2006, SPAIN)

FILMS FROM THE 21st CENTURY

(Post 33 of 50)

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

All right, I admit it...I'm writing my opinions on Volver about three months after I saw it...What was it about again? Where's that Wikipedia article?

Oh, yeah! (I'm looking on Wikipedia) It's Penelope Cruz in that Almodovar film. Penelope Cruz and her sister and her aunt keep seeing Penelope's dead mother. Oh and oh, God! The part with her daughter and the step-father and the secrets and the hiding of the body and all that. And wasn't there a transsexual in there somewhere? There always seems to be a transsexual somewhere in Almodovar movies...and the affair and the fire...Yes, this one was pretty good. I just might want to take more notes next time.

Though my favorite Almodovar film is still The Skin I Live In.

COLLATERAL (2004)

FILMS FROM THE 21st CENTURY

(Post 32 of 50)

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

I've always liked the pace of  director Michael Mann's movies such as Heat and Thief and found I like Collateral as well for my first time viewing. Mann's movies have a lot of action, but they create characters that are real enough to care about, which isn't true in a lot of action movies for me.

Collateral is about a hit man played be Tom Cruise who hires an unsuspecting cabbie played by Jamie Foxx to take him to a hit. The viewer knows that the innocent Foxx is going to accidentally get drawn into the ruthless hitman's world, because if he dropped his fare off and just went home, you wouldn't have a movie.

But the cabbie does get involved in all sorts of wild hitman and crime stuff, and it is a bit far-fetched, but I liked the story overall and I'll give Cruise some credit for bringing a lot of bite to the hitman role. 

THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS (2003, FRANCE)

FILMS FROM THE 21st CENTURY

(Post 31 of 50)

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

I didn't know anything about The Barbarian Invasions going in, but glancing at he DVD cover below, I assumed it might be a clever romance. After viewing, all I can say is who the hell designed this cover? The core of the film is about a grouchy, philandering, liberal and dying professor and his relationship with his conservative, high finance son. The surprise of the story is that the son turns out to be a pretty good guy and does anything he can for his dying father, including scoring some heroin to ease the pain of his dying father. Many moving scenes here, but The Barbarian Invasions is filled intelligence too.

And the romance depicted in the picture? The heroin dealer the son hooks up with (hooks up with drugwise) wants to hook up with him in other ways, but he is too nice a guy and loyal to his wife despite sharing some of the same feelings. And though this sub-plot is interesting, it is a sub-plot nonetheless. 

So I recommend the movie, but give a thumbs down to the DVD cover. I guess showing a dying man in a hospital bed wouldn't sell as many units as two attractive people kissing.