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davehbrown
Reviews
Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (1986)
Movies don't get better than this.
Castle in the Sky is my favorite Miyazaki film, and is as good as movies can get. The story is very accessible and straightforward. A young boy sees a young girl floating down from the sky. From that point on, the two of them share the coolest, wildest adventure that you can imagine. Actually, it exceeds anything you can imagine. They get chased by bad guys, hook up with air pirates, and eventually arrive at the legendary castle that floats in the sky.
What I really love about this movie is that most of it takes place in the air. The flying machines, and fortresses, and warships were wonderfully inventive.
The animation is not at the same level of brilliance of Miyazaki's later releases, but it will still take your breath away in places.
If you love good old fashioned action adventure films, this is one that you have to see.
Ong-Bak (2003)
Definitely lived up to the hype. Great old school martial arts movie.
Ong-bak is a really good martial arts movie, done the way martial arts movies were in the good old days. The plot is paper thin. Crooks steal head from statue in village. Young man from village goes to Bangkok to retrieve it. Kicks the living crap out of many, many people while doing it. Tony Jaa's martial arts skills are amazing, and you get to see a lot of them. The finale is the way a martial arts movie is supposed to end. Lots and lots and lots of fighting on a cool looking set. My only criticism of the movie is that it could have been directed better. There are several times where Tony performs a really cool stunt, but then we have to see it repeated from a different angle. You can get away with that once or twice, but six times in a row was a bit much. The chase scene with the taxis wasn't anything special either. They should have just had more fighting. But if you're a fan of old Jackie Chan movies like Drunken Master, Project A, and Police Story, watch Ong-Bak. You'll love it.
Prince of Darkness (1987)
One of the best horror movies ever made.
This is my third favorite John Carpenter movie, behind Escape From New York and Halloween. This movie scared the living kaka out of me when it came out in 1987. It didn't help that the return trip to my car from the theater took me through several deserted, dark alleys.
This movie had me in two states throughout the whole thing. Cringing in my seat or jumping out of it. There were so many cool scenes that just sent shivers down my spine: The girl typing "I Live" on the computer. The dream messages that were being sent from the future (especially the last one). The homeless zombies standing watch outside of the church. I had nightmares about some of that stuff.
This movie never got the credit it deserved. I consider it one of the ten best horror movies ever made.
Killer Party (1986)
Complete garbage!
I made the huge mistake of going to see this movie when it came out in the mid-80's. It's a teen slasher flick, but a really bad one. The plot and characters were nothing but a bunch of clichés that any ten year old kid with cable has seen dozens of times already. How bad is it? A bunch of kids have a party at a house, but there's a killer in the house knocking them off, one by one. Ooooh, original. There was no suspense, gratuitous sex, or decent gore to offset the boredom either. By the middle of the movie people started walking out of the theater. Those of use who stayed just spent the rest of the movie mocking it. After about the third, bloodless killing, I remember someone wondering if this thing was rated G.
Michael Moore Hates America (2004)
Excellent commentary on Moore's distorted view of reality.
I really enjoyed this film. Michael Wilson has put together an excellent documentary that presents Michael Moore for what he really is: A charlatan who doesn't have any interest in presenting the truth about the issues he addresses in his so called "documentaries", but instead, uses various tools of deception to present his very inaccurate view of reality. In the process, Wilson also presents his own view of America, one that is definitely much more accurate and positive than whatever America Moore lives in.
The film is definitely an attack on Moore, but not a vicious one. Wilson emphasizes humor throughout most of the film, and even the parts that aren't humorous are there to allow people who were used by Moore explain how they really felt about the footage of them that ended up in Moore's movies.
There are three different themes that are weaved together throughout the film: The deceptive techniques that Moore uses in his films. Moore's hypocrisy regarding his view of himself and America versus, well, the truth. And Wilson's attempts to obtain an interview with a very evasive Moore.
Exposing Moore's deceptions consumes the bulk of the 93 minute runtime. The misrepresentation of Charlton Heston's NRA speech and Moore's free gun from the bank from "Bowling for Columbine" are presented. NRA representatives and three employees from the bank are given a fair opportunity to explain their side of the story and give the truth behind the footage that ended up in the film. There are interviews with various people who comment on Moore's techniques and what they feel about them. Not surprisingly, most of the comments aren't too positive. Then there are the times that Wilson turns the camera back on himself. Twice, he finds himself in a position where he has used the same techniques of deception that Moore regularly uses in his films. His producer calls him on it both times. Particularly hilarious is the scene where Wilson has to reveal the title of his movie to director Albert Maysles, who he has been interviewing. Wilson is squirming like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar.
Wilson has plenty of fun contrasting Moore's egotistical image of himself with his embarrassing and often contradictory statements in various interviews. The highlight of this is a hilarious segment with Moore expressing his opinion about Bill Clinton in the early stages of the 1992 presidential race.
Then there are Wilson's visits to places and with people that have been so negatively depicted in Moore's movies. We get to see a Flint Michigan that's not exactly the apocalyptic wasteland that Moore wants everyone to believe it is. And in the most powerful segment of the film, Wilson visits a soldier who served in Iraq and came home alive, but missing both his arms. The soldier is not happy at all about the footage of him that was used in Fahrenheit 9/11 or how his feelings about his service were misrepresented by Moore. Wilson provides the soldier an opportunity to show what his life is like now, with his wife and children, and express how he really feels about what happened to him in Iraq, what it means to him, and what he sees for his future.
Finally, there are Wilson's attempts to get an interview with Moore. With the exception of a confrontation between Moore and Wilson at one of Moore's speaking engagements, this was the weakest theme in the movie. I just didn't find Wilson's "adventures" in locating Moore that funny or interesting.
But overall, Michael Wilson has created a film that he can be very proud of and that I am very glad he made. Michael Wilson, if you are reading this, thank you for making this film. Your America is my America and it's a wonderful place to live.
Enterprise (2001)
The worst Star Trek incarnation ever.
Enterprise is a series that had great potential, and I really had high hopes for it. I watched all of season one and although nothing really impressed me (I can't remember one episode that I would even remotely like to see again), I figured that they were just laying the foundation for something really cool to start up in the second season. Man was I wrong. I made it through a few episodes of the second season, but then they had that completely moronic one where the captain's doggie was sick and I lost all interest. Apparently, quite a few other viewers did too considering how bad the ratings tanked.
It is unreal how many things were done wrong with this series:
The unoriginal story lines are just recycled from old episodes of the first series and next generation... or sometimes from Enterprise itself. How many times are they going to do "two of the main characters go on a mission, get into trouble, and bond with each other while figuring their way out of trouble"? Four times a season is a little too much guys.
There is a complete unwillingness on the part of the producers to commit to a long term story. Everything has to neatly fit into a one hour episode that has no relevance to any episodes that come before or after it.
All the "cute", "clever" ways that the writers try to sneak some present day social issue into the story by giving us the "witty" futuristic version. For example, T'Pol gets mind melded against her will. Golly! I wonder what that's supposed to represent?
The characters are inconsistent and change their behaviour based on whatever the writers decide they need for that week's episode. Is captain Archer going to be intelligent and responsible this week, or will he act like a 6 year old throwing a temper tantrum?
Way, way, way too much use of time travel and all the illogical outcomes that result from it.
The constant need to hook this series into every other Star Trek series that's been aired. I saw the episode where they encountered the Romulans and I know there was an episode where they encountered the Borg. The also had the episode where they discovered the technology that would eventually be used as the holodeck. It's like the writers think that they can just throw in random references to the good Star Treks and people will forget that they're watching the bad one.
And finally, my biggest annoyance, is the constant assumption that cheesecake equals ratings. It's sweeps month! Let's put T'Pol in skimpy clothes! Put Hoshii in 'em too! I wonder how many times in this series that something is going to get onto the ship that triggers T'Pol's mating cycle so they can have her wiggle around the floor for 15 minutes.
This series should have been cancelled in season 2. If the ratings decline continues for season 3, it definitely will be.
Basic Instinct (1992)
Good for some laughs, but mostly just stupid.
This film had me laughing quite often. I really don't think I've ever seen a film in which the cops were portrayed like such complete morons. Realistic cops would have chewed up and spat out Sharon Stone's idiotic character in a second.
Unless you just have to see Sharon Stone nude, don't waste your time with this garbage. Go rent Fargo and see how an intelligent depiction of a murder investigation can be done.
Spider-Man (2002)
I was very underwhelmed by this movie.
Hmm. After all the money this thing took in at the box office, I was expecting something a lot more impressive. The movie was badly paced (stuff happened WAY too fast) and populated with a bunch of characters that I didn't care about. During the "touching, emotional" scenes, I just felt bored. The acting ranged from novice to just plain bad: "I swear on my father's grave, Spiderman will pay for what he did." As far as comic book to movie adaptations go, this thing was a little better than, say, "Judge Dredd" or "Batman and Robin". But it fell way short of "Blade", "Men in Black", or "Superman".
Dog Soldiers (2002)
A very good action/horror film.
I really enjoyed this movie. If you like the Alien/Predator/Thing/Tremors style of movies, you should enjoy this as well.
So what made this film work for me? It was well paced, and moved along at a good clip throughout, it was never boring. The characters were all likeable. Unlike most horror films, the characters never did anything that was blatantly stupid. The action as good, well filmed, and well edited. The movie never took itself too seriously; there were some pretty funny jokes sprinkled throughout. The final joke at the end was very funny.
Swiri (1999)
I wasn't impressed either. Pretty average movie.
I'd heard a lot of hype surrounding Shiri, and was hoping for really good action flick... something fresh and uniquely stylish, the way Hong Kong action films were in their heyday.
Shiri didn't even come close.
It had a pretty good "action movie" story. City cops trying to catch dangerous terrorists. Not the greatest story, but not terrible.
But everything else was REALLY familiar, average, and unimpressive. The action scenes mostly involved people running around shooting guns while the camera was shaking like crazy to try and make it all seem tense and exciting. But it all seemed very improvised. It didn't seem like any serious thought had been put in the shots. Not at all like the gunfights in an early John Woo or Ringo Lam film.
The movie also ran too long. It especially drags at the end. The film needed to be 20 minutes shorter.
It's not the worst action movie I've seen, but I definitely don't understand how it received all the hype that it has.
Lat sau san taam (1992)
The best action movie ever made.
I love this movie. This is heaven for an action movie fan. From start to finish, bullets flying everywhere, bodies dropping everywhere, nobody ever reloads, and there is almost no plot.
Of course this wouldn't work except the action scenes that chew up the majority of the screen time are so brilliantly choreographed and filmed that you forget all about silly things like plot and realism. John Woo is a genius, and this film shows the true extent of that. Hollywood action directors think that someone walking into a room and shooting someone else is a throwaway scene that's barely worth the time to capture on film. They only give their attention to the big special effects scenes. John Woo sees the potential in EVERY scene and films to bring the maximum amount of excitement from everything.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Good looking, but too predictable.
This was a very unimpressive offering from Disney.
Although it may sound laughable to criticize a summer animated release from Disney for being too predictable and paint-by-the-numbers, that's pretty much my biggest problem with this movie. It's basically the same story that was told in 1999 with Tarzan. Just replace Tarzan with Kida, Jane with Milo, and the muscled, evil hunter with the muscled, evil submarine captain. This wouldn't have been too bad, but unlike Tarzan, Atlantis doesn't seem to have any interest in making you care about the characters or what happens to them. Also, the scope of Atlantis is too large. There are many characters and everything that happens to them is really too ambitious to fit in 90 minutes. The result is that the movie races as fast as it can through each predictable plot point so it can tie everything up nice and neat at the end.
I do have a couple of good things to say about it. The animation was great. Very detailed, colorful, and imaginative. An excellent blend of CGI and traditional cel animation. It's everything I've come to expect visually in a Disney motion picture.
And I found a bit of the story enjoyable as well, mostly in the first 30 minutes. I remember there were several quick visual jokes that I laughed at.
Too bad that it had to fall off so badly in the last hour.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
Stunning visuals, but a weak, cliched story.
FF, The Spirits Within, is an impressive demonstration of what can be accomplished today with computer animation. I found myself completely immersed in the movie's gorgeous action scenes. At times, completely forgetting I was watching computer animation. The highlights for me were the opening in New York, and the getaway later on in the futuristic humvee.
Unfortunately, the movie is also a demonstration of how great visuals can't make up for a really weak, unoriginal screenplay. The cliches just didn't stop:
Beautiful heroine, unexpectedly reunited with past love interest during the middle of crisis.
"Race against the clock" (with countdown timer!) by heroine to save hero from death.
"Good", white uniformed government research team vs. "bad", black uniformed military team.
Government research team and military team arguing their positions in front of an "esteemed council".
The heroine recounting the death of a young child, all while sappy piano music plays in the background.
"Bad" military general who intentionally allows the enemy to penetrate defenses, loses control of the situation, and utters the cheesy line, "What have I done?"
Prerequisite love scene between hero and heroine, just minutes after each has witnessed the horrifying death of several friends.
In the end, what could have been an impressive sci-fi movie is just reduced to a long demonstration of what the very talented people at SquareSoft are capable of. Maybe next time they'll spend less time worrying about making the CGI countdown timer look realistic, and more time questioning the existence of the countdown timer in the first place.
Pure Race (1995)
A bad movie, but a great "making of" video.
If you have the opportunity to rent the DVD of this movie, then I definitely recommend it.
The movie alone is bad. Terrible acting. A boring, cliched plot. The action scenes were decently entertaining, but obviously very low budget.
However after you have seen the movie, the "making of" interviews on the DVD are great. These guys had almost no budget to work with, and what they went through to make this movie is impressive and hilarious.