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The Place of No Words (2019)
Poetry and images to match
I love poetry. I love thinking and having a little bit of room to explore thoughts and ideas. That may very well help explain my appreciation for this film.
The first five minutes or so turned me off. Because I didn't understand. But I settled in and relaxed into it. I was treated to a trip of magical adventure supported by the observation of the ordinary world. I was in.
Very much not an ordinary linear film, there were moments that confused me, but then it became all too clear and beautifully executed.
I loved the characters in the movie. I loved the story. I was impressed with the persistent ability to surprise me and go beyond my expectations. Lovely little poem of a film.
Lost Ollie (2022)
Bad adaptation. Not as bad as the accents so that's a plus.
Who is this for?
Far too violent and disturbing for children. And just creepy. And random swear words that didn't seem to fit in the world at all. And the accents were just so bad. So cringe. The source material was kid scary, this goes way too far for children.
I was completely confused by the first couple episodes. I thought it was based on the book, but it seems to just have names taken from the book then randomly took liberty with the original content and combined it with tropes from those made for cable channels you never end up on purpose.
The setting was so odd and forced. I still can't with the accents. The book had such an interesting story and art. This replaces all of those things, and doesn't elevate them. The animation was lovely is some places, and horrible in others. It kept jarring me out of the story. Especially anytime the plush characters moved. It looked like a bad mix of rotoscoping and glitching.
Replace the magic with melodrama and call it a day.
I did enjoy Mary J. Blige doing a cover of Dolly Parton in a scene that had absolutely no context.
The Sandman (2022)
dreams of the magical descend into mediocrity
Reminds me a lot of Good Omens. Not in a good way. Amazing source material that just isn't translated well. The mood, philosophy, and depth seem to be gone. The first twenty or thirty minutes i was so excited, then it just got boring. The cast is interesting. No bad choices really, they just don't seem to have very interesting things to say. It's like they are always saving something for the next scene or episode or even season. Just stringing the dream along. Pity.
The Four Seasons (1981)
Haven't seen it in years - on Netflix (July 2021)
I love Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Love the music as a plot device. I watched this movie a thousand times on cable when I was a teenager and haven't seen it since. It seemed to disappear for a while but is on Netflix. Wasn't sure if I'd still like it. As an adult I appreciate it even more. It's dated. Certainly seems chauvinistic, but I love the relationships. I have friends that I've gone on numerous vacations with, when I lived in New York and we all had to get out of the city. I have read a lot of reviews that it's completely unrealistic. Maybe because I saw it as a kid i wanted to take vacations with the same group of friends. I love it. Maybe it's just nostalgia. Certainly not a perfect film, but this one is as good as others folks love. Give it a shot.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
It took so much time to release - they couldn't fix anything?
The first scene relied a lot on CGI. It was so bad. Should have just been cut. Added NOTHING. Why do DC movies have to take themselves so seriously. The old Burton Batman movies were amazing. I love Kristen Wiig. Maybe I watched this for her? The writing was bad, but I enjoyed her. Gal Gadot was not interesting. Pedro Pascal was annoying. Chris Pine was okay, but the make up on him was crazy. Couldn't figure out why he always looked bruised. Special effects were bad. Score was boring. Just a stinker. I just don't understand. They had SO much time after it was supposed to be released. I guess they were all done with the project and gave up. One good thing, it did eventually end. It just took forever.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Scary. Brilliant. Funny.
The pseudo intellectual musings of a collector of trivia. To read many books but understand none of them but long so much for a super power you know you'll never have. Dream Curly and the philosophical musings of Goethe. Zur Farbenlehre. I'm unsure if Jake longs for love, or heterosexual love. John Nash had relations with men, but the Beautiful Mind movie closeted him. He protests the inclusion of homosexuality with the list of personality disorders. Was he gay? It's intimated she is. Anyway he isn't happy with his lack of sexual expression. Ice cream as a taxable luxury item is interesting in it's use as a symbol for normality in an unusual world of minds. What a horror story when your life is spent recreating a "better" version. We can all relate to that.
Little Women (2019)
Worst version ever?
So chopped up, it felt so long, and I had no idea when it would ever end because it was cut and scrambled to pieces. I had little interest in the cast. Talented actresses, but not here, weird choices. I love Emma Watson, but her accent was just off. And Saoirse Ronan has a pretty strong accent. It kept bleeding through. I have loved her in many things, but she doesn't seem to have the gravitas to play a period piece. They couldn't hold an American Accent. Much less a Northeast Accent. Certainly not a post civil war Northeast accent. It was just so distracting. I haven't seen much with Timothée Chalamet, but he didn't do much for me here. The decision to tell the story in flashbacks, everything lost any dramatic tension because there was no build up. I will say the audience, filled with Big Women, aunties and grandma's, seemed to enjoy the film. They were also very excited about the salads they had for lunch. So there you go. I enjoyed Laura Dern. Thought she did a great job.I don't understand why Fritz became French instead of German. I've been a fan of Louis Garrel's since Dreamers, but have no idea why he was cast as Friedrich. I don't think any of the sisters are American now that I think about it. So I guess it's cool to have some diversity in the telling of an American Classic, and if the performances were great, I'd understand the choice. I did enjoy Chris Cooper. Not an obvious choice for Mr. Laurence, but I almost always enjoy Chris Cooper. Sorry for the typos. Done on the fly on my phone after the movie. Just vastly confused by this. It didn't service the book, and there are other far superior film adaptations.
The Golden Compass (2007)
Maybe Alfanso Curan will do the next one?
This was just like the first Harry Potter movie. Horrible. It rushed through everything. At least the first Harry movie rushed through the book in order. This one was horrible.
I only hope this was just a trailer for the next movie. That's what it felt like. Great visual keys, with very little content. Like a really long trailer. How do you have such a great cast, and great affects and beautiful visuals and still come up with such a horrible movie.
Something about New Line and the screenplay. I'm not sure who rough housed it, trying to "Fix it", but they broke it.
So sad. I love this book. I know lots of people who have never read Harry Potter, but at least saw the movies. This won't excite anyone.
Maybe Alfanso Curan will direct the next one. He made the only interesting Harry Potter movie.
Apocalypto (2006)
Could have been fantastic. But copped out in the end.
The movie looked awesome. It didn't give much credit to the Mayans. I guess it was supposed to show them at the end, so you wouldn't feel so bad about the Spanish coming to take over. 50 percent of the movie was one of the best movies of the year. It was far too violent. We get it already. I was still OK.
BIG SPOILER!!!
Towards the end of the movie, the wife of Jaguar Paw (Jaguar Paw? Yeah, that's Mayan.) is dumped in a cave. She delivers a baby under water during a flood, while holding her other child, then is pulled out of the cave only to run through the forest to find Spanish Invaders. COME ON.
Thank goodness the christians arrived in time to kill them.
Idlewild (2006)
See it on the big screen folks...
I'm a big video person. But when something like this comes along, I'll run to the theater to see it. The movie has been compared several times to Moulin Rouge. They are both musicals. I think it's closer to Purple Rain. A long format video meant to help push the intent of the music. A lyrical narrative. Purple Rain was the BOMB. I loved that movie. When it came out, and I was young. The plot, and the acting didn't hold up as I grew older, but the musical sequences still have magic. It's the same as I feel about IDLEWILD. I get it. I'm all about it. Some of the acting impressed, some disappointed. But it was a fun ride. I don't want to give anything away, because a lot of it isn't terribly original to begin with. But it was an incredibly entertaining movie. Please see this on the big screen. I'll see it again on video, probably over and over, but it deserves the scope of the big screen and the Dolby sound.
The movie will not change you life, but grab some popcorn and be entertained. I was surprised at the number of children at the evening screening I saw. This is not a movie for small kids. There is sex and there is violence. The violence was a little much for small children.
Birthday Girl (2001)
surprised me
fun, sexy, happy, sad. and some really good...wait, what's that
called? -oh yeah. acting. great script. great story. great acting. pretty much what i'm looking for in a movie. rent it on dvd. that way you can also watch nicole kidman look delicious in
"something stupid". great video with nicole and robbie williams.
Road to Perdition (2002)
austentacious perdition
Run to see this movie for a nice dose of nostalgia. Because it will
remind you a million movies you've already seen. I was so excited
to see this movie. I loved American Beauty. I thought for sure he
would bring something fresh to the screen. The Godfather meets
Far and Away meets Dick Tracy. Tom Hanks does the same thing
he's done in his past seven films. He's a tough on the exterior
really sweet inside misunderstood everyday Joe. Jude Law took a
class in Method Acting and decided he just needed to walk with a
slump. Jennifer Jason Leigh was in this movie because...they
couldn't find anyone else to be in a movie for five minutes, I don't
know. Even Stanley Tucci, wow i get to be a gangster. And Paul
Newman as the murdering back-stabbing crime lord we're
supposed to feel sorry for, cause he didn't wanna do it.
WHATEVER. I'm so sad that this is what the world is happy about.
I see so many wonderfully creative films, with lots of problems, but
are at least thriving with creativity. Yet I'm sure this one will win
tons of awards because it's suitable for the massses. It doesn't
challenge you, or make you think, or even get you too emotionally
involved. I left the theatre full of dry eyed adults with commets such as,
"Where is Perdition?", and "What a sweet film." Stay home and watch an episode of whatever weakly drama of
choice. The only thing different is that Road had a huge budget.
Reign of Fire (2002)
Saw this and "Road". Gotta pick this one.
I thought this movie would be a real stinker. But it's hot outside, so I thought i'd sit in the dark air conditioned theatre and watch all the fire. Man was it fun! A million times better than I thought it would be. It was scary, it was intense, it was touching, and it gave one of the funniest nods to our culture i've ever seen. A long time ago wars seperated men and ruined cities. They grabbed the bible as a link to each other, and to their past, with it's legend, and lore and dogma. Of course in our day and age, the survivors would probably worship harry potter instead of jesus. Sorry for rambling, but i thought they're cultural religion and storytelling was great.
Matthew McConaughey, wow. This is the first time i've seen him as ugly, ruthless, hateful bitter character. And i still wanted to see him. I sort of just thought of him as a pretty face, but even uglied up he still has a great deal of presence on the screen. Christian Bale never really fails to delight me. From All The Little Animals to American Psycho, super sweet to super nasty, he never lets me down. I'm a little worried about the two here though, they looked like they had been pumped full of steroids. I had no idea, it was like a pec war between them. I loved the Dragons. That is what impressed me the most. Now at times, it was a little iffy, but much better than SpiderMan, or Jurassic park. I was scared by these Dragons. It didn't look like a movie with cartoons filling in the holes. There is one seen where Quinn comes back to camp on a horse and is surrounded by a whirling sea of glowing embers.
That scene is worth the price of admission. A very good movie. I went with a group of six people. And we all agreed, (which we never do). It had suprised us at how good the film was. Now it won't win any oscars, but if you want to be entertained, run to the cinema. The line for Perdition will be long. But skip it. It's boring and way too long and like a million movies you've already seen. If you wanna feel for Perdition, if you wanna get a peek at hell, see Reign of Fire!
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
The only force was Forced to watch
Two more hours of the same story. Completely un-original. Even Jar Jar Binks is back. I thought everyone agreed that Jar Jar
Sucked. Yoda is now a completely shallow cgi effect. he has lost
all of his magic. I went to see a sold out show saturday night and
there where roars of laughter at the midget ninja light saber yoda.
he threw away his crutch long enough to kick some butt.
I loved the Braveheart scene. I loved the Gladiator scene too. Oh
and there were a couple cool shots of the senate. Sadly, everyone
has already seen those scenes in other movies. The whole store
was just a boring re-hashing of the same old story. If you want to
give us back story, show han solo stealing candy bars as a kid
and being sent off to learn his criminal ways. But it's the same
story over and over again. so boring. so un-imaginative. the first
star wars was something i had never seen before. There is
nothing fresh about this at all. I'm so sad. i love the first star war
movies, because their flaws are almost part of the charm. i have
no emotional attachment at all to cartoons. cgi has ruined the
movies for me. save some money, and rent star wars. you'll be far more
entertained.
Y tu mamá también (2001)
Great movie in between sex scenes.
I've read a lot of the comments here. I agree with most of them. I
do have to add though, I have not felt this unconfortable at a movie
in a long time. I went with a wonderful girl on a first date. Very
akward. I would not have elected to expose her to the graphic
sexuality on our first date. The movie itself is very wonderful. Very clever. I loved the irony in
all the names. Especially Heaven's Mouth. The two young guys were wonderful. Reminded me of myself and
my best friend. The cousin didn't ring true for me. Sobbing,
screwing, sobbing screwing. Maybe more of an internal dialogue
for her would have great. Some of it was explained at the end of
the movie, but it still didn't justify her. I felt like i totally knew where
they guys were coming from, but she was a mystery. Broken up
over a boyfriend she broke up after the love of her life died. I don't
know. She was the only part of the movie that didn't ring true. The movie is beautiful, touching, clever and worked on so many
levels. I couldn't justify all the graphic sex scenes. I felt like i was
watching pornography. It didn't help relate to the characters at all.
Another review mentioned that homophobe's wouldn't enjoy the
picture. Well, and here's a spoiler, that scene was the only nice
sex scene in the entire movie. Maybe that was the point. These
guys screw anything, all day long. We didn't even see the guys
have sex. They kissed. Passionately. That was the only moment
of "sex" in the movie that seemed real. They only time either one
cared about who they were with. The rest of the time they were just
getting off. So saying that the film was a little too graphic for me
has nothing to do with homophobia. I just think if went too far.
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996)
An incredible treat for the eyes, ears and mind.
Last night I went to the theatres to see MONSOON WEDDING. Such a beautiful movie. This evening I ran to the video store to rent some other titles by the same director. I had seen the display box for KAMA SUTRA a million times, but was afraid it was some boring semi-porn movie. If you're into porn, rent porn, not pretend porn. I watched it tonight, a wonderful movie. Very romantic. Yes there is sex, and violence, and some naughty talk, so you would think all Americans would love it. But the beautiful music, settings, costumes, and people did it for me. Great Flick.
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Great, if you've never heard of John Nash.
Gotta love those bio-pics that features five percent of a person's
life. would have loved to see more of his "real" work. The acting
was beautiful, the costumes were beautiful. The directing was a
little over sentimental, but I expected that going in. Great web site.
Over all, a perfect film for the mass audience. (As long as you
don't know anything about John Nash, who is one of my heros)
Le grand bleu (1988)
Two of my favorite movies.
I saw The Big Blue in theatres. (in America). I fell in love with it. It
was by far the most amazing movie I had ever seen. I made all of
my friends see it too. When they asked me what it was about, I
wasn't really sure. Love. Insecurity. Understanding. Longing.
Isolation. Peace. That's what I told them. Then I went to buy the
score. The score by Eric Serra was new to me. I had Heard the
Conti version in the American release. I listened to the album.
Over and over again. Then I went to the ocean to swim. Years
later, i was talking to a friend about my favorite movie in the world.
He introduced me to Le Grand Bleu. My second favorite movie in
the world. I love both versions of the film. They are very different. I
was actually felt more strongly for the American version. It seemed
to be missing something. And i thought that was the point of the
movie. The second, Le Grand Bleu, shows you that nothing is
missing. You only have to change your expectations. Watch them
both. One will mean more to you than the other. Whichever one
works for you, that's the better.
Of Mice and Men (1992)
A gentle hand makes a powerful punch.
A gentle hand makes a powerful punch. And I'm not talking about Lenny, but Gary Sinise. I'm not quite sure why this one of the most powerful adaptations from a book. Perhaps the steps from book to play to screenplay gave it enough time to find it's pace and voice.
I would have loved to have seen it on the stage with the same cast. Absolutely wonderful. I even have a new found respect for Ms. Finn. The two leads are exceptional, but I expected that, it was the easy grace of all the characters becoming alive that moved me.
The book is a great book, but I always thought the other characters were just too shallow. Gary Sinise and the supporting cast breathe a life into these people. You've met them before. Been fishing with them. Fought with them. Just a Wonderful film. I hear a lot of talk about "chick flicks". Well, this very much may be a "dick flick" if they exist. Every real man should see this movie.
Fantastic.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
They just tried way too hard.
Beautiful movie. Great casting. Wonderful costumes. Over the top score. Curious editing. They just tried too hard. I didn't feel at all like i was watching a movie. More like a visual Cliff Notes. I enjoyed the magic of the book so much. Little Harry Potter became my hero, but in the movie, i barely knew who he was.
They tried so hard to touch upon all that happened in the book, that is was a race to get to the end. Scene one, a small child has bad adoptive parents. Scene two, The child is a wizard Scene three, The child is sent off to a wizarding school. Scene four, It's halloween Scene Five, It's christmas Scene Six, school's over, even though there was only one class. That's what i didn't like. I got a lump in my throat, excited to watch the "game". Harrry can fly, harry can catch things, Harry wins the game. 1 2 3 quick, done.
It lost all the real "magic" to reel magic. Great try though. Pic a couple of the hundred magic moments in the book, and convey those on the screen. We can always read the books again for what we've missed.
Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001)
Simply Magic.
I was recently in France on vacation. Everyone was talking about how wonderful this movie was. I didn't go see it, because i figured it would hit the States soon. I own The City of Lost Children and Delicatessen. I love the director's visuals and story telling. I was not sure what to expect of this one. It seemed quite different. And it was. But wonderfully so. In taking fantastic events and placing them in a very ordinary world, it makes them even more magical. I'm in love with Amelie. When did you last fall in love by simply driving to your local theatre?