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Dexter TCN
Reviews
Dreamcatcher (2003)
What is the point?
I used to read King's books.
If you did, this film will seem as natural as daylight, if you didn't then you most likely will detest it.
It was an enjoyable piece....but you have to ask....how much has he stolen from his own previous work?
The Body? It? The Tommyknockers? All here and all stolen.
The main trouble with translating a King book to screen is character development and tension. What works in a 300 page book does not work in a 2 hour film. (Unless you have a genius like Kubrick directing)
King films are like martial arts films...only fans will appreciate them....every now and then one comes along that transcends barriers. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Shining.
I enjoyed this film....King films tend to have a Walton Mountanish heroism about them, but you can forgive him for that usually. What you cannot forgive him for is his persistent inabilty to oversee good translation to the large screen. You sometimes wonder about his artistic credibility when he sells out his work so cheaply sometimes.
We can talk about the underlying racism another time.
Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (2002)
A stunning mix of genres
I saw this by chance on late night TV a while back and was mesmerised by it.
Sadly, I feel that putting it out to the cinema is a waste of time as the mass market just does not exist.
It should have gone straight to video/dvd so that it could be experienced again and again by those who would appreciate it. Like me.
25th Hour (2002)
The Norwegian Blue of films.
This film is not resting. It is dead.
Spike Lee is a world class film maker, and in this bird cage he has assembled some wonderful actors who act wonderfully. For nothing.
It does have one MAJOR flaw, however. If you do not have Dolby 5.1 surround sound when watching it, it will sound randomly awful because you will not hear the proper effects.
Everyone in this film pulls their weight and deserves kudos for ability. But questions need to be asked about its raison d'etre. None of the major characters are really capable of arousing our pathos.
Acting: 9/10
Directing: 9/10
American flags per scene: 9/10
Reasons for making/watching/recommending: 1/10
Wolves of Wall Street (2002)
Bad Movie Warning (spoilers)
OK...first thing: Eric Roberts is in this, so that should ring alarm bells.
2nd thing: This is a werewolf film but you won't see anything hairier than some designer stubble. Absolutely no werewolves here. In fact apart from a (much repeated) gratuitous breast shot this film struggles to make its 15 certificate in any sense. In fact it mostly just doesn't make sense anyway.
3rd thing: scariest of all, all the leading men seem to wear the same underpants when they strip off. I found this extremely un-nerving.
The only thing worse than the acting is the plot. A barmaid takes out 3 werewolves in about 3 seconds with...a pen. The moon is so close to Wall St that you expect it to come crashing down. Said moon is ALWAYS in the same place and ALWAYS full. (Handy for werewolves I suppose)
This movie struck me as being very homo-erotic (Eric Roberts, what can you say).
Avoid or watch only when wasted for fun.
All in all this is the 2nd worst film I have seen this year.
(Reign of Darkness in case you ask)
The Ninth Configuration (1980)
Not a movie, a theatre production
This movie is, of course, excellent. Enjoying it does not mean you accept it's conclusions.
The bedrock of this film is the consistently high quality of acting from the crew.
It also shows one of the few memorable performances from Mr Keach. Decades ago he played Hamlet in what was said to be the best acting in a generation. Sadly he turned to the dark side, succumbed to drugs and drink and a prodigious talent was lost.
Scott Wilson, Jason Miller etc all pull their weight here, in a film that was obviously designed for the stage. Indeed all of the 'special effects' are of the poor standard we would expect from stage, not screen.
What caught me was the intelligence of the script...hilarious, cutting, witty, profound and with all the depth you can handle.
I would only say this: they don't make them like this anymore.
Black Hawk Down (2001)
This is one of the worst films I have ever had the misfortune to see
This film is a disgraceful piece of propaganda. I lost an awful lot of respect for Scott after watching this movie. Anyone who doubts this should look at the facts of what actually happened. Easily done by using a search engine (I use google) with the words black hawk down george monbiot Or just by reading the historical facts, which takes a lot longer.
I don't mean to antagonise anyone, but propaganda films are the scum of the earth. This film is an absolute disgrace, a perversion of history. (Keep in mind it is meant to be a historical film.) Nothing more to say.