Movies

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of 2004, The Sea Inside is a fact-based story of Ramón Sampedro, a quadriplegic man who petitions the Spanish government for his right to die. Without the use of his body for 27 years, Sampedro desires above all else the right to be euthanized. His story is taken on by an association that goes by the name of "Die with Dignity" which is how he has a voice in court.

The story begins as a lawyer comes to Ramón to learn his story. She has taken the case pro bono to get his wish to die granted by the courts. This is the first person we see him encounter that tries to understand him; she is not the last.

Through these meetings we see how truly remarkeable Sampedro really is. We see the devices he has invented to assist him in his situation. We see the poetry his heart has poured out over the years. We are party to conversations in which he explains life and freedom of choice, he talks of a future he hopes not to have. Every person he communicates with is so deeply moved by him; it is humbling to see the effect one man may have on others.

Director Alejandro Amenábar (Open Your Eyes, The Others) brings to life this story of a man enslaved to his body. The movie is set in the house Ramón refuses to leave, though we see incredible landscape shots and are taken on an amazing ride as Sampedro jumps out of his two story window and flies all the way to the beach. Through his eyes we see how he lingers over the blue-green water. To this former sailor, the sea represents that which gave him life and ultimately took it away.

The only thing worse than your son dying before you...is him wanting to. -Joaquín Sampedro (Ramón's father)

This was an absolutely beautiful movie. Try as I may to exercise my vocabulary, I keep ending up with the word "beautiful" to describe The Sea Inside. This heart wrenching tale offers various perspectives on both life and death. If you have ever taken the time to consider either, and even if you have not, this movie will be special to you. And I will warn you that there are a few times in the movie when not crying seems unthinkable. I cannot help the feeling that in seeing this movie in the theater last night I was a part of something important. I look forward to the DVD release on May 17, 2005.

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Three generations of a deliciously dysfunctional family gather to bury the family patriarch, the beloved granddaughter of the deceased is given the task of delivering the eulogy. In the days leading up to the funeral, family secrets are revealed, old grudges resurface and the household erupts with renewed vigor.

This movie has nothing if not an impressive cast of Hank Azaria, Zooey Deschanel, Famke Janssen, Kelly Preston, Ray Romano, Rip Torn and Debra Winger. When there are this many names in one movie, often times the movie itself suffers. I do not feel that Eulogy suffered at all.

Zooey Deschanel is the granddaughter given the unfortunate honor of delivering the eulogy for a man about which no one can remember anything positive. A large family that split into as many parts as there are children is reunited to remember a man it was trying to forget. Over a period of a few days you see just how dysfunctional the family can be. You have one family sister chastising the other over her sexual preference and one brother (and his two twin boys) encouraging it. The other brother is simply trying to deal with the fact that his acting career peaked at age 8.

Ray Romano delivers his first enjoyable performance. Not Everybody Loves his show on prime time television, but the comedy provided by Ray and his twin sons made this movie worth watching. Without the three of them this movie may seem a little too cliche. Sure I think an entire film devoted to simply watching his two sons do stupid stuff would be more entertaining than this entire story, but I can get over that.

I think they could have done a little more with the movie, it has a little potential. It is a good movie if someone else wants to watch it. If the decision is yours, I do not think you will be any worse for the wear if you pick something else.

Buy Eulogy $22.38

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Mr. Ripley (two-time Academy Award Nominee John Malkovich) emerges from retirement to preside over one last deadly game, but can he persuade an innocent man to commit murder?

Tom Ripley is an eccentric, American art lover living in Europe. He is viewed as somewhat of a joke by the locals who have adopted him as friends, though they might not if they knew his past; the past that catches up with him. Now Ripley must choose between giving up his retirement or finding someone to do the job in his place. He sets his sights on a man in town who has taken ill. Jonathan Trevanny (Dougray Scott) has been diagnosed with leukemia, will a chance to make some money for the family he will leave behind tempt him to do something unthinkable?

This movie was recommended to me by my barber of all people. And why not? All we ever do is talk about movies while I get my hair cut anyway. The conversation usually revolves around movies currently in the theater that we have both seen. Out of the blue one time he brought up Ripley's Game. He told tale of John Malkovich's performance. He spoke highly of the film and suggested I might like it as well.

As far as I am concerned, Ken the barber was right on all accounts. I was very impressed by the casting decision for Malkovich as Tom Ripley. He played the role very well. The movie, though dark, was very enjoyable.

This movie is based on the book of the same name by Patricia Highsmith.

Buy Ripley's Game $17.97

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With Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo and Peter Berg. Directed by Michael Mann. A cab driver becomes an unwilling accomplice to murder when he picks up a contract killer for his next fare.

This movie and I had our ups and downs before I saw it. At first sight I could not wait to see it but then there was just so much money thrown into promoting this film I became tired with it. My desire to see it dropped exponentially with each new piece of marketing material. It became one of the "I will see it when it is out on DVD" movies for me. Well it is, and I did.

I am not sure if I would have actually preferred to see this one in the theater or not. The question of whether or not it could have actually been better on the big screen is why I wonder. On DVD the movie was good. It was not great, but I am ok with that.

Vincent (Cruise) is a contract killer in town for one night and he needs a ride to each of 5 to-be murder scenes. Unluckily for Max (Foxx) he is the driver who picks up the fare. Max has moral issues (surprisingly) with Vincent's line of work once he finds out. He simply cannot comprehend why someone would want to do this to these people, regardless of who they are and what they have done. The local police (Ruffalo and Berg) become involved as they identify crime scenes only to meet FBI interference. Could these murders be connected to a Federal investigation? In a very desperate and sensitive situation, Max pleads with Vincent. Conflict arises only when Max pushes back a bit too hard. When he interferes, the questions become: Can Vincent adapt? Can he improvise?

Many people were saying that Jamie Foxx stole the show, but I disagree. Though he was good, this was just Tom Cruise's movie. He was good. The movie was good. See it.

Buy Collateral $22.49

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Friday Night Lights

From the Bonus Features menu highlight DVD-ROM. From this point move the cursor to the Left. Appearing will be a highlighted football. Press Enter/Select to see an out take by Director Peter Berg as he introduces and praises his assistant.

A bodyguard vows to exact revenge upon anyone who profited from the kidnapping of the young girl under his protection.

Creasy (Denzel) is a drunk with a jaded past. We are not sure exactly what he used to do, we just know it was not run of the mill. His friend (Christopher Walken) gets him a job as a bodyguard for a Mexican family. His job specifically is to guard the daughter, Pita (Fanning). He is anti-social has lost touch with life. Pita pulls him back to reality. She teaches him there are things worth living for...then she gets kidnapped. Creasy then decides to kill everyone who had anything to do with Pita being taken from her family; with her being taken away from him.

I liked this movie a good deal. Denzel Washington is capable of pulling of great performances, but he does not always deliver. He delivered in Man on Fire.

The show, however, may have been stolen by Dakota Fanning. Only 10 years old when the movie was released, she had great chemistry with Washington.

My favorite Denzel Washington movie/performance is Fallen.

Buy Man on Fire $14.99

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Chevy Chase is at his hilarious best in this suspense-packed comedy thriller based on Gregory McDonald's best-seller. Irwin Fletcher, a.k.a. Fletch (Chase), is an investigative reporter who's constantly changing his identity. While working on a drug expose, Fletch attracts the attention of a strange businessman (Tim Matheson) who wants to be killed so his wife will inherit more insurance. The wily Fletch senses a scam, and soon he's up to his byline in frame-ups, murder, police corruption and forbidden romance. It'll be the story of the year, if he can stay alive to meet his deadline!

Even better than the National Lampoon's Vacation series, Chase's performance in Fletch is second only to that in Caddyshack.

This classic movie is, unfortunately, lesser known to anyone who did not grow up in the 80s. Chase's one liners are hilarious, though not always quotable due to lack of context. Fletch goes back to the old school funny that only the Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray class can provide. This is either one of the funniest serious movies or one of the most serious funny movies. Whichever it is, you should definitely see it if you have not.

Buy Fletch

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Kindhearted but confused activist Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman hires a pair of screwball existential detectives (Hoffman and Tomlin) to help him find the meaning of life. All the while, a sexy, French author (Isabelle Huppert) is trying to throw a wrench in their plan by seducing Albert's mind and body.

Fox Searchlight is recently taking over my movie watching world. They have been releasing some great movies and I Heart Huckabees is no exception to that.

This was another weird, "thinking man's" type comedy. I will admit that with the humor being so dry, sometimes it is hard to realize that they are in fact making jokes. Movies that are on somewhat of an even keel would be The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic. That is not to say that if you did not enjoy those you will not like I Heart Huckabees either.

The cast was very good; including but not limited to Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Naomi Watts, Mark Wahlberg, Jude Law and Isabelle Huppert.

The basic premise is Jason Schwartzman's character being caught in the middle of a feud between existentialism and nihilism as his life begins to spiral out of control. He simply seeks the meaning of his "coincidence". He has had three sightings of the same doorman around town. He wants to know the significance. That is why he seeks out the detectives. Along the way, the detectives attempt to address his battle with Jude Law's character. Isabelle Huppert plays a French author who teaches the opposite end of the spectrum from Hoffman and Tomlin. Is it that we are all the same? Or is it that we are all nothing and all that exists is chaos?

"How am I not myself?" The movie follows a few characters as they ask some pretty hard hitting questions.

Playing Schwartzman's "other", Mark Wahlberg's performance was the highlight for me. No, I never expected to say that.

I Heart Huckabees is one I am adding to my DVD collection.

Buy I Heart Huckabees (single disc) $19.59
Buy I Heart Huckabees (two disc) $27.99

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Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Volume One Disc Two

There are two Easter Eggs on this disc. On the main menu place the cursor on Play. If you go to the Left or Right you will encounter the eggs. Moving Left will highlight Master Shake's straw. Moving Right (from Play) will highlight Frylocke's eyes. Both eggs contain a deleted scene from Episode 2: Escape From Leprechaupolis.

With Robin Williams, Jeff Bridges, Mercedes Ruehl. Directed by Terry Gilliam. A radio "shock jock" is fired when his jokes inspire a man to shoot several people in a restaurant. With nowhere to go, the DJ hits the streets where he meets a mentally-unbalanced man whose life was perfect until his wife was killed at the restaurant.

I really have not seen a movie that I enjoyed on this level in awhile. The performances of both Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams were so fun to watch. It was like they were dancing. I began to think about just how underappreciated I think Jeff Bridges is by most people. I think he does a great job, especially in The Fisher King. I do not feel as though I need to justify Robin Williams' career to any of you...

It was a truly unique film that I enjoyed very much.

Understand that in my euphoric state of review for this movie I am not saying it was otherworldly. It was not the best movie I have ever seen. I do not mean to rave about it. It was simply very good.

Have you ever had a movie that just tapped something loose inside you and gave you that "hmmm, this is a really good movie" feeling?

One prime example of why I liked the movie was when Parry sees Lydia come walking through the crowd and all of a sudden all of the hustling and bustling commuters are waltzing around the room. The only two people not caught in dance are Parry and Lydia. Once she is out of his sight, the dancing was no more. It was this little detail set among others of the sort that show that maybe there was a little extra effort put into direction of The Fisher King. I have to say it was appreciated.

Buy The Fisher King $11.95

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