Les Triplettes de Belleville (The Triplets of Belleville): 2003, dir. Sylvain Chomet. Seen at Dobie (Egyptian Room, Feb. 3).
If you know me personally, in the past couple of weeks I have probably sent you passionate emails or IMs, or grabbed you by the elbow to urge you that you must, absolutely must go see The Triplets of Belleville. You haven’t seen it yet? You want to see it in a theater, it’s not going to look nearly as amazing on a smaller screen, so go. Now.
Well, go after reading this, anyway.
Month: March 2004
Cold Comfort Farm (1995)
Cold Comfort Farm: 1995, dir. John Schlesinger. Seen on DVD (Feb. 26).
Cold Comfort Farm is a lovely little movie. I want to buy a copy of the DVD so I can put it in the rotation as one of my background movies. I can see myself watching it, or semi-watching-and-listening while I work on the computer or clean the house, many more times.
I loved the book by Stella Gibbons very much when I read it for the first time last year, and have reread the book several times since then. It is a charming book, obviously inspired by Jane Austen, and I was eager to see the film adaptation. I hoped I wouldn’t hate it.
Seabiscuit (2003)
Seabiscuit: 2003, dir. Gary Ross. Seen on DVD (Jan. 30).
Welcome to yet another Prestigious, Important movie about the Triumph of the Human Spirit. Hope you brought some caffeine. And maybe a barf bag.
Seabiscuit is a trite, sappy movie composed entirely of cliches. The storyline is right out of a film-school textbook, except that the first act is far too long. You can predict exactly what is going to happen, and how. Every character is an archetype, and they never, ever go against type.