The Thin Red Line (1998)

This is the first film by Terrence Malick that I have seen, and I'm not exactly sure what I think about this film.  

The Thin Red Line depicts a World War II battle in the Pacific from the points of view of several soldiers.  Each provides a narration at some point in the film, expressing their inner thoughts on the conflict.  This film is filled with great actors ranging from John Cusack to George Clooney to John Travolta.  Nick Nolte delivers a powerfully angry performance.  However, Sean Penn and Jim Caviezel carry the movie as the "leads." 

This film shows the contrast of the horrors of war and the beauty of nature.  Beautifully shot, the backdrop serves almost as a supporting character and gives us one of the best final shots of a movie I've ever seen.  However at almost three hours and a slow pace,  It's tough to sit through.  Maybe with a second viewing I can appreciate it more, but now I just can't form a solid opinion.  It's a good film, but not great.  Not yet.  B-

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Believe it or not, this was the first time I'd ever seen this movie.  Going into it, I was expecting it to pretty much be the second coming, due to all my friends hyping it up.  While it was good, it isn't the best Disney has produced.

Beauty and the Beast is more of a musical than Disney's other Renaissance Era ('89-'99) films.  The stand-out songs are "Belle," "Be Our Guest," and "Beauty and the Beast," of course.  However I was also impressed with "Human Again," a song that can only be found in the extended edition.  The animation is also impressive, most-likely having been state-of-the-art in it's time.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to see this, but I'm glad I waited.  As a child, I don't think I would have appreciated the romantic storyline or some of the more adult-oriented humor.  It may not be Disney's "masterpiece," (a title I believe belongs to The Lion King) but it is still a great film that was worthy of it's Best Picture nomination.  A-

Insomnia (2002)

Oh, the woes of Alaska.  First, the murder of a 17-year-old girl.  Then, a cop is killed.  Finally, a cover-up of both murders.  To think, I used to want to live there.

Insomnia is a crime thriller from director Christopher Nolan.  Al Pacino stars as Will Dormer, a detective from Los Angeles who is sent to Nightmute, Alaska to assist in the investigation of the murder of Kay Connell.  Dormer, unable to sleep due to the 24 hour sunlight, becomes increasingly dazed.  While giving chase to the prime suspect in a thick fog, Dormer fires at the suspect, but instead hits his partner, who was about to testify against him in an internal affairs investigation.  Dormer lies and states that the suspect killed his partner as this would have been accused of intentionally killing his partner. 

The suspect, Walter Finch (Robin Williams), witnesses the killing, and contacts Dormer.  He proposes the two work together to cover up both killings: Dormer will plant evidence leading the police away from Finch, and Finch doesn't tell what Dormer did.  However, as the investigation wears on, Dormer begins to think that he may have killed his partner on purpose.

While it's not Nolan's best work, it's a solid film.  With good supporting performances from Hilary Swank and Maura Tierney, this remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name proved Nolan was ready to be a mainstream director, leading the way to the Batman franchise and Inception.  B

Extra Info

I'll be using a grading scale to (A, B, C, D, F) to rate each movie.  I will be reviewing movies that are both in theaters on on DVD/Blu-Ray.  So, yeah......for real this time.

So, Yeah........

I was never good at writing introductions, so I'll just start.  My name is Cody McEwen and I love movies.  I figured I watch so much of them, why not put it to use.  I will be watching and reviewing movies on this blog (in case you haven't figured that out).  I will mostly be reviewing movies I have not seen before, with an occasional re-watch.  I'm doing this mostly to hone my critical writing skills.  So, yeah.........