The art direction and fx in this series, though borrowing heavily from Blade Runner, are absolutely drop-dead gorgeous and so detailed that at times I had to pry my jaw from the floor. The characters, casting and acting are tremendous, especially our wonderful living hotel, The Raven and Poe, its proprietor. At times it slogs and the resolution is somewhat, "really? That's it?", but overall it pays off nicely. Well done, Netflix.
Reviews
12 Reviews
One of those Perfect Gems
6 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This episode of Better Things is absolutely perfection in the writing, directing and performances. So much happens, so many things revealed, such poignant but subtle undertones that I had to watch it 3 times. The layers are just devastating. Along with Out of Gas on Firefly, The Battle of the Bastards on Game of Thrones, the finale of The Sopranos and Hush on Buffy The Vampire Slayer...this is perfect television. Congratulations to the entire company. I hope you know how wonderful this small taste of reality was to us.
I'm...I'm Nearly Speechless...
5 January 2004
This is, perhaps, the worst piece of *!&% I've ever seen...made worse in having knowledge of Alan Moore's wonderful graphic novel. I strongly urge any one who is thinking of renting this study in horrible movie-making from doing so.
Stay away.
Stay away.
No, really...stay away.
Stay away.
Stay away.
No, really...stay away.
Donnie Darko
(2001)
Sort of Derivative
29 August 2003
See Roman Polanski's "The Tenant", et al.
I thought most of the performances were very good, however. The people that I viewed it with were much more impressed than I. Some of the writing was hamfisted and projected, even to the point of giving plot away.
Jake Gyllenhaal has a real presence and will, no doubt, have a very bright future in Hollywood.
I thought most of the performances were very good, however. The people that I viewed it with were much more impressed than I. Some of the writing was hamfisted and projected, even to the point of giving plot away.
Jake Gyllenhaal has a real presence and will, no doubt, have a very bright future in Hollywood.
Fourteen Hours
(1951)
Yes
11 October 2002
Despite the distinction of being Grace Kelly's first film, (and she is quite good here), this film holds up with the best of the genre. It's one of those films that is incidentally seen by the casual channel surfer and, given five minutes, impossible to turn away from. This film is amazingly innovative in its premise and relies on character, (New York being as important as any other), and story to set the flow and tempo. There are deliciously cunning and unique character moments throughout a film that is, at the same time, full of contrivance and stereotypical sorts. (Do we really need to see another Irish-american policeman being negligent in his duties?). Yet, somehow all the parts equal a very solid whole and a very tense, sharply focussed and surprising film.
If you see this one on late-night tv as you flick through with your remote, be sure to stop and take a look. This one is a definite "yes".
If you see this one on late-night tv as you flick through with your remote, be sure to stop and take a look. This one is a definite "yes".
Wonder Boys
(2000)
Great Film Adaptation of a Great Book
29 August 2002
You heard it here first, folks. Michael Chabon is a bonafide genius. (And Pullitzer winner). His novel, (of the same name), is beautifully adapted to the screen with this lyrical, silly and absolutely true interpretation. Even if you don't like Michael Douglas...he is perfectly cast as the Writer/Professor who is spinning out of control and taking as many people with him as he can. Toby Maguire is also fantastic as the young protege, (Chabon himself?), who finds love, life and meaning in his teacher's fall from grace.
Just a great adaptation.
Just a great adaptation.
Pearl Harbor
(2001)
Pearl Hurl!!
23 June 2002
Someone please tell me why Hollywood HAS to rewrite perfectly good history.
This movie just about makes me root for the Japanese. So, not only does England need the help of Americans in the Battle of Britain, (Ben Afleck, et al...bet you didn't know that, but turns out a couple of US recruits can best 6 or 7 Japanese veteran flyers, (who fly straight and even just so, it appears, they can have their wings shot off by those incredibly fast and unbeatable US Army fighters).
If that wasn't enough...the movie itself...STINKS!!!
And our American friends wonder why the world is getting less and less friendly at every turn.
The only thing worse than this movie is how much they spent on it.
This movie just about makes me root for the Japanese. So, not only does England need the help of Americans in the Battle of Britain, (Ben Afleck, et al...bet you didn't know that, but turns out a couple of US recruits can best 6 or 7 Japanese veteran flyers, (who fly straight and even just so, it appears, they can have their wings shot off by those incredibly fast and unbeatable US Army fighters).
If that wasn't enough...the movie itself...STINKS!!!
And our American friends wonder why the world is getting less and less friendly at every turn.
The only thing worse than this movie is how much they spent on it.
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
(1958)
It's Great! Even for the 877th Time
6 June 2002
Okay, we all have our lil' touchstones that define us, don't we? For guys growing up in the sixties I'm willing to bet a buck that most of us had G.I. Joes and Johnny Sevens, watched Combat, Lost In Space and Thunderbirds regularly on the tube, bought comics for 12 cents, can remember where we were when Kennedy was killed and had a huge, whopping crush on Ann-Margret. (Oh, wait...maybe that last one was just me). Anyway, the point is that we grew up grabbing fun things where we could find them and we held them very close to our hearts. I'm talking Baseball cards, Universal monster models, MAD Magazine and yes...'7th Voyage of Sinbad'.
I was a school patrol and the reward for us where I lived was a weekly Sunday matinee at the Paramount Theatre. What they didn't tell us then, however, was that there would only be two movies shown for the whole school year. They were: the movie that we're talking about here and 'Mysterious Island', (another fantastic kid movie). Oh, well...so what?! If you had to watch two movies through a year and you were 8 years old and you were allowed to take the bus by yourself on a Sunday afternoon downtown to sit in the balcony and fold-down your popcorn box and hurl it at the other kids on the main floor beneath us like some sort of Frisbee and you could watch giant creatures attack Sinbad and weird you out for the 877th time...hey, that's movie magic.
So, for all of you who were born in the eighties...this film DOES NOT suck...it soothes and takes me back to 1963 whenever I catch it...and I WILL watch it for the 878th time. You should give it a go at least once. Special Effects, especially in the hand of Harryhausen, were art.
I was a school patrol and the reward for us where I lived was a weekly Sunday matinee at the Paramount Theatre. What they didn't tell us then, however, was that there would only be two movies shown for the whole school year. They were: the movie that we're talking about here and 'Mysterious Island', (another fantastic kid movie). Oh, well...so what?! If you had to watch two movies through a year and you were 8 years old and you were allowed to take the bus by yourself on a Sunday afternoon downtown to sit in the balcony and fold-down your popcorn box and hurl it at the other kids on the main floor beneath us like some sort of Frisbee and you could watch giant creatures attack Sinbad and weird you out for the 877th time...hey, that's movie magic.
So, for all of you who were born in the eighties...this film DOES NOT suck...it soothes and takes me back to 1963 whenever I catch it...and I WILL watch it for the 878th time. You should give it a go at least once. Special Effects, especially in the hand of Harryhausen, were art.
Spider-Man
(2002)
What A Great Chick-flick!
4 June 2002
Now that I've seen the movie that everyone else was yammerin' about I realize that they were right! It's really a good movie. Sam Raimi paces this film with such a deft hand that the only time I looked away from the screen was to see the silly grins on my kid's faces. Even so, I feel people should know that this is no "origin of a superhero so we can bring out lesser sequels later on" type film. The actors so commit to this movie that there is a real, tangible character film here. Tobey Maguire brings such a humanity to his tights that you just love him from scene one. Kirsten Dunst is drop-dead gorgeous and you can see why he's been in love with her since grade one.
But folks...this is a love story. Action takes a back seat to a fantastic intriguing story of boy meets girl.
Go see it...and take a tissue.
But folks...this is a love story. Action takes a back seat to a fantastic intriguing story of boy meets girl.
Go see it...and take a tissue.
Magnolia
(1999)
Can't Look Away
10 March 2002
'Magnolia' is one of those wonderful character pieces that you can't tear yourself away from. Most of the performances are rich with honesty and energy and the fantastic movement of the camera makes the audience feel like they're peeking around a corner at the drama before them.
This should have won best picture but I think members just didn't know what to think of a film where Tom Cruise plays a completely dysfunctional porn king and Aimee Mann's sad, mournful and ever-so-tired tunes are the real stars of the film.
This should have won best picture but I think members just didn't know what to think of a film where Tom Cruise plays a completely dysfunctional porn king and Aimee Mann's sad, mournful and ever-so-tired tunes are the real stars of the film.
2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968)
Overwhelmed!
20 June 2000
It was a seminal moment for me; my step-dad taking me to the opening of Kubrick's "2001". I didn't understand it. I didn't want to understand it...I was washed over with a sense of awe and absolute wonder. It's as if time slowed and I could see each and every frame of this amazing creation in a distilled and concentrated way. It was more than "movie-magic" happening to me...in my 12 year old brain I was finally understanding what it was like to be truly alone and how infinitely small I was in the vastness among the planets.
I was overwhelmed.
Each and every subsequent viewing of the film, (sometimes on large, kind screens...sometimes on a tiny tv), showed me more beauty and made me more amazed. I saw the flaws and foibles of humanity...in a machine. I saw the icy cold calculations of a machine...in heroic astronauts. I saw the finger of knowledge extended, baptizing my species with intelligence. ...but mostly I heard the silence...the silence of space...of death and of birth. It was a silence that has echoed in my ears to this day.
I was overwhelmed.
Each and every subsequent viewing of the film, (sometimes on large, kind screens...sometimes on a tiny tv), showed me more beauty and made me more amazed. I saw the flaws and foibles of humanity...in a machine. I saw the icy cold calculations of a machine...in heroic astronauts. I saw the finger of knowledge extended, baptizing my species with intelligence. ...but mostly I heard the silence...the silence of space...of death and of birth. It was a silence that has echoed in my ears to this day.
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