October 10, 2005

Broken Flowers (2005) ****

Directed by Jim Jarmusch, ''Broken Flowers'' isn't at all an erotic film, but its most memorable and funniest scene is a brief nude appearance of the young Alexis Dziena (photo) in all of her full-frontal glory. Within the context of the film, this scene is a guaranteed laugh-out-loud comic moment that cannot really be explained to someone who hasn't seen the whole movie. Suffice to say that for once, eroticism and comedy are working hand-in-hand here (it also inspires the film's best line, ''that was quite an outfit you weren't wearing earlier''). Alexis Dziena plays a character named Lolita, whose mother (Sharon Stone) is one of Bill Murray's ex-girlfriends whom he is visiting during the film (others are played by Jessica Lange, Tilda Swinton, Frances Conroy and Julie Delpy). Like usually in Jim Jarmusch film, the plot advances slowly, but the characters are so rich and complex that we don't mind at all. And as David Edelstein writes in a Slate review, ''Broken Flowers is Jarmusch's most conventionally entertaining film, but it's still visually rigorous, swimming in pregnant silences, and un-filled-in in a way that's tantalizing. The movie is a haunted meditation on solipsism that's full of extraneous life, that hints at a world elsewhere. Jarmusch and Murray have transcended their limitations. They've made a deadpan movie that quivers with feeling.''

Play (2005) ****

Every once in a while, there comes a little movie so unpretentious and sweet one cannot help but to love and to admire it. This cute little gem from Chile, directed by Alicia Scherson, is like a beautiful jazz composition - it follows various characters (including beautiful Viviana Herrera), let us know them intimately, but never allows a well-structured plot to spoil the improvisational feel of the movie. In other words, "Play" is one of those "artsy foreign films" that might bore those viewers who are used to heavily-plotted and ultra-dramatized Hollywood spectacles, but it will enchant those cinephiles who enjoy de-dramatized and intimate dramas about human eccentricities. As a reviewer wrote, "the film's purposively non-exhaustive narrative creates a more subtle but deeper link between the characters and us in our enjoyable role as partial spectators". 

Where The Truth Lies (2005) ****


Directed by Atom Egoyan (''Exotica'', ''Ararat'', ''The Sweet Hereafter''), this erotic drama about a mysterious murder of a sexy chambermaid was one of best films of 2005. ''Where The Truth Lies'' tells the story of a young writer (Alison Lohman) determined to solve that mystery which deeply affected the lives and careers of showbiz team Vince Collins and Lanny Morris (Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon, perfectly imitating Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis). Though set mostly in sun-drenched Hollywood and Florida, this is a noir in the darkest sense.

Lord Of War (2005) ****

Sin City (2005) ****

An ultra-slick orgy of violence, non-stop action, deadpan humour and sophisticated eroticism, "Sin City" was a collaborative effort of Frank Miller (the author of the graphic novels), Robert Rodriguez ("Desperado") and Quentin Tarantino. Visually, it's quite stunning, and described by Slate's David Edelstein as "a study in luminous black and white, with sudden and breathtaking splashes of crimson, chartreuse, and a particularly nauseating mustard (...) One car-ride sequence, directed by Rodriguez's pal Quentin Tarantino, is a little jewel of camera movement, lighting, and design. The raindrops are white - it's a painterly deluge". The most erotic scene occurs early in the film, when Carla Gugino gets out of bed when her roommate (Mickey Rourke) comes back in the middle of the night. They have a very interesting relationship - she is his parole officer and a lesbian, but she still parades in front of him topless, wearing only a thong. 

A History Of Violence (2005) ****

C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) ****


Breakfast On Pluto (2005) ****


L'Audition (2005) ****


Delwende (2005) ****

A feminist drama from Burkina Faso.

Battle In Heaven (2005) ****