text
stringlengths 98
6.42k
| label
class label 2
classes |
|---|---|
Stray Dog (1949)<br /><br />An early Kurosawa film, made before he came to the attention of cinema enthusiasts with Rashomon. Toshiro Mifune plays a young detective whose pistol is stolen by a pickpocket. Fearing for his job, and fuelled by embarrassment he sets out to find his pistol, which has been used in two crimes by the thief, in Tokyo during a sweltering heatwave...<br /><br />Kurosawa's western influences are as clear as ever in Stray Dog, as for all intents and purposes it plays like a conventional American police story. Several scenes reminded me of Orson Welles' later film Touch of Evil, particularly an extended montage sequence with a similar feel to the famous opening shot of Welles' film showing a disguised Mifune walking the streets as he attempts to track down blackmarket arms dealers accompanied by a cacophony of street noise and Latin-jazz-big band music. Another scene where Mifune and the older cop leading the investigation, played by Takashi Shimura, stakeout a Japanese Baseball game, could've been a Hitchcock set-piece. Elements of this film seem to have been referenced in a variety of contemporary works from the doppelganger criminal/detective idea in Michael Mann's Heat to John C Reilly's desperate search for his lost gun in Magnolia.<br /><br />However, despite the references to conventional genre film, Kurosawa adds depth to his film with several philosophical themes and ideas. First is the subtle way in which the detective and the robber are shown to be connected. Mifune explains how his possessions were all stolen after the war, and that he contemplated turning to crime but decided on the opposite route of law enforcement. The robber, who ends up with Mifune's gun, commits the crimes exactly because he too had his bag of belongings stolen. Mifune feels a deep sense of guilt that his pistol has been used in these crimes and almost breaks down completely when his boss, Shimura, is shot and wounded. The idea resonates with Mifune, that the life of crime he managed to avoid has returned to his life through this chance occurrence. The robber himself, is only seen in the great final chase, but he is given surprising depth of character just in the chase alone. The final chase between the two men is a classic Kurosawa scene. In a tense moment, there is an instinctive reaction by both men that they've finally found each other. Mifune is shot in the arm, out in the countryside, as Mozart drifts from a piano in a nearby house. His blood drips onto the flowers below. The theme that the gun only has a certain number of bullets pays off, as the robber fires twice and misses, leaving the gun empty allowing Mifune to overpower him. The two men wrestle in the flowers, falling into a river and get covered in mud. The robber is eventually overpowered and handcuffed and Kurosawa composes a wonderful shot showing the two, unrecognisable and exhausted men arranged at either side of the frame in the foreground, like a mirror image, while a group of singing schoolchildren walk past in the background. The robber suddenly begins to cry, and howls in anguish. Identity is blurred, the robber is no more evil than the detective, just a weaker man who gave in to the difficult environment he was faced with.<br /><br />Although some elements of the technique aren't as well developed as Kurosawa's most famous, such as the clumsy flashback intro and narration there are many moments which show the sign of the truly great filmmaker he was to become. The sense of oppressive environment, both place and weather, is strong and it's possibly the sweatiest film I've seen! The detective story itself is pretty compelling, but the final, climactic scene alone transcends simple genre film-making with something profound, poetic and moving. | 1pos
|
After eagerly waiting to the end, I have to say I wish I wouldn't have joined the whole series at the first place. The final episode was everything against the previous seven years. It has ruined everything. The journey was 23 years, but captain Janeway has the power to reduce it... let say, seven years only. Why seven? Why not just one? Or nothing? Why not avoid the whole adventure? Crewmemebers were dying all along the journey. Why she wants to save Seven of Nine only? The others don't count or what? The most ridiculous part when the crew states that getting home is not really the most important thing to them. As the say, "journey is more important than the destination". Unbelievable. And at the finale scene the are surrounded by other Federation ships and the Earth is in sight. Nothing about landing, returning to the normal life.<br /><br />Worst ending ever. | 0neg
|
Classy romantic comedies about African-Americans that neither deal drugs nor go on booty calls were unusual fare for Hollywood in the pre-Tyler Perry era. "Waiting to Exhale" (1995) charted this change of attitude in the depiction of blacks that caught on in later movies like "Soul Food," "Eve's Bayou," "Love Jones," and "The Wood." Director Malcolm D. Lee's witty, sophisticated, but dramatically well-rounded yarn "The Best Man" is the latest to capitalize on this trend. Despite some profanity and raunchy sexual allusions, "The Best Man" endorses marriage, fidelity and religious values. Nobody gets shot, stabbed, or coked up the nose. The characters qualify as intelligent, positive, upscale role models and stereotypes appear conspicuously absent in this seriocomic account of a weekend college reunion before a classmate's wedding.<br /><br />Happily, "The Best Man" shuns racism either as a political issue or as a narrative theme. Actually, this lighthearted but occasionally down to earth comedy of errors looks and sounds like something Oscar Wilde or George Bernard Shaw might have penned. The point is that "The Best Man" emerges as a polished mainstream comedy where the characters are first and foremost people with all of the foibles and frailties of mankind. A strong ensemble cast headed by charismatic Taye Diggs, who won over audiences in "When Stella Got Her Groove Back," distinguishes writer Lee's accomplished directorial debut. Unlike his famous, more often controversial brother Spike Lee, Malcolm sticks to the story and avoids tangents.<br /><br />Chicago author Harper Stewart (Taye Diggs of "Go") has just written his first novel. Appropriately entitled 'Unfinished Business,' Stewart's about to be published story has been picked up by Oprah Winfrey's book club. Life couldn't be better for the novice novelist. The froth of Harper's success fizzles when he learns that his ex-college flame, BET-TV producer Jordan Armstrong (Nia Long of "Friday") has circulated an advance copy of his semi-autobiographical effort among his close chums. When Harper arrives in New York City for the weekend festivities surrounding the impending marriage of football star Lance Sullivan (Morris Chestnut of "Half Past Dead") and Mia Morgan (Monica Calhoun of "Love & Basketball"), he finds himself up to his ears in hot water.<br /><br />Naturally, Harper's friends have perused his novel. They bicker about who he used as models for his fictional characters. Things come to a boil when Lance suspects the worst. He believes that his sweetheart Mia may have bedded down with Harper, the guy he chose to serve as his best man. Reluctantly, Harper confesses, and the once philandering football star blackens his eye at their stag party and then threatens to throw him off the balcony. Lance calls off the wedding without warning Mia and then storms out of the party. Harper realizes grimly that he must patch things up. The next day everybody shows up at the church in their finest garb, but poor Mia has no idea why Lance is tardy.<br /><br />"The Best Man" is the equivalent of Terry McMillan for guys. They form a closely-knit group of friends who have achieved success of their own right after college. Predictably, their reunion sparks old rivalries and bitter jealousies. Harper finds himself in trouble long before he arrives in the Big Apple to celebrate with his friends. Just as his publishing career is gaining momentum, Harper's girlfriend goads him about a commitment that he balks at giving. Quentin (Terrence Howard of "Iron Man") is a cynical career drifter who cannot find a woman for himself but who doles out advice to Julian Murch (Harold Perrineau, Jr., of "The Matrix Reloaded") about how to deal with his prima donna girlfriend Shelby (Melissa De Sousa of "Biker Boyz"). Finally, Lance has decided to settle down now that he has inked a $5-million contract to play for the New York Giants.<br /><br />"The Best Man" towers as a four-star romantic comedy in the tradition of "The Big Chill" with characters who never get short-changed and an ending that is agreeably believable. | 1pos
|
An intriguing portrait of a young man drifting away from reality. And since that young man was a famous hacker with an unhealthy interest in conspiracies, the movie has got to be about conspiracies, right? Wrong. But that's exactly what the ads would like you to think. Very bad marketing for a very good movie. And beware: it can bring you to tears!! (Just thinking about that PDP in the rain makes me weep ... *sniff*) | 1pos
|
I admit it: I didn't watch this show when it first aired. I was an 80's kid, so I was far more concerned with shows like Ducktails and Tailspin than any dumb show about a P.I.<br /><br />But, luckily, reruns have managed to re-introduce me to the world of the 80's shows. I've since become rather obsessed with my "three 80's M's" -- Matlock, M*A*S*H and Magnum.<br /><br />All I can say is, this ain't no Macguyver. Tom Magnum is NOT a PC guy left-wing activist who makes speeches at the end of the episode on the environment, or who can build a nuclear reactor from a piece of gum and a shoestring. Magnum is, as his name suggests, the kind of guy who shoots first and asks questions later. He always manages to get himself in trouble, and sort of mooches off his friends. He doesn't always know who is the bad guy, and he has been known to kill a few people in cold blood. He doesn't always say or do the right thing. He has some serious baggage, from his wife and daughter being killed (or were they??) and Vietnam. Some times-- well, quite often, he screwed up. His closest friends are usually in danger-- or killed-- because of him.<br /><br />This makes it sound bad, I know, but you know, these are the things I love about Magnum. He's got baggage, he's not all together, he's a bit messed up. Not seriously psychotic, you understand, but not all together. I love Magnum: the play between him and Higgins is just delightful, and his poor mooched off friends just can't say no to him, hard as they try. And, you know he's like that, but you love him anyway. Silly loud Hawaiian shirts and all. You can almost always count on at least one bar fight or car chase, He's sort of a gun-slinger of the 1980's America.<br /><br />Magnum is first and foremost, Fun. Tom Selleck and cast are utterly delightful, and I think this show is quite underrated, because when you take away the car chases there are still first and foremost good story lines and good writing.<br /><br />They have serious episodes, and they have silly ones. I tended not to like the sillier episodes: those episodes usually ranked as the best in the series stand up very well. They had good episodes and better episodes, I can only think of one or two eps in the entire series I just didn't like, but they aren't horrible, just not my taste. If you get a chance to see Did You See the SunRise parts 1 and 2, Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts (I don't know if that's the real title) or any of them, really, you watch about 3 of them and you'll be hooked. Especially Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts, I think it's one of the best episodes ever. And the series finale was brilliant, really most of them were just fun but they had some utterly brilliant episodes. You really feel like you know Magnum, and I think it's because he's just a little messed up that makes him feel real to you. That and he talks to you: often he says things like, "I know what you're thinking, and you're right, I shouldn't have..." or "I know what you're thinking, but this time, you're wrong. Higgins is the one who..." I really wish I'd gotten into this series when it was on, and that I appreciated it for what it was, but alas, I did not. I'm just glad I had a second chance to appreciate what a brilliant and fun show this was. I hope someone else out there has the chance to watch this show and enjoy it-- or re-enjoy it, for the great show it was. | 1pos
|
Like many of the comments, it will be considered to be in the top five movies I have watched. Living my life as an identical mirror twin, I could sense the incredible love between them. I watched the movie on TV and there was only one commercial so I was riveted to my couch as I did not want to miss one moment. I did not have a sense of where the story was going at the beginning but the writers took us on a believable journey. Perfect pick for the mother. I am lucky to be channel surfing this night or I would have missed a story that I could so strongly relate to. I will have to do some research to see if the Polish brothers have written or directed any movies since. I wish them both huge success with any projects they tackle in the future. Thank you for sharing a love that I have been fortunate to always know. | 1pos
|
whilst as a comedy this film is very patchy and sometimes excruciatingly vulgar, what makes it watchable is the Moore/Cook relationship. Cook is by far the funnier, more dedicated and original.his quick-witted thought processes are brilliant though i did sometimes wonder if he was simply trying to be as shocking as possible simply for the sake of it. Moore often seems past caring,often simply following cook's lead but perhaps it is the strain of Cook's obvious resentment that knobbles him. certainly he seems to be struggling to keep up with Cook's genius, but then i've always felt Cook was the more talented. the material is often of a sexual nature, sometimes (mock?) misogynistic and swearing is prolific. watching this it's clear to see how comedy today is often very derivative. The horse racing sketch, for example, blows the juvenile "dicks and pussies" speech from team America out of the water. if only every drunk and stoner could be as spontaneously funny. | 1pos
|
Few who aren't students of the history of airpower today recognize the name of William "Billy" Mitchell. An early pilot in the U.S. Army's fledgling Air Corps, he served in World War I when no American-produced plane saw action above the trenches of France. Notwithstanding the Wright brother's initial breathtaking powered flight, by 1914 England, France and Germany were far ahead of us in not only aircraft design but also in fashioning tactics for a new kind of warfare.<br /><br />Mitchell returned from the war not only a convert to the future of airpower but as a zealot advocating his prophecy to all who would listen (and to very many who didn't want to). The post-war Army suffered massive cutbacks. Mitchell reverted from brigadier general to his permanent rank of colonel, a more gentle demotion than many others experienced.<br /><br />The Army's first postwar chief of staff was the only man ever to hold the rank of General of the Armies, John J. "Black Jack" Pershing. Pershing actually appreciated aviation's potential to a real degree but he faced a budget-cutting congress while leading an army with too many senior officers who dimly recalled fighting Indians from the saddle.<br /><br />Mitchell was given the opportunity to sink the German war prize battleship "Ostfriesland." A rather foolish cabinet member offered to watch the aerial bombing from the warship's deck, so certain was he that the vessel couldn't be destroyed from the air. Fortunately for him his offer was not taken up.<br /><br />Gary Cooper turns in a quietly passionate role as the Air Corps leader who did sink the "Ostfriesland." In the film he's shown disobeying war game rules and using one-ton bombs not approved for the exercise. That never happened. He went by the rules (that time). His and his pilots' achievements were dismissed, however, by battleship-loving admirals who claimed that the test was meaningless since the ship wasn't defending itself. Some Japanese observers were less sure that this was a valid analysis.<br /><br />Gary Cooper's Billy Mitchell, despite deviations from the real story, is a remarkably accurate picture of a dedicated officer with unrestrained hubris whose public and volatile denunciations of Army and Navy superiors for numerous fatal crashes led to his then highly-publicized court-martial.<br /><br />Ralph Bellamy as Congressman Frank Reid is Mitchell's chief counsel. A blistering but unreal cross-examination by the young Rod Steiger as MAJ Allan Gullion is the the dramatic high point of the film. It's something we expect from the courtroom genre. Mitchell is convicted of, in essence, disobedience, and is placed on a long-term suspended status (in reality the effective and actual termination of his military career without the continuing public interest that incarceration would have brought).<br /><br />Cooper is strongly expressive while exuding a powerful sense of personal morality and duty as Mitchell defined that quality. That largely matches the real Mitchell.<br /><br />As defense witnesses we see the young H.H. Arnold (to achieve five-star rank in World War II) and Carl Spaatz, a four-star architect of strategic bombing in the next war. These officers persevered in their dedication to birthing a powerful air force and they did it without losing their careers and thus their effectiveness (in that regard they mirrored young field grade officers such as George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower in their crusade to take the Army from the horse to the tank).<br /><br />Cooper walks out of the film in civilian clothing, a slightly confused expression on his face. He should have been confused. For the remainder of his life, which ended before the war he predicted, he was essentially marginalized as aviation expanded and America slowly recognized the need to build a world class air force.<br /><br />Overall, for historical accuracy "The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell" is solid on the central story and fictional on the margins.<br /><br />This DVD transfer, however, borders on dreadful. Colors are washed out and voice levels shift slightly over and over. But it's well worth watching.<br /><br />7/10. | 1pos
|
Other commentators are way to lenient with remakes of old, cheap, drive-in movie fare. Why do a remake that is even more cheesy than the original? Jennifer Rubin is not nearly good-looking enough (at any of the ages attempted in this film) for this role, not to mention that I confess that I spoke too soon in my comments on the remake of Not of This Earth regarding ridiculously skinny actresses. Like that movie the sets got worse as the movie progressed until some of the scenes looked like they were filmed inside a big packing box. The idea that drives this story is not very good to begin with and warranted no remake, unless as part of a general spoof of the 50's/60's cheap SF phenomenon. My advice is: if you see this movie on the rental shelf, keep walking. Roger Corman has had a long career and I presume he is very rich but he has pretty much been a synonym for fairly bad, low-budget movies. His real claim to fame is the number of careers he has launched for makers of better movies. | 0neg
|
Easily the worst movie this year. If you're looking for character development, good dialogue or a halfway decent plot, this is the wrong movie. Even if you're looking for Catherine Zeta-Jones' butt, you're still going to be disappointed. (You saw it all in the previews.) The only compelling aspects of the completely 2-dimensional characters were due to the fact that he's Sean Connery and she's Catherine Zeta-Jones. But even James Bond with a Hellenesque beauty at his side cannot save this cerebrally-challenged script.<br /><br />The worst part is that it was too painful to make fun of. If a cheap and bad horror movie is a man falling off of his bike that you can laugh at (and sometimes laughs with you), than "Entrapment" is a catastrophic and very painful train wreck. If your Connery/Zeta-Jones fix is unsatiated. Go rent "Goldfinger" and "Zorro." If you just want to get out of the house, please save yourself and see "The Matrix."<br /><br /> | 0neg
|
This is for all the kids born in the 70's who do not remember, and didn't have to bear the burden that our fathers, mothers and older brothers and sisters had to bear. <br /><br />Jane Fonda is being honored as one of the '100 Women of the Century.' <br /><br />BY BARBRA WALTERS <br /><br />Unfortunately, many have forgotten and still countless others have never known how Ms. Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our country, but specific men who served and sacrificed during Vietnam <br /><br />The first part of this is from an F-4E pilot <br /><br />The pilot's name is Jerry Driscoll, a River Rat. <br /><br />In 1968, the former Commandant of the USAF SurvivalSchoolwas a POW in Ho Lo Prison the 'Hanoi Hilton.' <br /><br />Dragged from a stinking cesspit of a cell, cleaned, fed, and dressed in clean PJ's, he was ordered to describe for a visiting American 'Peace Activist' the 'lenient and humane treatment' he'd received. <br /><br />He spat at Ms. Fonda, was clubbed, and was dragged away. During the subsequent beating, he fell forward on to the camp Commandant's feet, which sent that officer berserk. <br /><br />In 1978, the Air Force Colonel still suffered from double vision (which permanently ended his flying career) from the Commandant's frenzied application of a wooden baton. <br /><br />From 1963-65, Col. Larry Carrigan was in the 47FW/DO (F-4E's). He spent 6 years in the 'Hanoi Hilton',,, the first three of which his family only knew he was 'missing in action'. His wife lived on faith that he was still alive. His group, too, got the cleaned-up, fed and clothed routine in preparation for a 'peace delegation' visit. They, however, had time and devised a plan to get word to the world that they were alive and still survived. Each man secreted a tiny piece of paper, with his Social Security Number on it, in the palm of his hand.<br /><br />When paraded before Ms. Fonda and a cameraman, she walked the line, shaking each man's hand and asking little encouraging snippets like: 'Aren't you sorry you bombed babies?' and 'Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors?' Believing this HAD to be an act, they each palmed her their sliver of paper. She took them all without missing a beat. At the end of the line and once the camera stopped rolling, to the shocked disbelief of the POWs, she turned to the officer in charge and handed him all the little pieces of paper.<br /><br />Three men died from the subsequent beatings. Colonel Carrigan was almost number four but he survived, which is the only reason we know of her actions that day.<br /><br />I was a civilian economic development adviser in Vietnam, and was captured by the North Vietnamese communists in South Vietnamin 1968, and held prisoner for over 5 years.<br /><br />I spent 27 months in solitary confinement; one year in a cage in Cambodia; and one year in a 'black box' in Hanoi. My North Vietnamese captors deliberately poisoned and murdered a female missionary, a nurse in Ban me Thuot, South Vietnam, whom I buried in the jungle near the Cambodian border. At one time, I weighed only about 90 lbs. (My normal weight is 170 lbs.) <br /><br />We were Jane Fonda's 'war criminals.' <br /><br />When Jane Fonda was in Hanoi, I was asked by the camp communist political officer if I would be willing to meet with her.<br /><br />I said yes, for I wanted to tell her about the real treatment we POWs received... and how different it was from the treatment purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by her as 'humane and lenient.' <br /><br />Because of this, I spent three days on a rocky floor on my knees, with my arms outstretched with a large steel weights placed on my hands, and beaten with a bamboo cane. <br /><br />I had the opportunity to meet with Jane Fonda soon after I was released. I asked her if she would be willing to debate me on TV. She never did answer me. <br /><br />These first-hand experiences do not exemplify someone who should be honored as part of '100 Years of Great Women.' Lest we forget...' 100 Years of Great Women' should never include a traitor whose hands are covered with the blood of so many patriots. <br /><br />There are few things I have strong visceral reactions to, but Hanoi Jane's participation in blatant treason, is one of them. Please take the time to forward to as many people as you possibly can. It will eventually end up on her computer and she needs to know that we will never forget. RONALD D. SAMPSON, CMSgt, USAF 716 Maintenance Squadron, Chief of Maintenance DSN: 875-6431 COMM: 883-6343 | 0neg
|
By the last half hour of the movie, I wanted to bang my head against a wall. I love Lindsay Lohan, and I thought she was great in Freaky Friday, and maybe the reason she annoyed me so much in this movie was the fact that she was TOO good. She really was a drama queen. As for the movie, random fantasy scenes with cartoonish seventies figures and background everywhere was truly irritating. Also, her outfits in the film were so horribly hideous. I suppose this movie was amusing, but still, the word that describes it best is "annoying". | 0neg
|
In WWII England a troop of surveyors are dispatched into a characteristically happy-go-lucky and scenic village, though really they are a select assemblage of German officers with orders to seize control of the township on the horizon of a covert German attack in a few days. Director Alberto Cavalcani is smart. Rather than this information creeping up on us like a twist, we grasp this from the start. When one of the villagers grows suspicious, we are in an enhanced state of tension. The Germans hijack the parish, a handful among which refuse to lose hope of alerting the unsuspecting free world around them.<br /><br />Do not make the mistake of presuming that it is an insincere propaganda yarn, considering its era. This is in fact quite an electrifying tale of survival. If so many can overlook the propaganda of obsolete films like Battleship Potemkin, there is certainly room for this picture. It stands out, owing much to its unexpected flashes of violence that are sincerely exhilarating and often frank and uncompromising in terms of the drama. It is not gritty like most modern war films. The quaintly timeless English ambiance, and the consistent theme of it maintaining its spry morale, is a clever and natural juxtaposition to the taut aggression of the conflict, which is thus more well-defined. The relatively unfamiliar cast is plainly high- quality.<br /><br />At its hub, yes, it's a work of propaganda exploiting a thriller story to enrapture its WWII-era British spectators. But mind you, it is based on a story by English writer and WWII MI6 spy Graham Greene. Nevertheless, the English were righteous in that war, remaining the only European country the Germans intended to occupy but never could. This piece grows to be as riveting as any other good movie, and what's more, its unexpected violence causes it to project with particular prominence. | 1pos
|
I had been looking forward to seeing this film for about a month after I saw an interview with Ben Kingsley talking about it.<br /><br />I was very disappointed. I found it slow, pretentious and really flat. I thought the two main characters were vain, shallow and unlikeable.<br /><br />Penelope Cruz's performance was far better than Ben Kingsley's but was nowhere near her usual standards, such as Volver. She has much greater ability than was displayed here.<br /><br />The background music was laboured and intrusive. All in all I found it horridly contrived and I had to keep looking at my watch to see how much longer I had to suffer it before it ended. | 0neg
|
The same extreme close-up footage of what appears to be a pit bull gorging on a blood rare piece of meat is inserted again and again with each kill. Considering how many kills there are in this trash fest, you'll become so familiar with the gator's incisors, you might start giving each tooth a name.<br /><br />Ridiculous and deranged. So much so, it begins to look like it's a parody, but I think the film actually took itself seriously. This is one of those flicks with so many outrageously stupid lines it could become a cult classic of the so-bad-it's-good kind. The acting is beyond atrocious. There's one Jessica Simpson look alike who is casually jogging around (looking like she's doing an episode of Bay Watch) through the forest after seeing two gruesome deaths. The skeptics she encounters recite lines like robots. There's three dimwitted twerps who flunked out of Animal House wandering around looking for an anti-drunkenness elixir. Then there's some whack lady (an unrecognizable Kelly McGillis) who wants to catch the thing. And some poor man's Capt. Ahab who also wants to croak it. Oh, and the vulcanologists who just stand around gossiping.<br /><br />I love the rampage scene, where the gator chases everything that moves. Red CGI splotch paint balls replace characters frequently; that's about the level of the CGI effects. The "volcano" looks like one of those science project things kids do. Characters with "Next victim" written on their faces always seem to fall down while running so the thing can devour them. Terrified extras screaming and running: straight out of an old Godzilla type flick. By this time, you're either rooting for the monster, or rolling on the floor in hysterics.<br /><br />Demented script, comically awful acting, brazenly sloppy special effects: this one is so amateurish, you have to see it to believe it. | 1pos
|
It is shocking to think of how big the High School Musical franchise has become for Disney. In 2006, the first film became a surprise hit, and the sequel is expected to follow along the same lines. It is embarrassing to admit, but I bought a month's subscription for Disney Channel on Demand just so I could see High School Musical 2 before anyone else, and it definitely didn't disappoint. Let me say it right here and now: High School Musical is thousands of times better than the first film, with improvements in every category. The movie is longer, most of the scenes are more realistic, the directing and the acting seem to have vastly improved, and most importantly of all, the songs and the music are just AMAZING. These are the type of songs you would expect from a Broadway film or production, not some TV movie musical! The lyrics are beautiful, and nearly all of the songs are spectacular. All of the original cast members return for High School Musical 2, including Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Hudgens, Lucas Grabeel, and Corbin Bleu.<br /><br />The plot this time around is incredibly different from the first one, and much more structured. It has a certain unique flow to it. Summer has arrived and Troy and Gabriella's love has to stand the test of time. Summer break just happens to be the ultimate test. Sharpay's parents own a country club, and she allows them to hire Troy, but all of the Wildcats come along for summer jobs. Sharpay will stop at nothing to tear apart Troy and Gabriella. Troy must discover who he is and what the future really holds for him along the way.<br /><br />The best thing about this sequel is the fact that Disney seems to care so much about it. It's not one of those crappy sequels like Inspector Gadget 2 with none of the original cast returning. This sequel brings back the entire cast, and fleshes out the backstories for each and every one of them. With a longer length, there is more time to develop the characters, and this time is utilized wisely with a number of songs with amazing lyrics. Each and every song brings something new to the plate and is a realization of one thing or another. Every song has its own sound and feel that is much more unique than the first one. The soundtrack is simply amazing, and even the one song that didn't make it into the movie (Humuhumunukunukuapua'a) ended up as one of my favorites.<br /><br />The acting is considerably better this time around as all of the cast members have had a year or so to work on their acting. Lucas Grabeel steals the show as Ryan, who finally breaks free from being Sharpay's accomplice in everything. Zac Efron gives a flawless performance with some amazing vocals, and it's very easy to see why he has become such an icon so quickly. Everyone's hairstyles and clothes look much better this time around, and there is much less of that corny Disney-Channel-show feel to it. The writing and the script are very well-written, and there are very few scenes that don't come out the right way. The dialogue and the music and lyrics balance themselves out perfectly in the movie.<br /><br />High School Musical 2 is not only the best Disney Channel Original Movie ever made, but it is also sure to become a classic, and one of the best film musicals I've ever seen. It is better than the first film in every way imaginable with better humor and comedic moments, better writing, and much better songs. Don't miss this filmyou won't be disappointed! It is nothing short of amazing. | 1pos
|
Wow, I really enjoyed this show! The acting, story and effects were great. The cast seemed to work well together, it's too bad that Justin Hartley is now on Smallville. For a pilot, the show was great and showed a LOT of potential! Wow, what was the CW thinking by not picking it up?! The pilot had action, mystery sex appeal. People were expecting great things from this show and the CW screwed it up without even getting it on the air. They're crazy. Hopefully the huge success and huge number of downloads on i Tunes will make them change their minds... hopefully. With an average rating of 4 and a half stars, I don't know what CW is waiting for! | 1pos
|
The movie starts like a sort of mystery/thriller,when Janie pursues the truth about her past. Along the middle we find out what has happened to her and the movie changes into a human drama. I could really identify with Janie here, putting myself in her shoes. How she copes with the very sudden changes in her life really made me think about parents and family relations.<br /><br />Kellie Martin(Janie) gave a fine performance.Very much recommended.:) | 1pos
|
This film is pretty damn bad. As has already been mentioned the film steals the plots of Executive Decision and borrows a bit of the Rock for good measure.<br /><br />What I did not understand was why would the kidnappers hijack the Vice Presidents plane ?? Surely with all that potential chemical death on board any plane would have done. In fact why use a plane at all just use a bomb in a warehouse with the chemical. Oh well who knows the minds of master criminals in terrible films ?<br /><br />The plot is stolen from executive decistion. The aerial shots are borrowed from stock footage. This really only leaves the acting to save it - sadly it doesn't. Stereotypical bad guys and Stereotypical good guys (the leader of the special forces team sent in to rescue the Vice President is a gung ho idiot so that the main film hero can take over - oh my god).<br /><br />Good look finding more work for all involved in this turkey. | 0neg
|
this is a exellent film to watch a rainy night with your friends.. their old Stockholm ghetto talk is really something! I really recomend this film too all the swedish IMDB members out there!<br /><br />ghetto talk: "kom igen vi shappar"<br /><br />"biga pengar"<br /><br />"vi slaggar här ikväll"<br /><br />"va fan vill du??....fitta! | 1pos
|
Of course, "Flatley" is already not exactly the ideal name for a dancer, but I think Michael is really pushing the irony envelope with this new title: "Feet of Flames" <br /><br />One really can't resist recommending Desenex Foot Spray to the retiring (and clearly, ailing) Flatley.<br /><br />I might add that, much like that cheering London crowd (per review below), I too am enthusiastic about this being his last live performance.<br /><br />"Hinting that it may be his last live performance, Flatley is cheered on by an enthusiastic London crowd." ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide | 0neg
|
I was subjected to this at a party recently and honestly, I can say nothing good about it. The animation was awful, the storyline (such as it was) was incomprehensible. The voice acting was passable, but hardly makes up for how horrible the rest of this cartoon was. After a short time, maybe five or ten minutes, of having this trash inflicted on me, I managed to politely excuse myself and get some chips. How anyone above the age of ten can be so enamored with this remains a mystery to me. But, from what I can see, fans of this genre are rabid enough that poor animation and incomprehensibility make no difference to them, so one negative review equally will make no difference.<br /><br />On the other hand, if you like GOOD animation, steer clear of this and watch some classic Bugs Bunny instead.<br /><br />0/5 stars. | 0neg
|
Burt Reynolds and Tony Randall in charge of the "apparatus" required to make a pass on a date, with Woody as one of a thousand soldiers make the rest of the movie worth the wait. The more times I see this, the more I also enjoy Gene Wilder's bit as an unusual doctor with an odd sense of compassion. If you like "intelligent-zany" this is for you. | 1pos
|
"Love Me Or Leave Me" has been critically lauded and publicly supported. I can only concede it's a very fine music/drama/biopic. <br /><br />What's so unique about this film is it's skillfully combining the "gangster" element with the "musical" genre. The bio-based storyline plays out like somewhat like a crime drama, while the musical portion rings forth with twelve complete full-bodied numbers.<br /><br />The casting is truly inspired: what a coup getting Doris Day, at the peak of her physical, acting and vocal powers to be cast in a real-life role, while snaring the brilliant, often breathtaking James Cagney--forever at the peak of his powers--as the indestructible "Gimp." <br /><br />Together they create fireworks, playing off one another's sweet 'n' sour characterizations with great relish. How amusing it is to see Cagney having fun with his deft limp-walk and grueling thug-character, complemented by Day's equally enjoyable, contrastingly lovable persona. <br /><br />The songs are all very beautiful, and expertly rendered by Day in this, a wonderful tribute to her vocal talent and impressive musicianship.<br /><br />The script is well-written to utilize the stars' individual gifts, and the widescreen production is a delight to watch. After all these years, "Love Me Or Leave Me" holds its own, thanks to the contributions of two now-legendary stars. | 1pos
|
I love this collection of there videos. "Jump" is my best music video in that video collection. Alex influenced me to play the drums and Eddie is just the best guitarist that ever lived. They rock and will never die. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK FELLAS. | 1pos
|
***WARNING SOME SPOILERS*** This is the one that started it all, before King Kong, Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, Godzilla, Jurassic Park, etc. Nearly eighty years ago, this ambitious silent film was unleashed on an astonished public, the story adapted from the famous novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Although there had been silent short subjects featuring prehistoric animals before, The Lost World was the first full-length feature to introduce the concept of such outsized monsters invading a major metropolis. Today, such a plot seems terribly cliched, but it's unfair to judge The Lost World by modern standards- technically or artistically. In fact, if imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, this original version of the Lost World should be blushing from the attention!<br /><br /> Willis O'Brien (who had produced many short animated subjects previously) was the primary resource behind Lost World: without his expertise and participation, the movie would likely never have been completed, or even considered. The film's producers rightly figured audiences would want to see the film primarily for the prehistoric animals, so the human cast took a supporting role. O'Brien and his crew went above and beyond Doyle's story, populating the Lost World with seemingly dozens of creatures, (only a few are mentioned in the novel). The inclusion of more dinosaurs allowed the film to feature them as the primary menaces, instead of the novel's plot of tribal warfare between natives and ape-men. Except for stuntman Bull Montana as the villainous missing link inexplicably traveling in conjunction with a chimpanzee, this portion of the novel was excluded from the film.<br /><br />The film varies somewhat from Doyle's novel: a group of intrepid explorers accompany the volatile Professor Challenger (Wallace Beery) to a plateau in the jungles of South America. Beery's Challenger is probably the most interesting character in the film. He's a man driven by his convictions and unwilling to back down on his arguments. In several ways, he can be seen as a precursor to King Kong's Carl Denham. Lewis Stone as Sir John Roxton provides the only real subtlety of character, an older man in love with the sole woman of the expedition, Paula White (Bessie Love). Roxton sees his chances for romance fade as Paula falls for Ed Malone (Lloyd Hughes) a younger man who hopes to make his career as a journalist on the expedition. Roxton first conveys dismay at the budding romance, then resignation as he chivalrously bows out of this romantic triangle. It's an unexpected touch of subtlety in a film that is geared towards drama and conflict.<br /><br />Inevitably- because of this emphasis on the special effects- this romantic subplot seems intrusive. If only the film could have sustained such human interaction, or managed to evoke some compassion in audiences. Sadly, though the effects themselves are quite startling, the pacing and direction of The Lost World are merely serviceable. O'Brien and his crew worked wonders to create the dinosaurs and volcano eruption, but the technical wizardry is let down by the workmanlike, unimaginative direction of Harry Hoyt, who seems completely disconnected to the possibilities inherent in such a plot. Unlike King Kong, which wisely built up suspense and tension when introducing the prehistoric denizens of Skull Island, the dinosaurs in Lost World appear abruptly and without context. The brontosaurus, for instance, is first seen grazing sedately through a simple cut away from the live action, and is not shown in scale with the players until later, almost as an afterthought. The Allosaurus that stalks into the nighttime camp, contrarily, is well handled. With its eyes eerily reflecting the glow of the campfire like a jungle cat's, the dinosaur advances from the darkness towards the explorers. Even here, however, the suspense is dissipated by the fact we've already seen the Allosaurus (or another like it) attacking first a Trachodon, then a Triceratops, so its appearance in the camp is less of a shock. (Its attack, as well, is too brief).<br /><br />As for the effects themselves, it is obvious that there were many technical bugs that O'Brien worked to improve upon during production: the results are mixed. Sometimes the animation of the monsters is smooth, (most notably with the Brontosaurus running amok in London) but in earlier scenes it is obvious much of the stop motion was shot using two or even three frame exposures between moving the models. This gives the animation an uneven look, and it's odd that these more primitive scenes survived into the final version. It's also strange that a Brontosaurus was selected to be loose in the finale, especially since this sequence wasn't included in the novel. Unlike Kong, the dinosaur doesn't have much motivation other than lumber through the streets. Even the collapse of Tower Bridge seems anticlimactic rather than a spectacle highlight. People are injured, but the dinosaur provides little intentional menace. Had the filmmakers substituted a flesh-eating Allosaurus as the captive that broke loose (as shown in the posters for the film!) it would have provided far more of a threat. (Hmmm, sounds a lot like ANOTHER `Lost World made 72 years later!)<br /><br />The Lost World has recently been re-released on DVD in a beautifully restored (and much extended) print, culled from several sources. Most of this restored footage is of the human drama, but there are a few significant dinosaur scenes, as well. There is more footage of the dinosaur stampede, and it appears some of the existing animation was replaced by a different `take' of the same scene featured in earlier releases. On the whole, The Lost World is one of the more interesting silent films-- mostly because one can see some of the seeds of King Kong being sown here, seven years before. This version of the Lost World, while perhaps not a true classic like King Kong, nonetheless has its moments. If you're curious about the birth and development of stop-motion, or see what inspired the more recent Jurassic Park films, I'd recommend visiting this Lost World again.<br /><br /> | 1pos
|
This movie put director Luc Besson into the big league.<br /><br />The basic story is about a drugged up vicious street punk serving a life sentence for killing a cop.She is given a second chance at freedom of sorts, by a top secret French assassination agency.The movie shows her transformation into something better then she was and the affect it has on the two men in her life that mean something to her.<br /><br />This movie is amazingly well acted. Anne Parillaud, Marc Duret, Patrick Fontana are outstanding.<br /><br />This is a pretty violent movie, but not just for the sake of violence,it is a necessary counter-point to Nikkita's blossoming appreciation of life.The violence is realistic and well done.<br /><br />The action scene's are fast pasted and tense.<br /><br />Everything about this film is top notch, I recommend it. | 1pos
|
This film is the one that introduced me to one of my favorite actors, Adam Sandler. His movies are mostly hit-or-miss gag machines, but this is one of his movies in which nearly every gag works. I almost miss the old Adam Sandler. The old Adam Sandler character would be a man who acts nice, but turns violent and angry when he doesn't get his way. Now he plays a mild-mannered every-man who makes little wisecracks. Not that the latter isn't funny, but the former is what he'll always be remembered for, and this is a perfect example of an Adam Sandler's true comedic side.<br /><br />Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) is a nearly unlikeable loser who after a strangely traumatic childhood, grew up to be a raving, anti-social lunatic, who happens to be obsessed with hockey. He constantly tries out for hockey teams, and proudly holds two league records (Most time spent in the penalty box, and he was the only person in history to ever take off his skate and try to stab somebody). One day, his girlfriend dumps him, he doesn't make the hockey team, and the IRS repossesses his grandmothers house which he grew up in. Soon, he discovers that he has an incredible talent for golf, with a record breaking long drive. Unwillingly taken under the wing of one-handed former golf pro Chubbs Peterson (Carl Weathers), and becomes a golf sensation due to his long drive, and extremely rude behavior, much to the dismay of the leading tour money winner, Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald). A bitter rivalry and a race-against-time ensue, as Happy tries to earn back his grandma's house, and beat Shooter.<br /><br />Happy Gilmore is a movie that I truly adore, and will always cherish. There are many quotable lines, and hilariously random scenes and/or characters. One of the funniest ones is a cameo by Ben Stiller as a cold-blooded orderly at an old folks home, who treats the citizens like inmates. One of the funniest comic bits in any Adam Sandler movie is the sequence in which Happy gets into a fistfight with Bob Barker, the host of "The Price is Right." For some reason, Bob fails to notice the heckler who's most frequently uttered word never fails to affect Happy's game for the worst. <br /><br />Another hilarious thing about this movie is how many of the characters in the movie manage to play their parts and keep a straight face, even when Happy is assaulting innocent people for the smallest reasons, and cussing out the golf ball when it won't go "home." Happy is one of a group of quirky characters in the film, but much of the humor comes from the reactions of the serious characters, and/or the extras when Happy does something stupid. One hilarious example of this is when Happy repeatedly screams out every word that can't be said on TV, well... on TV. The overall premise of the film is fun, and the film delivers non-stop laughs. Sit back and enjoy the classic Adam Sandler vehicle. I highly recommend this film, and give it 10/10. <br /><br />It is proudly rated PG-13 for Language and Comic Sexuality. Sex: 4/10 Violence: 5/10 Swearing: 5/10 Drugs: 2/10 | 1pos
|
**SPOILERS** A bloody shootout in a Mafia safe-house apartment results in the rip off of $300,000.00 from the mob's Harlam bank. It also cost the lives of seven people including two members of the Mafia Gennaro family. <br /><br />Old Don Gennaro, Frank Macetta, is worried about his operations in Harlem falling apart and has his young hot-shot and sadistic son-in-law Nick D'Salvio, Tony Franciosa,to get things back to normal. Nick starts by trying to get back the stolen loot with the help of the Mafia controlled Doc Johnson, Richard Ward,who runs their Harlem rackets. <br /><br />The three, who knocked off the mob's monthly take, Jim Harris Joe Logart & Henry Jackson, Paul Benjamin Ed Bernard & Antonio Fargas,are marked for death not only by the Mafia and the Jackson Harlem syndicate but by the NYPD. Not just for ripping off the mob but for the murder of two policemen who tried to stop the trio's getaway.<br /><br />Put in charge of the murder/robbery investigation is young and collage educated Let. Poke, Yaphet Kotto, which irritates the local police precincts Capt. Mattelli, Anthony Quinn, who feels he should be the one in charge. This causes friction not only between the two cops but the men of the 27th precinct who feel that Capt. Mattelli should run the investigation.<br /><br />During the movie Capt. Mattelli grudgingly accepts the decision of Let. Poke being put in charge over him since he's been compromised by taking graft from Johnson for years, that will only hamper finding the three hoods who ripped the Johnson/Mafia off. Capt. Mattelli also learns only to late that once your in the pay of the mob the only way you can get out, or retire, of that squalid arraignment is in a pine box.<br /><br />Extremely brutal crime/drama with two of the persons, Henry J. Jackson & Joe Logart, who dared to take the mob's ill-gotten gains ending up viciously tortured and murdered by the maniacal Nick D'Salvio, who took a sick and morbid glee in doing the two in. <br /><br />The third man, and head, of the group of robbers Jim Harris was a lot harder and far more dangerous nut to crack and find by Nick and his hoods. Tracked down in an abandoned building in West Harlem. Jim alone with his common-law wife Gloria,Norma Donaldson, begins to freak-out when he get's epileptic seizures with no medication on hand to relive them. This time thing don't go off that well for Nick and both the Mafia and Johnson mob, like it did with both Joe & Henry. By the time the shootout was over the entire block, where Jim was holding out in, was left shot up and demolished together with Jim Nick and Gloria.<br /><br />Superior crime/movie with a stand-out performance by a young, 34 at the time, Yaphet Kotto as Let. Poke who showed the overly brutal Capt. Mattelli that you don't get the same results in solving crimes with 1940's police tactics in the year 1972. Even more important it's a lot better to be an honest cop then a dirty one in both having a clear conscience and long lifespan. | 1pos
|
"The Enforcer" is a gripping tale about an investigation into the activities of a crime syndicate boss and the efforts of an Assistant D.A. to bring him to justice. The criminal in question was the head of a group of contract killers who carried out murders to order and avoided detection because their operatives never had any connection with their victims and so there were never any known motives or obvious leads for the authorities to follow up in their investigations. This concept, although very familiar to audiences today, was something very topical at the time of the film's release and also a matter of great public interest.<br /><br />In the period immediately before the release of "The Enforcer", Senate Committee hearings on organised crime were chaired by Senator Estes Kefauver. These hearings were given national television coverage during a period when the medium was very new to most viewers and the revelations about the pervasive nature of organised crime and the existence of the outfit known as "Murder Incorporated" attracted extremely large audiences. It was during these broadcasts that the general public first became aware of some of the jargon used by hired killers and "The Enforcer" is credited as being the first movie to feature the words "contract", "hit" and "fingerman" in this context.<br /><br />After a four year investigation into the activities of crime boss Albert Mendoza (Everett Sloane), Assistant D.A. Martin Ferguson (Humphrey Bogart) has a witness who has agreed to testify that he saw Mendoza kill a man. When the witness, Joe Rico (Ted de Corsia), dies suddenly as the result of an accident, Ferguson and Police Captain Frank Nelson (Roy Roberts) undertake a meticulous review of their investigation to date to try to find another piece of information which could lead to them being able to get Mendoza convicted.<br /><br />The case files confirm that the investigation started when a frantic young man called "Duke" Malloy (Lawrence Tolan) visited a police station and reported that he's been forced to kill his girlfriend. It transpired that he was a hired killer who'd fallen in love with his intended victim and when he'd initially refused to go through with the job, he'd been pressured by other gang members into completing the contract. The overwrought Malloy hanged himself in a police cell and the investigation that followed involved police officers in gathering information from a variety of people including Malloy's fellow gang members.<br /><br />Ferguson and Nelson's review eventually brings to light the name of another person who would be a perfect witness but unfortunately Mendoza becomes aware of this person's identity at the same and this leads to a desperate race against time for the police to find the potential witness before Mendoza's men do.<br /><br />The movie's structure is interesting as an account of the police investigation is given in flashback with the stories of each of the interviewees often constituting a flashback within a flashback. The action is delivered with a good deal of pace and tension and despite the story's closeness to real events, the movie's style is always entertaining and not overly solemn in the way that some docu-noirs can be.<br /><br />The colourful collection of characters featured in "The Enforcer" are brought to life vividly by the excellent cast and Humphrey Bogart is especially good as a man who is extremely determined and powerfully focused on his task but is nevertheless also very controlled and methodical when necessary. | 1pos
|
Second to Space Cases, My Brother and Me was possibly the worst show I've ever seen on Nickelodeon. Not only did it have no premise, but it contained a series of the worst actors I've ever seen. Each actor spoke as if they were reading their lines off a wall - broken speech that made them all sound incredibly dumb. It used to pain me, as a kid, to watch this show when it was on and usually I'd have to change the channel halfway through. Suffice to say, none of the actors from the show has gone anywhere, more or less. I can't even remember any of the plots because none of them had the possibility of holding my attention. And the funniest thing of all was throwing in the token white kid with blond hair and glasses. Overall, a poor effort on someone's part. | 0neg
|
Ah the sci-fi channel. How often do you disappoint me? Quite often I think, do you ever show good movies? OK you have given me the great 'Heroes' and the reasonably good 'The Lost Room' but they are series, and as for the movie well there really is nothing positive to say. Bad acting, bad directing, terrible characters and a shallow story, and that is just for starters. I checked out the director Allan A Goldstien and was not surprised to find nothing of interest in his resume (in fact I am half thinking that this is a pseudo name). The premises of four motor bikers out motto-crossing in a national park when one of them has an accident that needs a park ranger to come rescue them only for them to get caught in a forrest fire is weak and predictable that you know every beat before it happens. Leading man Bryan Genesse the park ranger is so bad it is terrible. Cast as the action hero martial arts boy in the footsteps of so many others this guy makes Seagal and Van Damme look like De Nero. The supporting cast are little better and well before the end one was left hoping the fire would engulf them all then the film crew. Avoid at all costs | 0neg
|
Sometimes people irk me. More specifically are those people who, when in reference to some of the recent animated features, say things like "Oh it's such a great film, because, not only do the kids love it, it's funny for adults as well! (yay for us!)" This irks me because adults and kids alike have always been able to appreciate a well-made animated feature. So while I do hate this growing trend -one that has seen studios offering "condolences" to parents who drag concession-hungry children to see their movies by using two-tiered, age-discriminating humor (I guess so parents can nod knowingly to each other over the heads of their kids, while receiving these studio "winks", as if to say " They didn't get that one, but we sure did -it's because we're OLDER.")- I do feel the need to point out that Nemo is not the first fish to reference popular culture to adults.<br /><br />Enter Teacher's Pet, Disney's hand-animated feature (released on the heels of the announcement that it is shutting down its Florida animation studio) based on the popular kids series about a dog named Spot (Nathan Lane) who wants nothing more then to become a boy. With its skewed color pallet, course lines and surrealistic characters and environments, creator Gary Baseman offers us a visually stimulating experience one that provides a refreshing (if not nostalgic) breather to a genre on the verge of becoming sterilized by computers.<br /><br />However, it takes a lot more then just strong visuals to form a well-crafted animated feature and Teacher's Pet is a prime example of why. Written by former Cheers scribers Bill and Cheri Steinkellner and directed by first-timer Timothy Bjorklund, the humor in Teacher's Pet falls almost completely flat. By attempting to appeal simultaneously to adults and kids alike, they have taken a potentially strong premise for either audience and turned it into a convoluted mess that succeeds only in its ability to bring generations together through boredom. This is supposed to be a kids film -I don't need to explain to my four-year old niece why Spot is now a middleaged man hitting on moms and shacked up in some sleazy motel- if they wanted "edgy" then they should have pitched it to Matt Stone. Sh*t or get off the pot I say.<br /><br />Reviewed by Shaun English | 0neg
|
this show is show hilarious! after one episode (i watched it on accident once after that 70's show, which is still the very best show on tv), i was hooked. My personal favorite episode is the one where steven and lizzie each have a respective night out with their gender, where steven, lloyd (my fav character), ron, and marshall (my 2nd fav character)go to a party and marshall gets lloyd's overflow. lizzie, rachel, and a bunch of extras go to a bar and have a good time also. hilarious episode. the most underrated show on tv, and while th andy richter show looks really good, i hope it doesn't replace the best attempt at a new show since malcolm in the middle (fox works wonders by going against convention...look at it, simpsons is a cartoon, 70's show is a period piece, malcolm introduced a new style, undeclared is breaking new ground, grounded for life is flashbacked, titus is hardcore...man i love fox)watch it, you won't be disappointed | 1pos
|
Big Spoiler Alert. So read this only if you've already seen it... or don't care. But you should see it. <br /><br />First, I give this a 7. It's got some great actors, music, and directing. The creepy mood that the miniseries created was perfect. I sat and watched this straight through and wasn't bored once, despite it's being 5 hours long. UNFORTUNATELY, I couldn't escape two things. First, the massive plot holes, especially towards the ending, and second, the fact that they gave up on the mystery of the room by the final third of the film. One example of a huge hole: The Order. Why even create that subplot if you're going to leave it hanging the way they did? The only answer is that this was supposed to be a pilot. But it didn't feel that way. And there are dozens more that make equally little sense. Second, the mystery was just dropped. The whole question about how and why the room came to be and who the Occupant was before whatever happened happened was just left to float away as though no one would really care anyway. Sure, Joe wanted his daughter back and one could argue that he was thinking about her and nothing else. But to use that explanation is just giving the film an excuse to be sloppy. For a detective, he barely asked any questions and I feel as though it was intentional so we would forget that there was a mystery to begin with. People, especially detectives, are curious and I'm sure that if confronted with something this bizarre, they'd be asking questions for hours (and not get up and leave before the omelets even arrive).<br /><br />Sadly, these two problems seriously deflated my impression of the series. In large part because they were so annoying. It started out so fun with the competing groups vying for control of the objects and the characters involved behind the secrecy. But once the last hour came, it was as though the studio sent down a memo telling the director to wrap it up so they could start filming a reality TV show on the sets.<br /><br />This is another example of why you give people enough time to complete the story rather than force it into an allotted time slot. My only hope is that these problems I had were the result of an over-zealous editing team, and that if a DVD of the miniseries comes out, the scenes from the cutting-room floor can be picked up and re-attached so that some sense can be made out of the thing.<br /><br />In conclusion, it's good. Very good. But it could have been great. | 0neg
|
Very funny movie about a simple minded young man who's simply afraid to move out of his parents house because he doesnt want to be alone.To make up for his lack of an interesting life, he constantly lies to the only people who he can let his imaginative frustrations run wild with - the neighborhood kids,who idolize him.Does he realize this ? Of course not ! Will he ever learn ? ....Maybe.. Frank Whaley is hilarious as the inept but good hearted Jim Dodge,delusional liar and big dreamer.Jennifer Connelly is absolutely beautiful as the rich,understood Josie McClellan.John Hughes is brilliant once again,and this smart quirky story shows he truly understands what it was like to be young.Those who were in their twenties in the nineties will laugh their head off ( as well as wish they were and were not Jim Dodge at different points in the movie. ) If you liked Mannequin you should get a kick out of this as well. | 1pos
|
Final Fantasy VIII is the apex of fantasy RPGs. Not only does it take place in a world we can believe and understand (a somewhat futuristic world that is fairly peaceful but still militarized), but it features characters we can feel akin to, for the first real time in the FF Series. These characters are very real; they have problems, ambitions and fears. They love and hate. They experience real hope and true despair. Final Fantasy VIII is truly the last great love story of the 20th Century... a story for the ages. | 1pos
|
Beinvenue a St Piere, a French outpost off the Eastern shore of Canada. On this small island, Ariel Neel Auguste (Emir Kusturica) awaits Madame La Guillotine for having killed a man in a drunken brawl. A burly brute of a man, Ariel's quick thinking saves an islander from certain death when a house being moved slides down a hill.<br /><br />Ariel's charm wins him the regard of Madame Pauline La (Juliette Binoche), wife of Captain Jean (Daniel Auteuil), the commander of the island's garrison. Islanders are divided on the issue of execution; most would like to save Ariel. Madame La sends Ariel, now a trusted prisoner, on a mission in a small dinghy. The idea is that Ariel will escape into nearby British or American territory, but Ariel true to his parole faithfully returns and even helps bring Madame La Guillotine ashore.<br /><br />Yugoslavian born Emir Kusturica plays the French islander the commoner Ariel Neel Auguste with a sensitive gentility, persuasively tough and docile, hardheaded and obedient.<br /><br />As Ariel waits execution, tables turn on Captain Jean. He's ordered home to Metroplitain France. Officially he's a guest of the fleet Admiral. Actually with political unrest at home Captain Jean faces the firing squad. He too is told of the many opportunities to escape, but steadfastly follows orders right up to his execution by firing squad.<br /><br />Daniel Auteuil plays the tough-fisted French Captain with the practised arrogance of an officer used to getting his way.<br /><br />I'm not entirely sure a motion picture though full of violence or threats of violence would be fully understood by an American audience. The parallelism between Captain Jean and the commoner Ariel is far too delicate for audiences which are addicted to shoot-em up high speed police chase lines. | 1pos
|
I recently watched "Marple: Murder at the Vicarage" (starring Geraldine McEwan), and must say I was not overly impressed.<br /><br />If the police investigations of the day were conducted as they were in this dramatisation of Agatha Christie's novel, it's a wonder that any criminals were ever caught at all, much less convicted, with or without any dotty old ladies poking their noses in. Even in a pretend TV "whodunnit" investigation, a little reality goes a long way.<br /><br />Not only was the murder scene not secured, but suspects "et al" were allowed to come and go through it at will, and in fact there was never any "boffin" in sight. No incident room was ever set up, but then I didn't see many police around to actually use one. No fingerprints appeared to have been taken or checked for (even though at the denouement it could clearly be seen that "dabs" were left all over said murder scene), and any reference to or collection of written statements were completely overlooked. Awkward for any later trial I would have thought. Albeit modern forensic science has advanced out of sight since the 1950's, initial proceedings were surely much the same then as they are now.<br /><br />I was brought up in an English village during the same period (the Fifties) in which this production was set (although the book was written about 20 years earlier), but I didn't "recognise" any of the characters. They were all like plastic effigies straight out of a Hollywood studio, and the village itself from the top of a chocolate box. Although similarly born of Agatha Christie's pen, both characters and village were much more believable in the previous Joan Hickson series, and in which the direction was much more knowing. To its credit however, the story-line stays reasonably faithful to the novel, except for Professor Dufosse and his daughter. Where on earth did they come from? They're certainly not creations of Agatha Christie, and never appeared in the book. An unnecessary additional red-herring from the producers no doubt, or are they a replacement for Dr Stone (an archaeologist) and his secretary Miss Cram? If so, why? Why change the characters? Also, as another reviewer has reminded us, Miss Marple was the ultimate spinster and only had one small "fling" when young, which was maternally cut short.<br /><br />Considering the impressive line up of star actors both young and old on display here, there should have been an equally impressive result. It was considerably short of that, and one is left to wonder why this re-make was ever produced, and with all due respect to Geraldine McEwan, magnificent actress though she is, the late Joan Hickson still reigns supreme as Jane Marple. | 0neg
|
Now I remember this show airs on CN on 2001, titled Grim & Evil, one was Grim (Grim Adventures of B&M) and Evil (Evil Con Carne). Now in 03' it was retitled "Grim Adventures of B&M" <br /><br />Grim & B&M- It's about two kids waiting for something unusual to happen, and it did, comes the Grim Reaper. First of all, the character designs, voices and other stuff is downright bad.<br /><br />Characters of the show: Billy- He was a neighborhood boy who doesn't remember anything because he doesn't have a brain, Well, he has a brain right now! He can be smart, intelligent and have personalities to each other.<br /><br />Mandy- Can this creep ruin everyones lives today? We'll find out, Now Mandy is a mean spirited girl has no opportunity to have fun, she wants to be a demon all day. Mandy's Emotions: mean (that's all) no happiness? , no smiling? Why? Anyway, Mandy is so bad, that she torments Billy thinking he is retarded, well he's not! Grim- (No description). The humor is very overrated.<br /><br />I used to watch this show when I was 12, but after a few years, I suddenly gave up on it.<br /><br />Overall: It's not as bad or boring as Spongebob Squarepants (IMO the most overrated show ever made, but it's definitely not as good as Rocko's Modern Life, Ren and Stimpy, Doug or Invader ZIM.<br /><br />B&M: 2.5/10 | 0neg
|
This movie had an excellent story line. The actors were great and the choice of Matthew Lillard as Manic was genius. Lillard built upon his earlier "Scream" success playing a crazy. Saffron Burrows' portrayal of Angel was genuine and she sizzled as the Wing Commander! Special effects were very good. In my opinion, the movie was much better than I expected it to be. I recommend this movie to everyone, but especially Wing Commander fans. | 1pos
|
This is one of my personal favorites,great gore, good music, cinematography and of course John Morghan and Tony King's insane over the top performances. Overall a neat flick, and the gore rules! dig that shotgun blast to the stomach effect! | 1pos
|
"For the Boys" is a fantastic film. This is for sure one of my favorite all time movies. Bette Midler gives a great performance. The film makes you laugh and cry. It should of been nominated for best picture. Although Midler did win Best Actress at the Golden Globe Awards for her performance in this movie. A MUST SEE! | 1pos
|
A lot of people criticize this film for not being funnier. If it was, I probably would have suffered cardiac arrest. Barbra Streisand and George Segal are hilarious.<br /><br />Seldome have I seen two great actors paired in a funny movie that really clicks.<br /><br />Barbra is doing this film soon after winning an Academy Award for Best Actress in her first film (Funny Girl). She is a riot as a prostitute that absolutely drives Felix (Segal) nuts! It has to be added that this is the first major film in which a major actress says f*ck. (I hear this has been cut from all but the VHS version.) Segal chose to go the comedy route, rather than drama, for which he is equally qualified (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?). He starred with Jane Fonda in the original Fun With Dick and Jane. Here he is a perfect match for Doris (Streisand) as an uptight writer.<br /><br />I am not stretching the truth even the slightest bit to say that these two will crack you up. | 1pos
|
By the title-I was hoping for a sex-and-violence extravaganza. Needless to say, I was sorely mistaken. My copy of LE PORNO KILLERS has no subs/dubs-so I have no idea about most of the finer-points of the film. <br /><br />From what I could gather-two female hit-women are sent from NY to I guess Italy to kill somebody. As the story plays out, the girls get nekkid and have a fair amount of (un- graphic) sex with some men and each other...<br /><br />The two female leads are hot and do show a good bit of skin-which is the only saving- grace at all in this one. Maybe if I'd have been able to follow the storyline I would have enjoyed it more-but I doubt it. And unfortunately-some decent nudity wasn't enough to save this one for me. Worth a look to rare sexploit completists-otherwise not worth the effort in my book. 4/10 | 0neg
|
Hack screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) accidentally falls in with faded screen legend Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). She lives in a crumbling old mansion with her butler Max (Erich von Stroheim). She refuses to believe that she's no longer remembered and will never make another movie. She gets Gillis to stay with her and rewrite "Salome" which she thinks will be her comeback. Gillis has no other choice and things slowly get out of hand.<br /><br />A VERY cynical view of Hollywood--especially for 1950. It shows what Hollywood does to people like Norma--it makes them stars, tells them that they're great and dump them coldly when they're no longer needed. It also takes swipes at directors, agents, screenwriters, even entire studios! It has a tight quick script, is appropriately filmed in gloomy black and white and is masterfully directed by Billy Wilder. Everybody thought this was a bad idea when it was being made. It was believed to be too cold and vicious for the public. Also Holden was warned it would ruin his career by playing a younger man kept by an older woman. But it turned out great and is now rightfully considered a classic.<br /><br />The acting is almost all good. I never thought Nancy Olson was that good. Her character is too pure and sweet to be believable. Everybody else is right on target though. Holden is just great in his role. You see the pity, anger and helplessness on his face when he realizes Norma is falling in love with him--and he's trapped. von Stroheim was equally good as Max who encourages Norma's delusions. Swanson however is just magnificent! She has a very showy role and could have overplayed it--but she doesn't. She's mad for sure--but you only see it peeking through every once in a while. When she loses it completely at the end it's frightening. If she had played it like that all through the movie it never would have worked. How she lost the Oscar that year to Judy Holliday for "Born Yesterday" is beyond me. This is a must see and a true Hollywood classic but VERY cold and cynical. A 10 all the way.<br /><br />"I am big--it's the pictures that got small". "All right Mr. deMille--I'm ready for my closeup". | 1pos
|
A big city family that runs into financial difficulties relocates to a small American town to start over. After arriving in the new town the father discovers that he does not have the job he was promised and the wife takes a low paying job despite her husband's objection. The teenage children initially have trouble finding new friends and adjusting to the slow paced life of country living. The antagonist is the extremely unfriendly neighbor from across the street who, for no apparent reason, is openly hostile towards the newcomers. This slow moving film preaches that strong family and religious values will help a family overcome difficulties and prevail over hardship. This is a sappy and predictable film with average acting and no redeeming qualities. Don't waste your time. | 0neg
|
When I first saw this movie, I was deeply touched. Its an awesome movie that everyone of all ages should see. I could watch it over and over again and never get tired of seeing it. I like the music that was composed in this movie. The girl who played Mary Lennox is an extremely good actress. Its a movie that will make you laugh and cry and touch your heart at the same time. I really love this movie and the book as well. Both are very breathtaking. Its definitely a must-see kind of movie. Whoever hasn't seen this movie should definitely see it its worth it!! From the beginning to the end there was never a dull moment of this movie. | 1pos
|
Before watching it, I decided to give the trailer a look and liked what I saw. But when it came to actually watching the feature. Well that was another story. Even with such a novel idea, it couldn't escape its roots that hang heavily in this old-hat haunted house format. No surprises or shocks here. The pallid story never grips or inserts much interest, as it becomes a wearisome tale of never-ending, suspicious tedium. The slow grinding pace doesn't help matters either. It seems to be all build up, but director George Bowers' predictable touch can't seem to raise much in the way of suspense and really overuses the usual scare tactics with miserable results. This even goes for Webster Lewis' generically telegraphed score. One or two effective surreal set-pieces (involving the hearse and its driver) and Mori Kawa's nicely atmospheric photography, just can't make-up for the lame, weak and overly boring presentation. Performances feel wooden and terribly uninterested, and it seems to show. Trish Van Devere fluffs about, and Joseph Cotton adds his two bobs worth. Put it under the very forgettable files. | 0neg
|
We recently screened this film for our English class and I found it to be one of the worst films I have ever seen. There are WAY to many closeups of this actress, the plot was very weak, the props were poorly manufactured, and the sound was unbearable.<br /><br />DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM.<br /><br />The film shouldn't have been released to the United States and should have just stayed in Bollywood land where it belongs. This film is neither shocking nor riveting. I can't believe how many people liked this film. A group of normal college kids from Chicago all unanimously agreed that this film was complete trash. | 0neg
|
I saw this in original release and recently viewed it again with a friend who'd never seen it. What I remembered about the film was obvious in seeing it again. This is the most bizarre performance Christopher Walken has ever given on screen. It's as though he personally finds the story insanely funny (and for many, Streiber's visitors in the night schtick is a joke), and he seems to be winking at the audience and barely restraining himself from rolling his eyes. Whether or not this movie works for you depends almost solely on whether you buy into Streiber's personal alien abduction mythology. I don't. Alien abduction may be an open question, but I see Streiber as an opportunistic huckster. So for me the film is third-rate sci fi. It's a little spooky in the beginning, but as it unfolds you'll understand why Walken seems to be laughing at a private joke all the way through the movie. | 0neg
|
There were some aspects of this movie I really enjoyed. The cinematography was excellent, ranging from the clanking steam train couplngs to shimmering desert panoramas, to the moving and simple effects at Wounded Knee. Viggo Mortensen did a good job as the lead Frank Hopkins, bringing his characteristic sincerity to his role. It was nice to see Omar Sharif and his front teeth again. The horse, Hidalgo, almost outdid Viggo. And here we find one of the great catches of the movie. The man-and-animal-sidekick relationship which works really well here.<br /><br />Sadly, I found the script quite wanting. The lines attributed to the Arabs and Bedouins were banal and one-dimensional. Their characters (and the Brits) were stereotyped. I felt that the scriptwriters did well in the US, but foundered in some of their own quicksand in the Middle East. I also found myself scratching my head at historical timings. Was Iraq called Iraq back then? When _was_ then?<br /><br />If you are prepared to ignore the "based on a real..." horse dung, you will enjoy this rollicking adventure, cast much in the same genre as the ripsnorting and politically incorrect cowboy and indian movies of the 50's . To modernise, we move it to 1900's middle east and turn the Indians into Arabs. But what more to expect from Hollywood?<br /><br />Viggo and his horse make a great pair and between them and the cameras, make this film worth seeing. | 1pos
|
The Secret of Bigfoot was to me, the halfway point of the Six Million Dollar Man series. The show took its first turn toward the direction of Science Fiction with the introduction of the Bionic Bigfoot played by Andre the Giant as well as the hidden colony of alien beings. I loved Stephanie Powers character and her attraction to Steve. The initial battle between Steve and the Sasquatch is a highlight of this 2 part episode. Oddly enough, I think this may have been the start of late 70's scifi shows with alien beings in polyester jumpsuits, cheesy special effects and laser beams, and giant monitor screens for communications. In addition to the SMDM, the Bionic Woman series as well as Wonder Woman, Battlestar Galactica, and Buck Rogers were all notorious for doing this in the late 70's but you what? I love it anyway!! The Return of Bigfoot was also a great 2 part Bionic Crossover with both Steve and Jamie and Bigfoot was played by Ted Cassidy. Unfortunately, the last Bigfoot episode (also with Ted Cassidy) called Bigfoot V made in season five fell flat and was pathetic. Avoid that one. But this first Bigfoot 2 parter is high on the recommendation list. | 1pos
|
This film is a classic comedy. I would recommend this one up there with Clerks, Swingers and Old School. This is well shot who ever did the editing was solid. I'm not sure if this is out yet in the movies. It should be out soon. The girls are extremely hot. I would like to have seen more of the girls but then I've always got those type of movies in the top shelf of my closet. The acting was good. I think that this is going to launch many new faces and new careers in the business. Looking forward to see your next project. I am going to watch it again there were a couple of scenes with some very funny lines. I'm not sure if these were the same guys that did Clerks. It feels like the same type of humor very witty and sharp dialog. | 1pos
|
and I hated it.<br /><br />My friend had raved to me about this show. I guess I liked the idea, and thought the few sketches she described to me sounded very funny. So I gave it a chance. I watched a few episodes on YouTube. I tried to like it. I made myself think I liked the show. However, I couldn't keep up this charade. And when I found out it was on EVERY night on my favourite channel, as a replacement to some of my most-liked shows - I couldn't help but be very annoyed. I thought, "They replaced the Boondocks and Bromwell High with THIS?!" Really...I found it pretty odd that people could like this show. I don't have anything against crude comedy - in fact, I love it when it's well done. Take the first, second, and third seasons of Family Guy, which are well-scripted and still very funny. I just can't take this, though. Most of the time, it's 80s references that go over the heads of their target audience, or bodily function jokes. There were only a few gags that I found truly funny...<br /><br />I think my dislike of this show might be because of the lack of consistent, well-formed characters. I tend to be drawn towards character-based animated comedies. The lack of that element, combined with the "humour", contribute to a very bad show.<br /><br />I think Seth Green's marvelous on Family Guy as Chris Griffin. And I can imagine how much fun this show must be to make - whenever the writers think up another "brilliant" gag, they can just insert it into their next episode.<br /><br />I tried to like it, I did. But I guess I'm not a fan of someone vomiting in every episode. I wonder if it's just me? | 0neg
|
Well, that was not the greatest movie to spend six-fifty on. In the beginning, I bit my lip with frustration. Toward the middle, I was groaning inwardly. By the end, I sat in my seat filled with shock, ranting to my friends and anyone else who would listen.<br /><br />Obviously, not enough research went into this film. Sam (Sean Penn) was an unrealistic character. The characters explained that he had autistic tendencies and was retarded. No. I have dealt intimately with autism (living with someone who has it, working at a daycare for children with it, going to preschool in a class with well over half people with disabilities) for over sixteen years, and I can tell you that Sam is well off his marker. He is far too high functioning for some of his low functioning traits. In other words, he becomes incredibly capable when the plotline requires it, then appears to be quite low functioning at other times.<br /><br />He knows the Beatles like the back of his hand. Okay. I can go for that. But how does he apply the songs and life stories to and draw complex connections from the Beatles to his own life? How can he come up with these life lessons for his daughter and profound statements for just the right time ("Always set your dreams high, Lucy." "You need to leave your husband." "You don't know what it's like when you try and you try and you try, and you never get there!")? So he is high functioning enough to do all that, but he can't make a drink at Starbucks after many years there? He can't understand concepts simpler than the profound exclamations he makes?<br /><br />Some of the other disabled people in the movie were well done. However, the man who the filmmakers apparently wanted to appear to have autism (the one who kept rattling off movies and their release dates) was a cheap Rain Man rip off but plausible. The largest problem with him however, the thing that made me not believe in him, was that he seemed capable of analyzing the characters in the movies of which he spoke. While this only happened once or twice, it was enough to cause me frustration.<br /><br />Also, there was very little to no background given. How did Sam have a baby? How did he hook up with a woman, hooker or not? How did he raise a child alone (except for the help of a woman who never leaves home) for seven years? How did he know what diapers to buy? How, how, how? How did all of these plot holes sneak by? This only served to confuse viewers and give an unstable view of Sam's abilities. More "hows" were generated than answers.<br /><br />The best thing to come out of this movie was Dakota Fanning (Lucy, Sam's daughter). She was the most believable character, and seemed to innately know how to act and react. Laura Dern (Randy, foster mother) was also fantastic. She obviously just wanted the best for little Lucy. Sean Penn did the best he knew how for Sam, but it just wasn't up to par. With a script that had adequate research, a well-defined character with a well-defined disability, and some more research on his part, he would have fared much better.<br /><br />Many think this is "just a movie" and doesn't deserve harsh criticism, but face it, this is what the general public sees of disabilities. This is what the average person thinks about people with autism. They'll get their education about disabilities from movies like this one. And what they're seeing is a false image. I'm so sick of seeing autism misrepresented in cinema.<br /><br />If you want to see a good drama that deals with disabilities, Rain Man is the best. Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of autistic savant Raymond is dead on-I believed that he was autistic. The next best is What's Eating Gilbert Grape?. Leonardo DiCaprio does an excellent job with his autistic character Arnie, a completely unrecognizable change from the DiCaprio in Titanic or Romeo and Juliet. If you do want to watch I Am Sam, knock yourself out. Just don't waste any of your time believing it. | 0neg
|
This is one of those dark movies, where it's constantly raining and wet and where the light always seems to be dim. Appropriately enough, this changes to bright and shimmering heat in the very end. As a kid, I hated dark movies. But perhaps it is appropriate in this case, because Seven attempts to be a statement about humanity: no one is without sin.<br /><br />The seven deadly sins are gluttony, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and wrath. Prime examples of people committing these are being punished one by one, brutally and efficiently, by a psychopathic killer. Detectives, and reluctant partners, William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and David Mills (Brad Pitt) are assigned to track down the killer. Needless to say, the job gets accomplished. While some might argue it is done surprisingly, I'd argue otherwise.<br /><br />For once, I wasn't impressed with Pitt's acting. I thought Freeman did a great job. As usual, the villain, John Doe played by Kevin Spacey, provides a chilling performance, even though he is not given as much center stage as, say, Anthony Hopkins was in Silence of the Lambs. In fact, the whole movie seems to hurry through without giving key characters enough time to build up their emotional worth, particularly Mills' wife Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow).<br /><br />In the end, Seven does manage to get its point across effectively. While watching the movie itself, I thought it a bit anti-climatic, but when mulling it over later, the images echo very strongly in my mind. One of the most disturbing films I've seen. | 1pos
|
Its the usual modern gangster plot line: people die, drugs are sold, snitches are dealt with. But its the bizarre and hilarious execution of these gangster film clichés that make this film a classic.<br /><br />Cam'ron seems to be the next Rudy Ray Moore. This movie is gritty, hilariously weird and endlessly entertaining. Its "Menace to Society" directed by Lloyd Kaufman.<br /><br />The whole thing really comes off like some amazing "backyard film". The dialogue appears improvised. The special effects are hilariously lacking. But everyone gives inspired and interesting performances while just playing themselves. <br /><br />Plenty of one-liners: "Fuck your bread, Bebe!"<br /><br />Great for a drunken movie night with friends who love rap music or weird cinema. | 1pos
|
This film truly is exceptional in many ways. Exceptionally funny, exceptionally touching, melancholy and energetic, set in exceptionally cold ghetto and harbour districts of Hamburg. Three friends, Ricco, Floyd and Walter, live their easy lives there. All three of them are quite different, still tight together by a deep friendship. Although the quarter they live in, the harbour that pulsates continuously, the places they go to, although these all seem very surreal and unpleasant, as if illuminated by cold neon light, one never feels uncomfortable with that - due to the deep sympathy the three friends have for each other. They manage to have fun and analyzing thoughts about their situation at the same time. A film full of contrasts, both in pictures and in moods. A must-see! | 1pos
|
This movie was incredibly terrible, it was like they were trying to make the worst movie possible....And they succeeded with flying colors. The acting was pure trash and the killing in the movie was so unnecessary and ridiculous. No one kills that many people for absolutely no reason! Every time I get bored I just put Killa season and skip to the part where he's crying about his niece getting shot and I just laugh for a good 5 minutes, the fake tears and the way his expressions are exaggerated are just too hilarious. In conclusion, you should buy this movie if you want to be a witness to the worst movie on the entire planet, or if you want to laugh at serious scenes that aren't meant to be funny. Other than that the only place this movie belongs is in the garbage, or better yet, in a furnace........lol | 0neg
|
This was my first experience of early John Waters movies and I found it pretty quality. Though quality is not something that one might immediately associate with the film owing to the extreme low budget and various goofs, it has a lot going for it. Divine and David Lochary put in fine performances and Mink Stole is also awesome with the rest of the cast effective too. The script, although dated, is often very funny and draws some fine characters, making the craziness that goes down pretty involving even while the technical ineptitude is offputting. The ineptitude doesn't matter too much as it is quite amusing, and the film has a few very memorable scenes that make one forget all about the shortcomings. Though I didn't find the film as demented as I expected it to be there are still moments that could cause a fair amount of offense. Personally I thought them to be sheer genius. I would definitely recommend this, mostly to grindhouse/cult weirdness fans. | 1pos
|
This is a superb movie. I don't think it will ever become dated--not as long as little league baseball is in existence. I remember first seeing it at a drive-in when I was ten, shortly after my own little league season had finished. Walter Matthau is excellent as Buttermaker, the beer-soaked coach who takes on the unwanted task of coaching a team of misfit kids who were allowed to play in the league only after a civil action law suit was won in their favor. Tatum O'Neal shines as the team's recruited pitcher Amanda, whose mother once dated Buttermaker. A touching subplot involves the relationship between Amanda and Buttermaker which turns from distant to warm as the final game approaches. Vic Morrow gives a frighteningly good performance as the out-to-win-no-matter-what coach of the opposing team who was never happy with the fact that the Bears were allowed to play in the first place. Joyce Van Patten is also good as the butch, outspoken league supervisor.<br /><br />It's the kid players that really give this movie the edge. All performances are top-notch, and director Michael Ritchie splendidly keeps the focus mostly on them and their feelings about the whole ordeal. Stand-outs include Jackie Earl Haley as the heroic Kelly Leak and Chris Barnes as shortstop Tanner Boyle. This film should be a warning to relentless adults who try to achieve stardom on the backs of their children, be it on the baseball field or on the ballet floor. | 1pos
|
I couldn't decide from the first few minutes of the film - is this a trailer for a movie or a very long flashback sequence?<br /><br />The movie listed itself as 71 minutes and became a shade over 60 (on DVD)<br /><br />All the action sequences changed POV so quickly it was impossible to latch onto the story. Character development was practically non nonexistent and the final scene was over so quickly it was a surprise to see the credits. Acting ranged from appalling to not so bad. I should have known in the final fight scene that it was the main bad guy who was killed - that was the most realistic makeup of the entire move !!! And that's saying something...<br /><br />Give me my hour back :) | 0neg
|
I discovered this show only months ago, and was so mad that it had been on so long without my knowledge. I am not interested in becoming an actor or director, but I am a movie lover to the core and am always interested in what actors have to say. These interviews are wonderful because they are not the average "hollywood" interview. It's not about who the actor is sleeping with, and how hard they've been partying. The interview explores the reasons behind the career choices, and experiences of filming. It is much more real, and deep, and interesting then any others. You really feel like you are part of the audience, and you get to see a different side to some very incredible actors and learn something new. I love it! | 1pos
|
Well...i rented this movie only because i needed a second movie to rent at the video store and this one promised a dollar back if returned the next day...now i know why..they knew no one would want to keep this poor excuse of a movie in their house for more then a day. I believe it actually lowered my intelligence. The funny thing is, the main character rambles on as if he is supposed to be intelligent with a bunch of 50 cent words at best...and funny enough the only reason i rented this movie was the fact that the box description claimed a dog<which looked a little like the taco bell dog with a mohawk with an african american accent> actually talked, and told him things to do...well the dog never physically talks, it just talks TELEKENETICALLY...i would tell you more..but half way through the film my eyes began to close as well did my fiances...so at least this movie serves as a sleep aid...That sadly however is its only purpose. Please dont do like i normally do and rent the movie despite the bad review, when i say this movie sucks worse then having a dog p*ss on the leg of your best dress slacks...i mean it!! | 0neg
|
Elliott Gould is bemused and colorful as a Vietnam veteran back in college, stuck between a rock and a hard place; he's working semi-seriously towards getting his teaching credentials, and yet is stymied by his fellow classmates who want to protest the hypocrisies of the Establishment (with Gould's help), and also by his instructors, hypocrites with power who work by a double standard. Director Richard Rush occasionally does fluid work here, and the film has fervently funny and thoughtful scenes, however Robert Kaufman's hot-headed script, adapted from Ken Kolb's novel, is awash with half-realized ideas. The kids sound off violently against the University's directors, but we're never made aware of what they want--or what they want done about their concerns. Made during an era wherein young people hoped to change the world--and get laid--the characters in this picture nevertheless are just sounding-boards for the writer. Topics are brought up not to be discussed but to be challenged (and, in these cases, the kids are just as blind as their professional elders). Was that Kaufman's point, that student riots really ARE just violent preludes to sex and otherwise a waste of time? Gould's shaggy character rants and raves too, but his Harry Bailey presents a different problem: he cheats, he lies, he cuts corners, he heartily embraces his own set of values and yet is happily corrupt! A hypocrite himself, Bailey loves teaching, loves kids and their innocence, but he doesn't see his own short-comings--and I'm not sure the filmmakers do, either. Bailey is a one-sided writer's creation (and oddly, for a movie filled with so many liberal stances, Bailey--like most of the other characters--is anti-female and homophobic). Candice Bergen (in a wan performance) plays Gould's shiksa goddess girlfriend who doesn't like being called a WASP and who would give up everything to be married in the suburbs. She's continually put down for that, as if she's a sell-out, and yet how exactly would Gould live if he were to achieve his dream of being a high school teacher? As it is, he can't even pay the rent on his apartment! The riot sequences are staged for utter seriousness--and they are filmed and edited with precision--but they don't come organically out of this story, they are interjected for shock value. The rage and anger presented here is convincing, but the cause is confusing. These students don't seem to want peace at all, and neither does director Rush. The narrative is pushed towards violence for no other purpose except to vividly stage two movie riots. This is exploitation, and the crummy feeling one gets from the picture can be related right back to the people behind it: they're hypocrites, too. *1/2 from **** | 0neg
|
All the beautiful cinematography in the world could not save this movie. It wanted desperately to be a legitimate spy thriller, however the best "enemy" it could muster was to fight against a bank. Alright, so in reality banks do fund wars, but instead of teasing out who was behind everything and letting us and the character work out what they're up to, less than half an hour in, Calivini explains absolutely everything we need to know. WHAT? This is not how thrillers work at all. I was not thrilled or on the edge of my seat.<br /><br />The acting was at best average. There was no character development at all. This is probably the scriptwriter's fault rather than the actors, though, as the the pace of the plot really didn't allow for the characterisations to be expanded upon. The unnecessary traveling around was nice to look at, but at the detriment of having a well structured plot. How convenient the assassin just happens to fly to New York. How convenient that Umberto Calivari will see you right away and explain everything you need to investigate. The plot was full of these kind of things which other thrillers force the characters to use their ingenuity to uncover. These characters just got handed information on a silver platter and pulled out their passport.<br /><br />The worst aspect of the movie was the fact we had an Interpol agent and an Assistant District Attorney from Manhattan as our heroes. WHYYYYYY. They have absolutely no authority, jurisdiction or resources to be gallivanting around Europe. The part where Naomi Watt's character is all "Fuck protocol" was hilarious because that's what they'd been doing the entire movie. I think the scriptwriters were trying to be creative by not merely having an MI6 and a CIA agent working together, but what they decide fell so horribly flat. Their justification for Naomi Watt's character being there was so horrible tenuous, it reflected the lack of development and depth of the entire movie. <br /><br />Poor effort. | 0neg
|
Renegades is set in Philadelphia where detective Buster McHenry (Kiefer Sutherland) is working undercover to try & bring down a dirty cop by arranging a robbery to steal six million dollars worth of diamonds, however things don't go to plan & the dirty cop doesn't show up & instead McHenry is forced to go through with the armed robbery with local mobster Marino (Robert Knepper) & his men. Things go from bad to worse for McHenry as bullets start to fly & people are shot & killed, the cops show up & all hell breaks loose & Marino, his men & McHenry try to escape en-route stopping off at an art gallery where Marino takes a fancy to an ancient Indian tribal lance on display & decides to steal it shooting Goerge Storm (Gary Farmer) in the process. His brother Hank Storm (Lou Diamond Phillips) is understandably annoyed & when he saves McHenry's life as Marino shoots him & leaves him for dead the two team up to bring Marino down, prove McHenry's innocence & get the Indian tribal lance back...<br /><br />Directed by Jack Sholder one has to say that Renegades is a really lacklustre & lifeless attempt at mismatched partners teaming up together to bring down some bad guy action thriller & is in fact maybe one of the worst examples I have seen. There are plenty of great examples of this type of mismatched partner action thrillers from 48 Hrs. (1982) to Lethal Weapon (1987) & it's sequels to Midnight Run (1988) to Tango & Cash (1989) to The Last Boy Scout (1991) to the more recent Rush Hour (1998) & sequels to name but a few fine examples, unfortunately when compared to shining lights of the sub genre like the aforementioned Renegades is just plain poor in every department by comparison. The main aspect of these types of films that ultimately make or breaks them is the partnership, here it's a quick talking wise cracking Philadelphia cop with a blatant disregard for police procedure who gets teamed up with a quiet respectful native American Indian & it just doesn't come off since there's virtually no humour or memorable interplay between the two. I just never warmed to either of them although to be fair Sutherland does try & his character does come off as the more likable of the two. The plot is extremely bare-bones & very thin, basically there's this robbery where events take a turn for the worse for our two main character's & it becomes personal for them so they team up to bring down a common enemy. That's it. There's a supposed plot twist about a bad cop but it comes to early in the film & has no real impact on the story other than a cop is involved with the main bad guy. The action scenes are poor & very forgettable, there's a dull car chase & a few seen it all before shoot-outs where the bad guys can't shoot straight, no-one ever runs out of bullets & it's just a case of men standing there holding guns firing at each other. Yawn. The plot is extremely predictable & strictly by the numbers with these two mismatched partners hating each other to start with but growing to respect each other & becoming great friends & even putting their own lives at risk for one another, seen it all before & usually done much better with more humour & more excitement. I also hated the ending, I mean after killing people, stealing cars, threatening people at gunpoint, taking part in an armed robbery where innocent people are killed & breaking every rule in the book McHenry gets off scott free & even gets a vacation out of it!<br /><br />The action scenes, if you can call them that, are poor with only a fairly sedate car chase to remember the film by & even that seems lethargic, slow & dull. The occasional shoot-out are dull & all look the same as each other, the plot twists are handled poorly & have little to no impact & Renegades is one of the worst examples of the mismatched partner action thriller genre I can remember seeing. For an 80's big studio big budget action thriller Renegades doesn't seem to be that well known, there are only sixteen reviews on the IMDb as I write this & only three external reviews. I can certainly understand why it's been largely forgotten about & why it doesn't seem to have any sort of a following.<br /><br />Making less than $10,000,000 at the box office I assume that Renegades was a flop, the same years Tango & Cash is a much superior film using the same general template. Filmed in Philadelphia & Ontario in Canada. Kiefer Sutherland looks fat, out of shape & has a really bad moustache but managed to live this down & has gone on to have a fine career as a respected actor while Lou Diamond Phillips has made dozens of low budget straight to video action films.<br /><br />Renegades is a really predicable, humourless, dull & plodding action thriller that throws two mismatched yet boring characters together to bring down an equally boring enemy. One to avoid, even newly converted fans of Kiefer Sutherland (beacuse of hit TV show 24) might want to skip this. | 0neg
|
Okay, so this one never did (and never will) win any awards. But pound for pound, John Hughes was never better and never will be again, most likely. Yes, I know, I know. "Ferris B." is a more coherent, cohesive film. And "Breakfast Club" has all the lines. And "Pretty in Pink" has all the pathos, plus Ducky. But this one's got Jim Dodge (F. Whaley). Easily one of my favorite film creations ever. You can't not love this guy. Even in the usually dumb montages that plagues MTV-ish films of this nature, he's charming (wearing a veil and cow-boxers and rollerskating, for instance). And then there's Jennifer "Eternally Easy on the Eyes" Connelly who, yes, has her usual charms (both of them), but who manages to bring a degree of wit, grace and sincerity to the "girl next door anyone would die to get with" role that's rarely been matched since. This film's full of terrific lines and memorable moments. Jim's "Jimget" fantasy. John Candy's entire cameo. "Could I get this uniform washed, it...smells a little like Darnell." "You mean you've never heard of sashimi?" "The subsonic tummy bump..." The list is endless. The bad part: yes, the last 15 or so minutes are plagued by a lack of money and a lack of laughs (money as in it looks like they ran out and decided to end the film...now). But the two leads are terrific together and the idea of them hashing out their high school trials and tribs in this particular setting is quite effective, really. Sweet, simple, goofy and funny, this one deserves another look, despite the "run out of steam in the last stretch of the race" factor. | 1pos
|
I thought it was all very contrived and elements of the movie are a blend of others done before all meant to push forward a modern tolerant society alternative lifestyle movement.<br /><br />Tony Curtis/Laurence Olivier had a similar dynamic in Spartacus. The version we saw had English subtitles so the characters appeared to be speaking an Elizibethan Shakespearean form "thou art a knave" , but the spouse said the spoken Korean was current colloquial. That was the initial thought, oh yeah, this is a lift from Shakespeare's Europe, the court jesters, men playing women's roles (wouldn't they at least shave??), the palace court and consort scheming away, a play within a play. "The Play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King". The costumes and roles we saw before in the episodic Dae Jang Geum series - (did they re-use the sets and clothes??), everything looked very familiar. I was looking for the palace cooks and maids in the background...<br /><br />That being said, the "Captain" of the minstrels, Jang Saeng, comes off as an interesting, athletic, strong moral character, against any possible stereotyping as a limp wristed homosexual.<br /><br />So, nice try, but too much "sampling" of previous arts. | 0neg
|
Being a big Thora Birch fan, and seeing this DVD at FYE for $12, I figured it'd be worth a look. I thought Thora's scene was freaking hilarious... the poem was Shakespeare-esque. I also thought Dominique Swain was pretty good in her lead role... but the producer, Nicholas Loeb, was putridly pathetic. Were they so over-budget that he HAD to cast himself? And in the lead male role! I couldn't stand watching him. I thought anyone could be an actor. I was wrong.<br /><br />Still, because of the interesting plot, Thora's amazing scene, Swain's good acting, and my ability to chuckle at Loeb every other scene, I gave it a pretty high ranking in my book. | 1pos
|
If you want to see how bad Italian science fiction can be see this film. Made in the wake of Star wars this piece of wasted celluloid is just about as bad as you can be. Worse its not even fun.<br /><br />The plot, for those who care, have aliens kidnapping genetic scientists from earth to help them prevent their race from dying out. Its nothing you haven't seen before better.<br /><br />This is a turkey, from the hair to the wardrobe to the special effects. I'm pretty sure the acting is the pits too, but I can't be sure since the dubbing is so bad.<br /><br />Avoid | 0neg
|
If there was ever any iron-clad proof that Britain is the most uncultured and TV-addicted society in the world then the dredge that is Big Brother is it. The basic idea of this show tanked in other countries where the people are more intelligent but somehow, five years after the rank original, the people of Britain still buy into this crap. They still fall for the same old, same old rubbish that was boring first time around. It boggles the mind. Are we really all that stupid? I blame the Sun newspaper.<br /><br />Big Brother is a wasteland of coma-inducing boredom consistently starring a deliberately PC and multi-ethnic group of people (with an absolute MAX of 1 token Scottish person) with no personality outside of the stereotyped image they were 'cast' to present. There MUST be one (if not many) gay person. One arguer. One sexist. One extrovert party animal. Etc, etc. They are caricatures of real people. Thus nullifying any genuine sense of 'reality' TV. <br /><br />And, 'at the end of the day', 'no offence to anyone', 'I don't mean to be funny but', 'correct me if I am wrong', 'you know what I'm saying', they NEVER ever speak outside of clichés. And whenever they DO say something interesting it's edited out for 'legal' reasons. Whatever happened to free speech. I don't believe it really exists my good fellow. I know I'm not unveiling a sacrilegious revelation when I say this trash is edited and directed to the Nth degree. Thus nullifying any genuine sense of 'reality' TV. It's a saga of nothingness. And when something DOES actually happen (they call it 'Fight Night' as there is THE such night every year) the screens go black and we don't get to REALLY see what happened until Channel 4 okays it and edits their way around the truth. Thus nullifying any genuine sense of 'reality' TV. <br /><br />Every Friday night is 'eviction night' in which the people of this once mighty and powerful land spend money phoning in who they want evicted from the house (and trust me, Channel 4 REALLY likes it when you phone many times in one night 'just to make sure'). That fame-grabbing, wannabe, desperate individual then begins their definite, inevitable, inexorable descent into well deserved obscurity. Davina McCall, who apparently has nothing better to do with her life as she's 'hosted' this mince since the very beginning, interviews that person with eyes and attitude that loudly suggest 'Who the hell are you and why are you taking up so much airtime?' before showing them the mandatory and expected 'best of' their bits scene. Watching this pointlessness is how most people in Britain prefer to spend their summer weekends.<br /><br />Even the narrator has THE worst accent one can possibly imagine. To make matters worse he basically repeats the same lines on every show. 'Dee 486. De ooder 'ouzmaits r een de gah-den'. I presume the producers of this show are deaf and thought this guy wasn't unintelligible.<br /><br />For the past few years I keep thinking that 'THIS has got to be the last one' as BB constantly goes from bad to worse to even worse then to absolute hell. It's cheap, brain-dead tripe that only appeals to the lowest common denominator who are vegetablely unaware that Channel 4 are laughing at them. They spend nothing, yet YOU make them millions.<br /><br />Be a real human-being. Turn this long, long, so incredibly long past it's 'prime' rubbish off and go get a life! | 0neg
|
Don't be fooled by anything that you have ever read about this movie, no matter how good someone has said it is. There is NOTHING good about this movie. I won't bother getting into the story, but I will say that the story is horrible, the end makes you say "who gives a crap?", there is barely if any gore at all in it, and this might very well be the worst movie ever put on film.<br /><br />I bought the DVD for $3 (US), and I feel as though I've been ripped off...that alone should give you an idea how bad it is--and it's not the kind of bad horror movie that is so bad it's good. This just goes beyond bad. I could never explain how horrible this movie is. | 0neg
|
This odd, incoherent, cheesy and ridicule late-80's horror feature represents the directorial debut of Robert 'Freddy Krueger' Englund. And let's be honest, if it wouldn't be for his name on the credits, the film would have been righteously forgotten a long time ago already. "976-Evil" has an absurdly implausible plot and it takes far too long before the (tepid) gore & action kicks in. During the first hour of the film only really weird things that largely remain unexplained - are going on, like a totally random biblical omen that exists of a shower of fish-rain. Yes, dead fish falling down the sky like normal rain! I'm not quite sure about the significance, but presumably it's God's sign to warn the lead characters that they will soon face an unholy type of evil. With reason, because rebellious teenager Spike and his nerdy cousin Hoax frequently call the titular phone number to get their daily "horrorscope". But the toll-free number is possessed with diabolical forces and turns its customers into homicidal monsters. Spike is strong enough to resist, but the miserable Hoax is an easy victim and he soon begins to mutate. He doesn't mind, though, because now he can finally fight back against his domineering mother, the school bullies and all the girls that rejected and laughed at him. You guessed it, "976-Evil" is just another lowbrow horror version of "Revenge of the Nerds" and the only good thing about it is the choice to cast Stephen Geoffreys. He's ideal to play a character that is simultaneously pathetic and creepy. In the second half of the film, there's a bit of gore and witty one-liners, but it's too late to improve the overall quality. The plot is unimaginably incoherent. Cousin Spike suddenly disappears at one point but randomly appears again for the finale, the amateur-reporter out of the blue hooks up with the school's headmistress and Robert Picardo's potentially terrifying character is never properly introduced. From time to time, you get the impression that Englund is a gifted director but on other occasions you damn him and his film to hell for being just another disappointing and time-wasting 80's turd. | 0neg
|
I am appalled to see that the overall IMDb rating for this movie is only 5.2 (edit: now down to 4.9! Madness! Later edit: Ah, now it's up to 5.4 - still abysmal. Oh, and now it's up to 5.9 - going the right way, at least!). Hopefully posterity will be kinder to it than that. It is a very good, well-acted, well-written and well-filmed movie. Apparently, though, it is too subtle for many viewers.<br /><br />The humanitarian situation it shows is reality. The characters may be fictional, and they may not be representative of the typical relief worker - but they aren't supposed to be. This is a story of those particular two people, and how their feelings for each other grow out of the humanitarian work they are embroiled in. There's no separating the love story from the relief efforts, because she falls in love with him because of his commitment to those efforts. It's true that, at the end in Chechnya, she is more interested in him than in the local situation, but there are two very good reasons for this: One, unlike in Ethiopia and Cambodia she was only there to find him; she wasn't involved in some relief work there, so obviously his safety was foremost in her mind. And two, and more importantly, if she managed to save him, he could have continued being the man she fell in love with; continued his courageous commitment to fight death and suffering. So, I repeat, the love story and the humanitarian subject matter of this movie cannot been separated.<br /><br />And the thing about her leaving her own family; fer crying out loud, it wasn't a happy family! Her cheating husband represented, both to Angelina's character and in a wider metaphorical sense, the numbing meaninglessness of a trivial, awkward and frequently loveless domestic situation, compared to the importance of saving lives and being in the company of infinitely more inspiring people.<br /><br />(And what a refreshing change to see her husband - Linus Roach - in the kind of role that so many women portray in the usual Hollywood movie, being the colorless, passive backdrop to the male hero. Gratifying to see it reversed, for once.)<br /><br />The ending of the movie was unexpected, and yet, in retrospect, it couldn't have ended any other way. If the movie were serious about its subject matter - the relief efforts *as well* as the love story -, it required an end of that sort. The surviving daughter keeps the hope for an eventual happy end alive.<br /><br />I'm saddened that so many people did not "get" the movie. Many of the criticisms leveled against it are of scenes that were *meant* to evoke that response, and which are addressed later in the movie. There's a development going on; the characters are growing in the course of the story, and so is the movie. Many people apparently couldn't perceive that.<br /><br />This was an extremely well-structured, rare, thought-provoking and sobering type of movie that I'm thankful could get made in this day and age (and I've just bought the DVD). But what a pity it met with such an insensitive public response.<br /><br />9 out of 10. | 1pos
|
The plot, in short: Three backpackers, two Americans and one Icelander, does Europe by train with two major goals: To get high and nail as many women as possible... In Amsterdam they accidentally learn of a hostel in Bratislava, Slovakia where sex-mad women thirst for men in general, and American men i particular. They of course decide to go there and at first it seems the rumors were true. But they soon learn that the hostel is nothing more than a front for a bizarre club, where people can pay a huge fee to get to perform unspeakable acts...<br /><br />My 2 cents: The director and writer Eli Roths biggest accomplishment before Hostel is Cabin Fever (2002) - weather or not that is something good is a matter of personal judgment. That he got two Evil Dead'ers (Scott Spiegel and FX-genius Gregory Nicotero) interested in his script is not at all surprising. But how he got Quentin Tarantino to executive produce (and thereby act as "posterboy" for his flick) is, to me, a total and utter mystery.<br /><br />Hostel has potential, I'm not going to take that away from it. The thought that a place exists where rich people pay money to torture and kill other people is interesting. And a story about a kidnapped person who finds himself locked in that very place, waiting for his assassin, should make for a great film! The film is wonderfully lit, specifically in the torture chamber-scenes. And the set-dressing in those scenes are marvelous. It really feels like Roth found these places - and just shot them as the were. But the lighting, set-dressing and potentially-rich story, unfortunately, ends the positive things I have to say about Hostel.<br /><br />It is frustrating to see a story that could have been so exciting and horrific get so utterly fumbled up! The movie is an hour and a half long, and takes a whopping 50 minutes to get to the place that is supposed to be the scene of terror and creepiness. The nearly hour-long "intro" is spent observing the backpackers while they party, get high and watch naked ladies in Amsterdams Red Light-district. When the story finally starts to focus on whatever is wrong with the Slovakian hostel it points everything out to such an extensive degree that it feels like Roth wants to put a stupid-hat on every member in the audience. I sat, in vain, and waited for him to take the lid off, go "ta-daa!" and show me something intelligent that I had missed. But it never happens and when the lid, towards the end, slowly slides off on its own accord it turns out that the ones you suspected were bad guys were in fact...bad guys. The ones you suspected were dead...were dead. And the entire movie ends the way you suspected it would all along.<br /><br />Jay Hernandez (Paxton) and Derek Richardson (Josh) doesn't do to shabby in the two leads. But Roth has stayed true to Hollywood formula and chosen picturesque before personality, and the bigger part has unfortunately been given to Hernandez - instead of Richardson who I thought were more likable, and more interesting to watch.<br /><br />Spanish director Koldo Serra made El tren de la bruja in 2003. A short-film about a man who agrees to partake in an experiment and suddenly finds himself strapped to a chair in a dark room. He hears metal objects being handled and someone pacing back and forth in the room. When the light is turned on it dawns on him that he will probably be tortured to death. Serras short-film is fifteen minutes long. It was filmed in two days and is scary as hell! Hostel is both longer and has, as it first seems, more story to build on. But it still wants to base the horror in exactly the same sort of scenes as Serras short - and fails miserably! Hostel is, probably, made specifically for an American teen-audience, where drugs and naked women represent half of the movies pull. Blood and bodyparts make up the other half. If you watch this and expect anything more sophisticated than some blood and naked breasts you'll be disappointed. | 0neg
|
Black street dramas, like Clockers & Boyz In The Hood, are made to raise awareness about the atrocities that happen everyday to young black youths. Whiteboyz is about three white boys who want to lead that life so bad that they dress, act and talk like they see on the movies and in rap videos. The idea of white males pretending they're black could have been funny if they had tried a This Is Spinal Tap approach to the film. Instead they take every cliche out of black street dramas, but because they're white and because it's set in the ridiculous setting of Iowa (no offense to you Iowonians) they slap a comedy label on it.<br /><br />However, there is nothing funny about this movie. The group of white kids at like they think black kids act. When young black men finally enter the picture (in real life that is, not fantasies) they act nothing like that. Eugene Byrd plays Khalid (one of the only actors to leave this movie with some dignity) a young black man ready to start law school that is if he can stay out of the trouble the white boyz are looking for. The three want him to introduce them to Chicago drug dealers to set up a Iowa connection. The result of which is bloody.<br /><br />I was actually angered while watching this movie, not at society (like with Do The Right Thing) but with the filmmakers themselves. This material is not funny at all. It's like a person telling a joke and gets the entire thing wrong, then can't remember the punchline. This movie just drags on and on which is not good since it's only 88 minutes.<br /><br />This not only the worst excuse for a comedy I've ever seen, but one of the worst films I've ever seen. zero stars out of ****<br /><br />David W. | 0neg
|
This is as depressing as the rest of the specials, though not as much as the Christmas one. It's amazing to me that more of my generation didn't grow up angst-ridden because of pap like this. You want to THROTTLE Lucy and the rest of the girls, save for Peppermint Patty, who at least tries to be nice to Charlie Brown, and give the rest of the gang a whop upside the head while imitating Cher in 'Moonstruck': "Snap out of it!" When CBS chose not to air any of the specials one year I sat down and wrote a personal letter to Roone Arledge, CEO at the time, profusely thanking him. These shows should be put in the dustbin, have kerosene poured over them, and set alight! | 0neg
|
Nothing fresh about this movie: conservatives are bad. Christians are bad, republicans are all fascists, blah blah blah.<br /><br />If I wanted to get beat over the head with fanatic left-wing views I can just watch the Daily Show for free which like this movie says the same thing ad nauseum. <br /><br />For all the rah rah talk about revolution against the state (with huge allusions, blatant actually, to the democratically elected Bush Administration) it really boils down to a message tailor-made for people who will just revel in the idea of seeing Bush compared to Hitler, Fox News compared to(ironically) state propaganda, Christians portrayed as oppressive bigots. <br /><br />So if you hate republicans and enjoy liberal cliché, this movie is for you. For those who can see through the bullshat on both sides, avoid this steaming pile. | 0neg
|
With early comparisons to "American Pie" and "Road Trip," I wasn't expecting much when I saw SURF SCHOOL this past week. Actually, I like mindless, escapist fluff comedies, and was prepared for one of those here. What I found was one of the most gawd-awful 90 minutes I ever spent in a theater.<br /><br />The plot was simplistic but had potential: typical "fish out of water" scenario, with East Coast transfer student Jordan (Corey Sevier) feeling out of place in a Laguna Beach high school run by a group of championship surfers, led by Tyler (Ryan Carnes). He bands together with other misfits at the school, including a geeky punk, silent goth girl and a perpetual virgin nerd, and enrolls in a surf school prior to the high school surfing championship in Costa Rica. Got the ending figured out yet? No surprises, believe me.<br /><br />Most of the comic relief is provided by the alcoholic former "surf dude" who runs the school (overplayed beyond endurance by Harland Williams), and a couple of oversexed 60's era hippies who run the place where they are staying. Whatever funny moments there are (including a running gag by Williams inviting people for "mahi-mahi" and a chimp "flirting" with the virgin nerd) are overdone until they lose their appeal. And the film is filled with patronizing stereotypes, from three gorgeous Sweedish tourists to the illogical choice of a flaming campy gay MC at the surf championship. The dialog meanders in illogical circles, leaving the audience scratching their heads in confusion and wondering if this was mostly ad-libbed. The outtakes over the closing credits are better than some of the scenes left in the film. The writer/director should consider some other line of work. | 0neg
|
A fairly good watch, Every seems rather realistic, The fact the movie looks as though seen through a crappy camera makes it seem life-like. I first watched this around 5 years ago at 11pm with the lights off and a storm outside, Scary no?, Thus making me lose 2 nights sleep...The ways the Aliens were conveyed were okay, and the "powers" they had were a tad far-fetched but still a great movie to watch alone and in the dark, the bad thing though is if you watch it for a second time all the scary moments just aren't there leaving you to sell it or watch as your friends are scared by it just to play small jokes on them for a day or two(worked with my brother, so meh). I highly suggest to rent this and not buy it as it loses its worth after one view through. | 1pos
|
Whirlygirl suffers primarily from a bad script and poor direction. The script lacks the closure of a third act; we are left hanging thinking there needed to be something more. There is a rescuer scene which I guess the director thought would be a climax but the movie has an episodic feel to it.<br /><br />This film is based on a true story. Well the scriptwriter should have embellished it since true stories do not make compelling films. The lead actor Julian Morris does a decent job with the material but the rest of the cast performances are flat. In fact one of the students, who was acting like he was just waking up had a believability level of zero. Speaking of Morris, I had just watched him in Cry Wolf where he also plays a prep school student and his character seems to have walked out of that slasher movie into this one. Slasher movies can get by without any character development but a film like Whirlygirl requires it.<br /><br />Hats off to DP Christo Bakalov for delivering some great images to such a hollow story. | 0neg
|
Sure, it's not for everyone. It probably won't make an impact on anyone that never sat through hours of Banacek, Mannix, Cannon, Rockford Files, Magnum PI, or the 30 or so "Quinn-Martin" productions mentioned in the pilot.<br /><br />The deadpan delivery of Adam West as the likable, sad, washed-up actor is incredible. Why was he never given a chance after Batman? His portrayal of a man tempered by constant rejection, yet bravely holding on to dignity and hope that the next audition brings, is fascinating. Arthur Miller could not have done it better. Did I mention he's funny as hell, too? In today's terms, that character's name is Johnny Drama, instead of Lookwell. | 1pos
|
Maybe it's just cause I'm kinda partial to great flying and big-busted women who kick butt, but "Aces: Iron Eagle 2 is the most fun I've had watching a movie all year (the other highlight being "Princess Diaries 2, but that's another story).<br /><br />After seeing the original, pathetic "Top Gun" wannabee (aircraft engaged in "aerial combat shooting static displays, COME ON!), I skipped "Iron Eagle 2". However, there were some things I wanted to see after watching the previews and seeing the poster. Yeah, those things belonging to Rachael McLish, the only body builder of EITHER gender who ever got my cigar puffing (Yeah, I know this is sexist as hell, but I'm on a roll and it's THAT kind of movie). No nudity, darn it, but McLish is hot and handles herself well, especially with a couple of machine guns. Besides, how many movie's do you get to see with Sonny ("Streetfighter") Chiba, Horst ("Magnificent Seven") Bucholz and Senator Fred Thompson of the great state of Tennessee, not to mention, the downright neat (with the right script) Lou Gossett, Jr.? Yeah, "Aces" is predictable, but that's part of its charm. It was probably also fun for former 007 director John Glen to work with people who can actually enjoy their work without trivializing it. HEY ROGER MOORE AND TIM DALTON: PAYING ATTENTION? Just wish McLish would've had more exposure ...<br /><br />I give "Aces: Iron Eagle 3" a "7". MISS MCLISH: DO YOU HAVE ANY OUTTAKES? THE RIGHT ONES WOULD BE WORTH AN "8". | 1pos
|
Wow... what a dark, enthralling tale! The plot is so tight, story arc so suspenseful, acting so affecting, and the scenes so horrifying and heart-wrenching at the same time, I'm completely captivated just 3 episodes into the show and ready to buy the entire series.<br /><br />The cover art does no justice at all - Skeet Ulrich with his goatee shaved off (trying to shake off the Johnny Depp curse?) looks so much like his "Scream" character, that I thought this was going to be another teen drama.<br /><br />Gothic horrors it deliverers, but not jut for teens. If "Buffy the Vampire" is high school, then this is Post Graduate. It's intelligent as "The X-files", only cuter, warmer, and more soulful.<br /><br />Yet, this great TV series was doomed and forgotten due to bad timing, while elementary level suspense and fantasy like "Heroes" and "Lost" got many seasons and followers... How incomprehensible and depressing, really, "GOD IS NOWHERE", or shall I quote Paul Callan "...why is God doing this?" | 1pos
|
The Squid and the Whale is a film by Noah Baumbach about his childhood in New York in the 1980s. It details the circumstances of his parents divorce, and although names have been altered, Noah is represented by the elder son Walt and his father, the brilliant academic Jonathan Baumbach, is played by Jeff Daniels as 'Bernard'.<br /><br />It is a complex film and not every viewer will understand it at first. At a superficial level it has been (simplistically) interpreted as a light-hearted and affectionate comedy about a husband and wife whose marital difficulties are having a negative impact upon their children. However, if we read between the lines there is a more stimulating story at work. Allow me to elucidate.<br /><br />SOME SPOILERS TO FOLLOW (IMDB requires that I draw attention to these spoilers to provide readers with a choice but I should point out that I consider them imperative to a proper understanding of the film, although they may be read equally well after one's first viewing)<br /><br />At the commencement of the film Bernard is a successful academic and writer but one whose work has been overlooked in recent years. We discover that his agent is not up to the task and that he is looking for a new one to ensure that his work receives its dues in the literary community. Incidentally, this is quite typical of the publishing industry, who tend to neglect denser, more intelligent writers in favour of those who sell well, like Dan Brown. Later in the film we learn that his wife (played by Laura Linney) has been published in the New Yorker and subsequently shall have her first novel published. This is significant because we learn that Bernard has taught her to write and there is even a scene early in the film in which he corrects a poor ending that she has attempted.<br /><br />Furthermore, we learn as the film progresses that the reason for the breakup of the marriage is that Bernard's wife has been sleeping around with a lot of other men. It is never explicitly stated but we can probably assume that she slept with a publisher and perhaps somebody at the New Yorker and this accounts for her literary success. This is setting is crucial for a proper understanding of the film.<br /><br />In essence we can say that the film deals with the existential crisis that Bernard is experiencing. He tries, in the best faith, to pass his polymathic intellect onto his two sons but is undermined in this endeavour by his wife. Later in the film his younger son Frank is persuaded by his mother's emotional blackmail to stay with her when he should be with Bernard.<br /><br />Meanwhile Bernard's eldest son Walt (read Noah) is distracted in his pursuit of wisdom by a girl at his school who we quickly discover to be frivolous. This girlfriend, in conjunction with Frank's tennis coach who later becomes Bernard's wife's lover, symbolize the frivolities of the trivial people who get in the way of Bernard's attempts at existential resolution. The tennis coach's constant deployment of the suffix 'my brother' at the end of each of his sentences indicates his lack of linguistic sophistication and thus, we can infer, sophistication of thought.<br /><br />There is a further intrigue involving one of Bernard's students, a talented young writer named Lili. The relationship between Bernard and Lili can be understood as an archetype of the Platonic form of love. Thus, when the sexual relationship between Bernard and Lili is revealed and used by Bernard's wife to justify her own infidelities, the astute viewer is able to discern the important distinction between the two. In Bernard's case the sexual element is merely an inevitable elaboration upon the essentially philosophical nature of the bond with his student.(cf. Plato's Symposium). In the case of his wife, her promiscuity and loose morals can be seen as an indicator of her inherent superficiality. It is clear that she has rejected Bernard's corrective influence and given herself up to an essentially usurious existence. <br /><br />There are parallels to Bernard's predicament across the canon of western literature. Examples can be found in Kafka (who is mentioned in the film), Goethe, Marquez, Gaddis, Dostoevsky, Cervantes and Nietzsche among many others, of the classic heroic type Bernard represents. A man shunned and misunderstood by an indifferent world which is concerned chiefly with the superficial, the corporeal manifestations of existence. In this context the film can be correctly understood as the emancipation of Bernard, redemption finally occurring in his declaration of freedom from the confines of his married life. Bernard's wife is thus understood as the principal antagonist, whilst the aforementioned frivolous characters, the tennis coach and the son's girlfriend, represent the uncaring and self-deluded universe in which Bernard is fated to exist. Meanwhile his two sons are the innocents, in whom certain of Bernard's traits are already visible but both of whom are in danger of corruption. In the denouement, we are unclear as to the precise exposition of this element but such ambiguity is an essential part of the postmodernist paradigm within which the film occurs.<br /><br />It is this that leads me to award the film 9/10. It would be churlish to award anything higher to a narrative that addresses its subject in such an oblique manner. It denies the fundamental aim of all art which is to educate the masses. However, it is paradoxically precisely this element which affords the film merit. It is designed with great precision to be apprehended only by the intellectual elite with whom the film deals. It cannot properly be labelled elitist as it also provides the lesser audience with the requisite comedy and dramatic tension. However the discerning viewer will be rewarded appropriately; commensurate with the perspicacity one brings to the film theatre. | 1pos
|
This is a ridiculous, poorly researched film with an undeservedly good title.<br /><br />This is a ridiculous, poorly researched film with an undeservedly good title.<br /><br />This event occurred in 1966. Will the director please explain why the police are flying around in Apache helicopters and carrying Beretta M9 pistols? I know the film is supposed to be "surreal" but give me a break. A little bit of research could have lent a lot authenticity to this film. Acting was also mediocre at best. The "tactical" team at the end of the film is absolutely ridiculous. This film constituted a complete waste of my time. Don't waste yours!<br /><br />This is a ridiculous, poorly researched film with an undeservedly good title.<br /><br />This event occurred in 1966. Will the director please explain why the police are flying around in Apache helicopters and carrying Beretta M9 pistols? I know the film is supposed to be "surreal" but give me a break. A little bit of research could have lent a lot authenticity to this film. Acting was also mediocre at best. The "tactical" team at the end of the film is absolutely ridiculous. This film constituted a complete waste of my time. Don't waste yours! | 0neg
|
Highway to Hell starts off as a campy 80's ish horror flick. It grabs you from the start and then holds on when our stars jump over the real world divide. The concept is ingenious and the characters are fresh. There are some great sight gags and loads of funny lines. THis is definitely better than the 5.7 rating here......I just left a review for 'The Prodigy' and I am FLABBERGASTED that it has the same rating on IMDb. This is EASILY a better film. Patrick Bergen and Chad Lowe are great adversaries and on originality alone this film deserves at least a 6-6.5 here. Pure unadulterated 'B' movie genius. Wish I could find a copy to rent. 3.5 out of five on my 'b' movie marathon list. It is very strange and not for all tastes, but HTH will forever be a cult-classic. | 1pos
|
The IMDb advises that I should say ...<br /><br />*Warning Spoilers Follow*.<br /><br />... but there is no way to spoil this movie, because it is already spoiled to the point of being compost, and is ready to be spread out on the fields.<br /><br />It has been almost 20 years since my girlfriend of the time, an obsessive Madonna fan, talked me into seeing this piece of trash, and I still go to bed at night praying to God that I can somehow get that two hours of my life back. This is not one of those movies that is so bad it is good. This is one of those movies that is so bad it actually slingshots right around past good and right back to bad again.<br /><br />Madonna stars as a missionary (I know this is a leap of faith folks, but I am *not* kidding!), who teams up with Sean Penn (her then husband) to search for "Faraday's Flowers", a cache of opium balls she hopes can be used as a pain killer for wounded troops. From about this point on, the movie takes on a rhythm that more or less goes "1, 2, 3, plot twist, 1, 2, 3, plot twist, 1, 2, 3, plot twist, and so on", as the duo of Penn and Penn bounce around randomly from one ridiculous situation to another with plenty of plot twists, but absolutely no plot evident to be twisted. In the mean time, they are being chased by a corrupt official with prosthetic hands (He lost his real hands from opening a booby trapped money belt called a "shanghai surprise", which is what the movie is supposedly named after. This seems appropriate to me, seeing how I had lost my money from watching this booby trapped movie.).<br /><br />You may wonder why it is that I am able to remember so much about a movie I haven't seen in almost 20 years. To that I can only say one thing ...<br /><br />... emotional scarring.<br /><br />This movie is that bad folks! I have seen a lot of bad movies in my time, but this one rules as the unchallenged chief god in my pantheon of stinkers. It makes Ed Wood's movies look like Academy Award winning material. It even makes the worst of the worst of the flash animation that I have seen over the last six years on the net look good. I would eagerly gnaw my foot off to escape from this movie.<br /><br />If, for some reason, you are ever unfortunate enough to find a copy of this little "gem" on the shelf of your local video store, the only thing I can recommend is that you slowly and carefully turn yourself around, then run, run! RUN!!!!!, and immediately seek psychiatric counseling so as to avoid any possible post traumatic stress syndrome you may suffer from exposure to this movie.<br /><br />I give this movie a 1, but that is only because IMDb will not let me input negative numbers. | 0neg
|
Okay, maybe a lot of you guys already mentioned this (I haven't read all the comments) but there is a story by Dean Koontz telling something similar. A funhouse, a bunch of young kids and a murderer, a freak of nature... Greaaaat! The story kicks in! I thought... this could be wonderful cinema. Well, it wasn't! I never saw a worse movie than this one (or perhaps if I count in I'll always know what you did last summer, this would come in second place)!! I can't understand why this title was in the After Dark Horrorfest? There were so many other good ones left out... I don't say there were no good parts in it... a loved the story 'bout the twins in the beginning and the sex scene was a big laugh (especially the climax) but that was it. No good acting, no good plot, a good story just turned into a bad movie! I wasn't scared at all... Maybe I ask too much of a movie... I donno... | 0neg
|
I read some of the comments about that film and really thought i was gonna watch something worth watching, but..... The film in itself is very quiet, there is hardly any talking, which i personally don't like. You get to like the characters through their actions, but even then I was not impressed with it. The ending is very disturbing and fair enough it might happen far in the north but not everybody want to watch a film about a disturbed middle aged woman. My advise watch this if you really and even really bored, but overall the film was not to my liking and I'd say to any of my friends not to bother with it, even though it's got good actors in it. | 0neg
|
Poor and superficial film, using disturbing images, playing with the American believe that Violence and Corruption only happen in other countries. This is a bad copy of other Brazilian movies, this people could be making Art with more social engagement , sensibility and respect for other cultures. <br /><br />The worst part of the movie is when Kids are showed acting/playing as kidnappers. The director admitted that He asked the Kids to do the theater, but presents it as if it was reality, making the public believe that this is how kids play in the streets of Brazil. This is unetical, not a documentary, shouldn't be a reference.<br /><br />I believe that it's time for the young Americans to start looking into solving their own problems at home. And not only look for sensationalism , violence and misery but, beauty and successful experiences in other cultures, not only they problems, feeding prejudices and fear. <br /><br />It's time to exchange ideas , using art as communication, a Global believe of trust and enlightenment. Not only fear of the different, of the foreigner, the neighbor... | 0neg
|
Wow. This movie was HORRIBLE. There was a song after every 5 minutes. This movie unfortunately stereotypes way too much! Terrible plot and BORING. The lead actress is attractive, but needs to work on her acting. As an Indian, I am tired of us being portrayed as the bad characters in movies. Keeping our culture intact is very important to many and should not be portrayed as something bad. The heavy British accents are also hard to get used to. This movie had nothing positive to send to the viewer.<br /><br />I rented this at the local Blockbuster and am glad that I did not see in it a theatre or I would have left early. | 0neg
|
Pray for Morning starts as a few teen friends decide to spend the night in the Royal Crescent Hotel, a large rundown long abandoned hotel that was the scene of five gruesome murders back in 1984. Jesse (Jonathon Trent) has always been interested in the hotel & drawn to the mystery surrounding the still unsolved murders, he has convinced some of his high school mates to accompany him, during the middle of the night of course because going there during the day when it was light would just be silly. Once there they decide to check out the rooms in which the five bodies were found, before anyone know's it an evil ghostly spirit has been awakened & is killing the teens off one-by-one & unless they can stop it none of them will live to see the morning...<br /><br />Written & directed by Cartney Wearn I watched Pray for Morning last night without knowing a thing about it, the title is rather vague & could have referred to anything so I didn't go into it with any great expectation yet I still found myself disappointed & not particularly having a good time. What we have here is a cross between The Shining (1980) with it's hotel style setting & The Amityville Horror (1979) with the now standard haunted house scenario (spooky property has a dark past, you know the sort of thing) along with a few boring mystery elements thrown in there for good measure. The film spends far too much time showing annoying American teens wondering around this old hotel in the dark, it just doesn't make for particularly entertaining viewing & gets very boring very quickly. The script is predictable & is nothing more than a teen slasher with some tenuous supernatural elements along with an obligatory twist ending which didn't do much for me at all to be honest as I thought it was pretty ineffectual. There is one amazing scene I just couldn't work out, in it one of the annoying American high school teens examines a twenty year old blood stain & determines that whoever left the stain was trying to hide something! How on Earth do you work that out? Also it turns out that whatever the victim was trying to hide they hid inside an nearby air vent so when they were killed how could they have been trying to hide something when they had clearly already hidden it? Also why didn't the police find that severed hand in the vent only a few feet away? According to earlier exposition the police had 'torn the place apart' looking for clues so why not find that severed hand only a few feet away from a murder victim? The police obviously didn't do a very good job, did they? There's no explanation as to how or why there's a ghost in the hotel or how it manages to alter reality or how it can transport people back in time &, of course, the annoying American teens mobile phones don't work for no apparent reason either so they get isolated from the outside world in a now obligatory plot device for low budget horror films. The story doesn't engage or entertain, that character's are both poor & annoying, the plot is forgettable & not that much actually happens.<br /><br />The hotel sets or locations (not sure if they filmed in a real hotel or in a studio) are quite nice but why are some of the lights on? Wouldn't the electricity have been turned off? Horror wise there's not much to get excited about here, there's a few bloody corpses & what looks like a bamboo stick stuck through someone but not much else & there's not much in the way of scares since the less than impressive CGI computer effects have the opposite effect & make things almost laughable. There are one or two bits with a decent atmosphere but it's never sustained for any period of time. The film seems to take itself very seriously & there's no humour or fun to be seen anywhere which doesn't help when the plot feels so stale & lethargic. To give it some credit there are a few period flashbacks at the end which are quite nicely done I suppose.<br /><br />With a supposed budget of about $2,000,000 this has better production values than a lot of recent low budget horror but that's hardly any sort of recommendation on it's own. Filmed in Los Angeles. The only real cast member of note is cult German born actor Udo Kier who doesn't look interested at all & to my eyes seems to put on more weight in every subsequent film he makes (the Steven Seagal of the low budget horror world!).<br /><br />Pray for Morning is a dull supernatural teen horror slasher that doesn't satisfy on any level really, never mind pray for morning I would suggest that most audiences will be praying for it to finish not too long after it has started. | 0neg
|
This movie is beyond bad, I thought it could be a decent enough comedy with some hot latina-chicks.<br /><br />The latter there were plenty of, but the style of this movie is extremely childish so there aren't any sexiness going on, I mean just look at the rating: Rated PG for MILD sensuality.<br /><br />The story is as if taken from a Spanish-SOAP-OPERA and the acting is as over-the-top as that as well, I found SOFIA VERGARA funny in SOUL PLANE and ROSELYN SANCHEZ is good in WITHOUT A TRACE but they were as bad as the rest of the bunch in this "comedy".<br /><br />Comedy: Yes, but where are the jokes? Were there any? And did this movie even make me chuckle even once? No.<br /><br />Not even cameo's from talents DL HUGHLEY (Stand-Up-Comedian) and FREDDY RODRIGUEZ (Harsh Times) could make me enjoy this movie, it just made me think how on earth they got into this horrible movie.<br /><br />One thing that's even more confusing is the fact that FOREST WHITAKER is listed as a producer, to me he's one of Hollywood's finest and hopefully his producer-spot just meant that he financed the movie and wasn't actually a part of making this movie because that would have been a shame.<br /><br />I'm bagging on a lot of people here, but the biggest bag should be on the lead guy Thomas (played by Eduardo Verástegui) whom delivers some of the worst acting I have ever seen in recent years, he is beyond bad in a way I can't even describe.<br /><br />There's one good thing about it though, without the start and end-credits the movie is only about 70 minutes long.<br /><br />If you want a romantic-comedy with latino-actors there is always SUENO (John Leguizamo, Elisabeth Pena) which I quite like. | 0neg
|
This is a great movie for kids AND adults. It was a thrill a minute with a lot of laughs. I've never been on the Disney ride, but the movie has made me very curious about it, and will probably make a trip to Disney next year. This movie is a great advertisement for their theme park! | 1pos
|
From incredibly inept scriptwriting to ridiculously bad acting, sloppy editing and incompetent directing, this film belongs in movie-dumb's rubbish bin. It starts out slowly, with no dialog, then increases its yawn factor as words are added to this meandering, nonsensical script. There are so many disconnected and incomplete avenues in this film that the viewer suspects it is a parody of a real movie. It continues trudging along into an undeveloped storyline that makes the viewer wonder if anyone actually viewed this film before it was released onto an unsuspecting public. Hard to believe Clint Eastwood directed, produced and acted in this piece of human excrement. This is by far the worst movie I have ever seen. | 0neg
|
I'm not entirely sure I understood the plot of Sukiyaki Western Django, mainly because I couldn't understand the dialogue very well, but I still can say it's unlike anything I have ever seen. In a time when ridiculously unoriginal films are hailed by critics and average viewers alike, it's great to see something truly different come to the screen. Sukiyaki Western Django takes the oldest subgenre in American cinema, the western, and spins it until it is original againand it works.<br /><br />I have never been a Takashi Miike fan at all, honestly. I have only seen this and Audition, but Audition was boring and cliché enough for me never to give him a second thought. Sukiyaki Western Django, however, shows his true capability as a director and that he isn't just another run-of-the-mill carbon copy like I originally thought after viewing Audition.<br /><br />Sukiyaki Western Django is very dialogue heavy, but it still packs a lot of action and a lot more character deaths than is standard for this type of film. People are calling this movie gory, but it isn't. The blood is pretty generic and typical, though maybe a little more than your standard action flick. This didn't really disappoint me as much as it does in other movies, because blood isn't really needed in Sukiyaki Western Django. It carries itself with style and a lot of intense action.<br /><br />I think the reason this film is getting so many negative reviews is because people don't get it. You really have to be a fan of the genres it imitates to understand it fully, even though the plot is simple. Two rival gangs, and one man, a gunslinger, they both need. The rest is a mix between action and art that simply stunned me. The town itself is so diverse it almost becomes its own character, and in a way it is. The aesthetic of some of the action scenes go so much further than the typical slow-mo Matrix rip-off you're used to and really creates a style all its own. The technical beeps in the background gave off a really cool surreal, modern feel that isn't overdone or annoying.<br /><br />The acting worked for the genre, even though most of it is terrible and hard to understand. The entire Japanese cast, minus Tarantino, worked because they all spoke English, which just added to the cool-weirdness. I'm sure if your high school English class tried to analyze every figurative detail it would take weeks. Just put it this way: as far as the formula goes, Sukiyaki Western Django is both original and complex to the point of insanity. I simply cannot understand how this is by the same man who wrote/directed Audition.<br /><br />Overall, I'm going to quote something I heard someone say after they viewed Sukiyaki Western Django: "Well, that was different, but I wouldn't call it entertaining." That is the view a lot of people are going to have, and I can't deny people will think that just because I personally disagree with it. It comes very close to being too top-heavy with aesthetic for its own good, but, for me, it was still very entertaining and awing. I can't say anything else except that you need to see this and make up your own mind. It is original, that's not my opinion, and if you're like me and enjoy more than the typical Hollywood movie you MUST see this. If you can care less about originality and just want another typical western you've seen time and time again, don't bother.<br /><br />It really matters what your opinion on entertainment is. But I loved it.<br /><br />8/10 | 1pos
|
My friend introduced me to a lot of anime series, but this one really stood out. It's about a young boy who moves a dorm but the administration places him with 3 other slightly strange roommates. They gradually get to know and trust one another, and you learn about each one's story. I think they were in the high school/college age range. Each character has their own "special" quirk and problems they're trying to fix. It's a great drama/comedy that is funny and serious in the right spots. It might be too slow moving for some people but you just have to give it a chance. At the time, I didn't think I would enjoy it but I really liked this series. I wish there were more episodes. | 1pos
|