Roman Polanski’s (The Pianist, Chinatown) first American film, 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby, is a classic film that has held the test of time and should be viewed by every film fan at least once. Though classified primarily as a horror film, it isn’t scary compared to today’s movies. However, it does have a certain eeriness that only the legendary film directors (such as Alfred Hitchcock in Psycho and others) could capture in that day and age. It’s neither the darkness nor the freaky-looking characters that establish the fear. Instead, the fascinating, web-weaving storyline captures the audience’s interest for the film’s duration.
Category Archives: Academy Award Nominees
Half Nelson (2006)
Ryan Gosling is quickly earning a reputation for playing characters with seemingly good hearts, but with deep flaws that prohibit his characters from achieving greatness. Whether it be his quick Ryan Gosling is quickly earning a reputation for playing characters with seemingly good hearts but with deep flaws that prohibit these characters from achieving greatness. Whether it be his quick temper, drinking, or lack of ambition in Blue Valentine, his unbelievably extreme case of social anxiety in Lars and the Real Girl, or his much too overly confident posture in Fracture, Gosling plays characters that you root for at one moment and sympathize with the next. At the same time, you are trying to figure out how he gets so entrenched in each of his roles. If you have not seen any of the movies mentioned above, do so. You’ll be in for a treat. If you want to see his best performance to date, check out Ryan Fleck’s (Sugar, It’s Kind of a Funny Story) highly under-appreciated Half Nelson. Now, I say highly under-appreciated loosely. Half Nelson has received a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes but only $2.6 million at the box office, a somewhat disappointing number.
Eastern Promises (2007)
Eastern Promises was David Cronenberg’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed breakout directorial hit, 2005’s A History of Violence. A History of Violence was a bit overrated, and William Hurt receiving a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination for his ten minutes of screen time was a bit of a joke. However, Viggo Mortenson was terrific in his role in that movie, and his work in Eastern Promises is stellar.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
It is hard to add a lot of new insight to a movie that has been reviewed thousands upon thousands of times and is liked so much that it is ranked #46 in the AFI’s Top 100 List of Greatest Movies. With that said, most reviews of A Clockwork Orange were written in 1971, when the movie was released. I watched this movie for the first time in 2011, 12 years after the death of its director, Stanley Kubrick (The Shining, Full Metal Jacket). To date, this will be the oldest movie that I have reviewed.
Pollock (2000)
Ed Harris (The Abyss, The Hours) delivers the performance of his career in Pollock, the story of American artist Jackson Pollock, who revolutionized American painting in the 1940s in New York City. Harris, who also directed the movie, portrays Pollock as an emotionally and mentally unstable wreck of a human being whose personal demons were often overshadowed, or should I say overlooked, by his adept skill in abstract painting. His use of dripping and splattering wild combinations of colors was unique and new and captured the attention of some of America’s most notable artists, museum owners, and journalists.