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irwinnormal
Reviews
L'instinct de mort (2008)
an awful movie about an awful man
without any coherence, mesrine, follows the hollow life of the hollow sociopath and murderer, mesrine. After a nearly unwatchable opening sequence; the movie starts in earnest with the torture and murder of algerian rebels who, fighting for independence in their own country, get tied by chains to ceilings and then are shot by the protagonist.
A lovely man, from the start. One can tell.
He returns to France, then after losing his paycheck playing cards, turns to a life of crime; robbing houses and brutally murdering despicable pimps before winding up in prison for, robbing a bank.
He puts a gun in his wife's mouth when she asks him not to continue on this path, witnessed by his daughter who yet, still 'loves him'
All the while, sad orchestral music bemoans the fate of the hardened criminal who must life a life on the run, handsome and behind the wheels of fancy cars, with remarkably beautiful who have fallen hopelessly in love with (at first sight) him.
It is the tale of a poor man from a middle class french family, who despises arabs, and steals from the innocents, all because his father was beholden to his mother and had no 'balls' It's a good thing that they are still making movies like this; ala American Gangster, glorifying/deifying murderers. So, if that's your thing, respect at the price of decency, by any means; ruthless murder and the disgusting glorification of it, by all means, this is the movie for you.
Someone might, (if justice ever prevailed) commandeer all the revenue from this sickening film, and give it to poor children for school and books.
Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)
A melodramatic tale about a dog.
I tend to only consider reviewing movies which I either think are great, or, despise. This would be one of the latter. A fluffy tale about a fluffy dog.
Carter (Gere) is the perfect American father and husband. He's handsome, carries a briefcase. He wears an overcoat, yet, is artistic, sensitive, educated. He loves his wife.
He finds a lost puppy in a trainstation and, reluctantly, brings it home to his perfect American wife, beautiful, artistic; playful, yet stern; in their perfect Conneticut house.
Before long, the puppy endears itself to man and woman (as well as perfect daughter) and they decide to keep it.
Joy precedes tragedy, etc.
The lead character, hachi, is a dog. He is not great, not bad. He had no trouble sitting there, looking cute. But, when it came to expressing himself, he lacked. "What is it boy?" I never could quite figure that out. All in all, a film about a sad dog who refuses to let us in beyond his stoic and stubborn gesture of grieving. A montage of familiar actors ooohing and aaahing. A cookie cutter vision of life. It didn't make me weep. Perhaps I am a hard hearted cynic. Perhaps I want to learn something from a movie.... I didn't learn anything here.
Venkovský ucitel (2008)
Very Beautiful Movie
I saw this last year in a beautiful theater downtown where one sits in an easy chair and has a beer. I went with two friends. We went reluctantly, more for the chairs and beer than for any high cinematic experience; picking this movie out of a handful that were playing at the time. I think we were really lucky to see it. I wept a few times, with sadness in the middle, with joy towards the end. Very subtly told, beautifully shot. I really loved it. All the roles were well acted. The final scene was magical. One of a dozen movies that have ever moved me in this way. I'm very appreciative to the filmmakers. Thank you. And since I need a few more words for the ten lines.
Self Medicated (2005)
a few too many good reviews for this
Normally I find IMDb recommendations pretty reliable with a few exceptions such as "A History of Violence" or "The Network" So, when I read the reviews of this I rubbed my hands together and made some popcorn.
By the end of the opening scene I had stopped eating it. I hate to have cheese on my popcorn.
This film is as if someone had studied the recipe for a good film, perhaps even read 'screenplay' They went out and bought all the ingredients but they bought the shitty white, granulated processed sugar, the lopsided eggs of downtrodden cage hens, the generic vanilla extract (artificial flavoring) if you put them all together and shove them in the oven, you will get cookies, but they won't be very good.