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Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. (1992)
Self-defeating
Let me say that I would imagine that I am the target audience for this film. By this, I mean that I am not a young, economically challenged African-American woman living in an urban area, since I would imagine that that particular demographic does not need to be made aware of the difficulties they face on a day to day basis. That said, I did not feel Leslie Harris did the best job in trying to bring these issues across. As others have said, I found the main character to be thoroughly unpleasant. While flawed characters can be more interesting to watch, their character strengths should be far less superficial for them to merit any sympathy or empathy from the viewer (i.e., just being intelligent and ambitious is not enough for me to like a character).
Also of note is the amateurish acting, which truly detracts from the viewing experience. The documentary-style camerawork could have added to the feeling of verisimilitude, but coupled with the acting, it constantly draws attention to the fact that the viewer is watching a film. I understand certain allowances must be made when watching low-budget independent films, but the filmmakers should have realized that today's audiences are spoiled and have little patience for elements that feel unnatural.
I also take issue with the film's ending, which rings completely false in light of everything that has preceded it. One person compared it to the seemingly tacked-on happy endings from melodramas of the past. The problem with that logic is the fact that those endings were imposed by the studio and sometimes by censors. This is an independent film (one "Hollywood dared not do") and can take the risk of having the ending that fits best.
I have heard it suggested that all the elements I have called attention to were aesthetic choices by the filmmakers. To that, I must say that, if this is so, it causes the film to be rather self-defeating. To call attention to the film's artifice, thereby pulling the viewer out of the story, causes them to view it as just another light show on a screen. It can be safely viewed as just a film, all thoughts of it depicting reality left aside.
Films are often attacked for being too manipulative. Here is a film that is not manipulative enough. If a filmmaker wants an audience to be able to identify with a situation she/he should take great pains to make certain they are not taken out of the film throughout. While I admire the fact that Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. tries to show me a world I have minimal knowledge of, it did not involve me enough to give the subject matter much of a second thought after the credits rolled. Instead, I just kept thinking about its quality as a film.
High Noon (2000)
Passable remake
I was originally going to pass on watching this one, until I saw in the commercial that the climactic gunfights were filmed in Saving Private Ryan-O-Vision. (I know of no other way to describe this distinctive look--which I realize has been used well before Saving Private Ryan was ever released--and if anyone know how this style is achieved, please contact me via e-mail.) I'm kind of a sucker for that particular technique, so I figured I'd give it a try. Having seen the original only a couple days beforehand, I was fully prepared to be able to pick it apart like crazy.
I was immediately stricken by the opening shot. The silhouettes of Frank Miller's gang against the desert sky was a beautiful image that impressed me right out of the gate. Unfortunately, it became all too apparent that it was made for television, using the many simple, money-saving camera techniques seen in many made-for-TV movies. Aside from that, something just seemed missing from this film, and I just can't put my finger on it. It didn't have the spirit of the original film, nor did it involve me emotionally as the 1952 version did. The aforementioned gunfights were very well-filmed, and a tad bit more exciting than the original, but due to the emotional content, they were much less engaging. Still, though, it was an enjoyable movie.
Say Anything... (1989)
The best relationship film I've seen so far
This is a film about relationships that helps me to believe there is such a thing as true love. For one hour and forty minutes, the viewer is allowed to step into the lives of a handful of very interesting characters. Strangely enough, one of the most interesting characters turns out to be the father of the lead female character. In most boy-meets-girl flicks, the girl's father is merely an obstacle between the young lovers, but in Say Anything... we are shown a real person who is completely developed. In short, this is a great film that will live on despite whatever it has been dated by. At its core are some universal truths that will never be dated.
The Lord of the Rings (1978)
On par with Dune
[It would probably be more correct to say that Dune is on par with Lord of the Rings, but...] By this, I mean that it is a brilliant novel which has been so poorly adapted that it's hardly recognizable as the same story. Things are overly compressed, characters represented in terrible fashion, and worst of all, no sense of scope. I never thought I could be bored by the battle of Helm's Deep! It took all of my will power to keep from fast forwarding through the whole thing. Lord of the Rings just further cemented my opinion that rotoscoping is possibly the worst form of animation ever invented.
La chiesa (1989)
"Demons 3" is pretty accurate
This movie started out quite promisingly, with an intriguing story line and some nice foreshadowing involving the main priest character. Unfortunately, the last forty minutes of this film devolved into a shameless clone of Demoni (1985) (a film I absolutely loathe) with characters we couldn't possibly care about locked in the church. One by one, they either go insane or are killed by others. Too bad they couldn't have tried to be a bit more original with this film.
Deep Rising (1998)
A fun B-movie!
I had one heck of a lot of fun watching Deep Rising. It was just the type of film that didn't take itself too seriously and never tried to be anything more than it was. After seeing this, I'm extremely excited to see Stephen Sommers's The Mummy, the other ILM film of Summer '99.