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Reviews
Doomsday (2008)
Ignore the bashers, this was a fun movie
I really enjoyed this film. So what that it borrows from other films? Half the films coming out over recent years are just remakes of Japanese horror films (e.g. The Eye, Shutter), remakes of earlier American films (e.g. The Hills Have Eyes, 3:10 to Yuma), or based on comic books (e.g. before Doomsday I saw a preview for a film about The Hulk geez how original) I loved the heroine, played by Rhona Mitra. She is as kick-ass as any hero out there and she oozes "piss and vinegar." It doesn't hurt that she's quite cute.
Don't let the detractors deter you from seeing this film. It doesn't have the same horror factor as The Descent and it does have a few flaws. But as a blood & guts, action, Sci-Fi thriller, it is pretty darn good.
Solyaris (1972)
Yes, this movie is too slow and is too long
I like movies that make you think. I like movies that were made with substance, story, acting, etc. being more important than action or special effects.
I tried to like Solaris. I really did. But it was too slow. It was too long. To those who tout the slowness and length of the film as brilliance, I say hogwash. I found that the extra long time for many of the scenes made the movie more painful to watch. I do not believe that these scenes conveyed any more meaning or cause for thought than if they had been half as long. Many mention the long car ride scene. I would and the scene where the camera panned the winter painting for what seemed like a half hour.
One or two drawn out scenes may have been okay; but every other scene taking forever was more of a hindrance to enjoying the film.
I do think that there are good elements to the film. I thought the story was interesting. I did like the acting. It did make me care about the characters and what was happening to them.
Unfortunately I believe that the extreme slowness, the extreme length and numerous unexplained, confusing elements (the dwarf? the switching between color and BW) distracted from what could have been an awesome film.
I'll bet the novel, which I haven't read, is a lot better.
The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
Pretty fun scare
I just got back from watching this film. I thought it was a pretty decent horror/thriller. It had plenty of "make you jump" moments. It was a little on the gory side; more of the violent "axe to the head" kind than the "zombie eating guts" kind (though there was a little of that!).
It's not a happy film. Bad things happen to the good guys unnecessarily and in a way that is a little upsetting. If the stupid kid had just told his family about the dog maybe they would have been prepared. But I think that makes this movie less formulaic. I give a B, which to me equals 7 out of 10.
Morituri (1965)
Like another reviewer asks, "Why haven't I heard of this?"
I don't mean to be repetitive but I stumbled onto this film at my local video rental store just like one of the other reviewers wrote. I'd never heard of it before. A movie with both Yul Brynner and Marlon Brando. A war movie at that. And I'd never heard of it. Not that I'm a super movie buff but at least I think that this is one I would have come across at some point.
Anyway, it's a great film about the conflicts between duty and beliefs. Each character is on a mission not of their making or preference. Each actor does a great job of portraying the difficulty in taking on a task one would rather not have to do.
This one is worth watching. I give it an 8.
[Insert Title Here] (2000)
It was okay.
I watched this short at amazon.com.
The idea was kind of neat, sort of a film within a film within a film... I admit to being properly surprised at each transition, at least in the beginning. After awhile though, it became a little tedious and seemed to be too forced.
I don't believe that the film, as a whole, succeeded in pulling off what it was trying to do. It was a little too confusing. There was no cohesive thread present that was tying everything together. If there were one, I didn't see. To me it fell apart. Maybe that's the point? I don't know.
I give it a 5. It wasn't awful. But it just didn't thrill me.
21 Grams (2003)
Despite the back-and-forth, it was pretty darn good
As I'm sure you are obviously aware by now, this movie goes back and forth in time. Initially that flipping makes the movie a little confusing as you don't know where in time a particular scene may be. Each snippet, each little scene was captivating enough that I quickly adjusted to the out-of-time order. I wanted to see everything come together even if I'd already guessed what the ordered sequence was, which by the way, I'd done for some parts but not all.
The acting was great. The characters were portrayed appropriately gritty and real.
This is not a happy movie. The atmosphere was somewhat depressing; but not so much so that you can't enjoy watching it.
I rated the movie a 7, which to me corresponds to "really good".
The Village (2004)
This film is just the best.
I just got back home from seeing "The Village." I am speechless. This has to be one of the coolest films I have ever seen. I am in awe , even jealous, of the level of imagination that produced this story. This film will definitely go on my "top shelf." An A+ for sure.
Usually I don't like films that drop you into a story, setting, environment, etc. and that take a long time filling you in with what's going on. With this film that is actually part of the magic. There is so much mystery about what is going on in an around this village, who are these people, and what is out there that they are so afraid of. You are constantly guessing as to what is going on, but it doesn't distract from enjoying the film.
The gray atmosphere (it's always cloudy), the spookiness, the mystery are all at appropriate levels. The actors do a great job. No one person dominates this film.
A great, great film. See it.
Dead Presidents (1995)
Tries to do too much
Dead Presidents is an okay movie. Not bad, not great. Okay. I give it a B-.
I give Dead Presidents high marks for casting and acting. Larenz Tate, Chris Tucker, and the rest did a fabulous job. I also like the war scenes--very gripping, very scary.
The problem that I have with the movie is that it spans too many genres and as a result, just seems to drag on and on. The tag line would make you believe that this is a cops and robbers film centered around a major heist. But that is terribly misleading. The heist doesn't happen and isn't even an issue until late in the film. Up to that point you could consider this a life in the ghetto movie, trying to escape the ghetto movie, a Viet Nam war movie, a what life was like for blacks in the late 60's early 70's movie, a what the Viet Nam war did to those who survived it movie, so on and so on. By the time it came around for the big robbery, I was wondering when this movie would end. This problem of too grand a scope keeps the movie from getting an A.
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)
Yes it's so bad it's ... well bad!
I watched this movie because I wanted to see what all the "hype" was about. I wanted to see the movie that is "so bad it is good". Plan 9 is bad alright. It's downright horrible. It is so bad that I have to believe it was made that way on purpose. (Note: I don't know anything about the history of the movie or the producer Ed Wood.) I don't know how anyone with a sober mind could have been involved in the making of this movie, unless it was intended as a joke. And that is the saving grace for Plan 9. It's so bad and it's so stupid that it is, as many have said, funny. It is actually good for a few laughs. All of the criticisms one could make, cheesy sets, goofy acting, night one minute day the next, etc. give it a special charm. And since it is only 80 minutes, you can survive it!