REVIEWS IN A HURRY for 2004 - X, Y, Z Back to 2004 (A) & Alphabetical Index Reviews in a Hurry for 2004 (W) Reviews in a Hurry for March 2005
				Yi-Yi (2000, 173 min, PG13) ***1/2 – Directed & written by Edward Yang, starring Nien-Jen Wu, Issei Ogata, Su-Yun Ko, and Kelly Lee.  Observant and unforced large-canvas drama about day-to-day lives and families in present day Taiwan.  A family slowly comes apart at its seams, focusing mostly on the distant father’s (Wu) struggles with his teenage flame (Ko), his crumbling business, and an honorable Japanese businessman (Ogata), while his mother is in a coma.  His children, brother, and wife have problems of their own.  A beautiful portrait of how normal living can wind us up and then calm us down.  Yang (who won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival) directs calmly in long shots and long takes, detaching us philosophically from what potentially could be melodramatic plot turns. Young Frankenstein (1974, 108 min, B&W, PG) **** - Directed by Mel Brooks, starring Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, and Marty Feldman.  Hilarious homage to the horror films of days gone by, director Brooks reconstructs all the atmosphere of James Whale’s “Frankenstein” and then makes a big joke out of it.  The great-grandson of Frankenstein (Wilder) is trying to lead a life as a serious surgeon when a trip to Transylvania brings him back to the family castle, the family help (Feldman), and certain plans on the re-animation of dead tissue. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001, 105 min, NC17) ***1/2 – Directed & co-written by Alfonso Cuaron, starring Ana Lopez Mercado, Diego Luna, and Gael Garcia Bernal.  A pair of philandering, amoral teenagers (Luna and Bernal) lustily take an older beauty (Mercado) on a road trip through Mexico, but she, freshly jilted by her husband, wants to show them a thing or two.  Sensuously photographed and brilliantly directed, with long, actor-oriented takes and clever camera work.  The movie is tough to like because the characters are so selfish and director Cuaron’s comeuppance for them is ambiguous. Zelig (1980, 79 min, B&W, PG) **1/2 – Directed by Woody Allen, starring Woody Allen and Mia Farrow.  A clever premise that overstays its welcome, director Allen presents a phony documentary about a man in the 1930s named Zelig (Allen) whose self-esteem is so low that he actually takes on the physical characteristics of those around him.  An intriguing look at what it means to blend in, the documentary framing becomes a little tiresome after about an hour and we wish Allen had slipped a regular narrative in somehow.
	The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998, 121 min, PG13) ** - Directed by Rob Bowman, starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.  Awkwardly-paced big screen adaptation of the popular cult television show runs its protagonists through endless circles just to leave them back exactly where they started.  Two FBI agents (Duchovny and Anderson) chasing the paranormal uncover what may be a government conspiracy to cover-up a Faustian bargain with alien invaders.  Trips to exotic locations and hidden facilities ultimately get the agents nowhere. X2:  X-Men United (2003, 133 min, PG13) **1/2 – Directed by Bryan Singer, starring Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, and Hugh Jackman.  Mostly blase but passably exciting adaptation of the popular Marvel comic.  “X2” is pulled in too many directions by trying to please too many fans, is overflowing with characters, and has that strained inoffensive neutrality of so many big budget Hollywood films.