pramsey Reviews

The Saddest Music in the World (2003)

Not Awful, Just Kind of Pointless

[5/10 · 17 July 2004]

This seems to be a movie that people say they like because it's supposed to be highbrow, but to my eye the emperor isn't wearing much more than a loincloth.

It got a big rating from metacritic, but the audience at Cinema Center basically sat there in silence. (Except for the guy behind me who forced a "Ha!" about every 90 seconds.) I'll admit I giggled when I saw "The Legs" but that was about it.

After several hours of hashing it out, my wife tried to give it some credit because at least we were discussing what it meant, but that's unfair praise. A good movie speaks for itself. If it's really good you might end up discussing the depth of it and its subtle implications, but the fundamental point is readily discernible. With this muddled mess you can spend hours trying to figure out what the bleep it was all about. When you get done you might feel some false satisfaction that you've discovered something, but in this case essentially what we've gotten for all that effort is a license to write our own story loosely based on events we saw on screen. I can get that much for less money by staying home and watching ants.

The Terminal (2004)

Superb in every way

[8/10 · 19 June 2004]

This is a tremendous film. Once you accept the rather implausible basic premise, every subplot, every character, every scene is a delight. It's one of those movies that you know is going to improve every time you see it.

I think what makes this work so well is the depth of every character in it. They're all three-dimensional. Even the antagonist, the security manager, comes off as a real person with real and valid motivations.

Hanks gives a spectacular performance in what has to be an extraordinarily difficult role. Stanley Tucci as the security manager was also brilliant, worth of Best Supporting Actor.

A note on the rating. The MPAA has declared themselves to be totally useless with this rating. PG-13? Are they nuts? I'm a pretty stuffy moralist, and this movie should be rated "G", suitable for general audiences. No violence. No profanity. (You think there is, but it's just your dirty mind.) No T or A. (Though does CZ-J really need to take her clothes off?) It's no racier than "Casablanca". How can this be in the same category as "Return of the King", which is a great movie, but not one you want your five year old to watch. Or any of the dozens of throw away teen trash movies that appear every summer with a PG-13. Absolutely ridiculous.

Shrek 2 (2004)

I've Seen Worse Movies, I think ...

[2/10 · 21 May 2004]

A typical sequel. Less talented and less inspired writers try to figure out how to get some mileage out of what others created. The pressure to meet the deadline was obvious. Attempts at humor just fall with a thud. You can hear the writer's meeting: "Um, yeah, that's funny."

Just hearing the script from the first Shrek sends me into convulsions. I can repeat a good chunk of it from memory, because it's wry, chewy, stick to your ribs humor. ("Parfait gotta be the most delicious thing on the whole damn planet.") Virtually nothing about "Shrek 2" is worth remembering. It's predictable, it's preachy, it's decidedly lame. Nearly all the jokes were stolen from other movies, or are very obvious swipes at modern life.

I think it's better than "Teenagers from Outer Space" but not as good as "Muscle Beach Party." That makes it two stars out of ten.