The Untouchables. This is what I like to call a truly awesome art direction and cinematography. There's so many memorable camera setups in the movie, they'd last for ten. Now, what's wrong with it? It's too easy. The little wimp charging a whole truckload full of thugs while inspiring music is playing? No, thanks. Kevin Costner being (there's no acting involved) a goody two-shoes, again? No, thanks. Sean Connery, in his death throes, just barely delivering the essential information? Oh, please. It's set in scene too richly to be effective as a serious gangster movie. In a way, it's half a Tarantino and when you go there, you either go all the way or not at all. (But yay for the slo-mo train station shootout!)
6/10
The Searchers. John Wayne's movie character is a racist cünt. A classic, okay, but politically and socially this hasn't aged terribly well. But the real problem lies in the way it's told, with parts being only loosely connected, downright weird and sometimes almost incoherent. Another gripe I have with the film is the acting: most of it is over-dramatic, ranging on silly. Finally, the bits of comic relief feel misplaced in their entirety - and there are a lot of them. It's almost a Western drama meets "Blazing Saddles".
6/10
Dom Za Vešanje (Time Of The Gypsies). If "The Godfather" was about gypsies, this is what it would look like. The film takes a good while to get started, but when it does, the audience is rewarded with some great camera work and a just as excellent soundtrack. There's not much to be surprised at in here if you've seen other Kusturica movies, and you will recognize lots of the symbols and stock characters that he keeps falling back on, but this one has the benefit of being an earlier work and establishing some of them in the first place.
9/10
The Jacket. Overusing form to portray content, this movie suffers from too many flashy flashbacks, sudden sound effects and stereotypical characters (that are also not developed believably). Below this, however, there's a decent story about guilt that involves a mindfück which may not be entirely logical, but enjoyable.
6/10
99euro-films. The idea: Making five minute shorts with a budget of 99€ each. A summary: Mark Schlichter's entry ("Privat") is godawful; Sebastian Beer ("[TM]") delivers more garbage; Rolf Peter Kahl ("Ich schwöre") joins in; Michael Klier ("Ein Mann boxt sich durch") is taking things up a little; Frieder Schlaich ("Die schöne Fremde") is trying for something different; Daniel Petersen ("So billig!")... oh well, let's not get into what he makes the audience suffer; Miriam Dehne ("Loreley S.") shocks with a new low; Matthias Glasner ("Die Selbsttötung der Sara W.") - make this stop please; but there's Peter Lohmeyer's episode ("Leila läuft") is the best of the bunch, with a few nice shots; Esther Gronenborn ("Balkan Rhapsody") annoys; Martin Walz ("Ein kurzer Film über das Hüpfen") offers more stupidity; and finally, Nicolette Krebitz ("Mon Chérie") is trying a little hard - but unlike most directors and writers included in here, she's at least trying.
2/10