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chickenbird
Reviews
Stardust (2007)
Better than the book
Neil Gaiman is at his best in Sandman and with Pratchett in Good Omens. He's a wonderful writer, but I didn't like Stardust nearly as much as some of his other work. So this film was a pleasant surprise -- one of the very few screenplays that actually surpass the original material. It's fair to say that the typical movie based on a book tends to fall far below the bar set by the book, but this is clearly the opposite.
I hope Neil is happy with this adaption, because it brings out the best of the book. The casting is a pure joy, the directing has a light but steady hand, the pacing was perfect, and the special effects were not overwhelming. The film somehow managed to balance several genres at once without becoming smug about it.
An unexpected and lovely pleasure.
It's a pity the marketing for this film has been so poor, because by all rights this film should be doing much better at the box office than it has so far.
Serenity (2005)
Definitely a Must-See More than Once
I saw this movie twice in preview screenings in May and June, and I cannot emphasize enough how rewarding it is to see this movie more than once. The first time through is such an amazing ride that it is impossible to soak everything up. Subsequent viewings really give you whole new levels of appreciation. There's SO much going on here, and it's amazingly good.
There's never been a movie quite like this one. It defies easy genre categorization, and has so many beautiful moments, comedic moments, and fantastic action sequences that it has got to appeal to a much wider than just a "scifi" audience. It really manages to deliver an important message while still being enormously entertaining -- a rare feat.
Joss Whedon has crafted one of his tightest, most masterful scripts ever, and his directing is masterful. For example, he surpasses even some of his own legendary "one-ers" of Buffy and Angel in the introductory sequence on the ship.
Plus, the actors are talented, and damn pretty to boot.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Spoiler; 'R' Rating would've been better; Rouge City great
Possible spoilers here.
Not a film for children, too much violence, an apparent suicide attempt, a murder of a human, murders of sentient mechas, disturbing overall themes of loss and abandonment. But missing little bits of sexual elements that were only hinted at. Would've been more straightforwardly adult and honest to just go for the 'R' instead of 'PG 13', because even as it was, it was too 'R' for 8 year-olds, and I don't see why any parent would bring their kid.
Overall better than most other films now out. However, the ending was terrible, and there were a few details that really irked me. For example, 1.) why were David's clothes so clean after being dragged through the dirt and running through a swampy area? 2.) Why didn't the inventor of David keep him for himself (given that he was modeled after his own lost son)? 3.) If male prostitutes like Jude Law's character Gigolo Joe were common, wouldn't they have male customers as well as female?
This would have been almost expected for Jude Law, who has built a successful career on several excellent portrayals of gay or sexually ambiguous men. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's read the Aldiss original, because for example, the scene where Joe and David hitch a ride into Rouge City by telling the young men in a car that they can help them find the best places to enjoy some nice female versions of Joe in the city just did not ring true. It would have made more sense for Joe to have offered himself to them.
The gritty, Kubrik-feeling middle part in Rouge City was the best part of the film, and therefore should have been more realistic, more sexy, more developed, with much less time spent elsewhere. (Except that cutting out the awful Dr. Know bit would've been nice. Robin Williams did a fairly good job in Bicentennial Man but this was just not needed.) This would also have given us a better sense of the nature of the class differences in society -- what life was really like for the lower classes of both humans & AIs.
Chicken Run (2000)
I was so happy to see this film I wore my chicken costume to the movie!
Bawk! I, a chicken, loved this film! Everyone in the theatre cheered madly during the final escape sequence. The man sitting in front of me told his wife that they ought to at least eat turkey instead of chicken for dinner that evening. All the little kids loved my costume.
I rented The Great Escape two days ago, just to get ready for this movie, and re-watched all the Wallace and Gromits. Chicken Run. Nick Park and Peter Lord claimed in their recent NPR/Fresh Air interview that there was no Steve McQueen character in Chicken Run, but Ginger certainly has a lot of his characteristics -- she's just as spunky, plucky (excuse the pun), and unstoppable as his character was in the Great Escape.
This movie was so good I am going to make my parents go see it, my parents who never go to the movies. I took four co-workers, and they really loved it.
Bawk! The Big Chicken has spoken. Chickens Rule!
-carole
p.s. As a resident of Rhode Island, I was quite happy to learn that Rocky is a Rhode Island Red!
Inspector Gadget (1999)
Something for everyone
People say it's not a movie for adults. I beg to differ. There's just enough witty double entendre between Rupert and Andy to amuse the gay audience (as one of that audience, I laughed quite hand/claw extensions, and of course the kids did not). That is what is interesting about the film -- there's a little bit of humor for adults that would not make parents not take their kids if they are overly protective about that sort of thing (because it will just go over their heads). My secret suspicion about why they showed Claw's face even though you never see it in the original cartoon is that some closet case at Disney just really, really enjoyed looking at Rupert
My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
Rupert carries the day.
If you want a good romantic comedy or a good wedding film, try Four Weddings and a Funeral, or P.J. Hogan's other wedding film (Muriel's Wedding). Both of those are not so stilted, and have deeper character development -- one actually understands WHY people love or do not love one another in those films, which is NOT the case in My Best Friend's Wedding. Yet another case of Hollywood not giving a damn about characters, only about silly plot gimmicks and tired, trite heterosexual romances.
Rupert Everett's acting and charm carried the film up from stupidity to moments of joy. If you are eager to see him in another good role and don't want to wait for his upcoming roles, check out Another Country, in which he has a lot of love for Cary Elwes -- quite a good film of its sort. Watch for the "dappled deer" line -- you'll see that he lifted that line right out of Another Country and put it (quite ironically) into My Best Friend's Wedding. A very nice touch.