Movie Review Library - B

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Baadshah (India - 1999)
Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Twinkle Khanna, Rakhee Gulzar
Director: Abbas Alibhai Burmawalla 
Plot: Trying to solve a kidnapping case for a diamond merchant, a suave but unlucky private detective is mistaken for a secret agent and gets mixed up in a plot to assassinate an Indian politician.
Review: Bollywood productions are made to satisfy mainstream audiences pure and simple, and Baadshah, an action / comedy, manages to do just that. Like most Indian mainstream films, the running time is quite long by American standards at almost 3 hours, but there's never a boring moment. Playing it all up for laughs, with a half-dozen plots and sub-plots all intersecting, all becoming suitably confusing for all involved, it sometimes crosses over the plain silly and becomes desperately exaggerated yet, manages throughout to stay quite colorful and enjoyable. There are three distinct acts to the film, each of which could have been a feature in its own right. The first is a straight action / comedy routine, the second a burlesque of mistaken identity, and the third a suspense thriller. Indeed, the last part takes a more serious tone, borrowing very liberally from the Johnny Depp flick Nick of Time, before finishing off the film with some added levity and a stunt straight out of Rush Hour. Throwing into the mix loads of comic relief, bizarre characters, some suspense, some Jackie Chan-like stunts, a dose of romance, extravagant musical numbers and even a few catchy tunes, the film has something for every taste. With so many elements, however, it's no wonder the pacing and direction sometimes suffers as the script meanders. Lead actor Khan is a charming, sympathetic rogue in the title role, and is quite a decent dancer and acrobat, too. The rest of the supporting cast ranges from eccentric to plain clownish (especially the villains), but it's all part of the game. Baadshah may be uneven but it's an entertaining piece of Bollywood fluff that never lets up.
Entertainment: 7/10

Bad Company (2002)
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Chris Rock
Director: Joel Schumacher
Plot: A smart, street-wise hustler is hired by the CIA to replace the smooth-talking twin brother he never knew he had to retrieve a nuclear weapon from the Russian mafia and keep it away from some violent terrorists.
Review: Bad Company, the latest in a line of "high concept" action / comedies from producer Jerry Buckheimer (The Rock, Bad Boys), is a film that lives up to its title. Having both the people and situations so badly set-up and often so ludicrous, with a pacing that's all over the place, means there's simply no interest in the proceedings. Oh the action sequences are decent enough and the cinematography is excellent - there's no doubt that this has been efficiently made, it's just a very bland film. The real culprit here is the script, which is about as derivative and cliché-ridden as it could possibly get; the plot, the action set pieces and the twists are not only predictable and pedestrian, but sometimes downright annoying. This means no suspense, no tension, and almost no laughs are to be had either. The comedy elements are limited to Rock's loudmouth persona, but done without the comedians stand-up bite. The fish-out-of-water bits are tired, and the characters are purely card-board cutouts. Hopkins and Rock could have made terrific foils, and on occasion the promise of a solid chemistry shines through the material with some well-place dialogue and quips, but these are drowned by the tired action and plot. And let's not even talk about the Euro-trash terrorists and Russian minions. Director Schumacker (Batman Forever, Tigerland) knows the ins and outs of slick film-making and, no matter its short-comings, the movie is professionally executed / done with some high production values to boot, but it all would have been better used on another story. Bad Company is just another a tired, forgettable piece of Hollywood escapism that's straight from the assembly line.
Entertainment: 4/10

Bandits (2001)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett
Director: Barry Levinson
Plot: Two escaped convicts become nationally famous with their peaceful methods of robbing banks but their plans hit a snag when they both fall for a bored housewife who decides to go on the lam with them.
Review: Bandits wants to be lots of things, offering up large doses of quirky romantic comedy, combined with a laid-back crime caper framed within a satire on "real crime" TV shows. Taking elements from movies such as It Happened One Night and relying heavily on the formula of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, nothing particularly original or exciting is brought to the table. Thankfully, there's a fine tongue-in-cheek mood throughout and some genuinely funny moments, such as when these "sleepover bandits" share a meal with a bank manager's family before robbing his workplace, or the interaction right after Blanchett almost runs over Thorton, and these make up for a lot despite the otherwise ho-hum script. The pace is at times a little too languid, the story lacks direction, and the running time is a little long for such a lack of substance, but Levinson (The Natural, Rain Man) gets his cast to play it up with an obvious sense of fun, and that makes all the difference. The three leads, especially the luminous Blanchett and Thorton as the best hypochondriac since Woody Allen, give splendid, endearing performances. Indeed, watching the actors work their charm and (quite self-consciously) mug the camera with a wide variety of wigs and silly disguises at every opportunity is the film's best part. Bandits is a light comedy that's ably shot and produced and, though it doesn't quite offer enough to be memorable, is still an entertaining diversion, especially for fans of its stars.
Entertainment: 6/10

Barefoot Gen (1995)
Director: Masaki Mori
Plot: A young boy and his mother desperately try to survive the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing and face the fact that their family and friends have been decimated.
Review: Though Barefoot Gen is presented as an animated feature, this is definitely NOT for children. The film starts off as a light-hearted story of the young Gen and his family during the waning days of the war, facing the typical hardships of war-time rationing and fears. Once the bomb hits, though, it soon turns into an extremely graphic, violent, and unflinching look not only at the actual atomic explosion that leveled Hiroshima, but also of the after-effects on the survivors (the black rain, the radiation sickness, the scrounging for food) that made it so much worse. The film doesn't point a blaming finger at either side of the war, but works instead as a witness to the horrors and the atrocity of the atomic bomb, to its victims, and to the helplessness of a society dealing with an inhuman disaster. Presented in a crisp, uncomplicated anime style, with only occasional turns to the melodramatic, the film presents an image of life as close to hell as anyone would ever care to be. Despite its final positive, life-affirming message, Barefoot Gen is a harrowing tale of a dark day in human history.
Drama: 8/10

Batman (1989)
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger
Director: Tim Burton
Plot: Batman, a dark, mysterious and misunderstood caped vigilante, must protect Gotham City from a homicidal clown calling himself the Joker.
Review: There's no doubting that the real driving force of the film is director Tim Burton (Mars Attacks!, Sleepy Hollow) 's eye for the gothic, his play of lights and shadow that imbue the film with a strong, dark, visual style helped by some good production values, impressive sets, and some good special effects. The story runs along well, if sometimes unevenly, and is always interesting, even if the dialogue is especially hokey. The real attraction, though, is Jack Nicholson who easily steals not only every scene he's in, but the entire film as well, by playing with obvious gusto such an over-the-top villain. One of the reasons for his success may well be that Michael Keaton is a wimp by comparison. Keaton just isn't right for the role of Batman and seems ineffectual next to his co-star - he doesn't have the physique or the presence required for such a character who is supposed be strong, mysterious and inspire fear. Still, this is a minor distraction, as the comic-book feel of the film is strong, and closer to the modern representation of the Dark Knight than the '60s version. Of course, the new Bat-mobile and Bat-plane also make up for a lot of the movie's appeal! A good, entertaining adaptation of the comic-book character, that's more a brooding character study and a dark fantasy than a typical action blockbuster. 
Entertainment: 7/10

Batman & Robin (1996)
Starring: George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Director: Joel Schumacher
Plot: Batman and Robin, with a little help from Batgirl, face off against Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy to prevent Gotham City from entering into another Ice Age.
Review: Far removed from the more dramatic character-driven installments that came before, Batman & Robin, the latest chapter in the series, is a veritable smorgasbord of colorful set-pieces and silly antics. The intricate, over-the-top action sequences are meant to be impressive and could have been if only they had been executed more convincingly. Worse, by introducing too many different characters, situations, and plot twists the film is forced to jump from event to event without focusing on anything. In fact it seems the film has decided that throwing eye-candy at the audience is more important than having a cohesive plot or an interesting story. It doesn't help that the film is full of corny dialogue, bad acting from the star cast, and never gets quite involving. Some good elements, namely the magnificent set design, some decent special effects, the frenetic pacing, and an interesting villain in Mr. Freeze, does save it from complete oblivion but it's nowhere near enough. More Saturday-morning cartoon that comic-book, Batman & Robin tries to deliver too much and ends up as a mildly entertaining, but mostly uninspired, mess.
Entertainment: 5/10

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
Voices of: Will Friedle, Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill
Director: Curt Geda
Plot: In a future Gotham, a new Batman and an aging Bruce Wayne must face the apparent resurrection of their deceased nemesis, The Joker, as he terrorizes the city.
Review: Surprisingly violent, dark, and quite brooding, Return of the Joker is an inventive, action-packed feature full of the excitement and thrills one comes to expect from a Batman adventure. Just like the previous series, the animation is stylish, sleek, and above-average for television fare and the new world is depicted as appropriately grittier and stranger. A sore point, though, is that some of the events concerning The Joker are resolved in an unsatisfying manner considering this is the ultimate Batman super-villain. That aside, the story is deeply rooted in the original series and adds its own flavor as well, the narration moves along at a break-neck pace, the script and events are fun, the voice acting decent, and revisiting many of the original characters, now older, is a pleasure. Note that the film released for sale has had many elements toned down and a lot of the mature content removed compared to the promotional version - in fact, it comes out as a very different work. In either case, Return of the Joker is probably not suited for younger children, but for older kids and adults, it's a solid, entertaining diversion.
Entertainment (uncensored version): 7/10

Batman Forever (1995)
Starring: Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey
Director: Joel Schumacher
Plot: Batman and his new partner Robin must stop a duo of deadly enemies in the form of the murderous Two-Face and the insane genius The Riddler before they can enslave the minds of the population of Gotham City.
Review: Batman Forever, the third of the series, takes a different route than the Tim Burton installments by providing a much more mainstream Hollywood-style blockbuster feel to the proceedings. In fact, the film is much more exciting, more visually intricate and colorful than its predecessors, full of thrilling action sequences, over-the-top theatrics, zany characters and situations, and more Bat-vehicles and Bat-gadgets than ever. Director Schumacher (8mm, Flatliners) imbues the much-more intricate and clever script with just the right amount of comic-book flair and visual style. Another reason for the success of the film is the choice of actors: Val Kilmer makes a convincing Batman, Kidman and O'Donnell make for an energetic supporting cast, and Jim Carrey's crazed antics and physical humor make for the best super-villain yet seen on the big screen. It's unfortunate that Jones, as Two-Face, is really relegated to a minor, ineffectual role. By far the most successful one of the series, Batman Forever is a wild, delightful romp into the Dark Knight universe.
Entertainment: 8/10

Batman Returns (1992)
Starring: Michael Keaton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Danny DeVito
Director: Tim Burton
Plot: Batman must save both Gotham and himself from the latest mayoral nominee, the deadly, deformed Penguin and his partner-in-crime, the intriguing but equally dangerous Catwoman.
Review: There is no doubt that Batman Returns, and its predecessor, are more products of Tim Burton's imagination than that of the original vigilante's adventures. The situations may be akin to the comic-books, but the brooding atmosphere and events are far from the typical comic-book type antics and, if anything, are darker and more downbeat than even the modern incarnation of the Dark Knight. There's still a few scenes of mayhem and action, but these seem badly staged and mostly forced. Burton's real strength is in the dramatic interactions between his neurotic, emotionally scarred characters, and here the film has its best moments. The massive, oppressive sets and good camera work convey well the depressing, nightmarish Gotham and adds much to the pervading sense of being in an extreme kind of film noir. Visually impressive though it may be, the film suffers from a confused, inconsistent plot and some bad pacing. As for Batman, he seems to be only a secondary character this time around but Keaton seems somehow more appropriate in the role he's given here. DeVito does a fine, convincing portrayal of the pitiful Penguin, but it's Pfeiffer as the sexy, schizophrenic Catwoman who really steals the movie. The erotic tension between ill-fated pair of Catwoman and Batman is, unfortunately, never played out as well as it could have been, but it does add much to the pleasure of the film. All told, Batman Returns is a stylish production with some great segments, but the whole just doesn't hold together well.
Entertainment: 6/10

Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero (1997)
Starring: Kevin Conroy, Michael Ansara
Director: Bill Oddie
Plot: Batman and Robin must find and save a kidnapped Barbara (Batgirl) Gordon from being an involuntary organ donor for Mr. Freeze's cryogenically-frozen, terminally ill wife.
Review: Sub-Zero is another direct-to-video entry capitalizing on the popularity of the Batman cartoons and made to coincide with the release of Batman & Robin, which featured the same villain. The dark, atmospheric elements of the cartoon are still evident throughout, including the stylish cityscapes and character design. The story and execution, however, are sub-par compared to some of the other attempts at creating a feature from the series (Mask of the Phantasm, Return of the Joker), or even compared to the series itself. The film feels as if events are dragged out, as if the plot and events that would fit well in a single half-hour episode was extended past the time frame it required. The animation, usually crisp and stylish, are barely modern-day TV-quality here. The exception are the few seconds of computer animation that pepper the otherwise bland car chase sequence. The ending, as the characters battle it out on an abandoned oil rig bursting in flames, adds a little excitement to the film but even this ends up being a tad long. Freeze is an interesting, morally ambiguous villain but apart from a shallow presentation of his dilemma he's here only for threat value. For fans of the series, Sub-Zero is entertaining enough, but more than a tad disappointing.
Entertainment: 4/10

Battlefield Earth (2000)
Starring: John Travolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker
Director: Roger Christian
Plot: A thousand years after the near-extinction of the human race by an evil alien corporation, the last of the now-primitive human tribes stage a revolt against the technologically superior occupying force.
Review: Based on the huge space-opera novel by L. Ron Hubbard, Battlefield Earth is a perfect example of the worst of Hollywood film-making. The cast, story, dialogue, and execution is ridiculously over-the-top, and most of the audience laughs are at the silliness of the whole proceedings. In fact, this is the most un-subtle, patronizing script in years, an amalgam of the worst elements of bad Hollywood sci-fi productions and every bad cliché in the book. The cinematography even tries to be Matrix-like but ends up just being distracting and amateurish. In fact, most of the production values seem more appropriate to a syndicated made-for-TV movie than a summer blockbuster, and the occasional decent use of CGI effects is wasted by all the implausibility of the scenes. There's actually very little action during the whole, slow proceedings. The absurd climactic air battle gives a much needed entertaining 15 minutes, but it's far too little, far too late to save the film. The main focus is on Travolta's evil security officer and his machinations, and the increasingly plodding scenes with him hamming it up to the extreme are just wasted time. Whitaker, a usually thoughtful actor, is in an absolutely insulting role here as Travolta's assistant / punching bag. The aliens are made in the mold of evil '80s corporate dweebs and are portrayed as too lame and stupid to be any kind of threat, so any kind of suspense is quickly dispelled early on. Battlefield Earth may have had aspirations of being another Independence Day but it ends up closer to Yor, the Hunter from the Future as mindless, bad, banal sci-fi.
Entertainment: 3/10

*Classic* Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Starring: Alexander Antonov, Vladimir Barsky
Director: Sergei Eisenstein
Plot: Dramatization of the Russian mutiny of 1905 and the subsequent revolt and slaughter in Odessa.
Review: Created as a propaganda film, Battleship Potemkin is a landmark film, managing to go beyond its political roots in its stunning portrayal of a popular uprising. Eisenstein uses editing techniques that were quite revolutionary for the time to jolt audiences. In fact, some of the editing and shots may appear jarring to the casual viewer used to more modern fare, but the imagery is still as powerful today as it was when the film first appeared. Battleship Potemkin is full of shocking, memorable scenes, most notably the classic one at the steps of Odessa where the citizenry's uprising is met by the imperial soldiers in a violent, bloody clash. One of the greatest films of the silent era and still a powerful one.
Drama: 9/10

The Beach (2000)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Virginie Ledoyen
Director: Danny Boyle
Plot: While seeking adventure in Thailand, a jaded young American tourist and his two French companions follow a map promising a hidden beach on a secluded island housing a community living in seeming paradise.
Review: From the very beginning, as we see the hero wade through sweaty, stark of Thai urbanity, The Beach wants to show off that it ambitions are loftier than a mere triptych adventure, that this will be a journey into the very psyche of a lost generation. There is a kernel of social commentary that wants to shine through, a sort of Lord of the Flies with adults, a send-up of idealism caught against human weaknesses, but as the story unfolds these themes fail to resonate convincingly. The main problem is that it is sometimes painfully obvious that this is an adaptation of a difficult book: events and mental transformations of the main protagonist acceptable in the novel (ones that harken back to Sheen's metamorphosis in Apocalypse Now) are hard to swallow here within the limited confines of a movie narrative. DiCaprio (despite detractors) does a solid, even believable, turn in a difficult role and the rest of the cast is for the most part good, especially the cold Swinton, playing supporting characters that aren't well fleshed out. The best parts of the book are probably all here, and some of them are quite gripping, but without a cohesive whole the narrative flails about, especially past the two-thirds mark. Though the whole proceeding is quite competently directed, and there are some intriguing visuals and stylish moments peppered throughout, this is definitely not as accomplished, either creatively or cinematically, as director Boyle's masterpiece Trainspotting. One thing is certain, the magnificent vistas of Thailand's National Park are beautifully photographed, and the crew successfully captures that Paradise quality so important to the story. In the end, The Beach isn't quite as hard-hitting as it wants to be and comes off only as a shallow adaptation, but it's an interesting one nonetheless.
Drama: 6/10

Beast Cops (1998)
Starring: Kathy Chow, Anthony Wong, Michael Wong 
Directors: Gordon Chan, Dante Lam 
Plot: A dirty veteran cop teaches his new straight-arrow superior the methods of triad-busting in Hong Kong.
Review: Acclaimed in some circles as a new breed of police drama, Beast Cops is an uneven attempt at a more gritty, realistic look at the interaction between Hong Kong cops and the criminal triads. In fact, the film goes out of its way to distance itself from the popular crime / action films, with a slow, moody pace, flawed characters and some uninteresting relationship sub-plots. There is little action throughout the film, apart from the occasional violent murder or labored knife-fighting, until the climax, where the veteran cop goes face-to-face with the young up-and-coming triad leader in a long bloody sequence. Beast Cops ends up being a decent (if repetitive) cop-buddy movie with an interesting style but one that doesn't quite live up to its potential either as a drama or as an action film. 
Drama: 4/10
Entertainment: 5/10

A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris
Director: Ron Howard
Plot: The true-life story of a brilliant mathematician who revolutionized modern economics and worked for the U.S. Government but whose eventual disturbed mental state forced him to be institutionalized.
Review: Based loosely on the biography by Sylvia Nasar, A Beautiful Mind is a compelling, if flawed, look at Nobel-prize winning mathematician John Forbes Nash. Director Howard (Apollo 13, Ransom) has an easy-going, engaging style that makes the film compelling and interesting even through some rough spots, and succeeds in conveying both the man's genius and thought processes in a simple visual manner. Howard also makes his mounting sense of paranoid schizophrenia understandable by making reality and his delusions hard to separate from the narrative. The story first follows Nash's university life and early career, and here the film is good enough. The third act is the real heart of the film, however, where both Crowe and Connelly shine: The usual Hollywood commercial veneer is still there, but the personal battle against his ever-present malady, his battle for normalcy, and the toll it takes on their relationship avoids the usual melodrama and makes it hit home. Unfortunately, the conclusion is as sweetly up-lifting and maudlin as this kind of biopic usually is, finding an easy way to "solve" Nash's mental problems and finally forcing the life of such an uncommon man into an easy-to-digest form for casual viewers. Of course, we expect the film to play with the facts, to condense and massage parts of Nash's life to suit the clean-cut, popular necessities of a big-budget production, but it's a tad disappointing. Though still sporting an inappropriate Gladiator-like physique, Crowe delves into the role of the eccentric, socially awkward, and obsessive character and makes it believable with his body language, small gestures and overall tone, much like he did in The Insider. Connelly, an actress that we haven't seen enough of, is simply radiant and almost a little too glamorous for the part but performs well in an important role. A Beautiful Mind is a fine film, one that occasionally reaches above the conformities of the genre, but one that eventually can't shed the trappings of its Hollywood roots.
Drama: 7/10

Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Starring: Robby Benson, Paige O'Hara, Angela Lansbury
Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Plot: To save her father, a young woman accepts to take his place as a prisoner to a fearful magical beast, the victim of a curse, only to realize that within him lies a gentle being.
Review: Beauty and the Beast is Disney's effort at a modern retelling of the classic fairy tale, and a quite successful one at that. The look and design of the film, from the ominous castle to the beast itself, seems well inspired by Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête and captures the necessary enchanted atmosphere. The filmmakers also knew that their romantic musical had to be a family affair and there's lots of amusing magical characters and enough depth to the story, along with some good animation (such as the grand ballroom scene, which showcases some of the first use of computer graphics mixed in to standard cels) and a good dose of humor, to accommodate and entertain both kids and adults. But the real wonder is the interaction and budding love between its two main characters, one that is better defined and much more enjoyable to watch than most other animated relationships. There are a couple of dazzling dance numbers, including some of the more memorable Disney songs including the theme and the flamboyant "Be Our Guest" with the twirling dinner ware which immediately reminds one of the old Fantasia productions. Surprisingly, however, some of the character drawings seem rough and sometimes even shoddy, something that becomes even more obvious when seen on a big screen such as the recent release on IMAX. As family entertainment, it's hard to beat Disney films, and Beauty and the Beast, though not as successful as Lion King or Aladdin, is still one of their best recent efforts.
Entertainment: 8/10

Bedazzled (2000)
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Elizabeth Hurley
Director: Harold Ramis
Plot: A well-meaning but socially-inept loser enters into a contract with Lucifer and sells his soul in exchange for seven wishes hoping to capture the woman of his dreams.
Review: Bedazzled, a remake of the original 1967 version starring Dudley Moore, keeps the original's spirit but updates the situations the hapless hero gets into to more modern tastes for exaggerated effect. Director Ramis (Groundhog Day, Analyse This) knows what most audiences want from Hollywood comedies, and here he delivers what on expects. The story is predictable, but the script manages to play well with the limitations of this type of comedy to allow for some genuinely funny sequences throughout. What really makes the film, though, isn't so much the discovery of how our loser's wishes will be turned against him (and there are some clever moments here), but the interaction between the hero and this charming, mischievous Devil. Hurley vamps up her portrayal of female Satan admirably and adds a touch of devilish style to the proceedings. Fraser is likable enough in his loser role and does a good job in his different magically transformed personalities but one can't help thinking it would be nice to see him try on some more dramatic stuff (as he did in Gods and Monsters). Though it may be fluff, Bedazzled is a fun and engaging light-hearted comedy.
Comedy: 6/10

Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
Starring: Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman
Director: John Moore
Plot: On a routine flight mission over Bosnia, a U.S. Navy pilot gets shot down and must run for his life to reach safe ground after having witnessed the Serbian army's cover-up of a mass grave.
Review: Behind Enemy Lines doesn't really pretend to be anything other than an entertaining gung-ho military action thriller and within these limits it's one that's rather enjoyable. First-time director Moore manages to add a certain cinematic flair to the proceedings with the help of some clever cinematography and quick editing that makes the film look a lot better than one would expect. Surprisingly enough, the story does try (if only in passing) to address the complex issues of the Bosnian conflict, but this is first and foremost a blow-things-up kind of exercise. Though the premise and development is typically absurd and simplistic in its depiction of the conflict and its characters, the action set-pieces are expertly done and, thanks to a brisk pacing and efficient script, the film maintains a decent level of fun. From an obvious awe of military hardware, to the well-realized explosions and pitched battles, this is an entertaining action flick and in that respect it doesn't disappoint. Wilson makes for a very different type of Hollywood hero; there's still the wisecracks, the superhuman feats and the impossible luck that follows him, but there's also a very definite wit and intelligence behind the macho veneer. Hackman, however, seems out of place and uncomfortable here. Like most of the genre, it's got plot holes the size of carriers, of course, but as a straight-forward action exercise, Behind Enemy Lines works pretty well.
Entertainment: 6/10

Behind the Blue (L'Enfant d'Eau) (Quebec - 1995)
Starring: David LaHaye, Marie-France Monette, Gilbert Sicotte
Director: Robert Ménard
Plot: Stranded on a Caribbean island after a plane crash, a feisty 12-year-old girl and a mentally handicapped adult grow closer while they await a possible rescue.
Review: L'Enfant d'Eau, a mature coming-of-age story mixed in with parts Robinson Crusoe, proves an interesting addition to Quebec cinema. Little is made of the two mis-matched survivors being cast-aways, even limiting the details of their necessities for survival. Instead, the film makes us feel as though they were stranded on a beautifully scenic, deserted beach resort, something which allows the film to focus on the dynamics between them. The very heart of the film is this interesting relationship between the head-strong young girl and the helpless man, switching the typical child / adult relationship from mother / child to "lovers", though the word might conjure up the wrong connotation here. Director Ménard often goes for the sentimentality evident in the subject but still manages to bring about a heart-warming, if finally tragic, tale with good results. If there's one disappointment it's the jumps in sensibilities of their relationship, including some of the more important turning points, which seem to occur without the necessary build-up. Since they are being recreated from journal entries, this is acceptable (and maybe even necessary for the story to maintain momentum), but it still feels abrupt. This is particularly evident regarding the young girl's sexual awakening and her decision to do something about it with someone who doesn't have the capacity to reciprocate emotionally. These scenes, which brings up some rather provocative material, is done with surprising honesty that only makes the film all the more touching. Both leads are convincing in their roles, with LaHaye winning a Genie for his performance as the simpleton, both managing some rather difficult scenes well. In the end, the film does shy away from some of the more risqué sexual implications, and the story comes off as rather simplistic, but with solid acting from its two leads and an interesting twist on the genre, L'Enfant d'Eau is a fine drama.
Drama: 7/10

Being John Malkovich (1999)
Starring: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich
Director: Spike Jonze
Plot: Out of desperation, a down-on-his-luck puppeteer takes a job as a filing clerk and blunders onto a doorway that allows him to enter the mind of John Malkovich for 15 minutes at a time.
Review: How to describe this strange, bizarre film? A surrealist, philosophical spoof of the New Age movement? A romantic-comedy with a weird ménage-à-quatre? Whatever Being John Malkovich ends up being pegged as, there is no denying that director Jonze has delivered an original, well-written, unpredictable, and hilarious piece of film-making. Cameron Diaz is almost unrecognizable as the demure pet-crazy wife with a permanent bad hair day, and Malkovich and Cusack are terrific, but it's Catherine Keener who really steals the show as the cynical sex-pot whom all the other characters lust over. If you're looking for a different kind of comedy, you can't get more off-the-wall than this!
Comedy: 8/10

*Classic* Ben-Hur (1959)
Starring: Charlton Heston, Hugh Griffith, Jack Hawkins
Director: William Wyler
Plot: A Jewish nobleman is wrongfully accused and sold into slavery by a childhood friend now a Roman tribunal but manages, years later, to make his way back seeking revenge.
Review: A remake of the 1925 silent hit, Ben-Hur is foremost an old-style melodramatic Hollywood spectacle, an epic production shot on a huge scale that went on to win a record-breaking 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. It's easy to see why the film was such a hit, with its rousing melodrama, historical background, evocative sets, religious underpinnings, glorious action sequences, and gorgeous cinematography that makes great use of the widescreen image to show off the large crowd scenes and huge resplendent Roman armies. Aiming so hard for epic scope, though, the film drags out a rather simple story - at just under four hours, it’s obvious the film could have used some editing to cut down on the interminable melodrama. The main culprit is the heavy-handed writing which suffers a lot from an approach not uncommon in '50s epics of the sort, where overly theatrical dialogue and acting abounds, making parts of the tale all the more "greater-than-life", while making others border on the plain silly. The insistence on the "biblical" aspect of the times, on the rise of Jesus and the Christian faith, and on a simplistic religious message, mires an otherwise rousing tale, making it feel as though it were included solely for the hero to ultimately find redemption and forgiveness in the meant-to-be "inspiring" (but oh so horribly deus ex machina) finale. Charlton Heston was perfect for the role, as the story requires more posturing, anger-filled tirades and hard-edged good looks than actual acting ability, qualities Heston gives off in spades. The rest of the cast, however, is rather wooden and often come out as mere caricatures. No matter, for the film also includes one of the crowning achievements of classic Hollywood cinema, the carefully choreographed climactic chariot race. It's a thrilling, rousing event, that puts the filmmakers' expertise in evidence - from the colossal sets, huge crowds, thundering horses, and death-defying stunts, it's all a mesmerizing feat and is worth the wait. The story and narrative may be somewhat dated and overly long, but in its inspired spectacle and lavish production, Ben-Hur never fails to impress.
Entertainment: 7/10

Best in Show (2000)
Starring: Christopher Guest, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey
Director: Christopher Guest
Plot: A camera crew follows five different teams of Best-of-Breed dog owners from different corners of the U.S. as they prepare for, and compete in, a prestigious national dog show in Philadelphia.
Review: Best in Show, a comedy on the madness and obsessions behind a national dog competition shot in pseudo-documentary mode, excels in pushing the caricature of the dog lover, but somehow doesn't capture any of the sympathy. The first half of the film is made up of a bunch of short, intimate moments introducing the large variety of eccentric, rather brainless characters. These are occasionally funny, if a tad tired and repetitive. The real event, however, is the dog show itself with all the pageantry and melodrama expected, all presented by an insufferable parody of a host. Much of the humor in this section is supposed to be based on his incessant, naive chatter, and though some of his lines are hilarious in their stupidity, it soon becomes more annoying than entertaining. The cast is made up of quite an impressive list of good, B-list actors all playing their off-the-wall personalities to the hilt but without meatier roles, they all stay as cardboard cut-outs ready-made for skit comedy, not movies. In the end, all we get in Best of Show is a series of clichés showing how sad all these silly people really are. That's too bad; the premise was sound, but the script just wasn't up to the comedic potential.
Comedy: 5/10

*Classic* A Better Tomorrow (Hong Kong - 1986)
Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Ti Lung, Leslie Cheung
Director: John Woo
Plot: A reformed ex-con tries to save his relationship with his brother, a rookie cop, who blames him for their father's death but his old criminal ties won't let him stay straight.
Review: When A Better Tomorrow first appeared on Hong Kong screens it quickly became more than just another action escapade, it single-handedly set the standard for one of Hong Kong's most popular genres and revitalized Woo's career (who went on to direct Hard Boiled and Face/Off). Of course, the action set-pieces, mostly limited to well-staged shootouts, is fast-paced and hard-hitting with all the trademark Woo visuals that would mark his later films: the two-handed gun-play, the cinematic bullet ballet, the slow-motion deaths, the splendid cinematography, etc. The final confrontation against droves of armed killers makes for a dizzying, memorable 20 minutes. More so than the bloody sequel, the story here is what's really important, with Woo's favorite theme of loyalty and brotherhood taking center stage, adding strong melodrama and imbuing the relationships with a dimensionality not usually seen in action films. The script is efficient and lively, presenting a violent, dark world where codes of honor and personal bonds are all that separates the living from the dead. Another important point is the level of the acting, all three leads creating believable characters, each desperate for personal redemption. That said, Cheung and Lung are as good as ever, but it's Chow, as the suave, cool enforcer that steals the show - his character, in sunglasses, trenchcoat, armed with a gun in each fist, is the template for many a future action star. Countlessly imitated since, A Better Tomorrow is ground-zero for the genre, a true Hong Kong classic, and a must-see.
Entertainment: 8/10

Bicentennial Man (1999)
Starring: Robin Williams, Embeth Davidtz
Director: Chris Columbus
Plot: A domestic robot realizes that, by accident, he is unique and spends the next two hundred years in his quest to find others like him, and to finally become human in both spirit and body.
Review: Bicentennial Man is very loosely based on Isaac Asimov's brilliant tale of the same name. This adaptation aims squarely for the heart strings, and isn't ashamed to show it. The story may have tried for lofty philosophical goals but by using every conceivable Hollywood cliché, shallow perceptions, and constant saccharine sweet melodrama it ends up being a tiresome, long-winded affair. The main problem is the dreadfully uninteresting and slow-moving script, one in which the few comedy elements seem to have been added as an afterthought and are mostly limited to silly one-liners. Not to say that there aren't a few fun moments on occasion, but it just doesn't live up to its interesting premise of what it is to be human, and is simply a waste of good original material. The role is not a stretch for Williams and this is one of his worst ones in a while, though he does a better performance under layers of plastic than without. In the end, Bicentennial Man is just a ho-hum sentimental film mired by a badly conceived sci-fi story.
Entertainment: 3/10

Big Bullet (Hong Kong - 1996)
Starring: Lau Ching-Wan
Director: Benny Chan
Plot: A hot headed police officer is demoted to leading a ragtag team of Emergency Unit cops to stop a gang of drug dealers from stealing their confiscated $9 million back from Interpol.
Review: Big Bullet derives from the typical cop movie template, including an exaggerated mix of characters and slim plot, but it delivers exactly what it promises. Lau Ching-Wan is easily the best HK star at present, and his presence in any film makes it worth watching. Devoid of the seriousness of earlier films such as Expect the Unexpected, this one is made for fun, and it shows. Some impressive, Hollywood-style action sequences, high production values, good cinematography, and a script that zips along at a good pace are all the trademarks of yet another great Milky Way production that doesn't disappoint.
Entertainment: 7/10

Big Daddy (1999)
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kristy Swanson
Director: Dennis Dugan
Plot: To impress his girlfriend, an irresponsible man decides to adopt a five-year old who's been left in his care by mistake. He soon realizes that there's more to parenting than he expected.
Review: I must admit I went into this film expecting to hate it. But Adam Sandler has a certain charm when he plays it straight (as he did in The Wedding Singer), and the second half of the film, even through its obvious pulling-of-the-heart-strings and predictable turns, is actually quite enjoyable. The biggest yuks are intended to come from the off-color humor, of course, but there are still some worthy chuckles.
Comedy: 3/10
Entertainment: 4/10

The Big Heat (Hong Kong - 1988)
Starring: Waise Lee, Joey Wang, Philip Kwok
Director: Johnnie To
Plot: After his partner is murdered by drug-runners, a cop suffering from nerve damage must put his life and resignation on hold to pursue the criminals.
Review: The Big Heat is a perfect example of the type of film that made Hong Kong movies so popular to action and entertainment fans. It's a hard-boiled crime thriller, with a heavy emphasis on riveting gun battles as the cops play a game of cat-and-mouse with the smart, influential villains. Genre conventions are still evident, and the story is a re-hash of many other similar films, including plot twists and clichés, but director To (Heroic Trio, The Mission) keeps the pace going strong, and the narrative constantly interesting with trademark camera angles and quick editing. The real heart of the film, however, are the constantly inventive, brutally violent, well shot action sequences that deliver a roller-coaster ride of non-stop thrills. Even the characters, played by some great HK B-movie actors, are interesting thanks to a script that efficiently sets up the different players and their personalities amidst the constant gun play. Surprisingly fun and furious despite its unoriginal subject, The Big Heat is one great action flick that makes it all look fresh and exciting.
Entertainment: 9/10

The Big One (1998)
Starring: Michael Moore, Rick Nielsen
Director: Michael Moore
Plot: Michael Moore's camera crew follows him on a whirlwind book tour of small-town USA where he speaks out against corporate greed and the myths of downsizing.
Review: Part Roger & Me, part TV Nation and part stand-up comedy, The Big One is Michael Moore's pointed look at corporate downsizing, at companies moving their facilities outside of the U.S. to maximize their profits to the detriment of blue-collar workers. Moore takes on a much broader socio-economic scope here and has many more political statements to make on the new style of "economic terrorism" instigated on the American work force. The best moments, of course, are when he takes his documentary style, guerilla journalism straight to the jobless communities, to management and press agents, and to government representatives, most of whom are completely unprepared for his in-your-face, below-the-belt anti-corporate pranks. Though some of the points made are familiar, The Big One is still an entertaining, and eye-opening, documentary.
Entertainment: 7/10
Documentary: 7/10

*Classic* The Big Sleep (1946)
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely
Director: Howard Hawks
Plot: A tough private investigator is hired to protect a millionaire's daughter from a blackmail scam, but things get complicated when he is thrust into a complex scheme of betrayal and murder.
Review: Based on Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel that first introduced the tough, cynical detective-for-hire Marlowe, The Big Sleep is an excellent example of Hollywood's film noir period. By having our hard-as-nails hero on screen at all times, the narrative seems to unfold through his eyes, with the audience kept in the dark as to the mystery involving all these shady underworld characters. The intricate web of deception and betrayals, of all the motivations to be deciphered, sometimes gets so confusing even its authors were at a loss to explain it all! Yet despite its convoluted plot, the film has remained a classic of the hard-boiled genre with all the elements clearly in place (murders, corruption, tough guys, paranoia, suspense, etc.). This is above all an exercise in characterization and style, and the film has those elements in spades thanks to a very precise, clean direction from Hawks, and a sultry, intelligent script from famed American authors Leigh Brackett and William Faulkner which is full of snappy dialogue, sexual innuendo, great one-liners and cynical witticisms. Even the Max Steiner score helps provide the perfect mood as we explore the gloomy streets and shady characters that populate this LA underworld. A large part of the success of the film is also, of course, due to the great chemistry between Bacall and Bogart who do well in some pretty racy scenes, with Bogie as suave and cool as ever and the young Bacall playing the femme fatale to perfection. With its quick pacing, engaging characters, dark atmosphere and sharp dialogue, The Big Sleep is definitely required viewing.
Entertainment: 9/10

Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Starring: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun
Director: John Carpenter
Plot: A wise-cracking truck driver tries to help recover his buddy's fiancé who has been kidnapped by a 2000 year old cursed sorcerer and taken underneath the catacombs of San Francisco's Chinatown.
Review: With Big Trouble in Little China, director Carpenter (The Thing, Escape from New York) has set out to create an over-the-top martial-arts fantasy in the style of early '80s Hong Kong films, one where zany stunts and campy goings-on are king. Unfortunately the allusion was lost on mainstream audiences at the time of its release for the sole reason that no-one had seen the films it lampooned. What remained was a light-hearted send off of the Indiana Jones type of supernatural high adventure, one that can best be described as the ultimate in B-movie kitsch, with some fabulously tacky sets, wacky characters and events, high-flying action, and decent F/X, all of which are used to great effect in Carpenter's ode to kung fu films, pulp serials, and all that stuff we loved when we were kids. Another good reason for its appeal are its two leads, Cattrall and Russell, who give off some perfectly hammy, over-the-top performances as required for such a spoof, delivering the snappy, corny dialogue without missing a beat and with great comic timing. This isn't meant to be a grand film by any means, but with some brisk pacing, great one-liners, and some great B-movie serial thrills Big Trouble in Little China has all the requirements for a veritable cult classic.
Entertainment: 8/10

Billy Elliot (2000)
Starring: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Jamie Draven
Director: Stephen Daldry
Plot: During a nation-wide miners strike in 80's England, an 11-year old boy dreams of being a dancer but must hide his taking ballet classes from his working-class family who would rather he concentrate on boxing.
Review: The British drama Billy Elliot tells a story that has been done countless times before but with a refreshing sense of place, an excellent script, and a whimsical take on the usual formula that focuses more on the people than on the dancing. The film has a hard time avoiding the many clichés of the genre, and indeed does fall into many of them, but there's a terrific visual wit, and a real passion throughout most of the film that makes it quite enchanting. A dash of social-conscious drama, and more than a dash of comedy, also help make up the difference. The background story of the grim fate and ensuing hardships of the mining town, vivid and always present, also puts a different spin to Billy's dream of rising up from his poor surroundings and adds depth to all of the characters' struggles. Best of all, these characters are well-rounded and their relationships complex and interesting, and the cast, though sometimes uneven, pulls it off well. The young Jamie Bell, however, is the real heart of the film, acting, dancing, and quite simply living the character with a passion that is quickly contagious. A gentle, tender film that occasionally falls into sentimentality, Billy Elliot surfaces as a well-made, feel-good drama.
Drama: 7/10

The Bird People of China (Japan - 1998)
Starring: Masahiro Motoki, Renji Ishibashi, Mako
Director: Takashi Miike
Plot: A naive Tokyo businessman and an ill-tempered yakuza gangster travel across the Chinese countryside to find a remote village rumored to be the center of a huge jade exploitation.
Review: The Bird People in China is an entertaining, but strange little film. At first, it's a comic adventure buddy-flick as the two very different protagonists cross increasingly difficult terrain in rural China under worsening weather conditions with their absent-minded guide, causing increasing friction between the two travelling companions. Then they arrive at the village, a place untouched by political or technological change, and the film takes a much more melodramatic tone, turning into a rather eco-friendly fairy-tale. In less capable hands, this dichotomy might not have worked, but writer / director Miike (The Audition, Dead or Alive) manages to infuse both halves with just the right amount of humor, drama, and mysticism to make it all quite endearing. Thankfully, the film doesn't just regurgitate the typical theme of rural community versus urban alienation, and instead balances the reverential tone with some gentle mockery at its characters' sudden enchantment at their surroundings and their sudden change in attitude. The cast of quirky characters is excellent, knowing when to be serious and when to be silly as the script requires. The cinematography, showing the mist-covered mountains of China to best effect, is breath-taking. Taken as a fable for adults, The Bird People in China is a beautiful, heart-warming film that proves Miike is versatile no matter his choice of material.
Entertainment / Drama: 8/10

*Classic* The Birds (1963)
Starring: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Plot: Soon after the arrival of a young socialite, a small coastal town becomes the center of a series of increasingly violent attacks by a large number of birds.
Review: What starts off as a minor Hitchcock mystery slowly builds in tension until half-way through the film, when the narrative really hits its stride. The Birds is quite a departure from the director's usual crime stories and can be interpreted as an environmental disaster film or as a modern horror film, with its tearing down of normality and its open-ended outcome. Either way, Hitchcock's trademark suspense is clearly evident - he has produced another terrifying, tension-filled feature. Of course, the real surprise is the amazing cinematography, and that the impressive trick shots, though they look a little dated and fake compared to modern CGI effects, still hold up pretty well. Indeed, it's a testimony to Hitchcock's mastery and to Evan Hunter's script that even the worst effects do nothing to mar the pacing and the increasing tension of the story. Some memorable sequences include the flock of birds flying down on the running school-children, the birds trying to break into the barricaded farmhouse, and the claustrophobia of Hedren caught in the phone booth during the bird attack on the gas station, to name but a few. It is unfortunate, though, that Hitchcock preferred shooting in studios instead of on location as some of the scenes are clearly filmed on sets which occasionally breaks the illusion. Still, well shot, well edited and amazingly set up, The Birds is definitely a classic, first-rate thriller.
Suspense: 9/10

Black Hawk Down (2001)
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore
Director: Ridley Scott
Plot: In 1993, a 30-minute military operation to capture two lieutenants of a vicious Somalian warlord goes terribly wrong when the soldiers encounter unexpectedly heavy militia forces and turns into a deadly 17-hour firefight. 
Review: After Gladiator and Hannibal, Black Hawk Down is another step in director Scott's (Blade Runner, Alien) continuing search for an Oscar. He is a consummate, stylish filmmaker, and the movie is always engaging and interesting to look at with imagery that is gritty, gut-wrenching, and appropriately violent - this is urban combat on a grand scale, and when things go bad, they're disastrous. Saving Private Ryan raised the bar for the bloody depiction, and audience immersion, of the battlefield and here it's extended to a two-hour trip. The tactical details involving helicopters, Humvees, foot soldiers and even mobs are well set-up and believable. Yet though the obvious skill in all aspects of the production are impressive, there's a certain shallowness to the overdrawn proceedings, as if the real story was kept hidden beneath the explosive pyrotechnics. Obviously, recreating exactly the events that occurred is both impossible and lacks a certain Tinseltown flair, so the story does take liberties with fact to provide a better fictional account of modern men at war. Unfortunately, the complexities of the US's Somalia mission haven't so much been simplified as side-stepped. By limiting the exposition and historical / political set-up of the conflict, we're left with an exercise that is harrowing, yes, but that ends up feeling much more like a dragged-out action flick than a war drama. There's a lot of shooting, many tense moments, and an urgency to the proceedings that's quite tangible, but there are also instances of easy melodrama and jingoistic fervor that Hollywood is so good at that just leaves a bad taste. The all-star ensemble cast, including some surprising faces, does a decent if somehow unconvincing job of soldiering and end up as pretty one-dimensional characters. Black Hawk Down doesn't offer any penetrating new observations on war or its soldiers, but as a well-done depiction of the frenzied chaos of urban combat with a Coles Notes description of the Somalia debacle, it's an effective, often riveting, piece of filmmaking.
War / Drama: 7/10

The Black List (La Liste Noire) (Quebec - 1995)
Starring: Michel Côté, Geneviève Brouillette, Sylvie Bourque 
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Plot: A judge's life and family are threatened when, during a sex offense trial, a prostitute publicly offers up a list of her influential clients which include friends and colleagues.
Review: The Black List offers up a concoction of greed, sex, and suspense in the backdrop of society's highest levels of justice. But what makes it really interesting is the that the story tries to include a vivid moral dilemma, and a realistic sense of desperation, confusion and suffering in its cast of characters as the prostitute's blackmail scheme backfires and the violence escalates. The plot twists and dialogue are, for the most part, quite good and keep the viewers interested. The cast is solid and believable but it's unfortunate that not enough time is given to flesh them out individually. The real disappointment is that the dramatic tension is lost towards the end and the expected emotional resolution that could have made the film a terrific social drama is replaced instead by a trick ending (one that lays bare many inconsistencies of the plot) that relegates the film to only a decent thriller. The Black List is still an involving and clever film, just one that could have been much more.
Entertainment: 7/10

Black Mask (Hong Kong - 1996)
Starring: Jet Li, Lau Ching-wan, Francoise Yip
Director: Daniel Lee
Plot: After escaping a secret super-soldier project, a survivor dons a mask of anonymity to go up against his former teammates who are using their new-found skills to viciously exterminate their drug-dealing competitors.
Review: Combining producer Tsui Hark's trademark fantasy elements with modern comic-book super-heroics, Black Mask is an interesting effort to create an original vehicle for star Jet Li. The many violent, frenetic action sequences combining martial arts, wire-fu, and a bevy of deadly gadgets are well executed, if not particularly original, and have the mark of famed action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping (The Matrix, Iron Monkey) all over them. The film is also typical of the new breed of Hong Kong films - slick, well shot, with above-average production values. Unfortunately, though the film looks good, the plot doesn't allow you to care much for the characters. Jet Li is fine and adequately charming when necessary in the comic relief bits, and always impressive in the fight scenes, though the rapid editing doesn't allow his skills to shine through. Lau Ching-Wan, as the tough cop, plays his role straight and adds a certain energy and class to the proceedings. Though the story and pacing may be a little weak, as a stylish cartoon adventure, Black Mask offers up a healthy dose of high-flying action to satisfy any fan of the genre.
Entertainment / Action: 6/10

The Blacksheep Affair (1998)
Starring: Chiu Man-Cheuk, Shu Kei, Ken Wong
Director: Allen Lam
Plot: A Chinese commando is reposted to an East European country and soon finds himself at odds with both a corrupt military general and a murderous but charismatic leader of a Japanese doomsday cult. 
Review: The Blacksheep Affair is full of decent, sometimes even great, action scenes, starting off with an airplane hijacking and advancing to multiple gun-battles and an explosive car chase. But where the film really shines is when the talented Cheuk gets to show off his martial arts skills, and thankfully there are quite a few opportunities, often quite impressive and inventive, all choreographed by the legendary Ching Sui Tung (Swordsman II). The climactic fight scene between Cheuk and the Japanese villain combining wire work, acrobatics, martial arts and even sword-fighting, is worth the whole film. The story is a mixed bag, throwing into the story Japanese religious terrorists, a lover lost during Tiennamen Square found again, arms smuggling, European prejudices, and even a dash of political unrest and Chinese propaganda. Though none of it is really delved into and sometimes bogs the film down a bit, it doesn't really detract from the action. One inadvertently hilarious, and sometimes jarring, element is that everyone in this former Soviet republic speaks badly scripted English! A fun, entertaining film for action buffs.
Action: 8/10
Entertainment: 7/10

Blade (1998)
Starring: Wesley Snipes, N'bushe Wright, Stephen Dorff
Director: Stephen Norrington
Plot: Still trying to avenge his mother's death, a half-human half-vampire "day walker" hunts the city's underground to stop a vampire and his high-tech crew from unleashing an Apocalypse.
Review: Blending elements of action and horror, Blade, based on the Marvel Comics superhero, is an engagingly dark, energetic super-hero movie. In fact, this is an extremely violent film, where gruesome, savage bloodletting abounds. Slick, stylish production values and some impressive sets, combined with some great camera shots, long shadows and some fast edits pull us into this strange, eerie world. The film is in constant motion, peppered with many action sequences and fight scenes, full of martial arts, wire acrobatics and gunplay, all well staged and, thanks to some good choreography and quick edits, all lightning-quick. The details of the vampire politics on display, as well as the rich vampire history, help make the story intriguing and help create a fictional universe that could easily hold a new movie franchise. Sure, the whole proceedings are not bound by simple things such as real-world logic but by the gravity-defying laws of Hong Kong films and comic-books, but there's a gripping, exciting story here, and though there are indeed some gaping holes in many of the plot, it all moves along at a brisk pace. Snipes plays the role of the vampire hunter with as much intensity and gusto as he can muster with just an edge of vulnerability to his dark side, and it's a delight to see him on screen. The rest of the cast is OK, with Dorff a rather subdued villain, and Kris Krisofferson, as Blade's mentor, doing a good over-the-top performance. Few comic-book heroes make the jump from the page to the screen successfully, but Blade is one that exceeds its humble beginnings to give audiences some rousing entertainment.
Entertainment: 8/10

Blade II (2002)
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Ron Perlman, Kris Kristofferson
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Plot: A vampire hunter is forced to team up with a crack unit of his bloodsucking adversaries to help defeat a greater threat - a terrifying new mutant race that feeds on vampires.
Review: Whereas the first Blade had a good combination of action, story and character development, the sequel seems to eschew everything but attitude (which it has in spades) and continuous action, doled out in large chunks with a bevy of pounding tunes, as if afraid audiences would be bored by any kind of exposition. The fight scenes are definitely impressive, and there are more of them than any six-pack of typical action films combined, but the moves are so quick, the editing so rapid, that it all becomes just a blur - so much so that one can't appreciate the evident finesse and choreography on display. Another atrocity is the extensive use of unconvincing computer graphics to allow its heroes and villains superhuman feats, ones that appear too fake to readily accept. The problem here is similar to The Mummy Returns - the action has been cranked up ten-fold, but the elements that made the previous so watchable has disappeared. The film has a great sense of visual style, mostly due to Euro director Del Toro (Cronos, The Devil's Backbone) and, thanks to some strong horror elements, with some effective gross-out moments and a decidedly dark, brooding atmosphere, it does deliver the necessary thrills. Yet the vampire lore and well-defined world so well crafted in the first installment is barely used here, alluding to it only as a stepping stone for a loosely plotted story to help fill in the gaps between action scenes. The character interaction is also limited to witty macho quips hissed back and forth, some of which are actually quite amusing. Apart from Snipes, who carries off the cooler-than-cool persona, the rest of the supporting cast (including the criminally underused HK martial artist Donnie Yen) is pure cannon fodder. One exception is Perlman, who excels in another over-the-top bad guy role as the volatile sub-leader of the vampire task force. As a loud, mindless, fast-paced action flick, Blade II definitely delivers, but for fans of the first film it's a step backwards for the franchise.
Entertainment: 6/10

The Blade (Hong Kong - 1995)
Starring: Zhou Wen-zhou, Xiong Xin-xin
Director: Tsui Hark
Plot: After losing an arm fighting a band of vicious local bandits, a sword-maker decides to learn one-armed kung-fu to extract revenge on the tattooed master that killed his father.
Review: Taking its inspiration from the Shaw Brother's The One-Armed Swordsman, The Blade is director Tsui Hark's answer to Wong Kar-Wai's surreal Ashes of Time, but without that film's amazing tapestry of images or style. Indeed, this is a disappointing exercise from Tsui Hark (Once Upon a Time in China, Peking Opera Blues) with a surprisingly slow, often ponderous pace. The story could have been better presented, and the events more stirring, but the film seems content to throw an erratic plot-line with unexplained characters and motivations for the sake of some stylishly edited action. As for the fight sequences, they are decent, but there's nothing very inventive or original here, and the quick, often blurry editing just ends up making them confusing. Thankfully the trademark Tsui Hark cinematography is clearly evident with some interesting play of shadows and color, and the acrobatic final one-on-one battle of swords makes up for a lot, it's just unfortunate that Zho Wen-zhou (The Blacksheep Affair) is so underused. The Blade has all the elements for a great film, but ends up as only a mildly entertaining effort.
Entertainment: 5/10

Blade Runner (1982)
Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young
Director: Ridley Scott
Plot: After four near-human "replicants" illegally land in 2019 Los Angeles, a cop specializing in hunting them down is dispatched to terminate them, but his assignment takes on a different tone when he falls in love with a replicant himself.
Review: Blade Runner, director Ridley Scott's follow-up to the hugely successful dark sci-fi horror Alien, could well be said to be his crowning achievement. The film manages to be more than a typical big-budget adaptation of the novella by Philip K. Dick, retaining the existential ponderings of the original story, mainly the theme of what it is to be human. The film is best described as a science-fiction film noir with all the trimmings - a morally ambiguous anti-hero, a femme fatale, the typical shadowy interiors and dark streets all surrounding an interesting sci-fi premise. In fact, the film is a very personal, almost intimate, character-driven narrative set on a vast template of a sprawling city landscape and an intricate background. Its most stunning achievement, though, is the way the film set the standard for bleak futures: dark, dirty, stylish, full of bustling streets, neon lights, darkened corners, a persistent brooding atmosphere created by the amazing special effects, great sets, detailed decor and original use of light and shadows. With its impressive visuals, intricate storyline, intelligent script, and a moody Vangelis musical score, Blade Runner is a classic of 1980's science-fiction, and one that well-deserves its reputation.
Drama: 9/10

Blair Witch Project, The (1999)
Starring: Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard
Director: Daniel Myrick
Plot: Three film students decide to go into the woods and document their search for the legend of the Blair Witch. They disappear without a trace. A year later, their footage is found...
Review: The film has received wide acclaim from both audiences and media, and deservedly so, showing that a small-budget and good script can compete with Hollywood. It's an interesting and, in the last moments, a terrifying horror picture. The suspense is constant throughout, and the style of filming and true-sounding dialogue make it seem very real. Unfortunately, the story seems a little stretched at 82 minutes. As a warning, the major part of the story is filmed using a hand camera and its constant jittering can make some people a little queasy. In the end, it may not be as good as some critics are making it out to be, but it is definitely worth watching.
Entertainment: 7/10

*Classic* The Blue Angel (Der Blaue Engel) (Germany - 1930)
Starring: Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Plot: A repressed school-teacher decides to confront a cabaret singer who is bewitching his students, but ends up infatuated with her and so begins his descent into moral and professional ruin.
Review: Hailed as a masterpiece of German cinema, this is Marlene Dietrich's last film before moving to Hollywood. Dietrich is formidable here, portraying provocative intensity with a single look. Director von Sternberg creates another stark, dark look at the middle-class using the hypocrite professor to point a blaming finger at German society. The character's degradation is emphasized by some painful scenes, culminating in a pathetic clown act in front of his former students. The Blue Angel reflects the political situation of the times, as Germany was in economic ruin after WWI, and it remains even today a powerful and emotional piece of film-making.
Drama: 8/10

Blue Streak (1999)
Starring: Martin Lawrence, Luke Wilson
Director: Les Mayfield
Plot: A jewel thief trying to con his way into a police station to retrieve a large diamond is mistaken for a real detective.
Review: Blue Streak, another in a series of comedy / crime capers for its star, is a surprisingly stylish, funny and well-paced concoction with enough action, zany antics and twists to provide a good time. Though unfair comparisons with 48 Hrs and Beverly Hills Cop have been thrown about due to its main plot (a black thief among a white police force), the film manages to work with its own rules. The comedy consists mostly of fish-out-of-water routines as the street-wise hero tries to blend in with his inadvertent surroundings and the usual Lawrence shtick of hamming it up for the camera. Fans of Lawrence's physical humor will lap this up, of course, but in this instance it works well for the rest of us, too. Even the action scenes, with the usual healthy offering of shoot outs and car chases, are well produced and actually quite exciting and fit in well with the rest of the story. The plot and events are ridiculous yet there are so many amusing skits and situations that we can't help but go along for the ride. As for the rest of the cast, their main reason for being is to act as the straight guys and sounding boards for Lawrence's antics, and as dumb-as-doornails cops they do just fine. Blue Streak isn't a genre-defining film, perhaps, but its aim to simply entertain goes a long way to making this a surprisingly enjoyable action / comedy.
Entertainment: 6/10

Blue Thunder (1983)
Starring: Roy Scheider, Candy Clark, Malcolm McDowell
Director: John Badham
Plot: A good cop, an ex-Vietnam helicopter pilot, is called on to test a new, heavily-armed copter destined for crowd control but uncovers a murderous conspiracy to use its power for a much darker scheme.
Review: The paranoid techno-thriller Blue Thunder is very much a product of the early '80s, and one of the better examples of the early years of the blockbuster action flicks. While the first half of the film has its share of action, violence, humor and melodrama, there's also a strong undercurrent of political themes, principally on the Orwellian technology available to governments and the potential to eradicate our privacy. The script also includes many dramatic sub-plots, such as Murphy being a Vietnam vet who is still having flashbacks and has problems with his relationship, sub-plots which give color to the film but never really go anywhere. As the plot builds up to its climax, the story's plausibility, teetering up until then, falls by the way of the silly. In the end, all of it was mere preliminary for the action finale, an impressive series of well-executed aerial dogfights between the buildings of L.A. Some of these scenes may not be as effective as the latest CGI offerings but they're still readily exciting. Bandham (Saturday Night Fever, Wargames) directs with a good flair for pacing and the cinematic, showing off the copter and its prowess in surveillance and firepower to best effect. The cast is OK, with Scheider doing another fine turn as a likeable, down-to-earth hero while McDowell starts off here his second career as a cocky, despicable villain. Though somewhat dated, with its solid storyline and classic combat sequences Blue Thunder is one of the decade's highlights in Hollywood action films.
Entertainment: 7/10

Bone Collector, The (1999) 
Starring: Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Queen Latifah
Director: Phillip Noyce
Plot: A paraplegic New York forensics detective enlists the aid of a young, street smart female cop to help him catch a vicious serial killer who leaves a complex series of clues after each murder.
Review: The Bone Collector is a decent, well-paced, and entertaining mystery-thriller from genre director Phillip Noyce (Dead Calm, Clear and Present Danger). The film could have been edited a bit better, and some of the scenes lack the necessary tension for this kind of movie, but there's enough here to keep us interested. The plot itself is very formulaic, but actors Washington and Jolie make a great "odd-couple" pair and that helps raise the film above the typical Hollywood fare.
Entertainment: 6/10

The Book of Life (1999)
Starring: Martin Donovan, PJ Harvey, Thomas Jay Ryan
Director: Hal Hartley
Plot: Having second thoughts on starting the Apocalypse, Christ joins the Devil in New York on the eve of the new millennium to discuss the coming end of humanity over a few drinks.
Review: Indy auteur Hal Hartley has cooked up a clever, made-for-TV feature as part of the international series "2000 Seen By...". The film was shot on a shoe-string budget, with a hand-held video camera, using strong backlighting, distinct colors, and many crooked camera angles giving it a harsher, more "music video" feel. The story itself promises much, but the characters end up seeming rather petty and a little too "human". There are some high points, as when the two supposed adversaries discuss theology in a bar, we discover that the Book of Life is actually an old PowerBook, and that a lawyer is helping bring about Armageddon. There just isn't enough meat to the film: we see the characters walk around in slow-motion a lot, the dialogues are rare, and though there are some witty repartee and theological ideas, the film doesn't really try to break new ground. An amusing, interesting exercise, but one that had the potential for more.
Drama: 5/10

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)
Starring: Kim Director, Jeffrey Donovan, Erica Leershen
Director: Joe Berlinger
Plot: After spending a strange night in the woods on the ruins of a famous haunted location, five thrill seekers discover that they have brought something evil back with them.
Review: After the amazing critical and box-office success of the independent production The Blair Witch Project, a sequel was inevitable. Aiming for something altogether different with more money, better actors, and slicker production values, however, does not mean a better film. The theme this time around is the distinction between our perception of reality and that captured by our own technology, of group hysteria versus actual supernatural events. These are promising ideas, and the mock-umentary beginning is hilarious, but unfortunately, the subject is given only passing development before taking a back seat to silly omens and plot twists. In fact the film falls into the tired teenage ghost story / slasher genre, with a cliché-ridden plot that borrows from past horror flicks to rather poor effect. Worse, by showing everything in graphic detail, by explaining events ad nauseam, the film loses the very essence of the original, that of the mystery and fear of the unknown. Whereas the three protagonists of the first film were believable and connected with the audience, making what was happening to them all the more horrific, the ill-fated group here is made up of ridiculous stereotypes (including a Goth and a Wiccan) that are wholly unsympathetic. Director Berlinger (Paradise Lost) drops the original's documentary style and opts for a more straight-forward narrative. He manages to get the eerie atmosphere right with a few well-mounted shots, and some moments are pretty effective, but ultimately these instances are minor and it soon feels like a tired re-hash of other films. Book of Shadows can't really hold a candle to the originality, creativity, or horror evident in the now-legendary first installment and, though there are some decent moments and ideas, ends up only as passable midnight fare.
Horror: 4/10

Bowfinger (1999)
Starring: Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham
Director: Frank Oz
Plot: A cheap, talentless independent film-maker takes a last shot at hitting it big by shooting a bad science-fiction script and shooting a major action star without the star's knowledge.
Review: Steve Martin has always been at the edges of the comedy business, and with Bowfinger he's back in fine form. In the good-natured way it pokes fun at the film-making process, actors and the Hollywood life-style, and the way it always takes an endearing look at all its cavalcade of characters, the film is more a light-hearted farce rather than a biting satire of Tinseltown. Some of the scenes don't always work, but the the guerilla shoot is clever and amusing, showing off a good, if more than slightly ridiculed, understanding of the work involved in filming. The cheapie fictional film that is at the center of their endeavors is in itself a great ode to heartfelt, but bad, bad movie-making, and the concluding segment is just as much a clever, apt spoof of 70's chop-socky movies. Thankfully, the cast takes it all in stride, hamming it up to great effect. As Martin plays it, Bowfinger himself is a modern-day Ed Wood, while Murphy, in a great double role, plays both the paranoid action star trapped in a Scientology-like cult and his slow-witted, low-budget stand-in. In the end, with director Oz (The Score) at the helm, a clever Martin script, and two solid Murphy performances, Bowfinger may not quite be the hilarious romp it wishes to be, but it is an amusing, if shallow, bit of entertainment.
Comedy: 6/10

Les Boys (Quebec - 1997)
Starring: Marc Messier, Rémy Girard, Patrick Huard
Director: Louis Saïa
Plot: A home-grown hockey team made up of die-hard fans of sometimes dubious talent from many different backgrounds must win against a semi-professional team or risk losing their coach's bar to a local hoodlum.
Review: The local box-office smash Les Boys is a fun-loving Quebec production that doesn't aim very high beyond its formula roots but manages to be an enjoyable bit of fluff. The cast is a veritable who's-who of local actors all playing to stereotypical type (the womanizing media guy, the gay lawyer, the swindling real-estate agent, etc.), and all surprisingly doing their own hockey plays. Some of the more clever, colorful dialogue and some of the general political and social points may not translate well to a non-Quebec, non-French speaking audience, but the charm and sense of camaraderie remains evident no matter the culture. Though the outcome is never in doubt, the final hockey match is still quite amusing as the home team tries every underhanded method of scoring, and director Saia creates enough tension to make for an entertaining confrontation. The most surprising moments, however, occur during the time off the ice, as the group of buddies who happen to see each other only for the game end up getting involved in each others lives. These surprisingly dramatic and affecting parts help raise the movie a notch above the usual sports flick. This is by no means a slick production, and the characters are as clichéd as they come, but with some solid performances, slapstick humor and some genuine laughs, Les Boys is a low-brow little comedy that's quite engaging.
Entertainment: 7/10

Les Boys 2 (Quebec - 1998)
Starring: Marc Messier, Rémy Girard, Patrick Huard
Director: Louis Saïa
Plot: A home-grown team from Quebec competes in an international amateur hockey competition in Chamonix, France and faces a series of worsening misadventures leading up to the finals.
Review: Slicker production values in this obviously bigger-budget sequel to Les Boys, with higher stakes, fiercer competition, and greater problems, of course, as required for a by-the-book sequel. The low-brow humor this time around is not limited to poking fun at each other, but at parodying the French as well. At least it knows to retain the elements that made the first one a hit, extending the scope of the story but keeping the laughs easy and peppering the film with the heart-tugging moments that its audience expects. The actors have improved on their playing technique which allows for more intricate hockey action here, but the characters haven't grown up a bit since last we saw them and are as thick as ever, but then why change a good thing, comedy-wise? In the end, Les Boys 2 is not as original or as developed as the first installment, but the laughs are there and the sense of camaraderie is still in evidence and for a sequel that's enough to make for a good time.
Entertainment: 6/10

Breaking the Waves (1996)
Starring: Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgard
Director: Lars Von Trier
Plot: After being paralyzed in an oil-rig accident, a man encourages his young, religious wife to seek out other lovers. Desperate to heal her husband, she obeys and soon finds herself at odds with herself, her family and her community.
Review: Breaking the Waves is a study of the sexual intimacy and relationship between a woman ready to sacrifice everything for love and her husband. The script doesn't compromise in its direction, showing often ugly, uncomfortable scenes. Excellent acting from all sides, especially by Emily Watson as the central character. Director Von Trier tries for intimacy here, as the subject matter requires, by using extreme close-ups, jumping the camera back and forth between characters, and never holding the camera steady for long, creating an almost documentary feel to the film but one that quickly becomes irritating as the film progresses. The story takes a turn into the fantastical at the very end, and loses some of its grittiness, but also ends on a high note after so much tragedy. A disturbing, courageous film, but not to everyone's taste.
Drama: 8/10

Bride of Chucky (1998)
Stars: Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly
Director: Ronny Yu
Plot: Chucky, a supernatural homicidal doll, is brought back to life once again. Only this time, he's got a mate...
Review: As expected from this kind of film, lots of bloody deaths, terrible one-liners, silly plot. What makes this one better than the rest is the tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek attitude combined with some romantic comedy (?!) elements to the horror. On an interesting note, director Ronny Yu is a veteran of some of the best Hong Kong productions (including The Bride With White Hair) and is severely under-used here. In any case, Bride of Chucky is mildly entertaining and well enough done.
Entertainment: 5/10

*Classic* The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Ernest Thesiger
Director: James Whale
Plot: To retrieve his fiancée, Dr. Frankenstein must continue his experiments to create a mate for his lumbering, murderous monster with the aid of a nefarious, mad scientist.
Review: The huge box-office hit that was 1931's Frankenstein made a sequel inevitable, and a reluctant director Whales (best known for his monster films such as Frankenstein and The Invisible Man) agreed on the condition of having almost free reign, and it shows - readily defying the production house censors whenever he could, the tale is incredibly outrageous and subversive for its time, rife with tongue-in-cheek blasphemy, murderous violence, self-parody, and a gothic imagination on display that simply abounds. Ambitious in scope, the film is the most complex, brilliantly achieved of all the 1930's monster films, combining the horror and terror with a great deal of wit, humor, and even pathos. This is one sequel that easily surpasses the original in every way with a much more elaborate story, higher production values, and with effects that are pretty impressive for its time, as well as a fabulous, moody musical score. Indeed, all the various story, film, and artistic elements (sets, productions) from all the previous Universal monster movies all came to a head here. But even more important is the visual accomplishments, from the great art direction (the rolling fog over the cemetery, the mad scientists' laboratory, etc.) to the wonderful cinematography, great use of shadows and close-ups, and even the creative make-up, the look of the film is terrific. Some fine operatic performances by a great theatrical cast, especially from Karloff who won many accolades for his stirring portrayal of the monster, and the over-the-top Thesiger as the mad scientist Pretorius. More than any other Hollywood 1930's era film, the influential The Bride of Frankenstein captured the essence of the monster movie, and thanks to the bold, astonishing work by all involved, surpassed all that came before and remains a crowning achievement of the genre.
Entertainment / Horror: 9/10

The Bride With White Hair (Hong Kong - 1993)
Starring: Brigitte Lin, Leslie Cheung, Francis Ng
Director: Ronny Yu
Plot: During a time of civil war, two lovers from very different worlds, both master martial arts experts, fight for freedom from their respective rival clans with disastrous results.
Review: Loosely based on Chinese novel written in 1954 within the setting of the fall of the Ming dynasty, The Bride With White Hair is an interesting, engaging story about honor, loyalty and love that has already become a classic of the genre. It's like watching a myth unfold in an exotic fantasy world, with a feeling of displacement provided by some stylish direction by Ronny Yu, along with the simple yet evocative sets, great visuals, picturesque cinematography with a rich use of shadow and dark reds, elegant costuming, and a good sense of atmosphere. More than that, though, the film is also an excellent action / adventure yarn, with a good dose of imaginative wire-fu action choreography involving some energetic swordplay, dizzying martial arts acrobatics, and displays of magical powers. Especially memorable is Lin's enchanted hair used as a terrible whipping weapon to defeat multiple enemies, and the climactic confrontation between the lovers and the sect leader. Cheung and Lin are marvelous here, delivering some fine low-key performances when everything else around them is so over-the-top and show off a pretty hot-n-heavy Romeo-and-Juliet romance for a Hong Kong production, focusing on the personal, and internal, conflicts of these two protagonists. Ng and Elaine Lui, as two halves of a sorcerous monster, are terrific as an evil Yin and Yang, bickering, jealous, and lovelorn. The pacing is at times uneven between the battles and the romantic scenes due to the necessary exposition of the characters and historical significance of the events portrayed, but this is a minor qualm compared to its other strengths. Wonderful both as high-flying martial arts fantasy and as romantic melodrama, The Bride With White Hair offers up some of the best of Hong Kong filmmaking.
Entertainment: 8/10

The Bride With White Hair 2 (1993)
Starring: Brigitte Lin, Leslie Cheung, Christy Chung
Director: David Wu
Plot: A band of young warriors from different areas join forces to save a kidnapped bride and destroy the powerful white-haired witch who has vowed to bring about the clan's destruction.
Review: The sequel to the classic action/fantasy film The Bride With White Hair takes a different approach by adding touches of humor to the proceedings and by putting more emphasis on the action elements than the story. By doing so, the film ends up being more derivative of the Dirty Dozen than it does to the original. The fantasy elements are still there, though, the action sequences are good, and the story does continue to a satisfactory conclusion that ties the two films together. Not as impressive, romantic, or visually arresting as its predecessor, Bride 2 still has a charm and style of its own.
Entertainment: 7/10

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Starring: William Holden, Alec Guiness, Jack Hawkins
Director: David Lean
Plot: During the height of World War II, a large group of captured English soldiers are forced to complete a railway bridge in the Asian jungle for their Japanese captors.
Review: Legendary director David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia) is a master storyteller and his adaptation of Pierre Boules' novel, The Bridge on the River Kwai, proves it in spades. The first half of the film is gripping as the Japanese commander of the prison camp and the English are involved in a silent test of wills. The second half, meant to be more of an adventure yarn as a team of commandos is sent to blow up the bridge, may be less interesting but sets up the finale and makes it all the more suspenseful. Lean tries for authenticity throughout and it shows, not only in shooting on location in the Sri Lanka jungle but even in the building of a massive, working log bridge only to destroy it in one of the most impressive, classic war movie sequences ever put to film. The cast is mostly top-notch but it's the formidable performance by Guiness, as the uncompromising English officer, who easily steals the show in what may be the most memorable role of his career. With a strong anti-war theme, beautiful cinematography, good script and strong performances, The Bridge on the River Kwai is a definite classic. Oscar winner for Best Picture of 1957.
Drama: 8/10

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
Starring: Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth
Director: Sharon Maguire
Plot: A love-sick and socially inept secretary relying on her wit and charm finds her affections suddenly split between her charming, playboy-ish boss and a handsome but seemingly snobbish barrister.
Review: Based on the popular novel by Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones' Diary is a light-hearted romantic comedy that tries to be something different, but only partly succeeds in divesting itself of the standard conventions. A fine script from Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral), who knows how to play with within the confines of the genre, allows for the best moments of the book to take flight. The story may surround a typical love triangle, but there's enough wit, good dialogue, and interesting situations to keep it all pleasant enough. There are obvious parallels to Austen's Pride and Prejudice in the story, and these are all intended, albeit with a more modern take to the proceedings. Bridget's narration throughout brings out not only a slew of great one-liners and many comic observations, but also some wry comments on single-life. In fact, the very first scene sets the tone of the film, and the opening credits in particular helps relate the heroine's plight to many (if not all) of us. It's especially nice to see a "normal" woman as the central character for a change, and Zellwegger manages to get the accent right, the body posture required, and be entirely endearing as a vulnerable, slightly overweight, alcoholic, chain-smoking Londoner who has a knack for humiliating herself in public. The two male leads vying for her affections, Grant and Firth, also bring some fine performances to the table, one as the sexy rogue and the other as the handsome but invariably stiff boor. The rest of the supporting cast is appropriately amusing, if not very well rounded. In the end, always funny and occasionally even charming, Bridget Jones's Diary may not be terribly original, but thanks to a good cast and some good dialogue, it's an entertaining effort by all involved.
Entertainment: 7/10

Bring It On (2000)
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford
Director: Peyton Reed
Plot: The new captain of a high school cheerleading squad becomes desperate when she realizes that the routines that led them to five championships were stolen from a competing team.
Review: Instead of presenting its subject with the usual derision and parody, Bring It On tries to make cheerleading a cool affair, presenting mostly down-to-earth characters and focusing on the acrobatics, dance and team effort inherent in the "sport". And it usually succeeds, thanks to director Reed's easy manner and a zippy script that walks the fine line between tongue-in-cheek comedy and sympathy for its heroes. Sure, there are moments of intended hilarity and the usual high school ditzy stereotypes, but the energetic choreography shows off the sport's athletic skills to good effect elevating the material to a fun fluff piece. The inevitable confrontation at the national competition isn't quite up to the rest of the film, but by then we've accepted the stakes. The cast is well chosen playing typical cookie-cutter characters (though Dunst's brat brother is a standout), especially the wholesome Dunst in another charming wide-eyed role similar to her part in Drop Dead Gorgeous and the sizzling, sneering Dushku. It's a forgettable film, perhaps, but with its light tone, decent dance moves, and amusing team rivalry Bring It On has the verve and pep to be more watchable than most similar vacuous, teen spirit dramas.
Entertainment: 5/10

Brother (Japan - 2001)
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Omar Epps, Masaya Kato
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Plot: A tough Japanese gangster forced to flee to the U.S. befriends a small-time African-American drug dealer and soon leads a ban