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Colm22
Reviews
The Devil's Own (1997)
Average film, over the top responses!
This film is a typical Hollywood attempt to make a standard and fairly unoriginal thriller storyline into one with weight and political depth by involving the Northern Ireland issue as it backdrop. Ironically the film is stronger in the scenes where Ford is trying to come to terms with retirement and at times this subplot feels like scenes from a different film. Where the film struggles is rising above its origins as a conventional thriller. To be fair, apparently Pitt wanted to explore his characters political motivations but clashed with either the director or the studio about this. Although some would even call the film offensive for showing Pitts' IRA character as a human being, Pitt had actually intended him to be even more sympathetic than in the finished film. This was due to his research for the part where he found that, what may come as a surprise to some SHOCK, not all Irish republicans who picked up a weapon to defend their community were cold-blooded terrorists! It is true however that the film does tend to oversimplify and romanticise the republican cause and the Troubles in general but in a way that is more naive and silly rather than offensive and the notion that the IRA can be compared to Al-Qaeda is lazy, ignorant and completely misguided. In addition to this, does anyone complain when US soldiers who carry out atrocities in films be it good ones; Platoon, Full Metal Jacket or the awful ones; Rules of Engagement, Basic etc (not to mention in the real world e.g. the wonderfully picturesque Abu-Grayib prison) are portrayed as both flawed and human? Of course not, nor should they and Yes, I am comparing US soldiers with the IRA. In both cases many join up out of necessity- for US troops it is often simply because they need a job, for the IRA many joined in the time of Internment, Bloody Sunday and collusion murders. In both cases it also must be said that many join up to satisfy a power trip or even blood lust. By suggesting there are similarities between the two is not an attempt to justify any violence carried out in New York, London,Belfast or Fallujah but merely an attempt to show how important it is not to get too upset when a film, be it a misguided failure like the Devil's Own, or an original and intelligent film like the Crying Game, portrays an IRA man as a human being with genuine political motivations. For a quality films about Northern Ireland watch Bloody Sunday or Odd Man Out but try not to take The Devils Own too seriously as being offensive, at least not before comparing it to rubbish like of Patriot Games, Pearl Harbout, Collateral Damage or Rules Of Engagment! The US military has been portrayed as heroic despite their often horrible actions throughout the world, not least in the current climate, so why does everyone get upset when few and far between there is a sympathetic IRA character like Frankie McGuire?
Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman (2000)
Misunderstood Poetry
I would like to completely contradict what Kevin McCullagh has said about the film in a previous user comment. Although Kevin is entitled to his (INCREDIBLY WRONG) opinion as we live in a free world, his comments are those of a short-sighted Neanderthal who would not know a cinematic masterpiece if it bit him on the bottom! How any viewer for that matter of this beautiful and tender story of a snowman trying to find his path in life is not moved to tears by the end is beyond me. Maybe people find it hard to empathise with Jack due to his tendency to murder people but I say to them, did the Lord God not murder people when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? Far be it for me to suggest that Jack Frost is indeed the second coming of Himself but I certainly would not assume that that he isn't! Ulimately, people who didn't like the film simply didn't get it and for those who suggest the film is a failure are weak. The weak are ultimately doomed to suffer for their sins and if some films are too intelligent and mature for an audience schooled on rubbish like Lord Of The Rings, Spielberg and Scorcese, then so be it. However I ask those people, like Kevin McCullagh to stop trying to slate a masterpiece you simply do not, cannot comprehend. Amen.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
A raw stomach-churning masterpiece, still arguably the most unsettling film ever made! At least better than House Of Wax!!
This is the type of masterpiece that modern films, horror and otherwise, struggle to live up to. The film creates a tone that is at times darkly comic as well as a creepy sense of inevitable terror from the very early scenes of grave-robbing, which are reminiscent of the unsettling open graveyard scene from George A. Romeros' Night Of The Living Dead. However there is something abut Hoopers' film that truly gets under the skin in the way many other films have achieved only fleetingly or generally not at all. One film that owes a great deal to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is The Silence Of The Lambs, in particular the scene where the kidnapped girl, Cathreine Martin sees the remains of a previous victims' fingernails on the wall of the well where they had probably tried to escape. Indeed both films are known to be influenced by real life serial killer Ed Gein and perhaps it is because of the fact that they are based on something as horrifying yet factual as those events which enables both films with the power to unsettle. In relation to Chainsaw, the barely adequate remake fails to capture the wonderfully sickening tone of the original which seemed to be able almost to make you smell the abattoir that the characters smell and really put you in there with them, making the violence which ensues all the more shocking. The lack of any musical score is also effective in creating a sense of reality, in contrast to the (excellent) music in John Carpenters' Halloween which though it is a great film, you never get the feeling that it is anything more than a film. With The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, thanks in part to the final image of 'Leatherface' waving the titular weapon against the backdrop of the Texas sun, there is no sense of closure. We are reminded that events as gruesome as those in the film do and will continue to happen and that out there somewhere in the realm of cinema, that family is still alive, doing what they do. This is a much more terrifying thought if it is left in the viewers' mind, without any consideration given to the rubbish sequels and vastly inferior remake.
Signs (2002)
->SIGN<- of a talented director! So clever...Eh?!
Signs does not have much originality in its plot, (aliens attempt to invade earth and wipe out the human race!) but what it does have is a director who is a master at creating moments of unbearable tension, with the comparisons to Spielberg being very much vindicated by this film. Shyamalam has taken a fresh spin on the alien invasion story by focusing the entire action with one family, ironically in a way that was imitated to an extent by Spielberg himself with "War Of The Worlds". The fact that the characters are given room to display a certain amount of depth and humour (particularly in the discussion early on between Graham, Merrill and Officer Paski) make them likable and empathetic which is key to the success of the tension in the set-pieces later in the film and that Shyamalam keeps the aliens hidden until the final act suggests he is a director who is clearly aware of what true film fans appreciate in modern cinematic storytelling and that does not necessarily involve a huge overdose of CGI. Admittedly the alien in the climatic scene does look a tad unconvincing but it is the testament to the films' overall strengths that this barley affects its impact. Strong performances from its two young actors, Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin, as well as the ever reliable Gibson and Phoenix on top form make this film an excellent piece of entertainment which arguably improves upon repeat viewings. Pity about "The Village" though Shyamalam!
Anne Devlin (1984)
A brilliant Irish film from a different perspective!
An excellent film with an alternative perspective to Irish history, in this case the rebellion of 1803 led by Robert Emmmett told through the eyes of a young woman, Anne Devlin.
The film is remarkably intelligent with the script opting to explore the realities and problems of planning a rebellion at the start of the nineteenth century as oppose to merely romanticizing the events. Significantly the actual rebellion or battle itself is not shown, for the simple fact that the protagonist, Anne, was not at the scene during it and this reflects the director's wish to ground the film with the central characters' perspective. The film has been somewhat overlooked internationally but hopefully in the fullness of time will be appreciated for championing the views and the voices of those figures who still continue to be ignored by history books.
Old School (2003)
Brilliantly stupid comedy, ideal for watching over a few beers!
The great thing about Old School is the lack of pretension in the story and the characters. Yet another film where will ferrell steals the show, just as he did in zoolander and starsky and hutch (thats no disrespect to stiller, vaughn or the Wilson boys!). This film has so many wee lines and scenes which you may not even notice the first time you see it but become hilarious and unforgettable after several viewings with your friends over a few beers. One example is the way Ferrell reacts after (SPOILER?) taking his first beer at the party and there is of course the well known brilliant consequences of these beers, not to mention the scene with the tranquilizer dart! A great show which fans of ferrell, Wilson and co. will love and anyone who enjoys dumb, entertaining comedies about grown men acting like complete idiots!!!