Movie reviews

What's up with Denmark and great cinema anyway? I mean, with a population of just over five million people how is it that the Danes can so consistently produce some of the best films in the world? The Italians, French and British, with their populations of about 60 million each, I understand. After all, it's not all that hard to produce excellence when you've got hordes of people like that. But the Danes, well, they're a lot like the Irish with their music, or the Belgians with their beers and chocolates, or the Kiwis with their rugby players, or the Quebeckers with their hockey goalies, or, even, the Koreans with their Kims. I mean, really, how do they do it? And where do they get all that talent from?

After a night out at the cinema last night I'm dying to tell you all about two of my hands-down, flat-out favorite films of the last couple of years: "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood". "No Country" I saw twice at the theater within a three week period in February and March, but it wasn't until last night that I finally saw "There Will Be Blood". Both films were released in late-2007, of course, but neither made it up here to our local theaters until recently. But it was definitely worth the wait. Filmmaking this fine is a rare thing indeed.

Raw, gritty, intense and, in the case of "No Country", quite violent, both films also have their moments of humor and are, simply put, incredibly-well-acted, -written and -directed pieces of cinematic brilliance. In other words, in case I'm not making myself completely clear, I absolutely loved both of these films!

I just got back a little earlier tonight from seeing "Into The Wild" at the theater and man was it ever good!! I mean, what a fantastic piece of filmmaking, what an incredible performance and what an amazing film in every sense. I absolutely loved it!

Here they are, finally, My Picks For The Best Films of 2007. I may be a few days late with this, but, hey, cut me some slack. I mean, you've gotta understand that it's taken me this long to recuperate from all those holiday parties, especially since they've continued right into the New Year.

You want to read a couple of rave reviews unlike anything you've read since I went nuts over "The Departed" last year? Then check out both Peter Travers and Glenn Kenny's effusive 4-out-of-4-star rave reviews of the Coen Brothers new film "No Country For Old Men".

They both call it the best film of the year so far and both rave about the acting, directing, storytelling and all-round great filmmaking. And Kenny, writing in Premiere Magazine, goes as far as to call it an out-and-out masterpiece.

Let me ask you something, how often does a person get a chance to meet one of their heroes in person? And I don't mean a hero in the Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, Wayne Gretzky, or Pele vein either. I mean a real, inspirational, clearly-making-the-world-a-whole-lot-better sort of hero. Someone without whom many more people would be suffering or even dying. I'm talking about a hero like Stephen Lewis.

Let's get something straight right off the bat, I'm a huge Quentin Tarantino fan and it drives me nuts when people don't "get" his films. But I just watched "Death Proof" on DVD (Tarantino's half of the double feature "Grindhouse") and I've gotta tell ya, I just didn't get it. I mean, it's not that I hated it or anything, I found it interesting and I'd probably even give it a 6 or 7 out of 10, but it simply didn't blow me away like all of his previous films have. And Tarantino films are supposed to blow you away. Period.

Two nights ago I finally saw Michael Moore's new film "Sicko" and I'd have to say it was his best film yet. But before I even had a chance to see that "Sicko" I saw another one and it wasn't until afterwards that I realized just how much the one proved the other correct. The film is all about the not-so-funny joke that is the American healthcare system. And clearly, as is true with most things when you want to make a point, two Sickos is better than one.

Am I the only one who's bloody well sick and tired of all these goddamn sequels?! Is it really so hard to come up with a few original ideas rather than just making parts 2, 3 and 4 of every successful movie that has come out over the past few years? And is it really too much to ask for a few films based on something other than comic books and amusement park rides... and now toys - toys! Seriously, is it?