Change Your Image
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Self_Proclaimed
Reviews
Mongol (2007)
Wonderful timeline, but...
Nothing is overdone, necessary characters are well-defined and the others are fleshed out enough to play the small part they need to.
Also, the 'rags to riches' portrayal is nothing new, yet quite appealing, to a viewer with no idea that the movie's about Genghis Khan and not just some warrior-king. I could have placed Tem. as just another Mongol leader, knowing knew very little, if any, history about Genghis.
Cons- The scenes with the wolf and the desire for more definition at the film's end.
I must say, I loved the change in music at the end; it was quite an attention catch. It's nice not to hear the 'national fare' around that time, as we so often do.
Welcome to the Jungle (2007)
I seem to have felt a twitch of admiration...
Having only seen Cannibal Holocaust and assuming that it inspired The Blair Witch Project, I fell that I can say this film is a double ripoff. For the first time, I'm not unhappy about that. Seeing this reading the back of the case, I thought to myself, "I never thought anyone would dare take on the task of remaking Cannibal Holocaust." I was attracted. The characters were well-formed and I loved the cinematography; I always liked that part of Cannibal Holocaust more. The group of explorers was the most interesting part, though.
Two couples on a trip through the jungle. Bijou's an old friend to Mandi, Mikey's a somewhat new friend to Colby. Foreseen conflict between the couples and definite conflict between at least one couple? I would think so. The short interview scene established Mikey as a heavy drinker and beforehand, his attitude already showed jealousy toward Colby. Bijou was shown to be an alcoholic, perhaps in denial, and seeming to move toward depression from the beginning of the movie. Colby we saw as an energetic, kinda good-hearted guy that was, for the most part, 'just having fun' with his life. Mandi showed a good heart until her comment on Colby about using him for sex that was barely believable, and not for lack of good acting I think, came out. The trip showed it all and they played it very well, for going with no script.
I must say, though, that Bijou's portrayal of the alcoholic was almost on the dot. For all the time the film kept me curious, that was easier to see than anything. Too bad she got the proverbial spike...
300 (2006)
I Waited Too Long To Give It A 10
The only reasons that I gave it a 9 were the places in the plot that I had too hard of a time figuring out immediately and some of the obvious history changes (although I did expect them, it would have been nice). The blood splatters could have looked a little better, but obviously time was needed elsewhere for a film done entirely on blue/green screen. The good part: I loved the fights! Soldiers in each army were depicted in such a way as to make them seem exactly as I expected. The political part was a little annoying at times, but a necessary part of the film; that was where I had the hardest time figuring things out immediately. It's just not very fun to think about something when you're watching people fight a lot. I think that I saw one of the first previews for 300 last summer and I knew then that I was ready to watch for glory, but after waiting so long to see it I think I blew its glory up too much and expected perfection. My apologies to Zack Snyder and everyone else who worked on or in 300.
Dexter (2006)
Excellent show for CSI or crime movie fans
Every episode that I've seen of Dexter has kept me on my toes; like nothing before. I thought I'd be able to guess outcomes and then I'd be surprised by a result that came along. I'd recommend this to any fan of mystery or criminal investigation shows. Being a fan of the serial killer genre of movies, I was very skeptic of a show about a serial killer; again, the surprise came after only two episodes. I was hooked. Generally, I'm a fan of the 'regular' sitcoms: Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and the like and I'm sure the CSI shows can keep something going, but they deal with different crimes a lot. A show about a serial killer that works for the cops? Yeah, right... Curiosity proved to be quite "on my side" this time, though, as the show proved to be better than any I've seen in a long time. I like it better than Seinfeld and that's saying something for a guy with the Kramer painting in his living room. Just make sure you can handle the gore.
The Departed (2006)
Ahem
I don't know if The Departed has any connections at all to Internal Affairs. I don't care if it does. Why would someone walk out of a good movie complaining about it. Send me an e-mail with your PO Box # and if this movie doesn't get nominated for at least two Oscars, I'll send you a Money Order for $5. It's just too good not to. With a star-studded cast, it'll at least get Best Actor/Actress. For being such a good movie, it'll get Best Movie. Maybe they'll even make up a new one for best faked accent or best (apparent) copy of another good movie. It's wonderful. I beg of everyone, please appreciate this movie for what it is instead of just finding fault in it. -Self_Proclaimed
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Good Movie, Read the book first
The entire Lord of the Rings movie trilogy is a complete travesty. I read these books when I was very young (I'm 24 now) and after watching the movies and seeing the new covers for the books, my disappointment was heightened. One of the major purposes of any work of fiction is to exercise the imagination in the form of creating images of the things in the work, especially the characters. Now, when someone reads these books after watching the movies (even The Hobbitt) the reader will have a preset image of the characters that they've seen. The Lord of the Rings is one of history's greatest series of fictional books simply because of the imagination put forth in creating an entire world to base it on; that's now basically ruined because of the movies. A good comparison would be the Dune series, which I now feel uncomfortable reading simply because I saw the Sci-fi channels presentations of the book and Children of Dune. The only reason that the movie deserves a 4 is because of the quality of it.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Decent movie, read the book first
The entire Lord of the Rings movie trilogy is a complete travesty. I read these books when I was very young (I'm 24 now) and after watching the movies and seeing the new covers for the books, my disappointment was heightened. One of the major purposes of any work of fiction is to exercise the imagination in the form of creating images of the things in the work, especially the characters. Now, when someone reads these books after watching the movies (even The Hobbitt) the reader will have a preset image of the characters that they've seen. The Lord of the Rings is one of history's greatest series of fictional books simply because of the imagination put forth in creating an entire world to base it on; that's now basically ruined because of the movies. A good comparison would be the Dune series, which I now feel uncomfortable reading simply because I saw the Sci-fi channels presentations of the book and Children of Dune. The only reason that the movie deserves a 4 is because of the quality of it.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Good movie, travesty to readers
The entire Lord of the Rings movie trilogy is a complete travesty. I read these books when I was very young (I'm 24 now) and after watching the movies and seeing the new covers for the books, my disappointment was heightened. One of the major purposes of any work of fiction is to exercise the imagination in the form of creating images of the things in the work, especially the characters. Now, when someone reads these books after watching the movies (even The Hobbitt) the reader will have a preset image of the characters that they've seen. The Lord of the Rings is one of history's greatest series of fictional books simply because of the imagination put forth in creating an entire world to base it on; that's now basically ruined because of the movies. A good comparison would be the Dune series, which I now feel uncomfortable reading simply because I saw the Sci-fi channels presentations of the book and Children of Dune. The only reason that the movie deserves a 4 is because of the quality of it.
The Great New Wonderful (2005)
Never staggered out of a movie
This movie made me cry throughout it 4 or 5 times and I'm a 24 yr old guy. I was left guessing all the way through it and at the end it hit me like a sledgehammer. Each person's story gave me an insight to so many different emotions of what life can feel like at some different stage in life. I've felt happiness and I thought I had felt depression but GNW gives me a look at it that I've never seen and I've been through 5 rehabs that gave me an idea of what I thought my depression and others' was like (aside from what I went through before that). THIS movie is depression embodied with happiness masking some of it, some displayed outright, and some just not realized. True to form with the WTC bombing, I left the theater not really even realizing what had exactly hit me. I guess it was designed to be that way.
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Excellent animation with recovery/drug use/sci-fi... wonderful!
What seemed to be just a new form of animation in a science-fiction movie turned out to be a movie that I would almost consider being about recovery from a life wasted in drug use... scary for any stoner and a good reminder for anyone in recovery not to go back to where you were. Reeves, Ryder, Downey, and Harrelson all fit their roles perfectly and every plot twist seemed like a patch being sewn onto a rugged jacket that was just barely hanging on to the homeless man wearing it. Just when I thought things were over or going just right somewhere, something changed to keep me wondering. R. Downey, Jr. turns the rat, two people seem to die (although it's a little difficult to notice Freck's rebirth), and at the end of the movie we discover that Reeves has been convinced he was doing something else the whole time and, apparently, still is. I guess it's somewhat of a thriller, too.