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Reviews
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
The Saga is now imperfect
What's good: At long last the Sith stop being a "Phantom Menace" and actually come out and show their faces. One thing that made the original trilogy so great was the constant presence of a great villain. In the prequels, that villain is greatly lacking, until now. Ian McDiarmid gives a compelling performance, and the scenes between him and Anakin are the best part of the film (could of used more of that back in Episode I).
What's bad: The same big problems as all the prequels. Natalie Portman, though talented, isn't allowed to be. Ewan McGregor is uninteresting. The special effects are sensory overload, and more like a video game. Take for instance the opening space battle (shades of fighting the Death Star). Sure, it's fast and looks cool, but there's no emotion like in the original Star Wars. Yoda is a farcical parody of himself. And my biggest complaint: Lucas is trying to hard to explain things from the original trilogy. I didn't need to know that the force worked by microorganisms. It worked better for me as something mystical and unexplainable. I'd always imagined the Emperor became deformed after years of being too close to the dark side. Now I know it was electrocution. Did I need an explanation for how Jedis can come back from the dead and talk to people in visions? No. The biggest problem is that now whenever I watch the original trilogy I'll remember all of how the prequels say it happened. As such, the saga is now imperfect.
The Forgotten (2004)
What I wish I'd seen instead...
As I was watching "The Forgotten" I couldn't help but wish I was watching a much better movie on memories, say "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". Or a much better movie about alien conspiracies, "The X-Files". Or a much better movie about alien experimentation, like say "Dark City", which is a very similar story but with more action and atmosphere, among other things which "The Forgotten" lacked. Or I wish I was watching "The Truman Show", "Terminator 2", even "Wes Craven's Them", or any other of the countless movies that came to mind as I was watching this poorly executed, highly manipulative waste of time. There were so many moments during this film where I was literally punching myself, not just because of the contrived plot, but for having purchased a ticket to see it.
The Village (2004)
Check your expectations at the door
I don't think it's a spoiler to say there's a twist at the end because we all know that's Shyamalan's thing. At any rate, I think you're overall opinion of this movie will depend on how you feel about the twist at the end. Maybe that's why there's so many 10s and 1s on the board. Either you'll think the ending is brilliant or you'll hate it.
Other than that, it comes down a lot to expectations. When I saw Signs I was expecting something totally different, and walked away disappointed. I think most people felt the same about Unbreakable, even though there's a lot of good to be said about those movies. Even though this movie does have a twist ending, it isn't the Sixth Sense. It isn't too terribly scary either, though it has a few moments. I think if you go into this movie not expecting so much, you'll get a lot more out of it.
I did like the cast a lot. At first I wasn't sure what I felt about Ron Howard's daughter, but she came through in the end. Adrien Brody, as usual, put in a great performance. Sigourney Weaver and William Hurt are also worth mentioning. The dialogue wasn't too bad, and neither was the acting. There were moments before the beginning where I didn't care much for the editing, and why were there so many slow motion shots? They didn't really seem to fit in this movie. So, there you have it. Probably not Shyamalan's best, but I think pretty worthwhile none the less.
Lo que vendrá (1988)
How could a movie with both Charly Garcia and the angel Moroni be so disappointing?
I mostly only saw this movie because Charly Garcia did the soundtrack and co-stared in it. Actually, the whole thing felt like a really long music video, like "The Wall" maybe, only not as good. I did the like the cinematography a lot, and it was really nice to hear buenairense Spanish for a change, but overall the film seemed a little too incoherent for me to make much sense of it. The ending tied things together a bit more for me, but still not enough to redeem it. I guess I just expected a lot more from this movie. The only real surprise I got was seeing the angel Moroni in it about halfway through. I'm not sure, was that supposed to be symbolic, or did they just throw it in there to be cool?
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Glad that chapter of my life is over
I know it's blasphemy because the Lord of the Rings is the greatest thing ever done, but I'm getting really tired of hearing that this is the greatest film ever made--cause it's not. I didn't see anything here that I didn't see in the first two movies. In fact, this one seemed overly sentimental. It took at least one hour into it before anything interesting happened. Truth be told, I only saw this out of obligation, again because the Lord of the Rings is the greatest thing ever done and only idiots don't like it.
I find it hard to understand why they cut Christopher Lee's scenes, but left the almost never-ending denouement. After three hours, I honestly could care less about these characters, especially Sam having a sham marriage so that no one would think he had a thing for the "Frod". I just wanted to stand up, go home, and get on with my life.
Also, did this movie need to be so long?!? In the end, Frodo writes the whole story of his adventures in a book so small, it would have taken 20 minutes to film--and that's the whole trilogy. I could only wish I had been watching *that* movie. They shouldn't be allowed to make movies so long until movie theater chair technology advances to where I can sit that long comfortably.
Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad movie and you should probably see it, or read the book, because you need to care and know what happens to these characters. It's the most important thing that has ever happened. More important than the discovery of America, landing on the moon, whatever Paris Hilton is doing, and even Christmas. So see it, but only do it once. I can't imagine bringing myself to seeing this movie again. If it really were the greatest movie ever, I'm sure I would.