response 27 of 278:

Mar 26 14:32 UTC 2004

I had the same problem with that DVD.  I hope this kind of
control-freakery doesn't become more common.  It reminds me of when
Disney used to disable all the controls during the 'preview of coming
attractions' segment, so you had to watch it all the way through every time.

response 29 of 278:

Mar 26 17:08 UTC 2004

From the story of Hanukah:

The family of Mattathias became known as the Maccabees, from the Hebrew 
word for "hammer," because they were said to strike hammer blows 
against their enemies.

response 33 of 278:

Mar 26 20:04 UTC 2004

Snarkiness need not apply.

response 35 of 278:

Mar 29 03:57 UTC 2004

Okay i just saw "Dawn of the dead" today and i thought it was pretty good.
I didn't see the original and before today i didn't even know there was an
original. I suggest that if anyone has interests in horror movies that you
go and check out this movie.

response 37 of 278:

Mar 29 13:52 UTC 2004

They oughtta make a film full of American stereotypes, and see if the people
who moan about Brits who moan about British stereotypes laugh on the other
side of their faces.

Just saw "Love, Actually." Quite good, actually.

response 39 of 278:

Mar 29 15:26 UTC 2004

Re. 37: Actually, it's been done, sortof.  Martin Mull did a
"mockumentary" back in the '80s called "The History of White People in
America."  It was full of WASP stereotypical traits and such.  Quite
funny, as I recall.

response 41 of 278:

Mar 29 19:45 UTC 2004

"Love, Actually" is a great film.  

I saw "Jersey Girl" yesterday.  Went in with low expectations after the
reviews and ended up enjoying it a great deal.  Carlin is awesome, Raquel
Castro is a total find and Affleck is, well Affleck.  Jason Lee and Matt Damon
have cameos, as does Will Smith and there is a good deal of humor.  

response 43 of 278:

Mar 29 20:21 UTC 2004

Re. 38: you can't say that about French film.w.

response 45 of 278:

Mar 29 22:51 UTC 2004

Finally saw "Lost in Translation" (on DVD) a couple days ago.  Great movie!
Slow moving, but interesting.

response 47 of 278:

Mar 29 23:25 UTC 2004

  I also rented "Lost in Translation" this weekend and saw it for the
  first time.  I very much enjoyed it and thought it did a great job
  of demonstrating just how strange and disorienting it can be to be
  alone in a strange place.  Cathy, however, found it slow and unengaging
  and had to battle against sleep.  I agree that it wasn't what I'd call
  energetic or even plot-driven but I quite enjoyed it for what it was..

response 49 of 278:

Mar 30 03:44 UTC 2004

DOGVILLE--  Saw this over the weekend.  It is danish director Lars Von 
Trier's (director of "Breaking the Waves") answer to Mel Gibson's "The 
Passion of the Christ"  Except instead of Jerusalem, the town is in the 
American midwest in the 1930's, and the Christ figure is played not by 
Jim Caviezel, but by Nicole Kidman.  She plays this young girl with a 
heart of gold who is on the run from the mob, and ends up hiding out in 
the small all american town of Dogville.  There she befriends a John 
Boy Walton type played by Paul Bettany (who was the doctor in Master 
and Commander)  Except Bettany isn't just a John Boy Walton in this 
movie, he's Judas of course.  Bettany's character convinces Kidman to 
stay in Dogville and give of her life, heart and time to the 
townspeople, who need her help even though they are too proud to 
actually admit it.

Kidman spends her days going around the small town, meeting and helping 
each of the townspeople, and saving each in their own way, giving each 
what they are missing in their lives.  She believes in these poor 
people even when they're beaten down by life and really don't believe 
in themselves.  Kidman becomes part of this small town and dedicates 
her life to helping these people.  All is well until the cops come 
looking for Kidman, and tell the townspeople she's suspected of 
something.  In this telling, the cops and the mafia are analagous to 
the Romans, and the townspeople are of course the Jews.   The story 
takes the predicted dark turn where we find out the townspeople aren't 
nearly so nice and wholesome as they seem at first.

The movie comes down to the choices Kidman makes, how she feels about 
the town, and what will happen in the end when she finally assumes the 
power from her "father", revealed as we suspect all along of course to 
be the chosen one, and must pass judgement on these people.  

Von Trier takes a dark, cynical view of the world, and the name of the 
town, "Dogville" seems to indicate that at least at times he sees most 
people as no better than dogs.

This is unlike any movie you've ever seen.  It is 3+ hours long and 
broken into nine chapters, with voice over narration by John Hurt (in 
style, it is patterned after the play "Our Town"), and takes place 
entirely on a soundstage, with the town, the roads, the trees and much 
of everything else drawn conceptually in chalk lines on the floor.  
Don't let that turn you off, you get used to it after a while, and Von 
Trier takes this approach on purpose I think to underscore the idea 
that this is about the characters, the people, and only the people are 
real.

"Dogville" is a bit long, but its a great film, completely engrossing.  
Nicole Kidman gives a great star performance and is in virtually every 
frame of the movie.  I give her credit for agreeing to be in somethign 
this controversial and experimental.  In addition to Bettany, the film 
also has terrific performances from Ben Gazzara, Blair Brown, Chloe 
Sevigny and others as the townspeople, and also an old favorite of mine 
James Caan who plays a pivotal role at the end.  

Some of you won't like this movie, and Von Trier has been accused by 
some of being anti-american.  But I think "Dogville" is a fine, pointed 
commentary on the state of life in modern society.  I highly recommend 
this movie.

(Oh and be sure to stay for the end credits, the montage shown during 
the closing credits is pretty powerful, showing pictures of actual 
early twentieth century townspeople, such as are depicted in the movie, 
being cruel to each other.  The montage is done to David Bowie's 
song "Young Americans".  Okay its a bit much but if you see this movie, 
you'll agree that the montage makes a hell of an epilogue to it)

response 51 of 278:

Mar 30 17:55 UTC 2004

Heh. Interestingly, one of the (many) words for "son of a bitch" in Spanish
is "hijo de tu madre" - "son of your mother " ("but who is your father"?
implied)