exeverything Reviews

Street Fight (2005)

top notch documentary

[10/10 · 27 December 2005]

This film does for politics on a local level what "The War Room" did for presidential politics, providing a fascinating in-depth look behind the scenes of campaigns and elections. I agree that "Street Fight" is a bit one-sided, though part of that is by necessity, as sharpe james' staff denied the director any kind of access, which the film shows in a series of outrageous scenes. And besides, documentaries in recent years have generally adhered to a more op-ed kind of style (e.g. fahrenheit 911). But whatever your politics, Street Fight's subject matter is something you haven't seen before, and it is extremely well-done and vastly entertaining. see it.

Psycho (1998)

unfairly maligned

[9/10 · 24 May 2005]

the psycho remake is a movie about the new era of film-making vs. the old. the script for psycho was written in the late 50s, and seeing modern actors speak the words of a 50s script, as this movie shows, is truly bizarre and shows how "old-fashioned" and different the writing of the earlier scripts were. the performances also underscore the differences. the acting styles of early Hollywood were generally rather "wooden" (e.g. think Joseph Cotten, "dragnet", etc.), but the modern actors - anne heche in particular, who is terrific - deliver ultramodern and quirky line readings that also show how things have changed. william macy's performance actually is in the 50s style, an interesting twist, and seems like a fish out of water in the modern setting.

anyhow, if you like the original psycho, the psycho remake is like a great remix, taking qualities of the original and casting it in a new light, making you think and appreciate the original while also justifying its own existence.