polsci/sentiment-polarity-dataset-v2.0 huggingface dataset:
albert brooks saves the day , just in the nick of time . 
with a very poor summer for movies , brooks is just what audiences were looking for to cheer them up , and does so in a positive way . 
while this may not be his finest work , " the muse " still shakes up some delightful humor . 
in albert brook's latest comedy , he tells a story of a troubled screenwriter ( brooks ) who's losing his edge , as his business partners say . 
in desperation , he goes to see his friend jack ( jeff bridges ) , who has been a very successful screenwriter in the past . 
he asks jack for some help , and recieves word of a real life muse , that has helped him and many other directors throughout their career . 
so brooks seeks the muse named sarah ( sharon stone ) , and is suckered into buying her expensive , food etc . as a sort of payment . 
the real punch line however , doesn't come until the end . 
it really makes you wonder , how screenwriters really get their ideas , could it simply be from a friend or a bum in the street ? 
the idea itself is provoking and brooks does it in a hilarious manner . 
speaking of brooks , he was absolutely hysterical as a screenwriter . 
every time he graces the screen , i can't help but start laughing . 
albert has a very unique sense of humor that makes him a very likeable character . 
the real problem with the film lies with sharon stone . 
she wasn't likeable at all . 
brooks had the right idea with her occupation , but she never pulled through . 
in a way , she drained energy from the once funny atmosphere and left it bleak . 
luckily brooks could clean up the mess , and cover for stone's mishap . 
it was a shame that the film went slightly downhill after her appearance , because " the muse " had the potential to a be a very authentic comedy . 
on a brighter note , andie macdowell was also charming as brook's wife . 
she is always a nice addition as a supporting actress , because she has that charisma that seems to complete the atmosphere to any film she's in . 
the funniest moments in " the muse " in my opinion were the cameos by james cameron and martin scorsese . 
i mean imagine , brooks seeing these big named directors in his back yard seeking sharon stone for advice , like it was something out of the ordinary . 
it was just plain hilarious . 
it just adds to the satire joke , of how directors get ideas . 
brilliant move by brooks . 
as i mentioned before , the film is a satire much like it's proceeder bowfinger , which came out a few weeks before . 
unlike bowfinger , this is not a mean spirited film that's desperate for jokes , it's rather a witty and humorous look at hollywood . 
 " bowfinger " had it's moments , but had quite a few problems that were never worked out , but " the muse " still managed to keep the laughs despite a bit of a detour . 
by the end of the film , you're glad to see a good hearty comedy come out of it . 
for once i'm not fully disappointed , because the film didn't slow down , it kept moving , even with some flaws . 
thumbs up to brooks for his brave effort . 
i think he'll still manage to keep his edge around well into the future .
razor blade smile running as part of the vancouver international film festival played october 2nd and 4th , 1998 . 
official release : halloween 
reviewed by vince yim 
`you think you know all about vampires . . . believe 
me . . . you 
know f * ck all . ' 
with these words , we are brought into the world of a sultry vampire seductress by the name of lilith silver ( played by eileen daly ) . 
made into an immortal a century and a half ago by the sinister ethan blake , she continues to alleviate boredom with her state of being . 
so , what's an undead girl to do , except squeeze into the tightest fitting clothes possible , get out her guns , seduce a few guys , and kill a few people for money and blood ? 
with that out of the way , let me say this . 
this film is bad . 
this film is really , really bad . 
yet somehow , it is strangely enjoyable . 
with all the elements of a direct to video horror flick ? buxom babes , gore , cheesy dialogue , and bad acting ? any casual film viewer would be more inclined to spend their money on renting innocent blood or going to see blade . 
still , it is considered to be one of the finest british vampire film . 
agreed , it might be , but is far from being the best vampire flick ever . 
period . 
razor blade smile has some rather high production values , shown by the nice overall tone to the film . 
the film is also a bit of a departure from popular vampire lore , with a vampire that can go out in broad daylight without disintegrating , doesn't sleep in a coffin ( but leaves one next to her computer ) , and sees religion as the `opium of the peoples' ( hence , immunity to crosses ) . 
but aside from that , it doesn't stray too far away from horror film conventions . 
that is , unless that is intentional . 
razor blade smile literally goes for the throat , then pumps the wound full of processed cheese . 
you can't help but laugh when a female vampire gets decapitated and her severed head goes flying into a puddle . 
you'll laugh even harder at the hideously contrived situations ( to distract two female guards , lilith tosses a cellular phone towards them and dials the number ) . 
you'll laugh the hardest when a murder witness recants the tale and suddenly starts sobbing uncontrollably . 
and then , there's the sudden twist ending ( i have enough heart not to give it away ) . 
the film refuses to take itself seriously , which is a good thing , as by the time lilith zips up her skin-tight body suit and then unzips it just to show the right amount of cleavage , you've most likely forgotten the main point of the story . 
but in case you really care , she's been assigned to kill a bunch of people who belong to the so-called illuminati , and she's leaving a huge mess behind for the police to find . 
as much as my criticisms , this movie works best as a guilty pleasure or as a film that you watch with your friends and within groups . 
almost destined for cult-status , the film's campy , cheesy overtones actually work towards the film . 
while this may not necessarily be the film you'd want to be seen watching by yourself , it makes for a fun time at the movies .
i guess there are those who have never been kissed before ( a rare and dying breed ) , except if you're child ? in which case it would be called experimenting . 
rarer still are those who have never been kissed before they reach the twenties . 
hardest to believe still , is that drew barrymore has never been kissed . 
despite all these hard to believe tit bits , there are people out there who have never truly been kissed , and who are still waiting for that right person to give them the wet , sloppy warm feeling of tongues intermingling , reassuring them that their search for true love is over . 
well , this movie is about a girl waiting for the right boy to give her the kiss of her life . 
and it's sweet . 
drew barrymore who shone in ? ever after' is wonderful as ? josie , grossy' , the high school dweeb who becase a professional editor , before being assigned by her paper to return to school as an undercover reporter . 
it addresses the issues of how a dweeb , becomes a prom queen and finds the man of her life all in one sitting . 
hard to believe , but possible . 
there may also be those who have been kissed before , but in fact , never truly been given the kiss . 
so this movie can be watched by those who are waiting for true love or those who are still searching for it . 
either way , it is one enjoyable sit , with a fairytale ending .
while alex browning ( devon sawa ) waits at jfk to leave for a school trip to paris , bad omens seem to surround him . 
as soon as he buckles into the plane , he has a vision of the plane exploding seconds after take-off . 
when the vision begins to come true , alex bolts for the door , dragging several students and a teacher in his wake . 
the plane takes off without them and explodes just as alex predicted . 
he becomes an object of fear and suspicion among the community , and the tension only increases as the survivors begin to die . 
alex and another survivor , clear rivers ( ali larter ) , investigate the suspicious " suicide " of a friend , and a mortician ( tony " candyman " todd ) clues them in to the truth : alex interrupted death's design by saving people who should have died in the explosion , and death will want to claim its rightful victims . 
in order to save himself and the others , alex will have to figure out death's new plan and thwart it . 
of the countless horror films that have competed for a piece of the " scream " audience , " final destination " is the best so far . 
talented young screenwriter jeffrey reddick offers a fresh variation on a familiar formula . 
we've seen hundreds of movies where a group of teenagers are murdered one-by-one by a faceless slasher , but reddick cuts out the hockey-masked middle-man and makes the villain death itself . 
first-time feature director james wong made the most of that premise . 
every scene is permeated with creepiness and foreboding , reminding us that death is everywhere , can come at anytime . 
everyday objects and events vibrate with menace . 
the most amusing harbinger of doom : john denver's " rocky mountain high , " which is played several times in the movie before someone dies . 
 ( the link is that denver died in a plane crash , and the song includes a line about fire in the sky . ) 
the performances are stronger than those usually elicited by teen horror . 
devon sawa , who previously starred in another horror flick , " idle hands , " gives a frantic and convincing lead performance . 
kerr smith is carter hogan , an antagonist of alex's whose quick temper causes him to pulled off the fatal plane . 
smith plays carter as filled with anger and confusion that constantly threatens to bubble over into violence . 
seann william scott , who's also in theaters right now in " road trip , " plays the somewhat dim billy hitchcock and provides a needed counterpoint to the intensity of alex and carter . 
tony todd's one-scene cameo is delicious but all too brief . 
bottom line : watchable teen fright flicks are few and far between , but this destination is worth visiting .
let's face it : since waterworld floated by , the summer movie season has grown * very * stale . 
with no new eye-candy for four weeks straight , we've had to sustain ourselves on the quasi-nutritional value of cheatin' husbands , traveling chocolate salesmen , and computer- generated serial killers . 
sigh . 
thank god for desperado . 
the freewheeling sequel to el mariachi--director robert rodriguez's notorious $7000 debut--stars a cool antonio banderas as the returning guitarist with no name . 
he's a man in black with revenge on his mind , and an arsenal in his case . 
 ( the woman he loved was killed in the first film . ) 
so , he spends the entire story shooting drug dealers ; sort of a tex-mex version of the punisher , if you will . 
there isn't much of an emotional core to desperado . 
rodriguez is having too much fun finding new and innovative ways to pay homage to john woo . 
 ( and sergio leone . . . 
and sam peckinpah . . . ) 
some may wince at the body count--at least 100 graphic killings is a fair estimate--but it's all played for laughs . 
big , broad , hispanic laughs that , for me , recall the physical comedy of blake edwards and his pink panther films . 
sick , slick fun .
the small-scale film , in limited release , " waking ned devine " is a pleasant excursion to a time and place which allows the audience to absorb the full texture of a small town . 
filled with breathtaking scenery , 'characters' , and delightful music , the movie would be interesting even without a plot . 
the story contains several surprises which are best left unmentioned in a review . 
the film starts out with a sharp opening , which gives us a taste of what is to follow : country folk with an inclination for a bit of larceny . 
what gets things going is the fact that a winner of the lottery is apparently one of the residents in the small town ( pop 52 ) of tullymore . 
who that person is , and how to share in the good fortune is the mission of two longtime friends jackie ( ian bannen ) and michael ( david kelly ) . 
part detectives , part scalawags , they have to stay alert to the changing circumstances they face as the story unfolds . 
the village consists of several amusing characters . 
a clueless pig farmer , temporary priest , and a witch . 
there's also the lotto man who must be satisfied that everything is on the up-and-up . 
there are no hollywood touches to this film - except for the outer space introduction [ ! ] . 
pacing is right . 
towards the end , it runs a bit out of steam , but that's okay because for most of the 90 minutes we've been interested in the goings on . 
a mixture of laughs and ( occasional ) sentiment - all the right emotions are engaged . 
in one brief dream sequence - you'll know it when you see it - a fantastic combination of color and music transports the characters to a place you really hope exists . 
one of the key moments in the film . 
the music , available on cd ( london 289 460 939-2 ) follows the same arc as the movie and is well worth considering . 
a fine film that's for everybody except action fans . 
somewhat like 'the englishman who went up a hill and came down a mountain , ' . . . 
but livelier .
bruce lee was a bigger-than-life martial artist ( and ) actor . 
bruce's unique character ( i . e . , self-produced sound effects , etc . ) and seemingly perfected martial art and physique were all well portrayed by the actor , james lee . 
the story is told from his wife linda's point of view where she put a lot of family and practical side of bruce lee's life . 
however , you can't help but like , whenever the fight scenes are on , what he can does with his body and that familiar bruce attitude and character . 
i also like the little bits of insight scenes about bruce lee's life before he became famous : scenes like bruce practicing pronunciation of english . 
it seemed as if he was no better than anybody else . 
scenes like bruce delivering chinese food as a delivery boy ridding a bike through the american college looking at the ( all-white ) students , cheerleaders , and athletes . 
it seemed he too wished for the american dreams and hopes . 
in conclusion , the movie was well made , it produced a realization of who bruce lee was , and actor james lee was so much like bruce you have to remind yourself that he is just an actor . 
and the fighting scenes were all excellent . 
so go see it and enjoy the movie . 
p . s . if you have seen the movie unforgiven by clint eastwood , then the feeling left after dragon was very much like the feeling you got after the unforgiven .
clint eastwood , in his ripe old age , is cashing one talent in for another . 
midnight in the garden of good and evil is an eastwood-directed film clint isn't even in , and it's damn good . 
adapted from a best-selling john berendt novel based on true events , this movie is set in the bizarre georgia town of savannah , where people walk invisible dogs and attach horseflies to their head . 
and that's just the mayor . 
as director and producer , eastwood contributes a self- indulgent but very competent 150 minutes , neatly balancing drama , suspense and humor . 
like all great movies , midnight in the garden has a lot of funny moments that spring from the characters themselves , and not from some contrived , juvenile intrusion . 
the acting , from big-time stars john cusack and kevin spacey , is as good as you'd expect , but it's the supporting stable that gives the movie its offbeat charm . 
cusack plays a free-lance reporter sent to savannah to write a fluff story for town & country magazine about one of eccentric millionaire spacey's parties . 
lots of food , beverages and gunplay . 
yes , an employee of spacey's has a huge argument in front of cusack and later turns up dead . 
it seems like a simple matter of self- defense -- the guy threatened spacey , shot at him , missed , then spacey took him out -- but being a movie , there's much more to it than that , and cusack decides to stay in town and write a book about the murder , a book which will eventually become a movie he will star in . 
the weird circle of entertainment . 
this is where the stable of supporting characters comes in . 
there's the requisite sexy woman ( alison " nepotist's daughter " eastwood ) , the strange piano player , the voodoo woman and the transvestite . 
miss chablis deserves a paragraph of his/her own , as the stealer of every scene she appears in -- what would this movie be without the castilian scene and her testimony ? 
chablis , playing herself , is five times funnier than reigning drag queen rupaul , but never seems exploited as the movie's comic relief or out of place in a basically serious movie . 
there are also a fair share of courtroom scenes , which these days almost never seem welcome in a movie , but even here clint manages to keep the movie fascinating . 
certainly the characterizations of the judge and spacey's lawyer both help immensely , as does having the fly-guy as the jury's foreman . 
it's here we realize the case boils down to an indictment of spacey's homosexuality . 
yes , spacey had a sexual relationship with the dead man -- before he shot him , of course . 
midnight in the garden of good and evil isn't a classic , but it is one of the better celebrity-directed , true-story best-seller adaptations out there . 
likewise , no one from this movie will be getting any oscar nominations , but the performances are all great . 
in fact , i'd almost recommend that the academy add a best supporting transvestite category . 
serving america for more than 1/25th of a century !
buffalo ? 66 is a very rarely known movie that stars vincent gallo and christina ricci . 
gallo plays a very troubled man , who was sent to jail for gambling . 
once out of jail , he must visit his parents , who he told he was married . 
the truth is he isn't married . 
to try to impress them , he kidnaps a girl ( christina ricci ) from a tap dancing class to act as his wife . 
the film is very cheaply made , and it shows it throughout a lot of the movie , but you don't need money to make a good film . 
buffalo ? 66 doesn't always stay with the realistic concept , and sometimes goes through outrageous events . 
gallo's parents , played by angelica huston and ben gazarra , are two very strange individuals . 
the mother plays a football fanatic and the father plays a quiet man with odd habits . 
gallo and ricci arrive at his parent's house , and some extremely funny scenes take place within the house . 
ricci's performance during the scene at gallo's parent's home are very well done . 
there is constantly humor involved in the interesting dinner table scenes . 
the way the movie was filmed in this particular part of the movie were interesting and creative . 
they seemed very mediocre , but they worked out just fine . 
gallo's character is developed very well . 
the impression that he is very depressed and confused is very clear . 
gallo gives a performance that makes you believe what the character is going through . 
his character goes through many , many problems , just like many people in real life . 
this character seemed very realistic to me . 
ricci's character is funny and different . 
she doesn't care much that she has been kidnaped , in fact , she falls in love the man who kidnaped her ! 
ricci is a very wonderful actress and she is starting to get the recognition that she deserves . 
buffalo ? 66 isn't all laughs though . 
many scenes are very dramatic and depressing . 
gallo's character was so realistic , he was extremely disturbing . 
some scenes are supposed to come off as funny , but they actually seemed sad and real to life . 
the film sometimes drags along , not giving much material . 
i really would have liked to see gallo's parents a lot more , and i would have liked to see the characters developed more . 
overall , buffalo ? 66 isn't as good as some people put it up to be . 
the bottom line- a few hysterical scenes save this film from sinking to the bottom .
after being hypnotized , a man believes there is a ghost in his house . 
the review 
two low-key summer horror films have become surprise financial successes this year : the blair witch project and the sixth sense . 
each has made well over $100 million in north america , based on a combination of strong word of mouth and clever advertising . 
if a film's box office take were based primarily on its quality , stir of echoes would join blair and sense in grossing far more money than expected , for it is as scary , if not scarier than the other two . 
writer/director david koepp has given artisan entertainment , the folks who distributed blair witch a second creepy hit . 
the story gets going after tom witzky ( bacon ) , an average blue-collar dad , gets hypnotized by his wife maggie's ( erbe ) sister lisa ( douglas ) at a party . 
while the hypnosis goes as expected to the party-goers , it triggers something in tom's head . 
things begin to change around him ( blinking red lights let off a strange hum , for example ) , and he fights to stay in control of his own senses . 
where these experiences take tom , maggie and their son jake ( cope ) , who tom thinks might have some answers , is down a dark path that will scare and disturb you . 
david koepp keeps the action localized ; the majority of the action takes place at tom's house or just down the street . 
by keeping things at home , koepp is able to proceed without having to resort to any clumsy segues ( montages of driving down roads as we move from one city to another etc . ) . 
unfortunately , the dread and spookiness of stir of echoes are frequently interrupted by moments of levity . 
humour can take the tension away from a scene faster than any shoddy special effect or poor acting . 
several tense moments become completely diffused by a few misplaced jokes . 
also , there are a couple of plot developments that are left unresolved , though to mention them would be to give too much away . 
kevin bacon handles the duel task of playing an everyman and a man losing his sanity admirably . 
his total lack of understanding of what is happening to him is believable , as are the reactions from his wife maggie . 
kathryn erbe is given a role meatier and better written than that of most " wife who can no longer handle her husband " parts . 
while it is still a supporting role , her maggie is moving as she watches both her husband and her son enter what she calls " a private club that i'm not invited to " , where they whisper about things all day long . 
as jake , zachary cope equals the performance of haley joel osment in the sixth sense , but gets less screen time . 
both children manage the same trick , making the audience creeped out by their apparent acceptance of the way things are . 
fans of blair and sixth sense will almost surely love stir of echoes . 
it combines the dread of blair , a creepy closed-in feel thanks to cinematographer fred murphy and great performances by the whole cast , specifically bacon , to give the fall its first genuine scary film . 
if only they had let up on the unneeded funny bits and tweaked the plot a bit more , this could have been one of the year's best .
being the self-proclaimed professional film critic that i am , i am somewhat embarrassed to admit that i had not seen lawrence of arabia ( coming soon to dvd ) until only recently . 
after all , it's considered by just about everyone to be the masterpiece epic of director david lean , who also directed films such as bridge on the river kwai , and doctor zhivago . 
so one day , a friend of mine loaned me a copy of the video and i sat down and watched it . 
i was initially skeptical that something made almost 40 years ago would be able to keep my attention for the butt-numbing 3 1/2 hours of its duration . 
but now i fully understand why this has become the film that other epic films are judged against -- the winner of seven academy awards in 1963 for best picture , director , editing , cinematography , art direction , music , and sound . 
after watching the film again , i am convinced that it is simply one of the finest works of cinematic genius to ever illuminate the big screen . 
based on the autobiographical writing of british officer t . e . 
lawrence during world war i , lawrence of arabia depicts lawrence ( played by then-unknown actor peter o'toole ) as a lieutenant lacking any sort of military discipline whatsoever . 
bored with his assignment of coloring maps for the british army in a dimly lit headquarters building , lawrence jumps at the opportunity to be re-assigned as an observer for an arabian prince fighting against the turkish army . 
lawrence quickly sees just how caring and great these desert dwelling people can be and ends up rallying the various tribes together to fight the turks and help the british turn the tide of world war i . 
shot in panavision's famed super 70mm format , the film beautifully illustrates the definition of the word epic . 
it is absolutely breathtaking . 
using stunning cinematography , costuming , and direction , shot in the most uninhabitable location on the face of the earth , i can only imagine what it must have been like to sit in a theater in 1962 and watch this story unfold before my eyes . 
every shot is choreographed as a portrait -- a living tribute to a great land . 
david lean put his reputation on the line to get this film completed , and the fact that it was even greenlit in the first place says something about the ideology of the motion picture industry at the time , a far cry from its pathetic , uncreative existence today . 
after watching the film , the first thing that came to my mind was , " i've got to do a remake of this film ! " 
but then i thought about trying to pitch the idea to a modern-day movie executive : " okay , it's going to be almost four hours long and shot over three months on location in the sahara desert . 
we are going to need to blow up a full-size train because computer-generated effects probably wont do it justice . 
and we are not going to use any big stars , and won't have any female actors since there's no love story . " 
yes , my friends , the velvet curtain fell on the golden-era of hollywood a long time ago . 
but at least we still have the proof to show all would-be producers and directors out there just how good a film can be .
what i look for in a movie is not necessarily perfection . 
sometimes a movie has such strong ideas that despite whatever flaws it may have , i will prefer it to a better-made film that is not as thought-provoking . 
the thin red line is flawed but it provokes . 
terence malick returns to filmmaking 20 years after days of heaven and produces this meditative look at war . 
unlike this year's saving private ryan , which dwells on war as a necessary evil and explores the moral ambiguities thereof , the thin red line simply says war is waste . 
while that might seem obvious to some , only after experiencing the film do you realize how profound a waste it is . 
saving private ryan has an underlying and practical acceptance that war will occur and it has a great cost ; the thin red line says idealistically avoid this at all costs . 
one message is not necessarily more correct than the other . 
it just depends on one's point of view . 
in malick's film , war is set in a tropical paradise , and john toll's cinematography is beyond lush . 
the setting poses the question , why are we fighting in the face of such beauty ? 
in saving private ryan , the capture of a german soldier presents the moral quandary of whether to let him go . 
in the thin red line , the japanese present the moral quandary of war in the first place . 
they are just like the americans -- frightened and angry , grieving and praying . 
all that separates them is war . 
the flaw in the thin red line comes in the voice-overs . 
unbelievable as coming from the characters and sometimes pretentious , sometimes corny , the voice-overs tell us what the images before us already do and are completely unnecessary . 
dispensing with them , malick could have achieved a tarkovskian grandeur . 
instead , he gets distracting self-consciousness . 
aside from that , malick's direction is stunning . 
the tracking shots across windswept hills and around transports speeding toward shore are extraordinary . 
sean penn , elias koteas , and nick nolte give the best performances . 
penn is subtle as a sergeant trying to hide his humanism , koteas is genuine as a compassionate captain , and nolte startling as a colonel whose blood vessels are about to burst if he cannot win his battle . 
john travolta and george clooney are the worst in cameo roles . 
ultimately however , the thin red line's interest is not in the characters and it is not in drama . 
it has been frequently criticized for its lack of dramatic structure , but malick clearly has different things on his mind . 
has no one ever thought that getting dramatic entertainment from war is exploitative ? 
what malick is working with is theme , and in that , the thin red line is most provoking .
an indian runner was more than a courier . 
he * became * the message he was carrying . 
what danger is a bear , to a message ? 
i used to think sean penn was an immature , arrogant , photographer- punching , madonna-marrying , loudmouth . 
but all that has changed now . 
the guy has grown up . 
and that's not all . 
it seems that sean penn has talents both as a writer and a director , if this film is any indication . 
one might imagine a movie with plenty of ruthless rage and showy machismo , given penn in charge of bronson and and hopper . 
but , no . 
this film is about a real struggle , and the victories and defeats are not simple . 
penn lets the story unfold at a pace dictated by the lives of the characters , without unnecessary rush or flash . 
the focus of the story is two brothers . 
david morse is the brother who has grown up in the small midwestern town in which they were raised , tending a failing farm and finally becoming a police officer . 
viggo mortensen is the wild brother , whose wild behavior seems to be a reaction to some ancient pain that he can't name , much less resolve . 
the film picks the story up on the day when mortensen returns from vietnam , and morse coincidentally encounters an armed youth fleeing for the state line . 
it becomes clear that some kind of conflict threatens the link that the brothers once shared . 
the film is unobtrusive , simple , direct , plain , and sincere . 
it isn't exactly perfect , but its sincerity is well invested in the struggle of the two brothers to identify the sickness before it destroys them . 
life seems to move forward a little faster than they can get a handle on their problems . 
this is a good film without big budget sets , or big name stars pushed into your face . 
in fact , i'm reviewing it because i suspect that it may not get much marketing . 
there were perhaps 10 others at the showing i saw . 
i thought the structure was clean and not oversimplified , though there are a few free-form sections which also work very well . 
the obligatory 1960s music seemed a little cliche , but what are you going to do--this movie * does * take place in the 1960s after all . 
in my opinion , it is worth full-price admission .
not since attending an ingmar bergman retrospective a few years ago have i seen a film as uncompromising in its portrayal of emotional truth as secrets & lies . 
like bergman , director mike leigh is interested in probing his characters' inner depths through hypernaturally blunt confrontations . 
also like bergman , leigh engages in frequent closeups of his characters' ravished and wracked faces . 
and the prominent mournfulness of a cello on the soundtrack recalls bergman's own use of a bach cello suite in an earlier film . 
all that is missing is a discussion of god . 
which is not to say that secrets & lies is nothing more than an homage to the swedish master . 
in fact , it is quite possible leigh had no such intentions in mind . 
nonetheless , what we get is so far removed from the average moviegoing experience -- even from the reason we go to the movies in the first place -- that it takes some effort to adjust to the film's rhythms . 
once the adjustment is made , however , there are great rewards . 
one such is the chance to see life on the screen as it really is . 
though leigh may have adopted some of bergman's stylistic touches , most obviously in an early scene of terse cross-cutting during a married couple's strained conversation , as well as in that somewhat obtrusive score , the overall feeling of the film is that it eschews any " style " at all . 
whereas bergman uses artifice as a tool to expose reality , leigh makes the camera a mere observer , almost as in a pbs documentary . 
the effect of this is to focus all of your attention on the actors . 
it is a tribute to everyone involved that , despite such scrutiny , only infrequently are we aware that anyone * is * acting . 
much has been made of brenda blethyn's performance , and rightly so , but it is only when you remind yourself that you are watching a fiction that you realize how good she is . 
there are a few missteps . 
for one , except for one scene ( tragicomic , as it happens ) , there is scant humor in the film . 
this leads to a certain monotonous tone throughout . 
and occasionally ( as with bergman ) the bluntness of the situations can seem forced . 
for all that , this longish film manages to keep hold of your attention . 
it is unfortunate that the audience for secrets & lies will most likely be limited to an intellectual elite , for there is nothing inherently intellectual about this film . 
in fact , it might easily resonate more strongly for millions of working class filmgoers who will likely never see it . 
there is even a sweet but significant irony in the film's unspoken take on race relations , something an american audience at least would do well to observe . 
nonetheless , secrets & lies is not for the faint of heart . 
though there is nothing physically horrific to make one squeamish , the exploration of common human frailty can be so raw and unsparing that it is tempting to turn from the screen . 
needless to say , it is also very depressing at times . 
but for many of us , of course , so is life . 
and though the film is too honest to tack on a phony happy ending , that same honesty allows it to admit that things can also get better .
after a successful run in australia last year , and with much critical praise heaped upon it , muriel's wedding opens into medium release this weekend in north america . 
muriel heslop is a withdrawn , overweight young woman living in porpoise spit , australia . 
she is often the target of her father's frequent rants at the family , and drowns out her feelings of inadequacy with abba music and fantasies of marriage . 
her self-loathing is such that only being wed shall she prove herself to be a success ; marriage will transform her into a new person who is respected and admired . 
after her four cliquey friends dump her , muriel plots to follow them to a resort where they are celebrating the honeymoon of one of the girls , and muriel's wedding unfolds from there . 
toni collette plays muriel in a winning performance , conveying both the sadness of her character and her desperate eagerness to be accepted . 
collette gained a frightening 43 pounds in order to play the chubby title character . 
she has a natural screen presence and exudes charisma , easily winning the audience over with an honest , painful performance . 
collette basically carries the film , appearing in almost every scene . 
muriel's father , bill " the battler " heslop , is portrayed by bill hunter as a slick politician/developer . 
while chumming around with young fans and crowing 'you can't beat progress' ( his slogan ) , bill labels his family as worthless and embarrassments . 
rachel griffiths plays rhonda , who becomes muriel's cheeky new friend in the film . 
she has good chemistry with collette , and the film suffers when griffiths is off-screen . 
muriel's tormenters , played by pippa grandison , rosalind hammond , belinda jarrett and sophie lee , are two-dimensional caricatures , all saucy , vain and bumblingly spiteful , though that is probably due to hogan's scripting 
muriel's wedding is essentially a genre teen comedy with more intelligence and a lot of charm . 
hogan's use of abba tunes ( which virtually comprises the entire soundtrack ) is interestingly appropriate , although its repetitiveness tires after awhile . 
hogan's script is right on the mark in terms of proportionately mixing comedy with muriel's earnest quest for acceptance , and the gorgeous scene with muriel window-shopping beautifully illustrates the wonder that marriage has for her . 
the glaring pastel colours worn by the performers is an interesting touch . 
muriel's wedding features a fine performance by toni collette and a charming , if a bit too straightforward and conventional story by p . j . hogan . 
on my four star scale , i give muriel's wedding three stars .
wong kar-wei's " fallen angels " is , on a purely visceral level , one of the most exciting films i've seen in a long while . 
unfortunately , wong seems more interested in experimenting with his camera than creating tangible characters for the audience to root for . 
ordinarily , that alone would be enough to sink a movie , but in the case of " fallen angels " , this is not so . 
every shot in this film is exciting just to * look * at . 
wong does really interesting things with the camera , but he doesn't allow the pyrotechnics to completely take over , as was the case with last years dismal " knock off " ( which contained a shot of a foot entering a shoe . 
ugh . ) 
the movie follows three pairs of lost souls as they struggle to find some meaning in their lives . 
i can't say much more than that as i didn't really know what was going on most of the time . 
in fact , it wasn't until about halfway through the movie that i was able to distinguish between each character . 
the constantly moving camera doesn't really allow for the audience to associate with any one character . 
we're always kept at a distance from these people , i suppose in order to further add to the feeling of alienation felt by the characters . 
 " fallen angels " is a refreshing change-of-pace from most hollywood films , which never bother to try anything different , at least on a visual level . 
in fact , i'd go so far as to say that " fallen angels " is more challenging visually than any mainstream hollywood film i've ever seen . 
sure , there's directors like robert rodriguez who enjoy turning violence into operatic orgies of death , but to see a filmmaker like wong who actually assaults the senses with images is truly something worth celebrating . 
but if wong wishes to become a legendary filmmaker , he needs to work on incorporating an actual story into those awesome images . 
there were far too many instances during " fallen angels " in which i asked myself , " now who are these people again ? 
is this that first couple or the second couple ? " 
it was impossible to keep track . 
perhaps he could let the audience know right away which character is which , by introducing them to us with " name cards " , as in scorsese's " mean streets " . 
that's really besides the point , though . 
wong kar-wei has proven himself , through very few films , that's he's a movie-maker to watch . 
let's just hope that he hones his storytelling skills with his next few movies .
usually when one is debating who the modern queen of the romantic comedy is they will bring up names like julia roberts or sandra bullock . 
others will mention meg ryan . 
but for me , it's not even close . 
janeane garofalo is not only the queen of the romantic comedy , she is the best comic actress in hollywood right now . 
and it's a good thing she's starring in the matchmaker , because without her presence the movie would be bland , unfunny , and dull . 
garofalo stars as marcy tizard , a top aide to boston senator john mcglory , who is suffering in the polls . 
in an attempt to capture the irish vote , he sends marcy on a mission to a small irish town called ballinagra in search of other mcglory's that never moved to america . 
unfortunately for marcy , her visit coincides with the town's annual matchmaking festival . 
things get off to a rocky start for marcy though . 
she has no hotel reservations ( for no rational reason ) and the tiny confined room ( tired old cliche' ) she has to stay in has a visitor in her bathtub . 
his name is sean , and marcy finds him repugnant at first , so you can obviously tell where this is headed . 
the movie runs into a few roadblocks . 
for instance , the story is very thin . 
none of the characters ( except the old local matchmaker ) are nearly as interesting as garofalo . 
some of the characters , like the political aide played by denis leary , have wandered in from a completely different movie . 
i think the director realized this and decided to throw in numerous shots of the beautiful irish scenery , and several close-ups of garofalo's winning smile . 
the strange thing is that it works . 
garofalo's charm and the irish scenery could carry the thinnest of stories , and it carries this one .
susan granger's review of " bread and tulips " ( first look pictures ) 
in this delightfully frothy italian romantic comedy , after accidentally being left behind by a tour bus while on a family vacation with her cranky husband and two cynical teenagers , rosalba ( licia maglietta ) , an unhappy housewife from pescara , finds herself - and love - in venice . 
for the first time in years , rosalba's on her own when she's abandoned at a highway rest area . 
although her philandering husband ( antonio catania ) , a plumbing-supply dealer , orders her to stay there until she's picked up , she impulsively accepts a ride to venice , a bohemian paradise which she's never visited . 
rosalba finds refuge and romance with fernando ( bruno ganz ) , a gruff icelandic waiter who offers her a spare room in his modest apartment and prepares breakfast for her each morning . 
to support herself , she gets a job working with a florist ( antonio catania ) . 
film-maker silvio soldini gently explores the blossoming of this bored , middle-aged , middle-class woman with warmth and affection , savoring special moments such as when rosalba starts playing the accordion again and abandons her maroon stretch pants , silver jacket and orange sneakers for a simple , new red-and-white dress with platform-soled espadrilles . 
the superb actors slip into their roles seamlessly , particularly luminous licia maglietta and low-key bruno ganz , along with marina massironi as her nosy massage-therapist neighbor and giuseppe massironi as the inept plumber-turned-private eye who's sent to retrieve her on orders from her frantic husband - who's discovered that his mistress has no interest in doing his laundry or cleaning the house . 
on the granger movie gauge of 1 to 10 , " bread and tulips " is a beguiling , escapist 8 . 
as the summer ends , it's a magical getaway for mature audiences . .
the word 'rest' in the title should be stressed since this is a movie that lacks any action scenes at all . 
what does takes place is more based on character development . 
the film starts right in the middle of the lives of four people : nick , beth , carol and sid . 
what they have done earlier is for the most part only hinted at . 
nick and beth have a relationship and have decided to move from enfield , arizona to butte , montana . 
 ( and i who thought that butte was pronounced slightly different . . . ) 
carol is nick's ex-girlfriend and beth's best friend , sid is a joint-smoking painter that comes to repaint their house before the new tenants move in . 
obviously based on a stage play , the problem with the movie is that there's a lot of things left out . 
it's not obvious that nick and beth are in love with each other , the reason why nick was fired from his job isn't mentioned . 
and why nick suddenly decide to go visit his parents remain a mystery , when he hasn't seen them for many years . 
set in a small ( fictional ? ) 
town in arizona was a good move , since this makes the film focus on the four characters and not on their surroundings . 
the name of the city is not important , this could take place anywhere with four young people in a house discussing life and the future . 
particularly impressive is bridget fonda as beth who end up in bed with sid when her fiance nick leaves her . 
not an actress that i have found interesting earlier or seen many pictures with , but i'll keep an eye on her in the future . 
interesting trivia : this was rated r in the us but rated 'barntill ? ten' in sweden wich means that anyone at any age can see it .
this is the movie not the perfume . 
a slow moving , stylish psychological thriller in imitation of hitchcock's vertigo . 
it is adapted from an original story by brian de palma and paul schrader , and is directed by de palma and scripted by schrader . 
set in new orleans , 1959 , it shows the wealthy michael courtland ( cliff robertson ) sitting on top of the world , celebrating his tenth wedding anniversary with a party in his mansion , as his lovely wife elizabeth ( genevi ? ve bujold ) and young daughter amy ( blackman ) , both look up to him beaming with joy . 
his real-estate development partner bob la salle ( john lithgow ) proposes a toast to him and to their prosperous business , while his high society friends give him their best wishes . 
upon retiring for the night , his daughter and wife are kidnapped in their bedroom and he is left with a ransom note to deliver $500 , 000 tomorrow or they will be killed . 
inspector brie ( stanley reyes ) comes up with a plan to put in phony money and a transmitter in the briefcase exchange , as that will lead them to the kidnappers . 
but the kidnappers burst out of the house surrounded by the police , taking the two victims with them and in the pursuing police chase , the kidnapper's car explodes and goes over the bridge , where none of the bodies were found . 
grieving the loss of his wife and child , the guilt-ridden michael builds them a tomb on the expensive land they were to develop . 
sixteen years later he goes with his partner bob on a vacation and he revisits florence , italy , where he met his wife . 
when he goes to the church where they met , he sees a young girl who looks exactly like his wife . 
her name is sandra portinari ( genevi ? ve bujold ) and she's working there restoring art that is decaying . 
he falls instantly in love with her and doesn't heed bob's warnings that she might be a gold digger and decides to take her back to new orleans and marry her . 
sandra becomes his second chance to prove his love , as he thinks he can finally put the past behind him . 
the surprises to come weren't really all that surprising , as the beauty in the storytelling is almost exclusively in the understated acting by the soul stricken cliff robertson , the emotionally impactful performance by genevi ? ve bujold , and the competent acting of john lithgow . 
it plays too much like a rehash of the master's work , to break any new ground , yet it is still thrilling in its own way .