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ralphwiggum
Reviews
Texas - Doc Snyder hält die Welt in Atem (1993)
truly unique
This is one of the funniest movies i have ever seen. Helge Schneider is surely the funniest German alive, and beside that a very talented jazz musician. But many people - as you can see in some of the other comments - do not share this opinion, because they feel that Texas is a complete mess, weird, ridicilous, silly and because they had no idea when to laugh and why. And they are completely right. This makes Monty Pythons Holy Grail look like a densely plotted, conventionel costume drama. Amazingly, Helge went on to direct and star during the following years in several much more wild, more dadaesque, yes more schneideresque movies than Texas, which was his biggest hit in Germany so far. You can enjoy all his work if you - don't try to analyze, don't search for a deeper meaning -if you love the absurd - and only if you are a native german speaker, i am sorry. Helge's art uses new words, misplaced words and sentences, new combinations of words, old words with new meanings etc., laconic slapstick and a downright funny appearance. So i am kind of a fan. And don't trust any comment that starts with:"Fans love it, anyone with brains hate it..."
Sleepers (1996)
this movie is destroyed by one gasping plothole
I have to admit that i liked the first half of Sleepers. It looked good, the acting was even better, the story of childhood, pain and revenge was interesting and moving. A superior hollywood film. But...No one mentioned this so far (at least in the latest 20 comments), when it came to the courtroom scenes and Brat Pitt´s character followed his plan to rescue his two friends, who are rightly accused of murder, i felt cheated. This movie insulted my intelligence.
Warning spoilers!!
Why did anyone accept their false alibi, witnessed by the priest? If these two guys had been with him, why shouldn´t they tell this during the investigation? Amnesia? If you were the judge or member of the jury, would you believe it? Is it wise to give the motif of the murderers away?
I am sorry, but in the end, the story is very weak, and this angers me. This movie had great potential. 4/10
Jing Ke ci Qin Wang (1998)
too long and too much pathos
Now i have seen two movies by the director Chen Kaige, a very good one (Farewell my concubine), and this bad one, The Assassin. Both movies depict crucial events in chinese history, FMC in the 20th century and TA the first unification of the whole chinese nation in the 3rd century bc. FMC succeds with memorable characters, gorgeous cinematography, convincing sets, good acting and an interesting story. The Assassin fails on nearly every level (okay, the sets are great, the cinematography is good, and the few battle scenes are quite exciting). But...the pathos. Call me a cynic, but too much is too much. If you felt that Saving Private Ryan was too pathetic, be aware, this here will make you sick. The dialogue is lifeless, many lines seem like political statements, subtle or entertaining is this pic not. The film is overpowered by its own pompousness. I am really surprised that The Assassin gets such high votes here on imdb. 4/10
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Good, but not great
Okay, i am obviously in the minority here, but i would not place this movie even among my top 100. Nevertheless, the Shawshank Redemption is a good movie and solid entertainment, filled with a compelling story, good actors and an accurate script. But i honestly can not see why this movie is appreciated so well; the cinematography is not that great and i have seen many more emotionally involving/uplifting movies as well, just think of The great dictator, The celebration (Festen), Leaving Las Vegas, etc.. 7/10
L.A. Confidential (1997)
The best major studio release of the 90s.
Just to claim a title. Usually (not in all cases) the ´big´ Hollywood films are technically superior, but suffer from flat characters, an uninteresting story and overall dumbness (to say it in a simplistic and maybe overly harsh way). L.A. Confidential is different AND technically flawless. The screenwriters, among them director Hanson, did a very good job to translate Ellroys masterpiece to the screen. The book is better, the characters deeper, their stories darker and the whole thing is more convincing, but this would`nt fit into a 10 hour movie at all. L.A. Confidential proves that there is hope for Hollywood. 9/10
C'era una volta il West (1968)
The best western I have ever seen.
As many others have said it here before, this is pure cinematic heaven. Deliberately paced, with gorgeously cinematography (a key element of every great film), great performances from all the leads and a wonderful score by Ennio Morricone. At the moment, I would chose Sergio Leone as my favourite director, this guy had his thing with the movies. Even the first film Leone directed, The Colossus of Rhodes, is much more enjoyable than the usual Cinecitta fare. 10/10
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Most realistic war movie? I don´t think so.
(This might contain spoilers.)
Call me crazy, but as a movie SPR is not more realistic than, say, the ´poetic´ Thin red line. Especially during the final scenes, it has the feeling of an old John Wayne flick, when our brave heros fight against an evil, much superior but dumb enemy, and in the last moment, when everything seems lost, the cavalry arrives and saves the day. And beside that, who destroyed the french village where this final battle takes place? Apparently not the Americans (of course), but when Paris fell after a six week campaign in 1940, the war in France was over and there was no need for the Germans to destroy villages in the far west. In terms of realism, movies like Das Boot or Hope and Glory, and I am sure, many other films, that I have not seen yet, are superior to SPR. You might refer to it as the most realistic depiction of the day on Omaha Beach, that´s all.
But the first 20 minutes are truly devastating. Utterly brilliant in its choreography. It is not possible to recreate Omaha Beach on the screen, but Spielberg did his (or anyones) best to give the audience a hindsight, what happened to those brave men in that battle. After this first act, the movie goes pretty straight downhill. I didn´t care for the characters. The members of the SPR-Squad are a bunch of stereotypes, representing the most average and archetypical group of American WWII soldiers you can imagine. I believe, this is done by purpose, and a bad idea, because without interesting characters, a movie cannot be that good. Therefore, it has a story, not character driven plot, that drags unfortunately heavily in the middle hour of the movie. Some are irritated by the patriotism and complaining (Where are the British, the French, the Australians, etc.), but hey, this was made by Americans for Americans about Americans, and that´s o.k. In fact, after this and the Korean war, the US-boys might never have been the entirely good ones again. In summary, without the brillant first battle, SPR would be only a mediocre war flick. 6.5/10