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Reviews
Cats & Dogs (2001)
Good for those with an open mind for satire.
I found this film very funny and very interesting. The dog/cat spy movie send-up was humorous, and I found the film's editing techniques added to the humor in some places. One thing that's puzzled me is that I've read reviews from cat lovers, showing their disgust with the film. I'm a "cat lover" myself, and I enjoyed this film very much. Of course cats aren't evil! By the way, one review really puzzled me. It was from someone who was appalled by the scene with the Hieroglyphics showing the evil cat ruling the humans. How could you interpret that as serious?
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Classic. That summarizes it.
This film was the first film I viewed in the new millennium, starting this cinematic masterpiece (understatement of the year) at 12:01 CST.
It is the best of both worlds: cinema and literature. Stanley Kubrick blended narrative with nonnarative, and Arthur C. Clarke blended science fiction with science fact. These combinations were fused and the result combusted in astonishing cinematic energy. It set the standard for science fiction films of the future. Sci-fi was seen before this as a medium for laughable interpretations of what actually might have "looked good on paper."
But the matter is that this film is still being seen 33 years later, and it continues to leave us in awe with its sweeping cinematography, mind-blowing scientific theories, amazing sound, and special effects that, ironically, surpass our precious, modern CGI.
I am fully confident that this gem will be enjoyed for another 33 years, if not far beyond that...
2034 AND BEYOND THE INFINITE
Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Visually interesting but not a worthy adaptation
Ray Bradbury's 1953 classic novel FAHRENHEIT 451 brought us along on a journey to a future world where the written word was banned. But it also showed other "small details" like a mechanical hound that attacked fleeing book-owners with a lethal dose of morphine. ...like the characters' thoughts of war starting literally any second, foreshadowed by the ominous flight of unknown aircraft.
BOOK SPOILER ALERT - The following paragraph will contain text on the denouement of the F451 novel.
The city was destroyed, gone in a giant boom! This is what happened to Montag's hometown after he left to join the book people. What was supposed to happen at the very end of the story. However, Truffaut's film version ended unsuitably, with the book people walking around, reciting books. Of course, the book people were meant to memorize books, but I believe that the film could have had a touch of Bradbury's original ending. It's as if BBC had ended Oliver Twist at the 4 hour point, where it could have ended if a few things were changed, rather than hour 6. The ending should have been restored after test screenings. It has happened for other films.
However, Truffaut's film is visually interesting and does employ clever cinematographic techniques.
Yet all of this combined, I don't know how to place it on the "star rating scale."
Mad Max (1979)
An amazing motion picture that is definitely one for film students to study.
This is an amazing film that is bleak yet exciting, violent yet tasteful, et cetera, but the main thing I loved about it, AU or US-dub versions, is that it is a lesson in low-budget filmmaking. With its TODD-AO Anamorphic aspect ratio and excellent sound (not to mention the brisk editing), it is an example for future filmmakers and even a helping of advice: "If you want to make it, make it."
Powaqqatsi (1988)
I can't describe it, but I don't truly mean that in a positive sense.
Koyaanisqatsi, which is Powaq's predecessor and successor, is my all-time favorite film. It has the beautiful cinematography of Ron Fricke and Godfrey Reggio with the wonderfully-timed score of Philip Glass merged into an emotion-evoking, powerfully mindblowing cinematic experience, after which the viewer feels weak. But watching this, I appreciated the wonderful cinematography and the--ahem--interesting music, but it evoked no emotions inside me, and I felt I hadn't learned anything from it except the things we see in those "You, too, can sponsor a child" television ads. It's quite an experience, and I don't wholly denounce it or condemn it, but I wouldn't expect another Koyaanisqatsi. I hope Naqoyqatsi has "packs the same emotional wallop" of the original.
Tainted (1998)
If a few minutes were chopped out of it, this could be a triumph.
The movie has some excess footage, but you have a fast-forward button, do you not? Other than that, this is an independent triumph of a film, taking everything we know about the vampire legend and twisting it into a truly intelligent and well-written film about, well, as the tagline states it, "ONE HELL OF A NIGHT!" Successful in a local run, this film was picked up by the tremendously trashy Troma team, and this may throw off some die-hard film buffs, but if people really know about this hilarious indie gem, they'll die to see it.