DEATH OF TRADITIONAL CINEMA

Here's the movie that may have influenced that recent movie most of you have been raving about (well, including me) - Nicolas Winding Refn's DRIVE. Both movies have familiar basic elements - the lone "driver", the mysterious woman, that sticky situation, a cunning adversary, the protagonist works as a getaway driver for thieves, and there's some burning tires to be had. In fact, the first 15 minutes of THE DRIVER made me ponder if Refn ripped off this Walter Hill 70s action thriller. Later scenes in THE DRIVER would prove that the two movies have so much differences as there are similarities, but still I cannot shake the fact Refn was somehow influenced by this one.  THE DRIVER, like DRIVE puts style over substance, yet THE DRIVER falls short of logic in its storytelling. There are plot holes sufficient to create a different movie altogether. Ryan O'Neal plays the titular unnamed character. Bloodthirsty to pin him down is the cop (Bruce Dern), who is so fu...

I do not know where to begin. CINEMA PARADISO is so enchanting a movie, and so grandiose it leaves you in awe and in a state of euphoria. I only saw it once. Imagine those who've seen it countless times. More than a tale of friendship, of star-crossed lovers, and of love for the movies, CINEMA PARADISO is also a tale of cultural identity, where cinema has become not only a form of entertainment but a means of unifying a society and documenting history. In 1980s Rome, filmmaker Salvatore DiVita (Jacques Perrin) is told that Alfredo, a man from his childhood village has died. Flashback to late 1940s. Young Salvatore (Salvatore Cascio) who is nicknamed "Toto" sparks an unusual friendship with the town's film projectionist, Alfredo (Philippe Noiret). Toto is curious and wily, and is eager to know a lot about cinema. This stems from longing of his father who is sent to war in Russia, and may never even come home. Father Adelfio (Leopoldo Trieste) oversees the film exh...

The first of Tati's series of Monsieur Hulot films heavily resembles MR. BEAN'S HOLIDAY. That's how influential Jacques Tati is to contemporary cinema. As the lovable but occasional troublemaker Hulot, Tati is easy on the eyes. His character, despite his most sincere efforts, ends up causing mayhem to the people around him. In M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY, he vacations in a seaside resort where the bourgeois also happen to be visiting. A series of mishaps involving Hulot deconstructs the pitfalls of the bourgeois, and we happen to be along for the ride for all the misfortunes. This is exactly the kind of film that just puts a smile on your face. As soon as the first mishap occurs onscreen, your eyes become glued to what happens next, anticipating Hulot's misadventures.   RATING: 4/5