MOVIE OF THE WEEK: The Ghost Writer

A lot of people have decided to not go anywhere near this film, since it was directed by Roman Polanski (he's an alleged child rapist, if you didn't know), but I thought I should separate the man from his work. This was a great film, such a taut thriller. You really don't know what's going on until the end. Great directing, great screenplay. You'll also notice some real-life parallels to Tony Blair and all involved in the "war on terror". Not sure if we'll see another Polanski film anytime soon, so I'm going to relish this.

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MOVIE OF THE WEEK: The Matrix

Yes, I know it's downright shameful that I haven't seen "The Matrix" (I watched the sequels), but I just never got around to it. This was too cool! It had everything you could ask for in an action flick, even good acting(which is often lacking in action movies)!

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A ROTTEN TOMATO: Hunger

I had high expectations for this film, but it was really lacking. It seemed like it was the first draft/outline of a potentially decent movie. However, it needed some serious editing (too many long scenes and extended periods of silence). A richer script would have been more effective, as although I was queasy (there was lots of vomit and blood and feces) for the whole hour and a half, I still felt quite uninformed at the end of it. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed.

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MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Fargo

This is the original “Burn After Reading”, only far better! After watching both films it’s inevitable that you would compare them. In the typically quirky Coen brother style, this film really works. As I said in my review of “A Serious Man”, their style is so “out-the-box” that you either love ‘em or hate ‘em. The absurdity of the events that take place make for a humorous film, even though it’s quite violent and tragic. These talented directors really captured the essence of a small, Midwest town, with great support from the cast. The actors really committed to their roles and made the characters believable, rather than making them into caricatures. I lost count of the number times they say “yah” in the movie but surprisingly, it never got annoying. Finally the cinematography was excellent. It was simple but powerful, as the blanket of white snow really allowed to feel the atmosphere of a cold, restrictive, isolated town with dark secrets underneath. M

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