Chandler_ Reviews

Donnie Darko (2001)

Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice...

[8/10 · 5 August 2002]

Donnie Darko tells us in a strange kind of way things about the future. Not in a typical sci-fi way or an apocalyptic movie with a pregnant Demi Moore.

Donnie Darko, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is a high school student who has an oversized demonic bunny as companion, who tells him things about the future.

Donnie has to take medication and sees a psychiatrist who uses hypnosis to discover why the oversized bunny leads him on to these sleepwalking trips. Many times he wakes up on different places. Sometimes somewhere on the road, other times on a golf terrain.

One time he has luck. Late at night, everybody is a sleep, instead of his older sister. She just got home after a date. Suddenly when she closes the door, a loud crash is heard. She holds her hands to her ears and falls on the floor.

The next day. Donnie wakes up somewhere else, when he got home, everywhere around his house are police lines with neighbors standing around the lines, while a big truck removes an engine away and the FBI questions the Darko family. There is much unexplained. For example, no airline is reporting that an engine is missing from one of its jets. Where did the engine come from?

Just like Mulholland Drive, the movie gives you allot of intriguing mind puzzles, and you keep wondering what is happening.

This set-up and development is fascinating, some will not like the ending and others will think is terrific. It's up to you what you think about it.

But I tell you this, Richard Kelly is very talented, especially at creating a disturbing atmosphere out of the materials of real life. His mysterious engine is a brilliant. He sees his characters as persons, and never reduces them to typical characters. And he has this also to thank to the actors, who all gave a great performance.

For a film debut this is a very good start. A very good start indeed.

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. -- Robert Frost

Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

My nights will be lonely and dark

[5 August 2002]

The movie is about a paramedic played by Nicolas Cage who travels around with great pain. This isn't the kind of movie that will make you any happier. Instead of hearing music, the only thing Nicolas Cage hears on the radio is human misery.

The beauty of this movie lies not on the outside but within the small things. When he and his partner (John Goodman) arrive at a patient, he asks the family to put on some familiar music. He says to the family that that sometimes helps to bring them back.

Some people already will stop believing this movie within this small scene and will give it up. Because for them this is just ridiculous. Why would anyone come back by playing some music? But it isn't about the patient. It is about the family. With the music, the people will start to think about the happier times and the good things they had together.

Some people will not believe these things. Some people say that it is depressing that paramedics can be like Frank, the character played by Nicolas Cage. Why not? Instead they should get some more information of this film because the movie is based on a novel by Joe Connelly, himself once a New York paramedic.

It isn't always easy to not get involved with the misery you see everyday. These people are only human. Thank god for that! And this paramedic is very good at his job, he does it day after day, but he realizes that there never will come an ending at this. It doesn't matter what day it is, what year. Every day somebody dies, somebody lives.

Nicolas Cage is terrific as the paramedic. It was his best performance since Leaving Las Vegas. Also his co-drivers like Ving Rhames and John Goodman were great. Martin Scorcese does a great job directing this movie.

In a little time soon, we will be together. And not so long after that, we'll not leave forever. But until I reach that point, my nights will be lonely and dark

Cube (1997)

The questions in our lives

[8/10 · 5 August 2002]

The questions in our lives, do we know what their about ? Why does the sun shine bright? Why do our people fight? Is there life after death? When will we know our fate? What should we say and do? I don't know...do you?

Everybody asks there selves these questions. When will we know our fate? But what if you wake up in a Cube with five other persons and you can't get out.

Wouldn't you wonder what your fate would be?

Cube is the debut film of Vincente Natali, who won allot of awards with this already instant-classic cult film.

In this intelligent, original fantastic movie six people are trying to get out of a cube. In the cube you will find a police officer, a mathematic student, a psychologist, a thief, an autistic person and the person who partially helped with building the cube.

None of them know why they are in this and what the purpose is of the cube. But they all want the same thing. Getting out! But the cube doesn't give up that easily.

The result you get, is a very special and fascinating thriller which almost drags you as the viewer inside the plot and wants you to find out what the reason is of all this.

The problem which many will have with this movie, is the ending. Why? Because it doesn't necessary give answers. But we don't always get the answers to the questions in our lives, do we?

Hollywood Ending (2002)

The End Of Hollywood

[6/10 · 4 August 2002]

Woody Allen's latest movie called Hollywood Ending.

For many years Woody Allen has fought against the typical movies you can see all the time in Hollywood-land and as well as the critics, also the audience mostly enjoyed his movies.

For many of his films Allen fought and fought and made allot of knock-outs like the beautifully shot Annie Hall and the great Manhattan, all involved with neurotic people who look for the essence of life and love, sometimes Woody Allen's swing missed and himself got knock-out. Like Small Time Crooks.

Lately many of his fans as well as critics are considering Allen's movies to be bad. He just isn't the same anymore.

Hollywood Ending is about a movie-director, played by Woody Allen , and hasn't made a movie in a decade. He used to be very successful and started to get an attitude, and after a while he didn't get a job. The only thing they let him make are commercials, and even with those he has problems with.

But now, a movie-producer (Treat Williams) is looking for a director and Allen's ex-wife (Tea Leoni) is trying to convince Treat Williams that Woody Allen is the perfect director for this movie. At first they don't want to hear about it, but after a while Treat Williams is been convinced and Woody Allen gets green light to start the film. But when he starts on the film, he suddenly loses his sight and has to make the movie without seeing anything.

Many people can't wait to see the ending of Woody Allen, and hate him. Woody Allen knows this, and uses this in Hollywood Ending. He considers to be the Jerry Lewis of directing. There is always France!

Like I said, sometimes he tries to get a comeback as a fighter and some of the jokes work but not always. It's like Woody Allen fights around in the air and tries to hit something. And when he does hit, it sure isn't a knock-out.

But we can only hope that he makes his comeback, and with this we have to give him chances to make more movies. Because nobody can keep on fighting without getting punched out. Not even the best!

But if you want to see a good movie about filmmaking, watch 8 ½ , La Nuite Americaine, Living in Oblivion or State and Main, these movies are much better.

The Goddess of 1967 (2000)

Neither Nothing or everything.

[8/10 · 4 August 2002]

Not many people have seen this film. Those who have seen it, will either hate it or love it. I loved it.

The movie starts with a computer screen that says: I want to buy GOD.

The Prologue doesn't have any human voices. The world the director shows of Japan is obvious. A world of Japanese high-tech. Everywhere there are machines, nobody lives without it. Even as they communicate. As well as the running is been done on a machine.

Clara Law has a very interesting and personal view which shows us her own interesting personality that she is. Because of that movie I can't let go of that.

She succeeds in showing us her own vision of The Goddess of 1967 because she stays consequent by creating a contemporary and postmodern feeling. A feeling she got from her own environment. Born in Macau, studied English literature in Hong Kong. Afterwards Film in London and lives with her husband in Australia.

What Clara Law tries to explain in her movie is sort of autobiographic, it is obvious that she reflects this on the two protagonists. Both characters living in two completely different countries and cultures. Clara Law doesn't work this movie out in a shallow kind of way. She does it within a own creative way and lets the characters explore each other

One character JM appears to be having everything he wants. Financial that is. He is so wealthy he believes he can buy god. Therefore he wants to buy this is beautifully car called the CITROEN DS from 1967. The GODdess. For JM this means freedom. Free of all the big luxury, being unhooked of all the machines.

The other character is BG. A girl who has been blind for all her life. Because of a suddenly death of the dealer of the car, BG will lead JM the way to the real owner of the car. Or so she says.

Once they are on the road with the car, you can follow the mental way of both characters. On the road the flashbacks follow and the viewer learns the pain and history of the characters and why the are what they are.

Neither silent or moving. Neither perceivable or imperceptible Neither nothing or everything. A state of mystery, paradox, ambiguity That is what I tried to capture in this film. CLARA LAW

Thank you Clara Law.....

The Pledge (I) (2001)

The Road not taken

[8/10 · 4 August 2002]

What drives a person to madness?

To me it would almost be the bad decision/taste of some people.

When I went to the theater to see it, somebody who stood behind me was talking to a friend she hadn't seen in a while. I wish I hadn't either. Let's follow the wonderful world of friendship:

Person 1 Hey

Person 2 Hey, How are you?

Person 1 Fine Thanks. And You?

Person 2 Great. SO what are you going to watch?

Person 1 The Pledge

Person 2 Ooh dear god girl. I went to see that one last week, it's a terrible movie. Too slow, bad acting and no plot what so ever.

Person 1 So what are you going to watch?

Person 2 The Glass House.

After this I dropped dead. Apparently I had a heart attack. I couldn't handle the pressure of this been said so I said goodbye to my 22 years on earth.

Like The Deep End and In The Bedroom, these movies will not be appreciated by a large audience. But it will be loved by critics and a small group of filmgoers. Is it a shame?

For me personally? Yes. For others? Maybe not.

But the acting, the plot, the directing and the suspense were all great. It was all sober and modest. For example: At the chicken farm, when Jack Nicholson has to tell the parents about the child they lost. And many other great scenes. The story? About a cop who is almost on retirement. But on the day he quits, another murder happens and Jack Nicholson decides to get involved in the case. It could have been a typical cat and mouse chase were the cop chases the bad guy, but Sean Penn decides to take a completely other way.

And I thank him for it. From this point it is where many people will leave the movie behind and start to hate it. From this point it al begins where I start to love the movie more and more.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Pearl Harbor (2001)

Bombs away!

[1/10 · 4 August 2002]

Well it couldn't go wrong, could it?

Michael Bay had 140 MILLION dollar, got some exotic locations, some famous actors and the newest of the newest digital magic one could wish for. A historical fact which speaks immediately to the imagination and also a great typical undefeated Titanic-kind of story.

With this in mind, the movie would have been indestructible, one could almost compare it with the TITANIC! It wouldn't sink either.

140 million dollars. I just can't understand it so I must say it again. 140 million dollars.

You would suspect that someone with 140 MILLION dollars could make a good movie.

Well, guess what: Michael Bay didn't. Why didn't he make a movie with 40 million and gave the rest to those who could really need it. Because now even more people have to suffer to watch this.

I don't know what happened with Michael Bay. Maybe he started to feel the energy of Bruckheimer or got an overdose on drugs and suddenly thought he was `King of the world!' and decided to throw James Cameron and Steven Spielberg of the thrown.

But at the end he is nothing more than a pathological filmmaker who should stay away from a camera.

Love scenes that looks like they came out of a commercial of L'Oreal, and the lovely war scenes with a nice touch of gold-yellow shine.

The attack we all waited for after a long time was shot beautifully but it just missed the rawness of a war-movie, like for example Saving Private Ryan or Platoon.

And what about the script? How much did they pay the scriptwriters anyway? I hope they didn't got overpaid because this was just plain bad!

The typical dialogues like (my heart beats) and the falling in love with Affleck's friend was overdone! And you just know who has to die, because it was in the first lesson of `How to write a script'!

Or when an English officer talks to Affleck: `Not many guys here like the Americans, but if they all fight like you, I wouldn't want to be the enemy'.

Things like this don't make you care about the effects when they are on the screen.

One should learn from their mistakes and history, let's all hope that Michael Bay did the same thing.

A Knight's Tale (2001)

A Wrong Tale

[3/10 · 4 August 2002]

This is a story about a boy who wants to become an…actor. His name? Heath Ledger. Will he succeed at it? Hopefully? What will it depend on? His choice of movies.

Is it working out? Probably.

But I must say, good old Heath, you only have made one good movie from your beginning till A Knight's Tale. The movie called Two Hands. Correction: one great movie called Two Hands.

But what about A Knight's Tale?

I must admit, the movie starts off very well, the music is set right with We Will Rock You from Queen! And it almost started of as a satire.

But then, when you least expect it, it crawls upon you and chokes you! The writers suddenly get involved in writing allot of clichés. So many I couldn't count them. What happened with the great premises?

They got shattered between the battles of the knights. After the first battle the dialogues get more and more ridicule by the minute. Off course the writers had to put in a love story for the couples in the theater, and a funny guy (I mean two funny guy's) for the lonesome guys who can identify there selves with them.

Does it work? Not in this century. I must agree when they say that the battle's were done nicely but after a while even those get boring.

Everything you see in this film has been done before, only much better. The villain who must defeat the hero, the defeat of the hero and trying to get the girl. And don't forget the great comeback of the hero and the great love story between the hero and the girl.

Everything was done exactly by the book. But did it all work?

I saw the romantic past in your eyes I planned to surprise and surprised I was when I woke up crying

The One (2001)

The One "line summary"

[2 August 2002]

Jet Li is back and kicks double ass!

He also stinks twice at it.

The effects? Good.

The rest of the movie? Bad!

Ever since Jet Li came to America, he didn't make anything good, except maybe for his `bad' part in Lethal Weapon 4 that was quite good.

I must say, I liked The One more then Romeo Must Die which director Andrzej Bartkowiak has no feeling for action. He doesn't know how to put his camera when the action starts and try's to make it modern and fails at it completely.

James Wong has much more feeling, and maybe much more budget too, with the way how he puts the action in a scene. And I must say, I enjoyed the fighting scenes in the beginning and somewhere in the middle.

But the ending was just bad, it was too long and after one or two minutes I gave up and didn't care who would win the fight.

The story? Excellent! Or was it terrible? It depends from which dimension you are... The story is as simple as can be. Jet Li from some dimension, kills every other Jet Li in every other dimension, so he can gain his power and become the One.

To me it just sounds like a bad episode of SLIDERS. I know allot of people that will like this movie because it is a brainless fighting flick with good SFX, and I admit there are movies that are worse, but to me this wasn't good either. I prefer an older Jet Li movie over this.

I hated the ending of the good Jet Li, it was so painful to watch this through. The ending of the bad Jet Li made the pain go away a little. Just a little.

But the Wodka made me forget the movie. Just a little

Birthday Girl (2001)

Happy birthday to you!

[5/10 · 2 August 2002]

Nicole Kidman has had it pretty busy, didn't she?

But maybe she should have taken vacation or so … Because Birthday girl wasn't that good.

The story: It's about a guy (Ben Chaplin) who lives alone in England and looks through the internet for a girl. The only land where women still leave everything behind is Russia.

So from Russia with love they send Nicole Kidman. Who I must say, spoke quite good Russian and was very convincing as a Russian woman.

And the movie starts off calm and doesn't rush anything. The two start to learn each other, the viewer starts to learn about them and then on her birthday it happens. Two russian friends come to meet Nicole and want to celebrate. But then it goes wrong, as well in the movie as the movie itself. Suddenly from calm it goes to very chaotic and from worse to bad and everybody tries to get back to everybody.

To me this wasn't the fault of the actors, but the director. He tried to make a big birthdaycake with all the ingredients that would make it good but when he looked at the result it was just flat. He had mixed too much and got nothing.

The movie really supported only on the result of the actors and nothing more. The story was weak and could have been done allot better then this.

Nicole Kidman almost got a flawless record this year but just at the finish she fell down, although she did a fine work. And Ben Chaplin was also pretty good at his part.

If you want a chaotic movie like this with sort off a similar story watch Something Wild of Jonathan Demme.

Resident Evil (2002)

The Living Dead rises again, and stink at it!

[2 August 2002]

What makes a good movie?

You can say whatever you want, but there is not one movie that everybody will like. There will never be that kind of movie and it would be almost impossible, just like there would be a perfect person or maybe a zombie?

But I can tell you this: I DIDN'T LIKE Resident Evil.

You know, if you want to make a movie which involves a story where allot of SFX is needed, to me one of the important things of that movie is that the SFX are great and make you believe them. I hated Godzilla but I must say, they threw allot of money away for the effects, and it was necessary or you would get a movie like Gargantua.

It started to get bad when the red monster gets out of some kind of iron cage. From that point I saw that the effects were going to be very very very bad! Just the way the monster kicked the door out was pathetic. And the monster? What was that? A cartoon edited or stop motioned monster? Especially at the ending in the train..

I love the original King Kong movie… The effects are for this time maybe bad, but they are great for that time, and to me are still great because it works but Resident Evil bothered me. It was like Ray Harryhausen was back in the game and said that stop-motion is cool again in this kind of movies. The same with the dogs. When Mila Jovovich was shooting, you didn't feel any tension and when the dogs jumped, again it was done cheap and bad.

At one point I really laughed because of one little scene that wasn't really noticable. When one of the guys of the team is shooting at some zombies. One guy falls down, he stops shooting and turns his head towards the camera. The first guy falls down, and then another guy falls down while he never got hit. This was very funny in a `Ed Wood' kind of way.

Also the scene where they activate a laser-beam was maybe for some people original but to me, it just reminded me of the great low-budget movie `Cube', where they use their money in a great way and realize that they have a good story to build on. This is something Resident Evil doesn't have, just like great effects.

Off course in this kind of movies there has to be some sort of twist in the plot, which no one really cares about but still being used. The acting was ok, I like Michelle Rodriguez, ever since I saw here in `Girlfight', she has a great promise as actress but I hope she doesn't throw it away. Good luck Michelle.

So overall, I consider Resident Evil to be bad, because of a lousy plot, which copied of allot of movies (and I don't mean Night of the Living Dead) and has incredible bad effects.

Advise: if you want to make a movie, spend money on either a good plot and build your effects around it or spend your money on effects like `Eight Legged Freaks' and no plot. People will have allot more fun!

Bom! (2000)

Urban Legends!

[7/10 · 30 July 2002]

This is a short movie about a couple that loves each other.

They are driving in the woods and the guy gets out in the woods to pee.

In the meanwhile the woman waits for her lover to comeback. But when she waits, she hears a sound on the roof of the car!

Sounds familiar? It sure did for me. I know this urban legend for almost more then ten years and i have heard it many times. When I was a kid I really believed it, and now it has come again in a different form. A movie.

During that scene when the woman starts to hear something, i was hoping the rest of the movie that it would have a completely different ending then we all know it.

Maybe a comic ending or something else.

But it didn't happen, it was what I suspected. The Urban Legend!

For the people who don't know this urban legend, it can be a nice little movie with beautiful camerawork, others will see the ending from a mile away but may hopefully still enjoy the great camerawork, just as I did.

Vengo (2000)

Vengo is a call, a song, a hymn to life, to love, to mourning, to blood money. A hymn to the Mediterranean spirit.

[7/10 · 3 January 2002]

`Vengo is a call, a song, a hymn to life, to love, to mourning, to blood money. A hymn to the Mediterranean spirit.' Tony Gatlif.

Well with this been said, I don't think I have very much more to add. It's everything what the director said. I never really liked musical movies, I am like most people. And I must admit that as well as me others missed out on great movies.

I have worked for a long time in a video store and I saw that many musical movies were put aside. It doesn't mean that musicals are by definition good, but it's like our system block them automatically away and we won't watch them. Why? I don't know. Because of our childhood? Does our body protest thanks to movies like Sound of music and Mary Poppins and etc.

Could be. Even Dancer in the dark didn't do well in the video store. From an instant when people heard that some people sing in it they left it behind and didn't wanted too see it although it was directed by Lars Von Trier.

But those who did see it thought it was great! Well, it is the same with this movie, those who saw it thought it was great, those who heard people sang in it, didn't even bother to turn their back and try out on something they always rejected and therefore missed something. I really liked Vengo and I enjoyed the music allot. And I didn't regret it for a second.

Memento (2000)

OtnemeM

[8/10 · 3 January 2002]

Great something on out miss or it see go, this see already didn't you if, please But. Time first the from movie this understand should normally you Then. Follow to hard that isn't than neighbor your with talking or popcorn of bag a eating without focused keep you if, normally But. Time first the notice not may or may you that things notice you and perspective different complete a in things some see you. Correct is that sure not am I but, follow to easy isn't that movie a is it that say People. superb, again it say must I, is which, Following: movie fantastic the of director the from classic instant an is It? Movie this about tell to there is What?

That's the way Memento tries to tell you something. Therefore I will now give it to you in a normal Western kind of way:

What is there to tell about this movie? It is an instant classic from the director of the fantastic movie: Following, which is, I must say it again, superb.

People say that it is a movie that isn't easy to follow, but I am not sure that is correct. You see some things in a complete different perspective and you notice things that you may or may not notice the first time.

But normally, if you keep focused without eating a bag of popcorn or talking with your neighbor than it isn't that hard to follow. Then you normally should understand this movie from the first time.

But please, if you didn't already see this, go see it or miss out on something great.