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Reviews
Le peuple migrateur (2001)
The film makes you think
Say
you want birds? Well, mister, you came to the right place. You like watching birds fly? Even better. Sit back and enjoy
WINGED MIGRATION.
Gulp
lots of birds
so many birds
more birds than one could ever imagine.
I read several reviews of this documentary before going to see it. Actually, I never thought that such a film ever would find its way to my local theater, but there it was; and so I headed down to Green Hills 16 to check it out. Right away I noticed that the theater owners had stuck the film in their smallest room, a closet-like situation with theater seating and a screen only slightly larger than something you might find in Sears. Although the situation looked bleak, I was encouraged by the amount of people in the audience (there was quite a crowd maybe this WAS a good film) and also by the `nominated for an academy award' tagline that I had noticed emblazoned upon the movie poster on the way in. My girlfriend sat next to me, munching on popcorn and trying to look optimistic. I had talked her into going with me payback for forcing me to see LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMAN.
Now, most critics have made three general points about WINGED MIGRATION:
a) There are lots of impressive, panoramic nature scenes and how-they-do-that close-ups of flying ducks and other winged fowl.
b) There are several `contrived' dramatic scenes but no real plot.
c) The film doesn't really teach you that much; i.e., it's not THAT kind of documentary.
One comment I particularly remember having heard over and over before going into the film was `Watching this documentary makes you feel like you're up there flying right along with the birds!' (This concept, more than anything else, convinced me to go check it out.)
And they were right about the close-ups. Man, they get right in there with those cameras, right on top of the birds. It is mighty impressive. Let me tell you. And as far as plot, the critics were right again. It's more like a series of short nature-vignettes. New characters (for example, an enormous tribe of sea birds) are introduced constantly, leaving you with few friendly beaks to follow from frame to frame. The vignettes, themselves, offer varying levels of drama, from cute, little newborn chicks to vicious, shotgun-wielding hunters. All of this is set against the pounding rhythms of instantly-forgettable `nature music' that provides the approximate sentimental value of, say, the TITANIC soundtrack.
I found myself falling asleep near the end of the picture, which after several false alarms, eventually came thundering along, accompanied by the sounds of gushing, swelling soundtrack muzack. I didn't exactly mind falling asleep. The images before me were serene and peaceful for the most part, enticing a mighty Rip Van Winkle slumber out of me. Also, I kept being assaulted by my girlfriend's bemused, whisper-shouts: `Is that Egypt?', `Are those pelicans?', `Are you sleeping?!'
I certainly concur with the three points mentioned above about the flick, but I want to add one more: The film does make you think (when it's not putting you to sleep.)
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Don't go see unless you totally bought into the first one
Okay...if you're like me, meaning that you thought that the original Matrix was cool, then you'll like the sequel. On the other hand, if you're one of those people who find fault with everything, then you'll surely knock Reloaded for silly philosophic jabber (yeah...whatever; it's a movie, not Plato -- get a life you nerds); or make fun of its CGI effects (again -- get a life); or accuse it of not having enough of a "story." It comes down to one simple question that you have to ask yourself before going in: Are you a fan of The Matrix or not? If not, then go find some other comic-book-movie and forget criticizing this one; no one's trying to hear you.
Death to Smoochy (2002)
Death to "Death to Smoochy"
Like a really annoying insurance salesman tapping on your shoulder, this movie plies for your attention and you find yourself watching -- and groaning. Recognizing many familiar faces on the silvery screen, as you watch you begin to wonder how all these people got together to make this atrocity. Perhaps Danny Devito has more pull than God; on the other hand, perhaps he just convinced a lot of talented to people to get together and make a really awful movie. The unforgivable thing about "Death to Smoochy" is that it offers just enough ocular stimulation to keep watching, at least until the last half hour. My grade: 2/10.
The Jack Bull (1999)
Manipulative Drivel
** Spoilers**
Oh but I'm angry. Based on a true story or not, there's absolutely no reason for the last twenty minutes of this movie - a melodramatic hanging of its hero (some say `antihero') that does little more than leave audience mouths agape. I, myself, felt both sickened and incredulous by the almost fetishistic manner in which the movie dealt with the hanging. First there is this whiny buildup of tension. Will he be hanged? Won't he be hanged? Then the sad and dismayed son is trotted out like some kind of token ornament to provoke sympathy from the audience. As the scene tiredly plays out, everything and I mean everything seems to point to the inherent justice in sparing the condemned man's life. We demand that someone save him. But in the end, what happens? He is of course hanged -- in an orgy, I might add, of tear-jerking music and slow motion camera work. I don't mind an unconventional ending, but give me a break at least. Don't draw the thing out. The only explanation I can see for this ending is that the writers truly did not care about the audience. Whatever point was trying to be made here about the occasional unfairness of the law, taking responsibility for your own actions, and standing up for what you believe in was lost on me. And don't tell me that every movie doesn't have to have a happy ending. Yeah, no kidding, so then don't manipulate your audience to expect one. That's just bad film making.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
A rollercoaster ride of excitement
Finally here comes a movie that is worth the price of admission and more, a movie that surpasses your wildest expectations and constantly fills your eyes with wonder, a movie that grabs you from the first frame, carries you off to another time and place, immerses you in an epic struggle of good versus evil and makes you give a darn about the outcome, a movie with characters who are real and are given poetry for dialog in place of profanity, a movie where we care about those characters, where we root for our heroes and curse their enemies. Finally here comes a movie that deserves the title "epic." Here comes Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Kneel down and pray.
I should say I am not a huge fan of Tolkien (though I enjoyed reading The Hobbit as a boy). I saw the first film and thought it was "okay," but this one -- this one made me a believer. The movie simply does not mess around. For one thing, you need not be a LOTR-geek to get caught up in the spectacle of the thing -- probably the best that modern special effects has to offer the movie-going public. A surreal, dream-like world is established, half-cartoon, half-flesh-and-blood; which is which is often hard to tell. Like any good magic show, at some point you just give in and enjoy the show.
The Two Towers astounds its audience with sweeping vistas, gargantuan armies, looming castle walls, dark forests, giant monsters, dragons, and all manner of fantastical creatures. And its real. I particularly enjoyed the way mythological creatures became real creatures before my eyes. We become familiar with the nature and limitations of dwarves and wizards, elves and orcs, and oh yes...hobbits. For example, when Gandalf the Grey throws off his robe, revealing that he has acquired new power and become Gandalf the "White," you feel like you are witnessing a real wizard. All of the creatures move and operate according to certain rules -- just like in any universe. But its not hokey, the way, say, an episode of Charmed might be with its "White Lighters" and "Demons." Here is a world where a master dwarf is, well, a master dwarf -- a creature with excellent fighting abilities, sure, but don't count on him to give chase to bad guys (since he can't run very fast or for very long). Nor can you expect him to be able to leap from a tiny ledge on the side of a castle, some ten feet across in order to attack a battalion of Uruk-Hai warriors gathered on the narrow entrance leading into the castle. He must be thrown across the way if he is to make it at all. Hey come on; after all, he's a dwarf!
The acting is so good that the characters are not being portrayed -- they simply are. The plot, though complex, never leaves us wondering. In fact, the plot is really quite simple: War is brewing. An evil force is gathering. Innocent lives are threatened. A final battle is promised and when it finally occurs, we are in awe. Ladders are slowly raised to storm castle walls, swarms of arrows impale snarling soldiers, and all of it looks magnificent. As cliché as it sounds, the movie is a rollercoaster ride of excitement. Get in line and buy your ticket.