BOTTLE SHOCK

Don't you love it when it when really interesting and memorable stories are made bland and predictable? Sadly, Bottle Shock (2008) accomplishes this in its telling of the story of the Judgment of Paris or the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. Now, I'm a food/wine/beer junky, so for those of you who don't know the story of the Judgment of Paris, it's a truly fascinating tale. Steven Spurrier, a British wine connoisseur, organized a wine tasting in Paris, France in 1976 in which he asked French wine snobs - I mean, critics - to blindly taste several French and American wines and declare both a best white and red wine. At this time, not only were French wines thought to be untouchable, but American wines were thought to be sub-table wine quality. Therefore you can imagine how earth-shattering it was to the wine world when a panel of French judges declared both an American white and red winners of the tasting. Eventually this would lead to the acceptance of American wines in Europe, as well as a domino effect of wineries opening in South Africa, Australia, and South America. Not only was wine not big in America 35 years ago, but you certainly couldn't go in to your local liquor store and purchase a bottle of Yellowtail. Ok, so now that I've got you hyped up for the amazing story of the film, prepare to be disappointed by what feels like a made for TV film. In typical fashion none of the actors are huge film stars, but you recognize them from something, like Bill Pullman (Independence Day), Chris Pine (Star Trek), Alan Rickman, Freddy Rodriguez, Eliza Dushku and Danny DeVito even has a small cameo. One of the best ways to sum up my feelings about the film is that it has cookie cutter characters and tells the story in cookie cutter format, yet several times the film weirdly veers away from its mold only to jump back into it without explanation. The best example in the film is when the main character's girl interest falls for his best friend instead of for him. Based on how predictable the film had been so far, I was wide-eyed and eager to see what was going to happen next since this turn of events was so unexpected. What happens? The girl falls for the main character 20 minutes later without any mention or conclusion of her affairs with her previous lover. Oh, and the main character and his friend still get along fine. There are several more instances like this throughout the film where plot lines aren't fully explained, and the viewer is left wondering if the filmmaker actually watched a finished cut of his film before declaring it complete. Besides these complaints, the film works its magic to dumb down this particularly interesting story to what should have been a made for TV movie instead of an actual theatrical release. I give this film a 5/10, for the fact that the film has a great quote by Galileo in it.

"Wine is sunlight held together by water."

5/10

BOTTLE SHOCK TRAILER

ANTICHRIST

Lars von Trier has never been one to steer clear of controversy, instead deciding to embrace it with a pair of brass knuckles in one hand and a katana blade in the other. Von Trier's films are always raw and unrestrained, which can work beautifully as in his devastating effort Dancer in the Dark (2000), or be too overbearing for my taste like Dogville (2004) and its sequel Manderlay (2005). Two things you can always be sure of in his works is blatant misogyny and a film that will forcefully submerge you into a new world. Antichrist (2009), starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, holds true to these von Trier staples creating a bleak and horrifying world which comes out of the tragic death of Dafoe and Gainsbourg's child in the opening minutes of the film. The death of their child causes Gainsbourg to fall into deep depression, which leads Dafoe, a psychiatrist, to decide that a trip to their summer cottage in the woods is the escape they both need. Without giving too much of the plot away, their trip into the woods reveals the evil in nature and in their (human) nature. The way von Trier frames and examines the "evil" of nature is particularly well done and incorporates the use of images which, by themselves, are just part of nature (deers giving birth to dead fawns), yet in the context of the film become haunting and foreshadowing. The first 2/3rds of the film creates a world that we are immersed in, even though we know so little about it. We never learn either of the main character's names, only know the location of their summer cottage as Eden, and watch as Dafoe slowly works through psychiatric tests and exercises with Gainsbourg to help cure her of her depression. Sadly, the last 1/3rd of this film reminds me a lot of Sunshine (2007), in that the film descends into pointless, unexplained, and unjustified violence. In the filmmakers' defense, endings are never easy, but I am dumbfounded to see two similar film that spend a majority of their time slowly and articulately discussing philosophical issues descend to nothing short of cannibalism. Well, I guess the next time I have a conversation with Von Trier or Danny Boyle (Sunshine's director) I'll have to give them a copy of Bergman's Persona, which did it right. I give this film a 6 out of 10 because the cinematography and CG was shimmering and beautiful, but in the end... well, the ending killed it.

6/10

ANTICHRIST TRAILER

UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG

French new wave cinema at its best. This is a musical opera (all the lines are sung, but in a more musical songy way then opera-esque). The plot is nothing complex, man meets girl, man gets girl pregnant, man leaves for war, man returns and girl has moved on. What the narrative does with this simple story is exquisite though. It really is saying a lot when I say this film doesn't play to cliches. Ok so the basic storyline I have written may sound cliche, but the film doesn't fall into those cliche ditches that narratives have become oh so comfortable with. Also the films novel use of color, music and singing keep this film interesting, entertaining, heartfelt and beautiful to the last drop. I give Umbrellas of Cherbourg a 8/10, because I think the ending a lone will be something I never forget.

8/10

OLD JOY

A simple film that consists of a director, writer and team of actors who I don't know at all. Simple shouldn't be thought of a negative though and in fact is what really won me over. All the film does is tell the story of two friends who haven't seen each other in many years, perhaps almost a decade, who reconnect for a short camping journey. There really is no more plot then that. They don't get into the woods and have a homosexual romance or even get attacked by some weird forest monster. The story is so simple that it is something that one day down the line all of us will run into if we haven't yet, which is why the film is so perfect. Everyone knows they have friends who they have fallen out of contact with and this film documents what happens when people reconnect with those individuals. Perhaps one of you has succeeded and one has failed, one has followed their dreams and one has sold out to the man. Whatever the case is it is an experience each one of us will likely face one day and while nothing dramatic is happening on the exterior, most of the time the interior drama is endless. What to say? What you remember? I give Old Joy a 9/10, for documenting life and nothing else, but coming a little short in some departments. At only 90 minutes the film leaves too many areas unexplored.

9/10

RESCUE DAWN

If you run into anyone who says the movie was too slow, there wasn't enough action or there wasn't enough of a story, then I think they have missed the point. This isn't like any Vietnam movie I have seen before. All this movie is about is people getting captured and trying to escape, yet somehow it leaves out one of the most common things depicted in Vietnam War movies which is the physical torture scenes. Honestly the film doesn't need them and benefits greatly from their omission. Instead Herzog makes you watch something even more painful. We are subjected to watching the main character, played by Christian Bale, disintegrate in front of your eyes. The amount of weight he lost for the Machinist, added for Batman, lost for this and then added again for Batman must be ridiculous. No one should ever have the right to say Bale isn't dedicated to his profession. I give this movie an 7/10, since it certainly won't be everyones cup of tea, though those that can bare it should got lost in the jungle with Herzog and Bale.

7/10

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE

Historically inaccurate yes. But that isn't what we have come to see in this film. Instead you get a unique love story, a fairy tale. Something that paints you a picture and perhaps gives you new insight into Shakespeare. I feel like while this isn't obviously one of those new modern adaptations of Shakespeare like Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996), in many ways this film does a better job of relating Shakespeare to a modern audience that may feel distanced by his work. It gives the non-Shakespeare fan, concrete (though non-historically correct) proof that Shakespeare in many ways acted and thought like us (just smarter) and that he had the same desires and feelings as us. It taps into his brilliance and lets it spill out for the masses. I give Shakespeare in Love a 8/10, for all the reasons I have already given minus the fact that for Shakespeare fans the work seems a bit shallow at times.

8/10

UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING

Based on the book of passions, loss and war comes the movie that captures the books passion, loss and war. What more could you ask from an adaptation then? Having read the book, I'll say what I have to say "The book was better" and attempt to move on. Having an acting core made up of Juliette Binoche and Daniel Day Lewis certainly gives the move an equal depth as what I remember from the movie, but where the two differ is on the creativity and ingenuity the books structure and language. The movie also cuts things which I believe were crucial to what makes the book and classic and instead cut it into a bizarre love story that contains the same name. I give Unbearable Lightness of Being a 6/10, since lets be honest it could have been a lot worse and Binoche in particular is her character.

6/10