I've been slacking again and not updating this site as regularly as I had promised, so as a half-assed attempt to catch up here's a recap of some recent movies and my thoughts...

Munich - Steven Spielberg frustrates me to no end. He's a gifted filmmaker and a master story-teller, but lately he just doesn't know how to end his movies. This film is quite excellent for about two hours, and then it just keeps going and going and going. And don't get me started on that sex scene intercut with the Munich massacre... I was so dumbfounded by the combination it almost ruined a movie that I was this close to loving. If only Spielberg could go back to the editing room, do some trimming towards the end, remove this scene and place the massacre at the very beginning, and I think it might have won best picture or at least given Brokeback Mountain a fight.

Match Point - Hands down the best Woody Allen film to come out in over a decade, and I was never much of a fan of his work to begin with. After his last few duds (although Melinda & Melinda was an interesting exercise in story-telling) who would have guessed that Allen would suddenly give us such an emotionally honest and stirring thriller? Scarlett Johansson is excellent as the other woman and the performances all around are top-notch.

Syriana - Easily the most misunderstood and disrepected movie of 2005, I believe once this film hits DVD people who were a bit overwhelmed the first time around will come to love it (if they give it a second chance). The confusion of the plot is obviously intended and the lack of a partisan agenda in a movie about the oil industry is remarkable. One of the smartest and politically astute movies you will ever see in your life-time, Syriana is an important film that deserves more acclaim. Let's hope that writer/director Stephen Gaghan will at least be recognized for his screenplay.

The Family Stone - While the ending didn't work for me or could have been a lot better (it seemed to wrap things up too quickly), I loved about 80 percent of this movie and found myself laughing throughout.

Brokeback Mountain - Everyone has already said enough about this one. You know a movie is great when it's this controversial yet still breaks through to the mainstream.

Posted January 17, 2006 | link