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surfviper
Reviews
Secret of the Wings (2012)
Disappointing addition to a previously very good series
This is the fourth in the feature-length direct-to-DVD Tinkerbell series.
The previous three videos were entertaining and fairly original.
This most recent addition is uninspired, unoriginal, and overly simplistic. It lacks the relative depth and richness of its predecessors, and the soundtrack is little more than a lightweight disfigurement of those in the previous videos.
A child certainly might like this movie, but it is nevertheless inferior in virtually every way.
If you haven't seen the previous three movies, I'd recommend getting one or all of those.
If you have seen the previous three movies, I think you'll find that this one adds nothing of value to the experience.
Robin Hood (2010)
Jeez. What a steaming pile of rotting fish.
It's a shame to see so much acting talent (and I don't mean Crowe) wasted on this story.
The script turns both history and all the familiar elements of the story on their heads, and pointlessly so -- nothing is gained.
The only thing in common with the Robin Hood stories you know are the settings, the names, and the costumes.
First, Robin isn't Robin -- he's a lowly archer who assumes the role of a dead person.
The "merry men" don't live in Sherwood Forest.
Maid Marian isn't a "maiden."
The Sheriff is a big sleaze but not a real factor in the film.
King Richard is dead before the Crusades end.
"Robin" meets "Little John" over a shell game, rather than on a bridge.
The fight scenes are unoriginal, uninspired, and uninteresting.
The plot line is disjointed, at best.
The film is more about "French treachery" than tyranny (maybe it's not OK to talk about tyranny is U.S. theaters these days?) -- especially funny since, historically, King Richard I was more "French" than "English" and exploited England exactly as the French in this film planned to do.
Phththth. Yawn.
This film DEFINITELY fails to hit the bullseye, let alone split the arrow.
Palindromes (2004)
Pointless and Pointlessly Perverse
This film is pointless and pointlessly perverse.
Unlike "Blue Velvet," which has a place in terms of meaningful cinema and where perverseness is use to make normal life seem 2-dimensional and perversity seem more viscerally alive, this film uses perversity to no point.
Unlike tim burton, whose perversity, while predictable and uninteresting in my view, goes to such excess that it become at least art-like, this film is perverse yet mundane.
And nothing about this film rings true.
Much of the film centers around what can fairly be implied kiddy-porn with several different actors alternating in the role of the protagonist.
The alternating actors in the role of the main character seems to be Palindrome's only raison d'etre.
Oh, and don't be fooled by the cartoon cover on the box -- it's not a cartoon and it's not for kids.
If you like weird, watch a good weird film, like Blue Velvet, Butterfly Effect, Donny Darko, Jacob's Ladder, or any Hitchcock.
Palindromes can't be worth whatever they spent on it; it doesn't even deserve a spot on the cutting room floor.
Manhunter (1986)
Soooo much better than "Silence..."
More of a pyschological thriller than "Silence of the Lambs." This Hannibal is clever and diabolical -- not some silly posing house-servant playing dress-up! You can FEEL the terror dripping off of him,,, and into the detective playing dangerous games with him. You get the sense that ANY game with this Lecter is dangerous...
The villain could be scarier, and the cinematography is definitely dated, but the play between Cox and Petersen couldn't really be better. It sets a standard "Silence..." failed to meet.
Manhunter (1986)
Soooo much better than "Silence..."
More of a pyschological thriller than "Silence of the Lambs." This Hannibal is clever and diabolical -- not some silly posing house-servant playing dress-up! You can FEEL the terror dripping off of him,,, and into the detective playing dangerous games with him. You get the sense that ANY game with this Lecter is dangerous...
The villain could be scarier, and the cinematography is definitely dated, but the play between Cox and Petersen couldn't really be better. It sets a standard "Silence..." failed to meet.