The Girl Next Door (Greenfield, 2004) – 4^th Viewing

1/1/2005 – Home Viewing – 4 Buckets – [Review]

[What a beautiful, funny, poignant film. I have already said everything about it that there is to say.]

The Phantom of the Opera (Schumacher, 2004) – 1^st Viewing

1/2/2005 – Ultrastar La Costa 6 – 1 ½ Buckets – [Review]

Hotel Rwanda (George, 2004) – 1^st Viewing

1/7/2005 – Ultrastar Flower Hill 4 – 4 Buckets – [Review]

The Saddest Music in the World (Maddin, 2004) – 1^st Viewing

1/8/2005 – Home Viewing – 2 Buckets

[This was my first Guy Maddin film, and I can see why people like him. Thematically, this film is a treat, with its stylish references to early filmmaking. After awhile, though, I realized that, while successful at what it does, it’s really all just a mere gimmick. Isabella Rossellini is hysterical, though.]

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (Silberling, 2004) – 1^st Viewing

1/9/2005 – AMC Wiegand Plaza 8 – 3 Buckets – [Review]

White Noise (Sax, 2005) – 1^st Viewing

1/9/2005 – AMC Wiegand Plaza 8 – 1 Bucket – [Review]

Coach Carter (Carter, 2005) – 1^st Viewing

1/14/2005 – AMC Wiegand Plaza 8 – 2 ½ Buckets – [Review]
 

Elektra (Bowman, 2005) – 1^st Viewing

1/15/2005 – Ultrastar La Costa 6 – 2 Buckets – [Review]

In Good Company (Weitz, 2004) – 1^st Viewing

1/15/2005 – Ultrastar La Costa 6 – 3 ½ Buckets – [Review]

Beyond the Sea (Spacey, 2004) – 1^st Viewing

1/16/2005 – Edwards San Marcos 18 – 2 ½ Buckets – [Review]

62^nd Annual Golden Globe Awards

1/16/2005  – Home Viewing

[So, I didn’t predict many of the winners, this year, mostly because of my own self-denial. I suppose the choices were alright, but none of them matched my own personal ones, which will be posted with my upcoming “Best of 2004” list. Closer’s awful script ruined the solid performances by Natalie Portman and Clive Owen who, bizarrely, won for supporting acting. I don’t think anyone can quibble with Jamie Foxx’s win for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. As good as Leo DiCaprio was, I think Don Cheadle should’ve won over him for his work in Hotel Rwanda, for Best Dramatic Actor. I haven’t seen Annette Bening or Hilary Swank in their roles, which won, yet, but I’m sure they are both superb. The Aviator was the obvious Hollywood Favorite for Best Picture (Drama), but I wish it hadn’t won, even though it was a deserving motion picture. (Out of all three of its awards, why didn’t Cate Blanchett win one of them?) I don’t think anyone doubted Sideways would win for Best Picture (Comedy). That choice was okay by me. Nevertheless, had Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind won in that category, I think I would’ve been a lot more satisfied with the awards, on the whole.]

Fat Albert (Zwick, 2004) – 1^st Viewing

1/17/2005 – AMC Wiegand Plaza 8 – 1 ½ Buckets – [Review]

Are We There Yet? (Levant, 2005) – 1^st Viewing

1/21/2005 – AMC Wiegand Plaza 8 – 1 ½ Buckets – [Review]

Hotel Rwanda (George, 2004) – 2^nd Viewing

1/22/2005 – Edwards San Marcos 18 – 4 Buckets – [Review]

[This is the first time that I saw a movie twice, in theatres, since Beauty and the Beast, and it was a great one to pick. I almost cried again; it is, perhaps, more tragic with a repeat viewing. I was less caught up in the Paul Rusesabagina story than the idea of the Rwandan genocide as a whole, because I knew the outcome of the central story. Wyclef Jean’s “Million Voices” should’ve won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.]

House of Flying Daggers (Zhang, 2004) – 2^nd Viewing

1/22/2005 – Edwards San Marcos 18 – 4 Buckets – [Review]

[A month after originally seeing it, I decided to go back to House of Flying Daggers, as a double-feature with my aforementioned additional repeat viewing of Hotel Rwanda. As I had already realized the sweeping martial arts, special effects, and luscious backgrounds of this film, I was able to pick up on more of the symbolism in it. In addition to crafting a beautiful love story, director/co-writer Zhang Yimou has a lot to say about organizations which promote their own agendas to instill what they’d call proper order (or lack thereof). Here, these organizations are in the forms of the government and the rebel group, The House of Flying Daggers. Look at all of the movie’s central figures and their motivations. The government is the standing force of order, in the world of the film. Their methods of peace-keeping are passionless and are, therefore, susceptible to error. Look at the plot-twist involving Leo’s association, as proof of this. Also, consider the bamboo-battle: as the government soldiers attempt to box in Mei and Jin in with the branches, they throw them to a degree that is almost akin to mathematical calculation. The Daggers from The House then fly in and save Mei and Jin, swooping at their own free grace, loosening the government hold on them. In addition, the leader of Mei’s operation is symbolic of the controller of order within The House of Flying Daggers, itself. Her passion is driven by her own radical beliefs, Mei’s by her obligations, and Leo’s by his own ulterior motives. Jin is simply, as he puts it, “a playful wind.” The love triangle in the foreground shows the clash of interests between its three players and how it results in chaos, creating more flaws in order, even if hopeful of harmony. Intentions are deceptive, as the plot proves. The finale is heartbreaking, even if it stays within the classic confines of the kung-fu-y genre. Oh, and did I mention that The Echo Game is still the. coolest. thing. in. the. whole. world.]

Napoleon Dynamite (Hess, 2004) – 2^nd Viewing

1/22/2005 – Home Viewing – 3 ½ Buckets – [Review]

[I am still stupidly impressed that I saw this before everyone else, back in May, at one of the many advanced screenings that Fox Searchlight put on. This goes without mentioning that I was responsible for much of its promotion at my school, as I regularly wore the FLIPPIN’ AWESOME Liger Shirt I received upon entering the theatre. Anyhow, most of the jokes have grown tired, now that they have been repeated to death, but I’m almost glad about this. Without as many laugh-out-loud moments withstanding, I was able to realize that there is actually a melancholy layer to the material. I am so LUCKY!]

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (Kim, 2004) – 2^nd Viewing

1/22/2005 – Home Viewing – 3 ½ Buckets – [Review]

[On the small-screen, it’s not as visually or spiritually epic as it was in theatres, but the actual story is just as stunning, if not more. This is quite the moving motion picture, especially considering the fact that writer/director Ki-Duk Kim also made the inept The Isle.]

Before Sunrise (Linklater, 1995) – 2^nd Viewing

1/23/2005 – Home Viewing – 4 Buckets

[So many repeat viewings, lately, and so few new movies. I suppose I’m just being safe in deciding what to watch after experiencing the horrors of Are We There Yet?. Anyway, this repeat viewing was pretty much just to prepare to watch its sequel, Before Sunset, again, in order to determine just where on my top ten list I want to place it, for sure. Boy, are Jesse and Celine cool people, or what?]

Before Sunset (Linklater, 2004) – 2^nd Viewing

1/23/2005 – Home Viewing – 4 Buckets - [Review]

[The Academy Award Nominations are released tomorrow, January 25^th. If this movie is not up for Best Adapted Screenplay, which it probably will not be, the voters will have committed a crime. It’s the kind of conversation that I want on audio tape, just to listen to as I fall asleep. And I definitely know where it is on my top 10 list now, after this second viewing.]

Assault on Precinct 13 (Richet, 2005) – 1^st Viewing

1/27/2005 – Edwards San Marcos 18 – 2 Buckets – [Review]

Million Dollar Baby (Eastwood, 2004) – 1^st Viewing

1/29/2005 – Ultrastar La Costa 6 – 4 Buckets – [Review]

Silver City (Sayles, 2004) – 1^st Viewing

1/30/2005 – Home Viewing – 2 Buckets

[Sayles has got a great plot on his hands this time, but his blatant Bush-bashing constantly took me out of the movie. The conclusion is kind of a cop-out, too, but I was pretty involved for the entire duration.]

The Twilight Samurai (Yamada, 2004) – 1^st Viewing

1/31/2005 – Home Viewing – 3 Buckets

[Thematically and stylistically stunning, it was the opposite of what I was expecting. I can't say I dug it enough to call it one of 2004's best, but I liked it a lot.]

The Story of the Weeping Camel (Davaa, Falorni; 2004) – 1^st Viewing

1/31/2005 – Home Viewing – 2 Buckets

[Could've made for an interesting short, but the many fascinating elements drown in the insufferable length of a fairly short 87 minutes. The camel-delivery scene is amazing, but the rest was too melodramatic for even my tastes. The plotting involving humans is terribly trite.]

Coffee and Cigarettes (Jarmusch, 2004) – 1^st Viewing

2/3/2005 – Home Viewing – 3 Buckets

[It’s not just hype: the Alfred Molina/Steve Coogan skit is one of the funniest things you’ll ever see in your life. Cate Blanchett’s “Cousins” is a close second for best in the movie.]

Son of the Mask (Guterman, 2005)

2/27/2004 - AMC Wiegand Plaza 8 - ½ a Bucket - [REVIEW COMING SOON]