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Zrn87
Reviews
Inception (2010)
A less dumb Swordfish (Travolta)
When the film ended, the 18-year old boys start to clap and whoop like they'd just had a religious experience. It reminded me of when I went to Swordfish in the theater years ago with a really hot but REALLY dumb blonde. When that movie ended, she clapped and whooped because she was SO SMART and got it. Unfortunately, there was no post-film alcohol or busty blonde to dull the pain of this evening's experience. In my opinion, Insomnia was Nolan's only good film, and it was really the performance by Pacino that grabbed me.
Nolan is a talented version of M. Night Shyamalan, i.e. the Kings of the Twist Ending. This is a pseudo compliment. I don't think Nolan is brilliant nor a great filmmaker. This movie didn't scream intelligence, though it really tries. In addition to making Nolan even more wealthy, I hope the side benefit of this film's success is studios taking on more high budget pet projects that aren't designed to sell happy meals or sequels. Please PLEASE let this be the side benefit to Inception.
Californication (2007)
the good and the bad
The dialogue is great, but there are quite a few contrived scenes/problems.
The general rule is, Don't Write About Writers. Don't make shows or movies about writers. If you write an honest show about writers, nobody would watch it because it would be so boring/depressing. If you write an entertaining show about writers, you end up with REALLY Witty dialogue and a lot of sex scenes ---- ie a life that writers wished their lives where like. It's all BS.
Things I like: 1) Dialogue and characters 2) Taking shots at Tom Cruise 3) Taking shots at Brett Ratner (please add more of this - this guy is a flaming d-bag)
There are several scenes in the show that seem contrived and a little over the top.
W. (2008)
Didn't vote for W. ----- don't like W. the movie
I wasn't sure what to expect. I've seen all of Oliver Stone's movies. This seemed like kind of a hack job, to be honest. He was trying to be fresh by not going after Bush as much as he kind of tried to shine a pseudo-even light on him, sort of. I don't know. There are so many movies to make about Bush - this is one of the weakest possibilities, in my opinion. One really annoying aspect to the film was the approach taken by actors. Thandie Newton tried to sound like Condy Rice ---- but the actor playing Bush Sr made no attempt to sound like Bush Sr. It just seemed sloppy. It just seemed like a rush job to get a movie released before Bush's second term ended. The best movie would be the inner workings of the White House on 9/11 and the months after in the run-up to the war. The conversations. The twisting of evidence to support war. This is what I want to see. Show what a criminal this man was. That's the movie I want to see.
Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
Just watched my first Tyler Perry movie, though I didn't finish it....
I didn't know what to expect. I'd heard mixed things, mostly from non-film types.
This movie was really bad. I couldn't get past the first 20 minutes.
The writing was dreadful. I want to say the acting was dreadful - but I don't think the actors had much to work with.
TP's movies have attained some financial success. I think this can be attributed to a devoted black audience. Which I completely understand. There aren't many writer/directors in the world, and if one happens to be black, and makes movies about black life in America, he's going to attract a black audience.
But overall, Tyler Perry is just not a very talented writer. But he may have future as an actor.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Altman was not a director
This was about as bland as I expected. Altman does everything he can to lull a viewer to sleep. Altman made one great movie - MASH. And that's it. This will be the last of his films I'll ever watch. I watched this one because I felt I couldn't completely write him off without viewing it. I mean, does any other director come off as amateurish with the camera? He's written some good stuff. The script isn't bad. But I swear, he sits there with the camera on the tripod (Mamet would be so proud) and his expert use of the camera is the ZOOM! The Gingerbread Man really convinced me that Altman was one of the most overrated directors around. This just proves that he's always been overrated. Don't waste your time.
Shotgun Stories (2007)
Wow
This was a great film. I expected slow and uninteresting. But I really loved it. Michael Shannon is a stud. This guy is going to be huge. Great performance. I'm shocked he didn't get Oscar nod consideration for this - but given the apparent lack of viewers, it's understandable I supposed. Nichols has a great script. He sticks to his desire to battle convention and really let the story unfold slowly. I was really impressed. I've read other comments on here about people becoming frustrated with the nod to Terrence Malick - and I completely understand that, and I suspect there will be several more nods to Malick thanks to the NC School of the Arts, but this was a great movie. I've been watching David Gordon Green's movies this week and now this one - and they both attended the same school and I suspect there was a lot of Malick-like influence from the professors.
In Bruges (2008)
great movie
What's funny about IMDb is that the vast majority of the voting and opinions are expressed by males 16-28. The vast majority of the bad reviews I've read for this film are based on the basic average American guy who's looking for a cheap thrill. I think you need to be older and have A LOT of movies under your belt to appreciate a film like this. This is one of the best movies I've seen in the last couple years. Anybody who said this film was boring is either too young to appreciate or too inexperienced from a movie-going experience to appreciate what the film is. The script is fantastic. The acting was spot on. I've read criticism about the theatrical dialogue. He's invoking a little Mamet here, but it's good. I liked it. I like the relationship between Farrell and the honey Belgian. I laughed my ash off when Fiennes is looking over the guns and makes the reference to gang bangers in South Central Los Angeles (where I'm from).