Having of late found myself generally disgusted with movies (I think Rock Star definitively pushed me over the edge), it was an enormous pleasure to be allowed to see Amelie. It is most certainly a rare film that deserves to be called “magical” without some sort of nasty sardonic undertone. However, Amelie is magic in its purest form. A movie to warm the heart of the most bitter film cineastes, but also with enough dark humor to please those still stuck on the irony train. Jean-Pierre Jeunet more than makes up for his craftsman’s work on Aliens 4 and instead gets back to the surreality that he helped perfect in such foreign staples as City of Lost Children. (While Amelie does, in fact, take place in present day France, the warmth and spirit of the city presented within the film may seem otherworldly to us hard-hearted realists.) The story itself is nothing so unusual: a girl raised without love or friends grows up to change the lives of the miserable lot around her. (Think of Cold Comfort Farm minus the farm and the cold discomfort.) However, the way in which its told will stay with you for long after you leave the theatre. Every aspect of this picture just adds to the beauty of the overall product. The photography of the film, for one, may be likened to standing in front of some immaculate color wheel spinning just for you. The precocious Audrey Tautou who plays Amelie, too, is an amazing find. (Some may recognize her from another recent French import, Venus Beauty Institute, for which she won a Cesar Award) Tautou lights up the screen with her bright smile and wide eyes, letting the audience in on all of her fun¾ by far the best lead female performance so far this year. So what do Lady Diana, suicidal goldfish, and globetrotting lawn gnomes have to do with each other? Go see Amelie to find out¾ you may just rediscover your love of the cinema.
$9.85/$10.00
Oscar Oscar here we come! It didn't make my top 10 list, but LOTR is still one ride to catch on the big screen. Read the whole review of this holiday hit here.
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
$8.50/$10.00
What do you get when you mix a hotshot director, a cast of stars and a general cool? A crappy movie! Find out more about both this slick new Vegas heist as well as the superior Rat Pack film that spawned it. Plot, flaws, and George Clooney create a mixed bag. Read all about it here.
Ocean's 11
$5.00/$10.00
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