prunky Reviews

Collateral (2004)

great movie with late night feeling

[23 August 2004]

I saw this movie during the day. With the high def video feel, it had

the feeling you get when you are in a foreign land, can't sleep, and

end up watching the hotel tv into the wee hours. The grittiness of

the video contrasted nicely with the sleek LA imagery, though I

can't remember banal LA ever looking like this. NYC, Tokyo, yes.

but not LA. Just shows you what skillfull cinematography will do. I

don't know why this movie has a slow following, it really took me by

surprise. Suspend credibility, it has plot holes but the

coincidences, the connection with different people in different

places coming together and only the audience aware of the

coincidence was a rewarding sensation we often don't get from

movies. Extremely well done movie and I highly recommend you

see it. An added bonus was the trailer was nothing like the movie.

Its awful when the preview is a mini movie, why watch when you

know the story already? The rest are spoilers. I thought Cruise

played well. He flipped between charm, introspection, and cold

efficiency so well that you get an idea what a pure psychotic thinks

like. I believed he had every intention of killing Max in the end,

never mind his charm.

The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

Really amazing movie

[24 July 2004]

This was an extremely tight, intelligent, chaotic, visceral ride. NOT

a thrill ride, you don't sit there with a half smirk watching I Robot,

marvelling at the CGI, you sit there slack jawed, amazed and

cringing. Its always an anxious feeling to watch a sequel and

wondering if it will live up to expectations. Well, this one did, and

incredibly so. I love it when the movie whirls forward on rails along

and dares you to keep up. If you have given up on film, see Bourne

Supremacy. I finally walked out of the theater for the first time in

years, feeling refreshed and changed. Isn't that what good film is

supposed to do? Transport you out of your mind for 2 hours and fill

you with an experience you won't get anywhere else? I loved it that

for once in foreign locales, the actors were local with real

languages and not fakey translyvanian accents (like 'Dim Viesal'

XXX:) they picked up watching old Boris Karloff. Having been and

lived in all those countries, the writer obviously did his homework

and know of the subtle quirks, like the Italian style of security, the

Russian usage of Mercedes Benzes and blue lights, the short

cropped hair and militia everywhere. AWESOME. It was interesting

that I confused Karl Urban as a authentic russian, he really had the

expression (but maybe too emotional) down tight. Thank you, Tony

Gilroy and Paul Greengrass!

I, Robot (2004)

Poor writing - cut and paste

[23 July 2004]

Spoilers. I am a big fan of Will Smith. So I am saddened with this

movie. Why don't these screen writers try writing something

original these days? Why spend millions on CG when they use the

same tired old formulaic plot twists? 1- The chief tries to keep cop from doing his job. 2- The chief takes cops badge. 3- The chief finds out too late cop knew what was going on.

There was absolutely no spark between any of the characters,

especially between spooner and calvin. The scene where he

describes the little girl in the car, Calvin looks like somebody

stepped on her toe to get some feeling out of her. Did anybody

really care if any of the characters got hurt? I mean did anybody

have any feelings other than when you play a video game? The

jokes were lame, the 4 spoons of suger in coffee didn't do

anything for me, I don't know why Spooners stuck in the past with

his retro converses, the relationship between him and grandma

looked fake, I never felt any emotion towards the actors. They

seemed to be in a hurry to get the thing behind them and pick up

their paycheck.

The dorky scenes in the tunnel, the tunnel is packed solid with

cars until the scene where the robots jump on his car. The robots

moved just like the CAD animations I played on my workstation 10

years ago. It all looked cartoony especially the long shots.

The movie just didn't flow. Its entertainment but it still should be

great entertainment. Sad.

Cold Mountain (2003)

My butt knew better.

[22 February 2004]

This review has spoilers. I went with high expectations. Its funny,

but my butt seemed to know what would unreel. An hour into the

movie I was squirming uncontrollably, I kept thinking "this movie

had such Oscar hype" but the storyline was kvetched together. I

mean, what was the point? It started well. The protagonists had

halos super polished, Jude apparently has no flaws, and Nicole

frees her slaves. Did things happen just like that in those days?

And she looked so good in this movie, you could see the makeup

trailer in the reflection of the church window. The scenes with

Kidman and Law seemed so self-serving and phony. Can't we

watch actors 'acting' like real people, or do their agents prevent

that in their contracts? I think Nicole used the greatgreatgrandaddy

of her oscar dress-designer to sew the duds she wore in the

movie. Two useless moments could have been cut, the Ribisi

scene, and the old lady with the herbs and british accent who

brings our hero to life. I waited patiently for an ending that tied it

together but the feeling I got was that in the end, it was just so cold

up there in the mountain someone said, lets just have a lotta

horses whinnying and shoot at will, use improvisation. It appeared

to me Minghella probably didn't know Inman was shot until the

editor told him.

Monster (2003)

Disappointment.

[1 February 2004]

I knew little about Monster, and the last Theron movie I saw was years ago and I didn't recall what she looked like. I heard good things about the movie and I went with open expectations. Hear me out.

1-Unless it's scifi there's no reason to slap gobs of latex on your face to portray a character. If you acting truly is skillful, it will convey the character. I don't think Streep would have used facial appliances.

2-Gestures, chainsmoking and frowning do not a performance make. The attempt to physically transform Theron was distracting.

Look ma, she looks and fidgets just like Wuarnos! See Cage in Adaptation. The story and acting was so convincing you forgot the 'twin' was fx trickery 5 minutes after his first appearance.

3-What was the new direction Monster took? Its still MovieMaking 101, writer/director must humanize the main characters so the audience will feel for her. Do you really believe she was this 'tortured' individual with her horrible childhood in most of the scenes when she killed? Do you really feel she was sobbing buckets when she murdered the last guy? That her gun, accidentally slipped from her bag, so she had no choice (poor thing) but to kill him? If you do, you've been as manipulated by the writer/director as cleverly as a cold-blooded killer can manipulate you into the secluded woods.

To portray Charlize as this insensitive, remorseless killer without makeup, now that would have been a good start to see how good her acting and story holds up.

PS after my viewing I did a little www.work on the real killer to see what liberties the writer took with the facts. I'd recommend you do the same.

The Last Samurai (2003)

I didn't see Dances with Wolves...

[1 February 2004]

So I won't make comparisons with that movie. I thought this is a well-done film. Sympathetic, and respectful of our culture. Thank you Hollywood and Zwick and Logan from a 'nihonjin.' I thought Cruise did a great job. I didn't see any of the reckless grinning that he known for, and he did a great portrayal of a disillusioned but fierce and loyal soldier. And this was exactly how many of the samurai felt in that era. This was a great fantasy film about a time of great change in Japan. You have to remember this is a fairy tale, but the Meiji Restoration was a turning point in Japan's history that I am happy that Americans can be better aquainted with. And the love scenes were well crafted, no obligatory sex scene (thats absolutely impossible for a gaijin and nihonjin in that time period!!!) It was a stretch to see Cruise handle a katana so well, and I was prepared to laugh going into the movie, but the story really turned me around, it was so well done that it felt natural. I highly recommend you see it in the theatre, don't waste your experience on TV.

Target (1985)

A favorite for many years. Gem. Spoilers.

[21 October 2002]

What I like about Target, is its lack of contrivances. I thought it might be a credible portrayal of real characters. Yes, if I were a CIA agent wanting to forget my past life, I'd create one 180 degrees opposite. If I had a dad as boring as that, I'd also find it hard to relate. There aren't a lot of conventional thrill/action situations here, its emotional and psychological, and most of it works very well. I personally like the fact the violence is minimal in this film, but there is enough to keep you chilled. The cocky kid who 'knows' better than dad, resolves his feelings and relationship in the end while growing up, may not be fully developed, but I got the idea.

The script was penned with 3 writers, no wonder some of the storyline may stray. But I liked the clear relationships between Hackman and Dillon and found them likeable and believable, never mind the mother gets lost somewhere.

To compare this to a film in a similar genre, I'd go with Harrison Ford in Frantic, not the Eiger Sanction?!. I also want to complement Penn (or whoever is responsible) for using native speaking French and Russian actors, I get very irritated when productions in foreign countries use American actors with SO fake accents. Native tongue productions always convey a verite/credible feel.