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Aleksandar's Capsule Movie Reviews |
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with * to **** ratings |
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Adaptation. (2002, USA) ***1/2 Directed by Spike Jonze. Another winner from Charlie Kaufman/Spike Jonze duo after BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. Nicolas Cage in double role – as neurotic and successful writer and his brother – free willing and low-brow writer. Highly original, refreshing, sometimes surreal script and equally skillful direction by Jonze. African Queen, The (1951, USA) ***1/2 Directed by John Huston. Absorbing adventure with great performances by Bogart and Hepburn. Uniquely well mixture of various genres by maestro Huston. Bogart won an Oscar. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972, Germany) ***1/2 Directed by Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski is magnificent as insane Agurre in this hypnotic tale of searching for Eldorado. Evocative sounds, hand-held camera, slow rhythm and oniric effects. Unique! See also FITZCARRALDO. Airplane! (1980, USA) *** Directed by David Zucker. Fine comedy about ex-war pilot is on the top of it’s sub-genre. Maybe a bit dated by today standards but still capable to produce a hilarious effects. Alexander Nevsky (1939, Russia) *** Directed by Sergei Eisenstein. Superiorly crafted war drama enriched by Prokofiev score is essentialy Soviet propaganda. Alien (1979, USA) *** Directed by Ridley Scott. Groundbreaking sf horror with superb atmosphere but often lacks real suspense in it’s over length. Aliens (1986, USA) ***1/2 Directed by James Cameron. Sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien is superior in directing and atmosphere building. First-rate suspense. Never lets you go. Last 30 minutes are astonishing. All About Eve (1950, USA) *** Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Acclaimed drama is clever but overrated. Lost a lot with years. Oscar winner for Best Picture among many others. All About My Mother (1999, Spain) ***1/2 Directed by Pedro Almodovar. This superb picture is clever, interesting an emotionally rich journey into the woman's hope, desire, disllusions. One of Almodovar's best. Oscar winner for Best Foreign Movie. All The President's Men (1976, USA) *** Directed by Alan J. Pacula. Suspenseful, brilliantly acted thriller with Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford playing two journalists in the middle of the Watergate affair. Some solutions are too conventional. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930, USA) **** Directed by Lewis Milestone. One of the best anti-war dramas in Classic Hollywood Era. Everything works efficient. For 1930, a masterpiece. Oscar winner for Best Picture and Cinematography. Almost Famous (2000, USA) *** Directed by Cameron Crowe. Original musical comedy is Oscar winner for the Best Screenplay but too often falls into the conventions in portraying characters and events. Alphaville (1965, France) **** Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Very good sf without any special effects about man in dehumanized futuristic city trying to execute its leader and save the girl (Ana Karina). Uplifting, highly unusual and imaginative. One of Godard’s best. Underrated by many. Amadeus (1984, USA) **** Directed by Milos Forman. Brilliant study of jealousy, talent and desire is biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart written by Peter Shaffer. Never boring, pretentious or unsatisfying in its 3 hour length. One of Forman’s best. Oscar for Best Picture. Amarcord (1973, Italy) *** Directed by Federico Fellini. Fine comedy drama about Fellini’s (again autobiographical movie) childhood in Italy. Vivid characters, Felliniesque humor and brilliant music by Nino Rota. A bit too stylish and pretentious at moments. Oscar for Foreign Language Movie. Amelie (2001, France) *** Directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet. Fine fantasy and feel-good movie is not a masterpiece as many suggests. Solid script, imaginatively executed but sometimes unconvincing and offseting. American Beauty (1999, USA) *** Directed by Sam Mendes. Successful portrait of an American family decaying is Oscar winner for Best Picture and Director (debut for Mendes!). But overrated and not completely satisfying. American Graffiti (1973, USA) ***1/2 Directed by George Lucas. Cult comedy about high school graduates and their last evening together. Lucas’ first major success. Evocative, nostalgic and funny. Amores Perros (2000, Mexico) ***1/2 Directed by Alejandro Inarritu. Picture is following three non-linear stories about various people in a big city connected by a car accident. One of the best movies of 2000 is superb crime drama sometimes similar to PULP FICTION but more emotional and multilayered. Button pusher for its director. An Andalusian Dog (1929, France/Spain) ***1/2 Directed by Luis Bunuel. First film by genius Bunuel is short (15 min.) - plotless series of disjunctive images. Beyond explanation, made to shock the public at the time (and it did). It opened doors to irrational, started surrealistic movement in cinema and also a career of the most original director of XX century. Anatomy of a Murder (1959, USA) ***1/2 Directed by Otto Preminger. Superb courtroom drama with James Stewart in major role. Witty, beautifully written, suspenseful and playful. And the Ship Sails On (1983, Italy) *** Directed by Federico Fellini. Atmospheric, seductive and playful Fellini ride but also uninteresting at times and overall unsatisfying. A few very memorable scenes. Andrei Rublev (1969, Russia) **** Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Magnificent, insightful, brilliantly crafted epic about Russian icon painter Rublev. Breathtaking shots, pace and meaningful dialogs. A Masterpiece. Annie Hall (1977, USA) ***1/2 Directed by Woody Allen. Allen’s best picture is an autobiographical portrait of a neurotic middle-age writer (played by Woody Allen himself) and his love (Deane Keaton). Very witty and intelligent. Goes beyond the surface. Oscar winner for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay (Allen and Bruckman) and Actress (Keaton). Aparajito (1957, India) ***1/2 Directed by Satyajit Ray. Second part in Ray’s acclaimed “Apu Trilogy” following PATHER PANCHALI and followed by WORLD OF APU. It is about now grown-up Apu who leaves mother and goes on studies in a big town. In style it is mixture of previous movie (first half) and third movie (second half). Ephemeral and mesmerizing but a bit weaker of other two parts. Apartment, The (1960, USA) *** Directed by Billy Wilder. Acclaimed comedy starring Jack Lemon is enjoyable and clever but overrated and sometimes pathetic. Winner of many Oscars including Best Picture. Apocalypse Now (1979, USA) ***1/2 Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Mesmerizing Vietnam War epic starring Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando. Very realistic yet stylish and bizarre study of horrors and insanity of war. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944, USA) *** Directed by Frank Capra. Insane comedy about two insane old ladies and their relative (Cary Grant). Zany and witty but often imitated so it lost some of its 1944 sharpness. Also Broadway musical. Assault on Precint 13 (1976, USA) **1/2 Directed by John Carpenter. Overrated thriller about residents of a small police station attacked by bunch of fanatic criminals. Chilling score and interesting setting but awful dialog and characterization. Autumn Sonata (1978, Sweden) ***1/2 Directed by Ingmar Bergman. Very powerful psychological drama from Swedish master with chilling performances from Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann. Frightening, psychologicaly precise and convincible screenplay by Ingmar Bergman. Only weakness: sometimes "familiar" elements from his previous movies. Aviator, The (2004, USA) *** Directed by Martin Scorsese. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Howard Hughes in this visually breathtaking, carefully made but emotionally and dramatically unsatisfying air Odyssey. |
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