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Reviews
The Hours (2002)
Best film this year..and last year!
I really didn't know what to expect from this movie. After all, we've all heard of Virginia Wolfe, but who can name one of her books!!!! Well now I can and I know a little more about her thanks to this wonderful movie. It doesn't miss a beat. It engages you from the opening credits. Beautifully filmed and so well edited. Great soundtrack...and then there's the acting!!! Talk about an ensemble cast!! ( I know it's a hackneyed expression...but how else can I describe it) There are people who have walk on parts who deserve an Oscar!! I expected Ms Moore and Streep to not let the side down, and they don't.(Julianne Moore should get the Oscar for this one..) They bring tears to your eyes. But the suprise for me was Ms Kidman. She shows depth that I hadn't given her credit for. And Ed Harris...take the Oscar home... This movie left me stunned and I had to compose myself before I left the show, hardly believing that I had the good fortune to stumble into the theatre on a boring Monday and find this gem of a film !!
Pearl Harbor (2001)
My mouth was open for the entire movie........
My mouth was open for the entire movie ..... it was that bad.
This movie is a total disaster. Nuff said! Apparently I need four lines for this review, but I can't say any more..
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
see it in 70mm to truly appreciate this masterpiece
I had the pleasure to see this masterpiece in 70mm in Londons' Odeon, Marble Arch some time in the 80's. This really is the only way to see this movie. Watching it on TV doesn't quite cut it. I understand that it is being shown at some I-Max cinemas so if you get a chance....
The movie has some of the greatest cinematography ever, and deservedly won the oscar for Freddie Young. Some of the scenes are breathtaking. There are scenes lasting several minutes when there is no dialogue!!! just jaw-dropping scenery. Imagine....there are actors in front of the camera and there is nothing being spoken...sometimes for minutes on end.. the mind boggles!!!! The part at the well, when Omar Sharif first makes his appearance coming in from the desert like a mirage, is one of the most audacious pieces of filming that I have ever seen at the movies. But it only truly works on the big screen. I think it is well to remember (not to overstate the obvious or sound pompous!) that this movie was made for the cinema, not Television!
Peter O'Toole has never been better He is quite brilliant!! Nuff said!
Every actor does a great job, although I'm not sure that Alec Guinness was quite right for his part. No matter. The movie comes together seamlessly, without a single miss-step. Some people have criticized it for being overly long.... but I was sorry when the lights came up and I had to leave the Cinema. I even went back to see it twice....
I think if I were pushed to put my money on the table, I would have to say that it is the greatest big screen movie ever: and, in my (very) humble opinion, David Lean is the greatest director!!
Sexy Beast (2000)
A great blag movie
After reading some of the earlier comments, it seems that many people didn't follow the movie. That's understandable as those heavy London accents were even hard for me to follow after 12 years away. I think a lot of the humour was very British. Sometimes even the way the word F*** is said can amuse a Brit, but to most Americans and Canadians, it would be nothing more than unnecessary profanity. I lived in South London for 34 years and not only does this movie accurately represent how a lot of Londoners speak (Up the Old Kent Road anyway) but I've met a lot of characters who aren't that much different from those portrayed here.
So that observation aside I will say that this is a great blag movie. I can't fault any of the characters . People like this exist in real life. That life in a villa on a scrubby dusty Spanish hillside is the paradise a lot of working men and women dreamt of when I was younger and a lot of them went there. So its spot on as far as that goes. The movie isn't perfect; the job doesn't seem so difficult that there's only one man in the world that could carry it off, but if you go with it and just watch the great acting particularly from Ray Winstone as 'the hero' Gal. Ian McShane was menacingly superb as Teddy Bass. I enjoyed this movie very much. It's funny in a very London working class way and if you can follow whats being said and get the dark, very British humour, then you will enjoy it too.
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
I loved it!
After reading some of these reviews I guess you have to ask yourself why do you go to the movies?
For myself I have to say the number one priority is to be entertained, then I suppose to be told a story, and I suppose somewhere way down the list is to be given a history lesson. It seems to me that the makers of this movie were trying to do the number one on my list, and they succeeded. It's well written, well acted, funny and sad.....Shakespeare in Love is all of these things. From the opening scenes to the credits I was entertained and I left the cinema feeling good. So what do I care about historical inaccuracies in a movie that isn't even trying to be so...So the costumes weren't accurate for the time period...The historical reality is that we still can't be absolutely sure who William Shakespeare was, or even whether he wrote all of the plays attributed to him. The movie doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is...Entertainment. If I go to see a movie like, Saving Private Ryan, I expect it to be within the realms of some historical accuracy, because that is the purpose of the movie.
Well done to everyone involved in making this movie for keeping me entertained and therefore happy for two hours!
So... I loved it. One of my favorite all time feel good movies!!
Das Boot (1981)
Probably the best movie about the second world war..ever
This is it. The definitive movie about war. Gritty, sweaty, scary, tense, claustrophobic...... its all here in spades. Watch it (with sub-titles) back to back with The Cruel Sea. It doesn't get better.
Probably the best movie about the second world war ever...
The Cruel Sea (1953)
one of the best movies about war at sea
Although I've never experienced war at sea or anywhere else for that matter, this I believe is probably nearer the truth than 95% of those other movies out there. There isn't a lot of action in the movie, which may sound like a criticism, but isn't! The movie portrays life aboard ship that almost seems mundane and boring, but this heightens the action sequences to a level of excitement rare in a war movie. It seems very real. I suspect that there are many ex-servicemen and women who would recognise the months of tedium punctuated by those few hours of horrific warfare. The movie succeeds on many levels. Great location footage, with a documentary feel, (although we have to forgive the occasional exploding plastic model ships) Jack Hawkins does some great acting as Captain Ericson, almost bringing tears to my eyes after an incident depth-charging a supposed submarine. Somehow, the movie just feels right, from the start, to one of the best endings I've ever seen on film. A great companion movie to 'Das Boot'