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Aleksandar's Capsule Movie Reviews |
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with * to **** ratings |
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Babette’s Feast (1987, Denmark) ***1/2 Directed by Gabriel Axel. Fresh, sophisticated picture set in XIX century Denmark about two highly religious women. Nice cinematography, elegant dialog also. Mesmerizing. Winner of Foreign Language Oscar. Bad Education (2004, Spain) ***1/2 Directed by Pedro Almodovar. Sickest Almodovar’s picture to date but story is nearly clever and emotionally charged as his best (ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER and TALK TO HER). It’s about a life of a few homosexuals including one priest. ‘’Band of Brothers’’ (2001, USA) *** Group of directors. Superbly crafted war series in ten episodes. Gritty, harrowing and realistic (similar to SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) but story and dialog are too conventional to be great. Band of Outsiders (1964, France) **** Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Entertaining, playful crime drama about couple of young friends robbing a house is extended and at times boring. Baraka (1992, USA) *** Directed by Ron Fricke. Completely silent documentary about nature and people in various places on Earth. Mesmeizing and carefully done. Some parts are great some rotten. Barbarion Invasions, The (2003, Canada/France) ***1/2 Directed by Denys Arcand. Oscar winning (Foreign Language Category) drama about a man dying of cancer is deeply felt, dark yet humorous and effective. Reccomended. Barry Lyndon (1975, USA) ***1/2 Directed by Stanley Kubrick. XVIII epic starring Ryan O’Neil is beautiful, clever, interesting and detailed but also long losing much of its sharpness. Battle Royale (2000, Japan) **1/2 Directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Interesting idea about high-school kids forced to kill each other in an inhabited island is well made but not-too-cleverly written unsuccessfully trying to work as a satire. Battleship Potemkin (1925, Russia) ***1/2 Directed by Sergei Eisenstein. Highly acclaimed silent war movie is masterfully executed and, of course, edited and with uplifting story & atmospheric settings. Propaganda elements gave it a minus. Before Sunrise (1995, USA) *** Directed by Richard Linklater. Cult romance starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy and their only night together. Talky, very romantic and nicely photographed but not free from some stereotypes and not very witty. Good performances. Before Sunset (2004, USA) ***1/2 Directed by Richard Linklater. Sequel to BEFORE SUNSET. After nine years, same two characters met each other at Paris and spend their only day together talking about past, love, wasted chances… More mature than previous film, also more serious (as life itself in their age). Before the Rain (1994, Macedonia) ***1/2 Directed by Milcho Mancevski. Three stories about people surrounded by war and their responsibilities. Wittily written, profound and beautiful images. Being John Malkovich (1999, USA) *** Directed by Spike Jonze. Weird yet very original screenplay by Charlie Kaufman is well executed by first time director Jonze. Nice humor, completely unconventional but lacks dramatic fire and leave you empty and half-satisfying. See ADAPTATION. Belle de Jour (1967, France) ***1/2 Directed by Luis Bunuel. One more brilliantly original movie is a provocative, sexy, surreal trip starring Catherine Deneuve as a young wife in love with her husband but incapable to have sex with him. Insightful, beyond the surface of our fears and desires. Best Years of Our Lives (1946, USA) **** Directed by William Wyler. Astonishing post-war drama about tree men returning home from WWII and facing with the difficulties to readjust to normal life. Little fall in the second part, but superior in every respect. One of the best of 40ies. Winner of seven Oscars including Best Picture. Big Sleep, The (1946, USA) ***1/2 Directed by Howard Hawks. Superb, very complex thriller with the Humphrey Bogart in major role. Witty, playful script and nice performances. Birds, The (1963, USA) ***1/2 Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Nice suspense by The Master. Intense, gory with the paranoid atmosphere and good performances. Blade Runner (1982, USA) *** Directed by Ridley Scott. Atmospheric, finely executed science-fiction movie starring Harrison Ford. Capable to produce a unique felling thanks to its formal elements including memorable Vangelis score and striking cinematography but poor in substance and shallow as a human story. Blair Witch Project, The (1999, USA) *** Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez. Highly controversial pseudo documentary, considered ''great'' by some and ''awful'' by others is a true original nevertheless. Raw, free from all conventions and stereotypes and skillfully made. Blazing Saddles (1974, USA) **1/2 Directed by Mel Brooks. Many reviewers consider this comedy great but its humor is mostly low-brow and unoriginal. For good Mel Brooks movies see THE PRODUCERS and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. Blowup (1966, UK) ***1/2 Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Highly symbolic movie about young photographer discovering a murder on developed photos. And, as in L’AVVENTURA from the same director this is not a mystery movie but a study on human isolation in modern society. Final scene is great. Blue (1993, France) *** Directed By Krzysztof Kieslowski. First film in Kieslowski's Three Colors Trilogy about a female composer (Juliette Binoche) coping with the lost of her family in car accident. Slow, subtle, emotional. A nice movie. See also WHITE and RED. Blue Velvet (1986, USA) **1/2 Directed by David Lynch. Strange, surreal suspense movie about young man (Kyle MacLachlan) discovering a terror under the surface of seemingly quiet and perfect US town. Acclaimed by many but very repulsing and boring. Judge for yourself. If you are searching for great suspense try Hitchcock, and for surrealism try some Bunuel. This hybrid is lesser in every way. Boot, Das (1981, Germany) **** Directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Brilliant war movie about German WWII submarine crew. Perfect directing and cinematography, slow pace and strong dialog and characters created harrowing atmosphere. Pure madness. Also memorable music score. A masterpiece. Bowling for Columbine (2002, USA) **** Directed by Michael Moore. Very effective documentary about back side of US society. Frightening and well crafted. Oscar winner for Best Documentary. Brazil (1985, USA) *** Directed by Terry Gilliam. Very fine science fiction satire and assault on bureaucracy about man (Johnathan Pryce) trying to correct an administrative error in futuristic society. Widely imaginative and original. Also pretty dispersive so not very easy to follow through. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961, USA) ***1/2 Directed by Blake Edwards. Enjoyable and sophisticated comedy romance starring Audrey Hepburn. Witty and charming humor and heartbreaking romance. Breaking The Waves (1996, Denmark) ***1/2 Directed by Lars von Trier. Typical von Trier’s emotionally charged drama is thematically comparable to his DANCER IN THE DARK but much better – more convincible and ambiguous and less pathetic. Lars von Trier’s best. Breathless (1960, France) ***1/2 Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Famous, revolutionary picture that introduced "jump cut" for the first time in Cinema. Also, one of the “founders” of the French New Wave Movement. Inventive, “breaking the rules’’ film but not perfect. Bride of Frankenstein (1935, USA) ***1/2 Directed by James Whale. Great sequel to famous FRANKENSTEIN is equally good. Imaginative and suspenseful. Very well crafted and with brilliant atmosphere. Bride of the Monster (1955, USA) *1/2 Directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. One of the “best” movies from the King of the Bad movies, Ed Wood. This Sf horror starring Bela Lugosi is actually not nearly as awful as his famous PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957, UK) **** Directed by David Lean. This great War epic is perfect in every element. Dramatically rich and effective, beautifully made, cleverly written and flawlessly acted. A masterpiece. Winner of seven Oscars including Best Picture. Burnt by the Sun (1994, Russia) **** Directed by Nikita Mikhalkov. Breathtakingly beautiful political drama about an officer of Soviet Army played by Mikhalkov himself. Delicate, profound, detailed, subtle, atmospheric. A work of Art. Oscar winner for Best Foreign Movie. Bicycle Thief, The (1947, Italy) **** Directed by Vittorio De Sica. Simple neorealist Italian drama about poor man searching for a stolen bicycle is widely regarded as a masterpiece and deservedly so. Compassionate, unpretentious, human. Also nicely photographed and with very believable performances. |
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