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Reviews
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
truly enjoyable
I really don't think one can 'not get' this movie and still be an intelligent moviegoer. Just because you claim to like "American Beauty" doesn't make you an intellectual, unfortunately. "The Royal Tenenbaums" is very similar to its predecessor, "Rushmore" which I suppose didn't do well enough to merit its being mentioned in the trailers for this new movie. So be it. "Tenenbaums", like Rushmore, IS laugh-out-loud funny, but not in the way most movies are. The things happening in the characters' settings are often so hilarious that it's impossible to pay attention to what's being said. The movie's evades weirdness-for-its-own-sake, and succeeds in giving the light-of-heart but intelligent viewer the perfect experience: a movie free of cliche.
Wild at Heart (1990)
Awful, cheesy mess.
I think I'm a worse person for having seen this film. The other two people watching it with me were certainly displeased at me for having suggested it (based on another friend's recommendation). Aside from a few funny/weird-cool scenes, i.e. Crispin Glover's segment and the character of Bobby Peru, this movie is a stupid ordeal. The bad 80's hard rock, line after line of cliche, badly-directed shock scenes, and poorly dating slang and fashion sap all the fun away from this movie. "Fargo" did all the gore/botched crime scenes better, and there are far better road movies. Telling line: "Oh, Sailor. This world's Wild At Heart and weird on top." Intentionally kitsch or not, who cares? Give this a pass.
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
slow, overdone
Almost nothing happens in this movie. Aside from a few powerful battle scenes, the movie is almost two hours of sitting around, waiting for the elusive enemy to show himself in the sniper's sights. The love plotline is cliche and feels tacked on, and not enough of the characters are likeable or memorable. And there are only about three of them. Why do these Russians have British accents? And there's no trace of anything German or Russian about any of the lead characters...underdeveloped story, overdone score, and historical errors.
Girl, Interrupted (1999)
decent, but a rip off and some big misses
This movie was pretty uneven...while there were some profound and insightful moments, it had some pretty grimace-worthy lines, too...particularly painful: the ending line about "not a day goes by that my heart doesn't find them," was quite bad and melodramatic...in the end, this was a better than average drama but not in the same league with psychodrama classics like "One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest" and "The Snake Pit," but ultimately a combination of the two that ended up being only an average "One Flew" for girls.
Gunslinger (1956)
Terrible, and funny too.
I saw this on an episode of the divine MST3K, and I think it would have been almost as funny without Joel & co. mocking it. This is truly an awful movie, but it's definitely worth seeing in MST3K-vision.
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
Hilarious, if repetitive, and clever piece of moviemaking
If you go to the theater (or the movie store) with a clear mind about animated movies, and leave your political and religious affiliations at the doorstep, you will love this movie. It's aimed at fans of the show, but it's also just great comedy. The one qualm is that there are song numbers literally everywhere...fortunately, there are real treasures there. The cheerful Terrance & Phillip song, "Shut your f*cking face, uncle f*cker" had me in tears. It is right-on in many political issues: "It's okay if it has horrible violence, just as long as they don't use naughty words." The Saddam Hussein-Satan relationship goes on a bit long (with VERY disturbing results at times), but there aren't really very many holes in this movie that can't be anticipated in a movie that doesn't really care what you think, only to make you laugh.
Dead Man (1995)
A supreme piece of art-filmmaking; not much to dislike here.
When the common man hears "art film", he thinks of bizarre, uninterpretable movies full of hidden messages and without mass appeal. "Dead Man" is indeed an art movie, but repeats the messages it so wants to get across (birth to life to death) in so many ways that we can all see it. Depp is fine as a Cleveland businessman. Lance Henrickson ("Millennium") is also fine as a gunslinger. Did indians really use so much profanity?
Black Dahlia (1998)
Great mystery cinematic PC game.
This is one of the greatest games so few people have played. It's a mystery game that involves Nazi plots, a mysterious gem, and the Torso killings of 1940s Cleveland. It got great reviews and has very good graphics quality. Eight CDs long! Worth it; even if you cheat you still feel like you acomplished a lot by beating it.
Start the Revolution Without Me (1970)
Terrible. Just terrible.
I rented this because it has a bit of a reputation as a cult classic--it has maybe one funny joke in it (near the beginning so I thought it would be good at first). Basically, if you like people running around a palace and improbably falling as hard and as far as possible every time they get hit by a door or another person, this is for you. Otherwise, avoid this stupid and senseless film.