alexmap Reviews

Without a Paddle (2004)

Road Trip Comedy

[8/10 · 10 November 2005]

Three childhood friends, Tom, Jerry and Dan meet at their thirties to start a trip through the woods, searching a treasure, in the memory of their lost friend Billy. Their relationships are tested as the trip turns to a disastrous adventure.

This is a simple, fresh and funny comedy and as such it is successful. The humor comes from the hilarious situations the three friends are found in and it is not a brainer. There are many caricatures and stereotypes used and some plot elements from the grown-up lives of the characters are rather unnecessary.

If you expect to fill an evening with some dumb but effective humorous adventure, then this movie will do it. If you expect more then you will be disappointed.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

And so started everything

[9/10 · 19 May 2005]

The Revenge of the Sith is the movie which completes the trilogy of prequels of Star Wars, storying the rise of the Empire, the transformation of Anakin to Vader and the begin of the conflict shown in the original Star Wars film and trilogy.

From many points of view the film reaches perfection. The picture is amazing. Graphics of battles, mechanics, creatures, planets etc. are state of the art. The plot is self-contained and completely free of decorative and redundant elements and scenes, while it still binds perfectly elements and facts of all 5 other Star Wars Episodes and it still serves the goal of storying the domination of the Sith and the fall of Anakin. New elements are brought without annoying or disturbing. The hole mystery/ history of characters and facts of Star Wars is revealed in the best possible way and the continuity to Episode IV could not have been better managed. As Anakin gets closer to the dark side, with the help of Palpatin, the spectator conceives the dark side and its philosophy of power as never before in Star Wars. Finally, acting and dialogs are much more improved than in all other Episodes.

And some remarks: after the slow-moving plot of Episodes I and II, III had to catch up with an overload of action and events. The film is quite condense. The spectator is challenged and overwhelmed (prefer watching the film someplace where film breaks still exist). Padme's role, though well played, is much more passive than in I and II. C3PO is put too much aside. The Jedi/Sith dismemberment fetish of George Lucas will test your stomach bearing. Connection problems: Ewan McGregor is too young to become Alec Guiness in IV, Palpatine is too old to exist in V, the Death Star was in much too advanced construction stage, only to be inaugurated in IV, Leia knew her mother far too little as to be able to speak about her in VI and Anakin is much younger and more good looking than the Jedi ghost originally shown in VI.

There is a great generation bias in grading and commenting a Star Wars Episode. However, if you, like me, belong to the generation which first show Star Wars on TV screen and first lived in theaters the 90ties film industry then this will be an Excellent Movie and will become your Best Star Wars Episode.

May the Force be with you (Es moege die Macht mit Ihr sein)

Summer Storm (2004)

Summer Stormy Self-Discovery

[9/10 · 9 September 2004]

Tobi, a teenager in a rowing team, is about to discover his latent homosexuality and his love for his close friend Achim, during a rowing contest, under the catalytic presence of a gay rowing group from Berlin.

Although the film borrows many plot elements from movies like "Was nutzt die Liebe in Gedanken" and "Krampack" (i.e. boy loves boy who loves girls) it copes with creating an exceptional coming-out film composition. The admixtures of German eastern and southern dialects and accents, the comic characters like the coach, the simple humorous stereotypes resulting from clueless-Oberbayern meeting Gay-Berlin and finally the summer storm of sexual consciousness forcing Tobi and the groups of teenagers to seek new balances, create a unique and simple German version of these topics.

As remarks could be mentioned that too much of accents is not as funny for us foreigners, the end is relatively open and the main character depicts sometimes too selfish and ignorant.

Film is Excellent - 10 of 10.

Donnie Darko (2001)

Brainy movie, nicely set

[10/10 · 19 April 2004]

The movie is about a boy with psychological disorders, who is possessed by visions of a giant rabbit urging him to commit acts of destruction and predicting the end of the world.

The movie touches a mosaic of subjects like youth, destiny, time, idealism, love, sex and violence but still copes to pack them together in a harmonic integration. The ingenuity of the movie lies not that much at the multitude of subjects it touches nor in the mind game it plays (as many remark, this last one, is similar to "Sixth Sense" but as some would recall this is rather a copy of the much more sophisticated time paradox in "12 monkeys") but more on the teenager point of view of the issues, which makes it more lively and interesting. The only negative is that some may be struck by the oversimplification of time theories.

This is a must see movie and it deserves its rating.

But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)

Brainy Comedy

[9/10 · 31 October 2003]

This is a rather satyric movie which stories the life of a girl, which was sent into a rehabilitation center, after parents and friends suspected her as being a lesbian. The plot and the hole movie are very cleverly set. The love story, in it, is very good. However, the biggest strength of the movie is the really unique, simple and enjoyable way it satyrizes and ironizes the goals and the methods of such kind of rehabilitation center. There are much more funny movies to see on the general subject (e.g. "in and out") but this is the only one I've seen which uses humor with irony, in light doses, more elegantly and hidden in the scenes and all this with a purpose to send a message through. And it serves this purpose from the first to the last scene. Very good movie, worthwhile watching.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Witty and Humorous Adventure

[9/10 · 30 October 2003]

This is a nice and clever film. It keeps the spectator interested from beginning to the end. It has tasteful humor and lots of action. The romance, although somewhat trivial, is nicely staged and the character played by Johny Depp steals the performance. This is an, all in all, very good movie to see.

Lord of the Flies (1990)

Worth Watching

[7/10 · 30 October 2003]

I haven't seen the older version and I haven't read the book either (if there is a book behind it). However, the movie is, at least, interesting and keeps the spectator in suspense. At the same time, it conveys some kind of message about human societies, leadership and the real limits of freedom. The ending comes somewhat unexpectedly and leaves some things open. This is an overall worth watching, in my opinion.

Like It Is (1998)

Tough but sweet

[9/10 · 29 October 2003]

This is a simple and enjoyable film. It shows the evolution of the sexual-love relationship of two young men in London. The total contrast of the characters and their origins, as well as the graphical elements of the characters, specially the one of Craig, demystify alot of gay stereotypes through an unusual romance.

Casino (1995)

Two thumbs down!!!

[1/10 · 6 June 2001]

The film is pointless. It supposedly shows aspects of the heydays of Las Vegas and the way Casinos worked. In fact though, it is a series of violent events, decadent situations and disgusting scenes after which the spectator comes to realise that there was no reason to watch the film in the first place. Films like this should be watched only to test one's neural bearing.