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Reviews
The Batman (2022)
Boring and pointless
I love the Dark Knight trilogy, but this movie was boring, overly complicated and lifeless. Most of it was was overly dark and sometimes out of focus. Batman shows no expressions at all and tries to talk in a fake Clint Eastwood voice. The bad guys looked and acted like they were randomly picked from the aisles of Wal Mart, with no menace and no acting ability, Catwoman was fine but she was the only one who had any personality at all. The few scenes that could have been interesting because of special effects were filmed in such a way to minimize the effectiveness of the action. The plot was nonexistent except for having too many different directions added to it as if that made it better but it did not. Most of the Riddler's riddles were solved immediately so there was no suspense there. One of the worst moves I ever sat through, and it was way way too long, if they cut out 2 hours of it it would have been an improvement. Robert Pattison was better as a sparkly vampire and I hate sparkly vampires.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Big letdown after LOTR
Having high expectations after LOTR, this movie really let me down for several reasons. Sections of it dragged very slowly, perhaps to fill time to make it last for three films. The action scenes were shown very quickly and disjointedly, probably to hide unbelievable special effects, it was like watching the SciFi channel at some points in the show. One scene looked obviously like a small model, this surprised me because of the high quality of the special effects in the previous movies, this seemed like a low budget release in comparison. Furthermore, I went to the 3D version, and because most of the film was quite dark to begin with, 3D glasses made it even darker. Perhaps those who saw the 48 frame/sec version had a far different viewing experience than I did, but the seemingly lower quality filming compared to LOTR made it much less enjoyable, and another disappointment for me was that this film supplies little reason to care about the characters, except for the ones you already knew.
Funny Games (1997)
Reviewer from Finland 100% on the mark
The previous comments by Mika from Finland are right on the mark, I don't see how anyone could describe this film better. I saw it a couple of years ago and the violence in it still haunts me. It's the kind of movie that once you see it you'll never forget it. It was extremely well done and kept me on the edge of my seat. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone in their teens, no matter how many R rated movies they've watched, this film is not at all like the usual blood, gore and murder you see daily on TV. Despite being only a movie, the difference is nearly like the difference between seeing a movie death or car wreck and one in real life. It leaves you with the same sort of sense of horror that makes you feel drained and vulnerable. I'm glad it's only a movie. But like the other reviewer, I don't know who to recommend it to. I rented it and happened to watch it late at night then decided to return it before my husband could sit and watch it, not even wanting to subject a grown man to a movie like this. There's plenty of movies out there with sick and perverted violence, usually gory ones, but this movie is intelligent, understated and well made which makes the horror vastly more chilling. I'd give it a 10 and yet have no desire to EVER watch it again.
The Iceman Cometh (1973)
second best film version
Lee Marvin does his best here, but is just not in the same class as Jason Robards who is perfect for the role. There are other fine characters in the Marvin version which makes it definitely worth a look, however, nobody in the supporting cast does a bad job. Fredric March and Robert Ryan are truly spectacular in their roles and really steal the show from Lee Marvin. The Iceman Cometh is a great play, probably the best Eugene O'Neill ever wrote. If you haven't seen it, watch this, it's a cut above the average American film. But if you're planning on buying a copy, search for Jason Robard as Hickey. Lee Marvin's acting is too one dimensional to make this an excellent film.
American Playwrights Theater: The One-Acts: 27 Wagons Full of Cotton (1990)
Chilling, well acted, depressing
Tennessee Williams described this as a comedy, but if it's a comedy, it's guaranteed to bring you right down. Really makes you wonder what kind of man TW was.
It's a taut and chilling drama, with excellent performances all around. It's about greed, lust, and men who consider women as commodities, possessions to be bought and sold. Leslie Ann Warren plays a wonderful "Baby Doll" type character, a 4 year old in a voluptuous body, and Ray Sharkey and Peter Boyle are wonderful as well.
Well worth watching, sends a chill down your spine to think about the kind of men this show portrays, I'm sure there are many of them out there.