Identification Reviews

Gangs of New York (2002)

Very good

[9/10 · 28 February 2005]

Gangs of New York... where to start? The film is good in a sense I didn't expect. I was thinking... Leonardo DiCaprio, big-budget history piece, full of inaccuracies. In fact, the entire film walks and moves like a ghost story. The images are so powerful, and always remain true to very feel of the world. It feels like we aren't watching a film, we're watching lives.

That's the truth of why this film affected me. Not only was it extraordinarily well-made (using modern hints to imply the brewing war) but there was a deep sorrow to it. The tribal battles of ancient warring nations, in a roiling furnace of tradition and furor, were overtaken by the New World. That's what makes it so terrible--- it isn't that so many men and women lost their lives to self-made war; it's that they are totally forgotten. The gangs of New York were overtaken by the city; lost to the corruption they created. As Amsterdam says in the end of the film: "It's like no one will ever know we were ever here." The real tragedy is shown in the final sequence... the gravestones fall over and, with years, the truth is made clear: no one cares about the "hands that built America", or what those hands broke creating.

That's the deeper meaning. The ancient feud of rival tribes is swallowed up by the progression of the era. Bill the Butcher and Amsterdam can war with each other all they want... but they lived and died in the past, the land they worked so hard to make their own taken up by the cops and professional fire departments and city sanitation services.

I think that--- and the amazing use of image and music--- is what really got me. Nine out of ten. (It would be ten straight, if there hadn't been so much bare breasts in the film. That bugged me.) Definitely see it!

Narc (2002)

Incredible

[6 November 2004]

Narc was very, very fast-paced, and at times a little hard to follow... but whatever confusion I felt only added to the stark surrealism of the story. Shots of blue and gray and black, full of dark lines and sharp corners while always real somehow appeared to be strange and deep and profound. The story is gritty, filthy realism--- but I felt as though I were stepping into a completely amazing hallucination.

The acting and everything is brilliant but what really gets me is how well the feelings and the visual come together. The realism and blood becomes something deeply emotional.

I recommend it... unless you want to be all happy and sunny, in which case Narc is not for you.

Fight Club (1999)

Very cool

[8 October 2004]

Fight Club is a bizarre film. There's no other word for it. Visually, Requiem of a Dream is probably just as weird, but when it comes to the message and how it makes you feel, Fight Club is in a class by itself.

It's hard to review Fight Club without spoiling it, but I'll do my best.

Edward Norton's character (nameless, I believe, throughout the film) is the epitome of the young corporate man. He works for a sprawling company, has an expensive condo, nice clothes, and an average routine. But life is boring--- full of anonymous people, hotel rooms, Ikea, and TV dinners.

Enter Tyler Durden, a bizarre and addictive man who lives in a terrible house and is the absolute antithesis of corporate America. He is intriguing, amazing, dangerous--- everything Edward Norton's character wants to be. Enter Marla, a strange young woman he meets in the support groups he attends (through a false name and a pretend illness). Enter Fight Club--- a world of beating the snot of each other, a man with man boobs, and driverless, careening cars in the rain.

This is Fight Club, a movie that will grab you around the throat and keep you awake at night.

I'd see it again. And if you're absolutely comfortable with your life, you should see it, too. Bizarre and amazing and incredible in every aspect, Fight Club is probably one of the most addictively insane films I've ever seen.

A Walk to Remember (2002)

Sweet

[3 October 2004]

A Walk to Remember isn't exactly the best film ever. The characters aren't perfectly layered and developed (the cool guy who gets into trouble, and the virginal sweetheart who can sing, for example). The storyline isn't flawlessly transitioned (I had trouble figuring out how long this all took place until the end). And yes, Mandy Moore is the lead.

But I don't care. Realistic or not, it's an incredibly sweet film and I loved it. It's how we feel romances should be, not how they are. That's what's so daydreamy about it, and that's what I liked.

If you're a romantic, this one's for you and you'll probably get a little emotional. If not, you'll walk away feeling like this was the most horribly predictable tearjerker ever. It's up to you.

Big Fish (2003)

Magic

[10/10 · 13 August 2004]

At first, I was hesitant. I wasn't quite sure what to make of the previews. I knew time transition was involved and I'm not a huge fan of that.

But let me tell you this: I was enthralled.

The film was beautiful. The motions and scene shifts, the colors, the vibrancy, created a magical sort of feeling. Billy Crudup, handsome as ever, seemed perfectly made for the role of pissed-off son. His wife Josephine, seemed a little one-dimensional in the beginning, but by ten minutes into the movie I was in love with her, too.

*SPOILERS HEREIN.*

Albert Finny's Edward Bloom was spectacular. His portrayal of a dying, pouchy old man, coming to the end of a life, was so accurate I felt myself wishing for a different ending. And Jessica Lange, as his beautiful wife Sandra, practically stole every scene she was in.

But the best part of this film wasn't the scenery, or the characters, although both were phenomenal. It was the plot, the mystery. One man's life--- born and raised in a small Alabama town, going through the war, meeting his wife in college, building a family together, working as a traveling salesman in the south--- a fairly mundane life, at face-value, became something transformed. He told the tales of his life with unbelievable characters. People he'd met throughout his travels became giants, conjoined twins, werewolves, witches, the entire amazing gamut. I was transfixed with the story, reading between the lines, trying to see the truth in the magic mythology. I was right there with Will Bloom, the son, as he tried to sift through the entrancing tales and see the truth.

When the reality was finally told, the characters revealed to be who they really were, I was blown away. Staring, wide-eyed, a smile on my face, I felt like I was coming to the end of a beautiful, circular mystery, filled with light and sound and magic and surreal images.

I thought his stories, the little anecdotes he told, were actually pretty entertaining. The one about the crow's dream telling him his father was going to die was hilarious. While definitely a lie, I found myself laughing.

This film is excellent. It's a little weird, if you aren't used to inexplicable things, but I loved it for that very reason.

At the end, I was disappointed to see the credits roll.

My recommendation: See it if you think you can appreciate strangeness and beauty together. (Helena Bonham Carter is magnificent, and Danny DeVito's great, too.)

The Grid (2004)

Not awesome, but fairly entertaining

[20 July 2004]

The Grid is a show starring Dylan McDermott and Julianna Marguilies, among a host of other characters, who are involved in an interagency counterterrorism team, trying to apprehend a cell based in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and New York.

The plot is relatively average (reminded me of the Siege, although I thought the Siege was much, much better), but it moves along really well. I wasn't bored.

The visual effects are really cool--- the opening credits are a neat trick, and the scenery of different countries appears to be quite accurate, which you don't often get with TV shows.

The characters are somewhat one-dimensional (one woman is very driven and very rude, another is vengeful after a friend's death, and one is a good man who is unwillingly drawn into a terrorist scheme) but they're still entertaining. This isn't exactly award-winning, nor is it worthy of the Top Five TV-Shows Of All Time, but I had a good time. As long as you don't judge too highly it's a pretty good few hours.

SPOILER:

The only thing I didn't like was the angst regarding 9/11. They make reference to this *all the time*--- Dylan McDermott's character had a friend who was killed at the World Trade Center and he's very bitter about it. Granted, this was a horrible thing that happened, and victim's family and friends have been through a lot of suffering--- but I get it, you don't need to tell me five times. That's really my only complaint.

Bottom line: Pretty good. Not totally awesome and cool and addictive, but pretty good.

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

One of the best films I have ever seen

[10/10 · 26 May 2004]

Personally, I believe this film is one of the best and most moving films ever made. I went into the theater with an open mind. I told myself, "I will watch and not judge; if it's truly horrible and totally inaccurate, it's only a movie."

I needn't have worried.

Historical accuracy is almost perfect. The entire film appears to follow exactly as I knew the tale. Visually, it was beautiful. From the "curse" children (who made me startle) to the storm above the crucifixion, from the image of Satan in all demonic brilliance, to Mary herself, everything seemed to glow with the radiance that comes from truly beautiful film-making. I had tears in my eyes from the heart wrenching hurtfulness of it. It was the first time I ever cried in a theater, and that says something. It made me realize, seriously, how much Christ went through in that day. Yes, it's extremely graphic, but it needed to be seen. It made the audience sit up and watch.

I am not a devout Christian, I don't attend church more than maybe once a year, and yet, this brought home with a true awakening what I really believe in, when I believe in Christ. I walked out of the theater a changed person. It made me want to make it worth it.

In regards to the controversy, atheists, non-Christians... everybody has their own right to opinion. I've read so many comments on here about people who were unaffected... people who thought it was horrible... and, of course, people who thought it was a plague upon the Earth, made by evil egotistical ********. (I am tempted to think such people would never recognize a good film, ever.)

The bottom line is, Passion of the Christ changed my life, spiritually, emotionally, artistically. In every sense, The Passion of the Christ is everything a movie should be. The acting is powerful, the scenery is perfect, the score is flawless, the historical truth is as good as creative license allows, and it affected me deeply.

My only word of advice: You only need to see it once, believe me.

Ten out of ten. This is my first ever vote and comment on IMDb. I just had to say something about this film.

Even if you aren't Christian, this film will be worth seeing.