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eung555
Reviews
Ghost Ship (2002)
I was so not scared I fell asleep
This must be one of the most predictable and boring horror movies I have ever seen. It tried to be everything to everyone and failed to do what it billed itself to be - a horror movie. For instance it tried to have a sexy scene where a female ghost strips naked to entice Isiah Washington to his death; it tried to suggest some romantic connection between Juliana Marguiles and Gabriel Byrne. The only original part of it was the initial scene where the passengers of the ship were killed. I have to say I would not have thought of that as a plot device (haven't given anything away yet, I hope). The ending was also very predictable given that there were not that many characters were introduced into the movie in the first place.
The Dancer Upstairs (2002)
Excellent Political and Social Commentary
This film is entrancing and intriguing. Others here have described the pace as slow, but I prefer to think of it as well paced and well measured. The characters are real and unlike the acting that you would see in a Hollywood-style production, the characters exhibit emotions that are true. For instance, when Lt. Rejas enters into the shanty town with his drawn pistol, his hands are shaking and his actions are jerky, unlike the Rambo-esq confidence exhibited by the standard movie cop. Laura Morante as Yolanda is enchanting and hauntingly beautiful. The unstated attraction between the two lead characters is palpable in the film. All of this, though, merely enhances a wonderfully illustration of and commentary on the relationship between the rule of law and the rule of man (or the military in this case) in South America.
Fighter (2000)
Moving Documentary
I had not heard of Fighter before, but I saw it in the local library, and picked it up on a whim. I was very surprised by the film which I thought one of the most moving documentaries that I have ever seen. The movie traces the journey of two Jewish Czech WWII survivors, one of whom was at Auschwitz and the other ended the war as a RAF fighter pilot. The personalities of the two men are diamatrically oppossed and it is moving and touching to still hear the anger and sadness in the pilot's voice as he visits the various places where he or his family had suffered during the war. It was frightening to see the footage of Nazi soldiers marching into Czechoslovakia and to understand that the same people who supported the Nazis turned around and supported the Communists, and both parties turned on the Jews for different reasons. The personal experiences of both persons are hard to comprehend and I cannot imagine, in the absence of personal experience, how a person could have such a strong desire to survive. I definitely recommend this film to students of human nature both from the negative angle (hatred, bias, bigotry) and from the positive angle (desire to survive, love, perseverance).