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GuitarGod75
Reviews
The Good Thief (2002)
a dissapointing trashy hollywood remake..
This is yet another one of the current slew of trashy hollywood remakes. Incase you did not know that this is, infact, a remake, of the French Noir classic "Bob le flambeur".
They took a very stylish, very charming new wave french crime film, that was made on a shoe string budget, and threw lots of money at it, and added lots of T&A, drugs, transsexuals, techno music and, oh yes, a zombie-like Nick Nolte.
Part of the charm of the original, was that on an extremely low budget, Jean-Pierre Melville created a very stylish, classy, and all around cool film. It took him 4 years to make it, simply because he had to keep stopping to raise more money.
This new film had too much money for its own good. Part of the charm of the original was that it was shot guerilla style with very little money.
And why on earth did they make Bob a DRUG ADDICT!? what the hell?!?!?! The whole POINT was that Bob was the old, wise, COOL guy. Now he's this old mumbling heroin addict. They added lots of drug use, WHY? They added a transsexual, for comic relief, WHY? and they replaced the really cool old score with dance music and lounge jazz....WHY?!
----spoiler alert----
and for the love of god....by far, the worst change
THEY GAVE IT A HAPPY ENDING!!!!?!??!
what the hell?!?!?! Paulo is supposed to get SHOT! because he's an IDIOT! and even worse...Bob is supposed to go to JAIL!
----end of spoiler----
anyway....I can possibly understand every once and a while remaking and updating an old film. Not to replace a classic, but to stand next to it. This film does not deserve to have any relation to Jean Pierre Melville at all.
If you want to see a decent remake of Bob le Flambeur, see Paul Thomas Anderson's "Syndey", admittedly directly inspired by "Bob". Or, just stick with the original.
Ying xiong (2002)
love, sacrifice, and the greater good
Hero (Ying xiong) is by far the greatest movie of 2003. Infact, It's the greatest movie i've seen so far this decade.
First of all....The cinematography in this film is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The work that must have gone into this film is mind blowing.
First of all...this is NOT a crouching tiger clone. People who say that just haven't seen enough asian cinema. This film deals not only in the ideals of love and betreyal, but in politics in war. I would even go as far as to call this an anti-war film.
Stylistically, the most facinating part about this film is it's referances to Japanese cinema, since it is usually the other way around. The most obvious referance being RAN. It may not be as good as Kurosawa, but it's certainly a valiant effort. Just imagine RAN and CTHD, and you've got Hero. MUST SEE IN THEATER!
Get Shorty (1995)
disappointing...
another great book turned into a mediocre movie. I had hopes for this one, considering the last few Elmore Leonard novels-turned-movies turned out great, but this one was a constant disappointment.
Rene Russo did a pretty good job as Karen Flores, and Travolta did "ok" as Chili, but other than that I think every character was mis-cast, and because of it, most of them fell flat and lacked depth.
I have to recommend that you read the book, and steer clear of the movie, or check out one of the other movies based on Elmore Leonard books, like Out of Sight or Jackie Brown, both of which were much better...
Uzumaki (2000)
Bold and Stylish Experimental Film making...
Uzumaki, is a visually stunning Film, and I don't think anyone is going to be able to argue that. But, unfortunately, the story somewhat falls flat.
The film nevertheless is very entertaining. It uses it's wild style to tell a somewhat non-existant story. The film almost works, just based on it's characters and style, but In my opinion, leaves something to be desired.
Ôdishon (1999)
If David Lynch made "Misery"...
This is definitely the most disturbing of the newer Japanese Horror films I have seen.
This film rapidly changes pace, and themes, and a fair warning, it is not for the weak of heart (I'm speaking of the un-rated one, because i have not seen the "R" one)
The film is about a middle aged Japanese man who is starting to feel his age. His wife died when their child was very young, and he has been raising him ever since, and been doing a good job. His life has been fine up until this point, where he starts to realize how lonely he is beginning to feel. Since he is in the entertainment industry, his friend and co-worker decide to use Auditions for an upcoming movie as a secret ploy to find him a new prospect wife.
The man becomes entranced by one of the auditions, and they soon hit it off, even though he finds out that most of the information she is giving him is lies, but his loneliness help him to look beyond that. But the woman's sorted past is bound to catch up with him sooner or later.
This film deals with many aspects of grief, loneliness, abuse, and the psychological damage these things can cause.
if you are a fan of new-age Japanese horror, I'm sure this film will not disappoint. But if you are new to the genre, you may want to see something more tame first.
Out of Sight (1998)
good book, great movie
this is one of few instances that I liked the movie as much, if not more than the book. There were some scenes from the book left out, but they weren't really missed in the movie, and the scenes that were written in for the movie, worked really well. Also...I liked the movie's ending alot more than the book's (I wont tell you what either is, i don't want to spoil it).
This movie has everything going for it. Good director, good writing, good actors, great sound track, but by far, my favorite aspect of the movie is the editing. This is one of the most well edited movies I have seen in some time. There are lots of great Godard-style jump cuts, melding together of scenes that take place hours later, cutting back and forth between 10 years...it's great, and it all works, wonderfully. You can tell in alot of this movie (especially the trunk scene) that Soderbergh just shot the scenes like a hundred times from different angles and then just handed it to the editor to figure out. I don't know how long it took to edit this movie but i'm willing to bet it took a while.
The acting in this movie is pretty good too. George Clooney did a great job, and was one of the few characters that stayed true to the novel's characters (for instance, Ving Rhames's character was a white guy, and Jenifer Lopez's character was a blond white girl). I also have to hand it to Don Cheadle. I had never seen him in a role where he had to be intimidating. Overall, i think it's a great movie, definatly worth at least renting.
The Godfather Part III (1990)
Unbelievably underrated...
I finally broke down and bought the godfather trilogy. I don't know why it took me so long to get to it, but i always knew i would love it. However...everyone always says "1 and 2 are great....but 3 sucks".. ....what the hell....I thought the third installment in the trilogy was amazing. Other than the casting of Sofia Coppola, I don't think it could have been any better.
It may be a very different film from 1 and 2, but it is supposed to be. It is set in a completely different time, with the values of the previous movies clashing against the newer times. but with all it's differences, it still holds true to the reoccurring themes of the previous 2. I think that people should be a little more open minded towards this movie. it is, in my opinion, the best third installment in any trilogy to date.
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Brilliant and Beautiful
I'm not sure why it took me so long to get around to seeing this film, because I did enjoy Cameron Crowe's previous films, especially Almost Famous, a film that was created back to back with this one.
I expected that this would be a great film, because Cameron has a great sense of beauty in his portrayal of human emotions, but i had no idea of the depth of his ideals of love, emotion, consiquence, etc.
This film works on so many levels. It is a psychological thriller, science fiction, drama, etc. Every moment you think you have figured it out, it's compleatly different than what you expected. Plus, this is another film where cameron's uncanny ability to convey an emotion shines through, with the help of some great acting.
Beyond its content depth, it has spectacular visuals. The whole film has a David Lynch-like dream quality to it. His immense love of music also shows. His blending of Nancy Wilson's (his wife/ ex heart guitarist) compositions and the intense visuals flow together beautifully.
For me, the best thing about the movie is how it draws you in. You compleatly forget about your own life because you are so overwhelmed with his. When it ended, i was amazed at the fact that i was still sitting in my apartment. Anyway.....wether or not you agree with Cameron's views on life, love, etc is beside the point. I think it is a man trying to share his views and ideals, and leave them for you to think about, he's not trying to push anything on you, and i think the film is worth seeing for all these reasons.