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smegger68
Reviews
V for Vendetta (2005)
I have run out of superlatives
I thought hard about how I could write a review to do this film justice and in the end I admit I copped out and will merely direct you to what everyone else has said, because really I only wanted to add a couple of things.
This is probably the best film I have ever seen and may well be the best film ever made. Really, it is that good. You owe it to yourself to go see this, it just might change your life.
My only hope is that Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman are properly recognised for their achievements here, along with the Wachowski brothers.
If Hollywood is capable of making movies of this quality, how come the rest of the time they produce so much rubbish? It infuriates me that we only see a film of this stature every 10 years or so when the talent is so obviously there to create them.
Maybe V should direct his attentions next to the Hollywood Studios? I'd pay money to see that sequel ;-)
Deadly Species (2002)
Deadly Boring
I don't know where to begin with this movie, it was that bad. The story? Scientists looking for lost tribes in Florida(!) stumble across unscary big toothed monsters in the Everglades. Monsters munch scientists assistants. Bad guys get their come-uppance. Good guy scientists get away. ZZZzzz.
With a premise as poor as that it would take some great performances to lift the plot. Predictably enough, you don't get any. The leads were so wooden I had trouble telling them from the trees at times. The support cast fade into ambiguity almost immediatly.
The direction was stilted and amateurish. Gratuitous topless scenes were added for the Lord only knows what reason. The monsters simply ended up looking like guys in rubber suits with halloween masks on - you'd more likely laugh than run if you saw one for real.
Quite honestly, the scariest thing about this movie is that someone paid good money to have it made at all.
Avoid like the plague.
The Human Stain (2003)
Best thing to come out of Hollywood for years
Excellent performances by all involved make The Human Stain one of the best films Hollywood has produced for a VERY long time. I'm almost surprised it got made at all - I mean, an all star cast appearing in a downbeat story about human pain that contains no CGI, no action and a decidedly not happy ending must have been a hard sell in Tinseltown. Thank God there are still some producers out there who want a quality product instead of a quick buck.
Hats off to all the cast, there was absolutely nothing to complain about in any of the performances. Likewise the Direction was low key and tasteful, allowing both the intensely emotional scenes and the few more lighthearted ones to flow naturally.
It seems that some reviewers have missed the point of what this film is about. They lament the lack of a big revelation or a shock secret. Well unfortunatley for them, this film simply tells a story. Sometimes that is all a film is required to do. Like the lives it portrays, this film leaves you with a sense of loss and sadness at what might have been if things had been different for our protaganists. That is what it was meant to do, and that it does stunningly well.
If you like realistic movies about the Human Condition and don't expect a Hollywood ending, this film should be on your must see list. If you prefer your movies to have a feel good message and a 'point', look elsewhere.
8/10.
Biker Boyz (2003)
Biker Borez
I have ridden motorcycles for 16 years now, this film nearly made me want to hang up my lid and buy a car. I wouldn't have believed that anyone could make a film about high powered bikes come over so dull and boring. In the end I was HOPING that 'Kid' would crash and die just so that the film would have no reason to continue and I could be put out of my suffering.
Even 'Torque' is better than this, and THAT has a guy riding a bike powered by a JET engine. Is it impossible to make a real bike movie, with real people facing real situation? Surely it can't be that hard?
Ok, what's wrong with it? The direction is the best thing and that's only so-so. Scenes don't always flow together too well, I suspect the studio cut it for length. The bikes don't seem to exist at all in this film, which is so unrealistic. Bikers LOVE their bikes, and any film claiming to offer any insight into Biker culture has to at least focus on them to some degree. I dont remember anyone talking up their machine once. Likewise the races were drag races - not a corner in sight. Yawn, what does that prove? Not a damn thing other than you have a bigger motor / got a better start than the other guy. Might as well flip a coin.
Finally the acting & story. The whole plot (such as it is) revolves around Kid giving his dad Smoke loads of grief for no discernable reason at all, which culminates in the totally predictable high stakes race at the end. With so little to work with the actors plow through as if they are asleep. As you will be if you try to watch this tripe to the end.
Avoid at all costs - rent a TT video instead and see how REAL bikers race.
My Little Eye (2002)
Derivative and boring
I was hoping for good things from this film, not least because of the director being a Welshman!
Sorry to say I left the theatre glad it was all over. *SPOILERS*
The film falls down in 3 ways. Firstly, the camera work comes over as Blair Witch meets some colour film stock so much that you cant help but draw comparisons. The final scenes of the film are filmed in green screen infra red light. We saw this one in Silence of the Lambs. Both of these other films executed what they were doing better than 'My Little Eye', and had originality to boot.
Secondly, the film is so slow its ridiculous. Nothing really happens for the first half of the film and most of the conversations revolve around petty arguments or what they are going to do with their money, none of which sustains any interest.
The main problem for me though was that none of the characters have any redeemable qualities at all, in fact you dislike them more and more with every dull boring word uttered from their mouths. By the end of the movie I was just praying for the bad guys to kill them all so it would just be over.
When the lights came up there was no excited chatter between patrons that you normally get in theatres after a movie. I think most people were just glad to make it to the end without falling asleep.
Dont waste your time on this movie. 3 out of 10.
Pumpkin (2002)
Genre Breaking Stuff
Love it or hate it, this film is gonna make you think. It starts off in typical teen movie fashion with spoiled teens in a sorority house showing the audience how vapid and shallow they are - they worry nothing about the problems of the real world and concern themselves only with having the right charity and new girls to beat their arch enemies in the S.O.Y. contest. At this point you settle in for some 'Animal House' or 'Revenge of the Nerds' type action.
** Spoilers **
Cue Pumpkin Romanoff, a 'challenged' athlete. He enters the life of Carolyn, one of the sorority sisters and an unlikley connection develops. This budding relationship is painted with such bold strokes it almost borders on farce and you begin to wonder where the director is taking you. However, at no time is Pumpkin the butt of any joke. Instead, we see the supposed 'normal' people around the couple presented as the joke, from the mild (Pumpkin's overprotective mother) to the grotesque (Carolyn's Sorority sisters) all of whom try to break the couple up for their own ends. You begin to wonder who is actually challenged at this point.
The second half of the film meanders a little as Carolyn lurches from being in love with Pumpkin to deciding she wants her old life back a couple of times. Eventually the situation comes to a head with Carolyn's spurned jock ex-boyfriend actually beating up her new disabled one in a fight outside the spring formal dance. I could not believe what I was seeing, this single scene is so daring and so open to criticism from more conservative quarters that I actually found myself clapping and cheering the directors. Pumpkin prevails in the fight by chance and the ex is so distraught he promptly has to go out and crash his car in a huge explosion.
Since this crash is clearly meant to imply he dies (the car explodes before it gets anywhere near the ground), but we see him in the next scene merely(!) unable to walk we come to realise that the film is at least in part playing with it's tongue firmly in its cheek. It is using a paint roller to fill in the fine detail that other films would have used a tiny brush for.
Once you get that you are supposed to view the overplayed events with a wry smile, the film snaps into focus and makes its points very well. What are those points? You should probably work those out for yourself but if you want my $0.02, I got a clear message that just because everybody tells you a thing is wrong, it doesn't make it so. Also that if you believe in something, you shouldn't give up on it.
This film is not perfect, for example Carolyns Fat friend is used as a plot device to illustrate how confused Carolyn is when she attempts to set her up with Pumpkin which leads to a row between the friends. We then dont see her again for the rest of the film, which bearing in mind it is telling a story about society's misfits standing up for themselves is a bit of a shame. Many people will simply not get the irony of the film and will feel thay have wasted their time. It just doesn't fit well into any mold you try to put it in. Accept that and you will have a great time though.
I'd give it an 8/10. Bravo Abrams and Broder, I look forward to your next project.
Session 9 (2001)
Great atmosphere, Limp plot
Just finished watching this, have to say i'm a little let down. The build up of the first 3/4 of the film really had me on edge - the location is a directors dream and he made full use of it. Creepy corridors, half seen shadows - this film has it all. This film just drips suspense. The characters are pretty believable as well despite some ham from Mr Caruso, and I was really looking forward to a great twist in the ending.
It just didn't happen. After all that build up, the film goes out with a wimper by employing a hugely predictable plot device and compounds the folly by leaving lots of loose ends unexplained. It leaves the film feeling strangely disjointed, as if Wes Craven finished off The Shining for Stanley Kubrick.
It IS worth seeing, it makes for a good creepy night in with your other half clutching your arm. You'll be scared, just dont expect to be surprised.
Titus (1999)
One of the BEST films EVER
I could just pack a load of superlatives into this comment to say how wonderful I think this film is, but I wont. All i'll say is that if you appreciate truly original cinema done on a grand scale and without fear of criticism for original thinking or commercial compromise, you simply have to see this film. This sort of movie only comes along 2 or 3 times in a decade, dont miss out.