FilmRoar

There is a delicate grace in how writer/director Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides (1999)) handled Lost in Translation (2003) that makes the movie work. In the movie Bill Murray plays Bob Harris, an aging film star relegated to shooting Whiskey commercials in Japan and Scarlett Johansson is Charlotte, the young intellectual wife of a celebrated photographer left alone in a Tokyo hotel while her husband spends days on location shoots. The two start bumping into each other in the hotel hallways and bar and end up finding solace and refuge from their loneliness in each other’s company. They never speak directly about their dissatisfaction or the meaning of the relationship they forge, but you get the feeling that they don’t need to since they are both in the same situation and after a point understand each other better than anyone else could.
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As with Back to the Future Part II (1989), Back to the Future Part III (1990) lacks much of the wit and great writing of the original Back to the Future (1985) movie but is still entertaining. This time most of the original cast is gone and they add Mary Steenburgen as the sensual school teacher Clara Clayton.
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Writer / Director Robert Zemeckis (Contact (1997)) had one hell of a challenge on his hands when he decided to make a sequel to Back to the Future (1985), but while Back to the Future Part II (1989) lacks much of the wit and original writing of it’s predecessor, I believe the producers did a superb job of continuing the story.
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I wish that someone had given me the warning that I am about to give you before I went out for a Sunday matinee showing of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003): Kill Bill is not an action movie, it is a violence movie. Before Sunday I had heard the praise for the highly referential new movie by Quentin Tarantino. Friends and web sites had alerted me to be on the lookout for the special appearance by Sonny Chiba as well as the many references to the Asian kung-fu films of Cheh Chang and the Shaw Brothers and the other masters of the genre. The movie previews promised fist-flying, sword chopping action with the beautiful Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu and others. What everyone had neglected to mention is how disturbingly graphic the violence and carnage that permeates the film is.
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After reading all the bad press for Rollerball (2002) I decided to watch it expecting it to be one of the worst movies of the year. I don’t really think it was that bad… ok, maybe it was, but hey at least it had some good action scenes in it… ok, maybe it didn’t even have that… but the acting was… umm.. wait, I don’t really think that Chris Klein could act his way out of a paper bag. So why did I watch this movie? It might have been the promise of Rebecca Romijn-Stamos looking cool in her bad-ass biker chick gear, but even that left something to be desired. Save your time, go watch the original Rollerball (1975), it may be cheesy but at least there is some point to it.

Anyone wanting to get tickets to the upcoming Lord of the Rings Trilogy marathon showing (Film Roar: Lord of the Rings Marathon) better get to it right away.

Fandango makes it seem like tickets are still available for one of the 3 shows in Portland and it is all sold out for Seattle. And for those of you hoping to buy tickets from someone else, good luck. Tickets for the Cinerama are going for over $300 a pair on Ebay!

I was delighted when I first read that the Back to the Future trilogy was finally going to make it to DVD. I have many fond memories of seeing the original Back to the Future (1985) the year it was released and was eager to see if the movie could make me laugh today like it did back then.
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