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Red Dragon (2002)
Worth a look
Not a bad film, though not nearly a great one. Part of the problem is that it is largely the same story as in Silence of the Lambs--killer on the loose, FBI agent needs Lecter to help crack the case. Even the transformation theme of the killer is the same. The one major difference that makes Silence a superior story (and thus, perhaps inevitably, a superior movie) is that in Red Dragon Will Graham has something concrete to protect: his family. Clarice Starling, on the other hand, has no such interests, and so the psychological dynamic between her and Lecter can be much more intense, more personal. That connection never develops here because the relationship between Graham and Lecter remains much more adversarial (not surprising, considering the way the film begins). Ratner is at least somewhat handcuffed by a story that is not as character-oriented as Silence was.
Still, the second half of the movie is much better than the first (which is filled with too many ham-handed lines), and the Dolarhyde-Reba relationship is well played by Fiennes and Watson. Norton is still a superior performer although it seemed he was sometimes fighting his lines.
I would suggest that the faux climax is superior to the actual climax. Someday someone will realize it's okay to stop there. (Although in fairness, I assume the book didn't stop there.)
6/10
Space Raiders (1983)
Awful
I've been trying to remember the name of this movie for years (not consecutively, of course). I saw it at the local dollar theater when I was 11, and it was so atrocious I almost walked out; I think I didn't realize one was allowed to leave before the movie ended. Anyway, it stuck in my mind as just about the worst movie I saw growing up. I can finally give it the rating it deserves.
1/10 (that was strangely satisfying)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Like watching a train wreck (*spoilers*, if that's still possible)
In the interest of fairness, I rented The Phantom Menace recently to assure myself that my recollections of the movie were accurate. Unfortunately, they were.
It's not as though there's *nothing* good about this movie. The effects in some bits are quite nice (though overall they violate the `less is more' creed) and the lightsaber duel (up to the end, where Darth Maul turns into an idiot) is fairly scintillating.
Having said that . . .
I remember watching the movie in the theatre when it came out and having this little internal struggle where I tried to convince myself that what I was seeing wasn't as bad as it seemed to be. I have fond memories of watching the first Star Wars movie as a five year old and I really wanted to enjoy this iteration. But it is what it is, and what it is is a pretty bad movie.
Plotting was never Lucas's strength. Star Wars relied on a simple, straightforward plot. Empire was more complex but was in the hands of a more skilled director. Return was back to being simple. That's okay-some of the best movies have very basic plots. Unfortunately, Lucas puts a complex, labyrinthine plot at the forefront of Phantom Menace, and he just can't handle it. Why he would emphasize a writing weakness is beyond me, but there it is. Just for fun, let's look at some serious plot problems. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan free Amidala and her imperial guard, then take her to the hangar to steal a ship. Yet the robots guarding the hangar, besides being pretty minimal for such a key location, seem to have no idea that Amidala has been loosed. I mean, get these guys a walkie-talkie! This would be pretty incredible in its own right, but when we learn later that all the droids are controlled by a central orbiting ship (some poor planning never changes) it's really impossible to believe. This leads directly to problem two: The escaping ship flies through the Trade Federation blockade, is saved by R2D2 (the astonishment of the pilot when this happens is amusing-he can't believe our little friend repaired the shield deflectors. Well, duh, isn't that what he was built to do?), and then
nothing. The Trade Federation seems to not understand the idea of a blockade, and fails to pursue a tiny, essentially defenseless ship. Why not? Who knows? The basic idea of the plot, that the whole Trade Federation-Naboo conflict is a ruse-a `phantom menace'-and the real scheme is for Palpatine to have himself elected chancellor, a la Hitler, is not a bad one. But the execution is so clumsy that the good idea is defeated.
`Show, don't tell.' Lucas violates this basic storytelling tenet throughout, but most egregiously in regard to the situation on Naboo. The invasion seems to be accomplished by the Trade Federation viceroy walking into the palace and declaring victory. There is no fighting at all. None. And we know the Naboo have defenses because they later steal back their own fighters to attack the droid-controlling ship. Later we have various accounts of Amidala's people in camps, starving, dying, etc. Not that we would know, because we never see it. There's never any sense of urgency to see these people saved because you never see that they need saving. In fact, aside from Amidala and her coterie, I don't remember seeing any of the planet's people (aside from the Gungans) at all, except at the very end, and it's too late to start caring then.
Motivation. Character motivations and actions seem to change almost whimsically. Shmi doesn't want Anakin to race, then reasons that he's the only one who can help (shocking that Anakin grew up to be arrogant!). Yoda doesn't want the boy trained but then turns him over to Obi-Wan for that purpose. (Good one, that-they think the boy is dangerous so instead of training him themselves where he can be carefully watched, they turn him over to a freshly minted Jedi whose own mentor was not known for being conventional. Well, it does explain why by A New Hope the Jedi are dying out. They are not very bright.)
Dialogue. Really awful. I think the line `But that's impossible!' was actually used twice in this movie, and that's not good. The scene in which Anakin asks Qui-Gonn to explain midichlorians seemed as though it was lifted from one of those Troy McClure public education films from the Simpsons. (`Mr. Qui-Gon, what's a midichlorian?')
`Deus ex machina.' Lucas really lost me for good with the scene in which our heroes' underwater craft is attacked by a sea creature, then just when all seems lost, a second critter chomps on the first, freeing the ship. Given the rest of the movie, it might have been better if it hadn't.
But more than anything, I wanted mention my `Star Wars finale' theory (someone else may have mentioned this, but I wasn't about to read 2600-plus comments to find out). Basically, there is one battle for each `number' of the film, in order of release. To wit: Star Wars: A New Hope had one climactic battle--Luke and friends assaulting the Death Star; Empire had two-Luke v. Vader and Leia and Lando escaping Cloud City; Return had three-Luke v. Vader and the Emperor, the rebellion fleet attacking the new Death Star, and the battle on Endor; and of course Phantom has four-Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan v. Darth Maul; Anakin attacking the droid ship; Amidala's crew hunting the viceroy; and the Gungans v. the droid army. At this rate, by the sixth movie the final battles should start about ten minutes in.
Is this the worst movie ever? Of course not. But it *is* a bad movie of little merit beyond technical expertise. If you want rousing adventure with a good story and lovely effects, see the first three, or even better, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
2/10
The Innocents (1961)
Creepy and intense
It was hard not to see this without thinking of similar films, particularly last year's The Others. I moderately enjoyed The Others, but a movie like The Innocents demonstrates just what that film lacked. (It does help to be working from a source like Henry James.) Mostly The Innocents played every subtle note just right, a difficult task that The Others didn't quite manage.
The pacing is deliberate, as all the real action takes place in the mind of Miss Giddens. Deborah Kerr does a fine job of playing out her character's awakening horror. But the children, played by Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin (also in the excellent The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), are the real heavy lifters, in that David Lynch rotting-beneath-the-porcelain-surface kind of way. Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Grose also deserves notice for playing the perfect counterpoint to Kerr's Miss Giddens.
Sound, cinematography (those shots of Miss Jessel on the lake are remarkable) and editing are brilliant.
Among the best in horror. 9/10
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
Delicious
So, so bad. Am I the only one who thinks Torgo sounds like Bette Davis?
Giant knees and death(?) by slapping. It's either Manos or Monty Python. Either way, it's hilarious.
Needs to be seen, but no doubt it's a 1/10.
The Hurricane (1999)
Lacked courage
Despite a fine performance by Denzel Washington, the writers and director have too little regard for the audience to make this a really great film.
Some dramatic license is understood and expected, especially since a story of this nature is difficult to fit into a single movie. But too much of the license taken is unnecessary and pedantic. One would imagine from watching this Rubin Carter is just about the most terrific guy that ever was. It's not so much that it's not true, it's that it makes for a less interesting story. The filmmakers seem to imagine that audiences can't accept that injustice done to a flawed man is still injustice. Washington brings out the intensity of Carter and gives him as much dimension as possible given the constraints of the script. But it still feels like we are shown only a piece of the man and not the whole.
Embodying the evils of the system in a single man--the Javert-like detective, as others have noted--is just lazy. The real problem of the system is its Kafkaesque nature, labyrinthine, monolithic and shadowy, filled with faceless bureaucrats who cannot singly be held accountable. Taking this approach would not only have made for a better story, but I suspect would have been more accurate.
5/10, mostly for a good soundtrack, nice production, and largely good performances, particularly Denzel Washington, who has better movies out there.
Bedazzled (2000)
Hokey, but inexplicably charming
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. It's mostly due to Brendan Fraser, who imbues his character with just the right amount of puppy dog charm. It doesn't hurt to have Liz Hurley strutting around in a variety of delicious outfits (all in red and/or black of course). Oh you kid. (Though judging from the DVD there was a scene involving a French maid's outfit that didn't make the cut. Nuts.)
Oh, and Miriam Shor, who was so great in Hedwig, is in here too. Not much for her to do, but I think she's keen.
Not a great movie, but more than good enough. 8/10
Le Cinquième Élément (1997)
Relentlessly ridiculous (possible spoilers)
Wow, what a mess--it's hard to believe this is the same guy who was responsible for the excellent Leon. I guess this was supposed to be some kind of SF farce, but whatever it was, it did not work. The jokes, such as they were, fell flat, and the plot, recycled and mangled from every previous SF film, was filled with holes (why did the diva wait till after her show to give up the stones--who knows? except as a convenience for the director), and the embarrassing denouement of Leeloo (ugh) becoming so upset over humanity's propensity for war (this after she beat the hell out of a gaggle of alien bad-guys; guess that was ok) but being convinced by Dallas to save humanity for love. Yarg. Two hours is a long time to set up what must have (must have!) been a bad parody.
The longer the film ran, the more the rating fell. It bottomed out. 1/10.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
Lift up your hands ...
... for a wonderful adaptation of the stage show. I was a bit nervous when I heard Hedwig was going to be a film, though I felt better when I heard John Cameron Mitchell was going to direct as well as star. I can understand why: this is far too original a vision to trust to others, especially when it comes to film.
Suffice to say, Mitchell (and Stephen Trask and Miriam Shor and everyone else involved) didn't let us down. Where the stage show was stripped-down and raw the film is a visual feast, which makes me think Mitchell has an innate understanding of how to use his mediums. The story is a better harder to follow in the film, but the pay-off is equal to the show. They kept all of Trask's remarkable music (the variety of styles is mostly amazing for how well it all works) from the show, with the exception of "The Long Grift."
Don't be scared off by the off-beat subject matter. This is a brilliant, funny, sad, and ultimately transcendent story; for all her seeming oddity, Hedwig is one the most essentially human characters you will ever see in a film. As Mitchell himself once said, "Hedwig is for everybody."
Look for the "Wig in a Box" and "Wicked Little Town (Tommy)/Midnight Radio" sequences. Beautiful.
Oh, and Emily Hubley did a great job on the animations.
10/10, of course.