mrwinch Reviews

Miami Vice (2006)

Everything it should be and more

[9/10 · 16 August 2006]

I read a three star review of this film and almost let it put me off going to see it. So glad I ignored that review, I would have missed out on masterful piece of film-making, that I would put alongside one of my faves "Goodfellas", for meatiness, clarity of heart, entertainment and seemingly uncontrived, original imitation of reality, as all great art is.

It was hard to catch every little nuance and eyebrow raised, code name, who was who etc., but overall that didn't matter, although this would make it worth seeing again to catch all of the details. Beautiful and moody to look at and experience. The music was perfect, the sound effects not overdone and anything visually overdone I absolutely condone in the movie, as it just added to the allure. During a gunfight scene the bullets sounded real, not heightened as so many film fight scenes are, by the sound department, which no doubt worked on it, but didn't oversaturate our ears to the point where we no longer cared or believed what we were seeing was real.

At no point was the audience insulted, a wonderful thing from an American mainstream movie. I could not drive a truck through the script holes, there were none of any worrying size.

I went on the journey with the characters which had no obvious conclusion, no clichéd and pointed plot devices, I was in no man's land with them, not knowing what would happen next. I loved and respect this movie for unseating my expectations thus making it more experiential.

I read that someone thought it was a disappointment for a Mann film, but to me, this is his best to date and he raised his own bar as well as movies of this genre in general. Great respect to Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell. The female lead was also exceptional and believable, slightly unreadable, as it should be, as were the relationships, technology and plot.

Don't hesitate to see this film.

The Big Easy (1986)

Best screen chemistry ever

[9/10 · 23 July 2006]

I loved this film. I stumbled on the premiere in the 80's and thoroughly enjoyed it. Bought it on DVD recently and loved it just as much. Ellen Barkin's character is so lovable and Dennis Quaid is perfectly cast and perfectly charming. This is a totally lovable film but it also is of course, a cop drama, which is another very believable aspect of the plot. I found the drama part of it perfectly knitted together. To me though I am sold on the screen chemistry between Barkin and Quaid. The most genuinely erotic love scene ever, just a smidgen ahead of Lopez and Clooney in "Out of Sight". This film draws you in and on top if it all, thank goodness, it has a good heart.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Narnia as Imagined

[9/10 · 19 December 2005]

Well I see there are mixed reviews about this film and that made me even more curious to see it.

I have to agree first of all that ILM has fallen away a bit from the standards set by the Weta based special effects/CGI department, George Lucas needs to catch up. The effects would have been acceptable five years ago but the standards reached by Peter Jackson's team has set the bar higher. The main culprit was the background/actor combination i.e. in front of the snowy mountainous - as in the background looked entirely separate with very different lighting on those actors in front - even a telltale outline around them! The CGI animals were all excellent however, though its true the movement of clothing, particularly as Lucy and Susan are riding on Aslan's back to the battle, is rather unrealistic and non-moving. However, some of the wide angle shots with the animals in them are breath taking. The CGI/special FX in the newest Harry Potter were superior (that's the best HP to date in my view, on a par to the first).

Yes, the child actors were a little experienced, but they REALLY looked the parts. Lucy, the smallest, was especially delightful and exactly as I imagined her. Tilda Swinton as the witch I could take or leave. I really did imagine, and as described in the book, the witch looking more like someone like Angelica Huston, but a younger version perhaps. Tilda did some things right and others were wrong. Did not like her costuming, but the children's War-era clothing was perfect.

My favourite scene was when Lucy met Mr Tumnus the first time, fresh out of the wardrobe, just pure delight, exactly as I imagined, the richness of the colours and so much more. I found the faun (James McAvoy) vaguely attractive! (is that because I'm a Capricorn!?). Anyway, he and Lucy were perfect (although the connotations of kidnap were downright scary in todays "stranger danger" climate). The ending also was excellent where the four children had become adults ruling Narnia for many years and again stumbled back to the wardrobe - their adult counterparts were exceedingly well cast and believable.

These are just a few points to this film, but it is such a complex film on so many levels its hard to begin. However, overall, easily worth the $14 I paid to see it and the more I think about it the more I would like to see it again. Anyone complaining about having spent the ticket price on this film (other reviewers on IMDb) should seriously think about what else $14 would buy them! Yes, Peter Jackson could have done this better, Ridley Scott too (remember "Legend"?), but this is still WAY BETTER than most of films of this kind, only once in a while did I think it veering towards the serial/TV standard of Xena or Hercules fantasy.

An imperfect film, but SUCH A TALL ORDER, I was not disappointed, there were some real special scenes along the way.

(My "spelling mistakes" in this are simply because I'm from New Zealand and we spell things the English way, i.e colour, not color etc.,)

Dracula (1979)

The classiest Dracula movie ever

[9/10 · 15 July 2005]

There was also a very good BBC adaption starring Louis Jordan but besides that, and including the Francis Ford Coppola movie, this is still, in my opinion, the best Dracula film ever made. It is atmospheric and genuinely creepy, but strikingly the watcher becomes empathetic with the main protagonist, Dracula, as he is both driven by his primal instincts but falling in love with his own victim. This results in some genuinely erotic situations, surely the aim of any Dracula movie. English actors in a English locations from an English book and it has never been done better since. Kate Nelligan is wonderful, as is Laurence Olivier in one of his last roles. Beautiful to look at, fantastic casting. This is a classiest adaptation of the Bram Stoker story.

Closer (I) (2004)

I loved this film - it is haunting

[10/10 · 3 April 2005]

I read some average reviews of this film in New Zealand, where I reside, mostly mentioning how it made the reviewer feel "uncomfortable" etc., They made me feel lukewarm about seeing this film, but I am so glad I ignored them and went to the cinema. I think perhaps these reviewers were under the age of 35, and it shows.

This film gives me not only hope, but definite knowledge, that people are still making films for the right reason.

The topic of infidelity doesn't make me feel uncomfortable, but I think any serious indulger of this activity would perhaps feel extremely uncomfortable. Who knows - maybe not . . .

This film illustrated clearly the no man's land of the line between love and sex, proximity and fate.

Thank God - this is not "movie sex or love"- there is no romance to be found. Desire is not romance - it is simply an appetite to be sated - with consequence. Who can seriously pull sexuality and love apart, they are surely one and the same - whether anyone likes it or not.

This was a film like no other film because, it's portrayal of love and sex was honest. There was not a cliché to be found in this movie. How wonderful, and so like life.

I thought this was an interesting and absorbing film, such a necessary film in its overview of the dynamics of relationships. And, although I thoroughly marvelled at the film at the time, on top of that - I found I couldn't stop thinking about it . . . .

Natalie Portman's character, a stripper, ironically, possessed the most integrity. All characters were beautiful, physically, at the very least. It's easy to see why Natalie Portman was nominated for the Oscar in 2005.

The R16 on this film I think applies to the brutality of emotion - there was very little actual nudity and no actual sex scenes - but the words were explicit, yes, bad language, but so succinct.

The complexities of the pivotal arguments between the main characters (there were just four characters) were superb, alternating between the sexual, possessional, moral and poetic, perfectly. At no point was the audience insulted.

What can I say. Previously I have always voted a 9 on films I loved, to allow for some superior movie to come along, but on this topic I can't think of a better expose, so I go to the maximum praise. Maybe I'm crazy, but does anyone else out there this was some amazing piece of cinema?

Crush (I) (2001)

I Really Enjoyed and Related to this Film

[9/10 · 23 May 2004]

Having no knowledge of this film prior to seeing it on Rialto Channel I found it to be a pleasant, poignant and enriching film.

The casting was excellent. I loved all the characters, they were a little exaggerated in places, (but this IS a film). The way it looked and the enjoyably giddy ride the main character took until it turned badly, as real life can and does. Yes, I thought Andy MacDowell was great. I was particularly interested to watch this film once it began because people so often joke about her acting abilities (I find this quite wierd because she's always a solid actress in my opinion).

I loved the bit at the end where Andy's character said "sometimes I feel he was never here" etc., it was so completely how it really is in a situation like that (which I can personally identify with), then there was that gorgeous classical piece "Nocturne" I think by Chopin, which was a beautiful way to end (bar the light comedy at the end, which was probably unnecessary).

I say "well done" to the film makers - I have seen 1,000s of worse films!

In the Cut (2003)

An erotic thriller - a cut above the rest

[9/10 · 10 March 2004]

The story, atmosphere, art direction, acting, cinematography and chemistry between leads were all outstanding. Even the music was perfect.

Meg Ryan was very annoyed with Parkinson during a recent TV interview, she was a downright "handful" when discussing the ideas behind this film. I think Parky didn't "get" this film at all, just going on about nudity and controversy. Having seen the film now I can understand how lame it must be to hear someone say this film is rude or controversial without seeing the depth achieved within the framework provided, at least partially by the aforementioned items.

As an older "chick" I completely appreciate this film. It is what I call real romance and real eroticism - nothing like usual movie fare. Movie romances are so boring, it was nice to see something believable.

White Oleander (2002)

White Oleander - I got it - brilliant

[10/10 · 10 November 2003]

With no expectations of anything beyond the average I was aware as I viewed this film that it was a quality beyond most mainstream films currently available. We all left fairly stunned and stumbling into the daylight at the conclusion. Slowly devastatingly and utterly integral, at no point was the audience's intelligence insulted, the depth of characters, plot and script evenly executed with no room for anything but knowing we the audience were in for something special. Don't expect any black and white conclusions or answers, just the complexities of dynamics between kin and otherwise. . . brilliantly cast. I hope Michelle Pfieffer earns her first oscar here . . . comparable to American Beauty, I don't know why - but as poignant, beautiful, truthful and important. Beautiful soundtrack and to look at, pace perfect.

Charlotte Gray (2001)

A visually beautiful film with excellent chemistry between the leads

[1 July 2002]

A beautiful and atmospheric war film underpinned with a deftly defined love story. Excellent chemistry between leads Cate Blanchett and Billy Crudup. This is what I called a great movie. Experiential - as a member of the audience one cannot necessarily guess what will happen next - the same position as the characters in the film, which portrays the uncertainty of what war brings to individuals. That turbulence and intense emotional experiences can shape and change the emotional makeup of an individual. Every frame is gorgeous. My only criticism is that I feel the film could have been much longer - so much is packed into two hours and so tight is the editing that events seem to run into eachother timewise. I would love the "director's cut".

I put this alongside my other favourite war film "The English Patient".