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Reviews
Running Scared (2006)
Entertaining in a very contrived, convoluted and controversial way
I saw this movie today and at the end I felt like I had seen a pretty good movie with very adept cinematography, good performances by all (although Paul Walker is only being a very good version of the same basic guy he's been in all his previous movies) and some well designed and creative action sequences. But then I realized this movie had actually hypnotized me with its fast pace, its flash, pizazz etc. And (in my opinion)I had just been manipulated by one contrived scene after another that were thrown together with the primary goal being a tie between telling a deep story, and exploring the lowest depths of humanity/presenting ultra-violence with the intention of shocking the audience, which is a very manipulative way of keeping us interested. I realized as I walked out of the theater that I had just seen a movie that went from child & wife abuse, to a child seeing horrible acts of violence, to the same child very conveniently jumping into the hands of pedophiles and from Paul Walker blowing people away to playing family man, to chasing after various members of the underworld who, in a very convoluted way, have gotten their hands on what he's after, back to family man, etc. All in all this movie was OK, but flawed in the sense that the most it made me feel was that sick, stomach twist that anyone who has seen the pawn shop scene in Pulp Fiction has felt.
The Weight of Water (2000)
Good story, great direction and exceptional performances
This movie was done with all the craft and expertise that I've come to expect from the people who made it. It attempts to do a very tricky thing like balancing two separated, yet interconnected plots together well. It succeeds overall, although I have noticed with movies like that they try to incorporate too many transitional gimmicks to visually tie the two stories together, and honestly that was the only slight problem that I had with this one. Otherwise it was top notch in regards to cinematography, score and performances (especially Sarah Polley, who should have received more recognition for her brilliant performance in this). It's a change of pace for Kathyrn Bigelow from her other, more action oriented movies like Point Break or Strange Days, yet there are intelligent, subtle, sub-textual properties i noticed in all three. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes any of the actors in it, they are all in top form, and to anyone who likes a nice, character driven mystery that deliberately simmers throughout so that the little flurries of action are more intense and captivating. Good writing, good direction = good stuff. See this movie.
Hotel (2001)
Why would anyone think this is a good idea?
This movie is severely lacking in the artistry that it claims to be all about. I feel it is as artistic as a the so-called art created by people who fling paint randomly onto a canvas or getting on a stage and doing various things to hurt themselves or shock the audience. I can't believe that the people involved with this are the people involved with this. I was deluded just as other people who wrote comments about this movie by the cover of the DVD (don't judge a DVD by its cover I know, but still, what else do you have to go on usually? Besides, its intentionally deceptive in my opinion)which makes it sound like a sleek little independent mystery/horror or something like that. I liked many of the cinematic decisions made in regards to photography and lighting, but these can only help so much. The rest of the movie serves only the purpose of trying (key word: trying) to prove that these actors are truly "artists" and are so adept and creative that they can improvise an entire movie. Not the case here. This is equivalent, in my opinion, to a group of expert, yet overindulgent scientists trying to get their faces on The Journal of Science and instead blowing up the lab. Hopefully this movie will serve an unintentionally good purpose of proving there is a reason great artists like Van Gogh or Monet painted artistic "impressions" of life and the world with some measure of design and structure, a blueprint if you will, and there is a reason why movies need (i'd underline need if I could