1.) Adaptation (Jonze)
Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) is a Los Angeles screenwriter battling enormous feelings of insecurity and impotence as he struggles to adapt The Orchid Thief, a book by Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep) whose main character, John Laroche (Chris Cooper), searches for love. Add to the mix Charlie's twin brother, Donald (also played by Cage), and you have a surreal, Spike Jonze-directed gem about the search for passion.
This might be my all time favorite movie. It boggles the brain, writing a movie about writing a movie as one plot, turmoil between brothers (both played by nick cage) as another, and finally a strange affair between a toothless Chris Cooper and meryl streep. All this, yet still cognizant and very entertaining, sad, and hilarious.
9.5/10
Riki-Oh (Ngai Kai Lam)
When his drug-addicted girlfriend commits suicide, Riki-Oh offs her dealer and finds himself locked up in a prison where the accused have no rights and very little hope. The other inmates torture Riki-Oh with a stunning variety of implements (which include pretty much anything at hand), but he fights back as if his life depended on it -- which it does!
Riki-oh more like ridi-culous. Awesome campy gore fest. Strange lost in translation story line. A weird prison that is allows you to have weapons and run free most of the time. Punches that explode jaws. What more could you really ask for.
7/10
The Jacket
John Maybury's masterful thriller stars Adrien Brody as Jack Starks, a Persian Gulf War veteran who has lost his memories to amnesia. When Jack is accused of a heinous killing, he realizes he must find a way to prove his innocence. Desperate to unearth clues about his past, he seeks a controversial treatment that allows him to go back in time -- which turns out to be a heart-wrenching decision when he realizes he's destined for tragedy.
I watched this based on how Luke reviewed it, so this board is good for something. I really enjoyed it. I would call it "Mememto" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." About time travel, tragedy, fucked up medical practices and how babearific Keira Knightley is. Some plot holes and slower parts, but definitely my favorite of the "donnie darko" type movies that came out in a big bundle a few years back.
7.5/10
18/300 movies
0/30 books
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