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reborn77
Reviews
Lost in Translation (2003)
It must be nice to have family in show business!
If this film had been done by someone outside the Hollywood camp and with all unknown actors, I wonder if it would have gotten any publicity at all. Instead, thinks to an inside track and a star with a name, this movie created more buzz and acclaim than was due anyone who worked on it.
There was little to no dialogue, and most of the best lines appear to be spur of moment quips from Bill Murray and nothing more. The movie was unsatisfactory in every area imaginable, from dialogue and story line to cinematography and directing. I was left pondering why this movie got any recognition whatsoever.
Before I actually saw the movie was I cheering for Sophia as the only female director getting any recognition, which was unusual especially for her age. I ended up wishing that this was not the movie and she was not the director who was getting this recognition, since it was so undeserved.
Having said that, this was not a complete waste of film, it was good for what it was, a first film. It wasn't genius, in fact I have yet to meet anyone who actually liked it or found it interesting. And based on the commentary it has received, the only people who liked it and found it interesting were those who had been to Japan and really enjoyed the culture there.
To conclude, we should give this film the credit it deserves and nothing more. As someone who has seen several first films done by college filmography majors, that's where this film belongs. The only thing that differentiates this film is a slightly larger budget and better access to equipment and stars. The only credit it deserves is as a nice first film done at a freshman level, with a note by the teacher saying there are some promising things in this movie to work with, but it has a long way to go before it should ever be nominated for any award much less an Oscar.
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003)
she really is blonde in this one
I guess this is just one of those movies that you have to see, especially after you didn't see the first one right away and were pleasantly surprised by it. This is nothing like the first movie. As someone who was both a political science major and attended law school, I found myself cheering during the changes she made in the first movie and wanted to throw things at her due to her stupidity in the second movie.
She really is blonde in this movie. Even though there were some far fetched ideas in the first movie and parts that would never actually happen in real life, the movie as a whole was plausible and the over the top parts just added to the entertainment and enjoyment of the movie. Not so in this one. There is not one believable part to the entire movie, the premise is so far fetched that instead of laughing at the over the top stuff like you did in the first movie, you find yourself shaking your head wondering what in the world were they thinking?
I think the main difference is, in the first movie she had to make some adjustments to make it in law school, but we cheered as she found ways to adjust while staying true to who she was. In the this movie however, it is as if we are suppose to believe that the entire legislative system can somehow be bent to the will of Ms. Elle Wood.
Furthermore, there is a definite lack of stability with the noticeable absence of Luke Wilson as Emmett Richmond throughout most of the movie. His character was a must to bring any sort of stability and credibility to the plot of the story. And although I definitely wanted them to get together in the first movie, by the end of the second movie, you really had to question his judgment in falling for someone so dumb.
Cold Creek Manor (2003)
what could have been
I made sure to see this movie because I love Dennis Quaid, from the first time I saw Undercover Blues right through to Parent Trap. However, the script and direction of the film never allowed him any room to show his genius.
I left the theatre thinking of all of the ways it could have been a great film, but instead it stooped even below mediocrity. The only good scene in the whole movie was the snake scene, not so much because it was great, but because it was the only time during the movie that you felt anything other than boredom.
There could have been some great twists and turns in the story, but each bit of information had already been hinted at so much that it came as no surprise when the truth was finally revealed or the information was given in such an anti-climatic way that you didn't really care.
As far as characters, I'm not sure if we had too much or too little information. The things you learned about the characters did nothing to endear them to you as an audience and the only character you felt any real emotion for was the bad guy. I think by the end of the film all of us that had seen it, were pretty much in agreement on "who cared what happened to the family."
I don't blame the story or the actors, other than maybe Sharon Stone who was pretty weak in her role. I believe the real fault lies in the direction of the film that gave everything away right at the beginning and left no room to question or wonder what was going to happen. And as I am quickly learning about film, the pace and editing by the director can make or break any movie, and in this case the direction was so horrible that even a better storyline or top of the line acting could not have saved it.
Gerry (2002)
one scene worth seeing
We rented this the same night as Lost in La Mancha. I am not sure what we were thinking. There were some moments of genius, but overall it was mostly boring. Both Matt and Casey did an excellent job with their parts, the little dialogue they had, and their body language. This should have been a short story though, there just wasn't enough material for a whole movie and there are only so many shots of moving clouds and the guys walking that you can handle.
And it is not like this movie provokes any real new profound way of thinking. It is a story about two friends and sacrifices that are made, but other movies have touched on similar story lines in much more creative and entertaining ways. I think there has become a belief that a movie cannot be both profound and entertaining, when really true artists find a way to break into mainstream thinking and get their points across without the audience even realizing they are being taught something until the idea has been planted.
Other than that, I do recommend the movie, if just for the rock marooned scene and would buy it for a cheap price, just to see the rock marooned scene over and over. I think we watched that part 10 times or more and just kept laughing. This is where most of the dialogue from the movie takes place and there are some great quotes.
Without that one scene this would have marked one of the biggest wastes of time, but instead gave us one of the most memorable scenes in movie history.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
I found something better to do while I was watching this
Maybe because it was late at night and I was somewhat tired, but this movie didn't keep my attention even a little bit. I actually spent the entire 2 hours organizing my room with the movie in the background, and the funny thing is I don't think I missed anything crucial. I was able to keep up with the plot and characters without any problem.
I don't think the problem was anything more than I just really didn't care about the story. First, the fact that anyone would even think the story was real as far as the CIA side of it is ludicrous. If that were the way our government ran things we would not exist as a nation. Second, this is obviously a really disturbed man with some really serious issues and I might have found the story somewhat enjoyable if they had pointed out his flaws and tried to fix them. I know this is somewhat loosely based on fact, so there is only so much of that you could do, my point then is why make this movie????????
I went into it thinking it was going to be a masterfully "could this have really happened" sort of flick. What I got was a really disturbing image of a grown man who had no idea how to act or contain himself. The movie portrayed his life as fact, with no question of is this or is this not true, and the story that has been given is so implausible that there is no way to develop that sort of thinking on your own.
Basically, my review is that this is a stupid story about a stupid man who I don't care if I ever hear about ever again. And apart from the story the only other critique is that the movie moved as a snails pace, maybe had I seen it in the theatre I would have been more intrigued, but the actually fact is I am glad I didn't pay more than a couple of bucks to see it. In fact, I wish I could learn how to not finish a movie, instead of being my obsessive self that has to watch to the end to make sure I don't miss anything good. I wouldn't have.
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999)
this is the last movie that we let the guys at school pick
I wasn't all that thrilled about seeing this movie, but I thought I would at least get a few laughs, especially since we were seeing it with a large group. I don't really remember laughing at all. I don't think anyone really did, except maybe once or twice, and not that laugh out loud so everyone can hear you sort of laugh.
Surprising, even the guys, who made up a majority of the group did not find this funny and agreed that they should never be allowed to pick what movie we see again.
And that's about it, nothing good to say, it is obvious they were just going for some laughs, nothing special about the directing or cinematography.
Chicago (2002)
So not like Moulin Rouge
I didn't see Moulin Rouge in the theatres, but then after catching part of it decided to borrow it from my roommate and fell in love with the story. Chicago is nothing like Moulin Rouge.
Although there were some moments of genius, two of the song and dance numbers. The first being when Renee's character pretends to be a wooden puppet with Gere's character pulling her strings and talking for her, and the second being the number done by the female inmates about why they were in jail.
Other than that I could have lived without ever seeing it and was sorry that I rushed to the Theatre after it started winning awards just to make sure I didn't repeat my mistake with Moulin Rouge.
I will say that my opinion seems to differ from most of my friends that I introduced Moulin Rouge too, the likewise fell madly in love with Chicago, but for me it just didn't quite cut it.
40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)
Glad I didn't pay to see this
I debated whether or not to see this movie in the theatre and either due to better movie choices or a slight inclination that it may not be that good, I opted out of seeing it. Instead, I watched it on our student station at school right after its release on video. After about a half hour I was glad I hadn't paid anything to see it, although I suffered thru to the end.
I was hoping that it would have had some clever humor, but I was wrong. Basically, a bunch of high schoolers could have written this script. There was nothing new or all that clever about any of it, and the characters were overly shallow and lame. Needless to say this movie did nothing to endear either one of the lead actors in my book, not that my opinions were that high to begin with.
American Beauty (1999)
highly overrated
I went into this movie not knowing much about it except that it was getting a lot of praise. After viewing it, I strongly feel that the praise and Oscar nod that this movie received was highly overrated.
First off, I got bored and I found the movie entirely too predictable. Who really wants to watch a middle-aged man obsess about a teenage girl? Apparently there are more people out there than I care to think about.
Second, the homophobic undertones in my opinion were a little overdone and got to be quite annoying by the end.
My opinion of the film as a work of art may have been a little tainted by the fact that I found a lot to be lacking in the morality both of the film and its characters. I am sure that there was some genius in the filming and the way that story was told otherwise the high marks it received would be completely impossible to believe.