So, here are about a half of a dozen films I've seen recently and my short take on them:
Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang (2005)Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan
Directed by: Shane Black
Rating: **** out of 5
Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang is a hilarious dark comedy that is top-notch on all cylinders. Downey plays the bumbling pathological liar playing a detective while Kilmer is so good as the self-afacing gay private investigator in this "whodoneit?" mystery that quickly spirals out of control in Go-like fashion where nothing is as it seems.
Blade Runner (1982)Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer and Sean Young
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Rating: **** out of 5
Blade Runner's vision of a futuristic distopia is the forerunner for pretty much every modern science fiction film since its release and what makes this classic all the more exciting is the awesome storyline and personalized characters. There are definate shades of the cyberpunk novel "Neuromancer" which was released 2 years after this Phillip K. Dick adaptation which shows just how ahead of its time Blade Runner really was.
Following (1998)Starring: Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw and Lucy Russell
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Rating: ***-1/2 out of 5
In Christopher Nolan's (Memento, Batman Begins) first film which he wrote, directed, shot and edited on a $6,000 budget is a beautifully simplistic yet strangely psychologically dense take on the classic noir genre is near perfection given what Nolan had to work with. While the acting isn't the best, the story can be confusing and the characters are hard to care about in the 1-hour run-time, Nolan crafts a taught thriller that got him ready to tackle his masterpiece Memento two years later.
Capote (2005)Starring: Phillip S. Hoffman, Cathrine Keener and Clifton Collins Jr.
Directed by: Bennett Miller
Rating: *** out of 5
Capote was the best of the Oscar-nominees for Best Picture film of 2005 but unfortunately that's less a praise of Capote and more of a criticism on the selection the Academy put up that year. Hoffman and Keener are just fantastic as Truman Capote and Harper Lee but the film, despite being a bio-pic about a fairly interesting man in Truman Capote, isn't that interesting to watch.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (2005)Starring: Johnny Depp and Benecio Del Toro
Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Rating: *** out of 5
An adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's infamous novel about a drug binge in Las Vegas while writing a report on the search for the American dream. This is what Requiem for a Dream would be if it were a comedy which, I'm not so sure works on the same level. Depp and Del Toro put on FABULOUS performances in this film, but that and the dark LSD-laced humor aren't enough alone to make this the classic it's been made out to be.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman
Directed by: George A. Romero
Rating: ****-1/2 out of 5
Having watched this film several times over the span of the last 5 years... most recently for a paper I am writing on horror films, Night of the Living Dead continues to keep impressing me with how perfect this low-budget horror film is and how it stands the test of time. The acting and the special effects may have been cheesy but when it comes to suspense, Romero's mantra of K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple Stupid) pays off in spades. Night of the Living Dead is about as close to perfect as a horror film can get.
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