Reviews
When Do We Eat? (2005)
A charming & unique entheogenic comedy!
Honestly I'd rate this closer to about an 8.5 but since they don't offer halves here on IMDb I'll round it up, it's just that great. It's rare that I find movies that have such a positive effect on me, and I've been fortunate enough to find two within a week of each other - first was THE MAN FROM EARTH, and then came this wonderfully quirky little film.
THE MAN FROM EARTH, although completely different in story and plot, shares many similar areas with WHEN DO WE EAT?, in that they both cover a lot of spiritual ground. I'm not personally religious but was born Jewish, so even though I never sat through an "actual" seder I can relate to a lot of the humor and even recognize some of the stereotypes presented among my extended family.
I can honestly say I've never seen ANY movie quite like WHEN DO WE EAT?, although I agree with the comparisons to MY BIG FAT Greek WEDDING, I personally found it most similar to BIG NIGHT, one of my all-time favorites, particularly in the massive preparation of a meal, all the family struggles, and just the general emotion and tone of the two films. But WHEN DO WE EAT? also brings in two other great subjects, neither of which are usually handled too well in other films: DRUGS and RELIGION. Regarding drugs, I definitely appreciated the subtle humor throughout and all of the winking references to marijuana and psychedelic culture. The whole segment where the father was "rolling" on ecstasy was just priceless, and the way he used the experience to repair his personal problems within his family was just beautiful and really moved me. The father's spiritual awakening (or re-awakening) as a result of this experience, and the entire last half of the film felt incredibly genuine and truly inspired me (again, similar to THE MAN FROM EARTH).
As another reviewer said, the humor was flying fast and furious throughout this movie with barely any breathing room. This frenetic pace did (at times) feel a bit TOO forced but overall I really enjoyed this movie, and will definitely watch it again (and again) as I share this with my friends and try to appreciate all that this movie has to offer. To the crew that put this one together: Thanks for creating something really different!
Battlespace (2006)
Very solid animated sci-fi.
Just finished watching this movie and after seeing the severe lack of good reviews, felt compelled to chime in with my personal review. I generally ignore ANY negative reviews I find for a movie, preferring instead to read whatever positive things people have to say. There's always SOMEONE whining about something in a movie, but perhaps they were in a cranky mood or (as another reviewer theorized) they had a personal gripe with the director or a cast member. However, if someone actually takes the time to write a POSITIVE review, I can be pretty sure that they genuinely liked it. :)
Anyway, about this film... no, it's not perfect. But it's definitely enjoyable, entertaining; a good solid diversion. HIGHLY reminiscent of TITAN AE, this flick had an extremely enjoyable mythology as a back-story that is immediately revealed at the start of the film. The animation however is both a step up and a step down from that of TITAN AE. This animation is done is a much more realistic style vaguely similar to FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN but even more realistic (or perhaps a half step below the animation in IMMORTAL (AD VITAM), which is one of my favorite animated sci-fi flicks of recent years. Strangely, it seems maybe they were hampered by budgetary constraints (or maybe they didn't notice it?) because even though the STATIC images were extremely well-designed, the battle sequences seemed a bit disjointed or a bit out-of-kilter.
The story also wasn't perfect but I wasn't looking for perfection, just a nice flick to watch during a boring evening. On that count, it definitely satisfied. Story-wise, it also reminded me a bit of LOST IN SPACE, as well as having a touch of CONTACT and STARGATE mixed in. Yep, as I said, this isn't a perfect film, but it has a moderately satisfying story, solid voice acting, and fairly enjoyable animation. Perfection? NO... but definitely a solid flick.
The Man from Earth (2007)
One of the greatest movie experiences of my life.
Up there with the best writings from my all-time favorite author, Robert A Heinlein (particularly his AMAZING story about a similarly long-lived individual, Lazarus Long in "Time Enough For Love"), right alongside one of my favorite reads of all time, "The Celestine Prophecy", and instantly comparable to exceptional movies of beauty, wonder and intelligence such as K-PAX, GATTACA, THE LAST MIMZY, and the WHAT THE BLEEP DO WE KNOW series.
This truly blew my mind, after happening upon it during a chance P2P download of recent sci-fi releases, I really wasn't expecting much but within ten minutes was completely drawn in, my mind reeling and my jaw agape, eagerly anticipating the next upcoming revelation. I could write about this movie for hours and still not say enough, but I will leave it at this: If you even REMOTELY enjoyed any of the above, you absolutely HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS FILM. Even though I downloaded it (a technique I use to weed out the myriad of fodder films to find the true masterpieces), I will be buying it the moment I can afford to, and will doubtless pass the word on to many, MANY more people from here on out.
Even though I wasn't even remotely excited about burning this to DVD and then putting it on to watch during a random solo movie session, I am now full of hope after having seen it, and am extremely overjoyed that I was lucky enough to have found this. It truly feels like it was a gift from heaven - and I'm not even REMOTELY religious (although I AM spiritual, and feeling vastly more so after this glorious experience).
Simple. Elegant. Profound. ...True Beauty!
Moonlight (2007)
Atmosphere and Texture abound...
No, Moonlight isn't the greatest show ever made, but I certainly love it to death. I've never seen any movie or TV show delve so deeply into the psychology of being a vampire; all the things you've lost in return for all of the so-called gains. This movie reminds me a lot of the cult flick "NEAR DARK" for the excellent atmosphere they both create, as well as for the short-lived 2005 series "NIGHT STALKER" which remains a constant favorite of mine due to the beautiful textures and resonance of the subject matter with me.
It's all a subjective issue of course, but I've been trying to turn a lot of my friends onto Moonlight, and have urged them to write letters to CBS encouraging them to take this onto a 2nd season. The music in this show is absolutely FANTASTIC - I searched high and low to find the soundtrack and as a DJ and budding music producer, plan to incorporate many of the series' sound effects and songs into my musical creations. One of my better friends and I are now serious devotees of this series, and he and I are working hard to turn as many of our friends onto this show as humanly possible. I see a lot of potential in Moonlight, and only pray it won't be ending with season one. This is definitely better than the vast majority of the mindless fodder out there today, and deserves to live on - at least for a time.
I've had a few friends dismiss this as a copycat of earlier series like ANGEL or FOREVER NIGHT, neither of which I've seen. All I know is that something about MOONLIGHT calls to me. I'm no goth vampire freak wannabe, although the darker side of human nature has always appealed to me. But there's SOMETHING about Moonlight that really intrigues me. Beautiful atmosphere, a definite attention to texture (vaguely reminiscent of the recent film masterpiece "LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN"), and some fantastic music make this - in my opinion at least - a definite keeper. The team of people who put this together DEFINITELY seem to care, and their attention to detail should be rewarded with a second season.
Burn Notice (2007)
Outstanding show! #1 for eight weeks running!
Just picked up that interesting tidbit at the end of last night's show... #1 for eight weeks running... that's pretty damn solid! If you haven't watched Burn Notice yet, you should. To paraphrase the Snicker's commercial, Packed with {action / quirky intelligence / wry, cynical humor} Burn Notice REALLY satisfies.
It's just an overall tremendous show, eight episodes in it's still every bit as amazing as the pilot was. Very consistent and just moves along at a real enjoyable yet leisurely pace. Never boring, trite or clichéd, it definitely seems to be created by a team that TRULY enjoys what they're doing.
If you're unfamiliar with this show, it's about a spy, Michael Westen, who used to work for the NSA but was blacklisted (that's what a burn notice is) for reasons unknown. Now he's stranded with his girlfriend and a former FBI buddy along with his annoying, nagging mother, and along with trying to find out the source of the burn notice which killed his career, each episode he takes on a new job to pay his bills... sometimes he's a detective, sometimes a bodyguard, sometimes he needs to rescue a hostage or take down a local mobster. Always entertaining and always very well-paced, well-written and well-executed.
Plus it's set in South Florida, so as a South Florida native & resident, every episode my friends and I get to see lots of awesome, familiar sights like South Beach, downtown Miami, South Point Park, and other areas such as Pompano Beach...
Great stuff, I highly recommend you check it out.
Far Out Man (1990)
Little known comedy gem!
I saw an ad for this in (popular stoner magazine) a few years back, thought "Hey, I'd like to get that!", and then promptly forgot about it. I rediscovered it while searching through Amazon.com for stoner comedies, and after seeing Tommy Chong's own review, decided I HAD to have it.
Basically, I loved it. Yep, a little weak in places, but they weren't trying to make a cinematic masterpiece here. I'd put this in the same category as movies like "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" or, in a more similar time period, "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane: Rock and Roll Detective" starring Andrew Dice Clay, one of my favorite cheeseball comedies from the late eighties/early nineties.
Oh, and that's one other thing - I could've SWORN this movie was made (and released) recently - the copyright on the DVD says 2001, and all the reviews and info I read led me to believe it was a recent flick. Maybe just an oversight on my part, but it was actually made in 1989. Personally, that makes it even MORE enjoyable for me, as I love finding flicks that I missed in my youth, and get to see now for the first time. Then I get to show it to all of my friends, who are then similarly amazed that THEY hadn't heard of it, either. It's definitely a fun hobby :)
[** A FEW VERY MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD, FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T WATCHED IT YET **]
So anyway, like "Ford Fairlane", this movie is hit & miss at times, but when it hits, it hits great, with some real goofball humor that you'll be instantly quoting with your friends at the end of the movie. Also like "Ford Fairlane", this movie had a bunch of cool cameos, either playing random characters, or more typically, playing themselves. The brief Cheech spot was UTTERLY unexpected and was one of the biggest laughs of the movie. Dokken jamming out at Tommy's house was also an unexpected sight. C Thomas Howell's scene with Judd Nelson was simply AMAZING, with Howell being utterly floored that Judd Nelson had never heard of him. (Like Howell, I also thought Nelson kicked much butt in "From The Hip", another infrequently seen but highly enjoyable 80s comedy) Howell's line, "You've seen (random porn title) but never saw RED DAWN?!?" was a laugh-riot, and I totally agree. Did Judd Nelson live under a rock in the eighties, or what? RED DAWN = MUST SEE MOVIE!
In conclusion, I really, REALLY liked this movie. Mad respect to Tommy Chong and family for putting this together. In the end, I guess Martin Mull's hypnotic suggestion ("You'll like this movie. Tell a friend.") made an actual impression on me. I liked this movie, and I'll be telling a LOT of friends. Check this out for sure - as long as you love goofy comedies, you'll dig it. It's far out, man. :)
The Watcher in the Woods (1980)
Beautiful & Spiritual 80s Dark Fantasy!
As a major lover of all things eighties, I was shocked when I recently heard of this movie in comparison with "Escape To Witch Mountain," one movie which I'd seen as a child and was wanting to see again now, as an adult. But I'd never even HEARD of "The Watcher In The Woods," so after seeing the many glowing reviews, I was determined to download it and see it as soon as humanly possible.
I just finished watching this excellently crafted movie from 1980 and must say, it REALLY stands the test of time. Though it actually feels set in the mid-Seventies (probably was filmed around 1978, which fits), it really holds up incredibly well close to thirty years later. It started off feeling quite a bit like a horror film, then started moving into territory closer to that of the recent gem "Pan's Labyrinth," introducing a decidedly magical element that really got under my skin, and stayed there for the remainder of the movie.
I totally agree with narnerbee's review stating that Disney really doesn't make films like this anymore. It's a shame, too, because they SHOULD. The way the world is these days, a little magic and spiritual feel injected into their movies could really help things and bring back some of the long-lost feeling of beauty and wonder in our lives. Though I never managed to see this film as a child, I can't help but imagine what a major influence this would've been on me if I HAD seen it back then. It's really a great movie, and it's only a shame that Disney has wandered so far away from their original path of actively and passionately exploring our imaginations.
Fortunately we still have plenty of creative geniuses out there like Guillermo del Toro, Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky and others who determinedly follow their hearts and continue to create stunningly passionate visions that simply and powerfully resonate within our souls. "The Watcher In The Woods" is one such vision, and although I wouldn't go so far as to call it a MASTERPIECE, it's definitely a great piece of movie-making history, and one which I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to any fans of dark fantasy or magical fiction. [ Peace - Love - Unity - Respect ]
Surface (2005)
Truly fantastic series, killed off by the suits.
It's not often that a TV series grabs me right off the bat; a recent chance download of the pilot for Surface had me glued to my seat for the entirety of the episode, after which I immediately set out on a fevered search to learn everything I could about this wonderful series. To my chagrin, I found out it had been canceled after a mere 15 episodes, despite its strong ratings and extremely favorable reviews. Such a shame.
Since then, I've acquired the remaining episodes, and found the first 5 or 6 to be among the best television I've EVER watched. Just fantastic from start to finish, and as another reviewer commented, I LOVED how they ended every episode with a huge finish. I imagine watching it each week I would've been screaming with tension and just captivated, desperately waiting for the next episode to be released. Growing up, I always heard that was how early serial movies used to do it, ending with a huge cliffhanger to get the crowds back into the theater for the next episode.
Well, it seems for some reason or another the suits decided to kill this off, and apparently the people behind the show must've seen the writing on the wall, because after episode 6 things definitely take a turn for the worse. I wouldn't say the episodes actually become BORING but a lot of the plot elements become a bit more clichéd, and I've got to say, the final episode really left me feeling cheated. I just wish the show's creators were given a fair chance. The *ONLY* other show that left me feeling like that was the first season of Stargate SG-1, which just resonated tremendously, feeling very "true", soulful and made from the heart. Surface was a great series, and maybe one day, some well-heeled TV lover will see all the outpouring of emotion about the show's cancellation, and bring back this show. One can hope, at least. :)
Immortel (ad vitam) (2004)
Science Fiction Masterpiece - sensual, textured, atmospheric - a visual feast!
Absolutely one of the best and most intriguing sci-fi films I've seen in years, thank god for internet downloads, otherwise I doubt I ever would have even heard of this film. Having just acquired a new DVD player that will play DiVX-encoded movies, I set about trying to find various interesting sci-fi/fantasy films. Running across "IMMORTEL (AD VITAM)" I decided to look it up here on IMDb and see what the masses had to say about it.
Now, in my opinion, almost ANYONE can find something negative to say about ANY film - but the truly passionate ones come out and speak their mind when something truly moves them. Thus, I tend to ignore negative reviews and instead focus solely on the positive comments. And so it comes about that - even though I've been making use of this website for *MANY* years now - this will be my very first review of a film.
I disagree that this movie is solely for film purists and art lovers; although I definitely have a great appreciation for the indie sensibility and love a good art film, I also LOVE modern commercial animated flicks (though have never really gotten too heavily into anime) and have absolutely enjoyed most commercial science fiction such as Fifth Element, Blade Runner, Stargate (and the first few seasons of the TV show Stargate SG-1), Minority Report, the original 3 Star Wars, Red Planet, Mission to Mars, Screamers, Impostor, etc. Never having heard of Enki Bilal prior to this point (having only read one or two issues of Heavy Metal over the years, but have never really gotten too into them), I now see what a genius and visionary he is, and am now on a hungered quest to find everything he's done: the films TYKHO MOON and BUNKER PALACE HOTEL, as well as all of his graphic novels, including the Nikopol Trilogy (which will hopefully expand upon the universe he discusses in this film), The Beast Trilogy, and every other major piece of work from his arsenal of past releases.
As for this film: *INSTANTLY* one of my all-time favorites, I've already watched it twice in the past week, sitting transfixed and helplessly drawn into the gorgeous, sensual, deeply textured world he has envisioned. It's like the best of Fifth Element meets the best of Stargate, only far more artistic and soulful (not to denigrate either of those films; I loved both of them and watch each of them at least once every year or so just to reacquaint myself with their particular mythos.) But IMMORTAL? God, it's just GORGEOUS!! A little cryptic at first for those unfamiliar with Enki Bilal's work; I just sat there, jaws literally agape, utterly astonished at the detail and depth of the artwork. This is definitely a science fiction masterpiece - a film for anyone who enjoys serious atmosphere, texture, sensuality, artistry, and of course, bleak dystopian views of our future world. This is one movie which I will definitely be buying as soon as humanly possible - and all because of a chance download. Why the music & film industry doesn't openly embrace downloading is beyond me. I've discovered so many amazing films & music artists this way, and have since gone out to purchase all of my favorites to embrace the high quality and all of the wonderful extras that are available. Granted, I may be the exception to the rule, but with a VHS library of over 2500 films, 100+ laserdiscs, just under 500 DVD's and well over 3000 CD's, almost all of which I've purchased as a DIRECT result of things I've downloaded over the years, they are DEFINITELY not losing ANY money from this individual.
In closing... thank you, Enki Bilal, for creating such a stunning, resonant masterpiece. You put your heart and soul into this and I am forever in your debt for bringing IMMORTAL (AD VITAM) to the screen. [ PEACE - LOVE - UNITY - RESPECT ]