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berrrrgman
Reviews
Resident Evil (2002)
Made me want to shoot myself.
Made me want to shoot myself more than they shot monsters. It was awful. As I sat there i wondered when i could get a gun to shoot myself. I wasnt going to walk out because it would have been an exceptional reason to shoot myself. Other reasons in the past haven't measured up to this one. Thank you resident evil for sucking so bad.
Los olvidados (1950)
A Masterpiece
Please, right now, take away the featured user comment that calls Los Olvidados a "nice, short drama." This is perhaps the worst assessment of any movie I have ever heard, and whoever said it cannot recognize how masterful the film is because his or her senses have been dulled by too many action movies. I say that because this film, from surrealist master Luis Buñuel, is as admirable as nearly any portrait of poverty and crime, with the probable exception of DeSica's The Bicycle Thief. In fact, though, Los Olvidados is much much more brutal and harrowing than The Bicycle Thief (not to say that this assures it to be a superior film). Buñuel mostly takes a break from his surrealist tendencies in this film, with the exception of a few remarkably effective dream sequences, and creates a ultra-realist portrait of Mexican slums that is uncompromisingly frank. All the characters, including a young boy caught up in a dangerous gang, his harsh mother, the gang leader and vicious bully, and a bitter old blind man, among others, and what transpires among them are expertly captured by Buñuel's camera. To characterize this movie, I would call it a much more bleak and brutal Neo-realist film, with a touch of surrealism. I would also characterize it as a masterpiece. Why this film does not show up on more top film lists I am unsure, but all I can say is that it should not be missed by any serious film connoisseur.
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Why "Sweet Smell of Success" Is Cinema's Greatest Sleeper
In all of cinema's history, it is hard for me to think of a film that is so great of a sleeper. While it has achieved a small reputation among film buffs in the years since then (Entertainment Weekly listed it as the 49th best film of all time), it has not ballooned in a noted film classic like some initial flops ("Touch of Evil"). This is unfortunate, because "Sweet Smell of Success" is one of the greatest films, period, and probably the best film of the 50's save "The Manchurian Candidate". It positively oozes with sleazy atmosphere, perfectly recreating the New York nightlife of columnists, press agents, quasi-celebrities, and cigarette girls. And the screenplay has enough memorable, snappy dialogue to make your head spin. The cinematography is quite impressive, and the camera is always used to the greatest effect without trying to blitz you with tricks like many modern-day films. The acting is superb all around, especially the leads Tony Curtis, as a smarmy press agent with the "scruples of a guinea pig and the morals of a gangster", and Burt Lancaster, as a powerful, cold-hearted gossip columnist whose only soft spot is his sister. Yet what really holds this film together and sets it apart is the harsh moral tale at the core. What price will Sidney Falco (Curtis) have to pay to taste the "sweet smell of success"? See the film (more than once to soak it all up) and dissect it for yourself.