Take A Bite

In between watching the third season of Dexter on dvd, the first three seasons of Psych on dvd, and watching the US Open, I've tried to watch films. However, in a little less than a month, I've only managed to watch seven. Those seven films include a viewing of Into Great Silence on dvd, re-watching PTU on dvd, watching Clean on dvd, watching Inglourious Basterds, The Hurt Locker, 500 Days of Summer, & Rashomon on the big screen. For descriptions/summaries/reviews of any of these films, look somewhere else. For tiny-length thoughts from me on these films, keep reading.

Into Great Silence
A great documentary that is as interesting as it is long.

PTU
Excellent Johnnie To directed neo-noir.

Clean
Olivier Assayas directs Maggie Cheung in a superb film.

Inglourious Basterds
Tarantino's latest is a bloated film with unnecessary violence and cartoonish cinematography. The depiction of the characters' inhumanity in the film was disgusting and insulting. The film lacked originality, and a good plot. One of the worst films I've ever seen. Tarantino's affinity for Eli Roth and his pseudo-snuff films, has made his own work intolerable. Maybe one day Tarantino will create a good film that isn't an unauthorized remake or mashup of his favorite scenes. Probably not.

The Hurt Locker
Director Kathryn Bigelow returns to the big screen with what is quite possibly the best film of 2009.

500 Days of Summer
Like a feature-length episode of Scrubs. Unfortunately, I don't mean that in a good way. The fractured narrative of 500 Days is a little too similar to the "Bed, Banter & Beyond" episode of Scrubs; except neither Joseph Gordon-Levitt nor Zooey Deschanel are as good as Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke in handling the dramatic-comedic mix. 500 Days of Summer is a lazy, derivative flick that feels forced and flat throughout. If you feel a compulsory need to see this type of story, check out the aformentioned episode of Scrubs instead.

Rashomon
Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon is one of the greatest films ever made. Sure, I've watched it a few dozen times on dvd, but seeing it on the big screen was incredible.

Next time: Longer descriptions/reviews of films?