Change Your Image
jomax
Reviews
Encounter in the Third Dimension (1999)
goofy and spectacular
So who cares if the plot's sketchy and repetitive, and the dialogue childish? It's the spectacle here that counts. And it really works; the superbly detailed CG chamber where the action takes place, the lighting and textures are lovely and highly detailed and the animation is excellent - especially during the phenomenal roller-coaster ride to the centre of the earth simulator sequence. On the downside, there is a lot of strobing on some fast moving scenes (lack of motion blur), and not all of the elements hold together (but these are minor complaints). Topped of with a suitably wacky number from Elvira, it's easy going fun with 3-D that benefits from the visually all-encompassing IMAX format.
The Cable Guy (1996)
A dark gem
A comedy that is very funny, but carries a truly menacing streak. Jim Carrey is as manic as ever, but shows a darker side, and a glimpse that he can handle drama as well as dumb comedy (consolidated by his performance in 'The Truman Show'). Matthew Broderick is the perfect foil for Carrey's disturbing lunacy, and, despite having read many reviews to the contrary, I feel he does well in an understated kind of way. An intriguingly plotted, relentlessly paced black comedy, with some of the funniest set-pieces I have seen for a while, of which the Porno Password scene has to be my fave.
Virus (1999)
How not to make a movie
What could have been a totally unoriginal, heavily cliched but still very entertaining movie is scuppered by a fatal flaw. That being, a complete lack of suspense throughout the whole enterprise. If this was supposed to be a kind of creepy menace kind of movie, then it needs to be paced, crank up the suspense, some half glimpsed shadows, half heard sounds as the crew explore the ship. But, oh no, on goes the power and we cut to the machines busy at work. Both the direction and editing is so inept as to undercut any kind of tension which could have given this effort some merit. The actors flounder and look as if they know they're in a movie thats as doomed as the ship. Credit to Donald Sutherland though, at least he is not disguising the fact that he is even remotely taking it seriously! Half hearted effects and incredibly bad continuity don't help, and by the time Tippett Studios CGI rendered monster appears at the end, you're just too disheartened to be impressed. The question I would like to ask is; was there not any point in this film's production history where someone took a good long hard look at it and think "this is absolute rubbish"? Or did it just suffer heavily at the editing stage?
However, it's still not as bad as Deep Blue Sea!!
Event Horizon (1997)
roger corman in space
A wonderfully camp film, basically a haunted castle film, set in the orbit of Neptune. Check out the medieval set design, vaulted ceilings, metallic brickwork designs of the interior of the ship, the OTT look of the gateway mechanism itself. It's also fun playing spot-the-film-reference; I clocked up Alien, The Haunting, The Shining, Dead Calm, Hellraiser, Dont Look Now. Hated this film first time I saw it; once I realised its just the film-makers larking around with the genre, I really enjoyed it - complete with its cheesy CGI and modelwork, and the wacky, overwrought score by Michael Kamen. I'd recommend it, just don't take it seriously!
The Cable Guy (1996)
A dark gem
A comedy that is very funny, but carries a truly menacing streak. Jim Carrey is as manic as ever, but shows a darker side, and a glimpse that he can handle drama as well as dumb comedy (consolidated by his performance in 'The Truman Show'). Matthew Broderick is the perfect foil for Carrey's disturbing lunacy, and, despite having read many reviews to the contrary, I feel he does well in an understated kind of way. An intriguingly plotted, relentlessly paced black comedy, with some of the funniest set-pieces I have seen for a while, of which the Porno Password scene has to be my fave.