PureCinema Reviews

Der blaue Engel (1930)

Perfection

[3 November 1999]

To be honest, the only other Josef von Sternberg film I've seen before this was "The Last Command" also starring Emil Jannings (as a matter of fact, he won the first best actor oscar for it).

The parallels between the two films are striking (and I won't ruin it for those of you who haven't seen it yet). It seems evident that Von Sternberg is fascinated with the theme of a return to a period of stability and happiness enjoyed earlier in one's life. And why shouldn't he be? He pulls it off brilliantly in both films. His direction is dead-on. The way he subtlely draws significance to the clock a few times throughout the film, and slowly tracks backwards revealing the empty classroom prepares the viewer for the brilliant ending he has in store.

Also, I need to add a few words about Emil Jannings, who is easily one of the greatest screen actors of all time. I loved his performances in Murnau's "The Last Laugh" and "Faust", but this was the first "talkie" I've seen of his, and he was just as brilliant, you'll never forget the expression on his face as he stares in the mirror with clown makeup on.

Sunrise (1927)

Murnau IS Cinema!

[9 July 1999]

This is the third F.W. Murnau film I've seen, and with Sunrise I'm absolutely convinced that he was one of the all-time masters of cinema, and deserves to be ranked among the greats. Murnau creates a beautiful, poignant film that expresses itself in purely cinematic terms... it's amazing to watch this film that has so much to say in so little words (there are only about 10 intertitles throughout the film). This, folks, is the sign of a truly great filmmaker.

The Petrified Forest (1936)

Bogie steals the show...

[3 July 1999]

The Petrified Forest is one of the first "true" Bogart films... and he's damn good in it as Duke Mantee... the role that he made famous on the stage production.

This is a great production, not necessarily in cinematic terms... but in more of a literal sense... it's a real quality screen adaption with great acting all around. But in the end it's Bogart, playing a dark, menacing Duke Mantee that steals the show.

Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

John Ford changes his tone...

[28 June 1999]

This film is the perfect counterpoint to early John Ford films such as Stagecoach. In Stagecoach every indian was painted as a bloodthirsty savage, out to menace all of the civilized folk. Cheyenne Autumn, on the other hand is a very revealing film... behind it all you can almost feel John Ford questioning himself and his previous views on American history. In this film it is the US soldiers who are painted as the brutal savages, and the indians are the civilized folk. It's amazing to see Ford, who practically built his career glorifying the chivalry of the western hero, do a complete 360 to end up de-glorifying it. I have the feeling that this was a very personal film for Ford and in that light it really does make him one of the great auteurs of cinema.

The Grand Illusion (1937)

Renoir's WWI Masterpiece

[4 June 1999]

After seeing this film again for the second time I am utterly convinced that it easily deserves to be placed among the greatest films of all time. With "The Grand Illusion" Jean Renoir managed to do something that is rare, even in today's cinema. He managed to make a film that transcended the man-made notions of hero, enemy, class, etc. to reveal the humanity that we all share. Renoir was able to show the common ideas and beliefs that are common in all men, regardless of country, race, language, etc... he shows great understanding from all sides and doesn't show us merely one perspective from one side of the war.

The camera work is genius... absolutely terrific and an integral part of the storytelling. Renoir uses similar shots throughout the film to bind a common unity between all characters.

I must also add that the great Erich Von Strohiem is absolutely terrific in this film, and proves that besides being a great director, he was also a great actor.

Fanny and Alexander (1982)

One of Bergman's greatest films...

[20 April 1999]

This film is absolutely amazing. The film covers roughly one year in the life of the Ekdahl family, mostly seen through the eyes of young Alexander. What we see is not necessarily the reality of the film, but the thoughts and feelings of Alexander through the death of his father and his new life with his evil stepfather.

Bergman, as usual, transcends the world of reality and dives deep into the hearts of his main characters as we see their feelings projected onto the screen. The scene where Alexander meets his "alter-ego" is one of the best directed scenes of Bergman's career. The editing is also amazing as we see Alexander's thoughts become reality.

A must see for any fan of Bergman's... it clearly demonstrates why he is known as one of the greatest artists in film history.

The Apartment (1960)

Billy Wilder's masterpiece

[10/10 · 17 April 1999]

Every Billy Wilder film I've seen was just so well made... Double Indemnity, Stalag 17, Sunset Blvd., etc... Here I was thinking I've seen the best of this man's work. But that all changed after I finally got around to renting The Apartment. In this film, he decides to drop the straight comic approach and makes a film that is just as funny as it is dramatic (sort of like an echo of what Chaplin did years before). Mr. Wilder's directing captures the greatest out of an already great script. Everything jives here amazingly well; the acting is superb, the characters are very well developed, the black and white cinematography is excellent, and the screenplay is among the best ever written.. it is in my opinion his masterpiece.

Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are great in some of the greatest roles of their careers. Each of them has something to learn from the other and you just want to see these two connect so much! And Fred MacMurray.... the man has to be one of the most typecast actors of all time.... is it just me or does he always play the innocent looking guy who reveals his true, "evil" intentions by the film's end? But hey, that's not a complaint at all... it's a compliment! ...He's at his greatest when he plays those types of roles, and he's just as great (if not better) in this one.

In any case, this film has a lot to say. It's entertaining, and at the same time it teaches us a little something about human nature. This film is one of my all time favorites and I just cannot recommend it enough...

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

What a glorious feeling!...

[17 April 1999]

OK, after commenting on many of the great films that I liked very much, I figure it's about time to comment on one of the films that I truly love... "Singin' in the Rain".... I just adore the hell out of this film. There are only a few movies out there that can truly transcend any and all boundries, and make even the most depressed person joyful... Singin' in the Rain is one of them.

This film is pure magic. In today's teenage-dominated film industry audiences seem to want more of an adrenaline-pumping, special effect-driven thrill ride instead of a film like this which is true cinema art. It communicates feelings of joy instead of mindless heart-pumping action. Today's films are not art... they are mass-produced moneymakers that attempt to give you nothing more than a rollercoaster-like experience. No substance to them at all...

But back to the film, the performances are phenomenal! Gene is always great and is the true entertainer. In the famous 15 minute Broadway finale Gene combines three art forms into one (Song, Dance, & Film) to communicate the story of the aspiring actor who comes to Broadway without using one line of (spoken) diologue. This scene should also be noted as quite possibly the most beautiful use of technicolor ever committed to celluloid.

Donald O'Connor... what can I say, the man is incredible! It is so refreshing to see a vaudeville performer in a film outside of the silent era. His gravity-defying performance of "Make 'em Laugh" echos the great silent comedians of the 20's (especially the great Buster Keaton)...

And Ms. Debbie Reynolds rounds out the trio. She's magnificent... especially considering that it's one of her first roles. She posseses a wide range of emotion throughout the film, going from the popping out of a cake :) ...to the tears at the end. I really think her performance is underrated... she really brought so much of everything into this movie and I could never, ever picture anyone else in her role. It's really a shame that her performance of "You are My Lucky Star" was cut from the final print.

Of course my favorite moment is when these three legends come together to sing "Good Morning"... ahhh, pure magic!

Anyway, I just thought I'd express my joy towards this film... not one of the greatest musicals of all time, not one of the great classics, but one of the greatest films of all time.... period.

To Catch a Thief (1955)

An underrated Hitchcock film

[31 March 1999]

OK.. OK... so it ain't Hitch at his best, but even when Hitch wasn't at his best he's still made movies that are much better than 99% of the crap made today.

I rather enjoyed this film. Sure it's flawed, but c'mon it's still a great movie. Actually I found the plot rather engaging... I had no idea who the real cat burglar was going to be. Cary Grant and Grace Kelly are excellent (as usual)... and Hitch's camerawork is always amazing... I especially loved how he handled the last 10 minutes or so, using almost no diologue and long shots as the party comes to a close. The French locale was also beautifully shot... (didn't this win an Oscar for cinematography?)

All in all, another great Hitchcock film that doesn't disappoint.

Greed (1924)

Flawless cinema...

[29 March 1999]

I have just had the opportunity to see Erich Von Stroheim's masterpiece, GREED... and am utterly dumbfounded. I can hardly even collect my thoughts after witnessing such a great, flawless piece of cinema. If ever a film could educate man about the evils and hate that could stem from our obsession with riches, this is it. I have NEVER seen such raw human emotion and feeling in a silent film before this... never.

There are images that will grab you in this film... I know for a fact that the final 15 minutes will stay with me for the rest of my life... now how many films can do that?

Hopefully one day the rest of Von Stroheim's footage will be found, and we can watch GREED in it's entirety. Until then... we'll always have these two hours and 20 minutes of flawless cinema.

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

A great film that makes you think

[24 March 1999]

Who would've thought that it would be possible to transform two of the most famous criminals in American history into two (very) likeable characters? Well this film does just that. Great performances all around make this a very entertaining film.

Although a few key elements of the real-life Bonnie and Clyde story are not mentioned in the film (the brutal murders of the two motorcycle cops for instance), I don't think that they would really jive with the rest of the film if they were included... the point of the film is to make you feel sympathetic for the characters, not to look at them as barbarians.

I liked the characters so much that I almost felt guilty... (Let's not forget that these people were murderers). It really made me think afterwards about what really makes a person "bad"... and if a film gets your mind going, then it truly deserves to be called great.

Bicycle Thieves (1948)

The greatest neorealism film ever made

[9/10 · 30 January 1999]

The Bicycle Thief is without a doubt De Sica's masterpiece of Italian neorealism filmmaking. It is a true landmark in cinema history.

A man who has been unemployed for months is finally given a chance at a job putting up posters. He and his family have been living in poverty for months, and are very exited to hear the news. The only requirement for the job is a bicycle. His wife pawns the sheets off of their own bed in order to buy the bicycle. And, as you can tell from the title, it is stolen on his first day of work. Now, without it, he and his son search the crowded streets of Rome for the only thing that can give him back his dignity as a man.

This is a simple, but very powerful film and I found the relationship between Bruno and his father especially touching. The final scene is a true captivating moment as Bruno witnesses the true nature of man and the world we have created for ourselves.

Don't miss this film, to call it a classic would be an understatement.

Titanic (1997)

The worst film to ever win a best picture Oscar

[3/10 · 28 January 1999]

Checking out the other comments, one caught my eye... somebody had the gall to make a comparison between this film and Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, "The Seven Samurai". To compare this film with "The Seven Samurai" is utterly rediculous and an insult to great films. With that said, I'll continue...

Let me start off with the absolute horrid screenplay that is filled with cliches. While watching this film, you can pretty much tell what is going to happen next... it's the "Rich girl forced to marry a rich guy, but she finds a poor boy that she eventually falls in love with" story you've seen hundereds of times before.... add a big boat, a historical disaster, and bingo, you have yourself a movie. The dialogue is almost laughably bad ("Oh Jack.... Jack!"). And the characters are almost as cliche-ridden as the story they're in. As you watch the film, you feel almost as if you're forced to like the characters.

A disaster as huge as the sinking of the Titanic doesn't deserve a film like this. It is an insult to the hundreds that died in that distaster to be represented in a stereotypical film such as this. And it's winning of the best picture oscar is absolute proof that the Oscars are nothing more than a huge popularity contest anymore. To even place this in the same category with films like "On the Waterfront", "Ben-Hur", "The African Queen", "Rebecca", "The Godfather", etc. is such a shame, and just shows you what direction the film industry is headed.

About the only good thing I could say about this film is that it is an enormous technical achievement. The recreation of the ship itself is amazing, but that alone cannot carry a film with a recycled, cliche-ridden plot such as this.

Life Is Beautiful (1997)

Cinema is beautiful!

[9/10 · 25 January 1999]

Roberto Benigni has done it. The man has restored my faith in movies. 1998 was one of the worst years for movies in a long, long time (with a few notable exceptions)... and along comes "Life is Beautiful". I have not seen a filmmaker with Benigni's talent and genius since Charles Chaplin.... in fact, one is often reminded of Chaplin throughout the film.

Benigni works with all of the elements here and blends them together in a perfect mixture of drama and comedy. He makes you laugh and he makes you cry. Here's to you Mr. Benigni... for making Cinema beautiful again!

Made in Hong Kong (1997)

The greatest Hong Kong film of 1997

[10/10 · 10 January 1999]

Every once in a while you'll see a film that just makes you say "wow". After the final scene goes by, you just sit there watching as the credits go by, then the black space after the credits, then the "snow" after that, then finally the tape rewinding itself. You just continue sitting there watching the screen... dumbfounded.... you just sit there and say "wow". Made In Hong kong is one of those movies. To say that this movie blew me away would be an understatement. This movie got inside of me and changed the way I look at HK cinema, or cinema as a whole for that matter, hell... it even changed the way I look at life.

Autumn Moon is a low life thug, he and some friends discover the body of a dead girl who committed suicide, and a note she left. This dead girl that he never knew ends up teaching him more about his own life than he could by himself, and also guides him to his own fate. See this movie and experience cinema at it's best.

Rope (1948)

No gimmick here... just effective filmmaking

[10/10 · 29 December 1998]

I agree totally with the first reviewer. I'm tired of people using the work "gimmick" when describing this film. I consider Rope to rank up there with Hitch's best, including Rear Window (which some people may also consider a "gimmicky" film). I think most people are missing the fact that this film simply couldn't have been filmed any other way... if this film was made in a "normal" way, it wouldn't be nearly as effective. Hitch simply just found the most effective way in building the suspense and mood of the film. Cuts and edits would ruin the suspense and tension that the plot demanded... by using continuous takes Hitch makes you feel like an observer of the party... and the frame purposely limits you to what you can see or hear. Edits would also disturb the feeling of real time in which the story took place in.

Besides, if experiments were never used in film, we would never progress the art.... Remember, it's not a "gimmick" if it works... and it certainly does work in Rope.

Snake Eyes (1998)

Well... the previews looked cool

[4/10 · 26 December 1998]

From the previews Snake Eyes looks awesome. It seems fast paced, complex, and just plain cool. I went to the theatre pumped, "finally something unique in this (very) crappy year for movies". I should've known better....

Nick Santoro (Nicolas Cage) is a laid-back, loud mouth cop who comes across an old friend, Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise) during a heavyweight fight. Kevin is there to guard the secretary of defense. After the fight starts, a suspicious woman drags Kevin from the secretary of defense and a few moments later an unknown assassin guns down the secretary. Nick begins investigating the security tape taken and starts putting one and one together when he realizes that this assassination attempt may be a conspiracy far more complex that it seemed.

When I was watching Snake Eyes I was wowed by the first half hour or so. DePalma introduces the characters in a long, continuous tracking shot which is pretty interesting. Then after the assassination the story picks up even more. People are not as they seem, the minutes before the fight are described again, but through other character's points of view, the tape reveals that the fight was fixed, adding yet another element to the story! I'm on the edge of my seat, interested as hell in the film... then kaput! We take a bad left turn into "typical cliched action movie land" and the film never recovers from that. As quickly the story pumps you up, it just as quickly lets you down, and on top of that we have a terrible tacked on ending that just tops off the letdown.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

One of the best films of the year

[8/10 · 26 December 1998]

The opening 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan are some of the most brutal images put on screen. I don't care what you've seen before, this is absolutely shocking. There were times when it was difficult to watch these events flash in front of my eyes. War is not pretty, and Speilberg shows you this in a way that will grab you, a man holding his intestines is crying for his mother, another man who loses an arm confusingly tries to pick it up with his other hand. You know that this is not gonna be a pretty ride.

Saving Private Ryan is Speilberg's follow up to last year's highly underrated film, Amistad. Tom Hanks is Captain Miller, who gets word of Private Ryan (Matt Damon), who lost all of his brothers in the war (he still doesn't know it yet), Private Ryan is therefore granted a safe trip back home, and it's up to Captain Miller and seven others to make sure that he makes his return home as soon as possible. The only problem is that they don't know exactly where he is, just somewhere behind enemy lines. The eight begin their journey and on their way each of their characters are revealed, we find out that Captain Miller, as tough as he is, wants nothing more than to get out of the violence and tragedy that he has to deal with everyday. He just wants to return home, as does almost everybody else.

Speilberg is in top form again, and although it's not as perfect as his masterpiece, Schindler's List, it does rank as the best film of 1998 (so far). The performances are top-notch and incredibly real, especially Tom Hanks' character.

So what can you say? Speilberg has done it again. Never before has war been shown so realistically before. If there is one film that can show the atrocities that soldiers had to go through every day, SPR is the one. Is it the best war film ever made?... I don't think so. But is it a damn good one?... definitely

Beloved (1998)

Huh?... still scratching my head over this one

[4/10 · 26 December 1998]

I know some people can enjoy this movie, there is an audience for this kind of stuff... but I'm not one of them. Beloved is marketed as an epic about the struggle of an ex-slave trying now to lead a normal life in a new, free, land. And that is what it's about... to an extent. What they don't tell you is that it has some pretty bizarre stuff in it too.

OK, the film opens in the household of Sethe (Oprah Winfrey), an ex-slave who is raising a daughter, Denver (Kimberly Elise). The house is clearly haunted. Why else would the walls glow red while stuff flies through the air (including the pet dog)? Well, one day a fellow ex-slave, Paul D(played by Danny Glover) shows up in front of Sethes' home and has a talk with her, talking about the old days at "sweet home" (the plantation on which the two used to work). Sethe invites him into her house and Paul witnesses the whole shebang of spooky stuff, glowing walls and everything. Nevertheless, he decides to stay there, and the two grow closer together.

Cut to a river. A lone figure makes her way across, covered from head to toe with bugs. She soon makes her way to Sethe's front yard. Sethe sees her and in what I guess is fear... runs behind the house, crouches, and... well... takes a whiz. OK, now let me stop here for a second and explain one of the key reasons that kept me from completely liking this movie. Sometimes there are images that are there for no other reason than for their shock value. Unlike the violence in Saving Private Ryan (which was clearly there for a reason), these graphic images in Beloved (except for a few) are only there for shock value and do not further the plot in any way. I mean, come on... there are plenty of other ways to show fear then having a woman crouch down and p*** right in front of the camera.

Anyway, back to the plot. Sethe takes the young girl in to live with her. The girl is clearly not normal, she has problems moving, yet she can lift a rocking chair over her head with one hand, and her speech is slurred and never completely clear. Sethe asks the girl her name and she simply responds, "Beloved".

Beloved seems to know a lot about Sethe and seems to be very curious about her past. Through conversation and flashbacks we find that there is indeed a connection between the two that ends up revealing huge pieces of Sethe's dark past, and also answers quite a few of our questions in the process.

Now, Beloved is not a great film. To some people it may be, but the weirdness factor doesn't seem to go with the rest of the movie. Another thing is that the film is dragged out... it's about 3 hours total, but trim away many of the unnecessary characters, subplots, and dialogue and it could've been a more effective movie. The film seems to try too hard to prove to you that it's important, and it ultimately makes watching it that much more disappointing.

Now there are some plusses in here. The score is excellent and is probably the best film score in a movie so far this year. The cinematography is also worth noting. But what saves this movie from being mediocre are the excellent performances. Oprah Winfrey is truly a talented actress and I would love to see her in more films. Kimberly Elise also was a nice surprise, especially as the film nears its end and she realizes the need to become independent, and Danny Glover is always good.

Although Beloved will probably get its share of Oscar nominations this year, it is not in my opinion an Oscar worthy film. It's not really a bad film, but just not as good as it makes itself out to be.

Smoke Signals (1998)

A refreshing road film

[8/10 · 26 December 1998]

The eyes of cinema has always seen Indians only as the bad guys. The ones that shoot their arrows, wear feathers on their heads, and yell as they chase the heroes down. Finally, after 100 years of movies, we get a film that honestly portrays the Native American culture.  And man, it sure is refreshing.

The story opens on the Fourth of July, 1976 in a small Idaho Indian reservation. A small infant named Thomas Builds-the-Fire is thrown out of the window of a burning house and is caught by Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer), a neighbor with a drinking problem, who is later kicked out of the house by his wife, leaving behind his son, Victor (Adam Beach). Arnold eventually settles down in Phoenix and his family never hears from him again.

20 years later, a phone call comes. It's from a woman in Phoenix, she says that Arnold is dead. Victor, who had developed a resentment towards his father over the years, decides that he should travel to Phoenix to pick up his ashes. Unfortunately, he has no money to get there... but Thomas does and offers to pay if he can come along with Victor. This is a tough decision for Victor since he never really liked Thomas, but he finally agrees and the two set off on their journey.

It's during their journey that we learn about the characters, Victor and Thomas' conversations reveal their attitudes towards Americans their views of Native Americans. In one scene, Victor accuses Thomas of learning everything about being an Indian from watching Dances With Wolves. In another funny sequence, the two begin talking about cowboys and end up singing a tune about John Wayne's teeth! Victor's resentment for his father is also revealed to us through flashbacks depicting the early years and the memories (some good, some bad) that the two shared.

They do eventually arrive in Phoenix and find the woman that called with the news of Arnold's death. Victor talks with her during the night and finds out how much his dad cared for him and how he never wanted to leave the reservation in the first place. The events that follow drastically alter Victor's perceptions of his father forever.

Smoke Signals is a great film and one that can teach you a lot about a culture so often misrepresented on the screen. There is a feeling of ease and casualness in the conversations between Victor and Thomas... slowly they reveal more and more of themselves to us, in a way that is so nonchalant that we understand their feelings it without even noticing it. Smoke Signals is well worth your time and offers a refreshing alternative to the big budget, special effects driven crap this summer.

Princess Mononoke (1997)

Some of the most amazing animation I've ever seen

[9/10 · 26 December 1998]

Mononoke Hime is not just another Japanese animation, It is a phenomenon. During it's box office run in Japan last summer it didn't only become the highest grossing Japanese film of the year. But the highest grossing Japanese film... EVER! And believe me, the film definitely does live up to the hype.

The film takes place in 15th century Japan and opens with a warrior named Ashitaka in fierce battle with a Tatari Gama (a huge boar with worms covering it's body). Ashitaka kills the gama and successfully defends his village from it, but in the battle the gama came in contact with his arm, leaving a dark scar. The village doctor tells Ashitaka that it is a curse from the gama and is slowly killing him. Convinced that there must be a cure, Ashitaka leaves the village never to return.

  Ashitaka later comes to the great forest and finds an iron factory in the middle of it. The factory is run by Lady Eboshi, a woman who employs former prostitutes and lepers, giving them jobs that they would never have in the rest of society. She tells Ashitaka about the constant battle between her people and the gods of the forest, giant wolves, boars, etc that are trying to protect their forest from Lady Eboshi's desire to expand her territory.

One night, the gods of the forest plan an attack on Lady Eboshi's factory. They are accompanied by a girl named San. San jumps into the factory and begins viciously attacking Lady Eboshi. San is injured and winds up unconscious. Ashitaka then feels sorry for her and comes to her aid... taking her unconscious body back to the forest. He then learns about San's past and why she is living with the animals instead of the humans. The two develop a bond as Ashitaka tries desperately to end the constant battle between man and animals in the great forest and at the same time, cure the growing scar on him arm.

My first impressions after watching this film were disbelief that an animated film could have such an impact on me. The story is extremely well done and is geared more towards adults that youngsters (there is plenty of violence here) and the animation (oooh the animation) is SUPERB! I have never seen such beautiful images on the screen for a long, long time, animation simply does not look better than this. I was in awe that all of the elements that make up a great film were all present here... in perfect balance and harmony. It is so well constructed that at times, I totally forgot that what I was watching was animated and not real. The characters are so well written that you are absolutely convinced that they are real people.

Disney and Miramax are planning to release this film here in the states sometime in early '99... I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing this one on the big screen.

Six-String Samurai (1998)

The worst indie film of '98

[3/10 · 26 December 1998]

I knew my hopes were way too high. I was expecting way too much outta this one. After reading numerous extremely positive reviews of this film I went to the theater expecting an action masterpiece ala The Road Warrior... and more. Boy I thought wrong.

The Film opens up with a prologue, in the 1950s the Russians dropped the bomb on us, leaving the country barren. What's worse is that Elvis is now dead and lone musicians are trying to find their way to "Lost Vegas" to claim the king's throne, but wait! Death himself also has his sights on the throne and he's not gonna let anybody stand in his way... Following me?

Enter Buddy, The six-string samurai. He's chasing some raggedy-ass baddies through the grass when all of a sudden he pulls a sword out from the neck of his guitar and starts kicking butt. Well this is all dandy until a kid starts following Buddy on his quest.

Now, normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal. But this kid is the kid from hell. I have not seen a more annoying character on screen since that damn Home Alone kid about 7 years ago. When this kid gives out that hellish moan (which happens several times during the course of the film) you'll swear you're listening to a damn banshee. I mean it. This kid is the essence of all things annoying. Take every bad hair day, every cold toilet seat, and every root cavity in the world... multiply it by 10 and you'll come close to the annoyance factor of this kid.

Well, about the rest of the movie... read the first few paragraphs of this review again about 3 or 4 times and that's it... Seriously. Buddy fights some guys, says something cool, the kid whines. Then it starts all over again... the fight scenes were OK but they can't carry a plot as empty as this.

I feel that with a concept as creative and unusual as this they could've done so much more! They just seemed to think that as long as they had a cool concept, a real story wasn't necessary. It's a shame that something this unusual was wasted on a terrible storyline. Oh well, there's always next time.

In the meantime I'll be watching The Road Warrior... to remind myself how these types of films are supposed to be done.

Dreams (1990)

A personal film from Japan's greatest director

[9/10 · 26 December 1998]

Dreams is not a movie for everybody. To some, it may be too artsy of a film for their tastes (what are you doing watching movies then?), others may be annoyed by some of the stories not having clear messages, or leaving questions unanswered. Well, that is because Dreams is a film that was born inside of Kurosawa, and lives inside of him, it's a very personal film that not everybody will appreciate.

The movie consists of eight short stories. Most of which center around the issue of people's relationships with other elements that make up this world that we live in.

The cinematography in Dreams is breathtaking, and is the reason why some people claim that it is a film that puts "Style" above "story". I think that nobody can truly completely understand this film but Kurosawa himself. It is a product of his mind, a film that we cannot fully comprehend since we are not him. But since film is a form of art and in its truest form, a reflection of one's own self, Dreams may have just been one of Kurosawa's personal favorites in his long, amazing career.

Ran (1985)

Brilliance in filmmaking

[10/10 · 26 December 1998]

Ran... Kurosawa's modern masterpiece. All who thought that this "old man" didn't have it in him anymore were all proved wrong with this film that truly should be regarded as one of the best films ever made.

In Ran, Kurosawa again remade one of Shakespeare's classics in a feudal Japanese setting. This time the story is Shakespeare's King Lear. Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) is an ageing warlord who decides to divide his kingdom into three parts and pass it onto his three sons. The older two agree to this offer, but the youngest one thinks his father is mad, and doesn't realize that soon the sons will soon be fighting amongst each other for power of the kingdom. The chain of events that follow will drastically change the kingdom of Hidetora forever. Ran is one of the most captivating, beautifully filmed masterpieces since movies started to be made in color. This could quite possibly be Kurosawa's best film since The Seven Samurai was made more than 30 years earlier. Fans of great cinema should not miss Ran, a truly remarkable film on all levels.

Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

One of the greatest non-narrative films ever made

[10/10 · 26 December 1998]

How do I begin reviewing a film with no plot, no characters, no dialogue, and no story whatsoever? Koyaanisquatsi doesn't have any of these, yet I consider it one of the most powerful films ever made. It begins by showing us beautiful images of barren landscapes in the American Midwest, landscape virtually untouched by humans. We admire the beauty, the stillness....the balance. Waves glide over rocks, clouds glide over hills, and everything is in harmony.

The word Koyaanisquatsi is a word from the Hopi language, meaning "Life out of balance" or "a way of life that demands a new way of living". We witness this life out of balance as the film moves from these beautiful landscapes, to the urban settings of the city. It is here where the film becomes violent and jarring... even frightening. Through the use of extremely sped-up and slowed-down images we see our daily lives from a fourth dimension. A godlike perspective where we see the ugliness in our society, a society that has created machines and technology to make life easier and is now held captive by the technology we created. We are like robots, moving around in our world repeating the same actions day after day. Our food is made and processed by machines, our entertainment is provided by machines, our life revolves around technology and has made us helpless in a way.

The feelings I had while watching these images are almost indescribable... sometimes it was disgust towards mankind, sometimes it was laughing on how much like insignificant insects we really are, sometimes it was grief for the images towards the end of the film when people are shown who cannot take the madness that this society is steeped in, we see a woman in the hospital who is recovering from attempting suicide, or another man who is being rounded up by the police during a nervous breakdown. But overall the general feeling was shock... even disbelief. After seeing our society in a new perspective it is impossible to think of mankind in the same way again. The final shot is almost like a warning to man, urging us to change our ways before it's too late.

I should also note the music that accompanies the film. It is an amazing score by Phillip Glass (who scored Martin Scorsese's Kundun last year). The images and music go hand in hand to make the film rich with emotion and feeling. A truly enchanting (and sometimes haunting) score that is expertly matched with the editing as well. It is almost like watching an opera.

It is almost guaranteed that this film will have you thinking, days, weeks, even months after watching it. The images are so common in our life that it is like a constant reminder. This film is truly remarkable and is a movie-going experience guaranteed to be unlike anything you have ever seen before. I can not recommend it enough, it will leave you with an amazing new outlook on mankind and what direction we're heading in.