The following are some of the movies I've enjoyed over the past decade.
Magnolia
(1999)
"Magnolia" is a great, joyous leap into melodrama and coincidence, with ragged
emotions, crimes and punishments, deathbed scenes, romantic dreams, generational
turmoil and celestial intervention, all scored to insistent music. It is
not a timid film."
This is a story about right and wrong,
the bondage we and others put us in in life, and how we can try to escape.
This isn't a film for everyone, but it resonated with me more than
any other I've seen to date.
The film repeatedly
references the Bible verse Exodus 8:2 - "And if thou refuse to let them go, I will smite
all thy borders..." Also
note the soundtrack by Aimee Mann with poignant songs such as "Save Me" and
"Wise Up," where she sings "It's not going to stop 'til you wise up...so
just give up."
Eve's
Bayou (1997)
"Memory is a selection of images, some elusive, others printed indelibly
on the brain. The summer I killed my father, I was 10 years old." So begins
Eve's Bayou, narrated by the titular Southern child who, to her detriment,
overhears her father's flirtation with a married woman. A powerful film that
reminds us that the lies that sometimes bind can also tear us apart."
This was a stunningly spellbinding film, as I found myself wrapped up in
its extraordinary beauty and atmosphere. The only film on this list
that was perfect all around. The best movie nobody saw.
The
Thin Red Line (1998)
"Lyrical retelling of James Jones' novel about the bloody 1942 battle for
Guadalcanal. Fighting to hold a key-positioned airfield, a company of soldiers
becomes a tight-knit group as the battle rages around them. The actors
in "The Thin Red Line" are making one movie, and the director is making another.
This leads to an almost hallucinatory sense of displacement, as the actors
struggle for realism, and the movie's point of view hovers above them like
a high school kid all filled with big questions."
The war movie recast as a blood-soaked
poem. Gorgeously cinematic. Don't look for a conventional
plot -- its rhyme is its story.
Bamboozled
(2000)
"Director Spike Lee copies from Mel Brooks' oeuvre with this story about
a producer whose show is so bad that audiences can't get enough. TV producer
Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans) becomes frustrated when network brass reject
his sitcom idea. Hoping to get fired, Delacroix pitches the worst idea he
can think of: a minstrel show. Incredibly, the network airs it; more incredibly,
it's a hit!"
This film is a rare one that indulges both sides of my personality. Its
thoughtful reflection on past minstrel acts arouses sadness and rage, but
the raunchy, present-day reenactments of minstrel shows had me on the floor
laughing. I've seen this film with several people of other races who
were too uncomfortable with the stereotypes to laugh. Too bad they
missed out.
A.
I. (2001)
"A.I. propels you into a futuristic world where humans share every aspect
of their lives with sophisticated companion robots called Mechas. When an
advanced prototype robot child named David is programmed to show unconditional
love, his human family isn't prepared for the consequences. David soon embarks
on a spectacular quest to discover the startling secret of his own identity."
Not since Powder (1995) has a movie about identity left me wrapped up for
days in my own thoughts. One issue though: the story should have ended
when David was trapped underwater. Spielberg characteristically opted
for a sentimental, happy ending over what would have been a sad yet profound
one: a journey frozen in time, a yearning unfulfilled.
Lord
of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
"From the idyllic shire of the Hobbits to the smoking chasms of Mordor, Frodo
Baggins embarks on an epic quest to destroy the one true ring."
George Lucas wishes he could make an epic as great as this one. This
groundbreaking film explores a whole new world in fantasy, the way The Matrix
redefined sci-fi. The beginning of this movie is better than any I've
ever seen, and storytelling and cinematic quality of the film as a whole
is far better than The Two Towers (or any Star Wars prequel).
Donnie
Darko (2001) "Donnie Darko is an edgy, psychological thriller about a suburban
teen coming face-to-face with his dark destiny. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a delusional
high-school student visited by a demonic rabbit with eerie visions of the
past, and deadly predictions for the future."
Another solid movie that few people saw. If you're thinking about renting
Pi, see this instead. The film has a haunting beauty about it; it's
bright and vivid, yet darkly ominous at the same time. An intelligent,
multi-dimensional film that, aside from the main plot, depicts a web of empathy
that develops among individuals who reject the dogma of simple-minded townspeople.
