Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Quentin Tarantino)
This could've been merely an exercise in fight choreography, severed limbs, and choice soundtrack cuts. (And to some, that's all it was.) But with one shot -- The Bride realizing her baby is dead -- it becomes something, well not deeper, really, but more moving. Yet her revenge, which should be so simple, is complicated by the fact that she cuts down her enemies when they're at their most happiest. (We see this happiness, and not in an abstract form, either: a nightclub, a friendship, a house, a child.) Unlike some movies I could mention (oh, you know which one I mean), revenge is the opposite of happiness, the destroyer of happiness, and no one gets away from its whirlpool of violence. Oh, and it's amazing to look at, to boot.
The School of Rock (Richard Linklater)
I think formulas (as in movie formulas, you know, as in, "it's such a formula picture") exist for a reason: because at their genesis, they aren't really formulas but archetypes. They work not because plot A and character B and situation C are lazily filled in by hacks, but because the archetypal form, when engaged honestly and with imagination, shines and dazzles us. This is exhibit A in that hypothesis. Not a single unpredictable moment, really, but also not a moment that doesn't buzz with life and energy. I'd love to see this get nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor; I mean, if freakin' The Full Monty can get the first two...
Where we saw it: film | We deign to rate it: outta 100