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Reviews
The Straight Story (1999)
Lynch's best work to date, a beautiful picture of humanity
David Lynch is full of surprises. The Straight Story is a film you definitely wouldn't expect from him: it's true, straight and sentimental, but not too sugary at any point.
The movie looks and sounds wonderful. Freddie Francis makes probably the greatest long shots of his career, and Angelo Badalamenti's music is. Sissy Spacek and Richard Farnsworth reach performances beyond compare. Harry Dean Stanton has only one line, but it's possibly the most touching as well. But still the best part is the film's script; it's just incomprehensibly good. There isn't much dialogue, but every conversation is filled with little big words of wisdom. "The worst thing of being old is remembering what it was being young." All these little things form a genuinely touching portrait of a man's life.
I definitely think The Straight Story would've earned more awards the year it came out. It's good to see that more and more people are slowly starting to find it, and now it's getting the respect very well deserved.
My score: 5/5
Curdled (1996)
Latin music, chewing gum and a glimpse of Tarantino - nice!
It's surprisingly hard to make fun about serious subjects, like murder. Curdled succeeds in it: it's a hilarious film about a girl obsessed with murder, with a nicely twisted vision of the world. Yes, it has it's faults, but there are some irresistibly funny moments in it as well.
Jones does an excellent job in this black comedy, it really is a shame we haven't heard more of her. Even Baldwin fits in his role! The soundtrack is spicy and quite excellent. Braddock has extended this from a short film, and unfortunately it shows in some places. A few scenes feel, well, boring, and dialogue isn't as sharp as it could be.
Tarantino is often linked to this film, although he was only the producer and wrote a very little piece of script. However, there are connections to his movies in Curdled and they are fun to catch.
My score: 3/5