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Rebecca (1940)
Not up to the usual Hitchcock standard
This film must have been produced when Hitchcock was out of form because it is nowhere near the brilliance of his great films such as Psycho, Vertigo, Dial M for murder, Shadow of a doubt, North by North West. Most of the film is awfully boring, needlessly drawn out without any substantial plot or anything to create tension and suspense and I was wondering what is the plot where is this film going to? For example the early part in Monaco where De Winter met his future second wife played by Joan Fontaine lasted about half an hour when it could have been done in ten minutes maximum.
Only the last 45 minutes of the film reminded me somewhat of the Alfred Hitchcock dexterity but overall this film was mediocre and quite insipid, you won't lose much by giving it a miss and watch instead one of his top films such as the ones I mention above.
Jackie Brown (1997)
Entertaining film but way too long
There was good acting, decent development of the main characters and an interesting plot however the film went on for far too long, making it very boring at times, given its rather simple plot. 90 minutes would suit it better than 150 minutes so it was overdrawn by something like one hour. Tarantino has an inclination for needlessly long conversations in his films.
Also be aware that the scene towards the end of the film in the Billingsley department store was taken three times but it was all about the same events involving the same persons though from a different perspective so don't get confused.
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Such an overrated film
The film was going well during the first two of its five chapters but it fell flat on its face after that as if it were a different film. It became superficial, highly disjointed, without a strong direction and way too cartoonish, let alone that it presented a ridiculous history version of the second world War showing events that are obviously mythological eg how things ended with the top Nazis Hitler, Goebbels, Goering and Bormann. I really can't understand why this film is so highly rated.
I would have given it less than 4/10 but I liked the wonderful performances by Christopher Waltz playing the ruthless but fakely polite Nazi Jew hunter Hans Landa, the pretty French actress Melanie Laurent playing the part of the Jewish girl Shosanna and the charming Daniel Bruhl as German officer Frederick Zoller chasing persistently after Shosanna with whom she fell in love not knowing she is Jewish. Not much to say though about Brad Pitt in his role as the vindictive Aldo Raine "Apache".
If you want to watch a decent film about second world War France go for Suite Francaise starring Mattias Schoenaerts.
Miller's Crossing (1990)
An overrated film
BEWARE OF SPOILERS BELOW I found this film painfully slow and wondering around pointlessly up to about the first hour. The second hour was more interesting though not brilliant, it began to get somewhat interesting from the time Byrne was asked to shoot Turturo his Jewish girlfriend's brother.
The plot was muddled and hard to follow in many of its details while it lacked real depth and tension and many of the major characters came across as very cartoonish and wishy washy, Polito and Finney for example weren't at all convincing as authoritative top mafia bosses in their city though Byrne's character was quite satisfactory.
The study of human reactions gave it some depth e.g the refusal of Byrne to shoot Turturo and the latter's behaviour towards the one who spared his life at enormous risk to himself.
Overall a very mediocre film that's just about worth watching and while granting that in the subject of films personal tastes can differ enormously and one may find a film as being excellent and another as being totally dull I just can't understand why this film is considered as one of the greatest mafia films ever made. It just doesn't have the attributes of a great film particularly an easy to follow yet deep, coherent and suspenseful plot.
The Kite Runner (2007)
Mediocre film
Not a very good film but not totally hopeless. The first 40 minutes were mainly a waste of time as the film lingered on needlessly for about 45 minutes on the lives of the two young Afghan boys. Most of what we saw in that part would have no relevance later on, it could have been covered in ten minutes. There were some interesting twists in the film but the plot wasn't powerful enough and at times looked very contrived and shallow.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS An interesting twist is that it showed the abysmal hypocrisy of the ultra religious Taliban leaders having a woman mercilessly stoned to death for adultery while they themselves were sexually abusing powerless orphaned girls and boys.
Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)
A very dull and shallow film
It shows how films are a matter of personal taste so many people have liked it judging from their comments but I found it it to be hopelessly boring and frustrating, in fact one of the dullest films of 2007. There was no plot, no suspense, no excitement, nothing really unexpected happening, none of the characters had real depth.
And as for exploring personal interactions again the script was as if written by a twelve year old child there was nothing of real substance in it and everything about it felt artificial and pretentious, duh.
So for those that don't like such shallow, pointlessly wondering films don't bother wasting time or money on it.
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
Not a bad film
This film is OK though not brilliant it is worth watching. It is much better than the 2007 remake which towards the end became a total caricature of a film and also focused needlessly long on the transportation of Wade, which in this original version was done in a few minutes of film time.
SPOILERS FOLLOW: The end here is though quite unconvincing, unnatural and sudden. How Evans took Wade successfully through the gauntlet of his gang that was there eager to free him, it was some luck getting out of it alive, but the worst let down was the way Wade went up on the train willingly when he could have easily escaped at that point as the train was already leaving. Just refuse to board it.
The excuse he gave "I am doing it so as not to owe you anything" is laughable since he basically chose going to the gallows or at least to a long sentence in prison instead of freedom and in real life things like that simply don't happen.
But otherwise the acting was good and the psychology of captive and captor very interesting though it made Evans too much of a hero, Butterfield even releasing him from the duty of delivering Wade yet he chooses to stay on ignoring wife and children.
The Amityville Horror (2005)
A terrible film
A thoroughly disappointing film the plot is extremely shallow and the characters themselves are cartoonish without any real depth. It is just a B rate movie with little substance.
*********************SPOILERS FOLLOW*********************************** There was only some suspense and tension as to what would happen to the new family staying there, would the father get overcome by the power of evil residing in the house and kill his family as the previous one did? Would he succeed in doing so? Whatever the case at the end of the day it was a dull, uninspired film that was randomly thrown together perhaps OK for teenagers but not for older more mature people with better judgement.
My verdict is don't bother with this film find something better to watch though Hollywood seems to be going through a crisis and good films are ever harder to come by from there.
Cidade de Deus (2002)
Not so good
One more mediocre film that is over-rated, I can't understand at all why this film is being considered a masterpiece receiving such high ratings. For me the top 250 films list of the IMDb has ceased to have any validity when it comes to deciding what films to watch, time and again I was let down. Some films in it are good but many are terrible.
I found the plot to be very muddled and shallow and the story difficult to follow due to the large number of new characters that kept appearing in the film often for a short time.
I gave it 4/10 despite the confusing shallow story because it does show the painful realities of grinding poverty in Brazil and how it even compromises the innocence of children with hard drugs and serious violence. Otherwise I would have given it just 1/10.
Juno (2007)
A lovely film
I really enjoyed this film it was down to earth, easy going, entertaining and had a lot of tension. The only problem is that the end was a little forced otherwise there was a lot of suspense in the air as well as an interesting exploration of human relationships.
Ellen Page deserved to get an Oscar nomination for leading actress, she played her role magnificently.
I would certainly recommend this film but then again it's a matter of personal taste, many people didn't like it because they evaluate films from different angles looking for different things in them.
--------------------------SPOILERS FOLLOW------------------------------- All was fine with the plot except towards the end when Paulie suddenly and unexpectedly felt and accepted his responsibilities towards Juno whereas up to that point he kept her at a very safe distance, emotionally. That was the only thing that felt unnaturally rushed in the film it was not at all a convincing transformation though it produced at least a happy ending.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
A very dull film at every level
How can films of such low grade receive top marks by viewers and critics? If this is really one of the best films of 2007 then from now on we might as well not bother watching any films at all.
The plot was ridiculously impossible and shallow, the kind of thing that can appeal to kids but I fail to see how any adults could possibly find it interesting.
The character played by Tommy Lee Jones was the worst, he came across as a retiring coward who though a high ranking local law man responsible for keeping things in order in his patch he appeared totally negligent in his duties. In the real world he would have been in deep trouble for abandoning his line of duty, rather than happily engage in pseudo- philosophical thoughts. But the Cohen brothers can dream on.
As for the end it was an absolute anti climax, a painful failure. Overall: what a waste of time it was watching this crappy wreck of a film.