Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Memoirs of a Geisha wants so hard to be a poignant, serene observation of human nature in the Far East that it gets lost in its own narrative, frequently prefers style over substance, and offers a gorgeous film, with wonderfully misguided casting, and a lot of build-up with little payoff. Which is a shame, because …

Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)

They never closed. The famed Windmill theater in London prided itself on never closing its doors to audiences during the worst air raids of WWII. Yes, that is one way to remember the theater, but Mrs. Henderson Presents mentions this in passing, as a matter-of-fact. The movie is based on a tense and hilarious relationship …

RIP John Spencer (1946-2005)

It’s a little late, I know, but honestly, when I first heard about this on Saturday morning, I thought it was an elaborate joke. Perhaps The West Wing writers are trying to get some publicity for the show, or maybe some joker announced it on the radio somewhere, and the story spread out of control. …

Commander-in-Chief (ABC)

West Wing is limping towards the inevitable cancellation (well, everyone’s going to call it an official end of the show – after all eight seasons for a drama is very, very good – but we know that the show has suffered a lot since Aaron Sorkin and Rob Lowe left). There are hardly any other …

Everything is Illuminated (2005)

We are all immigrants. We all have roots elsewhere. Even if you think you’ve lived in the same little town for generations, keep digging and eventually you’ll find that somewhere, at some point in the past, your ancestors have come here, and decided to stay. They immigrated. Therefore you too are immigrants. Don’t argue with …

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

Nick Park has done it again. First with the original three short films (each more amusing and precious than the other), then with Chicken Run in 2002. Now, finally the time has come for the famous duo to claim the big screen. For those who don’t like animation (or have something against claymation), Wallace and …

A History of Violence (2005)

David Cronenberg has fascinated me since I discovered Dead Ringers in the early 90s. See, I was convinced at the time that there were two guys playing Mantle brothers. I realize that part of the credit should go to Jeremy Irons, but it also takes a special director to present two different people, with two …

Water (2005)

Deepa Mehta has been working on this movie for almost seven years. There were troubles on the set, Indian religious organizations threatened to close the set and pull funding. So the production stopped and moved to Sri Lanka in order to finish this project. Usually when one hears about “problems on the set”, the assumption …