damir00 Reviews

The January Man (1989)

People are taking this movie to seriously

[1 February 2003]

I'm watching the "thrilling" climax as I type this.

Listen, folks, this film wasn't meant to be taken seriously, it's meant more as a parody or farce. Just listen to the soundtrack during the "dramatic" moments, it's not even trying to be serious. I'm guessing the cast was struggling to keep from bursting out in laughter during the filming because it really is stuffed full of every imagineable cliche.

Though there are some original lines. "I want to make you haggis." I mean, come on, how can anyone even begin to imagine this was meant seriously. It's like a police drama version of "Showgirls".

Well, without as much skin. ;-)

Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (1981)

both delightful and disturbing

[23 December 2002]

whichever corner of the balkans is called home, it is all but unuarguable that Kusturica is the region's greatest filmmaker. i have enjoyed all of his films - most especially "Otac na sluzbenom putu" and "Underground" - but none disturbed me quite like this one disturbed me.

the reason is that he portrays a (former) Yugoslavia i do not know, and have never known. both my parents fled the "acceptable face of communism" during the very years this film shows almost nostalgically. they were roughly the same age as the main character, yet their experience of Tito's paradise was completely and utterly apposite to what Kusturica shows on the screen. the world they knew was one of deprivation and disappearances and harassment and they could not get away from it fast enough.

i am not saying either viewpoint is right or wrong. i just find it eye-openingly disturbing that the same place at the same time can be remembered in such radically different ways.

i believe there is a lesson in that for all of us, especially those of us whose roots lie in the balkans.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

It took a second viewing

[14 June 2002]

I saw this when it first came out, in a theatre, and came away

disappointed. I just saw it again on HBO and, to my surprise, I

enjoyed it!

What I noticed this time was the fantasy. More exactly, just how

much of it was fantasy. Hint: think blue. Blue, blue, blue, Nicole

recounting the sailor fantasy in front of a blue window, the blue

windows when the night's adventures begin with a surprise kiss,

right down to Rade wearing blue clothes in the costume shop

when he offered up his daughter as a sexual toy and the blue

gates to the orgy that never actually happened.

I have to admit it, Kubrik was both cleverer and baser than I could

imagine at the time. This is no more - but also no less - about a

man trying to figure out the role of sex in his life.

Upon further reflection, this film is recommended.

The Sopranos (1999–2007)

Best TV series since "Twin Peaks"

[18 May 2002]

The show is brutal reflection of the society those of us in who live

in America have created: violent, self-centered and morally

ambiguous.

Someone hurts you, lash out and hurt them back. Someone

doesn't look like you, lash out until they hide from your sight.

Someone has something you want, lash out and take it.

You don't have to justify anything, as long as you earn baby, earn.

There are so many parallels between the way Tony interacts with

the world and the way we, as a country, interact with the world that I

would probably get depressed if I thought about it any further.

This show is about us.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Yoda is a fraud

[2/10 · 18 May 2002]

Obiwan threatens to kick Skywalker out of the Jedi clubhouse because he wants to save a friend rather than save the universe. So what does Yoda do in the "climactic" Ninja Muppet scene? Allows the bad guy to escape because he'd rather save a couple of Jedi.

Does he get kicked out of the Jedi Order? No. Instead he's a hero even though we now see he is directly responsible for the slaughter we've already seen in the past-future episodes.

And that pretty much summarizes the entire film: inconsistent, horribly, horribly written and poorly acted. I just hope Ms Portman makes enough from this dreck to spend the rest of her promising career making worthwhile films.

This is the year 2002, good CG cannot stand on its own.

City of Hope (1991)

Save your money

[3/10 · 13 April 2002]

This is supposed to be a story about - well, it's not really about

anything - but it does have a whole mess of standard New Jersey

stereotypes so I assume it is supposed to be about the gritty

underside of city corruption and the Political Machine.

I think.

Anyway, save your money, buy the Springsteen box set - or at least

the greatest hit CD - because in 3 minutes of Springsteen you'll

get a better understanding of blue collar northeastness than in all

100 or whatever minutes of this film.

Yo Nicky!

Stolen Summer (2002)

Stacked Deck

[3/10 · 9 April 2002]

All these positive comments from folks in IL? Coincidence, I'm sure. ;-)

Anyway, I watched Project Greenlight, and everybody connected with this film deserves a hand. It could've been a disaster. Easily.

But it's not.

It's ok.

Not great, story is a little after school special-ish, but it's ok.

And Your Mother Too (2001)

That (almost) last scene...

[9 April 2002]

...if you've seen it, you know the one I'm talking about. About

halfway into I found myself thinking "they're not going to...they

wouldn't dare...they...oh my god".

They did.

The film is entertaining even if you don't get the political subtext -

even if you don't know Team America is a Mexican football team

and never heard of Zapata - the characters are vivid and realistic

and undergo thoroughly believable personal journeys.

And it shows sides of modern Mexico you'll never see staring into

the bottom of a Cancun tequila bottle.

Highly recommended.

Tito and Me (1992)

Better the second time around

[18 March 2002]

Saw it years ago, laughed myself silly. Saw it again this weekend - can you believe this film is on DVD but most of Godard is not? - again laughed myself silly but also saw things I missed the first time around.

Kids from Belgrade. In the Croatian castle at Varazdin. Being chased by a ghost named "Franjo".

The Croats at the bar calling the tour leader - the tour going to Kumrovec - a fool.

There was more to this film than I thought. Must-see for Balkan ex-pats and those interested in our unique corner of the world.

Project Greenlight (2001–2023)

Fabulous peek at the Glamorous Life

[22 February 2002]

Ok, maybe not so glamorous - but then that's a useful thing to learn, no?. This multi-part docudrama takes a fascinating look at making movies by following the making of a movie by a first-time director.

I only hope they put this on DVD so others can learn from their mistakes. ;-)

Before Sunrise (1995)

Sweet, but not cloying

[9/10 · 15 March 2000]

Came across this while flipping cable channels, and, well, the channel-surfing stopped. It is a very sweet romantic film that continuously scoots along the surface of the ocean of cliches but somehow never manages to get wet. Even the ending manages to avoid that sickening cloyness that infects so many Hollywood "romances".

I freely admit that the events in the film resonate with events in my own life and that is, no doubt, part of its charm. But then I hardly expect that I'm the only person who's lived through something like this.

Highly recommended, unless you insist on your movies having explosions and formulaic endings.