Recently Watched Films

• Two Weeks Notice, Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Birthday Girl, Pitch Black, Novacaine, Friday, Next Friday
• Adaptation -- This product from the Kaufman brothers and Spike Jonze was as electrifying and different as Being John Malkovich. It manages to say something important about such subjects as filmmaking, writing, art, and life, not to mention orchid hunting. The compositing of the two versions of Nicholas Cage was flawless effects work. Even the film's poster is a beautiful piece of graphic art that manages to capture the main themes of the film in a very simple and elegant design. Just go see it.
• LOTR: The Two Towers -- This film was as good an adaptation of JRR Tolkein's novel as can be expected. The Gollum CG creature sets a new gold standard in the effects field and represents, in my mind, the first time such a creation was convincing enough to share hours of screen time with human actors without losing its credibility. It is also the first time I felt a real emotional connection with something made on the computer. Subtlety reigns supreme in this film, with details in the animation and action sequences delighting the eyes.
• Insomnia -- This film was not nearly as original in structure and thought provoking as the director's previous work, Memento (no intellectual puzzle solving while watching the film here). It was formulaic (I knew that the inexperienced Ellie Burr would discover the secrets of both Will Dormer and Walter Finch after the first few scenes) but well done nevertheless and provides a look into the ideas of guilt and whether we mean to do what we do.
• Brotherhood of the Wolf -- This film started out with a lot of promise but lost its momentum and suspense as it dragged on, especially after the introduction of the less-than-convincing CG creature. The story and characters are unique and memorable compared to the usual Hollywood fare but I would have liked to see them fleshed out a bit more. It seems as if the creators tried to throw too much into the stew (political intrigue, action, drama, horror, historical accuracy, studies of discrimination and elitism, eroticism, etc.) but lacked fire to fully cook all the ingredients. Nevertheless, the movie works and one finds some interesting plot details (the name of the ship at the end, the relationship of the furry trout at the beginning to the true nature of the beast, etc.), and beautiful cinematography, editing (cut on a character's blink!), and fight choreography.
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets -- Like the first HP, this film was well done but feels like a paint-by-numbers project with little to distinguish it from the first (though one gets the same feeling from reading the novels). One major gripe I have is with the editing. Many of the cuts were very abrupt and disorienting, especially when compared to the fine work on something like Brotherhood of the Wolf. Abrupt editing is unexpected in such a linear story. It feels like the different sections were worked on separately and then just laid together end to end. The CG house slave (Dobby), though good, pales in comparison with the work in LOTR. I am looking forward to seeing what the director of Y tu mamá también will do with the third installment in the series.