Will-84 Reviews

8MM (1999)

Joel Schumacher is redeemed!

[5 July 1999]

Now this is brilliant. A dark movie that delves into the evil of mens souls and the gut wrenching horror of a seedy, disgusting underworld that exists right under your very nose. This film was not well received at all, mostly due to the fact that Shumacher does such a great job at taking us right along with Nick Cage into the deep, rancorous pits of hell. Never in the history of film has a film been so dark, so moody and so terrifying just over the details of one single murder. Many have compared this to Seven, but what Seven does with six grisly, very graphic murders, 8MM does with just one you never see. This film also attacks American cinema at its very roots. Most plots now a days run in formulaic fashion: Bad guys kill/maim/harm the loved ones/property/way of life of our hero, the hero loses something, then gets back who S/he is by finding said bad guys and killing them. The concept of vigilantism is rampant in most of todays movies and America has been desensitized to it, this movie is a wake up call. See this, but not on a date. You just won't get any.

The Ugly (1997)

Pure brilliance in filmaking and editing

[10/10 · 5 July 1999]

Wow! This film is strange in format in that the first time you view it, it can leave you a little confused or flustered and can come off as just another horror film. But the beauty is...it isn't. This film was designed to be watched multiple times with the use of the pause button. As odd as it seems, Scott Reynolds has left numerous clues (read easter eggs) throughout that completely explain the ending and all the events that lead up to it. Between subliminal images hidden in the rapid cuts and well placed scenes that seem extraneous at first, The Ugly delivers with a brilliant storyline that makes perfect sense as long as you devote the time to a second or third viewing. It's well worth it, every time.

Irma Vep (1996)

Sexy, funny, smart, sad, EXCELLENT.

[10/10 · 22 May 1999]

Unlike Scoopy, I say this movie is WELL worth the effort and time, especially if you're familiar with the French New Wave. Jean-Pierre Leaud, one of the biggest stars of the period (he was the little boy in Francois Truffaut's seminal "The 400 Blows" [no pun intended]) is hilarious as a caricature of Godard in particular and French filmmakers in general, and the rooftop interview with (the stunning) Maggie Cheung refers to both Godard's "Breathless" and, indirectly, Fellini's "8 1/2." Though it pokes good fun at the pretentiousness of the French New Wave, "Irma Vep" is also a tender elegy to a time in which movies were actually viewed as art, as something that really MATTERED. Add to the humor and intelligence some really witty direction, superstylish cinematography, and a slew of beautiful people, and you got yerself a postmodern masterpiece and just maybe one last, great film of the New Wave.

Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore (1996)

Punk-rock coming-of-age story. Great.

[8/10 · 21 April 1999]

A sex-positive feminist punk-rock coming-of-age story. Way lo-fi and very charming. The performances are uneven at times but the script is really funny and rings very true. It's the most unsentimental and realistic portrayal of sexual awakening that I've ever seen. Like a low-budget "Slums of Beverly Hills," only far better.

Faust (1994)

The best film of one of the world's best filmmakers.

[10/10 · 16 April 1999]

Jan Svankmajer is one of the best animators of all time and one of the best artists of the 20th century. There is simply no one else making animation like this: disturbing, hilarious, dreamlike. "Faust" is one of the best films I have ever seen, combining the visual sensibility of Salvador Dali with the philosophical sensibility of Mikhail Bulgakov. Powerful, surreal, and more intelligent than any animation anywhere.

Careful (1992)

Perversely original

[9/10 · 16 April 1999]

Best described as a combination of "The Wizard of Oz" and "Eraserhead," "Careful" is a wacked-out tale of repression and unnatural desires, set in an alpine village where no one can speak too loudly for fear of starting an avalanche. Hilarious and sinister, "Careful" is also one of the most visually arresting films I've ever seen, with impossibly rosy-cheeked characters inhabiting a hallucinatory dream world of intentionally fake sets and intense easter-egg pastels. Watching it you will feel like you've stepped into the middle of a Ricola ad gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Swimming to Cambodia (1987)

unconventional, hilarious, riveting.

[10/10 · 16 April 1999]

This movie is totally amazing, one long, mind-blowing story that is by turns riotously funny and utterly chilling. It will restore your faith in the power of a single human being to transport the audience to a whole new place, time, and mind using just WORDS.