Kaze's Movie Notes: Archive 9

Toots (2006) **
Portrait of Manhattan saloon owner and old-school lug Toots Shor, who was once a friend to everybody who was somebody. No great shakes, but some interesting old footage of New York in the good years.

The Dancer Upstairs (2002) ***
Is there a revolution brewing in the countryside? The Honest Cop tries to puzzle it out. That he does, but getting there involves just one too many coincidences. Javier Bardem magnetic, as always.

The Visitor (2007) ****
A post-9/11 story in which a withdrawn widower meets a pair of Muslim illegals in New York. Immigration issues may be global, but love and loneliness are always local. A sad story, movingly told.

I Am Legend (2007) **
Will Smith appealing in one of those “last man on Earth, Manhattan edition” scenarios (see “The World, the Flesh, and the Devil”). Special effects of empty city are extraordinary. Otherwise, so-so.

Time Out (2001) **
Semi-tense tale of a consultant who’s been fired and can't bring himself to tell his family. Creates a whopper about a new job with the U.N. Will he be found out? Might have made a better comedy.