Weekend Viewing - Feb 5-7 (part 1)

Black Snake Moan [2007, directed by Craig Brewer]

An old blues man is left by his no good cheating wife – a sex obsessed young girl is left behind as her fiancé reports to the military. When the man discovers the girl beaten and left outside his house – he takes it upon himself to “cure” the girl – thus redeeming himself of his wife leaving.

Black Snake Moan is pretty good – there were some performances that fell flat (namely Justin Timberlake) – but the concept and music was great. The whole film plays out like a blues song – and the rising tension between the characters - as a black man who has a white girl chained to his radiator was palpable and interesting. It’s amazing how much little Christina Ricci has grown up... (I’ll leave it at that since she bares all quite a bit). I give it about a 4 out of 5.

Lemon Tree [2008, directed by Eran Riklis]

A Palestian widow has a lemon orchard on the green line between Israel and the West Bank. When the Israeli Defense Minister moves in next door and it’s determined that the lemon orchard poses a security risk – she has to fight to keep it.

This is a very interesting movie that fails in the area of the relationships between the characters. If the film stayed with it’s sole focus on this lemon orchard and the characters directly involved – it would’ve been a great film. The fact that the film had some interweaving storylines that just didn’t work was disappointing. The acting was great – but the storylines didn’t work for me – and I was confused if I was actually supposed to care about some of them. I give it just above a 3 out of 5 – which I round up to a 4.

Weekend Viewing - Jan 29-31 (part 2)

Gangs of New York [2002, directed by Martin Scorsese]

The Italians versus the Irish for control of the 5 Burroughs in New York in the mid-1800’s. The Irish leader “Priest” Vallon (Liam Neeson) is killed by the Italian leader Bill “The Butcher” Cutting (Daniel Day Lewis) – and 16 years later Vallon’s son (Leonardo DiCaprio) comes back – under the wing of “The Butcher” – does he plan revenge? It was pretty good – I enjoy watching Daniel Day Lewis chew scenery and throw himself head first into roles. I just didn’t feel it really come together in any way that made me want to call it great. I’m giving it 4 out of 5.

The Band’s Visit [2007, directed by Eran Kolirin]

Once-not long ago-a small Egyptian band arrived in Israel. Not many remember this… It wasn’t that important. That’s the tagline for the film – and where I’d agree not much happens – not a lot needs to happen for people to get accidently intertwined in each other’s lives. The band shows up in the wrong town – which is one of those forgotten small towns – and that’s where this little human comedy begins. They all learn a bit about themselves and each other – and the music sounds so much sweeter – I give it a full 5 out of 5.