Ang Lee is simply one of the greatest directors alive. Last year's Life Of Pi solidified that for me. I would compare him to Stanley Kubrick in the way he is able to adapt to many different genres, and master them. Examining any three of his films in a row, in this case 1997's The Ice Storm, an atmospheric, fatalist drama of 1970's New England suburbanite family dysfunction, sandwiched between 1995's Jane Austen period comedy Sense And Sensibility, and 1999's…

Suburbia has always been a fascinating subject to watch on film. Speaking for myself, the allure to the subject has always been the dark secrets that distinguish each household apart in an otherwise indistinguishable neighborhood.

The Ice Storm centers around two middle-class, suburban families, the Hoods (Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, and a very young Tobey Maguire and Christina Ricci) and the Carvers (Jamey Sheridan, Sigourney Weaver, and a very young Elijah Wood and Adam Hann-Byrd, in the early 1970s as…

I haven't read the novel on which this film is based but will probably seek out for it as I haven't been this impressed and shaken by a (fairly) recent American drama in a long time. Ang Lee's look at suburban, middle-class life is quietly powerful and unfolds in a slow but riveting manner. The titular ice storm is beautifully shot and due to its nature increases the feeling of confinement in the film. It's a very down-to-earth, small-scale film…

Ang Lee's devastating drama about awkward sexuality and suburban malaise in the early 1970s, THE ICE STORM has not aged a day, though the younger cast members certainly have! (More on that later).

Set in the days when the sexual revolution of the late '60s was creeping its way clumsily into the suburbs, the film concerns an intricate web of deceptions, awakenings, and tragedies (both minor and major) that occur over the Thanksgiving holiday for two neighboring families.

The ensemble…

Janey: Ben, you're boring me. I have a husband. I don't have a need for another one.

It's honesty hits you hard but underneath it's cold veneer, Ang Lee's beautiful adaptation of Rick Moody's novel is heartfelt and wonderfully acted that lingers with you well after the final act.

An intense and sometimes humourous examination of suburban Connecticut families in meltdown - not in the most obvious sense but through quiet interactions and sexual indiscretions. This leads up to a…

It's quite something to come back to this movie after 15 years. It was always my favourite Ang Lee movie but I suspected that my opinion of it as a 16 year old was deeply flawed and never gave it the respect it deserved. I've had a burning desire to revisit it for the past year and now have finally got my hands on a copy, never to let it go again.

Great set design and costume are the first…

Films about dysfunctional families are rarely my favourites although there are exceptions to the rule. American Beauty surely can be included in this category? The Royal Tenenbaums?

This one, however, was a bit too strained for my taste, it tried a bit too hard to show some weirdness in each and every member of the two families. Furthermore, Kevin Kline's character pissed me off by being extremely dull and boring. And I usually like him. In fact he's so boring…

Week 2 of Phips’ Adapted April Challenge

Ang Lee has proved to me once again why he is such an acclaimed director. The Ice Storm is a dark tale of 70s suburbia that left me in awe of what I just saw. It’s very well executed with a haunting score from Mychael Danna and chilling cinematography. But as much as the technical aspects were great, it was the warped screenplay and acting that captures the essence of the 70s the…

There is no doubt that Ang Lee is one of the best directors currently working. Lee has won 2 best director Oscars from 3 nominations and dozens of others substantial awards. He does big purposeful dramas like nobody else, bringing timeless stories to screen that always manage connect with mainstream audiences.

Brokeback Mountain, Life of Pi and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon all became breakout hits because of how universal they are. Love, religion, honour, these films have become his most…

Ever since LIFE OF PI I've been on a mission to see every Ang Lee movie. Don't think I'm a complete Ang Lee newbie though. I love CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and after finally seeing Lee's dark, family drama THE ICE STORM I've realized that Lee can do almost any genre and add his little touches too them and that he is one of the only directors that can make successful films both in his foreign land…

Setting THE ICE STORM against the backdrop of the Watergate scandal was only fitting, showing how the corruption of the time period wasn't just relegated to the Tricky Dick administration, but extended into the American family. Marital corruption, sexual corruption, parental corruption, adolescent corruption; it all runs rampant through these two seemingly normal suburban American families, fueled by stagnant relationships between friends and husbands and wives and parents and children.

A storm literally looms over these peoples' lives, but more…