Dogtown and Z-Boys

(2001)

Stacy Peralta's documentary, DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS, chronicles "the beginning of the revolution." The birth of this revolution happened not in Red Square but on asphalt playgrounds and in drained swimming pools, where a bunch of outlaw skaters brought their skateboards to mimic their surfing moves on land. The energetic and fun film follows the punk rockers of the 1970's skateboard movement, a group called the Zephyr team or Z-Boys for short. Rather like a street gang, these surfers came together to surf around the dangerous abandoned piers in the rough Dogtown area of Santa Monica. They describe this area as "the last great seaside swamp." They all got a huge adrenaline rush from the danger of almost dying as they crashed into visible and invisible pilings that dotted their surfing area. Seeing themselves as the local Mafia, they threw rocks and glass at outsiders who dared try to surf their waves. In order to keep busy during the day when the waves were down, these surfers started skateboarding, a sport that had flourished briefly and then died in 1965, much like the Hula-Hoop's rapid demise. With fast cut editing, the movie uses both archival footage and contemporary interviews. One of the skaters, Skip Engblom, perhaps best describes the Z-boys influence. He says that they were like the pirates, and he was Captain Hook. In this version of Peter Pan, however, they won and converted the lost boys to pirates. The spirited film has music from classic rock tunes like "Wake Up Maggie" to the theme music from THE GODFATHER. Perhaps the funniest part comes when they interrupt the story for part of an episode of "Charlie's Angels" in which Peralta's skateboarding gets in the way during a crime.

 one of Panayiotis's Top Ten Movies

The Shawshank Redemption

(1994)

Tim Robbins plays a banker named Andy who is sent to Shawshank Prison on a murder charge, but as he gets to know a life-term prisoner named Red (Morgan Freeman), we soon realise his claims of innocence are credible. We also realise that Andy's calm, quiet exterior hides a great reserve of patience and fortitude, and Red comes to admire this mild-mannered man who first struck him as weak and unfit for prison life. So it is that The Shawshank Redemption builds considerable impact as a prison drama that defies the conventions of the genre (violence, brutality, riots) to illustrate its theme of faith, friendship and survival. Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor and Screenplay, it's a remarkable film (which movie lovers count among their all-time favourites) that signalled the arrival of a promising new filmmaker.

Jeff Shannon Review is taken from amazon.co.uk

Synopsis
City banker Andy Dufresne is in Shawshank State Prison after receiving a double life sentence for murder. There he meets Red and also forms friendships with the warden and prison guards. Andy soon finds that you get on with living or you get on with dying.

Eternal Sunshine

on the Spotless Mind

(2004)

Bret Fetzer Review is taken from amazon.com

All of which makes director Edward Zwick's noble epic eminently worthwhile, even if its Hollywood trappings (including an all-too-conventional ending) prevent it from being the masterpiece that Zwick and screenwriter John Logan clearly wanted it to be. Instead, The Last Samurai is an elegant mainstream adventure, impressive in all aspects of its production. It may not engage the emotions as effectively as Logan's script for Gladiator, but like Cruise's character, it finds its own quality of honour. 

Jeff Shannon Review is taken from amazon.co.uk

Synopsis
Captain Nathan Algren served in the American Civil War where he risked his life for his country. He served out his career in the West where the battle was with Indians and it was here that he became disillusioned and lost. In a far-off land a celebrated Samurai warrior, Katsumoto, is learning about change. A life of service to the Emperor and the country is being replaced with survival in a time of modernisation. Fate has it that both men will face each other and make a stand against those that would threaten honour and values. Captain Nathan Algren is employed to train a group of Japanese conscripts who will replace the Samurai warrior. But he is captured by the Samurai, an enemy he comes to respect and for whom he is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Big Night

(1996)

Critics tripped all over their big feet to praise Big Night, and in doing so performed a grave disservice to this fine little film. They fooled audiences into believing it was a "super movie" instead of a home movie buoyed by friends and family. Consequently, many viewers were disappointed. Big Night is an intimate look at the immigrant struggle to attain the American Dream, set in New Jersey in the 1950s. Tucci wrote Big Night with his cousin Joseph Tropiano, and they based the story on the experience of growing up in a large, proud Italian family. The brothers in Big Night--chef Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and businessman Secondo (Tucci)--have come to New Jersey to open a bistro named The Paradise that serves the finest in traditional, authentic Italian cuisine. Their every move is foiled by rival restaurant Pascal's, which serves mile-high servings of spaghetti and meatballs and flasks of bad Chianti at exorbitant prices. Primo is disgusted by the fact that Americans want cheap pasta instead of risotto, so Secondo hatches a plan to boost business: rumor has it bandleader Louis Prima is travelling through and will dine at The Paradise that very night. Secondo gambles to bring the finest dinner ever cooked--at the risk of losing his shirt and being reduced to exile to the old country with his tail between his legs. Big Night is a film that will easily invite comparisons to other "food" fare like Babette's Feast and Eat Drink Man Woman but, though Tucci insists his story is "about the struggle between art and commerce and the risk of staying true to yourself," the media refused to let it stay a small, comparative work. The movie, and the buzz around it, became a parable for the essence of the film itself: art vs. commerce.

Paula Nechak Review is taken from amazon.com

One of the more surprising critical hits of 2003, Sylvain Chomet's Belleville Rendezvous is a French animation that combines occasional beauty and charm with sardonic grotesquerie. People have commented about its bitchy portrait of a USA where everyone is overweight and over-helpful; it is equally nasty about a provincial France, where everything is grey and nothing is convenient. A grandmother and her dog set out to rescue a cyclist who has been kidnapped by the French Mafia and is forced to race endlessly into a receding projected landscape; she is helped by a superannuated trio of female close-harmony chansonniers marooned in American poverty.

Nothing in this film is mere chance--almost everything we see turns out to be relevant. There is also little dialogue--most of the time, sound effects and music take its place, from the irritating squeak of a mechanic's breathing to the sublimity of Mozart's "Kyrie" as a storm rages at sea. Belleville Rendezvous uses the best of traditional animation techniques and modern technology to produce something sharply funny and beautifully composed; it is not quite like anything you have seen before.

Roz Kaveney Review is taken from amazon.com

Noticing that her grandson, Champion, is a lonely little boy, Madame Souza buys him his first bicycle. Years go by, and with Madame Souza putting him through his paces, Champion becomes worthy of his name. Now he is ready to enter the world’s most famous cycling competition, the Tour de France. But no sooner than the race begun, two mysterious men in black kidnap him and it is up to Madame Souza and her faithful dog, Bruno, to rescue him.

Soon, their quest takes them to a giant metropolis called Belleville, where they encounter three eccentric female music hall stars of the 1930s and do battle with the evil French mafia. But can they rescue Champion? A visual treat for young and old alike, this stunning film has captured the imagination of audience the world over with its unique blend of classic animation and razor-sharp wit.