Ondine (2009, Ireland)

I was rather intrigued by the concept of this film. Also I hadn't seen an Irish film in awhile, and I was curious to see what kind of film would cause Colin Farrell to leave Hollywood and return to Ireland.

Syracuse, who's better known as Circus because of his drunken antics, has a disabled daughter whose mother he's estranged from. He's a fisherman, and one day he catches a beautiful woman in his net. She says her name is Ondine, which means "she came from the sea." His daughter thinks Ondine is a selkie; Circus thinks he's falling in love.

Ondine is a modern Irish fairy tale, but it has all the magic and darkness of old Irish fairy tales and all the bleak realism of modern Irish life. I guess you could call it magical realism. It is damp, poor, sad, magical, beautiful, wonderful Ireland at its best. The contrast between the fantasy story and the true story is perfectly balanced. The score was mostly this (I can't help using the word yet again) magical-sounding guitar music which fit perfectly. And Colin Farrell was brilliant, a strong choice for the role of an almost weak and broken man. The girl who played Ondine was also talented, and the girl who played the daughter nearly stole the show.

Beautiful. Magical. Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.0

Alexander (2004, U.S.)

Despite featuring one of my all time favorite actresses (Jolie), it took me six years to see this historical drama (one of my favorite genres) because I'd heard such awful things about it.

Let me tell you—they were right. It was like a historical documentary forced into fiction form, therefore combining the dullness that most people (though not I!) associate with history and the inaccuracy of fiction.

Let's see. A very human drama was told with a total lack of human emotion. I was able to infer that Alexander had a very troubled, complex, almost passionate relationship with his mother, yet it falls flat. The best example of a real, passionate relationship is Alexander's almost romantic friendship with Hepastian (one of his warriors) and even it is dull. The dialoge and physical blocking always seemed to stop right when you were about to grasp something important. In the same vein, you never get a clear idea as to character motivations. Why do these men do what they do?

As I hinted before, this is supposed to be an epic film, it should be an epic film, but it's just not. The music, however, if very epic. Which just reinforces the lack of epic-ness. To further reinforce this debacle, there is what I call "the red scene." I cannot even begin to describe. The whole film has been relatively slow and vaguely historically realistic, and suddenly there is a battle in India that turns into a massacre, and everything is awash in red. Not in an "oh it's bloody" sense, but in a "we used the filmmaker's equivalent of MS Paint and splashed red all over our film!" Utterly ridiculous.

For an epic, war-filled film, that was about the most exciting thing that happened—and I even saw the director's cut, "newly inspired, faster paced, more action packed!" What exactly was this inspired by? If this is faster paced, I hate to see how slow the original was. And action? There were essentially two big battle scenes, one of which was the red one.

I've always thought pretty well of Oliver, Stone, but I have to say I lost a bit of respect for him. He thought his film failed because audiences didn't like the very faint homoerotic undercurrents. Stone, admit that it was because your film was awful!

What did I learn about history? Alexander is supposed to be so Great, but from what I can tell from this film, he didn't even make it home from his conquering expedition, didn't actually rule Macedon (at least in person), and he didn't really "conquer" all the East (instead returning rule to local rulers). So is this historically inaccurate or is he remembered for the size of his dreams rather than his accomplishments? I don't know. I do know that the film Alexander will be remembered for the size of its director's vision rather than his actual accomplishment!

Rating: 2.0

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009, U.S.)

Dr. Parnassus makes a deal with the devil for immortality, promising the devil his first-born child when he/she reaches 16. A thousand years later, when his daughter Valentina is reaching her 16th birthday, he makes another deal with the devil that he can get five souls first.

Dr. Parnassus has a very unique traveling show, where the audience gets invited behind a mirror where all their dearest dreams and worst nightmares, basically the products of their imagination, await. The land behind the mirror is something you'd have to see—or imagine—to believe. Major CGI work, definitely. Words cannot explain.

The traveling players meet a stranger (Tony) who proves to be a great help in the quest for five souls. When Tony and Valentina spark up a romance, their fellow performer Anton is jealous and suspicious... with good reason.

Of course the major topic of interest regarding this film is the performances of Heath Ledger and his three stand-ins. They did choose a good way to divide the roll. The Tony character takes three trips into the mirror, so they used the three stand-in actors for one trip each. It almost makes sense for Tony to take a different form in his imagination, if you try to force it in your brain. Depp, Farrell, and Law all did brilliantly with their five minutes of on-screen time. I feel like the sketchiest was Ledger. There were gems in his performance, but it was obvious that other parts were unfinished. It gave the film a disjointed feel, but because the plot was so out there anyway, it kind of worked.

It was really an interesting concept and execution, but to be honest I was a bit busy memorizing every part of Ledger's performance and trying to keep up with a confusing plot at once. I need a better viewing for a better review.

Rating: 3.5

Veronica Guerin (2003, U.S.)

Cate Blanchett is one of my all-time favorite actresses. No matter what part she's in, she's brilliant. This was no exception. She shone in the true story of Veronica Guerin, an Irish reporter who exposed the Dublin drug trade in the mid-1990s. She carries on through threats, a gunshot to the leg, and a beating, determined to clean up Dublin society. She's ultimately murdered in 1996.

Veronica Guerin obviously had to be a fearless, determined, and admirable woman, which Blanchett conveys well. Unfortunately, I found the writing to be sometimes convoluted and not fast-paced enough for the subject. Perhaps most Irish viewers familiar with the subject would have followed better that doesn't change the pacing.

Overall I found it educational, a great performance for Blanchett, but just too slow.

Rating: 3.0

Intermission (2003, Ireland)

This film begs comparison to Crash in that it follows the lives of a group of Irish men and women whose lives intersect in the most unlikely and also likely ways.

It was seamlessly pieced together, almost like a dance. Parts were laugh-out-loud funny, parts were touching, parts were hard to watch. The writing was very strong, as was the performance of a great ensemble. I would recommend this one.

Rating: 3.5

Cassandra's Dream (2007, U.S.)

First thing I said out loud at the end: "Good ending, Woody Allen."

I think it's interesting how obsessed Woody Allen seems to be with the idea of getting away with murder. I wouldn't have thought this movie was unusual on its own, but following 2005's Match Point, it's something. Colin Farrell's character was strangely similar to his Ray in this year's In Bruges -- but he continues to do the emotionally vulnerable thing well. Ewan McGregor was also good, of course. I thought the writing was a bit weak, as the brothers' motivations were not quite convincing -- but I don't think it was the acting.

Of course I absolutely adore anything composed by Philip Glass, and this score was no different. It fit perfectly with the movie and was a fantastic suspense-builder.

The best part was the ending -- surprising yet inevitable at the same time. And it left you with that "Hmmm" feeling. Excellent.

Rating: 3.5