The Fountain

its 4:57 in the morning. i saw the fountain more then 10 hours ago and i cant get it out of my mind. not only is the story brilliantly complex and beautifully twisted, but the visual aspect of this movie is stunning in a way that's very tough to describe. at so many different points i found myself staring at the screen with my eyes wide open. The Fountain is a story of love, it is also a story of death, and it is also a story of hope/survival. Kudos to Hugh Jackman, who's having a huge 2006 (the prestige, scoop, x men 3, etc) as well as rachel weisz who does a superb job as Jackmans love interest. The real prize should be given to Darrin Aronofsky, who took a 6 year gap between projects, and gave birth to this great film. im happy right now.

harsh times

i've seen a lot of movies about GI's struggling to readapt with their post war lives. This is the most current portrayal that I've seen possibly because Christian Bales character was in Afghanistan and not 1984 Russia or a 1991 Iraq. Dealing less with war and more with the effects of it, Christian Bale, basically cruises around LA, looking for government jobs and getting wasted "Training Day" style. When he finds out that the LAPD doesnt want him he buys an ounce of weed and smokes it, soonafter he recieves a call from the homeland security department asking him for a drug test the following day. The film deals with his slow decline, and Eva Longorias relationship with his best friend. i really dont like eva longoria, i dont believe anything she says or does. i enjoyed this movie but at certain points its very tough to watch.

bond, james bond

finally a blockbuster that lives up to its potential. its now 7:31 in the am and i am still awake becuase of this crazy movie. i went to the first screening possible, a late night 12:05 showing that didnt start till 12:30. equipped with a giant soda and a popcorn, i embarked on this daniel craig filled 007 movie and was quite impressed. all my friends were discouraging me, telling me that it didnt get the best review or the best imdb score, but it the truth is that i had a fun time watching this one. im not going to ruin anything by telling you that eva green is unbelievably hot and mr. craig makes a pretty good double o, here's a surprise: paul haggis co-wrote the screenplay for this. pretty weird, but its not bad. chris cornell sings the theme song. that's bad. anyways, go see this one before all of your friends hype it up for you, cuz it'll never live up to your expectations.

a good year

ridley scott, director of such war epics as black hawk down, gladiator and hostage, tackles a romantic comedy with a surprisingly soft touch. This would be the headline of the article that I would write about a good year. a damn good movie in a genre full of cliched trash. russel crowe does a "grand" job as maxamillion skinner, a megarich trader who inherits his uncles french villa and vineyard (the place where he spent his summers as a youth). Aiming to sell it, he travels to france and fixes it up for the buyers, eventually he falls in love with it and a girl in town(beautifully played by Marion Cotillard). Albert Finney is so great in flashback montages, he sorta made this movie for me. i liked this one.

Volver

i love almodovar. live flesh, bad education, talk to her, etc. i knew i was gonna like this one and i did. like all almodovar films there are many twists and when you finally think you understand the story, he throws in another one. penelope cruz does a great job as raimunda the young mother who is the center of the movie. you could say this movie is all about mothers, there relationships with their daughters and the men/absence of men in their lives. i was a little bored at the end, but by the time the credits were rolling i was processing the last revelation. Not as good as live flesh or bad education but still a good effort by almodovar.

Borat

I am possibly the only person in america that didnt think Borat was the funniest movie of the year. I've always enjoyed Sascha Baron cohen and the Ali G show, but for some reason I wanted more from this movie. It had been extremely hyped up (I read that it was one of the funniest movies of all time, absurd!) so i guess there was no way for this to meet my expectations. Don't get me wrong, i thought it was funny (especially the scene in the rodeo), but I didnt love it