The Last Metro (Francois Truffaut, 1981) C

There's a scene in The Last Metro in which the character of Jean-Loup Cottins, a theatre director, is discussing with the Nazi sympathizing theatre critic Daxiat about his latest play, Disappearance, and Daxiat tells him, something to the effect of, "This wasn't your best work...I couldn't see any of your direction in it." It's funny, because the same could be said to Truffaut about this film. For me, the whole film just felt completely flat and seemed entirely predictable 15 minutes in. Catherine Deneuve, with her ice cold personality, was used to great effect here but I was completely flummoxed by the casting of Gerard Depardieu as the womanizing actor who does a little moonlighting for the resistance. Maybe it's just because I love the way Truffaut works with him, but I kept wondering how Jean-Pierre Leaud would have faired in the role. I'll admit that he would have probably gotten eaten alive by Deneuve-- it's hard not to with an actress as dominating and fierce as she is-- but those early scenes in which the character is trying to pick up women on the street and in the theatre seem almost written for Leaud in mind. Depardieu is fine in the role, I'll give him that. I just wasn't wowed by him or anything. Of the many Truffaut films I've seen, this is by far his weakest (and somewhat ironic since this was his last big hit in France and probably last widely known film). Truffaut on a bad day, however, is 10 times more interesting than most directors at their very best.

Christine (John Carpenter, 1983) D+

Christine is, for all intensive purposes, an awful film. Its trashy, illogical and campy beyond belief, but its also quite a bit of fun and an easy way to spend a couple of hours. The first half sets up an interesting concept that could only work in a horror film- a car who gets jealous of her owner's girlfriend- and executes it as well as possible. Just when you think you're falling for it, however, you suddenly realize that it's a car that's killing people and it becomes ridiculous all over again. And that ending was the most anti-climactic and boring I've ever seen. Christine circles Leigh and the bulldozer that Dennis is driving for like two minutes straight- and it's not even suspenseful or anything. Just tedious. I also hated Arnie's transformation from nerd to cool dude. In the first scene, he's so blind without his glasses that he can't see them two feet in front of his face when the bullies knock them to the ground. Ten minutes later, his vision is so perfect without his glasses he can drive his car. What the fuck? Where's the explanation for that? Arnie's toast, just before the ending when he and Dennis are drinking a beer together in the car (that is so 80's), had me and my friend cracking up for about five minutes straight. In a serious and completely overdramatic tone of voice, he says, "A toast...to death!" Isn't that the absolutely worst thing you could toast to (besides flesh-eating bacteria, I guess)?

The Killing Fields (Roland Joffe, 1984) C-

I had high hopes for this one, really I did. Unfortunately, everything about The Killing Fields seemed emotionally disconnected, especially during the times when it really needed to rely on that, and besides that, more often than not, I had no idea what was going on. The first 30 minutes were totally confusing as Sydney (Sam Waterson) and Pran (Dr. Haing S. Ngor) ran from place to place in Cambodia, taking pictures and getting news stories. The screenplay didn't help, because it didn't explain what they were doing well enough and it also got repetitious after awhile. Most of the film consisted of the same three scenes over and over again: (1) Sydney and Pran go to some place to write an article (2) Some catastrophe (military coup, taken hostage, etc) happens and they are forced to stay (3) Sydney and Pran, using their smarts, eventually get out of the situation by the skin of their teeth. Pran's eventual escape still remains a mystery to me because I have no idea how he left the prison camp (was that what he was in?) or who that guy who got Pran to speak French was and what purpose he served (how did he get that American money and map?) I seriously have no idea what the Academy was thinking when they nominated this for so many awards in 1984. The Best Picture nomination is vaguely understandable (quality aside, it is a heartwarming film about friendship and survival and all that bullshit) but Waterson should have been embarrassed that his nomination caused Steve Martin to be denied one for All of Me. Nothing about the performance points in the direction that he was required to act. He yells, he talks with Pran, he gets emotional, he misses his friend....that's about all that goes on here. Any mildly competent actor could have pulled off this performance. Ngor's nomination (and eventual win) can be partly justified- that last hour does belong to him- but, again, nothing really required him to act that much. All he has to do is wear that same stone-face and recite some lines in broken English.

Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984) B

One of the few major Oscar winners I've somehow avoided in my 6 or so years of movie watching and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Amadeus tells the story of Antonio Salieri, court composer to the Emperor of Austria, and his relationship to musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Salieri recognizes that he is second-rate compared to Mozart's genius and, driven by jealously, plots his downfall. The opening 10 minutes were absolutely brilliant- an exhilarating rush of dreamy editing, glorious Mozart music and F. Murray Abraham's soothing voice. Forman's opening sucked me in, and even if the rest couldn't quite live up to that beginning, it was still an interesting film. The juxtaposition between the mediocre, but immensely successful, Salieri and the genius, but unappreciated, Mozart was fascinating and an interesting commentary on today's music business. Overall, the film probably could have been tightened up and shortened in the middle, but Amadeus was still a good time. F. Murray Abraham gave an excellent performance and earned a well-deserved Oscar. Tom Hulce as Mozart, on the other hand, was nothing more than that annoying giggle. Many 80's actors probably could have given the same performance without much effort.

'Round Midnight (Bertrand Travernier, 1986) C

'Round Midnight is one of the strangest films I have ever seen that was nominated for a major Oscar (Best Actor in this case). Director Bertrand Travernier is more concerned with the music of fictional jazz legend Dale Turner (played by real-life jazz legend Dexter Gordon) than in the main plot concerning Turner's alcoholism or his friendship with longtime fan Francis Borler (François Cluzet). I guess this film would be a lot more interesting if you enjoyed jazz music, but since I don't (I prefer classical saxophone myself) I found most of the music sections dreadfully boring. The mood and atmosphere of 'Round Midnight are rather interesting, but they alone can't make a whole film, and with such a flimsy story supporting everything the film falls apart. Dexter Gordon's nomination really perplexes me because all this performance has going for him is his saxophone playing, raspy voice and the alcoholism (which the Academy loves almost as much as hookers with a heart of gold). That's seriously all Gordon has to go on, so by the two hour mark you are just exasperated at the shallowness of this performance. It's certainly not the worst Best Actor nominated performance, but it's not one that I would like to see imitated. Thank God for Cluzet's hero-worshiping Francis, which keeps the film moving and, at times, manages to make Gordon look good.

Vagabond (Agnès Varda, 1985) D

Agnès Varda's Vagabond tells the story of a young woman named Mona (Sandrine Bonnaire) who roams all around France one winter, trying to find herself or some bullshit garbage like that. I'm sorry, but I'm sick and tired of these films that try to turn selfish, idiotic young brats who run away from their life looking for "freedom" into heroes that we should all strive to be more like. Into the Wild's constant reminders were bad enough, but in Vagabond it's never ending, even though I don't really understand why we should be cheering Mona on. She's a selfish, lazy cunt without an ounce of worth in her body. You know, I could see why people might want her around if she was a great conversationalist or something, but she's also the least interesting person on the planet. I've had more fascinating conversations with my friend's dog than anything that happens between Mona and any of the many minor characters that appear in Vagabond. To top it all off, Vagabond is one of the most boring films I've seen in a while. I wanted to turn it off 30 minutes in when we started randomly following characters who bore little relevance to the plot and Bonnaire's Mona started to get on my nerves. It's such a shame that Varda made this stinker because her earlier Cleo de 5 a 7 really fascinated me and had me looking forward to Vagabond.

Story of Women (Claude Chabrol, 1988) B+

A fascinating film about an abortionist (Isabelle Huppert) who is guillotined during the Nazi occupation of France, not necessarily because of the seriousness of the crime but more as a way to set a moral example for the rest of the country. On the surface, Story of Women may seem to have a lot in common with Mike Leigh's Vera Drake, but all similarities end with the abortion issue. While Vera Drake focused on getting women abortions for safety's seek, Marie in Story of Women is only concerned with the wealth that comes from doing the procedure. In fact, Marie is generally an awful person (she's selfish, a lousy wife and a loving but not attentive mother) from the start to the end. Even when she learns about a patient of hers that she may have killed she seems rather unfazed by the news. Story of Women won't convert anyone one way or another on the abortion issue in the way that I suspect Vera Drake was meant to do, but it's a poignant and compelling drama well worth the time.