I've been a little lazy, and with my giant Toronto column being slowly born, and the upcoming frenetic release of highly promising films, it's obvious I'm never going to come around to writing full reviews for those films in my to-be-reviewed queue. So without further ado, let me devote a few sentences to each and be done with it.
The Muse [C+]
Viewed August 28, 1999 at Lincoln Square
Mildly, um, amusing; but Brooks' latest is a disappointment.
Satirical jibes at Hollywood have become indistinguishable
from masturbation, and Andie McDowell reaches new lows of
awfulness as Brooks' wife.
+Virus [D]
Viewed August 22, 1999 at the Chateau
It's crap, the kind of film where an over-the-top camp
performance from Donald Sutherland is the most entertaining
thing about it. Pity, since this could have been a perfect
project for Cronenberg if he ever decided to make a Hollywood
sci-fi blockbuster as a lark.
Mickey Blue Eyes [C-]
Viewed August 21, 1999 at Lincoln Square
The idea is cute on paper (Hugh Grant, everyone's favorite
stammering Englishman, gets up to his ears in the Mob),
but the execution is perfunctory, wasting a lot of its time
on a needlessly complex plot.
The Sixth Sense [B]
Viewed August 15, 1999 at Lincoln Square
Certainly, Sense's twist ending is pure gimmickry,
but it's one of the few such things in recent memory that's
emotionally satisfying. (It still makes a hash out of the
plot, though.) It's also one of the most deliberately paced
blockbusters in recent memory (is Willis atoning for the
overcaffeinated Armageddon?), which is a pleasant
surprise.
Bowfinger [C]
Viewed August 15, 1999 at Lincoln Square
Steve Martin can be a brilliant screenwriter[1], but his
talents deserted him here; this is nothing more than a wan
modern-day take on Ed Wood. It doesn't help that
Martin's Bowfinger is rather unlikable; he doesn't seem to
be interested in making movies as much as he is in running a
giant con game. And its satire on Scientology is toothless,
especially compared to the Darin Morgan scripted episode
of Millennium that spoofed L. Ron Hubbard's giant
practical joke.
[1]Check out L.A. Story, the finest West
Coast variation on Woody Allen's Manhattan, a whimsically
surreal valentine to Martin's hometown and the best film of 1991.
Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train [B]
Viewed August 7, 1999 at the Cinema Village
Well-acted account of Parisians heading to the city of Limoges for a
friend's funeral that remains riveting despite being frustatingly
opaque. When I saw it, I couldn't tell you what every character's
relationship to the deceased and each other was, and it's a hopeless
cause by now.
Mystery Men [B]
Viewed August 7, 1999 at Union Square
Hit-and-miss spoof of superhero films, but the parts that
do work are highly amusing. Wes Studi's Zen-spouting
Sphinx is an inspired creation, William H. Macy cements his
status as a National Treasure with his deadpan Shoveler,
and any film where Michael Bay bites it can't be all bad..
Dick [C+]
Viewed August 6, 1999 at Lincoln Square
Loony satire of Watergate flounders on the fact that Dunst and
Williams aren't particularly funny or appealing as the two
dumb blondes. Some fine work by the supporting cast (esp.
Will Ferrell and Bruce McCulloch as Woodward and Bernstein)
provides some scattered laughs.
The Iron Giant [A-]
Viewed August 1, 1999 at Lincoln Square
Superbly executed variation on E.T. that manages the neat trick
of being a live-action film that just happens to be animated. Not
nearly as original as its champions claim, and I find the coda mildly
irksome, but a superior family film all the same. The wonderful
New England fall and winter landscapes are particularly worthy of
mention.
The Blair Witch Project [A- (downgraded from A)]
Viewed July 24, 1999 at 84th St.
Less a horror film than a punishingly intense tale of
psychological breakdown, The Blair Witch Project
is also one of the finest films about the darker side of
the filmmaking impulse since Peeping Tom.
Cabaret Balkan [C]
Viewed July 24, 1999 at Lincoln Plaza
Serbs fight. Serbs drink. Serb kills Serb. Repeat, as
needed, to make feature film.
Autumn Tale [B+]
Viewed July 11, 1999 at Lincoln Plaza
What in other hands would be an obvious farce becomes a
typically charming and sublime character study in Rohmer's.
And something about this film just makes want to grab my
backpack, hop on a plane, and bum around the French countryside
for the rest of the summer.