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Metal Tornado (2011)
A Three Word Review
"Just plain awful" - everything about this movie is bad, bad, bad. Why bother making or watching this film? Another terrible movie from Canada - and I'm Canadian!! I watched this because it was filmed in and around the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where I live. They used the empty Nortel office complex site for their filming and a few other locations around Ottawa. Of course, they had to make it look like an American setting - a small town outside Philadelphia. The acting is horrible, the script just abysmal and the whole premise pure nonsense. There were a few not too bad special effects - but even they were rare. The whole salvation of the world is placed in the hands of a hick southern Sheriff and Lou Diamond Phillips. And in the end, the Americans prevail saving Philadelphia but Paris is destroyed - ugh!! The characters actually smugly hug, smile and congratulate themselves on saving the USA in the film's closing scene - gut wrenching to say the least. The makers of this film couldn't have picked a more appropriate tag line to promote their film - "Nothing Can Prepare You For This" - how very, very true!!
Dixie Chicks: Top of the World (2003)
Don't Buy This DVD "Concert"
My wife and I like the Dixie Chicks and we enjoy their music. We had high hopes for a fun concert evening when my wife and I bought this DVD and nestled down to watch. But do not waste your money buying this so called "concert" DVD. I imagine that the "Top of the World" tour and individual concerts that comprised the tour were fabulous - but not this DVD compilation. Here's the problem.
Most concert DVD's present the entire (or most of it) concert given at a particular location/stop on the tour. Alternatively, they might present you with entire songs from selected evenings on the tour - possibly the best performance of the song that the group gave on the tour. But not this Dixie Chick DVD. Instead what you get for each and every song on the DVD is a constant cutting/jumping/editing between the song performances at about a half dozen different stops on their tour. This means that the locations, stage settings, costumes, backdrops, backup-band settings are changing every 10 seconds or so during each song. What an editing mess. As a result, each song lacks continuity and hence intimacy. There are practically no real close-ups of the performers singing - otherwise they would not be able to sync the music with the lip movements. Most are long shots of the performers that would allow one to add any soundtrack. Who knows what soundtrack/recording was actually used for the DVD.
I have never seen a concert DVD edited together in such a disconcerting manner. Avoid this DVD. Mine went in the trash.
Rating 1(awful) - the worst concert DVD I've ever seen.
The Ladykillers (2004)
Marlon Wayans - An Obsence & Unfunny Person
I watched this movie primarily because it starred Tom Hanks. His scenes with Irma Hall as "Marva" (the landlady) provide the only highlights in this otherwise disappointing movie. I gave the movie 3 stars - one for each of the Hanks & Hall enjoyable performances and another for a slight sprinkling of humor found throughout the film (for example, scenes in the Sheriff's office).
The movie had great remake potential but was squandered by the foul-mouthed and unfunny Marlon Wayans. I'm not against the use of swear words in films but the foulness of his language was excessive - and not even remotely humorous. As I watched his performance, I said to myself: "Is this funny? Am I supposed to be laughing at this?"
I imagine that Marlon's character was included in the film to provide contrast against the civility of the professor (Hanks) - but the result was an abysmal failure. Why ruin a movie with the inclusion of this kind of character and his obscene language? With a little more imaginative writing a genuinely funny part could have been created.
"The Ladykillers" is an example of a very annoying trend in film these days - directors seem to think that they simply have to turn someone like Marlon loose and the obscene results will generate side-splitting laughs. Well, quite the opposite actually occurs. Obscene language and gestures used excessively in films such as this one are actually ugly and repulsive. The use of such language demonstrates a lack of respect both for the other characters being fictionally addressed in the film and also for the audience watching it. Many viewers unfortunately then take such obscene film language/gestures as being the norm in society and hence acceptable for them to use in their outside the theater world - but "cool" it is not.
Foul-mouthed humor as presented in this film demonstrates a lack of creativity (i.e. there's nothing imaginative in using the same 4-letter words over and over again). Marlon and his foul-mouthed humor does not result in impressive screen-time. It simply is not funny and and only serves to sour any real comedy presented in the film.
Memento (2000)
An Incomprehensible Film
How can "Memento" be ranked the 12th film of all-time by IMDB viewers/raters? I agree that the film is extremly well-crafted, imaginative and stylish - but that does does make it a top-ranked film.
Above all, a film must first have a compelling plot/story-line (which "Momento" has) but it must be presented in some fashion that the viewer can reasonably hope to understand. If it doesn't, then the film must convey its message to the viewer through visual and sound impact. "Memento" is only average in the latter approach.
Frankly, this movie is just plain incomprehensible and fails miserably because of it. I tried to understand it, but after awhile one reachs the "I just don't care about these characters anymore" point and gives up. A truly great film must be outstanding in all facets of filmmaking and must be able to communicate its message to the general audience. "Memento" fails on this count.
When people rate films (as with any other rating exercise that spans a long time period), they tend to remember and focus only on that which is "fresh" in their mind - in this case, recent films while forgetting and failing to keep the current film in proper perspective against the many, many truly great films of the past.
While an interesting film, "Memento" by no means deserves to be in the IMDB Top 250 films of all time.
Pollock (2000)
Terrible Movie - Who Cares About Pollock?
Considering the way painter Pollock is portrayed in this movie, I could not feel for him in any way. He was such a "jerk" - especially in the way he behaved towards those who loved him. After a half-hour of this drivel, I just plain didn't care about him any more, and couldn't wait for the movie to end. The only noteworthy things about the film were the acting of Ed Harris (the reason I watched the film), his cooooool car and the acting of Marcia Gay Harding (too bad her terrific performance was stuck in such a boring movie). Only 2 stars out of 10 -thumbs way down. Oh and P.S. - even I can paint as well as Jackson - that must be why I have such a boring life too!!