Lolita99 Reviews

Go (1999)

The terror of teen-flicks

[22 July 1999]

I went to see this on assignment from my school's newspaper. I had just seen 10 Things and Cruel Intentions, two of the worst movies I've ever paid for. This movie saved teen movies for me. This had bite, wit, and plenty of fun. The Amway story was marvellous! This movie may be geared at teens and Gen-Xers, but at least it had a brain. Most movies would only use Katie Holmes for her Dawson's Creek bankability, but she went out-of-type here and almost redeemed herself (Dawson is still on TV, however).

Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

Untouched Tibet

[22 July 1999]

Although Brad Pitt is definitely not one of my favourite actors, I think he definitely deserves credit where credit is due. I feel he did an excellent job in this film. I could not imagine anyone else in the role of Heindrich Harrer.

Really, though, that bleached-blonde mop isn't the best thing about this movie. This film showed the purity of the former Tibet, where foreigners were not allowed, where outside influences were shunned. The Tibetans were and are a gentle people, but they have been corrupted by imperialistic Westerners (and Communists) so that they are no longer the otherworldly people they seem in "Seven Years In Tibet."

That '70s Show (1998–2006)

Family bondage

[19 July 1999]

I watch this show with my mother, and she tells me all about how "this is what my life was like waaaaay back in the Dark Ages," and I think about how little life has changed.

Topher Grace has become a pin-up boy at my high-school, and Laura Prepron is currently being worshipped by our boy friends. The stories are so funny and so real. I'd definitely have to name this my favourite TV show ever (considering the other choices). I hope it's around for a real long time.

The Doors (1991)

Oliver Stone's version of history

[19 July 1999]

I was puzzled at the end of this movie--why did Oliver Stone call this film "The Doors" when it was basically about Jim Morrison getting inebriated and having sex? Oh, sure, there were scenes of the band, songs by the band, scenes with the band... But wasn't the entire point of the movie centered around seeing "Jim" (if that WAS his real name, being nothing like the REAL Morrison) getting head in an elevator, or having a blood-and-coke sex-fest with his wife Patricia (which she says never even happened!) This movie was all too dependent upon the legend that have sprung up around Morrison following his death. "Ooh, look, drugs and sex! This will make me some money!" I can just picture Oliver's face. The part I especially hated was at the very end, when it says how Jim dies and Pam "joined him" later. Like they were meeting up at a coffeehouse or something. She was a dead junkie hooker, he was a dead alcoholic rock-and-roll prostitute. What a great relationship. It makes you wonder why Jim ever went to Paris in the first place, when he could've lived with his wife in NYC and been a washed-up poet. But then, we would've never got this great cinematic experience...

Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)

It was, well, unreal...

[4/10 · 18 July 1999]

I spent my seventh grade year being suspended from school. That's what really would've happened to Dawn. I spent my seventh grade year being teased just as bad as she was, and having my family hate me, and swearing just about that much, and having a crush on an older boy just like Dawn. So why didn't I like this film? For one thing, it depressed me by reminding me of my own painful childhood. And no one--not even the a**holes--ever threatened to rape me and then fell in love with me. Oh, they just teased me more. Yeah, boy, there's a lot of kids out there who went through a lot of TS as seventh-graders (why is that the deepest pit in hell for most of ys, I wonder) if we weren't conformist model wannabes who got straight As like all the Abercrombie girls. I thought the ending made no sense, I thought the plot was totally unreal, and I just thought the movie ddddddrrrrrraaaaaggggggggggeeeeddddd on forever. I just wanted it to be over. What a depressing pile this was....

An Awfully Big Adventure (1995)

Adorable blokes, aren't they?

[10/10 · 18 July 1999]

I particulary enjoyed this film. I thought Hugh Grant did a great and decidedly out-of-turn portrayal of the deviant Meredith. Alan Rickman looked so cool on that motorcycle it wasn't even funny. The lighting in this film was excellent, and it's portrayal of petty theatre politics was pretty accurate even by modern standards. Georgina Cates was a wonderful Stella and the plot was well-developed. It seems as though most English adaptations of books tend to be better cinematically than original American films. Go figure.

Sliding Doors (1998)

Light enough for a Wednesday

[10/10 · 17 July 1999]

This is a relaxing movie. It doesn't take much thought to enjoy the overlapping plot technique, or the cute English scenery, or Gwyneth looking more than a little boyish in that blonde Twiggy rip-off. When I first saw it, it really made me think about how one little thing in a life can change the entire outcome of one's existence. Or how all means arrive at the same end. Maybe this is just a cute film about fate's complexities. But at least there was witty dialogue, Monty Python references, and that adorable Scottish accent to take the mind off the actually heavy subject matter.

Lolita (1962)

Undeniably tame

[17 July 1999]

There were more than just a few problems with Kubrick's adaptation of Lolita. Although Vladimir Nabokov, the author, shares the screenwriter's credit, Stanley butchered Nabokov's original screenplay (which I have read, and it is infinitely better than what ended up on the screen.)

Of course, Kubrick had to fight with the censors who still gave it what could be considered in modern parlance an "R" rating. Lolita and Humbert couldn't kiss, couldn't really show their sexuality, couldn't show Quilty being killed, etc.

Sue Lyon, who played Lolita, was actually sixteen, although she always looked like a thirty year old hooker. It wasn't about a doomed man's obsession with a little girl, it was a horny old guy wantin' some young hot chick. Updating the postwar America to Cold War America setting took away from the film.

Shelley Winters was annoying as Charlotte Haze. Every other word out of her mouth made me just want to slap her celluloid face. No wonder Humbert wanted her dead!

James Mason was far too old and boorish to play Humbert. The original actor considered was Cary Grant, who would've been much more suited to the role.

Peter Sellers stole the show as Clare Quilty. His largely improvised scenes were comic, but took away from the main point of the story.

Kubrick's decision to show the killing at the beginning of the film, thus revealing Quilty's identity to the audience in the opening scenes, took away from the intelligence of the original story. BAD IDEA.

Overall, it wasn't a bad shot for 1962. But there could've been just a few little changes that would've made this an outstanding classic.

Election (1999)

Reese Witherspoon redeemed

[10/10 · 16 July 1999]

After the dismal Cruel Intentions, I couldn't stand Reese Witherspoon. What a terrible movie! It almost deterred me from even seeing this film--but Matthew Broderick is hard to resist. So I ended up seeing it four times, and laughing harder every time. It was very clever for a teen flick, which is the reason it didn't make too much money--kids don't want to think about what they're seeing, they just want a little T&A, a little drugs, a couple cadavers and a lot of swearing. This was a comedy of the most twisted style--there's student-teacher sex, revenge, African music, Juicy Fruit and Matthew's eye. Apart, they're good enough. but put it all together and WOW!

Velvet Goldmine (1998)

Glittery, sexy, and great music to boot

[10/10 · 16 July 1999]

From the time Jack Fairy looks at himself in the mirror till Arthur and Curt romp on a rooftop, this film glittered. Literally. I saw some of the techniques used here and decided to steal them for music videos and films in the future. The feathers floating all over the Lyceum audience...a bisexual lizardman...who came up with this stuff? The Glam-rock soundtrack was excellent (it'll be living on my turntable for a month or two). I couldn't believe that Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Ewan MacGregor did all their own singing--that's just incredible. And someone please cast Ewan as Kurt Cobain--it's too perfect a match to miss. As a huge Bowie fan, I would point out little things that made this film a work of fiction rather than a bio-pic. But they were so gauzily veiled that it was easily to tell what REALLY happened. I liked the small character of Jack Fairy best of all--it takes a drag queen to make a special picture, doesn't it?

Lolita (1997)

Wonderful and Accurate Adaptation

[10/10 · 16 July 1999]

I first saw this movie when it premiered on Showtime in August 1998. I liked it so much I went out and got the book and became very obsessed with it. That's where I got my s/n. I got the 1962 Kubrick version too, which didn't follow the book very well (it being 1962 and too risque even in its diluted form for persons under 16). This version even used direct passages from the book. The music, actors, and overall cinematic technique are excellent. They have an art-film, well-produced quality. The dark colours follow Humbert's despair and inner torment. The choice of Melanie Griffith as Charlotte Haze was perfect. Dominique Swain was convincing and excellent. Jeremy Irons was just young enough and just old enough to fit Humbert's persona perfectly. Overall, I gave it a firm ten.