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jpostell
Reviews
The Event (2003)
Puts a human face on what for many is only a social tragedy
A excellent film. The Event put a human face on what for many is only a social tragedy and statistics they encounter through the media. The director, Thom Fitzgerald, is due substantial credit for, while not opting for dramatic gimmicks and attempting to create a believable story, putting something togehter that neither collapsed into portraiture nor drolled on into docudrama. The cast performed well also in these regards with a luminous Olympia Dukakis bringing the import of the story front and center. A deeply touching film. Secondarily this film serves as a grave warning in particular to 17-24 year old men, a segment where the HIV infection rate has climbed dramatically during the past couple of years. Many such young men consider AIDS to be a managable disease and not a death sentence and forget that the side effects of many cocktails can all too easily include severe headaches, memory loss and dementia leaving infected individuals with a quality of life that is, in director Fitzgerald's words (who spoke after the film showing at the Quad Cinema in the West Village after the early evening showing on Oct 3) `just not there.' So, find out where this film is being played and go see it!
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
Pure Hollywood Trash!!
A fine cast of charcaters went to waste as all sense of believability was forsaken for entertainment values filled with little more than special effects and gratuitous violence. Containing not a single challenging or even interesting idea, this film, plain and simple, is pure, unadulterated Hollywood trash. If you have even a single IQ floating around in your brain, you won't want to abuse it or waste your time and money on crap like this.
Thirteen (2003)
A Must See!
This was an ambitious film and, IMHO, it succeeded in a very big way. First of all, the story was compelling - the characters possessed real dimensions and brought you into the chaos that began to envelop Tracy (played by Evan Rachel Wood) as she went under the spell of her highly disturbed "friend" Evie (played by Nikki Reed). It was fascinating to see how this transformation could took place. A child in a broken family (yes, broken and not single parent family although there certainly is room for debate) headed by single mom Melanie (played by Holly Hunter), Tracy appeared to be managing quite nicely, just like the rest of her family. However, anxieties, hurts and apprehensions percolating below quickly surfaced upon hooking up with Evie and erupted like a volcano in the midst of everyone's lives, spewing the hot lava of unresolved emotions and ensuing invective. This story expertly dramatizes how, given the "right" set of circumstances, the same kind of thing can (and often enough does in ways that confirm to our nature!) happen to each and any of us. The acting was terrific as was the directing and collaboration between Director Catherine Hardwicke and Nikki Reed. I think the people who voted that they didn't like this film (as of
right now, 08/31/03, 18.7% gave it a "1"), might be confusing the disturbing nature (it's content which only a psycho could find pleasing) of this film with whether or not it was a good film. The only other alternative for these "1" voters is that they possess extremely little in the way of intellectual faculties and were unable to grasp the inner story content. No doubt such intellectually inert film goers will give films such as T3 and Freddy vrs Jason "10s" without hesitation. (And such people may be partly to blame for why there are so many films being made that are unfit for consumption) "Thirteen" is a very intelligent and well acted/directed film. Superb! I hope I don't sound like a professional critic but I just have to say, for thinking people, this film is an absolute must see!