Vanilla Sky (2001)

Second viewing, first time was in a theater during its original release. What I retained from the first time I saw it was a general air of confusion without any of the bits that made it make sense. This time, in my living room, with the ability to pause and think about the experience, was a much more satisfying experience. Though my mind was repeating "what the HELL is going on," I was sure I wasn't missing anything, which gave me confidence it would all come together.

It's truly well-done. I was riveted by David's journey, even though I knew I was being gaslit right along with him. The biggest issue was that I didn't like any of the three primary players. David is a rich guy who acts like an entitled brat at work and with his friends -- I mean Sofia was his best friend's date and he didn't think twice about whisking her away from him. Sofia is just a typical manic pixie dream girl: beautiful and silly, hungry for all the attention. And Julie was a dangerous brand of crazy, but I honestly found her to be the most sympathetic.

Random thoughts:

• Jason Lee was Ryan Reynolds before Ryan was Ryan Reynolds
• Tom Cruise was shown as 5'11'' in his mug shot, so it should've been obvious right then that he isn't in touch with reality
• One of the best motion picture soundtracks of all time

B

Ginger Snaps (2001)

There's a dog-killing animal on the loose in town and two death-obsessed sisters run across it one night. Soon, Ginger (the older sister -- get it??) is exhibiting some alarming changes and the younger gets to work finding a cure.

This would've been so much better if it'd been about 20 minutes shorter. It just kept hitting the same beats.

C

Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget is a bit of a mess. She comes across as a woman who is taking way too long to navigate the transition between college and adulthood. Her place is a trashed, her clothes are inappropriate/often rumpled, she's a boozy chain smoker, and it's really not as cute as the movie wants us to believe it is. I'm surprised that either of the two men in the love triangle are even interested -- not because of her looks, but because of her everything else. Get it together woman!

But, in movie rules, she's just fine. She even lands a spot as an on-air reporter despite zero qualifications and somehow gets the man of her dreams to fall in love with her FOR her, not despite her. And that's fine by me. Though it's not a good film, it's a light, fluffy, fun one in which love wins. Sometimes that's just what I want to watch, you know?

C

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)

Second viewing. This movie borders on the surreal, which is something I didn’t remember. There’s a lot of flashback and fantasy, which I found to be offputing. But the underlying story is rather melancholy and touching.

I’ve thought about this film regularly since I first saw it nd have its soundtrack popping up in my playlists weekly. In my memory, this was an "A" so I'm kind of sad that I rewatched it and tarnished a bit.

B

The Others (2001)

Soon after the end of WWII, a brittle mother and her two children are alone in their estate -- the servants having quit suddenly and her husband yet to return from the war. To make things more difficult, both children suffer from a life-threatening allergy to sunlight, meaning that light must be kept to a minimum. It’s a nerve-frazzling situation that doesn’t get much easier once a trio of new servants show up at the door.

Second viewing, but I couldn’t remember everything so I was pleased that the five stars I’d rated it after my first watch really held up. Smart and spare with wonderful acting.

A-

Together (2001)

After getting smacked by her husband, a housewife packs up the two kids and goes to live with her brother in the home he shares with several others; it's basically a commune smack in the middle of a neighborhood. There’s the brother, his wandering girlfriend, a militant socialist, a lonely gay guy, a young idealist couple, and a family made up of a lesbian, her husband, and their kid. Bringing a middle-class housewife and kids into the mix kind of throws the household off its rhythm.

Gary and I started to watch this a few weeks back but it seemed like it tried too hard to hook us with wacky commune life right off the bat (e.g. one of the women is bottomless due to an infection, which causes one of the men to strip in protest, which is of course when the family walks in for the first time). I’m glad I came back to it as the strength of this film lies not in antics, but in connection. The children find their place despite their misgivings and the household shifts to accommodate losing some housemates and gaining others. I’m surprised to be won over by a film that initially made me roll my eyes.

B+

Wit (2001)

Emma Thompson plays Vivian Bearing, a poetry professor who took a no-nonsense approach to her professional life and chooses to do the same when diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer.

This is, truly, just about perfect. There's a lot of speaking straight to the camera -- there's no attempt to hide the stage origin of the script -- but it works beautifully. She comments on what's going on now and shares memories in gorgeous flashbacks of her childhood, college, and teaching years.

I saw it for the first time more than a dozen years ago and it has stayed with me. It was surprising to find that I'd remembered it so precisely -- I guess that's what happens when one's so strongly affected by art: it takes up residence in your soul.

A+

Zoolander (2001)

OK. I watched it again despite my earlier declaration to the contrary. I'm not sure what changed, but this time I had a great time. Lots of funny bits -- it's oh-so-quotable -- though it does get old before it's over.

Also, I think Billy Eichner stole his schtick from Mugatu.


Eichner really gets going at about the 1 minute mark....


B-

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

A movie club pick; my second viewing.

A lot of scenes in this movie make me giggle, but I doubt it’s very funny unless you have a reference point or two for it. If you grew up in the ‘80s or just watched a lot of bad ‘80s movies and/or went to camp as a kid, you’ve got a head start being on its wavelength. If you’re zero for three on those criteria, you’re probably out of luck.

B-

Woman on Top (2000)

Wow -- this movie is awful. It's like an attempt at a fairy tale but with absolutely no whimsy whatsoever. Cruz's squawky attempt at English could've killed an enjoyable movie on its own, but in this one it just gets added to the very long list of problems. Everything's just so terribly clumsy and annoying from start to finish.

I'll give it a slight bump (up from an F) solely for Harold Perrineau's game attempt to inject some life and fun into the proceedings with a colorful turn as a cross-dresser.

D-

Along Came a Spider (2001)

This felt like a movie from the late '80s: so dated and TVish, if that makes sense.

Very by-the-numbers thriller. It has a Morgan Freeman as a criminal profiler in self-imposed exile after a botched sting that killed his partner and Monica Potter (the poor-man's Julia Roberts) as a green Secret Service agent teaming up to find a schoolgirl kidnapped from under Potter's nose. You've seen it all before -- probably in the late '80s.

C

The Devil's Backbone (2001)

I thought it was going to be a horror movie but it wasn't really. This was more a "some people are bad and ghosts don't like those people" movie.

The setting, a boys' orphanage, is full of atmosphere. We arrive with young Carlos and experience the place with his fresh eyes. It's a lonely place with a brutal pecking order. It's more than a little creepy. The handyman is a jerk who enjoys threatening the kids. Plus there's a big ol' unexploded bomb stuck, nose first, in the dusty yard in front of the main structure. So the place is already unpleasant enough and then things get downright scary when the ghost of a former child resident shows up (giving nothing away -- this happens way too early for it to be considered a secret).

But, with all that, I was bored. The story seemed kind of all over the place and without enough focus on why I rented it in the first place: I wanted to be scared. In the end, I just felt duped.

C-

Memento (2000)

We were hit by a terrible ice storm that knocked out our power (and most of the city's) for 12 days, so we were sleeping in the sanctuary at the church for which I work when we watched this. As crappy as it was to not be cozy at home -- it was pretty cool to have our own private theater with big screen and surround-sound and lots of room to spread out.

This was the fourth time I've seen this film and while I can't say it gets better with each viewing, I can definitely say it's just as good every time. I've never been interested in watching it backward (or the "correct" order) as I know some of the special edition discs allow; it's absolutely brilliant as edited. As much as I usually hate being confused, it's the only sensible way to go here. I just don't think it would work if we weren't every bit as "in the dark" as our no-short-term-memory hero.

A+

Happy Accidents (2001)

Incredibly original story (OK, OK, I know there's a bit of resemblance to "The Terminator," but it's a whole different vibe) with fantastic performances.

Basic premise is that Ruby (Marisa Tomei) is a loser magnet whose luck seems to change with the arrival of offbeat Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio), who sweeps her off her feet in no time. Although he's a gentle sweetheart, several oddities keep Ruby off-balance and, as he opens up to her, make her wonder whether he's on the up and up or out of his mind.

The story's both smart and downright ridiculous -- but it never lost me for a second as Tomei and D'Onofrio are perfect.

A

With a Friend Like Harry (2001)

Young family man with the usual stresses -- not enough money, not enough time, meddling parents, etc. -- runs into an old schoolmate by chance at a rest stop. Although barely remembered, the friend invites himself and his girlfriend over for a drink (despite the fact that it's quite a distance out of his way), which turns into a few days' stay.

There's a sense of dread hanging over the proceedings...the feel is rather like that of "Spoorloos" (the original "The Vanishing"). You know something is going to happen, but you're not sure what. This film really knocked me out. The ending left me extremely satisfied -- and I'm still unsure of how I interpret it.

A

The First Year (2001)

Follows five teachers during their first year of teaching in California. The biggest problem is that I didn't really get a "feel" for the teachers -- 80 minutes spread over 5 people for an entire school year isn't much at all.

Interesting to an extent, but not nearly deep enough.

C+

Amy (2001)

Um…I'm affectionate toward fragments of this film, but it just doesn't hang together at all.

Little girl loses her ability to hear and speak for three years after witnessing her father's violent, though accidental, death. Her mother is an emotional wreck who's dodging child services wanting to take the girl out of the home. They move to a seedy neighborhood chock-full of characters where they discover that the girl can hear singing and verbalize through song.

The girl's voice is good -- almost creepily so -- as though she's just come off a run as "young Cosette." I just didn't know what to do with this movie. It tries, in turns, for broad laughs, traumatic sentimentality, dark danger, and bland psychological claptrap.

Worthwhile mostly for the musical flashbacks. Overall, however, a failure.

C

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

I find it very difficult to grade this film without also grading the man (even in his fictional form) at the center of the story. This guy was a jerk who thought the rules didn't apply to him. He believed himself to be head and shoulders above others -- the only one with potential for originality. There's a tremendous scene in which he plays Go and, when he loses, blames the game for his loss, declaring that his play was perfect...knocking over the board in his hurry to escape from the failure.

The tragedy of this movie is that all of the amazing portions of it are simply inventions (either of his imagination or of the filmmakers). The secret government work? Awesome, but fake. The "stick with my man even in the rough times" attitude of his wife? Wonderful, but that's not the way it happened... Ron Howard seems incapable of trusting his audience with the truth, rough edges and all, about this unlikable man -- demanding that we not only respect his genius, but feel all warm and fuzzy about his behavior too.

This was the second time I've seen this film - the first time was in the theater after it'd been nominated. I remember that, at that time, I was quite irritated with Crowe's performance as it seemed to be just a collection of tics. This time, I appreciated the performance more -- due in no small part, I'm sure, to the fact that I was in my living room and able to rewind a bit to catch things he mumbled.

Certainly worth watching, but don't believe for a minute you're watching an accurate bio-pic.

B-

Series 7: The Contenders (2001)

I love the fact that, although the premise is completely unbelievable (reality show where the last one alive wins), it's also got a real handle on familiar show structure. The new contestants, for the most part, have great loathing/disdain for the reigning champion - but quite quickly become every bit as ruthless. While watching, both Nathan and I got so into the rhythm of the show that I actually started to fast-forward when the pre-advertising bumper ("coming up on the Contenders...") showed. This is clever without being too much so for its own good...and moves at a marvelous clip. There's no boredom here.

A-

Haiku Tunnel (2001)

There is some incisive secretarial humor here (saving an easy task as a fallback in case going gets hard…the tendency to say "just a secretary" rather than "a secretary" when asked about the job), but that's not enough for a feature-length film. The structure is interesting, but the main character isn't very. He's not an irritant, exactly, but neither is he worthy of my attention. Mildly amusing -- nothing more.

C