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eg_evans
Reviews
Vertigo 2005: U2 Live from Chicago (2005)
Good, but not their best.
I am a huge U2 fan. I have been quite literally all of my life. I have followed the band willingly through every stage of their reinventions. I own every single live video they have ever released aside from their Popmart video, from Under a Blood Red Sky and Rattle and Hum to both DVD's from the Elevation tour. I say this to make it clear that I am in no way bashing U2.
This is not their best live footage to date. Bono experienced some problems during these 2 shows. He occasionally sings out of tune or off rhythm, and has some vocals problems that prevent him from singing some lines in certain songs. If you would like to simply hear the new songs live, then by all means, purchase this. However, if you don't have much interest in the material from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, then I would suggest older videos. (The Boston for a great theatrical performance, Slane Castle for a more music based performance, or my personal favourite, Zoo TV from Sydney, which has the best of both worlds, even though it's only available on VHS or DVD bootleg on ebay.) U2 is writing some of the best songs of their career, both lyrically an musically. Unfortunately, this DVD doesn't quite do it justice. I just hope that another DVD is released from later show on their other American tour legs.
Paycheck (2003)
John Woo not right for Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick must be rolling in his grave right now. Not because this is a bad movie. The movie isn't bad. However, it is not a Philip K. Dick movie. You see, there is more to a story that the plot and characters. There is tone. Philip K. Dick has a very distinctive tone in his works (a tone better captured by Minority Report and Blade Runner). This movie does not have a Philip K. Dick tone.
John Woo is very good at what he does, one of the best. He makes very, very good action movies. That's just the problem. Philip K. Dick stories are not made to be action movies. They are more philosophical than anything. They are about the possible dangers of technology. John Woo does not do philosophy. John woo does explosions. Lots of explosions. The lesson in the movie is that in the future, the explosions are more elaborate.
This movie is based on Dick's work the way Dreamcatcher was based on Steve-o's work, or The Ten Commandments was based on the Bible. As a movie, this is decent. As an adaptation, this is crap.
If you want to see a good adaptation, rent The Green Mile or The Client. If you want to see a decent action movie, go see Paycheck.
Leap of Faith (1992)
Have a little faith, my brothers!
Steve Martin is a great comedian. Always has been, always will be. (Even after the Out-of-Towners.) But very comedian at one point or another gets that itch. The one that can make or break a comedians career. The drama itch.
On the surface, this looks like a silly satire of traveling evangelist. But if you look deeper, you will see Steve Martin giving what is perhaps the most powerful performance of his career. Fresh from movies like HouseSitter, Father of the Bride, and L.A. Story (one of my personal favourites), Steve Martin plays a con man who's current con is working as a traveling evangelist. Despite being a movie about a con man, however, Steve Martin does something that not many people thought he could do at the time: he showed he could actually act! And in a movie that had a message, nonetheless. Yes, the man who once played the banjo with an arrow through his head delivers a message.
Yes, this movie has it's flaws - meandering on insignificant side stories while under developing others, leaving some stories unresolved - but most of these are story flaws. Faith movies (or at least good ones) have never been about stories, but about the emotions and the messages that they convey, and this movie conveys two very important messages. 1) Sometimes, all you need is faith. 2) Steve Martin can act his goofy ass off!
If you wanna see a movie with a great story and great jokes, rent L.A. Story or Parenthood. If you wanna see a movie with a great message that even an agnostic would find uplifting (see previous reviews) then watch Leap of Faith.