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The Proposition - extremely well shot, the landscape is as much of a character as the actors. It's a rather oblique and elliptic film though, never really developing the characters enough to understand them. Yet, for all that, it's extremely lyrical and definitely memorable in its depiction of Australia during colonisation.
The music by nick cave, whilst fine by itself, never really went with what was on screen. And the films does feel a bit too overly ponderous at times. 7.5/10 The Gift - strong acting, especially from blanchett who turns what could have been a standard role into something more. But the rest is pretty by the numbers stuff, and rather predictable. 5.5/10 Stalag 17 - perhaps I was expecting too much given that it was a Billy Wilder film, but I wasnt too impressed. It's all rather slight really, with everything too neat and cute to really have any impact. And the Billy Wilder dialog is missing too. Only William Holden comes off well, but this was not a role to deserve an Oscar IMHO. 5.5/10 Veronica Mars - Overrated a fair bit, this is fairly light, throwaway tv. The scripts arent as sharp and clever as they think they are and I found myself staying one or more steps ahead of most mysteries throughout the season, inclduing the main season long plotline (although that was handled better than most other episodic mysteries). The one thing that is worth watching is Kristen Bell who should be a star in the making. She takes the show to a higher level, and without her it would be even more mediocre. A very capable perfomer, unfortunately most the rest of the cast dont pull up anywhere near as well. 6/10 Kiss of Death - fairly decent noir which is a bit aytpical, more crime drama than traditional noir. Missing the snappy dialogue but still retaining the noir atmosphere, and featuring Richard Widmark in a truly slimy performance as gangster Udo. 7/10 The Last Emperor - um, this may have been a good movie, it's a bit difficult to tell. I was extremely distracted by the fact that the majority of the film was in English. Like the recently released Memoirs of a Geisha (I've only seen the trailer), it just comes across as really artificial and unnatrual when the speakers arent communicating in their native language. Sure, there are some bits that needed English, but I would have much preferred a subtitled film in Mandarin/Canotnese. It made all the dialogue sound really strange and some of it was quite poorly written anyway. Nicely shot, but I just couldnt get into it at all. 4/10 (but that's really just what I felt and probably not an accurate score). The Unbearable Lightness of Being - One fabulously executed sequence, when the russians first invade czechoslovakia, but the rest came across as laborious quasi-arty claptrap. Acting was ok, despite a few dodgy and unstable accidents, but the script came across as half-baked. I dont know how true it was to the original source but some of the lines were very hokey. 4/10 The Fly - B grade story given A grade treatment by David Cronenberg. I havent seen anything else by him (although looking forward to A History of Violence), but he has a very distinct style. I was also especially surprised by the attention to character, this could so easily have been just a b grade monster film. Easily the best thing Jeff Goldblum has done and some of it was wickedly disgusting. 7/10 Ong Bak - Does exactly what it sets out to do. Probably a bit too long, with a bit too much "plot", but the action scenes are executed very well. They still lack impact, as is the case in most modern day martial art scenes, and thus appear more as sped up spars rather than actual fights. However, in this film, the fighting is very precise which raises up onto a different level. The chase scenes are also excellently done. 6.5/10 Unleashed - Indulges in every cliche that exists, but in a very earnest and self assured fashion. C grade story given almost A grade treatment. Still, despite all the gloss, the cliched script shines through a bit too often. The action scenes, although far less frequent than Ong Bak, are also well done. Again, although most of the fight scenes lack impact, there are a few near the start that are excellent and definitely highlight the brutality and exhilaration that are now out of fashion. 6.5/10 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Had heard quiet a few good things about this one and came out extremely disappointed. Not anywhere near as clever or witty as it thinks it is, a few jokes hit the mark but overall I thought it was try hard noir. 5/10 Crash (2004?).
First of all: I had strong expectations for this one, thus it's probably getting a harder look. Hm, mixed feelings. It's definately a step in the right direction, but it still feels too hollywood like. Lots of stuff that felt like someone created it rather than it happening. Accels at the really intense parts though (maybe a bit too cliche in parts). Music was effective, but still annoying in places. felt like i was listening to tori amos at times (not that i dislike her, but everything at its time / place!). Also, i had a hard time getting certain nuances - this MIGHT be a language issue, but I feel like I understood most of the talk and still didnt get stuff. A few seconds of shots detailing certain stuff (not necessarily with language) would've been nice; for non-US citizens anyway. Photography was nice at 'effects': against the light shots, overall exposure in all the night shots, etc. all was nice - but the rest wasn't any special (it focused on the characters, really). That might be exactly the right thing though - like great design that you just dont notice. Just that nothing besides the stuff they put into the q1 engine nowadays stood out to me ;). Acting was.. OK to good. Some of the characters felt too cliche in their execution. i just tried compiling a lost of thechars that did - and i stopped at 7. I think this is the main bad thing with this movie: the chars are made up, and it feels like they are. The best chars were those you DIDN't get a background to. 7/10 (with the average hollywood flick rating between 4/10) Went to see this because the action in the trailer looked cool (how often is this my undoing!)
There really is a limit that I am often pushed to and beyond, with people who vote the same way as me. Yes, I like the idea of trashing conservative politics and all, but can't they do it in a remotely intelligent and reasonable way? Since I don't know the first thing about politics, I can't tell if this has any political leanings and I don't really care. I see the core of the story and it's about not giving into fear, facing unjust resistance, and especially questioning the world we live in and those in power. I think no doubt it will arouse questioning and consideration in most every individual in the audience, it certainly did me. The biggest question being "is what V is doing, right or wrong?". Doesn't that come down to motive? I felt myself rooting for V, and yet at the same time feeling just a bit unsure as I laughed inside at some of the things he did.
The story progresses quickly within it's 2+ hour timespan, V is introduced very early on. I didn't really pay attention to the acting here - I just wanted to take it all in. But I enjoyed Hugo's performance behind the mask, and I can never not enjoy Natalie, she's a modern day Audrey Hepburn. I was really thrown a bit of an emotional twist in a particular area of the movie involving Evey's (Natalie) capture and detention. There were a few eccentric moments with V (especially a dialogue of his where 98% of the words started with the letter V... it seemed overboard, yet I think the intention was just so for a reason). I felt V was a human too, not just some masked crusader - but a conflicted human. Not much of John Hurt as Chancelor Sutler other than seeing him on a big conference screen, but his demeanor was convincing enough. The action wasn't heavy in this movie, actually - but it was enjoyable and I absolutely loved the ending sequence. I thought the movie was great. I'm extremely tired of all the Bush allusions in the overboard political/analytical reviews - it's not that you can't make comparisons in the movie (I think anybody can in any country with any government), but I took it for what it was - a look at a corrupt government puppeteering the country with fear, and the uprising against it with the manifestation of an idea. ...opened in Oz last week. Anyone seen it? What's the verdict?
(I can't help thinking that casting Charlize Theron as the protagonist was the worst decision eva...) ahahahahahahah save your money.
A hot woman. A woman with 4 hands. Some sharp grass. A flying squid. Some other things. Seriously no, it was utter POO Stalker - I cant say I fully understand the whole thing or that overall, it works as a film, but there's something about Andrei Tarovsky's movie that burns itself into your mind.
Not quite the sum of its parts, but there are some brilliant parts nevertheless. It has loads of atmosphere, excellent visuals and sound use, and a slew of interesting ideas that, although presented not quite coherently, are a welcome break from the many dumb sci-fi films. Although, technically this really isnt a sci-fi film at all, it merely uses that genre to spin off its own ideas. 7/10 The Adventures of Robin Hood - I know it's meant to be Robin Hood and his merry men, but this is far too merry. It's probably not as bad as I thought it was but the continuous campiness and corniness just didnt sit well with me. 3.5/10 Wes Craven has lost it, what a waste of time. Rachel McAdams is a hottie but doesn't get her boobs out. Stale, boring, vapid useless thriller. Cillian Murphy is unimpressive and the plot has no depth. The dialogue is particularly wank... especially the last scene nof the film, cringe cringe cringe cringe arghhhh.
Just saw this for the first time. Not sure what the big deal was, but I finally appreciate Sharon Stone... absolutely smoking in this movie. The plot is total crap though, you see Ms. Stone kill a guy in the first scene (not a spoiler) and then at the end of the film (here comes a semi-spoiler) the big twist is that she did kill him and there is no twist. Piss-poor performance by Michael Douglas too; this could have been any Channel 5 erotic thriller i used to watch in my room with the volume down when I was 14. What happened to Eurotrash, by the way? What an amazing show. Maybe you can get it on DVD. Antoine De Caunes is probably pretty old now... he's got to be a silver fox, what a player. Ahem, anyway i give this 2 thumbs up out of 5.
I'll do some quick reviews to save time...
Flash Gordon I'm Brian Blessed! In space! 5/5 Flesh Gordon Oh my god, the sex ray from the planet porno made me want to get naked! But who will fly the plane? Slightly Disturbing/5 Barbarella Inaccurate portrayal of space travel. Nice boobs. 2/5 Doom They were so busy making clever references to the game they forgot to make the movie any good at all. Rock bottom/5 King Kong Monkeys don't grow that big. Minus 5 points. 0/5 Casablanca Humphrey Bogart. Small man syndrome. Here's looking at you kid/5 Mean Girls If you do touch each other, you WILL get chlamydia. And die. Stop trying to make felch happen/5 Hook RUFIO/5 Jurassic Park Watch this movie and count how many times Sam Neill fondles the children. At one point he even teabagged a Velociraptor. I don't know how but life found a way. MUST GO FASTER/5 was ok. Not too high-thinking - not too low, has substance to back it up. You probably have to be in the right mood and let it take you along the trip.
(Not to mention it's refreshing to have a total diversion from sex, serial killers, druggers and robbers, terrorists, law drama and romantic comedies.) A drinking game (contains spoilers): One sip every time they fall over. Empty your drink when Ernesto has an asthma attack. Which is the greater immorality, a film
that shows fictionalized violent serial killing, or one that glorifies a real life sadistic killer? Solaris (2002 remake) - Not quite a disaster, so Steven Soderbergh can get some credit for that, but this is still far inferior to Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 film.
Simplifying the subject matter, improving the production design somewhat (alhough some of it comes off worse), and focusing the film more on the characters of george clooney and his wife, Soderbergh's film is still a cut above most regular sci-fi fare but without the final 15 min of the original (and in particular the last shot), it doesnt come together as it should. Clooney is impressive, but Jeremy Davies is an absolute disgrace and appears to have come in from a different film. I know a lot of people find th eoriginal dull, but I found this to be the duller out of the two, despite being 60 min shorter. 6/10 The Trial - A flawed film from a mad genius is the best way to describe this. Orson Welles' take on Kafka's famous novel is mind bogglingly original and equally frustrating at the same time. It is amazing from a technical standpoint, perhaps even more so than Kane was at the time, but it doesnt all quite gel as it should. And you can see the influences on a whole number of films, especially Brazil. 7.5/10 In Good Company - Above average feel good movie with decent acting (although I wasnt convinced with Topher Grace in the lead role). It avoids quite a few cliches, surprisingly, but even still you can get your cliche book out and tick through most of them. Dennis Quaid and Scarlett Johansson are good (which is a relief in terms of Scarlett after her abysmal performances in The Island and A Good Woman) in their roles. 6/10 Blow UP - Michaelangelo Antonioni's most famous film might be slightly dated but it's still one very very good movie. Taking a very simple plot, Antonioni weaves a very mesmerising movie with a handful of extremely memorable scenes. And I havent seen the camera move so fluidly in quite a while. I dont quite get the orgy scene though, it's tame by today's standards and doesnt really seem to have a point. 7.5/10 A History of Violence - An extremely well made movie by David Cronenberg. The overall story is a bit simple but the performances, direction and script (as distinct from plot) are first rate. It is also dripping with subtext but Cronenberg never lets all that get in the way of the main narrative. Fine film that falls short of greatness, but is well worth seeing. 7.5/10 Madagascar - unllike some of the other animated films, this is aimed squarely at kids and even then it's pedestrian compared to pixar's output. They need more of the penguins, they were actually funny. And the animation was ugly. 3/10 Primer - After rewatching the last 15 min and then rewatching that part again with the director's commentary, I get most of it now except a few minor details. So, it's a movie about time travel with some very neat ideas and concepts but, in all reality, featuring a very messy script. I'm against the dumbening down of a script for the audience, especially when characters detail out information that they never would in actuality, but this went far beyond that to the point of incomprehensibility. A good script would have been able to dramatize its core ideas, this merely talks about them. Still, worth checking out for the ideas. 6.5/10 About a Boy - I could just substitute my review for In Good Company above, except I would rate this slightly higher since it's a little less 'happy' and the script slightly more witty. Was not at all surprised to discover that it's by the same director. 6.5/10 Band of Outsiders - another meandering film from Jean Luc godard but unlike some of his other meandering ones, this one is fairly dull. Has some nice atmosphere, but apart from that is fairly underwhelming in most departments.
5/10 Good Night and Good Luck - Sheer brilliance. I'm not going to comment any further apart from saying it's a must see film. 9.5/10 I wanna see it. Prolly'll see it whether it's good or not, it has Malcolm Reynolds in it! Firefly 43v3r w00t! <3 czg
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