The Dilated Pupil's Reviews

**** - So cool. WWII movies are a dime a dozen and while there have been several great ones, only a few have taken the comedy route. Inglourious Basterds plays like a B-movie with a ton of money behind it. The style is what you'd expect but the real surprise was Christoph Waltz. He has to be one of the best bad guys of all time. The only real complaint I have is that they didn't spend enough time with each of the "Basterds". One or two of the guys have intros but I would love to have seen more which is a complaint I've had with other Tarantino movies. Even with the 2.5 hour runtime the final "chapter" of the movie felt rushed and I wanted more. I.B. 2 with the remaining characters would be bitchin'.

*** - A smartly directed documentary about a man's passion to walk on a high-wire between the trade center towers. Worth watching for the absurdly cool footage. Philippe Petit is freaking annoying as hell and the movie could have been cut significantly as you get the concept that he's passionate at all costs about 20 minutes into the movie. Three stars for the footage.

*** - Paul Newman plays a race car driver during the golden age of racing. If you like racing at all, you should rent this movie. Also, Joanne Woodward was very hot.

I don't really use facebook too much anymore so sorry if you don't get a quick response after commenting on a movie. The movie reviews I write fly automagically through the tubes to FB from www.tillmania.com.

**** - I absolutely loved this film. It was small and didn't seem to mind. The characters felt very familiar and didn't wreak of teen comedy shallowness. Keep in mind I watched it right after American Pie Presents: Band Camp which sports the worst of all things teen comedy. Bottom line, lovely little movie with great characters (Ari Graynor as Caroline is excellent) and a fun plot that reminds me a little of Lost in Translation.

**** - Brilliant detective story. I was surprised by how funny it was. Typically older movies can have humor that feels out-of-date but The Naked City is enjoyable throughout. I really liked how they show how frustrating it is to be a detective. Most movies hit you with a sequential series of clues but this was more about the process and less about the result. Barry Fitzgerald is a complete joy to watch but I'm pretty sure this was the only movie I've seen him in. The movie appears to be shot entirely in NYC as it's producer states and it looks great.

** - This movie manages to combine everything silly about '80's movies and there is some unbelievably bad saxophone that ruins nearly every dramatic moment. It's unfortunate that it had to turn out this way as the actors did a pretty good job and Raul Julia was fantastic. Lame narrative and poor art direction.

** - WTF? I read the first half of the book years ago and made it the same distance into the movie before needing to sleep. Neat idea but you get the concept early and the rest of the time you wait for the characters to figure it out. The pacing is freaking terrible and I wouldn't normally say this and mean it but "too many notes". You are forced to watch what feels like 5 straight minutes of a guy driving through a clover leaf with tunnels. Overly moody. Overly long. Overly hyped.

*** - Comedian Doug Benson smokes a lot of weed and decided to create a lot of evidence in the form of a "documentary". Not so scientific but pretty funny.

I honestly don't know why this was so popular. It looks great but plays out like a 100 hour version of revolutionary road. That's not a good thing. The stereotypical 1950's marketing exec lifestyle is boring. I'll most likely be run out of town by a raging crowd of white people for this review but I found myself watching Mad Men because it looks gorgeous not because the characters are interesting.

*** - Wong Kar-wai's third film (directing) weaves the lives of four separate but briefly connected people together. At times it's a little moody for my taste but so are the rest of his movies. It's not as visually stunning as "In the Mood for Love" which is my favorite so far but it's considered his best work by many. That said, the very young Tony Leung Chiu Wai is fantastic. Takeshi Kaneshiro's character drove me nuts but overall I enjoyed the performances. Plus, it's cool to see old HK without the crazy fight scenes getting in the way.