bcigor Reviews

Human Nature (2001)

Oh Come On, this one is great

[10/10 · 1 July 2006]

I don't know what's happening with the votes on this movie. It IS really great. May be people just get offended by lots of nudity in this picture? Why to bother? It's VERY thought-provoking, extremely smart, funny and in a same way sad. I prefer it over Eternal Sunshine sometimes. Really great story about how hopeless we all are. A bit farce, a bit comedy, and great philosophical meaning. Why don't we live in forests? Why don't we try to be free? Why do we live in this world of steel and plastic? Just think about what questions do Kaufman movie rise.

Being John Malkovich .. is pretty shallow, not strong work. I still adore it, but it's worst Kaufmans work for me, though it's extremely original.

Adaptation brings out greatest thoughts about movie-making, about human relations, about creativity and Hollywood, about mainstream and real art. And the funny thing Adaptation even mocks about itself. Great script.

Eternal Sunshine is mainly about love, destiny and memories. Nothing else there. Though i have to admit it's a perfect script.

Human Nature is an anti-human, Greenpeace-pro movie... till the very end. It mocks humanity sometimes, but mostly talks about how self-important we are, how ungracious to the nature around us. But the end ... Well, wont write spoilers here.

This movie is a skeptical answer for all those hopeless romantics out there. And i think it's a great symbiotic relationship. Romance and skepticism.

Time Bandits (1981)

Triumph of Imagination and Creativity

[10/10 · 11 December 2005]

There are some really visually amazing movies. They do not have a good story, they are not that rich with special effects, but they are so unreal and beautiful that despite all their bad parts, they just grow on you.

Time Bandits - is one of this movies. A great imagination by Terry Gilliam and ex-Python Michael Palin, who wrote the script to this modern fairy tale with satiric sparkles in it.

Of course, this movie is great for kids. They'll love it for its imagination, that drives away from the real world to fantasy. But still there are a lot of smart jokes or even not jokes in it. Adults will possibly love this movie too, if they are at least have a 1 millimeter in the head, that is still owned by a child. Because it's very nice to see main actors jumping off from one historical period to another, meeting some wonderful people.

I loved jokes in this movie. It starts from credits. You see 'John Cleese', 'Sean Connery' and etc in the list but ... none of them is a main character, and all of them are appearing for a very brief period of time in the movie. For John Cleese (who is playing Robin Hood) it's just 2-3 minutes. For Sean Connery a bit more, but still not enough to put him into starting credits, ignoring all the Real small actors. That's a joke, as far as i see. Next joke are parents. It's not even a joke, it's a satire on the modern technology and television. I love the part when the TV showman asks a question "the name of what famous movie star begins with an 'S'?". The biggest laugh i've head was without doubt The Most Fabulous object in the world. What IS it - you'd better find out yourself, but i find it the most satiric and yet real part of the movie. The "Supreme Being" part is great.

But Time Bandits wouldn't be a great movie without terrific acting. So here we go. Ian Holm as Napoleon is fantastic. His obsession with him being so small is great played. The most wonderful character in the movie. Robin Hood by John Cleese is the best Cameo in the movie. GREAT part. Sean Connery ... well i never liked him, but still he plays good in Time Bandits despite all the "new movies" with him. Michael Palin is fantastic. "I must have fruit" scene ... uh. Better see it. And of course the Evil and Supreme Being. They all deserve their 5 out 5. Or 10 out of 10. Doesn't matter.

The last part is coming. The movie itself. It's meaning if it has one. Well, this one doesn't try to show us the meaning of life, but still asks a few questions. Mainly about god, television, a little social stuff and some history things. The main part in Time Bandits isn't the meaning of it all though. It's the visuals. Lacking of special effects is completely replaced by the great vision of Terry Gilliam. Fantasy is all the way around. The "Fortress of Ultimate Darkness" is one of the greatest sets i've ever seen. Madness, creativity and imagination - that's the plot of the movie. Terry Gilliam has a great vision, though a bit distorted and not "for everyone", but still it deserves to be seen.

Time Bandits is some sort of an easy-going, simple fairy tail with some satiric and philosophical things deep inside. You will lose nothing if you won't notice them. It's not about this things, but it's about a journey to an unknown, an adventure in the deepest part of your imagination. Great Movie.

Oh and by the way, produced by George Harrison. And he wrote a song to Time Bandits. So, The Beatles fans - go and see it as well.

Brazil (1985)

The Sh*t - We're All in it Together

[10/10 · 11 December 2005]

First of all, Brazil is the Best Movie i've ever seen. Nothing else could reach it and even come close. Before I saw it, i was always struggling about what movie i should "give away" the first place in my imagined movie-chart, but now i'm 100% certain.

What is Brazil? It's hard to say. Everyone will find something different in it. As for me, Brazil is the movie i'll never forget, nor it will fade in my mind. Camera-work, sets, visual "design", attention to small details, love and passion of Terry Gilliam - all this advances demolished all my other ideals, other "perfect movies".

It was a year ago. I went to a store, scouting for any DVD i could possibly buy. And there i saw Brazil. The same evening i watched it, and it left me speechless, bringing a new era in my life - Era of Terry Gilliam (and Monty Python).

The more you know about Brazil - the more you're shocked. You think: "it's Amazing. It's at least 50M$ spent on sets for sure." And then you find out, that almost ALL the surreal locations were shot in the real world. Sets are amazing despite the fact they are not sets at all.

Acting ... well it's even more amazing than the sets are. No one except Jonathan Pryce could ever play Sam Lowry the way he did. Robert De Niro, Bob Hoskins, Kim Greist, Ian Holm, Peter Vaughan, Katherine Helmond are great. And Michael Palin, my favorite Python (no offense to others, especially Gilliam, but Michael just acts too well), is playing the most dramatic and in the same way - comical role in his career. Fantastic Performance.

What I love about Brazil: First of all - the ending. It's an absolute beauty. To lose your mind, to escape in such a horrible way, to humm "Brazil" sitting amidst torture chamber - it's something that can't be described until you see it.

Second - is the ending as well. But from the moment Sam is being caught to the very end including credits. This 20 minutes i can re-watch every day. As well as other 120. But the last part is a masterpiece inside a masterpiece. The charges, that are simultaneously nonsense and so normal, so usual, so common. The GREAT scene with Mr Helpmann. And ... Torture Chamber. From the moment you'll see it - there is no way you could possibly imagine another one. Dreadful, full of darkness and fear, it's fantastic how Gilliam could get an idea of shooting Torture Chamber in such a place. Scene with Palin and his mask is an absolute best - one of the best scenes in the movie.

Complete fascination brings to me the whole sequence between Harry Tuttle being consumed by the paperwork. The next scene - "Mother! Mother!" how i like to call it. IT IS the best scene in the movie. I just love every little second of it. There is nothing to say about it (at least nothing's coming to my mind), but THIS is the best scene in the movie. However, the whole movie is perfect... so don't judge me.

The scene after the "Mother! Mother!" ... well i still can't name it. Possibly "Running in Dream", but it'll be too shallow. I couldn't invent something deep, so i call the movie part between "Mother! Mother!" and end credits pretty simple - "The End". And it shows every dream of Sam and a LOT more. It's fantastic. The final shot of Sam still leaves me breathless and speechless.

Third part i like in Brazil is ... Dream Sequences. Absolutely surreal, they are describing all that you saw or will see in the movie in unusual, beautiful way, full of fantasy and imagination. And i praise a "nightmare of reality" moments, when Sam wakes up and all dreams are lost. The greatest part here - i begin to doubt whether the Reality is real. Dreams have way more sense, than moments after them. Especially the singing girl.

The Last, Fourth Part i like in Brazil is Everything else. Every single bit of a movie. Every frame, every moment, each small detail, each dark joke and light thought. Incredibly, despite the bad ending, Brazil final seems very good. This was the movie that made me dream to go completely insane. It's a tragic ending. But i feel happy for Sam. Because HE could escape from the cruel world, full of blood, hate and neglect. The cruel world,based on violence, bureaucracy and technology, where freedom is being completely destroyed, where terror is being done not only by terrorists but by the government itself. Just like ours.

For me Brazil is a prophecy. Prediction of a future, that was made 20 years ago and in the XXI century became a reality. "Where do we live? In hell or something?" I don't know if Terry Gilliam wanted to ask this question when he made this movie. But now it rises in the first minutes of the film, and keep growing till the end, bursting your soul to pieces.

The more i watch Brazil, the harder it is to understand the world, that surrounds me. Nonsense happening all the time is not Brazil, it's Earth. Our mindless society, that deserves to be escaped from. Hate, Jealousy, Money, Ordinarity rule this world - not imagination, not originality, not love. That's not a good place to live for Sam Lowry. And for all of us. But, no matter what happens, we will still live in this society, accepting the rules that are set. Life is a piece of sh*t, when you look at it. BUT! Always look on the bright side of life.

I still can't believe that there could be a Genius that made a PERFECT MOVIE that fits every single my desire. Thank you, Terry Gilliam for the Best Movie in my life.