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Reviews
Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion (2003)
Good writing/Poor Direction
I had friends that were in this movie so you will have to excuse my bias. First off the writing was adequate. I enjoyed the addition of some intrigue before the explosion, I had heard the conspiracy theories about German saboteurs before and the writers did a good job of myth building without re-writing history. The acting was pretty much the CBC standard which is acceptable in a docu-drama
what really stood out about this film was the terrible directing and cinematography, there was even one of those classic pan reaction shots when the disfigured soldier killed himself
the only place you see those is in comedy shows these days! Looking at Pittman's filmography I understand now why so many Canadian television shows have a similar look
and I mean that in a bad way.
I'm very happy a movie was made in Halifax about Halifax and I am sure it will be shown to delighted junior high students for decades to come.
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
Not A Great Film.
`Spirited Away' is well animated film but suffers from a poor story and uninteresting characters. You can add all the freaky dragons and netherworld spirits you like and marvel at their strangeness but what do they add to the story? There was no intrigue and no real character development. to me it felt like watching a anime version of the Nutcracker Suite except with over the top symbolism (things like the greedy parents turning into pigs).
`Mulholland Drive' accomplishes much better the kind of storytelling through emotion `spirited away' attempts.
4/10
Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
OH why...WHY!?
I have to ask myself why did I even rent this... an ex-girlfriend recommended it so maybe it was all some sort of revenge...
Actually I really liked scream 3 so I was a bit hopeful in watching this but my hopes were mangled much like a fragile monarch butterfly caught in a lawnmower. The story was just horrible; it made no sense just a stream of unconnected gore scenes that don't build tension or suspense. The Characters aren't even amusing stereotypes, and not that the actors had much to work with in the first place.
The central problem with movies like this...without good characters the movie drags, the gore scenes become meaningless and we don't care who lives and who dies.
The stolen kidney death scene was nice and brutal, and the campus where it was filmed was really cool, that's about it on the good points.
Gladiator (2000)
A good film...but better than Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon?
I truly enjoyed Gladiator, Russell Crowe gave a good performance and the brutal fight scenes made for an action packed couple of hours. But I didn't see too much depth in the film, Maximus = good Commodus = bad seemed to pretty much sum up the story while barely touching on the complex Roman political system or having any kind of character development.
When compared with a film like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with its protagonists changing throughout the film ( Li Mu Bai realizing his wasted chance for love and Jen searching for her own destiny). Not to mention the complex relationship between all the characters, I find it difficult to justify gladiator being nominated for a academy award let alone winning over crouching tiger!
I have seen gladiator a few times and so far its proving not to be a rewatchable film, even the beautiful CGI renderings of Rome don't seem so great after the second time. But in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon there are so many levels and details, each time I watch I find something new.
Gladiator serves its function well as a action movie but not as Oscar winning material (In my mind).