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Spread (2009)
Not a comedy?
I was surprised to find so many descriptions for this movie describing it or tagging it as a comedy... by my reckoning it's more of a light drama expressing the costs of inconsiderate over-indulgence. The players and performers all did their job as one would hope in any movie, but emptiness in the script and storyline left me wishing I'd spent my time more productively. I can't speak to any sense of realism in it, but perhaps there are worldly examples I'm simply unaware of. I did enjoy a few aspects of it, but there's little in the way of empathy that one can generate for the characters within as they're all between 'hollow & insensitive' and 'dishonest & abusive'.
My suspicion is that it will have greater appeal for younger audiences, mainly because some of the scenes portray rampant levels of decadence that they'll be more likely to appreciate than those of us in our 40s.
Der Tunnel (2001)
You'll come for the rating, and leave for {describe reason here}
I make a habit out of watching movies with a decent rating, even if they aren't my type of movie... one might think of it as my own exploration into what kinds of art makes humanity 'tick' (so to speak).
I tried to watch this... I really did. I went back to reviews on assorted forums and tried to discover what everyone liked so much about it.
Here's a few reasons why I couldn't get on that particular bandwagon: -- The dialog is so bland it's insulting to the viewer. -- The acting was so horrible that the characters failed to make me care about any of them. -- The storyline didn't make up for it in any way, fiction or not. -- I even tried skipping around to the alleged 'good parts'.
I don't see myself ever giving this move another chance. Watch at your own peril.
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)
Simply better than a '3.9'
I was rather shocked to see a 3.9 for this title. When I reviewed the voting record the truth was revealed -- about 1/4 of the people that bothered to rate the film rated it a '1'. Some angry / jealous Virtua-Fighter fans maybe...? A movie would have to be truly horrible to garner a 1 from me, not just have a 'score I disagreed with that needed lowering' as many dishonest IMDb idiots appear to vote at times.
Of course it wasn't a 'great' movie, and in fact seems best suited for people that are either huge fans of Kristen Kruek (KK) and / or Street Fighter. I liked it well enough to post a '6', but admittedly I'm a big KK fan from her Smallville work.
The flow was good, and it was cast well all around -- as well as can be expected for a movie cast from a video game with virtually .no. plot to it. Arguably KK doesn't have the quads to play a live-action version of Chun-Li, but in my eyes her very decent acting made up for that.
The plot had some unexpected happiness within it also and that became what I cherished most about it.
Baise-moi (2000)
cinema lovers avoid
As an open-minded American I'm mildly offended by the comments of some of the non-Americans... that we judge the film harshly for violence and / or excessive sexual content. Some of us do, but not all Americans are in the main-stream (I generally won't associate with those).
I myself watch more than my share of porn so as Americans go I'm far from 'prudish'. The acting in Baise-Moi was slightly better than the average 'porn', but the sex was not. The storyline was also pretty weak... weaker than most porn even (consider that for a moment). In this day and age (even in Europe) the events of the film would simply not be remotely feasible (my landlord assures me of this, and he's lived in Belgium for years now).
If you like watching mediocre acting and cheesy, low-budget violence then you might enjoy at least certain scenes within the film. The early rape scene was particularly harsh, and will put off many. If you're 'hot' for one of the two female leads then perhaps their graphic on-screen sexuality will be something you care to view.
Anyone else, including traditional pornography watchers, can safely avoid even a Netflix viewing of this. If you want violence, pick up a Saw film or Midnight Meat Train. If you're after graphic sex just acquire for some good, honest pornography.
Most can safely skip this 'feature'.
Casino Royale (2006)
At last!
Closing on 40 years of age, it's likely I've seen every Bond movie at least twice... some much more. The Bond series has never been a top shelf production for me, but I've always experienced ample enjoyment from the gadgets, the super-villains and their agendas, and of course the action. I'm confident that's true of most males.
Casino Royale has raised the bar, however, and higher than I ever dreamed I would see it. No offense to any of the prior Bond players (all of whom I cherish in their individual flavors), but Daniel Craig is the gold standard. I can't give all the credit to him, either. The casting was as ambitious as it was excellent. The production and directing efforts were spot on, too. I did think it got a bit slow at the end, and that it was a bit long... but like many others I agree that these were good for the movie as a whole and justifiable.
For me Casino Royale is far and away the best Bond film. In fact, they could remake all the other Bonds with Daniel Craig and the same production standards and I'd gladly pay to see and own each and every one. Bold words from someone who intended to wait until this hit video until a friend dragged me into it.
Spy movies have always been too campy for me to appreciate deeply. If this is the new breed, then I'm all for it.
Serenity (2005)
An Emotional Fan Ride
If you haven't watched Firefly, I HIGHLY recommend doing that first and coming back to these comments. I personally feel the movie's introduction to the universe of Firefly was not adequate to educate unfamiliar viewers about the universe of Firefly. Also, Joss' work doesn't appeal to everyone no matter how much the fans praise his works. Entertainment that hooks me instantly may not work for you.
Watching the series will give you important background info as well as character histories. It will also tell you whether or not you should watch the movie at all. There have been many negative comments about this movie, and I'm sure the reason stems from distaste for Joss-style work and/or lack of series knowledge. Detractors either seem to 'not get it' or are after a different kind of entertainment for their movie dollar. A high rating doesn't mean a movie is good, only that it was appreciated.
If you disliked the series, you won't go see this anyhow. No worries.
If you are a so-so fan of the series, most of the people I know that are fans of the series loved the movie immensely, so it might be worth your time.
If you enjoyed the series, then it's simply a must-see film.
- - -
It's relevant for me to state that the TV series Firefly is currently my all-time favorite. I'm still catching up on The West Wing though :P.
This movie was a very special emotional experience for me in pretty much every aspect... plot, action sequences, character interactions & performances, special effects... even the very fact that fans like me basically bankrolled it's existence with our purchases of the series DVDs.
My only personal complaint is that it was decided to have noises in space, unlike the series. I hope a Director's Cut edition returns us to the series method... using only a musical score and dramatic CG on the space clips. This is a very small complaint though, and most theater-goers want space sequences to have associated audio.
I had uncharacteristically high expectations for this particular movie walking in, and I'm glad to say that they were met and exceeded. I predicted an 8, and it got a rare 9 out of me.
Firefly (2002)
Joss'town
Most TV watchers are familiar with works of Joss Whedon, or at least the reputation of them. I myself was a reluctant Buffy / Angel fan and was drawn in to each respectively. In each case the premise wasn't so astounding, but the writing, implementation, execution, and well chosen players made the shows what they were to fans. Each show and many of the respective characters were immortalized as a result.
Imagine if you will, that a man with incredible creative talent, who is a fantastic writer, was allowed to tell his greatest story, the story he had always wanted to tell. Now imagine that he was forced to tell only certain bits of the story at certain times because of a network that lacks vision. Well, in a nutshell that's Firefly.
Fox has always been a network on the edge -- sometimes to it's benefit and sometimes to it's detriment. Fox demanded certain things of Joss, and he had little choice but to abide them. Despite that, Firefly shown like the North Star and gave promise of greater things to come during the weeks it aired. To make matters worse, Fox had placed Firefly in the time-slot me and friends of mine refer to as the Death Slot... Friday evening after 7:00PM. X-files did well there, Millennium did okay, but no other series to my knowledge has survived there more than a season -- and there have been many including John Doe, Freaky Links, Space Above and Beyond, etc. Not all of them runaway hits, but all of them good or more than survivable. My best guess about this is that much of the potential viewing market for these shows is out enjoying Friday night ;).
Though I greatly appreciated both Buffy and Angel, I found myself much more drawn in to Firefly -- so much so that anything else on Friday evening was not even an option. During that time, each show gave me enough of a boost to wait only as long as the time between the end of one and the beginning of the next show. Within a few weeks I realized I was experiencing my all time favorite series, and embraced it. I was totally hooked.
At first I was a tad reluctant. A sci-fi western? Come on, now. Well it's safe to say that I had no clue, and Joss did. The nice thing about Firefly is that it's a realistic possible future -- a post-civil-war galactic suburban drama -- not ghost, vampires, and demons. The heroes, friends, and enemies are mostly human. They all have stories, they all have secrets, and many of them are smiling confidently ^^.
Firefly is, in my opinion, the best series I've ever experienced... and that praise that doesn't come lightly. I've seen sci-fi (pretty much all of it). I've seen many westerns. I've embraced assorted sitcoms and dramas from most every conceivable angle and inflection therein... but no series ever captured me so uniquely and thoroughly as Firefly did. It's the most touching, most surprising, most REAL series ever in my eyes. The characters will touch you, win your hearts, and convince you of who and what they are, teasing you with their secrets and amazing you with their actions. The American-Chinese dialect is intriguing. The sets are astounding. The soundtrack will move you deeply. The special effects are inventive, and sometimes even intimidating. The universe around the show is fascinating, inspiring, and often deadly terrifying. Firefly stands as a work of artistic genius.
So, that's my diatribe. The DVD collection for the produced, aired (and not aired) series episodes (in the order Joss wanted them in) is available in stores for a mere pittance, and the feature film Serenity is due out soon. Perhaps, just maybe, if Serenity does well enough to justify it, a series continuation might follow. I personally hope SciFi channel picks it up, because they know talent when they see it and seem to handle things much better than Fox does.
Virus (1999)
I just can't stop myself...
I normally don't comment on movies here, but after watching Virus I couldn't resist coming to it's IMDb comments... and then I just had to post a general reply.
To the people that liked this movie... I suppose I'm glad some people out there discovered a new viewing treat. Most of the rest of us, however, were not entertained. The IMDb rating is more than justified. Frankly, I found the movie very insulting... to my intelligence as a viewer, to the actors who contracted themselves to perform in it, and even to the genre of sci-fi horror.
Quite simply , the movie was 'not good'. Regardless of what level of standards anyone thinks 'movies of this genre' should consider par, regardless of who's in it, etc. How much it ended up costing to make, who directed it, who's in it... all of that is just a pile of facts other people will chime in with, and they don't mean a damn thing as far as the final product is concerned. Most film enthusiasts will consider it mediocre at best upon seeing it... period.
It was accused of plot-stealing from other films, and that may be true (although I didn't pick up anything obvious). It would only be true in parts and pieces, as the plot was 'original enough'. If everything had come together better this movie might have achieved a 6.5-7.2... very decent by IMDb standards. It didn't, and it doesn't.
Someone blamed the editor, and he may in part be at fault. The director also has to take some of the rap, as does the writing team.
Here are some general personal observations ==> Soundtrack: annoying and aggravating ==> Special effects: poor to decent, depending on the scene ==> Acting: bad to average, depending on the character and the scene ==> Direction, Editing, Writing: bad all around, but the editor seemed to at least have career knowledge (perhaps he simply had nothing to work with)
Mostly what this film did was offend... moviegoers, real scientists, and free thinkers everywhere should all feel insulted by this movie after seeing it. Some scenes were actually, physically painful to sit through. By the end I was in 'Highlander 2' mode... as though I was watching a cinematic train wreck in progress.
I don't ever allow myself to spoil a movie on principle, but I'm going to say something omenistic anyhow... if you haven't seen this movie yet, then you should probably just avoid it and dodge the negative wash. It'll likely only jade you from appreciating some of it's 'talent' when they show up in other, more respectable movies.