Even if all belief is suspended watching this movie, its still one of the worst movies i have ever seen. Its just so dumb, the storyline was ridiculous, the action was CGI laden nonsense in all honesty i was in tears of laughter at times through how awful the experience was. Thismovie is for guys who are obsessed with action computer games and thats about it, anyone who wants a good movie, save your money because this one ain't it. Did anyone else notice the ending was stolen from the Korn music video freak on a leash with the camera following the slow motion bullet going through people and donuts and cups etc? The story was also ripped from the murky depths of the Matrix sequels, with complicated nonsense and slow motion gunshot scenes. Seriously at one point i got up and left for the bathroom and 2 minutes later i come back and a million mice are running about with watches on( or bombs!)don't ask, i didn't even care anymore to find out how peanut butter enticed a million vermon. It was gratuitous gore, blood every where with no real reason, everyone being shot in the brain, and the action scenes were stupid- at one point McAvoy flips his car over this other car and in the air he points his gun at a random guy it was apparently his destiny to kill then before shooting him he declares "I'm sooooory." The direction in this movie was awful, it seemed like random action set pieces glued together with no flow, no coherence. It was a muddy mess. What was Angelina Jolie's purpose in this movie? Someone tell me, all she did was beat up James McAvoy a lot, ride about on the tops of speeding trains like she was walking on a pavement in downtown LA. James McAvoiy i went into the movie liking him, midway through i wanted him to get shot. Lets try and make sense of the storyline- all i can give you is a list of key words, because the story was so chaotic horribly written, and made such little sense that its beyond me to link it together. Binary; Fraternity; Assassins; destiny; Loom. Apparently Mcvoy goes from a nervous office worker to a monster assassin when a trip to the pharmacy has Jolie meet him, he avoids getting shot, he gets enrolled in an assassins fraternity. He gets beaten up in training, a montage few minutes later and he has a 6pack and ready to avenge his fathers death. Then we get involved in his training, and make sense of some sort of Loom of destiny, don't ask me how a sewing kit has anything to do with Assassins but even that isn't the most ridiculous thing i had to make sense of. We go from riding around in trains in Chicago to some castle somewhere, some monastery somewhere, some mountains somewhere i have no idea where, within a click of a finger. It was like Bewitched with a twitch of their nose and a click of their finger they are in completely different countries. There is some sort of incoherent twist where McAvoy ends up shooting his dad, and the frat wanted McAvoy killed from the start, in fact they wanted their own members killed from the start! which made this film completely pointless. There was some other matrix style binary codes which i won't even attempt to explain. Now onto the curvy bullets, how utterly stupid, not only were they curvy they could be made with a twist of your arm and a bullet can wipe out a whole circle of the frat then yourself at the end in a perfect circle which Angeline Jolie illustrates at the end... kinda like a boomerang. My only wish is she didn't include McAvoy in the circle and did it in the first minute of the movie, so i didn't have to endure over 2 hours of a gamers wet dream.
Reviews
8 Reviews
Darkness
(2002)
diabolical
31 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I remember going to see the movie in 2004, in a movie theatre in NY and left demanding my money back. What garbage! this film is so diabolical it defies belief how it even managed to make it onto the screen in the first place. When watching the movie it feels like you are watching random blooper scenes from the cutting room on the set of the SIXTH SENSE. We are presented with a family whom for some reason moved to this unknown city in Spain, then we are presented with a pretty blonde American teenager in high school we suspect yet were never told. We see her in the bath then a mangled scene cut or two later she is having a swim in the pool. None of the scenes have any significance whatsoever. Then out of nowhere, when shes having a nice drive with her dad and everything seems dandy he erupts into unfathomable spasms and passes out. A rightfully bewildered daughter, crys for help and English speaking passers-by tend to him. So the concerned daughter breaks this to her mom whom acted as if he had a mild bump on the head "Ah, its nothing-don't worry," "just an attack." Apparently this is the norm with the dad- either that or the mother is ludicrously inept. I'm leaning toward the latter. A random next scene sees the arrival of this Spanish guy, who is the girls age whom we suspect is her boyfriend but your guess is as good as mine as there is no physical contact between the two.
We also see this youngest boy of the family who is complaining of bruises on his neck when he goes to sleep at night. Again this doesn't register with the mother who really looks sincerely disinterested at this point,(i know how she feels.) then the boy starts having his crayons disappearing under the table. A random cut then brings us to the next 'fascinating' plot- a review of carpentry. Yep you got it right, carpentry. The Dad decided to check out the flooring of the living room and realises the wood floor is alarmingly badly put together. Clearly not part of the persuasion whom would wait and call a contractor the next day- decides to tear the flooring apart altogether, the director then loses interest in that- and plants a few shadows of ghosts apparently lurking in the background. Heck he even went as far as to take some extras from the 'Shining' to stand and watch and do absolutely nothing. The daughters boyfriend is clearly a keeper, not only is he helpful around the house, he seems utterly devoted to the daughter while she pays the least attention to him, and he also helps discover the underlying mysteries to the house. The house apparently is extremely dangerous at the time of the solar eclipse. And surprisingly enough, guess what the next event is! Thats right! A solar Eclispe... mind blowing insn't it. The dad has clearly lost the place altogether at this point and um... terrifyingly starts chopping carrots at a ferocious super-human speed. The mom is handily witnessing this but again, this is pretty normal behaviour apparently and she shrugs it off. This father must be one odd fella if his hobbies include tearing up the living room flooring, mad epileptic spasms on your way to the supermarket and chops carrots at a speed comparable to Superman. And still his lackadaisical wife simply treats it as if everything is as it should be.
The Dad for his next trick, decides to re-enact the Jack Nickolson character in the 'Shining' by ranging about the house furiously trying to break the poor little boys door in. Not only is this poor little boy seemingly getting molested by ghosts in his room, his mom doesn't care and the Dad has joined in on the ghosts act also. A random cut later the daughter and the boyfriend are held hostage by her granddad or uncle or god knows who, but he seems intent on killing them. No idea why. but at this point i figure a few less characters could decrease the running time to this random garbage.
Then the solar eclipse is just about to happen, and we embark on a ludicrous ending to put a climax to this classic stinker. We are about to witness the seemingly inevitable death of her by granddad until he stops, and mystifyingly lets her go. So she is now running along with her poodle boyfriend to save this house. We cut to the dad and before he has another episode, the next extra from another movie randomly pops up and disappears again. This time a giant alien monster from the cutting room floor was pasted together but it disappears without too much malice, clearly must be the next door neighbour. Mystifyingly the ending sees the daughter save her younger brother and drive off in the car. Yet at the same time shes standing in the house speaking demonically. The editor clearly forgot to space out these scenes and decided to paste them together to make one. This puts to an end a film which clearly saw the director and the editor have one to many bottles of vodka and put together the most mystifying random trash from the floor of miramax studio, then sneakily put it into the cinemas. The only thing i made sense of in this movie was the fact i was conned 10 bucks for this trash.
We also see this youngest boy of the family who is complaining of bruises on his neck when he goes to sleep at night. Again this doesn't register with the mother who really looks sincerely disinterested at this point,(i know how she feels.) then the boy starts having his crayons disappearing under the table. A random cut then brings us to the next 'fascinating' plot- a review of carpentry. Yep you got it right, carpentry. The Dad decided to check out the flooring of the living room and realises the wood floor is alarmingly badly put together. Clearly not part of the persuasion whom would wait and call a contractor the next day- decides to tear the flooring apart altogether, the director then loses interest in that- and plants a few shadows of ghosts apparently lurking in the background. Heck he even went as far as to take some extras from the 'Shining' to stand and watch and do absolutely nothing. The daughters boyfriend is clearly a keeper, not only is he helpful around the house, he seems utterly devoted to the daughter while she pays the least attention to him, and he also helps discover the underlying mysteries to the house. The house apparently is extremely dangerous at the time of the solar eclipse. And surprisingly enough, guess what the next event is! Thats right! A solar Eclispe... mind blowing insn't it. The dad has clearly lost the place altogether at this point and um... terrifyingly starts chopping carrots at a ferocious super-human speed. The mom is handily witnessing this but again, this is pretty normal behaviour apparently and she shrugs it off. This father must be one odd fella if his hobbies include tearing up the living room flooring, mad epileptic spasms on your way to the supermarket and chops carrots at a speed comparable to Superman. And still his lackadaisical wife simply treats it as if everything is as it should be.
The Dad for his next trick, decides to re-enact the Jack Nickolson character in the 'Shining' by ranging about the house furiously trying to break the poor little boys door in. Not only is this poor little boy seemingly getting molested by ghosts in his room, his mom doesn't care and the Dad has joined in on the ghosts act also. A random cut later the daughter and the boyfriend are held hostage by her granddad or uncle or god knows who, but he seems intent on killing them. No idea why. but at this point i figure a few less characters could decrease the running time to this random garbage.
Then the solar eclipse is just about to happen, and we embark on a ludicrous ending to put a climax to this classic stinker. We are about to witness the seemingly inevitable death of her by granddad until he stops, and mystifyingly lets her go. So she is now running along with her poodle boyfriend to save this house. We cut to the dad and before he has another episode, the next extra from another movie randomly pops up and disappears again. This time a giant alien monster from the cutting room floor was pasted together but it disappears without too much malice, clearly must be the next door neighbour. Mystifyingly the ending sees the daughter save her younger brother and drive off in the car. Yet at the same time shes standing in the house speaking demonically. The editor clearly forgot to space out these scenes and decided to paste them together to make one. This puts to an end a film which clearly saw the director and the editor have one to many bottles of vodka and put together the most mystifying random trash from the floor of miramax studio, then sneakily put it into the cinemas. The only thing i made sense of in this movie was the fact i was conned 10 bucks for this trash.
Contact
(1997)
disappointing and utterly turgid.
31 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
It is important to emphasise this isn't a bad movie by a stretch, just not an especially good one. Because well, not a lot happens.
The acting was good, very good in fact and Jodie Foster is one of the best actresses around and she puts in a studied performance and portrays an idealist scientist with compassion and verve admirably, so credit to her. This movie is far from a bad movie, and there are really intriguing aspects to it. There are many plot lines that could have been developed further, the aspect of the unknown could have been tapped into more, so too could have been the threat that a contact with an unknown quantity of alien life could be to our planet. This had a great opportunity to develop when the guy sacrificed himself with the bomb before the first mission. BUt they didn't go in depth of why he did it. They mentioned briefly through a news report he did it to save the human race, but the very next day she leaps on to the next ship regardless and went ahead with it. Thus taking away the dark themes that could have been presented.
There is an awful lot of talking in the movie! and thats a good thing if they have something captivating to say, but a lot of the movie is talk without relative action. I mean I'm not askin for guns and lazers necessarily but a little more spark in the film would have been nice. Even the love interest which was focused on had no spark.
Any relative emotion in this film was watered down or completely ignored, and there was an irritating emphasis on the media which was not well delivered by the director. I saw the directors point, the media has a huge part to play in US society, but they didn't do anything either-they didn't seem to be obtrusive and the characters payed little heed to them, so what was the point in its emphasis? when the guy blew himself up, to end the mission, one brief grieving scene from a news report was all they could come up with. The film makers can't get off that easy they need to try a little harder interms of creating emotion, suspense or intrigue to some degree.
I felt the biggest cop-out was the end, with the film desperately in need of a boost they thought her trip through worm holes and space was enough and the prospect of an alien would wet our appetite. Her trip failed to be as breathtaking as it should have been, and it really did feel like were were watching a simulation programme. Regardless it was the most interesting bit in the movie. So she meets the alien, this was the movies last chance to cause a shock but in the end decided more talking was good enough. Thus we are presented with her dad, apparently the alien downloaded him from her brain and the alien in the form of her dad says to her " We thought this image would be easier for you," but i couldn't help but think the director basically just said 'We thought this image would be easier for us!' In other words little imagination was required and again fobbed the audience off with more muffled sentiment.
This movie is neither here nor there in the end. It didn't know whether it wanted to be a drama or a news report from CNN either way it was long and turgid and about as captivating an experience as watching weeds grown on your back lawn.
The acting was good, very good in fact and Jodie Foster is one of the best actresses around and she puts in a studied performance and portrays an idealist scientist with compassion and verve admirably, so credit to her. This movie is far from a bad movie, and there are really intriguing aspects to it. There are many plot lines that could have been developed further, the aspect of the unknown could have been tapped into more, so too could have been the threat that a contact with an unknown quantity of alien life could be to our planet. This had a great opportunity to develop when the guy sacrificed himself with the bomb before the first mission. BUt they didn't go in depth of why he did it. They mentioned briefly through a news report he did it to save the human race, but the very next day she leaps on to the next ship regardless and went ahead with it. Thus taking away the dark themes that could have been presented.
There is an awful lot of talking in the movie! and thats a good thing if they have something captivating to say, but a lot of the movie is talk without relative action. I mean I'm not askin for guns and lazers necessarily but a little more spark in the film would have been nice. Even the love interest which was focused on had no spark.
Any relative emotion in this film was watered down or completely ignored, and there was an irritating emphasis on the media which was not well delivered by the director. I saw the directors point, the media has a huge part to play in US society, but they didn't do anything either-they didn't seem to be obtrusive and the characters payed little heed to them, so what was the point in its emphasis? when the guy blew himself up, to end the mission, one brief grieving scene from a news report was all they could come up with. The film makers can't get off that easy they need to try a little harder interms of creating emotion, suspense or intrigue to some degree.
I felt the biggest cop-out was the end, with the film desperately in need of a boost they thought her trip through worm holes and space was enough and the prospect of an alien would wet our appetite. Her trip failed to be as breathtaking as it should have been, and it really did feel like were were watching a simulation programme. Regardless it was the most interesting bit in the movie. So she meets the alien, this was the movies last chance to cause a shock but in the end decided more talking was good enough. Thus we are presented with her dad, apparently the alien downloaded him from her brain and the alien in the form of her dad says to her " We thought this image would be easier for you," but i couldn't help but think the director basically just said 'We thought this image would be easier for us!' In other words little imagination was required and again fobbed the audience off with more muffled sentiment.
This movie is neither here nor there in the end. It didn't know whether it wanted to be a drama or a news report from CNN either way it was long and turgid and about as captivating an experience as watching weeds grown on your back lawn.
Minority Report
(2002)
Another visionary masterpiece from Spielberg
31 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Minority Report is possibly the most conceptually brilliant motion picture you will see. Steven Spielberg creates another masterpiece, a truly incredible visionary, he sets himself above all other filmmakers with this awe-inspiring film which truly has to be seen to be believed. Technically, this film is brilliant. Brilliantly shot, produced, scored and acted all vital components are of a tremendous standard. This film is so complicated and multi-layered, that I can't help but believe any other filmmaker would be unable to make the movie. The sheer amount of flashbacks and the visions of the pre-cogs and the conspiracy element, could potentially be confusing but Spielberg's gift of telling a story ensures this film is engaging and uses the layers as a benefit to show the sheer depth of his masterpiece.
Spielberg has a wonderful quality in terms of using old fashioned cinematic techniques of making a good movie. All the components at a human level have to be right; then he brings out the most incredible groundbreaking special effects, and interweaves it with the human element to make it all seamless. A true gift.
Tom Cruise is superb as John Anderton in this movie, a great anti-hero, a man driven by the loss of his son; he blames himself and turns to drugs to combat the problems he has. He believes fully in the pre-crime experiment as a law enforcement cop, but is forced to find the flaws of the system when the pre-cogs envisage Cruise is the next man to commit a murder. Cruise then must be on the run from the state as well as undercover the darkest secrets to the system we are told is perfect. This film is a film-noire with sci-fi, thriller qualities and a futuristic detective movie at the same time, its truly the most original and incredible film you are going to see in a long time. There are truly horrifying images which you would not necessarily expect from a Spielberg picture, the eye operation where Cruise gets his eyes removed is chilling. The image of the Spyders- these robotic spiders were ingenious as well as the futuristic mechanisms and transportation devices were awe-inspiring. And the scary thing is these devices are what the greatest minds in science currently believe the outlook of our world will be like in 50yrs time.
The way the film is shot while being interwoven with a provoking JOhn Williams score, the picture quality was tinted with a grainy quality a dark blue tinge, to make what you were seeing something beyond reality, it created a dark dirty outlook of the movie. If you were being extra-critical however, i felt there were slight flaws to the movie. The ending i felt dragged at the end. The ending was still good and important to the movie, but i felt it was guilty of often over-explaining at the end. The scene where Cruise is faced by Lamarr the head of everything, (guilty of conspiring against Anderton)with a gun, Cruise then proceeds to sum up and then explain what the effect shooting Cruise would be. Putting Lamarr in a quandary basically saying his actions would prove or disprove his pre-crime vision etc.I got the impression we as the audience were slapped around the face with the information. It was as if the last 10minutes were made because they believed the audience would be lost and we needed to be put up to speed. I didn't feel it was necessary, and i thought somethings could have been left unsaid and give the audience a chance to think for themselves at the end. The film was never guilty of it during the movie-why suddenly the last part? I also felt the movie could be accused of slight contradiction. SPielberg through-out the movie made a dark menacing picture effectively portraying the flaws of a society where your privacy is none existent and you are a mere pawn of the state. No matter where you go your eyes will be your source of ID to keep the state's tabs on you. This is a commentary on what is a distinct possibility to what is going to happen to us in the future. Spielberg portrays this as a detriment to society effectively. Yet, the final scene where pre-crime is abandoned, Cruise is now back with his ex-wife and shes expecting a new child and the pre-cogs are sent to a peaceful area where they can live in peace and happiness. I got the impression it was all too easy to swallow, completely different to the outlook in the movie earlier. The last scene didn't encourage you to have a sense of fear about what the future could hold (which you are encouraged to believe through-out the film) yet the ending makes it all alright again.
I believe the ending to be a flaw, however that is being extra-critical, on a movie basis it is a wonderful thought-provoking picture. AN astonishing peace of modern cinema. It is exciting, and brilliantly made. A groundbreaking piece of modern cinema, made by the greatest film maker of our generation.
Spielberg has a wonderful quality in terms of using old fashioned cinematic techniques of making a good movie. All the components at a human level have to be right; then he brings out the most incredible groundbreaking special effects, and interweaves it with the human element to make it all seamless. A true gift.
Tom Cruise is superb as John Anderton in this movie, a great anti-hero, a man driven by the loss of his son; he blames himself and turns to drugs to combat the problems he has. He believes fully in the pre-crime experiment as a law enforcement cop, but is forced to find the flaws of the system when the pre-cogs envisage Cruise is the next man to commit a murder. Cruise then must be on the run from the state as well as undercover the darkest secrets to the system we are told is perfect. This film is a film-noire with sci-fi, thriller qualities and a futuristic detective movie at the same time, its truly the most original and incredible film you are going to see in a long time. There are truly horrifying images which you would not necessarily expect from a Spielberg picture, the eye operation where Cruise gets his eyes removed is chilling. The image of the Spyders- these robotic spiders were ingenious as well as the futuristic mechanisms and transportation devices were awe-inspiring. And the scary thing is these devices are what the greatest minds in science currently believe the outlook of our world will be like in 50yrs time.
The way the film is shot while being interwoven with a provoking JOhn Williams score, the picture quality was tinted with a grainy quality a dark blue tinge, to make what you were seeing something beyond reality, it created a dark dirty outlook of the movie. If you were being extra-critical however, i felt there were slight flaws to the movie. The ending i felt dragged at the end. The ending was still good and important to the movie, but i felt it was guilty of often over-explaining at the end. The scene where Cruise is faced by Lamarr the head of everything, (guilty of conspiring against Anderton)with a gun, Cruise then proceeds to sum up and then explain what the effect shooting Cruise would be. Putting Lamarr in a quandary basically saying his actions would prove or disprove his pre-crime vision etc.I got the impression we as the audience were slapped around the face with the information. It was as if the last 10minutes were made because they believed the audience would be lost and we needed to be put up to speed. I didn't feel it was necessary, and i thought somethings could have been left unsaid and give the audience a chance to think for themselves at the end. The film was never guilty of it during the movie-why suddenly the last part? I also felt the movie could be accused of slight contradiction. SPielberg through-out the movie made a dark menacing picture effectively portraying the flaws of a society where your privacy is none existent and you are a mere pawn of the state. No matter where you go your eyes will be your source of ID to keep the state's tabs on you. This is a commentary on what is a distinct possibility to what is going to happen to us in the future. Spielberg portrays this as a detriment to society effectively. Yet, the final scene where pre-crime is abandoned, Cruise is now back with his ex-wife and shes expecting a new child and the pre-cogs are sent to a peaceful area where they can live in peace and happiness. I got the impression it was all too easy to swallow, completely different to the outlook in the movie earlier. The last scene didn't encourage you to have a sense of fear about what the future could hold (which you are encouraged to believe through-out the film) yet the ending makes it all alright again.
I believe the ending to be a flaw, however that is being extra-critical, on a movie basis it is a wonderful thought-provoking picture. AN astonishing peace of modern cinema. It is exciting, and brilliantly made. A groundbreaking piece of modern cinema, made by the greatest film maker of our generation.
High Fidelity
(2000)
Do i listen to pop music coz i'm miserable or am i miserable coz i listen to pop music?
30 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Not only does it do a fabulous character study of us males, but it also sits well with women too, showing the universal appeal to this film. It's so effective and simple. A really simple story line of a man whos made many mistakes in his life, finds himself alone again after a breakup. He proceeds to go through his life categorically through 'Top 5' things. Including top 5 breakups, this is to discover himself in a way and why relationships have failed with him.
The way the movie is done is tremendous, the film is fully focused on Rob Gordon, he talks into the camera as if its a diary, and we see everything through his eyes. And look into his past with him and the present, The characters in this movie are tremendous. Barry played by Jack Black, takes the cake he is simply hilarious! an absolutely genius performance as Rob's co-worker. And the quiet, insecure yet lovably opinionated Dick (Todd Louiso) The two workers are the complete opposite to each other- Barry's loud foul mouthed and highly opinionated to Dicks's quiet nervous demeanor is a superb comic dynamic. These 2 serve to make Cusack look like the normal one of the gang.
Cusack's top 5 thing is instantly relatable, i do that often with everything. ANd everybody wishes, well i do anyway that there is a camera you can talk into to relate your life into! Cusack's relationship problems throughout his life are easy to relate to for both sexes not just males. Its also universally appealing with the huge influence of music, his life is music and he sets songs for his moods which i'm sure we've all done. I remember when i first watched it after one of my relationships broke up, i prophesied by it! the stuff is just so...true! Its still a comedy and there is plenty of humour throughout-Cusack portrays a tremendous character and very funny. Everybody is tremendous innit Catherine Zeta JOnes, Joan Cusack have small but effective roles. The main love interest seems slightly wooden, but shes nice to look at! English is her second language in real life and the girl at times looked as if her American accent was slightly forced. However thats a minute detail to a wonderfully uplifting and probably of all films i have seen this is the most down to earth and relatable film in my list.
The way the movie is done is tremendous, the film is fully focused on Rob Gordon, he talks into the camera as if its a diary, and we see everything through his eyes. And look into his past with him and the present, The characters in this movie are tremendous. Barry played by Jack Black, takes the cake he is simply hilarious! an absolutely genius performance as Rob's co-worker. And the quiet, insecure yet lovably opinionated Dick (Todd Louiso) The two workers are the complete opposite to each other- Barry's loud foul mouthed and highly opinionated to Dicks's quiet nervous demeanor is a superb comic dynamic. These 2 serve to make Cusack look like the normal one of the gang.
Cusack's top 5 thing is instantly relatable, i do that often with everything. ANd everybody wishes, well i do anyway that there is a camera you can talk into to relate your life into! Cusack's relationship problems throughout his life are easy to relate to for both sexes not just males. Its also universally appealing with the huge influence of music, his life is music and he sets songs for his moods which i'm sure we've all done. I remember when i first watched it after one of my relationships broke up, i prophesied by it! the stuff is just so...true! Its still a comedy and there is plenty of humour throughout-Cusack portrays a tremendous character and very funny. Everybody is tremendous innit Catherine Zeta JOnes, Joan Cusack have small but effective roles. The main love interest seems slightly wooden, but shes nice to look at! English is her second language in real life and the girl at times looked as if her American accent was slightly forced. However thats a minute detail to a wonderfully uplifting and probably of all films i have seen this is the most down to earth and relatable film in my list.
Jaws
(1975)
The best film ever made
29 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Not only did it effectively start the career of the greatest director of the modern day, (Steven Spielberg) but it became one of the highest grossing films of all time. On a personal note, I remember i saw this when i was 4years old, and it effectively scarred me for life! I hardly ever swim in the sea, and i even tend to give the swimming pool a couple of looks before i swim! On a critical basis though, i like to look at this film as the COMPLETE film. Every component in the movie is done at a phenomenal level. The music is Oscar-worthy, one of the greatest scores of JOhn Williams illustrious career-and created the cult classic "dum-dum-dum-dum" indicator for the sharks imminent arrival. Editor Verna Fields, also won an Oscar for the incredible editing in this movie. The camera work is expert, as well as Spielberg's genius craft in directing.
The storyline of the movie is loosely based on true events of Sharks staking its claim on one area and developing a taste for human blood.
The storyline follows a fictitious community known as Amity Island, in the New England area. Local Chief of police Martin Brody locks horns with the local Mayor, whom refuses to heed the claims there is a Shark. The mayor (Murray Hamilton) wants to keep revenue for the town so to keep people swimming in the local beaches for their event in the 4th of July. IN a memorable moment, the Mayor backs up the reasoning "...we need summer dollars... If the people can't swim here, they'll happily swim in the beaches of Cape Cod, Long Island." Martin retorts, "Yea, but that doesn't mean we have to serve them up a Smorgisbord!" the Mayor memorably then replies-"It's all psychological, U yell Baricuda people say 'huh,' 'what?'; U yell Shark, and we have a panic on our hands on the 4th of July."
The opening to the movie is arguably the most powerful opening to a movie ever made. A beach side party, encourages a guy to go over to a girl Chrissie Watkins, whom immediately decides to go for a midnight swim, the boy follows and passes out at the beach side due to alcohol-the girl soon realises she is alone in the water. At this point with expert milking of tension, the camera does a sharks POV beneath the girls legs, treading water. The camera gets closer, the music gets louder, then as we cut to a close up of the girls face, we see her feel the tug from below as she is dramatically and terrifyingly dragged left and right before she is finally pulled under for the final time. The primal fear of what is unknown in the water, is one of the factors that makes that scene so effective.
Meanwhile as the evidence points to a shark attack, the community mayor has none of it until the next attack, an attack on a young boy on a raft -the gruesome death in front of many members of the community ensues community panic. This scene serves to heighten to the audience that if even a young boy gets killed and a dog (pippet) earlier, that truly no one is safe adding to the unpredictability and fear to the movie. Again, the attack is expertly crafted.
The aspect that makes this movie beyond a simple monster movie is the interaction and characterisation in the domestic environment. We get a real sense of a small town Ameircan island community, the movie looks at all members of the community, the fishermen, council members,and island families. The character interaction is realistic and the main characters were tremendous. Chief Brody, played by the excellent actor Roy Schieder- is the typical everyman hero. His wife, Ellen (LOrraine Gary) was effective in an understated role. Brody feeling community pressure not to close the beaches for longer than 24hrs, brings in a Shark Expert, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss). AN instantly likable character creates a tremendous bond with the Chief and a humorous interaction between the two. When the Shark attacks again, during the 4th of July celebration, Brody brings in Robert Shaw as the colourful shark fishermen to kill the Shark. The 3 main characters are simply scintillating together. Even scenes which don't include the shark are fascinating. Robert Shaw is wonderful at portraying an over-the top colourful Shark fisherman and creates an immediate distrust to Hoopers upper class upbringing: "U have city hands Mister Hooper, U've been countin money all your life!" Hooper replies, "Hey, i don't need this Working class hero crap." This brings an immediate tension when they go on the small boat. Brody terrified of boats and the water and Quint's controlling nature with Hooper being sidelined.
One of the best aspects in the film is the characterisation of the Quint character, in his USS Indianapolis story. One of the most fascinating speeches in any moment in modern cinema. And we see the 3characters all bond. Probably one of the most famous jump off your seat scenes is the scene when the Shark emerges from the water unexpectedly after Brody threw chum in the water. Brody aghast staggers backwards claiming in a classic understatement "We're gonna need a bigger boat!" The scenes on the boat are the most fascinating examples of all elements of classic cinema techniques at its absolute best. The movie mixes adventurous, swashbuckling daring- do, to pure thriller horror.
The final minutes of the movie are terrifying, Hoopers dramatic escape in the cage, to Quints gruesome demise to Brody's heroic last ditch one- on- one with the killer shark. Brody's classic "Smile you son of a B...!" blowing up the shark by shooting the air tank- is a rousing end to not just the greatest horror film ever made; but the greatest film ever made.
The storyline of the movie is loosely based on true events of Sharks staking its claim on one area and developing a taste for human blood.
The storyline follows a fictitious community known as Amity Island, in the New England area. Local Chief of police Martin Brody locks horns with the local Mayor, whom refuses to heed the claims there is a Shark. The mayor (Murray Hamilton) wants to keep revenue for the town so to keep people swimming in the local beaches for their event in the 4th of July. IN a memorable moment, the Mayor backs up the reasoning "...we need summer dollars... If the people can't swim here, they'll happily swim in the beaches of Cape Cod, Long Island." Martin retorts, "Yea, but that doesn't mean we have to serve them up a Smorgisbord!" the Mayor memorably then replies-"It's all psychological, U yell Baricuda people say 'huh,' 'what?'; U yell Shark, and we have a panic on our hands on the 4th of July."
The opening to the movie is arguably the most powerful opening to a movie ever made. A beach side party, encourages a guy to go over to a girl Chrissie Watkins, whom immediately decides to go for a midnight swim, the boy follows and passes out at the beach side due to alcohol-the girl soon realises she is alone in the water. At this point with expert milking of tension, the camera does a sharks POV beneath the girls legs, treading water. The camera gets closer, the music gets louder, then as we cut to a close up of the girls face, we see her feel the tug from below as she is dramatically and terrifyingly dragged left and right before she is finally pulled under for the final time. The primal fear of what is unknown in the water, is one of the factors that makes that scene so effective.
Meanwhile as the evidence points to a shark attack, the community mayor has none of it until the next attack, an attack on a young boy on a raft -the gruesome death in front of many members of the community ensues community panic. This scene serves to heighten to the audience that if even a young boy gets killed and a dog (pippet) earlier, that truly no one is safe adding to the unpredictability and fear to the movie. Again, the attack is expertly crafted.
The aspect that makes this movie beyond a simple monster movie is the interaction and characterisation in the domestic environment. We get a real sense of a small town Ameircan island community, the movie looks at all members of the community, the fishermen, council members,and island families. The character interaction is realistic and the main characters were tremendous. Chief Brody, played by the excellent actor Roy Schieder- is the typical everyman hero. His wife, Ellen (LOrraine Gary) was effective in an understated role. Brody feeling community pressure not to close the beaches for longer than 24hrs, brings in a Shark Expert, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss). AN instantly likable character creates a tremendous bond with the Chief and a humorous interaction between the two. When the Shark attacks again, during the 4th of July celebration, Brody brings in Robert Shaw as the colourful shark fishermen to kill the Shark. The 3 main characters are simply scintillating together. Even scenes which don't include the shark are fascinating. Robert Shaw is wonderful at portraying an over-the top colourful Shark fisherman and creates an immediate distrust to Hoopers upper class upbringing: "U have city hands Mister Hooper, U've been countin money all your life!" Hooper replies, "Hey, i don't need this Working class hero crap." This brings an immediate tension when they go on the small boat. Brody terrified of boats and the water and Quint's controlling nature with Hooper being sidelined.
One of the best aspects in the film is the characterisation of the Quint character, in his USS Indianapolis story. One of the most fascinating speeches in any moment in modern cinema. And we see the 3characters all bond. Probably one of the most famous jump off your seat scenes is the scene when the Shark emerges from the water unexpectedly after Brody threw chum in the water. Brody aghast staggers backwards claiming in a classic understatement "We're gonna need a bigger boat!" The scenes on the boat are the most fascinating examples of all elements of classic cinema techniques at its absolute best. The movie mixes adventurous, swashbuckling daring- do, to pure thriller horror.
The final minutes of the movie are terrifying, Hoopers dramatic escape in the cage, to Quints gruesome demise to Brody's heroic last ditch one- on- one with the killer shark. Brody's classic "Smile you son of a B...!" blowing up the shark by shooting the air tank- is a rousing end to not just the greatest horror film ever made; but the greatest film ever made.
Jaws: The Revenge
(1987)
Arguably the worst film ever made
28 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I would like anyone to present to me, a greater scale of difference between the greatest film ever made in Jaws, and the worst film ever made in ...the revenge. This film within the opening minutes, commits the ultimate sequel sin-it kills off the youngest Brody boy, Sean- as seen as the the little boy in the first 2films. If Jaws fanatics don't get up and leave at this point- it gets worse- our hero Chief Brody is now deceased!! Apparently by heart-attack. So what a start, this leaves us with two members of the Brody clan remaining- Widow Lorraine Gary, and her son Michael, now a marine biologist in the Bahamas. This event of Sean's death forces her to flee the shores of Amity Island and head for her son 2000 miles away in the Bahamas. The despicable opening to the movie suddenly now takes a bizarre and utterly ludicrous twist. Sharky, revenging the death of it's fellow Sharks by Mr.Brody- wants to eat all Brody's and intends to stop at nothing to do so. This shark obviously catches wind of Ellen's intentions to flee the area, and the Shark sets off to follow her. I mean it. A STALKER SHARK! (He would have been just as well getting out of the water, and knocking on her door.)
So as she heads off in the plane, our Shark follows the plane all the way from New England to the Bahamas. The viewer has now realised all common sense behind the movie has been thrown out the window and we are left with a super-shark with powers to follow a plane at maybe 500miles an hour and travels 2000 miles following this plane. How? no idea ask the script writer and the producers. The utterly bizarre becomes a comedy from here on in. Michael Brody, a well meaning kid in the first 2, has turned into an utter idiot. He discovers the shark is in the Bahamas but for some twist of reasoning decides not to let anybody know-putting everyone in his family in jeopardy. He is married but seemingly cares nothing about the wife, as he spends his occupation money and time putting his efforts watching sea snails. His wife announces to her mother-in-law she plans on having an active sex life with him, why does she do that? no idea...ask the writer. Meanwhile we are introduced to Michael Cane whom is furiously trying to woo Ellen Brody.
Every so often the episode of Family Affairs, is interrupted by a rubber 'fish'and the attack scenes are minimal, Lorraine Gary gets attacked, but get this-it was all a dream!!So what little of the shark we do see is in fact a dream- uh-huh great...
The director really has little interest in the shark, every so often it rears it's rubber head but if you look closely we can actually see at times the railing that follows it along. All this clearly gets too much for Lorraine Gary, as she clearly can't take any more of the film thus she rushes onto a boat to find the shark herself. Cue, the most bizarre and worst ending in cinema history. En route she is intercepted by her incredibly inept son, who plans on sending electric impulses on the shark to electrocute it. Sure mate, whatever just do it so we can end it OK?! Ellen's over 50's love interest Michael Caine gets his plane capsized and attacked underwater by our shark. But good news, he emerges from the water unscathed with a newly pressed shirt, perfectly dry emerging form the water declaring "that thing had bad breathe" or something to that effect. Yes, that is the depths this film has reached. We see the shark proceed to bite the boat and the poor Bahamas guy, the only half decent guy in the movie-but he serves a purpose to put the electric thing in its mouth. The next few minutes sees the shark have seizures and leap high in the air balancing on its fins- think 'free Willy' on Ecstasy.Ellen Brody then proceeds to have flash backs of scenes she didn't witness-such as the "Smile u son of a B..." scene at the end of the original- At this point the shark leaps up perfectly straight for an extended period (U know for a shark thats meant to to have superpowers, it seems pretty dumb)but regardless it lets out a dinosaur roar-i'm not kidding- and balances on the water like a trapeze artist, long enough to get lampooned by the boat. Inexplicably it um....blows up! Yep, it blows up and Mike's mate the Bahamas guy comes out alive and well. And that my friends is the tale of the most bizarre movie i have ever witnessed. Joseph Sargeant the director clearly took what Spielberg said in an interview about the demise of the shark in the original the wrong way- Spielberg said "if you can carry the audience for 2hours; 2minutes of the sharks ending won't make a difference." Sargeant decided that if he can carry the audience for 2minutes he can throw-the craziest most bizarre things for 2 hours! like a roaring shark who balances on its fins and stalks a family while having psychic connections with the woman. Not only that the shark can blow up when it gets stabbed! Sargeant might need to review his logic!
So as she heads off in the plane, our Shark follows the plane all the way from New England to the Bahamas. The viewer has now realised all common sense behind the movie has been thrown out the window and we are left with a super-shark with powers to follow a plane at maybe 500miles an hour and travels 2000 miles following this plane. How? no idea ask the script writer and the producers. The utterly bizarre becomes a comedy from here on in. Michael Brody, a well meaning kid in the first 2, has turned into an utter idiot. He discovers the shark is in the Bahamas but for some twist of reasoning decides not to let anybody know-putting everyone in his family in jeopardy. He is married but seemingly cares nothing about the wife, as he spends his occupation money and time putting his efforts watching sea snails. His wife announces to her mother-in-law she plans on having an active sex life with him, why does she do that? no idea...ask the writer. Meanwhile we are introduced to Michael Cane whom is furiously trying to woo Ellen Brody.
Every so often the episode of Family Affairs, is interrupted by a rubber 'fish'and the attack scenes are minimal, Lorraine Gary gets attacked, but get this-it was all a dream!!So what little of the shark we do see is in fact a dream- uh-huh great...
The director really has little interest in the shark, every so often it rears it's rubber head but if you look closely we can actually see at times the railing that follows it along. All this clearly gets too much for Lorraine Gary, as she clearly can't take any more of the film thus she rushes onto a boat to find the shark herself. Cue, the most bizarre and worst ending in cinema history. En route she is intercepted by her incredibly inept son, who plans on sending electric impulses on the shark to electrocute it. Sure mate, whatever just do it so we can end it OK?! Ellen's over 50's love interest Michael Caine gets his plane capsized and attacked underwater by our shark. But good news, he emerges from the water unscathed with a newly pressed shirt, perfectly dry emerging form the water declaring "that thing had bad breathe" or something to that effect. Yes, that is the depths this film has reached. We see the shark proceed to bite the boat and the poor Bahamas guy, the only half decent guy in the movie-but he serves a purpose to put the electric thing in its mouth. The next few minutes sees the shark have seizures and leap high in the air balancing on its fins- think 'free Willy' on Ecstasy.Ellen Brody then proceeds to have flash backs of scenes she didn't witness-such as the "Smile u son of a B..." scene at the end of the original- At this point the shark leaps up perfectly straight for an extended period (U know for a shark thats meant to to have superpowers, it seems pretty dumb)but regardless it lets out a dinosaur roar-i'm not kidding- and balances on the water like a trapeze artist, long enough to get lampooned by the boat. Inexplicably it um....blows up! Yep, it blows up and Mike's mate the Bahamas guy comes out alive and well. And that my friends is the tale of the most bizarre movie i have ever witnessed. Joseph Sargeant the director clearly took what Spielberg said in an interview about the demise of the shark in the original the wrong way- Spielberg said "if you can carry the audience for 2hours; 2minutes of the sharks ending won't make a difference." Sargeant decided that if he can carry the audience for 2minutes he can throw-the craziest most bizarre things for 2 hours! like a roaring shark who balances on its fins and stalks a family while having psychic connections with the woman. Not only that the shark can blow up when it gets stabbed! Sargeant might need to review his logic!
Batman
(1989)
The definitive Super Hero Movie
27 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Probably the greatest Superhero movie ever made, definitely the best Batman movie ever made. First of all, Tim Burton adds an incredible Gothic dark menacing outlook to the franchise. It isn't just a compliment to the comic but adds its own mark on the Batman form as we know it. Look at the camera work and the lighting and the symbolism with he use of music in the film, its pretty fascinating. On a less technical scale and on a more enjoyment based comment- Jack Nickolson (probably my favourite actor of all time) was simply outstanding as the Joker, he was deadly he was demented and he was absolutely hilarious! His one-liners are tremendous-" As my surgeon once said, if you have to go...go with a smile!" Genius, or this one is also a corker "Wait till they get a load o' me! Batman although upstaged by the joker is equally effective, Michael Keaton is the real deal- THE Batman! Keaton portrays the character of Bruce Wayne as a nervous man often driven by revenge keeps himself very much to himself. The Batman character is not one of brute strength but canny ability to get out of harmful situations as and escaping with excellent gadgetry and armour, transportation and martial art skills. The ending where he's hanging from the church but uses his utility belt to get him out of danger and put an end to the joker by trapping the jokers leg on to the goblin, inducing the Joker to fall via goblin statue puts into words that very point(symbolism?). Best moment in film the line "what are you? says the gangster. Batmans reply- "I'm Batman!" At the beginning where he arrives from the shadows. Or the ending where he stands on the rooftops acknowledging the signal is fabulous! Overall, sticks to the comic well, and adds real depth in character, and a heck of a lot of menacing, dark fun!
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