wse Reviews

La turbulence des fluides (2002)

I love this movie.

[10/10 · 4 February 2003]

A beautiful, thought-provoking and sexy film about what happens when a seismologist returns to her home town to investigate the mysterious cessation of the tide.

This movie surprised and intrigued me. I never knew where it was going, but I was satisfied by where it took me. The opening sequence alone (set in Tokyo) was worth the price of admission.

Funny and tragic at the same moment.

I can see why Pascal Bussiere is a star in Quebec. She brings us into her story even as her character holds the world at arm's length. When she began to feel the effects of the tidal disturbance, I felt them too.

I found director Manon Briand articulate and charming when she came to the Vancouver International Film Festival, but by then I had already seen and fallen in love with her movie.

This one is definitely worth watching.

La turbulence des fluides (2002)

I love this movie.

[10/10 · 3 February 2003]

A beautiful, thought-provoking and sexy film about what happens when a seismologist returns to her home town to investigate the mysterious cessation of the tide.

This movie surprised and intrigued me. I never knew where it was going, but I was satisfied by where it took me. The opening sequence alone (set in Tokyo) was worth the price of admission. Funny and tragic at the same moment.

I can see why Pascal Bussiere is a star in Quebec. She brings us into her story even as her character holds the world at arm's length. When she began to feel the effects of the tidal disturbance, I felt them too.

I found director Manon Briand articulate and charming when she came to the Vancouver International Film Festival, but by then I had already seen and fallen in love with her movie.

This one is definitely worth watching.

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

Awesome comedy

[9/10 · 3 February 2003]

I don't care if it's a guilty pleasure. I don't care what anyone else

says. I love this movie. I think it's brilliantly written (by the same

team who wrote Legally Blonde) and and given a glossy TV sheen

appropriate for the subject matter by director Gil Junger.

As the central Taming of the Shrew characters, Julia Stiles and

Heath Ledger are at their best here. Better yet are the supporting

players: uptight dad Larry Miller, geeky David Krumholtz, and the

incomparable Allison Janney (as the hilarious erotic-novel-writing

counsellor Ms. Perky).

10 Things bears repeat viewing, has great pacing, a fabulous

soundtrack and wonderful comic timing. For anyone who wishes

John Hughes still made teen comedies, I highly recommend this

film.

The Flame Is Love (1979 TV Movie)

A terrible movie

[25 November 2002]

I totally agree. This movie really couldn't have been worse. Apart from the bad plotting, terrible dialogue and stilted performances, it demonstrates very clearly why narration has fallen out of style among screenwriters in the last twenty years. Only insomnia could have induced me to watch until the end.

Charlotte Gray (2001)

A moving film about how war shapes a young woman's identity

[8/10 · 8 January 2002]

Finally, a personal film about war.

There have been some fantastic war movies in the last few years and some useless ones. The worst of them blur the horror of war into a kind of generic war game for boys. They seek to remind us that "War Is Hell" as if anyone with a brain thinks it isn't.

The best of them use the horror of war to reveal something about intrinsically interesting characters. Charlotte Gray is that kind of film - one specific woman's journey away from the selfishness of romantic love and towards the generosity of hope. There is a genuinely complex chemistry between Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup and Michael Gambon as each of these fine actors peels off the onion skin layers of character.

What this film examines, after all, is not the horror of war, but its corrosive revelation of personal identity.

It moved me to tears.

Sullivan's Travels (1941)

Thought-provoking drama about comedy

[9/10 · 8 January 2002]

If ever you need to prove to a rich but angst-ridden film director trying to make serious drama that there's a place in the world for light-hearted comedies, this film is Exhibit A.

I kept thinking I knew where this film was going, but not even the beautiful Veronica Lake can derail Preston Sturges' story of one man's journey to hell and back.

A drama. A comedy. A romance. This film defies and defines genre. I loved it!

It Happened One Night (1934)

A classic romantic comedy!

[10/10 · 8 January 2002]

I love this film and would recommend it to anyone. Funny, clever, and surprising, it features fabulous performances by Gable and Colbert. This is the perfect movie for a blue day when you need cheering up. I first saw it in a classroom full of cynical university film students. It was the first and only time a film shown to that class received applause.

Wedding Knives (1999)

This film left me feeling elated.

[10/10 · 9 May 2001]

I saw Wedding Knives at the Vancouver International Film Festival when it opened for Dirty at the Ridge in 1999 and -- although I was already a screenwriter -- it sparked my interest in making short films. I've written and produced two since then.

I found Wedding Knives hilarious, moving and so human! I was thrilled to see a story make logic of the crazy awkwardness of our most meaningful moments. The champagne solution and the bride's evolution into a modern woman delighted and surprised me. The man's vulnerability moved me.

This film left me feeling elated.

My Brilliant Career (1979)

Even twenty odd years after I first saw it, this film makes me want to cheer. Gillian Armstrong, if you're out there, thank you!

[10/10 · 4 December 2000]

My mother took me to see this film when I was ten, the year before she died. It changed my entire perspective on the world, set me free from the constraints of fairy tales and inspired me to do something worthwhile with my life (write). I've seen it a few times since then, and found it improved in pace with my understanding.

Apparently Judy Davis didn't like this character or sympathize with her. All I can say is that I'm glad she went ahead and took the role anyway. Sybylla is like Cinderella with a twist worthy of M. Night Shymalan.

The film is sometimes beautiful and lyrical, sometimes depressing and ugly. At all times it is believable because the forces driving Sybylla transcend time and place: creativity and independence. This film taught me that a gilded cage is still a cage.

Even twenty odd years after I first saw it, this film makes me want to cheer. Gillian Armstrong, if you're out there, thank you!