Three sentence movie reviews–Paranoid Park

Filmed in Portland with a lot of scenes near my work! The first twenty minutes of this movie have more dialog than Van Sant’s three previous movies combined. Much arty filming of skateborders, who remain youth that I have a soft spot for.

Note: a few years ago I decided to watch all of Gus Van Sant’s movies in order. This brings me up to date as of last year, now I have to see Milk. I split Van Sant’s movies into three categories: Early Portland, Commercial/Independent fare, and the “No Talking” Trilogy. With Paranoid Park and Milk, I seem to need a new category. In the meantime, my favorites from the current categories:

• Early Portland: Drugstore Cowboy (probably a top 20 movie for me, beautifully filmed)
• Commercial/Independent: To Die For (Nicole Kidman is good, but Matt Dillon and Joaquin Pheonix truly sparkle. Also, Illeana Douglas and Allison Foland are fabulous.)
• No Talking: Gerry. (How could two guys walking around in the desert not talking be so mesmerizing?)