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Contra timp (2008)
A bold effort, but ultimately nothing special
I applaud the initiative of a Romanian action movie, but unfortunately this one doesn't deliver.
The movie is an attempted copy of "24," even down to some characters (like a bad copy of Chloe or the way the movie was shot and edited) and the reason it fails is because we don't have this kind of action in our country. We don't. Most cop shows in the U.S. have some sort of truth in them, especially shows like The Shield or The Wire, but to adapt such a storyline and set it in Romania is just ridiculous.
Secondly it almost looks like a student film. Even the visual effects are made from After Effects tutorials you can find on the net, like that bullet time in the beginning or the earth zoom at the end... It's just way too amateurish for such a "big" production.
The acting is subpar but I have to say Raluca Aprodu really surprised me, I remember her from commercials and I would never think she'd have the acting chops to actually be in feature films. I don't know if she'd be able to pull off a seriously dramatic role but at least she's better than most models-turned-actresses out there so kudos for that.
Leaving all technical details aside the story is just weak. It is a rehashed version of stories you'd find in any run of the mill American series, only set in Romania which makes it worse because like I said, it's unrealistic. I am looking forward to more action films made in our country, I really think we've raised the bar in movies in the last couple of years, but we need to step it up a notch.
The Last Birthday Card (2000)
Action-packed short film on a tight budget
This short film is a bit underrated on this site. It's got very impressive CGI considering it's from 2000 when visual effects were not as realistic looking as in 2009 (the standard one would compare it to when watching this movie in present time). It also didn't have a budget. I'm not gonna lie, it is not a thought-provoking film but it's not supposed to be one. I've watched it with the commentary on and Stu said he noticed the lack of "fun" in short films so he did something about it.
If you don't know who Stu Maschwitz is, you're missing out. As an independent, no-budget filmmaker, his book is my bible and everything coming out of this guy's mouth (or fingers) teaches you a little bit more about guerrilla film-making.
I suggest you get his book cause it also has a DVD of this film with the proper explanations and a few tricks. So watching this movie just as a movie and judging it by 2009's big-budget Hollywood standard is not gonna impress you. But if you keep in mind that this film was done almost a decade ago on no budget and with no crew, your jaw should drop.
Jesse James Is a Dead Man (2009)
This is just another scripted "reality" show
I've watched the first episode of this show trying hard to like it. I like Jesse James so I was looking forward to watching the premiere of his new show. It was okay, but nothing spectacular. I was keen on giving it a second chance though.
The second episode, however, was so scripted and fake to the point of being absolutely ridiculous. Jesse was supposed to escape police officers in a car chase. It was obviously done on an abandoned facility, probably used for training, but they never mentioned it. They had a couple of well placed vehicles and claimed Jesse "almost" hit them. The cops pretended to be outraged by what was going on, and so forth. But then, how come they didn't arrest him? If he's recklessly driving on a public road, putting others at risk, why would they just continue playing the game? At the end, Jesse was having a laugh with them about it and all was fine... But what about the "near misses" with civilians? So you can just challenge police officers to chases around public roads and then laugh it up with them? This show is insulting the viewer's intelligence with the scripted plots. I've seen more realistic car chases in 24.
The Shield (2002)
One of the best drama series, ever.
I don't know why some people hate this show, I think it's one of the best drama series out there and definitely my personal favorite. Granted it may not be everyone's cup of tea, there's a big difference between not being a fan and tearing it apart in a review, which goes to show just how much subjectivity is present in these comments.
The main complaint I read was about the way it's shot and edited. Now, as a film-maker myself, I noticed the crude filming techniques, the bad lighting (if any), the grainy footage and the choppy editing, but that never ruined it for me. Quite the contrary, I found myself much more involved within the little world of The Shield by not having crystal clear, color-corrected, perfectly-lit, masterfully-edited, HD scenes like most other shows. You have to understand, these are not amateurs, but professionals who do it on purpose to give a cinéma vérité sort of edge to it. It's exactly like those cartoons with really badly drawn characters, it doesn't mean the animators can't draw, it's just for the effect. And I think it works. It all works. I feel like I found some random tapes from the show COPS and am watching them.
But while pointing out its flaws (I wouldn't see them as flaws since they are intentional, but for literary purposes let's use this word), they never bothered to mention all the amazing parts of this show. The writing is just superb, the acting is probably some of the best I've seen on television, from Michael Chiklis' many layers as detective Vic Mackey, to the major guest stars like Forest Whitaker or Glenn Close.
Everything about this show is perfect, because it shows us the world as it is, far from being perfect. Nobody's a 100% saint. Nobody's a 100% sinner either. It's all about the moral gray area and the duality in people.
The fact that the show's calling it quits on a high note just goes to show that the people behind it know what they're doing. We're one week away from the finale (as I'm writing this) and my jaw has dropped since the very first episode of this final season. This is truly an intriguing, original show, don't let the negative reviews fool you, just give the pilot a go yourself.
Roger Dodger (2002)
Simple and funny...
This is one of those movies that won't shock you with their twist endings, intelligent plots, amazing special effects or outstanding acting, it's just a very enjoyable movie that will definitely make you laugh.
Roger Swanson, after breaking up with his boss/lover, meets his nephew Nick, who is in town for some interviews and decided to come by his uncle's work place. Eventually, he admits he's there because his mom described his uncle as a "lady's man" and that he needs his help in getting laid.
The whole movie, is basically Roger's lessons for his 16 years old nephew, every detail is explained by him as rocket science, and this made this movie very funny.
If you expect to see a lot of nudity or dumb comedy go rent American Pie, this movie is not like that, it just shows what our (men's) perspective is like, and the sad thing is... they're right.