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Reviews
Limbo (1999)
Beautifully Flawed
There are a couple of scenes in "Limbo" that rank among the best in any of John Sayles's films. Compassionate and heartfelt, I'm thinking mostly of a few quietly restrained encounters between the two leads (played to sensitive perfection by David Strathairn and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio).
What a disappointment, then, that the sum of "Limbo" turns out to be a much lesser achievement than its parts. At least half of this film belongs in another movie, including a interesting but extranious subplot about a quirly lesbian couple, and even the much-talked about survival story which dominates the whole second half.
Sayles is obviously trying to confund our expectations and leave us hanging (in Limbo perhaps). That's fine--the ending sure does it in a big way! But from a thematic standpoint: What is Sayles really doing? He's crafted some of his most finely nuanced characters here. Why does he insist on driving them along this limbo-ridden jagged road? Why does a story so simple and beautiful have to be interrupted by a bunch of murderous drug thugs?
Sayles might say that's the point of "Limbo." I say that's a lazy answer.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Get ready for the jitters
The Blair Witch Project is a landmark in horror filmmaking and should become a sleeper hit upon its release in July. While not a perfect film, this sure is a damn scary one--scary enough that I had to have my eyes closed quite a number of times during it (in fact, I'm predicting future anxiety attacks among some audience members). The movie is about three college students who go into the woods to film a documentary on the so-called Blair Witch, and never return. Their footage, of course, is found one year later, and thus the film itself is seen through the eyes (rather through the camera) of the students themselves.
There is not a single cheap scare in the whole film, and that's what makes it so frightening: we are constantly waiting to see something. Indeed, I often had my eyes closed when the screen was totally blank (as it often is, giving way to one of the most significant sound tracks in recent years). It knows how to prop the generic conventions as well--whenever the sun goes down, the monsters come up.
The movie builds an incredible sense of realism (the acting is pitch-perfect), however it disobeys the laws by making the characters ballsier that they ever should be. It's hard to believe the story when we are saying "No one would ever do that!" (ex. turning on all your lights at night when you hear bloody-murder noises) Yet the film is destined to be a (cult at least) classic. Matriarchal (witch/mom references) and political ("You can't get lost in America") undertones are sure to stir up a argumentative following about what it all means. But most of all, it is a thrill ride like no other. See it if you want to be more consistently scared from beginning to end than perhaps any modern horror film ever made. *** (out of 4)