Reviews

How did I never hear of Lee Evans before I saw this movie? He is my new idol. When this movie came out, I gave it a miss because of Jerry Lewis (King of Comedy notwithstanding -- he gives me the creeps, man), but I caught it on Sundance the other night and was bowled over. It starts out sorta weird, but then hooks you with the story of this guy trying to be a standup comic in the shadow of his showbiz-legend dad (is there any worse word than "showbiz"? Maybe "node," but other than that, "showbiz" is just such a bad word!!!), and then all of a sudden you are in Blackpool, England, being treated to (a) some amazing vaudeville performers from an era sadly gone by, and (b) some amazing performances by clowny guys (not the creepy kind), and (c) Leslie Caron singing a torch song in a man-tailored shirt, and (d) a beautiful story of lost dreams, redemption, and wax eggs. Rent it, fool. Rent it now if you have a funny bone in your body.

This should have gotten the Oscar. It was dreamy, meditative, and surreal. I absolutely loved it. The narration was sort of chanted or sung, like it was in imitation of some Japanese traditional performance that I (in my cultural myopia) wasn't familiar with. But I got very caught up in it. See it in a theater if you can--it works great if you feel surrounded by it. Funny, weird stuff.

Well, I thought the lead actor was just fine. He was supposed to be slightly nebbishy anyway. The movie I thought was a little corny, but the message was very sweet. I'm surprised it got the Oscar--it wasn't exactly deep. But it was feel-goody, so okay. I especially liked the part where the 2 guys get their beers and make a little happy sound. I guess that's universal.

I liked this little movie a lot, but the main character kind of annoyed me. It lost points for that. But I did, in the end, feel for his dilemma, and I was glad things worked out the way they did. It was funny. But... I still think Das Rad should have gotten the Oscar.

I really, really felt for these rocks. Seriously. They were imbued with so much personality, and I didn't want anything to happen to them. In addition, there was a skillful back-and-forth device that shifted the POV from the short-term human perspective to the rocks' long-term, uh, rocky perspective. Very cool, very skillfully done. If you told me a German film about rocks would be so charming and touching and funny, I'd have told you to take a hike, but it's true: this little film about rocks is a jewel.

Oh, this broke my heart! The filmmaker showed such skill as he told the story of the woman on the train with no words whatsoever. The actress was great. She just really brought to life her loneliness, from her buck teeth to her terrible scarf. She was just trying so hard. This was super-great. Except it was a bit devastating in the end...

I absolutely loved Monsters Inc, I really did. But when I saw this film alongside the other animated shorts in the Oscar running, it seemed a little lite. Don't get me wrong. I admire the Pixar animation and whatnot. The fur alone is amazing. But I didn't walk away with anything. It was like cotton candy. I liked the German rocks movie better.

Because it was too depressing? It was brutal to watch--I had to hide my face for much of the movie. But its truth was undeniable and so, so painful. It worked on so many levels. At the end you can almost fool yourself that it ended differently... I think it should have won. The movie that did win confronted racism in a sweet, unthreatening way, and was very frothy; this one was more difficult, and tougher to watch--well, I suppose it had less appeal for that reason. Feh.

This movie was short n' sweet and very well made--it really showcased the director's skill. But I thought the premise was gimmicky and annoying. The little girl was very cute though! I've never seen such a cute little girl!

His arch-enemy was a police officer who arrested him before his incarceration-- Kaz injured him trying to escape, and "now" the cop has a permanent limp.

He holds a grudge against Kaz and makes his job harder. Kaz has tried to make amends, but the guy just ain't hearing it.

Why do I remember these things? Life would be easier if I forgot Kaz and remembered where I put my car keys.