exzycetekiwe…

Crash - I thought the little scene where one immigrant, the Honduran cop, made fun of another immigrant’s English, the Korean woman, was sjust great - what a piece of Americana.

It may be simple-minded to some, but the point that someone can be a racist one minute and then turn around and risk his life to save someone from the group he despises is important. There has been a witless tendency in the last few decades to divide the country up into black hats and white hats and it does nothing to make any sense of anything.

BBM - I loved it that a Chinese director made such a good cowboy movie - laconic and intense. I appreciated his Chinese eye for landscapes. I think it was important to show what a dishonest scam the Exodus program is, how much misery wives of closeted men endure.

Munich, although an interesting tale of history, ended somewhat abruptly. But then again, I suppose, so did the lives of the terrorists… Crash was, hmm, disturbing on some levels. Real though. And for that worthy of some nod somewhere. Good night, was a bit lacklustre and slow-moving in parts, for me at least. I guess as a morality tale it’s a good one, but it’s ancient history and difficult to apply to today’s media.

I think last year was one of the worst in terms of overall film releases. More major releases in 2005 than in over a decade. As a result, decent medicore films like “Crash” and “Cinderella Man” received more critical acclaim than usual.

I am confident that the films up for awards this year are the best of the best… but there wasn’t much competition. “Munich” was good, but not great… any other year it would have been passed over.

It just so happens that the best films happen of 2005 have a social message of some sort… then again, almost every great film has a social message.

But “Brokeback” preachy? Even “Munich”? Neither film spells out a particular point of view, and leaves the audience to come up with their decisions. If you left the theatre feeling only one side was portrayed, you were making out in the backrow, maybe or maybe not with a cowboy. “Crash” and “Goodnight” are definitely preachy, so two out of five ain’t bad, but not enough to paint the label as a Hollywood problem.

“the Liberal Guilt Awards, otherwise known as the Guilties,�

Heh. Good one.

Although I will say that Brokeback was very powerful. A decidedly honest meditation on love lost given certain cultural circumstances. Heartbreaking stuff.