v-square Reviews

A Pyromaniac's Love Story (1995)

Not as bad as the title would lead you to think

[7/10 · 9 July 2002]

I caught the film as a lark while looking for movies under 100 minutes. This is a nice little contemporary fairy tale about love. There is an artificial quality to the performances which I think is intentional, but that's offset humor in the script and an artful score. If you liked "Moonstruck" check this out.

Croupier (1998)

Tight, Dark and Literate

[8/10 · 13 June 2002]

A very nice little film. It has touches of Noir and of course a great twist. Disregard the star ratings in the newspaper (two in my local rag) and catch this one. It's great fun and make nice use of Hemingway and a voice over telling the story of the "novel.".

Memento (2000)

A Film Noir for the new generation

[9/10 · 6 May 2002]

This is a great little film. If you are a fan of Film Noir it is a must see. This is not the film to watch when you in the mood for mindless entertainment or want to put something on in the background while you surf the Web. The structure is unique and you need to pay attention in order to pick up on the many twists.

This draws from so much other material: "Last Year at Marienbad," "Rashomon," "Out of the Past" and "Lady in the Lake", yet is unlike ANY of them. It clearly brings the dark themes so common in Film Noir into the 21st century to get more explicit in this regard would lead to spoilers. It's great to see a film this unique (and one that works so well) in this age of the Entertainment-Corporate-Complex that recycles old TV series and comic books into endless sequels.

Free Enterprise (1998)

Funny for those in the know

[6/10 · 22 April 2002]

This is an amusing film but I think much of the humor will be lost on those that don't have in-depth knowledge of Star Trek. No you don't need to be a Trekker but you should know some of the plotlines and many of the characters from the original series in order to pick up the references that pepper the dialogue. Also check a summary of "Logan's Run." William Shatner is just great with tongue firmly in cheek playing himself.(His story requires no knowledge of SciFi) Be sure to watch the closing credits as they are full of more jokes and Trek references.

The Impostors (1998)

A very funny film that reflects the golden age of Hollywood

[8/10 · 21 April 2002]

A very amusing film. It has elements of the Marx bros, Laurel and Hardy, Grand Hotel and Some Like It Hot. Really an homage to the screwball comedy films of the 30's that were chock full of great character actors. The plot is skimpy at best but half the fun is guessing the previous credits for the great cast. Look for an un-credited performance by Woody Allen as a distracted Broadway director.