The Bourne Identity (2002)

Movie quotes:
Jason Bourne: Look. You drive, I pay, it's that simple.
Marie: Scheisse. I got enough trouble, okay?
Jason Bourne: Okay. Can I have my money back?
[Marie looks down at the wad of bills in her hand. Cut to Marie driving Jason in the car]

"How could I forget about you? You're the only person I know."
- Jason Bourne

"I can tell you the license plate numbers of all six cars outside. I can tell you that our waitress is left-handed and the guy sitting up at the counter weighs two hundred fifteen pounds and knows how to handle himself. I know the best place to look for a gun is the cab of the gray truck outside, and at this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. Now why would I know that? How can I know that and not know who I am?"
- Jason Bourne

At a glance:
This rare character-driven thriller combines tense action, exotic locations, and a stellar cast, anchored perfectly by Matt Damon as the boyishly innocent-looking but still-deadly Jason Bourne

Our review (with spoilers):
A half-drowned man (Matt Damon) awakens on an Italian fishing vessel, rescued from the ocean, with two bullet holes in his back. He remembers nothing. Slowly, pieces come together; an implant leads him to a safe deposit box that contains cash, numerous passports with a variety of names, and a gun. When threatened, he is surprised to observe himself dispatching two or more armed men with ease. The puzzle takes time to unravel, but what is immediately clear is that many people want him dead. Through convenience, he teams with a troubled, free-spirited woman (Franka Potente) who initially provides transport out of a touchy situation.

This thriller provides plenty of action, but it is, more importantly, character-driven, with strong performances across the board. Matt Damon provides a perfect blend of surface innocence, intelligence, and boyish charm; he is as surprised as we are to find out he is a trained assassin with all the skills of a top secret agent. Franka Potente provides this thriller with an unusual luxury: a strong female lead. Chris Cooper is excellent as Bourne’s boss. Clive Owen is also particularly effective in a small role as an assassin known as The Professor. This nail-biter is laced with occasionally shockingly cold violence (made even more effective by Potente’s heartfelt reactions to it) and lavish European locations; there’s even  a two-second throwaway shot of assassin ‘Castel’ (Nicky Naude) vespa-ing through Rome with the Coliseum in the background. Rating: 3.5 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"Efficient set pieces come neatly spaced every ten to 15 minutes -- just often enough to keep you credulous -- and the trans-European settings lend a classy backdrop."
- Time Out

"Liman can uncork leap-out-of-your-seat shocks, draw out suspense scenes with malicious finesse and even ease a touch of romance and droll humor into the yarn."
- Colin Covert (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

For Your Consideration (2006)

Movie quotes:
"You can't throw the baby out with the bathwater because then all you have is a wet, critically injured baby."
- Lane Iverson (Michael McKean)

At a glance:
Christopher Guest’s first ever misfire looks behind the scenes at low-budget film-making; an attempt is made at both comedy and sincerity, but neither is delivered

Our review (with spoilers):
This inside-Hollywood film looks at the making of Home For Purim, a 1940s Jewish-themed drama about the American South. Three of the actors (two in the twilight of their careers, and one just making the jump from comedy) find out that they may be nominated for Best Actor Academy Awards. It’s likely these are just rumors and nothing more, since the script, performances, and direction are not really a-grade.

There are talented performances by Guest’s usual team of potentially hilarious comic actors, but, sadly, very little of the film is funny. The too-broad jokes do not feel like they have a basis in fact (for example, an agent who has never used the Internet). What did make me laugh were the intonations and accent (is that supposed to be New York?) of Christopher Guest’s character. I also appreciated the wonderful Catherine O’Hara. She gets the best character to play here: a fully fleshed out role as an ageing actress who believes her waning career may be on the ascension.

Christopher Guest movies are not meant to be side-splittingly funny. Rather, they are best appreciated as low-budget, humorous and affectionately-made gems, featuring a returning cast of familiar faces. Waiting for Guffman, Guest’s first and funniest, benefited from its status as a true comic surprise. Best in Show had perhaps the broadest comic appeal and was the most successful of the lot. A Mighty Wind was not as funny but was carried by the humorous, entertaining folk music parodies and moments of touching sincerity. For Your Consideration doesn’t have the music, comedy, or sincerity to salvage it.

Rating: 1 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"The problem with For Your Consideration is that it breaks the cardinal rule of comedy: it just isn't funny."
- Ted Murphy (Murphy's Movie Reviews)

"The best jokes are the true jokes, and truth has not been best served here."
- Anthony Quinn (Independent)

Freezer Burn (2007)

Movie quotes:
Virgil: Oh! Hey! It’s a tiny wooden moose!
Blake: It gave me a whittle cramp.
Virgil: Oh! You got a whittle cwamp?
Blake: A whittling cramp, a whittling cramp, ‘cause I was – I was up all night whittling!

Virgil: Alright, I’ll see ya – later.
Rex: Fifteen years.
Virgil: Fifteen years.

Gary: Here are your fuckin’ French Fries.
Rex: They’re Freedom Fries, Gary.
Gary: Yeah, sure.
Rex: You’re letting the terrorists win!

Rex: I’ll give you the rundown. A few years back, terrorists attacked us, fucked shit up royal – so, now we’re back in Iraq, and we’re asking for help, and the Frenchies are like, ‘No!’. So we’re all, like, ‘Bye, French Fries; hello, Freedom Fries’.
Virgil: Sounds…stupid and convoluted.
Rex: Yeah, and we got Freedom Toast, Freedom Bread, Freedom Dip, Freedom Kissin’…it’s a different world now, Virg – welcome to it. Need some ketchup – Gary!

At a glance:
An entertaining concept and some enthusiastic acting make Freezer Burn’s tale of cryogenic love a low-budget sci-fi gem

Our review (with spoilers):
Virgil Stamp (Robert Harriell) is a scientist whose goal is to prolong the ability to freeze donor organs. Buoyed by his success with monkey hearts, he makes the jump to believing he can freeze an entire living thing. A terminally ill dog is his first test; when that succeeds, he looks for another subject. In the meantime, his devotion to his work has caused tension between him and his wife, Blake (C. C. Seymour). This isn’t helped when he takes a liking to the paintings of Emma (Ella Rae Peck), a comely 14 year old student of Blake. When Blake finds out that he purchased one of Emma’s paintings behind her back, she destroys his frozen specimens, ruining his upcoming presentation. With his funding and his marriage terminated, Virgil realizes his feelings for Emma are true love. To prove his theories are correct, and to set up a legal meeting between Emma and himself, he freezes himself, leaving instructions for his assistant Rex (Michael Consiglio) to thaw him out in fifteen years. He also leaves instructions for Mendelson (Ivo Velon), a dodgy criminal who owes him a favor, to keep track of Emma. Eleven years later, a failure to pay notice means Virgil climbs out of his freezer in the middle of a dump, homeless and in his underwear. He has no friends, no money, and no outer garments. He eventually finds Rex, who is now homeless, and Mendelson finds him. Mendelson’s news is that Emma died in a car crash, but as he tells his story, we see that in reality, Mendelson fell in love with Emma and married her (this plotline is a bit similar to There’s Something About Mary).

There are moments of amateurish writing and acting in Freezer Burn, but not many, and not nearly enough to reduce the enjoyment of the clever concept, entertaining story, enthusiastic acting, and the general ‘feel-good’ mood of the whole project. Robert Harriell is particularly good in a demanding role that requires he is on-screen almost all the time, often by himself. Some of the fall foliage location filming in Connecticut is also beautiful. I’m hoping to see more from writer/director Charles Hood.

Rating: 2.75 of 4

Click here to order Freezer Burn on DVD

Other reviewers said:
"If you can look past the lack of polish, there are some very fun and entertaining bits in here."
- Curse of Greyface

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Movie quotes:
"When someone says they’ve got people everywhere, you expect it to be hyperbole! Lots of people say that. Florists use that expression. It doesn’t mean they’ve got somebody working for them inside the bloody room."
- M (Judi Dench)

James Bond (Daniel Craig): [at a dirty, small motel] What are we doing?
Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton): We're teachers on sabbatical. This fits our cover.
James Bond: No it doesn't. I'd rather stay at a morgue. Come on.
[they go to a nicer hotel]
James Bond: [to the hotel receptionist] Hello. We're teachers on sabbatical and we've just won the lottery.

Camille (Olga Kurylenko): So, what's your interest in Greene?
James Bond: Among other things, he tried to kill a friend of mine.
Camille: A woman?
James Bond: Yes. But it's not what you think.
Camille: Your mother?
James Bond: She likes to think so.

At a glance:
Daniel Craig’s second Bond film tells its story of revenge with exquisitely choreographed and edited action scenes

Our review (with spoilers):
James Bond is tasked with tracking down the people responsible for the death of his girlfriend Vesper. He swears to M that he is not bent on revenge, yet for some reason every baddie he encounters seems to die, even though she would prefer he occasionally bring someone in for, say, questioning. Bond’s nemesis is one Dominic Greene, a businessman who, under the pretense of buying tracts of land as nature preserves, actually corners a country’s water supply and then sells water to his newly installed leader at an inflated price. Bond is also going to have to deal with Greene’s high-ranking American friends, who also want him out of the way.

I’ve got to admit, I’m starting to prefer (or at least highly appreciate) this more serious, hard-edged Bond over the quipping, smirk-wearing Roger Moore (my previous favorite Bond). Gone are the double-entendres and any sense of playfulness; it seems as if the Bond one-liners are purposefully written NOT to be amusing. They are both good in their own way, but Craig’s steely demeanor meshes well with the frenetic editing and high-tech action scenes that make these newer Bond movies so entertaining.

One area that does not work for me: the tone of these new Bond films is highly grim most of the time, but the villains, despite being slightly more serious, are still mostly moustache-twirling caricatures, and that is not a perfect fit with the new sobering mood.

Rating: 3 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"Meaner, leaner and faster than ever, the new-fashioned, down-to-earth Bond movie might have a typically tangled plot and Daniel Craig scowling a tad too much, but the Bourne-inspired action is sensational."
- Jim Schembri (The Age [Australia])

Grizzly Man (2005)

Movie quotes:
"I will die for these animals, I will die for these animals, I will die for these animals."
- Timothy Treadwell

At a glance:
Werner Herzog’s familiarity with obsession aids his documentary of bear activist Timothy Treadwell, who, after 13 summers camping among grizzlies, was killed by bears

Our review (with spoilers):
Werner Herzog’s documentary profiles Timothy Treadwell, a self-styled ‘gentle warrior’ who spent 13 summers studying grizzly bears in the Alaskan wilderness. An actor by trade, Treadwell’s career had reached rock bottom when he was rejected for a role in Cheers; he subsequently overdosed on cocaine and heroin. He found a religious rebirth in studying, photographing, and ‘protecting’ the bears in the areas where he camped. Born on Long Island, New York as Timothy Baxter, Treadwell reinvented himself as a British orphan from a small outback town in Australia. In videotapes he made while on-site, he portrayed himself as a lone warrior, although in fact at least 4 of those 13 summers he was accompanied by one or more (mostly off-camera) female companions. Herzog picked from this extensive video library to present some amazing up-close footage of bears and foxes; he also shows much of Treadwell’s obsessive, bipolar personality in segments that were essentially personal video diaries that should never have been aired to a wider audience. Treadwell bares his troubled soul. No one can doubt his love of the bears (and his profound, misguided need to be loved by them), but in his zest for love, he invaded the bears territory and ultimately did not show them enough respect. His goals were conflicting; he longed to portray bears as being less dangerous as believed and worthy of protection, and yet he constantly portrayed himself as a man who was purposely camping in dangerous, life-threatening situations. Ultimately, after an amazing run of luck, Treadwell stayed too long into that final, fateful season. The usual bears that he knew (and that knew him) had begun hibernation, and strange, older, hungrier, and more desperate bears inhabited the region. One or more of these bears broke into Treadwell’s tent and killed him and his girlfriend.

Herzog is no stranger to obsession; he also has plunged headfirst into film projects (for example, Fitzcarraldo) at the expense of all other priorities. He has picked his subject well; Treadwell is an intriguing character, and the wildlife footage is captivating at times.  Rating: 3 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"Part punk wildlife doc, part diary of a twisted soul, part cautionary tale, Grizzly Man is a complex, unique and engrossing journey into the murky recesses of an unhinged mind."
- Dan Jolin (Empire Magazine)

"Treadwell, a failed TV actor, is presented as someone desperate to give and receive love. That he went to such extremes is tragic, but also, in Herzog's sympathetic eyes, deeply human."
- Joshua Rothkopf (Time Out New York)

Bad Biology (2008)

Movie quotes:
"For years I used to hate god. What kind of bastard creator would make me this way? I’d fantasize about spitting in his face and ripping his eyeballs out and inflicting in him the same pain he’s inflicted in me. But I’ve now learned to understand him. I now realize just how loving god is. He loves me so much that he’s given me a gift. I can feel seven times the sexual pleasure of any human being. And now he’s given me babies. Not for me to keep, of course, but as a preparation for his holy child. God has been building and designing my one purpose and one purpose only. God wants to fuck me."
- Jennifer (Charlee Danielson)

"Jennifer! Vagina faces! What were you thinking?"
- Magazine Editor (James Glickenhaus)

At a glance:
After 16 years, bizarre horror filmmaker Frank Henenlotter returns with this over-the-top, alternatively hilarious and sickening tale of a women with seven clitori and a man with a huge sentient penis

Our review (with spoilers):
What’s the plural of clitoris? It’s not a word that needs to be used in the plural form very much. But in the case of Jennifer (Charlee Danielson), it does. You see, she has seven of them – at least seven, maybe more. And the drive to satisfy her sexual urges leads to violent sex with numerous partners that sometimes ends in death for the man if she gets too carried away. There’s another side effect to her ‘condition’; two hours after having sex, she sometimes gives birth to a deformed undersized baby – a baby that she simply ignores and leaves to die.

Now she may have found her perfect mate – Batz (Anthony Sneed), a young man who, in his quest to be able to masturbate, has been injecting his penis directly with steroids, until his own organ has become a huge, sentient, sex-crazed drug addict. But just as Jennifer is heading over to Batz’s house to attempt to consummate their relationship, a turn of events complicates matters: Batz’s penis detaches itself and heads off on its own!

Bad Biology is a harsh, sometimes revolting, sometimes hilariously over-the-top film – and I mean that in a good way. It’s a movie that is so wild it makes a David Lynch film look like a Hallmark telemovie. To say it is unique would be a vast understatement. Babies are dumped into garbage pails, a woman has a 5 minute orgasm, a man argues with his fish-flopping penis. And what about those camera angles – vagina-cam (shot from inside Jennifer’s vagina, looking out at her first boyfriend just before he kicks her out in fear and disgust); and penis-cam (shot from inside Batz’s pants, as the penis peers out at a hooker). But probably best of all is watching Jennifer giving CPR to the dying detached penis.

The anchor to Henenlotter’s films is his willingness to at least partially address the topic of alienation as faced by those who are different or live with a deformity or defect. I’m sure Henenlotter probably feels this way in regard to the way his mind works.

The low budgets only hurt the finished product with regards to the uneven acting. Danielson is good; Sneed is handsome (and I noticed his name in the credits for creating the masturbation machine) but his delivery needs some work.

Rating: 3 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"The characters and dialogue aren’t quite up there with Henenlotter’s masterworks, Brain Damage and Basket Case, but Bad Biology contains plenty of queasy fun for the depraved at heart."
- Matt McAllister (Total Sci-Fi)

"At once tragically wounded and gloriously shameless, Bad Biology is a must-see for a certain, self-selecting breed of filmgoer. It lives up to the promise of its premise, and extends the career of one of the horror-genre’s most idiosyncratic and most blatantly obsessive artists."
- Jeremy Heilman (MovieMartyr.com)

Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Movie quotes:
Caden (Philip Seymour Hoffman): That was good, Tom.
Tom (Daniel London): Yeah?
Caden: Yeah.
Tom: I was trying something different. I was…crashing differently – ambivalently.

Caden: I want to ask you, how old are kids when they start to write?
Madeleine (Hope Davis): Listen, there’s an absolutely brilliant novel written by a four year old.
Caden: Really?
Madeleine: ‘Little Winky’ by Horace Azpiazu.
Caden: It’s cute.
Madeleine: Oh, hardly. Little Winky is a virulent anti-Semite. The story follows his initiation into the Klan, his immersion in the pornographic snuff industry, and his ultimate degradation at the hands of a black ex-convict named Eric Washington Jackson Jones Johnson.
Caden: Written by a four year old.
Madeleine: Jefferson.
Caden: Wow. Written by a four year old.
Madeleine: Well, Azpiazu killed himself when he was five.
Caden: Why did he kill himself?
Madeleine: I don’t know, why did you?
Caden: What?
Madeleine: I said, ‘Why would you?’

Caden: You’re weirdly close to what I’d visualized for this character.
Millicent Weems (Dianne Wiest): Glad to be weirdly close.

"Dear diary, I'm afraid I'm gravely ill. It is perhaps times like these that one reflects on things past. An article of clothing from when I was young. A green jacket. I walk with my father. A game we once played. Pretend we're fairies. I'm a girl fairy. My name is Laura Lee. And you're a boy fairy. Your name is Tita Lee. Pretend, when we're fairies we fight each other, and I say "Stop hitting me I'll die!" And you hit me again and I say, "Now I have to die." And then you say, "But I'll miss you." And I say, "But I have to. And you'll have to wait a million years to see me again. And I'll be put in a box, and all I'll need is a tiny glass of water and lots of tiny pieces of pizza and the box will have wings like an airplane." And you'll ask, "Where will it take you?" "Home." I say."
- Olive (Robin Weigert)

At a glance:
Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut is a dense, thought-provoking, sometimes comical, sometimes puzzling examination of a middle aged playwright battling with self-worth, love and art

Our review (with spoilers):
Playwright Caden Cotard's (Philip Seymour Hoffman) productions receive rave reviews, but they are safe copies of other people’s inspirations. At the same time, his relationship with partner Adele (Catherine Keener) is ending, and his body is deteriorating. Prompted by winning a prestigious award, and fighting to find meaning in his life, he begins a new project where he will demand honesty from himself and his actors. The project takes some time to come to fruition – a lot of time – years, in fact, and it is never really completed. This play about life is life, in fact – even though it is taking place on a huge warehouse-sized set and is populated with lookalikes playing the parts of each other.

For a good part of Synecdoche, I thought I was viewing a dream or alternative reality. It took a while for me to realize (or assume, anyway) that the story we were seeing was happening, albeit with chunks removed. As Caden ages, the speed at which his life passes feels very much like the way my life seems to pass too quickly now, where months and years go by in blocks that seem to be over and to fade away almost immediately. Many of us are driven to excel, or at least to cope, and that struggle leaves little time to revel in good memories from the past, or sometimes to even make the right decisions for the future.

Kaufman writes from the depths of his imagination, and here, his first writer/director film, sometimes only he might be able to follow the train of thought he is taking. It is possible that his material is improved, or at least more accessible, when forced through the prism of another director. Left to his own devices, we get unadulterated, imaginative Kaufman in all his murky glory. Despite the nightmarish fantasy, his story is grounded by moments of pure truth. For example, he absolutely nails the detached way that doctors treat patients. He has a tremendous feel for the way people in relationships speak to each other, or perhaps for the things that they think about each other. He transforms fear of living and fear of failing into tangible, in-your-face nightmarish images of a city filled with garbage and people filled with despair.

Synecdoche isn’t totally successful. The overall feeling of despair weighed me down. The final 20 minutes is almost all exposition that provides plenty of thought provocation, but little in the way of a conclusion. If that’s the point, then it is a total success. But no matter, because the film’s true value is its stunning originality and its copious amounts of beautiful Kaufman prose.

It’s also an actor’s film. The last time I saw Samantha Morton, she was a hard-edged, emotion-challenged person in Code 46. Her transformation here is eye-popping. Emily Watson plays Morton’s double to good effect. Tom Noonan is convincing as Caden’s doppelganger – he doesn’t do an imitation; he’s just stalked the guy for 20 years, so who better to play him? Dianne Wiest is effective in a small role. Hoffman is handed a huge assignment here; he is supposed to be the consummate actor, but for some reason I find it difficult to feel empathy for him. Rating: 3 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"So dense, so complex and so downright puzzling that even Kaufman fans may balk at it."
- David Stratton (At the Movies [Australia])

"The film is either a masterpiece or a massively dysfunctional act of self-indulgence and self-laceration. It has brilliance, either way: surreal, utterly distinctive, witty, gloomy in the manner that his fans will recognise and adore."
- Peter Bradshaw (Guardian [UK])

"A difficult, maddening and elusive film that’s also intriguing, profound and darkly funny."
- Matt Bochenski (Little White Lies)