Change Your Image
gregory.mitchell
Reviews
Planet of the Apes (1968)
hmmm . . .
The soundtrack is chilling - excellent work.
Charlton Heston's performance in this movie really hurts to watch. He is so god-awful. Oh, right - but he was just acting the part of a smarmy know-it-all edgy space captain with a devil may care attitude. Right . ..
The Beach (2000)
Hmmm . . .
Some thoughts (for whatever they are worth)-
- The Beach has several Trainspotting-like moments of inspired glee mixed within the overall darker elements of the story (Richard's dark dementia broken up with a little goofy video game bit, for example). It just doesn't seem to work as smoothly and perfectly as Trainspotting, altho The Beach isn't *that* bad a flick.
- One thing another poster mentions is the Beautiful People mold that the Beach inhabitants seem to have been mass produced from. While there is a false sense of glamour and youth in the casting of thin/young/beautiful people, maybe that lends itself as a stark contrast to the very dire circumstances and consequences of their actions. These people are attractive and young and hip, yet they are proven to be ultimately silly and frivolous when faced with the reality of their actions. Well, maybe not - but it makes me feel better to think that, either way ;).
Fight Club (1999)
settle down, boys . . .
Listen: for all it's virtues (amazing direction, great acting performances), FIGHT CLUB suffers greatly from it's simple-minded sheep in wolf's clothing story.
FIGHT CLUB is *not* visionary, folks - it's reactionary, and that belies any of the strengths all you passive aggressive dirtbags attribute to this cool-looking but ultimately sophomoric w**k-job of a movie.
Maybe I'm going soft, but I like REAL sincerity, sentiment and meaning in movies - not self-referential, reactionist bulls**t ("OOH, Starbucks is evil! IKEA is satan's furniture store! McDonald's serves Beezelebub's breakfast!").
Oh, and the reason(s) FIGHT CLUB got shuffled along on it's merry way in 1999? MAGNOLIA, AMERICAN BEAUTY, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH and THE MATRIX.
Makes sense to me.
Permanent Midnight (1998)
well-meaning, but truly awful *vanity project*. . .
I know Ben Stiller was trying to do the right thing here - his performance shows it. He plays a great junkie, and it's very convincing.
UNFORTUNATELY, the rest of the film is PURE garbage. Period. Maria Bello is a fine actress - but her part is ALL WRONG. Allow me to wonder out loud - ANYONE READ THE G**DAMN BOOK? Jerry Stahl led a pitiful existence - both as a junkie and a TV writer (the joke is, of course, which is worse?)- but his book was totally BUTCHERED.
Which, going back to Stiller, is a shame; Ben put a lot into the acting - but who was asleep at the wheel on the REST of the production? Stiller meant well by getting the project off the ground, but it's a TERRIBLE shame that the book will have to battle and outlive this pile of rubbish.
Dogma (1999)
promising? . . .
Kevin Smith doesn't strike me as a particularly *gifted* filmmaker - he always seemed to be a funny guy who really likes the things he writes about and films. Therefore, I don't see any real point in trying to overstate how great Clerks is, and the unimpressive yet harmless Mallrats all but confirms that for me. Clerks seems to be some kind of watershed for "slacker/DYI" comedy when it's simply a movie about New Jersey kids with some funny dialogue - and there's nothing wrong with that.
Dogma struck me as the first *film* Smith has yet made. There's something to it that doesn't exist in Clerks, Mallrats or Chasing Amy. It doesn't need Jason Lee and Jay & Silent Bob to carry it like in previous Smith movies. This film definitely takes advantage of the great cast of celebrities & personalities, but there is *something* driving it all - an interesting storyline and a subject that intrigues people (and I'm not even referring to the more sensational/controversial Catholic baiting either).
Dogma isn't **4 stars great,** but it's kind of cool because now I can maybe see Smith as more than a simple yet creative Jersey guy who really digs comics "and stuff."
JFK (1991)
Stone doesn't get enough credit for the ensemble acting here. . .
. . . JFK plays beautifully based on its cast. This movie is more than Costner, Jones, Pesci or even the subject himself; Walter Matthau, John Candy, Jack Lemmon - the only other brilliantly subtle powerhouse supporting geniuses missing here are Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Riley and Philip Baker Hall! And I don't mention the PT Anderson Players for humor alone - JFK is a film that focuses more on an event than on people/relationships, but I think that the ensemble acting here is as strong and noteworthy as anything done by Anderson or Robert Altman. And the director deserves a *little* credit for that, yes? Even if some argue that the assassination theory isn't perfect or even true, I hope more people remember how the acting and directing came together so brilliantly here.