Book + Movie List

Gangs of New York
Ray Hunley Netflix DVD 17 April 2005

Was going to rate it 6, taking off a full point for the abominable accents, but realized that would mean that I rated Van Helsing higher. Aaarhgh, but those accents, though. Daniel Day-Lewis and John C. Reilly are forgiven, the rest - especially DiCaprio and Diaz - can go hang.

Garden of Evil
Julie Gephart Basic cable 24 January 2004

Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward. This was a cowboy movie, probably pretty much like any other cowboy movie. It had some good scenery.

Garden State
Tony Pisarenkov Landmark E Street Theatre, Washington, DC 24 October 2004

Great story well done. Hit closer to home for me than it might for a lot of others viewers, but even without that, the film was very, very good. The main characters really draw you into their world, and the portrayal of dead-end lives in New New Jersey is priceless.

Garden State
Téodor Orezscu ? 25 February 2005

Extended review here (sorry, Steve).

Garden State
Ray Hunley Netflix DVD 25 March 2005

Disappointing, but not bad. Banal story, but reasonably interesting script.

Genghis Blues
Steve Gadd DVD 20 November 2003

Very cool documentary on Paul Pena, a San Francisco bluesman who discovered Tuvan throat-singing on shortwave radio. He taught himself the art and joined an expedition to Tannu Tuva, where he competed in a throat-singing contest. Thanks Ray for the loan.

Get Carter (1971)
Ray Hunley Netflix DVD 28 March 2005

Second in the remake/original comparison series. Michael Caine plays Jack Carter with far more scoundrelly panache than does Sly Stallone in the remake. Carter's search for his brother's killer casts him alternately in the role of hero and villain, and the end winds up being bleak yet reasonably satisfying. Originals - 2, Remakes - 0

Get Over It
Julie Gephart Mysteriously free HBO 15 March 2003

Not the best teen comedy ever, but not the worst. Starring the very likable Ben Foster, who I've never seen in anything else, and the ubiquitous Kirsten Dunst. This movie featured some mangled Shakespeare, some singing, some dancing, some Carmen Electra dominatrix-being, and more than one performance by Sisqo.

Get Shorty
Steve Gadd DVD 20 January 2005

Is this Dave Barry's favorite movie?

Ghost Dog
Kristin Schrock DVD 21 September 2003

Wow. What a wonderful movie. Droopy eyed Forest Whitacker is an urban samurai, and really to say more than that may give too much of it away. It's wonderful. Go, now, rent it tonight.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Steve Gadd DVD 16 June 2005

Dazzling, dreamlike animation steal the show in this episode, in which the main characters toy with Philip K. Dick ideas and toss out references to Milton, the Old Testament, and Descartes. I found myself watching the backgrounds most of the time. Beyond a moving car window you don't see a Warner Brothers loop but a rich cityscape passing by with true perspective and focus. Frequently there are short, quiet scenes of exquisite complexity and color which must have been wonderful in the theater.

Ghost Town
Steve Gadd DVD at home 31 December 2008

Ghoulies 2
Jeff Gadd dvd 05 August 2003

Bluckee!! Down the toilet movie. The worst movie ever. Can't believe I watch the whole thing.I seen scarier muppets on Sesame Street then these puppets. A movie u could see on the Mystery Theator 2000.

Gia
Julie Gephart Internet download 01 May 2004

I avoided this movie for years because I’m not super keen on being along for the ride as people destroy themselves. However, after watching the E! True Hollywood Story, I felt I was as braced as I would ever be. Strangely enough, the True Hollywood Story turned out to be far more depressing than the movie.

Girlfight
Julie Gephart VHS Rental 09 November 2002

Shockingly, an Indie film that I really liked. More or less your classic boxing movie, so the "8" rating is all about my enjoyment rather than the script . Michelle Rodriguez is so cool she almost tempts me to see Blue Crush.

Gladiator
Tony Pisarenkov DVD 27 November 2002

Bombastic and melodramatic in true Hollywood fashion, both the story and the characters are shallow and devoid of substance

God is Great, and I'm Not
Steve Gadd DVD 21 February 2005

A weak comedy and cure for any residual affection for Audrey Tautou, who plays an annoying brat.

Gone in Sixty Seconds
Julie Gephart Basic cable 16 February 2003

I hate Nicolas Cage. I hate car chases. I hate movies about dirty thugs engaging in car chases. The fact that I watched this movie at all can only be a measure of my dedication to Angelina Jolie.

Gone With the Wind
A Bennett VHS 28 November 2002

Still disappointed that this doesn't come in Widescreen, and that I don't own it on DVD. A remarkable film for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is the competence and subversive message presented by the female leads--both for 1861 as well as 1939 when the film was made. Love that Technicolor!

Good Morning
Jaqi Ross Freer Gallery, D.C. 05 March 2004

In this delightful comedy—a perfect introduction to Ozu's lighter side—two young boys take a vow of silence to protest the inanity of adult conversation (not to mention their father's refusal to buy them a television).

Gosford Park
Julie Gephart VHS Rental 10 November 2002

I'm sure this was really an excellent film Oscar blah blah blah. Nevertheless, it gets a 4 from me because after two and a half hours, I still couldn't tell most of the characters apart. I also found it unsatisfying that its "central plot" only took up a few scenes that seemed no more important than any other random scenes from the movie.

Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
A Bennett TiVo'd from BRAVO 31 October 2003

It seemed like a great idea to pluck a child raised by a feral clan of jungle gorillas and christen him Earl of Greystoke--one of the late 18th century's more elite titles. Only then, he went a little crazy, and it seemed like time to rethink the proposition before somebody ended up dead. (Not once in this three-plus hour film did the name Tarzan get uttered. Not ONCE.) There is something (at least something that I find) mystically compelling about Christopher Lambert onscreen. I'm not sure it's something that can be expressed in human language. This film was two years before 1986's Highlander.

Gunga Din (1939)
A Bennett TiVo'd from AMC am 30 November 2003

Or, as everyone in the movie says it: Goong-uh Deen. The silent film-esque over-the-top acting, sets, and Cary Grant in heavy eyeliner make it rather difficult to rationalize that this film dates from the same year as both 'Gone With the Wind' and 'The Wizard of Oz'. A positively prancing Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. doesn't help reconcile the gap between his (supposedly manly) character and GWTW's dangerously, powerful leading man Rhett Butler, either. Lastly, can you EVER watch a film in 2003 populated by a cast of non-Indians pretending to BE Indian Thugges and take it seriously? The young water carrier character, Gunga Din, here is played by an over-40 Brooklyn Jew.