#3: 21 Grams

Image: Salon.com

Wow.

Let's just say Sean Penn is a top 10 actor in my book and 21 Grams is refreshingly unpredictable with the directing! The way Penn pulls off his role in 21 Grams is truly remarkable. This movie is so intriguing from start to finish and may be one of the more depressing movies I've seen. But don't get me wrong, I thought it was very clever and and touching. 21 Grams' director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and writer, Guillermo Arriaga go on to collaborate with their other sophisticated film, Babel (#2). The difference is that 21 Grams may actually make you feel more pain for the families in this movie. All in all, 21 Grams is another must see, and if you like Sean Penn, you can't miss this one.

Overall Rating: 8.4 / 10

- Josh Berg

This was my first time seeing 21 Grams. I expected something similar in tone and composition to Babel, but beyond that, I had no idea what it was about before we watched it. As it turns out, I still wouldn't know what it was about until the end, when the significance of the phrase "21 Grams" is explained. Just like Babel, this movie doesn't make it abundantly clear what its message is. But with the genius writing of Guillermo Arriaga, I knew it was there somewhere.

My only complaint with the movie is that it was slightly harder to follow than Babel as everything played out. This was mostly remedied in the end when everything was expertly tied together.

This one I'll leave to you to figure out, but I will say it was very similar to Babel, and if you liked that film, you'll love this one. The cold, depressing hopelessness that the movie portrays is excellent and - unlike Babel - the film lacks any sort of music in the vast majority of scenes. The end effect is an experience that feels more real and harsh than Babel, and much closer to home. Watch it, love it.

Overall Rating: 8.1 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs

#2: Babel

Watch this movie. If you don't get it immediately, you're in good company.

I first saw Babel a few years ago when it first came out on DVD. It is the third installment in the set of three similar but seemingly unrelated movies (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, and Babel) by the writer/director team of Guillermo Arriaga and Alejandro González Iñárritu. I watched the whole thing through in my dark bedroom on a Monday night. As the credits rolled, I cried. Unlike other movies, Babel didn't make me cry because of the death of a beloved character or the loss of love. Babel made me cry because it depicted a world that felt so real (not altogether surprising, since it was choc-full of acting talent and the men in the chairs knew their stuff) that so amazingly sad. As it follows its three (somewhat) convergent story lines, each loses its hope and joy. As a viewer, I clung desperately to all of the havens of innocence and happiness in these stories. As the movie unfolds more and more, Arriaga pries all of these bright points of hope away.


My reaction to the movie immediately after watching was that it was pointless, having no concrete point of climax and no single plot element that was the problem to be overcome in the movie. As I sat there crying, the credits ended and the DVD menu came up. When the word "Babel" came up prominently on my screen, I thought about it as it applied to the movie. The apparent disconnect between the three storylines throughout the movie doesn't lend itself to any single title (as James and The Giant Peach did, for example), but as I thought about "Babel," I realized that perhaps the movie wasn't about those characters in those exact places doing those things, but about miscommunication in today's world of mass communications. It seems it should be so easy for any given two people to connect and converse but, for reasons presented in the movie, it's not. Virtually of the tragedies depicted in the film, large or small, are caused by the inability to people and groups to communicate. The powerlessness and frustration I feel as I watch this movie are minuscule in comparison to what's going on in the real world, but I suppose that's the point.


Overall Rating: 8.5 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs


Babel  is a new one I've seen. It's a great movie that really gets to you deep down. In parts of the movie, I said to myself, "Wow, I can't believe something like that can actually happen." Throughout the movie, there were a few different timelines that really kept me interested in each individual's life and experiences. Brad Pitt is just as brilliant in Babel as he is in all of his movies. This movie really expresses the greater details in other people's lives. Throughout the movie, I felt for each character and found myself feeling saddened, but inspired at other moments. If you like movies with a good time line and a sense of togetherness with characters, this is another you have to see. Great screenwriting and amazing directing.

Overall Rating: 8.3 / 10

- Josh Berg