Before Sunset

Release Year: 2004

Director: Richard Linklater

Review: Set nine years after the original, this is an interesting sequel.  Not only is it nine years in film time, it was also nine years between films.  The sequel finds Jesse on a book tour promoting his book which he wrote about his encounter with Celine.  Having heard about the book, Celine approaches him right before his plane leaves, giving them yet again, just a little bit of time to connect.

There is a lot of similarity between the two movies.  Its all dialog.  Set in real time, the film is basically a single conversation between the two.  It's enrapturing to watch the two reconnect.  From the first the awkward tension of first seeing each other again, to catching up, to intimately talking as if they had known each other the entire time, to the final, perfectly toned, ending.  Its a beautifully crescendo, creating a wonderful pace which, while almost completely dialog, never feels drawn out.

After the first film the question was whether or not the two actually ended up meeting each other.  Depending on how you answered determined if you were a romantic or a cynic.  This film feels much more rooted.  It's no longer two kids having a romantic adventure.  They are well into adulthood and have experienced both love and the loss of love.  Their connection now brings up a new, more important question: is there true love?  Are Jesse and Celine soul mates, who despite their current lives need each other?  It's this question which is presented, and why this makes such a fantastic sequel.  It still may boil down to romantic versus cynic, but the stakes are higher.  It is a beautifully executed movie, and a perfect companion piece to the first film.

Rating: 4.5/5

Howl's Moving Castle (Hauru no ugoku shiro)

Release Year: 2004

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Review: This is a very different feeling Miyazaki film, perhaps due to it being based on a novel.  While there are many familiar aspects, the general atheistic imagination is tamed.  While the film is very much set in the fantasy genre, there is less of a dreamlike like quality to it unlike other Miyazaki films.  The main plot does fit perfectly into Miyazaki's filmography however.  A renegade womanizing magician who lives in a magical moving castle takes in a cursed girl amid a war reminiscent of World War I.  It has all the makings of the fantastic imagination of a Miyazaki landscape.

While I did appreciate the small details in the film, and actually quite enjoyed the film from moment to moment, there seemed to be a missing quality that so many Miyazaki films have.  The heart and sole of the film seemed diminished, and a bit wooden.  There were story lines that seemed to go no where, and the characters never seemed fully fleshed out.  I'm still not sure what the point of the missing prince was, or exactly how the true characteristics of Howl.  His womanizing is hinted out, but never shown.  It's as if Miyazaki is constantly battling keeping elements from the book and following his own path.

Where in other Miyazaki films every detail feels completely thought out and full, here there appears to be a lot of loose ends, and it left me feeling a bit empty.  This is not to say it is a bad film, as I did enjoy it.  There are some fantastic imaginative and beautiful sequences which really do deliver.  Taken on a whole it doesn't have the impact I have grown to expect from Miyazaki.  To be a lesser Miyazaki however isn't a slight against it at all, it's still a wonderful film.
Rating: 3.5/5

The Passion of the Christ

Release Year: 2004

Director: Mel Gibson

Review: Mel Gibson's gritty biblical portrayal of the trials and crucifixion of Jesus is a bold choice.  I appreciate the route Gibson chose to take, showing the events without a filter to make it more digestible to general audiences.  It is a brutal film, and with dialog in the languages of the time and place.  He went for a historically accurate account of what might have happened-- for the most part.  Unfortunately this realism makes the miracles and biblical mysticism all the more obtrusive.  Instead of placing this in needlessly, it would have been more effective to show just Jesus, as a human, not as a higher power, as he is depicted for most of the film.  He is shown to be human, to suffer, and this is where the film is most effective, and derives the most emotion.  

The weak point is the narrative, which is pretty terse.  Gibson relies on a familiarity with the source material and only alludes to why events are important with brief, ineffectual flashbacks.  Jesus, as a character in the movie is never built up, or shown to be anything more than a condemned man who claims he is the Son of God.  Perhaps it would have been overreaching to try and build this up, especially when so many who this movie is geared to will already come into the film with this opinion of Jesus. But if this is the case then the flashbacks are unnecessary and only diminish the anguish that Jesus is being put through.  In the end, this is a movie that is about the torture and execution of a man. It is what the knowledge that is brought in from the audience that will ultimately determine how hard it hits emotionally.
Rating: 3.5/5

The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta)

Release Year: 2004

Director: Walter Salles

Review: 'The Motorcycle Diaries' is a riveting, tender and engrossing portrayal of a young Che Guevara and the journey he took that which inspired a revolution.  Regardless of your feelings of the revolutionist, this is a fantastic travel movie.  The film does little in the way of politics but rather gradually sheds light on the economic divide among Latin America.  The chemistry between Ernesto (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Alberto (Rodrigo de la Serna), is the biggest draw.  You get drawn in by their enthusiasm and spirit and are taken on a memorable journey.  It is a fascinating look at the mind of a revolutionist in its infancy. An origin story of an icon. Above all else its a great road movie that will inspire you to go out and live a bit, and maybe stumble on some of your own life changes experiences. 

Rating: 4/5

Hotel Rwanda

Release Year: 2004

Director: Terry George

Review: There's a certain amount of guilt felt watching movies like 'Hotel Rwanda'.  Knowing that these kinds of atrocities could be avoided, or at least contained if people actually cared.  This feeling of guilt, also turns into anger.  That is the feeling most relevant.  Above all the film serves to show the horrors that occurred in Rwanda, and were largely ignored by the rest of the world.  Sure, it is manipulative, but it doesn't make it any less powerful.  Don Cheadle plays the role of Paul Rusesabagina perfectly, containing the emotion just enough so that we can believe that this was a man that could actually pull off saving a hotel full of refuges.   I take some issue with the story being based on a real person, since undoubtedly the movie has to take creative liberty with this person's character.  Certainly there are dramatic embellishments which I thought were not needed to make a compelling movie.  Not every dramatic work needs a love story crammed in.  I would have appreciated it more if this aspect was handled in a more subtle way.  None the less, the actions and events are undeniably powerful and at the same time despicable. Regardless of its means, the film gets its point across and is a chilling, yet inspiring, story.
Rating: 4/5

Hellboy

Release Year: 2004
Review: A mid-tier comic book action film that fits more into the cartoonish genre then some of the better superhero films. The plot and character types aren't anything too original and a lot of the lines are garish and predictable, but I suppose this is to be expected from the genre of film. Unfortunately the film fails to bring anything new to the table. The look and feel wasn't anything special and seemed on par with the Ninja Turtles which was released nearly twenty years earlier. Overall its not a terrible attempt at comic book movie, but its not pushing any bounds either.
Rating: 3/5

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Release Year: 2004
Review: Another year in the fantastic world of Harry Potter and another attempt at reining in the boundless imagination of JK Rowling into a two and a half hour feature film. With each successive film they seem to be getting closer to producing a more sound and compete representation of the book. With this attempt they took more liberties with the plot than any of the other two by far. As the books get longer, it becomes harder to cram all the plot points into a concise children friendly movie, even without all the needlessly long Quidditch action scenes. Building upon the trend started in the previous film, the child actors are given even more acting time, and while they've made some improvements they're lack of acting ability is painfully apparent and is the biggest downside of the film. It feels like the films are going in the right direction, but haven't quite gotten to the level that the books deserve quite yet.
Rating: 3/5

Born Into Brothels

Release Year: 2004
Review: A documentary spotlighting the turmoil facing the kids who live in the red light districts of Calcutta. A group of children are given cameras and photography lessons and we get to know how amazing these children are, through their photos and their interviews, despite their abhorrent circumstances. The children aren't given much of a chance, despite their talents most boarding schools will not even contemplate taking them in because of their parents illegal profession. It is hard but to be overcome with sorrow over the plight of not only the children featured in this film, but those that are born into the poorest regions all of over the world. It's harsh reality that despite this documentary winning an Oscar, many of the children featured never make it out the red light district. It is a sad, but inspiring, peek into true poverty and the hope that can be found within it.
Rating: 4/5

The Sea Inside

Release Year: 2004
Review: Based on a true story about a quadriplegic, named Ramón Sampedro, 28 year campaign to end his own life. Javier Bardem gives a remarkable performance as Ramón, imbuing him with a charisma that makes us not want to see him die, which is an essential part of the film. While the film is emotional, and well acted it did get a bit dull. Unlike 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly', which deals with a similar situation, this film didn't keep me engaged. It felt a bit repetitive at parts, and never really stretched itself to make itself really gripping. However the right to die debate is handled wonderfully, and this film will make you think hard about your stance on it regardless of your side.
Rating: 3/5

Wicker Park

Release Year: 2004
Review: Wicker Park is a complicated plot of love and obsession that slowly unwinds before you. It follows Matt, a young, but successful man in search of his lost love. The plot is interesting, but can get convoluted at times. The biggest fault of the film is that it is ultimately too conventional. There was little ever doubt where it would eventually go. For most of the film the director plays up the tension of Matt almost coming in contact with his love interest, but falling just short. This is expected to happen so it loses some of the suspense. However, the acting was well done and story was compelling enough to make it an enjoyable film that explores the limits of what should be done in the name of love.
Rating: 4/5