but, you don't want to ruin his chances, *do you*?

Average rating: 8.25

Henry Fool (1997) - "Simon is a garbage man living a miserable life until he meets Henry Fool, a mysterious writer working on a major piece of literature. Henry convinces Simon to write in a journal and learns that he is a poetic prodigy. When Simon becomes a controversial sensation, Henry turns to Simon for help."
length: 2 hours, 17 minutes

source: I own the DVD
I watched it because: it's been a while since I've seen it and I needed a dose of that particular, peculiar Hal Hartley magic

    previously reviewed, sorta, here (and mentioned a dozen times at least)
IMDB: 7.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 89% Audience: 83%
my IMDB: 8/10

MPAA rating: R

notable quote: "'I worked, while you sat back and comfortably dismissed the outside world as too shallow, stupid and mean to appreciate your ideas.'

    'Is that such a priority? Is that some sort of measure of a man's worth? To drag what's best in him out into the street so every average slob with some pretense to taste can poke it with a stick?'

    'Maybe. Maybe it is.'"

directed by: Hal Hartley (also Written by, Produced by, and Composed by)

my notes: if you like weird, extremely talky, melodramatic, slightly silly, thoughtful cinema, then this'll be right up your alley. I love this movie, though I can't explain (even to myself) why that's so. 

    Henry is the quintessential anti-hero, an offensive slob with lofty ideas and zero ambition, who manipulates everyone for his own selfish purposes. ("Do you have any money?" is practically a tagline for him.) But he's also brilliantly philosophical, thoughtful, sexy as Hell, fascinating, maddeningly charismatic, and genuinely dedicated to the people about whom he cares. 

    The rest of the crew is no "better", really. Simon is an overcooked noodle until Henry's goading gives him some backbone. Fay is a lazy, flightly dunderhead until Henry's seeming dismissal gives her focus. This is mirrored in the minor characters, each of whom revolves around Henry like a cranky, irritating sun.

    It's not my favorite of Hartley's films—that honor is reserved for Trust (1990; reviewed here) and The Unbelievable Truth (1989; reviewed here)—but it's unforgettable and by now a part of my personality. 

Cannes Film Festival:

• Nominee, Palme d'Or—Hartley  

• Winner, Best Screenplay—Hartley

overall: warmly recommended

 

Strictly Ballroom (1992) - "Scott Hastings is a champion caliber ballroom dancer, but much to the chagrin of the Australian ballroom dance community, Scott believes in dancing 'his own steps'. Fran is a beginning dancer and a bit of an ugly duckling who has the audacity to ask to be Scott's partner after his unorthodox style causes his regular partner to dance out of his life. Together, these two misfits try to win the Australian Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Championships and show the Ballroom Confederation that they are wrong when they say, 'there are no new steps!'"
length: 1 hour, 34 minutes

source: I own the DVD - which is actually my third copy, since the two previous were borrowed by friends and never returned. It's THAT kind of movie!
I watched it because: it's been ages since last I saw it, and I really wanted to laugh and weep and cheer

    previously reviewed here, and also recommended here
IMDB: 7.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 88% Audience: 87%
my IMDB: 9/10

MPAA rating: PG

notable quote: "I'm not dancing with you, all right? I'm not dancing with you 'til you dance like you're supposed to!"

directed by: Baz Luhrmann (also Co-Written by)

my notes: wacky, frenetic, and wonderful. The costumes are phenomenal, the music is fun and catchy, and the camera angles—which play on documentary style—are awesome. Paul Mercurio rocks as Scott Hastings, earnest and talented and eager. Tara Morice is wonderful as Fran, "just Fran". I also love Antonio Vargas as Rico, Fran's dad, whose intensity and skill are incredible. This isn't exactly high cinema, but it's entertaining and not at all dumb.

    Roger Ebert's review is here, with which I mostly agree.

Awards:

• 1992 Cannes Film Festival–won Best Foreign Film

• 1992 Australian Film Institute–won 8, nominated for 5 more

• 1993 BAFTA–won 3, nominated for 5 more

• 1994 Golden Globes–nominee for Best Picture, Comedy or Musical

overall: strongly recommended

Romeo Must Die (2000) - "When a Chinese gang lord's son is murdered in Oakland, his brother, Han, breaks out of a Hong Kong prison to find out how it happened and to avenge his death. He arrives on controlled turf, a waterfront run by the rival gang-lords Ch'u Sing (Han's father) and Isaak O'Day, and their respective Chinese and African-American crime organizations. When it is clear that something bigger is involved, Han teams up with O'Day's daughter Trish to continue the hunt for justice."
length: 1 hour, 55 minutes

source: I own the DVD
I watched it because: I was on a roll with movies I like (that other people may not) and from diverse genres
IMDB: 6.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 32% Audience: 61%
my IMDB: 7/10

MPAA rating: R

notable quote: "He's a lot shorter than I thought."

directed by: Andrzej Bartkowiak

my notes:     Roger Ebert's review is here, which I found a bit hard to follow. I guess I understand that, and why, Ebert didn't love the film, but the review is all over the place.

    I admit that the story is contrived, the characters approach caricature, the fights are enhanced, and the soundtrack intrusive. However, I also found the story interesting, and the characters compelling and either likable or enjoyably despicable. The fights are still cool, even if one knows they are physically improbable. Jet Li (Han Sing) is always adorable and fun to watch. Aaliyah (Trish O'Day) had a wonderful voice and understood stage presence, and probably would have become a much better actress. Delroy Lindo (Isaak O'Day) is magnificent, always, and the bumbling and joyful Anthony Anderson (Maurice) is a treat. Grand cinema? No. Enjoyable couple of hours' entertainment? Ayup.

overall:  recommended

The Thin Man (1934) - "The recently divorced Clyde Wynant discovers that his new girlfriend has stolen $50,000 and is carrying on with other men. Not long afterward, he disappears. Anxious to locate her father, Wynant's daughter goes to private detective Nick Charles for help."
length: 1 hour, 34 minutes

source: I own the DVD (series)
I watched it because: I just recently bought the set and want to see them all in order

    previously reviewed here and here
IMDB: 7.9/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 98% Audience: 93%
my IMDB: 9/10

AFI: 100 Years...100 Laughs (2000) #32

MPAA rating: TV-PG

notable quote: "'How many drinks have you had?'

    'This will make six Martinis.'

    '[to the waiter] All right. Will you bring me five more Martinis, Leo? Line them right up here.'"

directed by: W.S. Van Dyke

my notes: it's mayhem, but very funny and intelligent mayhem. Powell and Loy make a wonderful couple, and their witty back and forth is hilarious and heartfelt. I've rarely seen a screen couple who seemed so at ease with each other, both verbally and physically. (Oh, behave!) It's a darned silly plot but the action makes up for it. And, of course, Asta the dog is the absolute best.

    Roger Ebert's review is here, with which I heartily agree, and includes the following apt and lovely statement. "The plot is so preposterous that no reasonable viewer can follow it, and the movie makes little effort to require that it be followed."

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture

• Best Actor—Powell

• Best Director—Van Dyke

• Best Writing, Adaptation—Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett
overall: highly recommended

 

[the title quotation is from Strictly Ballroom]