A mix of old and new, good and bad, foreign and domestic. This month features a mix of films from around the world. February is a pretty good example of my ranging tastes. Well, let's get to the films, and keep your eye out for past and future roundups.
Best of the Month: Hotel Rwanda
Worst of the Month: Cursed
- Boogeyman. You know, most may disagree with me, but I really enjoyed this collection of jump scares. The concept is actually executed rather well. It doesn't really hold together, but I don't care. ***
- Born into Brothels. Oscar winner for Best Documentary. Wonderfully touching film about a filmmaker trying to help the children of the Red Light district. Very good film. ***.5
- Constantine. Some great production design, a story with great potential, but it just doesn't work. **.5
- Cursed. Wes Craven keeps sliding down that slippery slope. This movie is just bad, boring characters lame story, and no real scares drown this before it starts. **
- Godzilla. For the first time on American shores, complete and uncut. I had never seen this version before, and it was great! The most serious of the bunch, commentary on nuclear power. ****
- Hitch. Will Smith and Kevin James pair up for this light hearted romantic comedy. I liked it a lot, but it relies heavily on contrived events and cruises on the charisma of Smith. James is the surprise here, stealing many scenes. ***
- Hotel Rwanda. Powerful film concerning a sadly neglected conflict. Don Cheadle gives the best performance of his career. Sadly overlooked by many due to it's small theatrical run, this deserves to be seen. ****
- A Very Long Engagement. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's tale of love during World War I is incredible. The lengths that are gone to to find that love are amazing. Great performances, some intense battle, it is a great film. ***.5
- The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. A slice of life surrounding a guy who decides to study a flock of wild parrots in San Francisco, and becomes a virtual member of the flock. Not so much a documentary, but an entertaining watch. ***
That covers February! Thoughts?
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Article comments
1 - Quack Corleone
Curious about your rating scale. It seems to be out of 4, yet Constantine gets a 2.5 even though it "doesn't work" and Cursed gets a 2 even though you mention nothing good about the film.
2 - Chris Beaumont
My ratings are based on * - *****
Constantine had things to like about, despite it not working as a whole. I was entertained enough to give it a **.5
As for Cursed, It was not the worst thing I've seen, and I don't feel it deserved less than a ** and definitely not more.
It is hard to do a quick recap like this, I don't want them to be a full reviews or anything, typically one or 2 lines, and at times they will seem to be at odds with my star rating. I am still working on a balance that seems favorable.
3 - -E
I thought A Very Long Engagement was a beautiful film. And Hotel Rwanda was amazing. Hitch was ok- just another romantic comedy if you ask me. And unfortunately for Hitch, that seems to be my least favorite genre.