Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)

IMDb plot summary: The people of a small village in Victorian India stake their future on a game of cricket against their ruthless British rulers.
Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. Starring Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, and Paul Blackthorne.

Well, I wasn't at all sure how this was going to go over, because it combines one of my least favorite genres (sports movies) with one of my favorite genres (musical). I ended up landing somewhere in the middle on this. It's a good story with likable characters, and the musical numbers are fun and interesting. I didn't even mind the sports aspect of it... until we got a cricket match that lasted an hour and a half of movie time. I clearly did not understand the rules as well as I thought I did, so when they actually started playing, I was just confused most of the time.

This movie is almost 4 hours long, and although I enjoyed the first couple hours, I was ready to go by about the 3-hour mark. There's only one song in the last hour, and not a lot of character stuff happening. The end is basically an hour and twenty minutes or so of people running around yelling, and while clearly this is the kind of thing that sports fans enjoy, that offered very little for me.

That being said, though, I DID enjoy the first three hours. So if I balance everything out, the movie as a whole lands somewhere in the middle.

3 stars.

Flickchart: #829 out of 2128, below Fanboys and above National Lampoon's Vacation.

The Minus Man (1999)

IMDb plot summary: I have chosen to omit this because it reveals something that was not clear to me until about 20-30 minutes into the movie, and I think it is more interesting not knowing from the start.
Directed by Hampton Fancher. Starring Owen Wilson, Brian Cox, Janeane Garofalo, and Mercedes Ruehl.

(Spoilers ahead about the same plot point that made me leave out the plot summary.)

While a glance at the IMDb plot summary may indicated this is a typical serial killer thriller, it really is much more of a quiet character piece, more along the lines of The Talented Mr. Ripley than, say, Silence of the Lambs. Most of the time, it is extremely subdued -- thanks partly to Owen Wilson's extremely laidback personality -- which makes the few moments where suddenly Things Get Crazy really stand out. I really like that even while examining Wilson's murderous character, it doesn't go out of its way to psychoanalyze him or explain what exactly is going on. The mystery of his personality just is what it is, and it's intriguing to watch that unfold, even if it doesn't much.

That being said, there was *something* about this movie that didn't quite work for me, although I can't quite put my finger on what it was. Maybe it'll come to me later. Maybe it's simply that I haven't quite been able to categorize the movie yet. I thought at first maybe it was the ending, but, no, the more I thought about it, I actually very much liked the ending (despite the unnecessarily melodramatic score accompanying it).

Whatever it is, this one may have to sit in limbo for a little while in my mind. As time passes, I will either forget about whatever is subconsciously holding me back from loving this movie, or it will be the only thing I remember. We'll just have to see which direction it goes.

For now, 3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #694 out of 2127, below Gandhi and above The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.

9 (2009)

IMDb plot summary: A rag doll that awakens in a post-apocalyptic future holds the key to humanity's salvation.
Directed by Shane Acker. Starring Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, Jennifer Connelly, and Martin Landau.

(Some spoilers about the ending.)

I love dark and twisted dystopian future movies, and this delivers oodles and oodles of the right atmosphere. Its gorgeous steampunk-ish design is great to watch, from the mildly creepy rag doll designs of the heroes to the enormous red-eyed machine monster.

The plot, unfortunately, doesn't quite match the great visuals. A lot of it just devolves into generic adventurous chase scenes, when really I wanted to explore the world a little more. When the movie DOES give us a little bit of an explanation as to where these creatures come from and what they need to do, it's hardly a satisfying one, and I'm not really convinced that the last 10-15 minutes or so of the movie make any sense. I wish the movie had either not given us a straightforward answer at all and kept it ambiguous, only hinting at our protagonists' origins, or come up with a more plausible explanation that didn't just feel vague and mystical. I do want to check out the short film this was based on at some point, since it looks like it stays quiet on back story and just focuses on atmosphere, which would be totally fine with me.

That being said, though, I did like it. It's short enough that the bits of plot I found uninteresting didn't last long, and there were quite enough awesome visuals to make it work most of the way.

4 stars.

Flickchart: #492 out of 2126, below Double Indemnity and above Inherit the Wind.

Dick Tracy (1990)

IMDb plot summary: The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.
Directed by Warren Beatty. Starring Warren Beatty, Madonna, Glenne Headly, and Al Pacino.

Well, dang. I knew I'd probably enjoy this, but I really didn't anticipate I'd love this as much as I did. I'm still processing it, but let me try to at least list some of my thoughts here, even if I can't organize them nicely:

-At some point in my childhood I know I watched a bunch of the Dick Tracy cartoons, and so as characters from the comic strip and cartoon showed up, I had sudden bursts of unexpected nostalgia. That was fun.

-Similarly, I kept hearing Sondheim songs that I didn't realize were written for this and yelling delightedly, "OH! This song!" I knew "Sooner or Later" was from this movie, but I had forgotten about "More," and I don't think I ever knew "Live Alone and Like It" or "Back In Business" were part of this. Turns out the only one I didn't know was the one Mandy Patinkin and Madonna sang together, and even then I got all squealy about a non-theater movie featuring Patinkin singing Sondheim.

-The tone of this movie is just perfect. THIS, people, is how you do an adaptation. It is so uncompromisingly dedicated to keeping the noir pulp fiction comic atmosphere, without either turning it into a "grittier" version or hyping it up to create an obnoxiously self-aware parody. It embraces its over-the-top nature but plays it straight, even down to mimicking the comic strip character design, and the result is so, so delightful. The comedy comes naturally out of the material itself, rather than the authors winking at the audience.

-This movie looks AWESOME. The bright, vibrant colors are gorgeous, and the dramatic locations and backdrops are beautifully picturesque. Lovelovelove.

-The acting is all super fun, but special nods to Warren Beatty as Tracy, Charlie Korsmo as the Kid, and Dustin Hoffman as Mumbles.

OK. I think I've covered most of my thoughts on this. Let me sum up by saying I really, REALLY enjoyed this all the way through. This is an excellent kick-off to my friend Travis' movie challenge week.

4.5 stars.

Flickchart: #271 out of 2125, below Nosferatu and above The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

The Deer Hunter (1978)

IMDb plot summary: An in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War disrupts and impacts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania.
Directed by Michael Cimino. Starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, and Meryl Streep.

(Vague-ish spoilers regarding the movie's most famous scene.)

If I'm going to watch a war movie, I'm always more interested in one that really delves into the psychology of the characters and how they are affected by the war, so parts of this I found fascinating. The famous climactic Russian roulette scene is captivating in its darkness, and several individual scenes throughout suddenly give a glimpse into what's going on in the returning soldiers' minds. The score is also pretty incredible -- the beautiful sadness of the melody is truly haunting. However, these great moments are few and far between for me, surrounded by hours of slow nothing. It was a LOT of build-up for not quite enough payoff. I admire it, and I definitely get why people love it, but I had a tough time sitting through the in-between bits to get to the rest of it.

2.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1135 out of 2124, below The Fall and above The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.

Legend (1985)

IMDb plot summary: A young man must stop the Lord of Darkness from both destroying daylight and marrying the woman he loves.
Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry, and David Bennent.

(Note: I watched the slightly longer director's cut version of this by accident, heh, so if I reference something not in the theatrical version, that's what's up.)

I... have no idea how to respond to this movie.

Let's start with the positives. The effects and makeup look *great*. These creatures don't look nearly as hokey as a lot of 1980s fantasy does. And the score is really nice -- very atmospheric. None of the acting is spectacular, but it all serves its purpose nicely, and I'm never going to complain about Tim Curry playing campy.

Now let's discuss the plot.

What the HECK?

This movie is cool to look at but completely incomprehensible. Not for one second did I understand what was going on. An out-of-nowhere ballet sequence suddenly transforms Princess Glitter into her vampire dance partner. One of the goblins speaks only in rhyme for no reason. When Satan is killed, he apparently gets shot into space. When Peter Pan guesses the elf's riddle, the elf turns into Gollum, has a seizure, and dies before suddenly waking back up and being Peter Pan's best friend. Princess Glitter apparently doesn't have a home or a family. Also, why WAS Princess Glitter always covered in glitter? So was Peter Pan, about half the time. Was only one of them glittery initially but then they just made out with each other all the time and it rubbed off on the other?

Almost EVERYTHING that happened made me say -- frequently out loud -- "Wait, what was THAT?"

Story and character are a big deal to me, so it's hard for me to look past something as bizarre as this... even if the movie DID look great. I mean, I'm OK having seen it, and I suspect I'll probably look back on it more fondly than I'm thinking of it now, and it did provide quite a few moments of unintentional "whaaaaat?!" hilarity... but I'm not sure the good makes up much for the ridiculous.

2 stars.

Flickchart: #1230 out of 2123, below Zelig and above Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

IMDb plot summary: Robert Ford, who's idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the reforming gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.
Directed by Andrew Dominik. Starring Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, and Jeremy Renner.

In a movie with a 2 1/2 hour runtime, you'd think there'd be a little bit more depth of character going on, but this movie is oddly dry and distant until the last 30 minutes. Those last 30 minutes, starting with the assassination itself, are interesting, as it shows us the psychological effects of all the events we've seen. I also particularly enjoyed the movie's score.

Overall, however, it goes on much too long, meanders all over the place, and doesn't really do anything with its characterization. Too bad, because we've got some interesting actors here (Sam Rockwell in particular is one of my favorites) and I wish I could have cared about any of their characters.

1.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1563 out of 2122, below Pride and Prejudice (1940) and above The First Wives Club.