Crash (Paul Haggis, 2004)Not to be confused with the "erotic" Cronenberg film about people who get turned on by car accidents, Crash is a meditation on racism as told through multiple interweaving stories and viewpoints. I thought it hit its marks a bit obviously at times, but it at least had something to say and presented characters that could be both noble and nasty, depending on the moment. It surprised me by winning the Oscar for best film that year, but since it was the only one I'd seen, it's the one I had on my Oscar pool. Yay for me.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)I first saw Crouching Tiger in an indy theater, sitting next to a Frenchman friend of mine who'd been a projectionist back home in a theater that showed a lot of Hong Kong cinema. I thought the film was beautiful, but to him, it was a lot of stuff he'd seen before, but that just hadn't been shown to mainstream audiences. And then after the multi-weapon battle between the two women (isn't Michelle Yeoh just wonderful?), I heard him say under his breath "Well I've never seen THAT before." It was also the very first DVD I ever bought, at the same time I bought my first (and much lamented) player.
Cube (Vincenzo Natali, 1997)An indy, Canadian-made science-fiction puzzle movie? Why yes! Cube definitely had a 1970s SF vibe, with a puzzling downer ending, but it at least gets you talking. My own theory is that the Cube represents the failing mind of a man, represented by the Autistic Man in the story. Nicole de Boer (Ezri Dax!) as the Math Student is logic, the Architect is the ego, the Cop is aggression, and so on. Pieces of him are being destroyed systematically, so there may be a reincarnation allegory going on here, especially given the final image. Maybe there's a whole post in that.
Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (Gordon Flemyng, 1966)In the mid-60s, when the Daleks became even more popular than Doctor Who itself, Gordon Flemyng attempted to remake The Daleks as a drive-in movie for American audiences, with an absent-minded professor-type Doctor Who played by Peter Cushing encountering the Daleks in glorious technicolor! Doctor Who and the Daleks did well enough that The Dalek Invasion of Earth was also attempted, and it's just as charming as the first. Charming, though clearly aimed at younger audiences. I have it because of my obsession with Who, of course.
Daredevil (Mark Steven Johnson, 2003)A lot of people speak ill of Daredevil, but I quite liked it. Sure, some of the effects were fuzzy. Yeah yeah, everyone fights with the power of Xena Warrior Princess. But so what? It thought it was a great distillation of some of Frank Miller's storylines, and I would be more than happy to see another chapter, with the Kingpin destroying Matt Murdock's life like in the comics. Daredevil is in fact the only reason I can stand any song by Evanescence. Those two cues in the film really affect me. I liked it so much, I bought the Director's Cut as well. But that's a story for next time.
But what did YOU think? Next: Daredevil Director's Cut to Dead Poets Society.
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