December 2000

Review Added: All the Pretty Horses
Unfortunately it's not too flattering... All The Pretty Horses, despite the greatness of the book it's based on, despite the acting star power, and despite the directing star power, the film itself has no power. What set out to be an epic tale of love, betrayal, and revenge is nothing more than an adventure in Mexico for three would-be cowboys.
| [ Posted December 29, 2000 - 9:44 PM by Blake ] | [ Discuss This ]
 
Updates Forthcoming
I hope everyone who celebrated Christmas today had a very Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a very prosperous New Year. Right now, my county is being bombarded with wind which will most likely keep me up the rest of the night, so I've decided to make the most of my time. I'll be seeing Quills tonight at 11pm (check the timestamp below to see when this is being posted) and tomorrow I'll probably be making the trek into L.A. to see The Gift and Wednesday to see O Brother, Where Art Thou or Traffic (if it's not playing any closer).

Once again, Happy Holidays and have a great New Year!
| [ Posted December 25, 2000 - 10:15 PM by Blake ] | [ Discuss This ]
 
Happy Holidays!
Just wanted to take a little space to wish a Happy Holidays to all of you.

As the end of the year approaches, there's less and less time to see the movies that I have yet to catch. Quills just opened up at the local theater, so I'll most likely see it Tuesday and Traffic and Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? open Wednesday in L.A. and because of the great buzz surrounding them, I'll probably make the hour + drive up there. After that, I think I'll finally be able to make out my Top 10 list and worst 5 (or however many I can come up with). Once again, Happy Holidays, and the best new year to everyone.
| [ Posted December 24, 2000 - 4:40 PM by Blake ] | [ Discuss This ]
 
Reviews Added: State & Main and Chocolat
If you read the review of State and Main in it's unfinished form, now's your chance to read the full review along with a review of another fun and witty film, Chocolat. Both are mainly dialogue driven and feature a great cast to complement the script and direction of the same nature.
| [ Posted December 23, 2000 - 10:21 PM by Blake ] | [ Discuss This ]
 
Tops of 2000
I was perusing my list of movie reviews for 2000 and the ratings I had given them, and although a few might be out of place in comparison to the rest, most of the ratings are right on. If I had to pick a Top 5 right now (granted there's still some movies that I need to see - Quills and Traffic just to name a couple), my top 5 would be:

1. Dancer in the Dark
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
3. Almost Famous
4. Nurse Betty
5. Tie - Girlfight and Billy Elliot

Now this is just a short list and it was very hard to come up with 3-5 (or 6). It's easy to pick Dancer in the Dark and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as the top 2 of the year, because they stand out far and above the rest. I'm looking forward to Quills and Traffic, among a few others so that my list can be as complete as possible before finalization.
| [ Posted December 22, 2000 - 11:50 AM by Blake ] | [ Discuss This ]
 
Movie Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
In what may be one of the most critically aclaimed (and rightfully so) movies of the year, director Ang Lee takes us into another world in the martial arts epic, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Combining an amazing blend of martial arts, crime, drama, and romance (to name a few), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is an amalgam of many genres, blended seamlessly into one of the best films of the year.
| [ Posted December 22, 2000 - 12:50 AM by Blake ] | [ Discuss This ]
 
It's Awards Season!
It's nearing the end of December, so eventually, you're going to see all the major critics circles hand out their year-end awards. Already presented are the Boston Film Critics, L.A. Film Critics, N.Y. Film Critics, and the National Board of Review awards. You can find a wrap-up of all the awards handed out so far in the handy list here.

Special Note: The Online Film Critics Society (of which I am a member) will be handing out their awards on the 3rd of January. Also look for a review of All the Pretty Horses tomorrow - a bit too long and paced too slowly - but with a good performance by Damon.
| [ Posted December 20, 2000 - 1:11 AM by Blake ] | [ Discuss This ]
 
Reviews Added: Miss Congeniality & State and Main
It's rare that I have so many reviews up for films that come out on Friday. But this week I have 3 - Miss Congeniality, Cast Away, and State and Main. All three were extremely good movies both well written with great acting. Cast Away is Tom Hanks highly anticipated film, his only of the year, which took over a year and half to prepare for, and is an intense look into the psyche of a man stranded on a deserted island. Going in the complete opposite direction, Miss Congeniality and State and Main are both comedies with superb casts that are both funny and fun to watch. Looks to be a great weekend for movie-goers.
| [ Posted December 19, 2000 - 11:54 AM by Blake ] | [ Discuss This ]
 
Cast Away & Miramax
Cast Away stars Tom Hanks as a marooned FedEx worker on a small island in the South Pacific. Featuring a strong (Oscar worthy) performance by Hanks and a script that almost makes you forget that the movie is over 2 hours long, Cast Away is a film that cannot be missed this Holiday season. While it does have it's down times, the movie as a whole will keep the whole family interested and the performance by Hanks is reason enough to see it. Read the full review.

Also, what do you do when you're bored? Well as for me, I was reading the Daily Variety today and saw an ad for the Miramax films of 2000 and the website promoting them, Miramax2000.com. Well, being the curious guy I am, I wondered how much foresight Miramax had and checked Whois to see how long they had Miramax20??.com. Well, it appears only through 2010 - yes, that's right - Miramax2011.com is available and can be yours for the low, low price of $35/year. I guess either Miramax doesn't think any one is going to take 2011 or any later years or they don't think that the Internet is going to play the same role in movies as it does today. Whatever the case, they sure did cover themselves, snapping up Miramax2000 - Miramax2010 with all 3 extensions: .com, .net, and .org.
| [ Posted December 12, 2000 - 1:10 AM by Blake ] | [ Discuss This ]
 
Screeners Galore
These next few weeks will be quite busy for not only myself, but just about every other critic out there. With the steady barrage of films being released late this year, vying for Oscar recognition, it can get quite hectic. Tonight I have a screening of Tom Hanks' Cast Away and tomorrow, The Claim. Next week there will be quite a few also, I just don't know which ones yet. Stay tuned for reviews of these films, along with just about every other film released in theaters this December.
| [ Posted December 11, 2000 - 11:44 AM by Blake ] | [ Discuss This ]
 
Update Information
Well, with finals next week, and papers due last week, I've been unable to really get around to updating this site lately, but what you probably haven't noticed are all the little changes being made behind the scenes. I'm shooting for an 01/01/01 opening date and I will probably start entering news and updatind daily on the 10th or so. Thanks for bearing with me as I try to complete this transition on time. Hopefully you've signed up for your very own @movielocity.net e-mail address (and entered for a chance to win a PSX2). Hope you have a great holiday season, and hopefully I'll be updating soon...
| [ Posted December 2, 2000 - 3:46 PM by Blake ] | [ Discuss This ]