Change Your Image
sgonzo
Reviews
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Continuity mistake
When Benjamin is sitting at a bench with the "bushman" character, there is a walk by with a man and a Vizsla dog.
The time period is the late 20s or early 30s.
Vizsla did not enter the US until after WWII.
Most of them entered after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
Sorry, Vizsla was the wrong breed for this time period.
Since I need 10 lines, I'll also say that the age makeup was astounding, and the look of the movie was great, but there really isn't enough story to sustain that amount of time.
Also, the idea of putting film scratches on flashback/memory sequence was really lame, and made me not like the movie right from the beginning. Whose memories have scratches and hairs in the gate?
Physical Pinball (1998)
Clarifying the year
This was a senior year film at the North Carolina School of the Arts School of Film-making, so the actual year of production was 1998.
2001 was the year it was released as an additional feature on DVD.
Eddie Rouse has appeared in many other David Gordon Green films, such as George Washington, Undertow, All the Real Girls, and Pineapple Express.
This film was shot in 16mm, and a mag had a light leak, so if you look very closely you can see a few streaks caused by the bad mag.
The tag line for the poster: "Just when you've got the rhythm to life, Mother Nature changes the beat."
Craig Zobel was production designer, George Smith was DP, Kenya Tillery composed the music.
Monster's Ball (2001)
Watch Slingblade video instead
Bad actors use their hands when they can't portray an emotion. Watch Barry in this movie for a lesson in what not to do. This is a short film painfully stretched to feature length. This is the type of cliche ridden claptrap which passes for independent cinema. Paste in a little everyday banter for color, and instant southern culture. Amazing how decades of cultural bias can be discarded in a brief moment of jungle fever. Don't waste your time on this inferior screenplay, because the concrete detail is bogus: if he orders the same thing every time at the diner, why doesn't he know the price?
George Washington (2000)
You must experience this film
This film has a unique intimacy which blends amazing performances with stunning surroundings.
Even if you love predictable, formula style movies, give this experience a try. You'll never feel so close to a bunch of amazing children on the screen.
A beautiful, serious, funny, poetic journey awaits you when you witness this movie.
Pay It Forward (2000)
Pay it no mind -- you don't need one
Warning: slight spoiler -- I discuss a scene in the first reel, and recommend that as the time to ask for your money back.
I finally registered at IMDB just to plead for you to miss this movie. This is the worst type of script: it is lacking in ideas and character development, so it becomes self- referencing. Characters in a scene discuss how they felt about the action you just witnessed in the previous scene.
This movie is so blatant that it is painful. Cinema for the brain dead.
The characters are one dimensional, the conflict is ludicrous, the music is painfully pedantic, and the story is an insult to your intelligence. And don't even get me started on the depiction of the minor black character (have you heard of Stephan Fetchit?)
I believe that screenwriters should stop reading self-help books and foisting bad movies on the public as some type of shared therapy. If the previews were any indication, this is the trend for the holidays.
You can almost feel the screenwriting books coming through the story: 1. who is the character, and what is their wound or weakness? 2. what is the life affirming quest which your protagonist engages in? 3. Always put in a pole dancing scene to indicate when the movie goes downhill past the point of no return ( hint: it's in the first reel)
All in all, a painful experience. If you thought "Milk Money" was great cinema, this is for you. If you know who Kieslowski is, run away from this unsophisticated piece of kitsch before you get depressed and stop going to the movies altogether. No oscar for this please.
On a positive note, this has raised my opinion of the film "Dogma".