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nivasch
Reviews
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
Ick!
A positively mind-numbing waste of 91 minutes. Could Antonio Banderas be possibly be more embarrassed by this performance. Lucy Liu is no great actress to begin with but Icks Vs. Sever is by far her worst screen appearance to date. Liu can play manipulative and sexy on television programs but she doesn't possess enough physical prowess to exude a threatening demeanor that was required here. There's lots of bombs and smoke by hardly any engaging story or people. Director Wych Kaosayananda could have achieved the same results by pointing his camera at a chess match and then tossing a few firecrackers at all the pawns for an hour and half. I don't recommend this film at all. See The Avengers instead.
The Rockville Slayer (2004)
Rockville Slayer? A skunk by any name will still stink
The producers are changing the name from Unaware to The Rockville Slayer: it won't help. I think they are changing the name because this was supposed to be marketed as a psychological thriller about knowing who you really are. That whole idea is completely lost in the clumsy writing, middling acting & unimaginative direction. Maybe now the producers think they are going to exploit the angle of the killer on the loose. But there's no terror inflicted by the slayer here. Each scene is lifted from the b-movie play book and you know who is going to get skewered 5 minutes before each plunge of the knife. There's some nice looking newcomers in the cast and they carry most of the action. If you can call it "action." There's a lot of standing around and talking and crying and self-pity. The lead cop is badly miscast. The veterans in the cast are clearly slumming for a check and probably forgot about their visit to the imaginary Rockville the day after their check cleared. Especially wasted are Joe Estevez and Robert Z'Dar. Haggard ex-scream queen Linne'a Quigley has never looked more tired. Whoever photographed her should never work again. I doubt you will ever hear from anyone else listed in the credits. Not worth a video purchase or a rental. Watch The Town That Dreaded Sundown instead.