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Reviews
The Hole (2001)
Nerve racking teen thriller
I almost went to the pictures to watch this one but due to some reason I could not and just caught up with the video release. I expected `the hole' to be another basic slasher teen movie. I was wrong. It actually deserves much more attention than those. The acting was quite good unlike most teen flicks and Thora Birch (the little girl from `Patriot Games') was excellent, she succeeds in carrying the movie alone. The plot is quite complex and gruesome and the director managed to shoot some scenes with a lot of cleverness which brings about nerve racking situations and very tense moments. The film starts a bit slow with some pointless scenes but it got better and better as it went along. The last scene is extremely well shot and acted, there's no dialogue actually just gazes and stares but it's so well acted and done that we are able to guess exactly what's going on in the characters' minds. In addition to this, the score suits perfectly to what's happening on the screen. I give it an 8 but it could well deserve a 9 in comparison to other teen horror flicks. It looks like a nasty version of Big Brother (there is even a shrink !) but unlike Big Brother the film is entertaining, very impressive and worth watching although the twist is plainfully obvious. However, I would not recommend this one to any person who suffers from claustrophobia !
Planet of the Apes (2001)
You should have read the book Tim !
(Spoilers ahead)
How is it possible that in the spitting image of Washington the earth is full of apes who can drive, use fire weapons while in the future they don't know anything about modern technology ?
If everything was fine on earth in 2029, the year the story begins, how could the apes have evolved this fast in only 71 years (Wahlberg goes back to earth in 2100) ?
Is it possible for a chimpanzee to alter into a speaking-gorilla or a orang otang in one century ?
If the Lincoln-Thade from Washington is the same monkey as the one from the middle ages, how was it possible for him to drive the shuttle back to earth in order to reduce mankind to slavery ?
Is it possible to hesitate between Estella Warren and a monkey ?
It's a shame that 100 million bucks were squandered to make this movie. 1 point for you Estella even though your character is pointless and another one for the well-done make up effects. 2/10 stars
Stigmata (1999)
easy to watch despite many flaws
I watched the film for the first time when it was released on video a couple of years ago and once again last week on DVD. I often enjoy Patricia Arquette's acting but this time something did not work out. It wasn't bad acting actually, the trouble is that her character is too shallow and not very well written (.or maybe she was miscast). However, Gabriel Byrne and Jonathan Pryce gave rather good performances and they somehow managed to make up a little bit for it but it did not fully succeed for me overall. The blood and gore scenes were for the most part quite tame, only few of them were really good and you're likely to enjoy them if you're into this sort of thing (they are far from being as good as in `the exorcist' anyway). As far as the score is concerned I rather enjoy this kind of pop-rock soundtrack but only for slasher teen flicks, here it does not blend at all and even sucked sometimes. I guess a classical score would have suited better in some scenes. One last thing, I lived ten years in Brazil and although I do speak the language fluently I could not understand the dialogues in the beginning of the movie. Why ? Because they chose Mexican actors to speak portuguese and it just does not work at all. In my opinion the film is somewhat overrated but still easy to watch despite its many flaws. 5/10 stars
Stigmata (1999)
easy to watch despite many flaws
I watched the film for the first time when it was released on video a couple of years ago and once again last week on DVD. I often enjoy Patricia Arquette's acting but this time something did not work out. It wasn't bad acting actually, the trouble is that her character is too shallow and not very well written (.or maybe she was miscast). However, Gabriel Byrne and Jonathan Pryce gave rather good performances and they somehow managed to make up a little bit for it but it did not fully succeed for me overall. The blood and gore scenes were for the most part quite tame, only few of them were really good and you're likely to enjoy them if you're into this sort of thing (they are far from being as good as in `the exorcist' anyway). As far as the score is concerned I rather enjoy this kind of pop-rock soundtrack but only for slasher teen flicks, here it does not blend at all and even sucked sometimes. I guess a classical score would have suited better in some scenes. One last thing, I lived ten years in Brazil and although I do speak the language fluently I could not understand the dialogues in the beginning of the movie. Why ? Because they chose Mexican actors to speak portuguese and it just does not work at all. In my opinion the film is somewhat overrated but still easy to watch despite its many flaws. 5/10 stars
Driven (2001)
for eyes and ears
(some spoilers) I missed the flick in the theatres due to bad and unfair reviews so I rented it at the local videostore last week. I expected it to be a F1 movie but the story takes place in the CART milieu instead. As a big F1 fan I was a bit disappointed but it turned out to be a very pleasant and impressive movie with breathtaking race scenes, creative camera angles and stunning special effects. Eventhough the race and crash scenes were not realistic it's still very funny to watch (in a scene Memo's car goes airborne spinning through the air for half minute before crashing into a lake!). In a real race Sly would have received a time penalty or even a black flag for his blocking on Brandenburg in his first race and another one in his desperate attempt to overtake him in the final one. Moreover, due to the crashes the races would have been stopped several times. I was also very surprised that there were no safety cars in the entire movie
But who cares ? If you want to see a normal race turn on the tv on sundays ! Remember it's an action film and its purpose is to entertain. Here you get action, fun, a good score, nice girls
and a thrilling chase sequence through the streets of Chicago(!). I really do think that Renny Harlin and Stallone have done a great job and I'm looking forward to watching the sequel ! 8/10 stars PS : It seems that Burt Reynolds underwent some plastic surgery or something.Weird.
Nowhere (1997)
flashy teen garbage
(some spoilers) I saw this annoying and pointless film yesterday after few friends told me it was great. I don't share their view point at all, maybe I didn't understand the message Araki wanted to get through here. It's just non sense and stupid dialogues, and it's just amazing how he could get such a B-cast for such a bad movie. If ever you're compelled to see this trash, press forward to the scene where Elvis runs amuck and smashes time and again a guy's skull with a tin can so that you'll realize how silly this awful flick is. No plot, no acting, no ideas, just a total waste of time. Fortunately it lasts only 1h15 but it seems much longer. Good score though. 1/10 stars