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2006 Winter Video Roundups, Vol. III

2/13/06

"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"

Even if you already know a good amount of the details behind the collapse of America's seventh-biggest corporation (at least, BEFORE the downfall), this documentary is excellent, in terms of its accessibility for the average Joe and its portrayal of all of the major players in the drama in a light that is as fair as it can be, given how everything shook out.  Plus, this documentary has all the makings of greatness, capped off by the mid-film cultish-yet-mainstream legendary figure, in this case former employee Lou Pai, who ran one of Enron's failed spinoffs but bailed out just before that segment of the business died...but, not before courting strippers and hookers nearly every week (sometimes in the office) and retiring with over $300 million in the bank.  You don't get to see too many sharp R-rated documentaries that are truly about sex, lies and videotape, but "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" really does it.  I'll be shocked if "March of the Penguins" doesn't win Best Documentary at this year's Academy Awards (come on, you're NOT going to give a prize to something voice by Morgan Freeman?), but I'll be shocked and smiling if "Enron" can bring home the prize...this is great stuff.

Rating:  Opening Weekend

"The Exorcism of Emily Rose"

Dave Bell told me last year that I needed to see this, and after waffling for about six months, I finally caught this on pay-per-view over the weekend.  Here's what I'll say about this one: given that it initially seemed to be heading down a "Exorcist Lite" path, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" goes about its business with a nice mix of spooky stuff and courtroom drama.  This cast is flat-out loaded, with Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Shohreh Aghdashloo and a few others, giving what should have been garbage horror a nice kick up in the Q ratings.  The drama, based on a true story, follows what happened to an 18-year-old named Emily (Jennifer Carpenter) after she went off to college and, well, pretty much went crazy.  By giving us both the religious and medical implications of her symptoms, the film doesn't force us to believe that there is any real basis in the idea that Lucifer took over Emily's body...but, it was possible!  PG-13 makes this film not quite scary enough for me, and while the courtroom portions were plausible, they were not often powerful, and I was looking for powerful.  But, this is a good mix of genres that plays well on the home screen.

Rating:  Matinee

"American Graffiti"

My friend Ross finally got this new movie initiative off the ground--make a list of the top 250 on IMDB and the top 100 AFI flicks that we haven't see, and start watchin' 'em--and the first movie on the list was the 1973 classic "American Graffiti."  Directed by George Lucas, the film is basically one night's journey into morning, as we follow a group of four guys as they roam around town in San Francisco, basically chillin' in their cars or on their own as they talk about everything and nothing leading up to a drag race on Paradise Road at dawn.  There are more familiar faces in this flick than you can shake a stick at, but what was important was the film's pace: like many films that followed it (to my generation, this is most famously displayed in "Dazed and Confused"), "American Graffiti" is all about mood, looks and soundtrack, and on these levels, it works well.  Sure, the end-of-flick race is bad, and the idea that women just hopped around from car to car back in the day to ride with whoever had the coolest car is a tough idea to wrap my head around, but it's a fun movie.  Damn, I watched "Firewall" the same day I saw this, so it was weird seeing Harrison Ford be alternatively cool and not cool in the same 24-hour stretch.

Rating:  $9.50 Show

"The Shield", Season 4 (13 45-minute episodes)

I loved the first three seasons, and there isn't much different about the fourth season, save for the major addition of Glenn Close as the Farmington Police Department's new captain, Monica Rawling.  Once again, the unbelievably raw TV language (no lie, I think "mouthful of dick" was uttered at least a half-dozen times during the fourth season) combined with the still-cool documentary-style presentation makes for good fun; creator Shawn Ryan changed things up a bit this season by finally steering dirty cop Vic Mackey (Emmy award winner Michael Chiklis) towards the light, to good effect.  The only real drop off with the fourth season was that it was fun to watch Mackey be a dirty bastard, but you can't play that card every year and still keep the material fresh.  It's a logical decision, even if I lose out a little in the long run.  This show hasn't aged a bit for me and I'm excited to check out season 5...of course, once it's all ready to go on DVD next January.

Rating:  $9.50 Show

 

Comments?  Drop me a line at justin@bellviewmovies.com.

 

Bellview Rating System:

"Opening Weekend":  This is the highest rating a movie can receive.  Reserved for movies that exhibit the highest level of acting, plot, character development, setting...or Salma Hayek.  Not necessarily in that order. 

"$X.XX Show":  This price changes each year due to the inflation of movie prices; currently, it is the $9.50 Show.  While not technically perfect, this is a movie that will still entertain you at a very high level.  "Undercover Brother" falls into this category; it's no "Casablanca", but you'll have a great time watching.  The $9.50 Show won't win any Oscars, but you'll be quoting lines from the thing for ages (see "Office Space"). 

"Matinee":  An average movie that merits no more than a $6.50 viewing at your local theater.  Seeing it for less than $9.50 will make you feel a lot better about yourself.  A movie like "Blue Crush" fits this category; you leave the theater saying "That wasn't too bad...man, did you see that Lakers game last night?" 

"Rental":  This rating indicates a movie that you see in the previews and say to your friend, "I'll be sure to miss that one."  Mostly forgettable, you couldn't lose too much by going to Hollywood Video and paying $3 to watch it with your sig other, but you would only do that if the video store was out of copies of "Ronin."  If you can, see this movie for free.  This is what your TV Guide would give "one and a half stars." 

"Hard Vice":  This rating is the bottom of the barrel.  A movie that only six other human beings have witnessed, this is the worst movie I have ever seen.  A Shannon Tweed "thriller," it is so bad as to be funny during almost every one of its 84 minutes, and includes the worst ending ever put into a movie.  Marginally worse than "Cabin Boy", "The Avengers" or "Leonard, Part 6", this rating means that you should avoid this movie at all costs, or no costs, EVEN IF YOU CAN SEE IT FOR FREE!  (Warning:  strong profanity will be used in all reviews of "Hard Vice"-rated movies.)