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rnekic
Reviews
The Mandalorian: Chapter 6: The Prisoner (2019)
Terrible and embarrassingly "acted"
I really disliked this episode. Worst of the season, by far. Every member of the squad of characters featured in this episode was awful. My interest in this series has declined with each episode and this episode has really turned me off. At this rate, I'm not sure I'll bother with season 2.
In the Realms of the Unreal (2004)
Interesting subject but generic documentary.
I saw several documentaries in the past week and this one was easily the most mundane...which seems really strange considering the extraordinary subject matter. The film feels like your average PBS program - just another one of those dry films we were all forced to watch in school.
As such, I've had a hard time deciding what I think of it. I truly disliked the first 15-20 minutes: I didn't like the child narration or the approach of weaving the artist's auto-biographical material with his artistic material.
As the film goes on some of these issues are overcome by the inherently interesting subject matter but other problems remain with the film throughout. The art is remarkable and unique enough to stand on its own...leading me to mixed feelings about the decision to animate portions of it. Tinkering with anyone's art like that can be questionable but the process is, at times, technically interesting here.
Parts of Henry's auto-biography are also interesting but the large majority of the narrative from his 15,000 page story is not. His writing is remarkable only in its bulk, not its contents. The film makers try hard to present it as literature but 15,000 pages of anything is pretty much just plain crazy. The auto-biography segments do little to help suggest otherwise. The overall result is a picture of a sad, lonely, confused, and probably mentally ill man who managed to produce some truly original art which everyone wants to fuss about now when few seemed very interested in him when it might have mattered.
An interesting man, vastly varying art, and one average documentary.
Kopps (2003)
Funny if not terribly original
The movie was getting a lot of buzz everywhere I went at the Cleveland film festival. For the most part, it definitely deserved it. The film is very entertaining, well acted, and more or less well-written.
The oddest part, however, was that everyone kept talking about how plans are in the works to make an American version of this film. All I could think of in response to this news is...the American version already exists! It's called Super Troopers. An American knock-off of a Swedish knock-off of an American film! Only in Hollywood.
Strange Hollywood "good ideas" aside, the film is a lot of fun even if the plot is unoriginal and predictable. See this version before the US cranks out the 3rd generation wannabe.
Ruang talok 69 (1999)
Great stuff!
Although not one of the newer films, 69 turned out to be one of my favorites of this year's Cleveland International Film Festival. Funny and clever without veering into being overly wacky. You've seen this kind of set-up before but you've never seen such consequences! This is a top-notch black comedy.
Possible spoiler below:
The film is vastly entertaining despite one nagging question that loomed in my head as I watched events unfold: Tum, the next time a million baht shows up on your doorstep - invest in a hammer and a nail! Poor girl, it could have spared you a lot of hassle!
Ja zuster, nee zuster (2002)
Awful.
I'm usually one who can appreciate light-hearted kookiness and I've enjoyed my share of musicals...but this movie is virtually unwatchable. It rapidly declines from a mildly amusing Singing In The Rain-like song and dance number into such over-the-top unfunny vaudevillian absurdity that I had to leave the theater after about 40 minutes. I felt like I was watching an awful high school production.
Although he is inexplicably raved about by others here, the character of Boordevol stands out as the most unbearable, by far. This painfully shrill caricature destroys what little charm the film manages to produce; making me wince every time he appeared on the screen.
Large portions of the audience around me found endless hilarity in this film but I just didn't get it...at all. It is, simply put, one of the most ridiculous films I've ever seen.