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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Worth seeing, BUT..........
The book was engrossing. The film sticks reasonably close to the original. So - good book, good film. BUT....
The soundtrack is really, really, really annoying!
A movie is a careful combination of cinematography, editing, script, acting, sets and location, costumes, score, etc. Invariably when one of these sets out to "upstage" the rest, the entire production suffers. Too often in this film the background noise - sometime music, more often sound effects - overwhelms all other elements. Almost like a small child screaming "LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!" I found myself wanting to shout at the screen "OK. I got it. Now go away."
Chéri (2009)
Not at all impressed
This makes the list of my all-time worst movies. The dialog was unimaginative, the "acting" was mostly posturing, the direction disjointed, and, I'm sorry, but the costumes and sets were not that spectacular given this historical period. Kathy Bates, who has created some memorable characters, this time created a caricature, with a performance that was overly broad and lacking in depth. Rupert Friend's angst-filled youth, besides being another caricature, was a performance that can best be described as dull and boring. And what was with that background music, which kept loudly intruding?
I like Michelle Pfeiffer, and I like Kathy Bates. But I suppose every actor has an "Ishtar" and I'm afraid this is theirs.
My Dog Skip (2000)
Why does Hollywood think they can write it better?
Thank goodness the people who made this film never got their hands on Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Willie Morris wrote a wonderful book about growing up in a small town in Mississippi. Skip charmed the reader just as he had charmed the people in Yazoo City. And, oh my! how neat it would have been to have had friends like Spit McGee and Henjie and Muttonhead and Rivers, when we were growing up!
Unfortunately some Hollywood writer decided he could do a better job than Willie Morris and re-wrote most of the story. What we ended up with was a cliche story about bullies, stern fathers, bad guys, and injured animals. I'm surprised they didn't decide to turn Skip into a Lassie-look-alike collie.
What is fortunate is that enough of Morris managed to seep through to make the film entertaining and worth seeing. But it deserved better.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Don't miss this one!
Let's keep this short and simple - This may very well be the best movie you see this year! It is extremely well-written, carefully directed, and has some exceptional performances. And, yes, the ending will knock your socks off!
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Overly-hyped films are often bad. This is no exception.
If your idea of scary is a girl screaming "Josh" over and over again in the dark, then you will find this movie scary. If not, be ready to be disappointed. As a college project it is certainly a very good attempt and probably deserves a B+. Too bad it has been hyped as something more. If it's scary you are after, better to go to the video store and rent the original "Psycho," "The Thing," "The Birds," or any one of a dozen other classic nail-biters.
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Good special effects, but disappointing overall.
I had the feeling that the folks responsible for this movie saw "Jaws", were sorry that the shark didn't eat more people, so they decided to make their own film - chomp! chomp! What disappointed me was that the film had a very good premise - scientists messing around with genetics (ala Jurassic Park). Rather than developing that theme, however, it became a briefly mentioned, incidental excuse for all the effects. Bottom line - "Jaws" and "Jurassic Park" were much better and much scarier!
Lake Placid (1999)
Very funny! Better than expected!
Obviously most of the people commenting do not understand nor appreciate satire. This is a delightful, tongue-in-cheek takeoff on monster movies (e.g. "Jaws"). And Betty White turns in a wonderful performance as the quirky Mrs. Bickerman. The audience at the showing I attended thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and so did I!