BUDDY-19 Reviews

High Tide (1987)

I liked it.

[8/10 · 22 June 2000]

Yeah, it's a chick flick and it moves kinda slow, but it's actually pretty good - and I consider myself a manly man. You gotta love Judy Davis, no matter what she's in, and the girl who plays her daughter gives a natural, convincing performance.

The scenery of the small, coastal summer spot is beautiful and plays well with the major theme of the movie. The unknown (at least unknown to me) actors and actresses lend a realism to the movie that draws you in and keeps your attention. Overall, I give it an 8/10. Go see it.

Get Carter (1971)

Very interesting...

[8/10 · 7 June 2000]

For an American audience raised on the Godfather and Goodfellows, this movie might not be your cup of tea. I'm an American and I did like it, although it does not measure up to the Godfather, which was made just a few years later. I love Michael Caine and many of the scenes were very effective in conveying the mood and grittiness of the characters and settings of Newcastle.

The main problems I had with the film are its pacing and editing. The movie is slow; a lot of panning and a lot of re-tread over the same areas. I don't mind a slow movie, but there has to be more going on then just walking, panning the countryside, panning the bar, panning the train - all in excess. The movie does eventually pick up , but you've got to be patient and I think this is asking too much from many American audience members (this is just a generalization, I know that there are plenty of people who won't mind it).

The movie can be very choppy at times - so much so that you lose the flow and congruency of the action on the screen. Also, Some of the fights and shoot-outs will cause you to laugh because they're so fake. At the same time, there are some really good edge of your seat moments that more than make up for those short comings.

Another thing I find interesting about this movie is Michael Caine's character. I thought he was going to be the brooding, dark, lone badass ala Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson, but there was, surprisingly, a lot of humor and James Bond-style randiness injected into his character. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this stuff and thought it was funny, but it snapped me out of the underworld mood and realistic feel of the movie.

I gave this movie an 8/10 and I only recommend movies to my friends that I rate an 8 and higher. I almost gave it a 7, because I do have some friends who would not like it due to the issues that I mentioned above. Ultimately, for the time period, this movie had some cutting edge stuff that even I as an American can appreciate.

Life Is Beautiful (1997)

Life can be boring!

[4/10 · 18 October 1999]

The second half of this disappointing movie ran like a bad episode of Hogan's Heroes. See Hogan make fun of Sgt. Schultz by translating his instructions into some zany nonsense! See that wacky Hogan using the death camp's PA system to send funny messages to his wife - then here him say "oops they're coming" and run away laughing! See Hogan freely move around the camp with complete carte blanche all the while concealing his little Sgt. Labeau even though he's the only kid in the barracks! See the fun-loving Nazi, Colonel Klink, invite Hogan to be a waiter for an important banquet and then get upset when Hogan doesn't know the answer to a riddle, "Hooooggaaaannn!"

Ok, so Bob Crane does not have the comedic timing of Roberto Benigni, but the shallowness of the story is the same. What started out as a light, funny, pratfall-laden Benigni comedy turned into a pretentious scattershot bore of a movie. The relationship between Benigni and Joshua was as deep as the Three Stooges episode where Curly performs all sorts of silly antics to get a little baby to stop crying.

Really, people, I don't think I'm being too picky here. The acting, aside from Benigni who can be genuinely funny, was awful. The woman who played Benigni's wife delivered her lines as if she was reading cue cards and the little bambino, although very cute, kept looking at his real life mamma or handler or whatever, off camera.

Obviously, I do not reccomend this movie, but if you are in the mood for an uplifting, inspirational and funny film with an Italian flavor, by all means go rent Cinema Paradiso instead.

Hombre (1967)

Highly Entertaining

[9/10 · 20 August 1999]

This movie is amazing! Action, adventure and thought-provoking philosophies on human nature. I don't really care for the title because I think that it scares people away from such a fantastic film. Forget about it, Arnold; no way, Samuel Jackson - Richard Boone is the ultimate Bad-Ass!

She's So Lovely (1997)

She's So Lame

[3/10 · 14 April 1999]

This movie was a big disappointment. It went from having potential to becoming and absurd piece of Hollywood crap. The acting was mediocre at best (with the exception of Travolta)- I counted a half dozen times where Robin Wright's accent changed during the course of the film.

What makes this movie so uncomfortable to watch is that all of the leads are considered fine actors, but they are hopelessly trapped in a boring, ridiculous, confounding movie.

Cemetery Man (1994)

Great Fun!

[8/10 · 16 September 1998]

This highly entertaining little zombie movie from Italy has all the elements that make it a wonderfully dark horror-comedy in the same vein as Evil Dead 2 and An American Werewolf in London.

I probably shouldn't categorize it as just a "zombie movie" because it contains friendship, love and one man's struggle to escape his destiny. It 's not just another empty hack & slash movie with no heart. No, there's clever dialogue and good performances here. For example, the relationship between Dellamorte and his faithful assistant Naghi is both touching and quite funny.

Visually, the film is outstanding. The moody, surreal gothic sets really enhance the fright factor of the movie. There is also some neat camera work that invokes a few "WOW's." There are however a few scenes that are hard to watch that, ironically, don't even involve the zombies (ex: Naghi throwing up on the Mayor's daughter).

Overall though, this movie is FUN! I mean, c'mon: the subject matter is about a cemetary caretaker killing zombies - is this something we encounter in our daily lives? Probably not. So why not make it stylish and funny and something our brains can appreciate - even in it's absurdity.

Go rent the movie. Show it to your friends - they'll recognize "that guy" from My Best Friend's Wedding (Rupert Everett)and say, "I never heard about this movie before - it's pretty cool." Or something to that effect.

*One last comment: I want to marry Ana Fulci (she is the She in the movie).

Clean, Shaven (1993)

Wake me up when it's over.

[1/10 · 14 September 1998]

The acting is dismal (with the exception of Peter Greene), the story is vague at best, and those 80 minutes of run time seem like 80 hours. A few scenes made only to give some shock value to the film are clearly recognized for doing just that. Stay away from this low-budget stinker.