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keithla43
Reviews
Shame (2011)
Pretentious Filmmaking at its Worst
***SPOILERS*** There is absolutely a great film about a man (or woman) who moves from sexual act to sexual act, unfeeling, looking to numb their existence.
This is not that film.
I understand the film was mostly improvisation. See, there's a REASON for a script. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad, but a script gives you a path find your way through the film. There's no path here, just a really big, unkempt park with people screwing in the bushes.
Case in point: Powerful scenes can be formed with extremely long scenes, going beyond what would normally be used. You watch, you watch, then suddenly see something that changes the way you feel about a character, or an event.
Or you can just let the camera run on and on as you film people running or -- oh, please just kill me now! -- listening to a woman who can't sing with a grating piano behind her as she sings the ENTIRE "New York, New York" song at roughly half the speed Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday" to JFK.
The actors were fine, I suppose. But it's hard to know when they're fighting their way out of this mess. Everything that you expect to happen, happens, and not with any great drama. Mostly you just don't care about anyone on the screen.
The Walking Dead (2010)
Sirloin has turned into hamburger...
WARNING: spoilers if you aren't current with the show.
Bottom line is: a great first season. Beautifully envisioned. Great writing, cinematography, setting the whole feeling.
This season? It's devolved into a soap opera and I think I maybe have only 1 or 2 episodes left that I can put up with this.
I KNEW that continuing the story would be tough, but I didn't think I would suddenly be getting a Georgia zombie "Dallas." I just keep thinking, "How damn many farms are abandoned nearby? Just move to it and you'll still be close to Hershel if you need a doctor." I hate people being stupid just for the sake of the story.
And how come they don't just take EVERYTHING in the drug store instead of risking their lives to go shopping as needed? I'm not asking for action all the time. I don't WANT action all the time. But how about giving us more than soap opera. Give us new revelations on the world that's been created, with the interpersonal relationships as something that keeps it all together, not the focus.
MOVE IT FORWARD!!!!!!!!!!
Dostana (2008)
Long, but not bad.
This felt sometimes like it was several different movies spliced together, but mostly it was a fun ride. Beautifully shot in Miami, and it's obvious what a ground-breaker it is for Indian film (hey, it JUST became legal to be gay there!)
Yes, there are gay stereotypes, but mostly it's gently done. And yes, it has the Bollywood musical numbers at the weirdest times, but some of them ("Shut up and bounce") were so catchy I couldn't get them out of my head.
I also couldn't get John Abraham out of my head. Believe me, you won't be able to take your eyes off him the entire time...
I say go for it. If you're not up to the musical numbers, you can go past fast forward through them.
Emmett's Mark (2002)
A solid "Don't bother"
CONTAINS SPOILERS! Okay, all you people who know the director or work for the distributor, stop giving reviews. Because that's the only reason I can see for calling this film visionary.
Someone here lauds the mystery. Mystery? What mystery? This is the first time I have ever seen a serial killer film in which you don't find out who did it, and it doesn't really matter anyway (and really, guys, the first thing I thought of when the body had something cut out of its skin wasn't "covering up bite marks," it was a tattoo)...
The film is really about Emmett and his situation. Fair enough. But that means a good portion of the film is superfluous. Which means we wasted our time.
Huh. I'm even bored giving a review of this film. Suffice it to say if I start reading car magazines and my husband starts playing games on his iPhone, the film has missed its mark.
Caprica (2009)
Not an auspicious beginning...
Battlestar Gallactica was so great because it had tight writing, a great look, excellent actors, and interesting stories... AND yeah, had hot men and women running around in and out of uniform.
Caprica was just lazy. Lazy writing. Actors smoking up a storm to give them "character." Outdoor sequences that ruin the feeling of being somewhere else (yes, that is a Ford Focus sitting in the background). Lots and lots of teenage angst. LOTS of gyrating naked women (but in the background. Which I'm sure will be cut for the series) and a token view of some men in towels. None of the actors except Polly Walker took my attention at all. At an hour and a half, I was still wondering when it was going to be over.
So what exactly is it that's supposed to bring me back? The science fiction? It's awfully light on that. The actors? Besides Polly Walker's fine turn, there isn't much interesting being done here. There aren't even any "hotties" in the cast, except for maybe Esai, although for the younger set he's pretty old, since he's over 25.
I loved BSG. I was skeptical when I heard about Caprica, and unfortunately, I think I'm right. I predict a very short run for it as a series unless they really sharpen their pencils over at SciFi and get to work making this more than The OC on another planet.
The Reader (2008)
Not what I expected... in a good way
I have to admit I avoided this movie, even avoiding a free screening. For some reason, I thought this was the cinematic equivalent of a Harlequin romance novel.
Boy, was I wrong.
Although there are some problems (the kid does not age well -- going from an 18 year old actor to Ralph Fiennes in 8 years), it's a fascinating movie. It puts you off balance through a great deal of it, and not always for the same reason.
When one of the few negatives you can come up with is that you saw the same car drive by in the background twice, it's a pretty damn good movie.
13B: Fear Has a New Address (2009)
Really, Really Bad. Really
I have no idea what movie the rest of these reviewers saw, but it wasn't this one. We watched it because it was a NefFlix recommendation, probably because we've watched a number of foreign horror films.
So, where do I start with this one? All of the dialogue sounds looped. It got so bad we actually were thinking about watching the dubbed version (and I usually HATE dubbed versions!) since we were going to hear looped dialogue anyway. Only there isn't a dubbed version... Stupid characters abound... Coincidences also abound... There is one exposition-heavy scene that actually has a character saying "I'm so confused" -- you and me both, bub... There are TWO musical numbers for no apparent reason... Oh, yeah, and at the end, NOTHING makes any sense.
Now, I will say there is a movie in here somewhere. This just isn't it.
Nothing But the Truth (2008)
Belongs on TV as a Lifetime movie
This movie has a very interesting cast... and that's about it. There are some unintentionally funny moments, pedestrian cinematography, by-the-numbers acting, and a lazy script. Nothing awful, mind you, just not worthy of being anything other than a TV movie.
Things aren't helped by the nagging suspicion that Rachel could have saved herself a LOT of trouble. The main discussion after the film will be all the ways she could have gotten out of the series of events without compromising anyone.
This will do fine if you're sick and need something to watch instead of Jerry Springer.
Torchwood (2006)
Rubbish. I give up.
I was really, really excited when I heard Captain Jack was going to have his own show. And I really, really wanted to love it. But I really, really hate it.
Up until the last episode filled with a town of cannibals (not even an alien in sight), I was just disappointed and meant to soldier on (hoping it would get better). But I give up.
Jack is a totally different person. And I have no idea what kind of person he's supposed to be. He's flat, dull and boring. And, yes, I know those are three ways of saying the same thing. He's THAT boring.
The rest of the cast is lifeless at best and weird at worst. But then they probably can't figure out what they're supposed to be doing either.
And don't get me started on Ianto still being around. Would never happen in real life, would it? I mean, would you trust this man with your grocery shopping, let alone your life? So. I love Dr. Who, and look forward to Jack popping up into it again. I just won't be watching Torchwood again.
El cielo dividido (2006)
Admission: We walked out after an hour...
... and yet, we were told, there was another hour and 20 minutes left to go.
Why, oh, why wasn't there an editor to tell the writer/director to snip, snip, snip? Apparently that writer/director has previously done shorts; as a short, this would have been okay. But the lack of dialogue starts to grate after twenty minutes. The lack of much music glares. The background noises (talking, traffic, and especially a ubiquitous helicopter) get old really fast. But the worst failure is in story. There is precious little beyond a short.
After an hour we saw variations of the same scene over and over again. I nearly screamed at the screen, "We get it, we get it!!!!!" It's amazing that after that left the theatre, we could drive home, watch the Daily Show and parts of the Colbert Report, get ready for bed,and know that the audience was STILL trapped in the theatre.
It's not enough to indulge your vision. You have to give the audience enough to share your vision.
All Over the Guy (2001)
Classic love story
I thought about doing this review long ago (and actually started it at one point), but, well, you know how it is... but I just happened to catch the first hour when I went home at lunch, so here goes.
All Over the Guy is, ultimately, a classic boy meets boy, boy falls in love with boy, boy loses boy, boy gets boy back. In short, the kind of movie I wished for most of my younger life. It is -- yes, let's just say it and get it over with -- sweet. And that's nothing to be ashamed of.
First, a disclaimer -- I have worked with both Rich Ruccolo and Don Roos (I haven't seen either in years)... but that makes my love of this film all the more amazing. I find it difficult to watch films of actors I have worked with because it's hard to separate the character from the person I know. Rich succeeded in making me forget the actor and concentrate on the character of Tom. Tom is at once vulnerable and supremely sexy; you're not sure whether you want to hug him like a teddy bear or throw him down and get wild with him.
Dan Bucatinsky's Eli is perhaps not the polar opposite of Tom he appears to be. Tom almost physically runs from relationships while Eli backs away apologizing the whole time. They both embody the whole kaleidoscope of feelings that most of us have when we meet someone who interests us -- mostly, of course, fear. Fear of falling in love, or of not falling in love. Fear our feelings won't be returned, or that they will.
Personally, I see an enormous amount of chemistry between Tom and Eli. Look at the scene in the flea market, the interaction of their eyes, the body language... here are two guys who are fighting what they're feeling every step of the way (oh, and by the way, Eli is much more forgiving that I would be about the smoking).
The rest of the cast is superb as well, including some great cameo roles. Most of all, the characters of Brett and Jackie are very funny in a superb role reversal -- instead of the ubiquitous second-banana gay best friends, we have second-banana straight best friends.
The only problem I have with the film is the same problem I have with straight versions of this kind of story. How likely is it that people who appear to have such different interests and such volatile emotions will stay together... not to mention Tom's penchant for alcoholism. But then in "Pretty Woman" I just couldn't shake the feeling that this rich guy wouldn't stay with a prostitute long whether she looked like Julia Roberts or not.
Gay cinema has, thankfully, branched out from the early "Oh my God I'm gay I hate myself I can't let anyone find out" films like "Doing Time On Maple Drive." There is a place for gay cinema in every genre. And this film is in a definite class by itself in its genre.
Enjoy!
Moonlight Mile (2002)
Far better getting out of the bedroom...
"In the Bedroom" got an enormous amount of press last year. To this day I'm not sure why. It was a dark, depressing, ultimately disturbing piece of melodrama, in a world here people don't talk to each other -- they scream, break dishes, and walk in a zombie-like state. It was all very, "Look at me! I'm an independent film taking the worst of the brooding foreign films, giving it an American accent and -- bam! -- kicking it up a notch!" It turned into one of those films that unless you liked it you -- sniff, sniff -- just didn't understand it.
Everyone reacts differently to death, of course, but that doesn't mean I want to have to watch all the different ways. In "In the Bedroom" they learned nothing: about themselves, about their son, about anything (except perhaps for their repressed homicidal tendencies). "Moonlight Mile" expresses the tragedy of losing a child/loved one -- the guilt, the self-recriminations, the feeling of "what do I do now?" all of which I went through with my family when we lost my brother at 23. But there is also the struggle to help each other through it, and even, yes, the comedy. Without the last bit you'd go a little crazy.
I'm not a fan of Dustin Hoffman when he's allowed to chew up the scenery. Here he gives a measured, controlled performance that is totally believable. Susan Sarandon is incredible as she uses sarcasm to cope with her loss. I guess Tobey Maguire wasn't available, but Jake Gyllenhaal does a fine Tobey-like performance... wait, that's not really fair. Yes, there are a lot of similarities to Tobey's look and acting style, but Jake does a great job in his own right. Finally, Ellen Pompeo does a convincing job of the post mistress in town who befriends Jake's character after the lost of his fiance.
Bottom line: Not the best movie of the year, but in the fall drought of any decent films, definitely worth taking a look.