The Commitments

Seriously? An irish blues ensamble? A bunch of people who know nothing about the blues – or even music (i.e. the drummer), but somehow manage to be an amazing band? There were a lot of eye-rolling bits here, but it was all watchable. You can’t hate a movie with heart.

Clue – The Movie

Pretty neat.  I don’t remember which ending I saw, but I guess they were all about the same.  So many plot twists and turns that you’d go crazy.  I’ll have to say that I really liked the clue videotape game – you had to watch these scenes that had all kinds of stuff going, then figure out who did it based on stuff that happened in the scene. The thing is that you didn’t know what to look for until the scene had already played, so you had to remember what the heck happened. I’m not really describing it right, but it was a cool game anyway – very inventive & different.

Clockstoppers

I had to see this movie. It was a plot-line I’d often fantisized about when I was young. I thought, wouldn’t that be great to have all the time in the world? I’d stop the clock for hundreds… maybe thousands of years and do all kinds of crazy stuff that would change the world as we know it. I knew this movie would be dumb, but I was sorry to see how dumb it was. At least now I know. Instead of doing something really creative or interesting with their new-found “power”, the main characters just use it for pointless pranks. The strange thing is how they don’t even see the time-stopping watch as a “big deal”, they treat it like a new video game or something, and pretty much continue with their lives as they were. Come on! an invention of that magnitude would blow-away anybody! A bunch of people complained about the physics of the movie (that it violates all kinds of laws). That didn’t really bother me, the premise necessitated some bending of the rules. It did bother me that the movie violated its own set of rules – near the end this happens a lot, plus there are a lot of scenes where I was squirming, “why don’t they just…”. Plus, the whole liquid-nitrogen thing was just stupid. Bottom line? Don’t bother seeing this movie.

A Clockwork Orange

A well constructed movie from start to finish… although I find it harder to “accept” given the way that “history” is progressing.  This movie had tons of classic moments, and grotesque moments which I couldn’t turn away from.  I suppose some bits of the movie do age well… What makes us good or evil?  What makes us who we are?  If we lose our evil side, do we lose ourselves?  Weighty topics addressed on screen.

Clerks

I liked this better than Citizen Kane.  The characters were better, the acting was better (not so damn stiff), and directing was… well, a lot like you’d see from those security cams in the 7-11… which is what the director was going for I think.

Clearcut

Documentary about a clash of cultures. The small town old-timers don’t like it when the big city outsider moves in and asserts himself. So, they play the money card, and the kids are caught in the crossfire. I saw this in a small screening with the director, so we could ask him questions and such – that was pretty cool. It was really well done, and thoroughly explores the issue without really finding any good answers… kind of like real life – things are just kind of left in a continuous state of being unresolved. Anyway, the movie is a good metaphor even if you’re a world away from rural Oregon.

Clair Dolan

Have insomnia?  This one just might cure you. It’s about a woman who becomes a high-priced whore in order to pay for her mother’s medical care.  Then it raises the question – is she now nothing but a whore? or can she rise out of it? Well, there’s so little dialogue that it’s sometimes painfully slow.  Maybe my attention span just isn’t long enough… sad that I’ve come to that.

Citizen Kane

Sure it was good, but the best movie ever?  I think not. What a silly thing to say anyway, that’s so impossible to say about ANY movie.  I guess I liked it, but I find myself shrugging my shoulders when I think about it… nothing too special.

The Chinese Connection

The Bruce Lee movie that everyone forgets about.  It was possibly his best.  The story was actually well put together, and the movie had a real message about class struggles.  It takes more than one man to change things, but all change starts with one man.  Great ending too!

Chocolat

One of those movies that I rented simply because of the hype – wasn’t expecting much. It was wonderful movie – everything I secretly hoped it would be. In a way, it was like a modern-day fairy tale. One of those movies that puts you in a good mood without resorting to the usual predictable “hollywood tactics”. btw: I had thought this was a French movie, but it is in English… just set in France. I did have one question though, did they really have cellophane wrapping in 1950’s rural France? I would think the shop would be more likely to use paper wrappings…