all those pineapples gave me a stomachache. So I went to a bar

Average rating: 7.75 (not counting the DNF)

Cellular {Final Call} (2004) - "A woman held captive manages to piece together a broken phone and reaches a random young man on the other end of the line, pulling him into a race against time to save her and her family. The entire story unfolds through fragile connections—calls that can drop at any moment, information that arrives incomplete, and decisions made under pressure. As the stakes escalate, what begins as an accidental contact becomes a tense relay of trust, improvisation, and urgency across a city in motion." 

length: 1h, 33m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by David R. Ellis  |  why I watched: I'm digging deep into the Jason Statham filmography

IMDb: 6.5/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 56% / 58% Audience  |  my IMDb: 7/10  |  MPAA: PG-13

tone & texture: unsettling, fast-cut/kinetic

notable quote: "'You're gonna need about five stitches. But some of this tissue looks...gangrenous.'

    'That's avocado mud mask. It's for combination skin.'"

my notes: Cellular suffers from an identity crisis. Is it a comedy? A thriller? Ironic, energetic, indie? It starts out feeling like another teen movie, or maybe an episode of Criminal Minds. In the end, it feels like a somewhat more engrossing and sustainably intense Speed. The destination is worthy of the bizarre journey. It's a different sort of movie, but I liked it.

    I particularly enjoyed producer Dean Devlin (of Leverage fame) as a cab driver, and (surprising for me) Rick Hoffman as the lawyer. 

    Roger Ebert's review is here—and he really liked it!  

themes: courage, found family, justice

overall:  recommended

 

Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) - "In the early days of television journalism, broadcaster Edward R. Murrow and his team at CBS take on Senator Joseph McCarthy, whose anti-communist investigations have created a climate of fear across the United States. In Good Night, and Good Luck., the newsroom becomes a battleground where words, images, and integrity carry real consequence. Told with restraint and precision, the film captures a moment when speaking plainly on air required both courage and clarity—and when the cost of silence felt just as high." 

length: 1h, 33m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by George Clooney  |  why I watched: it's been recommended many times, I like Clooney's work (especially as a writer and director), and the subject is timely

IMDb: 7.4/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 93% / 83% Audience  |  my IMDb: 8/10  |  MPAA: PG

tone & texture: straightforward, noir shadows

notable quote: "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always, that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep into our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who feared to write, to associate, to speak, and to defend the causes that were for the moment unpopular."

my notes: I admire the filmmaking, which is gorgeously done—tight shots, interesting (but not distractingly intense) angles, brilliant lighting, and almost flawless acting. It's a good story, well told. It's also a movie that I do not need to see again. 

    Roger Ebert's excellent review is here. 

themes: courage, justice, tradition vs. change

overall:  recommended

Chungking Express {Chung Hing sam lam} (1994) - "Two loosely connected stories unfold in the restless pulse of Hong Kong: a heartbroken cop marking time by expiration dates and chance encounters, and another drifting through routine until a quietly eccentric woman begins to reshape his world in small, almost invisible ways. Love is fleeting, accidental, and often one step out of sync—felt more in passing moments than in declarations. The film moves with a buoyant, improvisational energy, capturing the strange intimacy of loneliness in a crowded city." 

length: 1h, 42m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Wong Kar-wai  |  why I watched: this film is a sort of trifecta, uniting a favorite director with two favorite actors, Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro

IMDb: 7.9/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 89% / 93% Audience  |  my IMDb: 9/10  |  MPAA: PG-13

tone & texture: intimate, high-color/stylized

notable quote: "We're all unlucky in love sometimes. When I am, I go jogging. The body loses water when you jog, so you have none left for tears."

my notes: trippy, melancholy, incredibly funny, sweet, thoughtful, and deeply romantic... This is one of the best movies I've ever seen. As it ended, I was beaming and in tears. It's so good. 

    Roger Ebert's review is here. 

themes: identity, memory, love

overall: very highly recommended

Spy Game (2001) - "On the day a veteran CIA officer plans to retire, he learns that a former protégé has been captured in China and is facing execution. Over the course of a single day, he navigates a web of bureaucracy, politics, and surveillance, using every ounce of experience to influence an outcome from behind a desk. Past and present intertwine, revealing a mentor–protégé relationship forged through missions, compromises, and hard-earned trust—where loyalty may matter more than the rules meant to govern it." 

length: 2h, 6m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Tony Scott  |  why I watched: I've seen it before (previously reviewed here) and liked it

IMDb: 7.1/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 64% / 75% Audience  |  my IMDb: 7/10  |  MPAA: R

tone & texture: straightforward, crisp & modern

notable quote: "'We're going to need you upstairs a bit longer.'

    [sighs] 'You've got something in your teeth.'"

my notes: the first time I saw it, I was more swept up; this time I saw the support structure (and thus the flaws). Still, it's a good film, and any opportunity to see Robert Redford is worth the time. The story is intricate, the pacing demanding, and the finale rewarding. 

     Roger Ebert's review is here. 

themes: loyalty

overall:  recommended

 

L'Amour Braque {Mad Love} (1985) - "Sophie Marceau, Tchéky Karyo, and Francis Huster form the mad love-triangle at the core of Andrzej Zulawski’s L’Amour Braque (a.k.a. Mad Love), a postmodern, existentialist homage to Fyodor Dostoevsky’s classic novel The Idiot. A manic bank robber (Karyo) aims to take back his beloved moll (Marceau) from rival gangsters. On a train to Paris, he meets a neurotic dreamer (Huster) who assumes the mantle of the tale’s 'idiot' and gets swept up in the ensuing maelstrom of love and vengeance. Brimming with outbursts of energy and eruptions of emotional violence, L’Amour Braque is a deliriously unique, perverse and bloody ballet choreographed by the visionary director of Possession and Cosmos." 

length: 1h, 41m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Andrzej Zulawski  |  why I watched: I'm fascinated with Tchéky Karyo, whose work in La Femme Nikita, Kiss of the Dragon and A Very Long Engagement I admire

IMDb: 5.9/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: NA% / 45% Audience  |  my IMDb: 1/10 DNF  |  MPAA: Not rated

tone & texture: unsettling, absurd/surreal

notable quote: "'I've never been in love, just sick.'   

    'Same thing.'"

my notes: manic, loud, and obvious—this is the polar opposite from the qualities of Karyo's work that I've admired in the past. Yuck.

themes: chaos v. order

overall: not recommended

 

[the title quotation is from Chungking Express]