Clive Barker, the writer and director, has not made one regrettable step in his career. Lord of Illusions is a phenominal film unlike anything ever seen. Barker is, without fail, the only truely original and visionary man working in an otherwise lackluster industry. His films are bold, original, breathtaking and oddly quite beautiful. Lord of Illusions does not disappoint. The slithering plot is engaging, dramatic, frightening and indeed morbid spinning a tale of a detective who has a lingering tie to the darkside. This is an adult nightmare and is not intended for younger audiances at all. It is intelligent, opulant, impressive and twisted. Georgeous and repulsive at the same time. Though Hellraiser and Nightbreed are wonderful in and of themselves, it is Lord of Illusions that is Clive's masterwork... that is until Tortured Souls comes out.
Reviews
7 Reviews
The Next Best Thing
(2000)
Madonna is wonderful.
19 April 2001
Since her amazing turn in Evita, fans awaited something else that would frame her unappreciated talent. The Next best Thing is something she can be very proud of (regardless of what film critics say). I loved this film, and though I like Madonna's 'lesser' efforts as well (Shanghai Surprise and Who's That Girl) this is her second best film. She'd have to do something truelly spectacular to outdo Evita.
Nonetheless, The Next Best Thing is a captivating, engrossing film that was sadly lost at the boxoffice amid a flurry of bigger budget, more advertized films and the hypocritical meanderings of so-called film critics. I say judge for yourself, when Ebert says that something like "Kingpin" is a great film but trash this one, you know he is out of his mind! Don't listen to "professional" critics, they have a financial steak in what they say be it good or bad. One critic even put it this way "they should have gone with the obvious choice of showing the comical rearing of a baby." And had it done so, he still wouldn't have liked it because he would have called it "too predictable." Most critics don't like Madonna, and they will find fault with whatever she does, whether it's justified or not. Take it from me, the negative comments about this film are NOT justified.
Madonna plays Abby, a lonely woman who can't seem to find Mr. Right. Rupert Everett plays her best friend, who of course happens to be gay. In what can only be called a moment of inebriated bliss, the two get together. The result is a bouncing baby boy! And that is when the fun, humor, heart and soul of the film kicks in.
I loved this movie.
Nonetheless, The Next Best Thing is a captivating, engrossing film that was sadly lost at the boxoffice amid a flurry of bigger budget, more advertized films and the hypocritical meanderings of so-called film critics. I say judge for yourself, when Ebert says that something like "Kingpin" is a great film but trash this one, you know he is out of his mind! Don't listen to "professional" critics, they have a financial steak in what they say be it good or bad. One critic even put it this way "they should have gone with the obvious choice of showing the comical rearing of a baby." And had it done so, he still wouldn't have liked it because he would have called it "too predictable." Most critics don't like Madonna, and they will find fault with whatever she does, whether it's justified or not. Take it from me, the negative comments about this film are NOT justified.
Madonna plays Abby, a lonely woman who can't seem to find Mr. Right. Rupert Everett plays her best friend, who of course happens to be gay. In what can only be called a moment of inebriated bliss, the two get together. The result is a bouncing baby boy! And that is when the fun, humor, heart and soul of the film kicks in.
I loved this movie.
Dancer in the Dark
(2000)
Phenomenal
18 April 2001
There has never been a film so utterly intense as this, so amazing, so phenomenal as Dancer In The Dark. Raw and realistic to the gritty extreme, Bjork quite captivatingly gives the GREATEST performance of the last decade, hands down and period! Not since the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) horrendous and non-justifiable oversight in NOT recognizing Madonna's brilliant performance in Evita (not to mention ignoring the whole film, for which they should all be ashamed) have they displayed themselves as so utterly ignorant! How dare they NOT nominate Bjork for her stupendous portrait and performance?! Julia Roberts should be ashamed of herself, that statue belongs to Bjork!!! When such over-hyped and lame films as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The English Patient, the throw-away Cast Away and any host of Hollywood drool films get nominated and films like Dancer In The Dark are ignored, you know the Oscars are not based on merit, they are based on something akin to high school popularity contests. See Dancer in the Dark, and then see if you can actually say Julia Roberts deserved that award without laughing out loud at the utter lunacy of the comment. It pulls all the correct emotional strings (without, thankfully falling into the milking shallowness of Spielberg) to deliver an impacting film like no other. You MUST see Dancer In The Dark it is without any doubt in my mind truely one of the greatest films of all time!
Absurd!
11 March 2001
With the amount over-zealous hype surrounding this film, one would expect something of grand design. Sadly, that's all it is, over-zealous hype. Possibly the most over-hyped film since Star Wars: Phantom Menace. As I sat in the theatre watching this I couldn't help but laugh heartily at the defying gravity antics that only made me want to start singing, "Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can." Yes, it is that bad. Two women sitting in front of me kept shooting dirty looks my way, but really how could anyone take this absurd movie seriously? In fact, Jade Fox (the film's remorseless "bad guy")merely alters the hairdo and for some strange reason no one recognizes him. I suppose everyone is blind, and dumb. And that's what this movie is, dumb.
First, the acting is on par with every other absurd "action," gravity defying kung-fu film. Nothing special, period. The script is littered with the most inane dialogue, again like most films of this type. Really, had it been dubbed the pathetic reality of that would be more noticed. The story is, again, on par with every other film in this genre... tinged with a little spaghetti western thrown in for good measure. So, in reality there is nothing special about this film. Nothing!
Ok, so perhaps some people will find the gravity-defying antics some sort of brainless entertainment for two hours. I didn't. The action scenes are well choreographed, but when they begin to toss their hands in the air and take off like Superman, crawl around on bamboo tree tops like somekind of monkey, crawl up walls and skip across roofs you just can NOT take it seriously. It's just comical to the extreme. And really, it is so very obvious that these people are on wires, you can practically see them (and in a few scenes, if you pay close attention, you can).
This film is too absurd to be any good, too serious to be campy or fun and just doesn't work at all. With the boxoffice booming on this, I can only imagine a select few people are seeing it over and over and over, and in the process tricking their friends into seeing it too. I rarely feel as though I wasted my money when I go see a film, but I DID in fact waste my money when I saw this turkey.
First, the acting is on par with every other absurd "action," gravity defying kung-fu film. Nothing special, period. The script is littered with the most inane dialogue, again like most films of this type. Really, had it been dubbed the pathetic reality of that would be more noticed. The story is, again, on par with every other film in this genre... tinged with a little spaghetti western thrown in for good measure. So, in reality there is nothing special about this film. Nothing!
Ok, so perhaps some people will find the gravity-defying antics some sort of brainless entertainment for two hours. I didn't. The action scenes are well choreographed, but when they begin to toss their hands in the air and take off like Superman, crawl around on bamboo tree tops like somekind of monkey, crawl up walls and skip across roofs you just can NOT take it seriously. It's just comical to the extreme. And really, it is so very obvious that these people are on wires, you can practically see them (and in a few scenes, if you pay close attention, you can).
This film is too absurd to be any good, too serious to be campy or fun and just doesn't work at all. With the boxoffice booming on this, I can only imagine a select few people are seeing it over and over and over, and in the process tricking their friends into seeing it too. I rarely feel as though I wasted my money when I go see a film, but I DID in fact waste my money when I saw this turkey.
Showgirls
(1995)
Great.
14 April 2000
Now, don't take me the wrong way when I say that I loved this film. It's truly a bad film, but it's so bad that it's great! I just can't help but like the utterly incompetent dialogue... especialy the dinner doggie-chow conversation. Writer, Joe Ezerhaus, known for his over-the-top, overly sexual, homophobic, woman-hating scripts has somehow managed to bring these abhorrent traits together in such a way as to fascinate. Clearly prejudiced towards lesbians and gays, Ezerhaus writes with a strange pen here... at once homophobic but at the same time so outrageous that it can't be taken seriously. Berkley's performance is dead-on (many panned it, but really she showed true style and wit bringing a charm to a role designed to be offensive), if not for this Naomi would have been a nasty unsympathetic character and the film really would have just sucked. So, ultimatly, no credit to Ezerhaus! The success of this film (and I'm not talking box-office) resides solely on the performances and directing. With a lesser cast and director this would have been helpless trash, but Gina Gershon, Paul Verhoeven and Elizabeth Berkley bring it to life. Great dance sequences, and cool costumes make for an enjoyable film. I could have done without the brutal rape scene though. That is the films only real downfall... but then again, blame Ezerhaus for that!
Powder
(1995)
Brilliant.
14 April 2000
Many positive superlatives could not express the brilliance of this film. It astounds me that given the rather un-original state Hollywood has been in since 1980 (and continues to be in with the blatant and dull John Travolta rip-off of Phenomenon in 1996) that such a wonderful film was given the green light. It is always a rarity to see this type of masterpiece hit the screen... and a pleasure too. There was much controversy surrounding this film upon its initial release... mostly of the kind that had nothing to do with the actual movie. To that I can only say one thing... it takes more then one person to make a movie! Get over it. Besides the clever, thought provoking, tender, respectful and intelligent script penned by Victor Salva, he also does a top-notch job in the direction. I loved this movie, I own this movie and I whole-heartedly recommend it to everyone.
Swingers
(1996)
One of that years worst films!
18 January 2000
To sum it up, and put it in a mild way, this movie is just horrible! The acting is pitiful, the script: absurd, the directing: pathetic, the actors: untalented, and the story is nonexistent! I hated this movie. Its stupid!!! The writer of this film felt that instead of a coherent story line, he'd use toilet-based, rock-jock jokes, tetosterone laced bumbles and moron antics to weave a nothing of a story about wannabe actors attempts to cheer up a friend whos 6-year relationship just went belly up. Yawn! So without a story, without any likable characters, without inspired directing, without talented cast and crew the viewer is left with celluloid trash! Its hard to imagine who would like this film, but there are people who do. Hummm! Most of them seem to be moron guys who are balding failures. Hummm! Whatever. Showgirls had more artistic merit!!!
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