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kgdakotafan
Undergraduate UC Berkeley student and a proud member of the class of 2017
I also like movies.
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Reviews
Atletu (2009)
This movie is a triumph-both in film-making and in the heart and soul of Abebe Bakila
Made by the humble and intelligent Rasselas Lakew and the brilliant Davey Frankel, "The Athlete" is a powerful and moving story and a well-made movie about overcoming family demons, accidents, and obstacles, shown through the tenacious and resilient Olympian Abebe Bakila. Bakila's story I assume must be particularly powerful to Rasselas Lakew, not only because it's about a hero from his homeland Ethiopia, but also because it must be a source of strength and power that he has used throughout his life. The scene with the horse blinded by his owner that Abebe and a hitchhiker came upon in their travels was beautifully shot and written. There were so many shots that were obviously taken all around the world (Bulgaria and Norway are the locations I know shooting took place.)
Ruta Gedmintas was incredible as the physical therapist at the English health center who helped Abebe through his struggle of convalescence, as was Dag Malmberg. Blending biopic, autobiography, and mostly drama, this movie was two-and-a-half hours of hard work and the movie and the story both had their triumphs.
It was an honor to be at the Chicago Film Festival for this special screening. Davey Frankel and Rasselas Lakew were present afterwards for a Q&A. Rasselas described what it was like to be a first time filmmaker and having the opportunity to collaborate with Davey Frankel to put a story that he had spent so much time researching to screen. I also talked in private with Davey Frankel about his experiences after the showing. He was incredible.
9/10
Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
Awesome Woody Allen
This was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. The only other Woody Allen movie I've seen is "Annie Hall", and I liked this so much more! The reason I wanted to see this movie was because Jennifer Tilly stars in it; furthermore, she was nominated for an Oscar because of her performance in it. In the middle of this crime/comedy, I realized why. I predicted that the mobster would shoot her because she wasn't as good as the understudy in the play that she was forced to be casted in because her boyfriend, the mobster (Joe Viterelli) was funding the production for an aspiring and talented writer who had recently made flops because as he claims "I wasn't able to direct them." This play he was able to direct.
It's well-known that actors and actresses who play characters who die in film are more likely to be nominated or to win an Oscar. While Jennifer Tilly played the stupid moll, mobster's girlfriend well, her death should have been the addition that made her win. Unfortunately, Diane Wiest won in a very overacted performance.
This movie is hysterical, and makes you realize that art can come from the most unexpected of places
10/10
The Amy Fisher Story (1993)
Hypnotic
Yesterday my friend convinced me to go to White Hen. I agreed, and I'm glad I did because if i wasn't there at the right time, I never would have purchased this film that I have been searching for years for and was very cheap. I was surprised to find this obscure movie at White Hen. This was a movie that Drew Barrymore starred in at the lowest point in her career (go to her page and you will see what I mean.)
Drew Barrymore nailed the accent of the "Long Island Lolita", Amy Fisher, the seductive and troubled teen who was sexually abused as a child and falls in love with Joseph "Joey" Buttafuoco and seduces him into a sexual relationship after meeting him by crashing her car, and crashing it over and over and over again as an excuse to see him. She becomes obsessed with him, and while she respects his wife and the fact that he has a happy family, decides to attempt and kill his wife so she can be with him.
Drew Barrymore's incredible performance makes you sympathize with Amy, and makes you wonder if she had had a normal life and hadn't felt so trapped in her house her whole life, maybe she wouldn't be so screwed up. Awesome script, awesome movie, you can tell the director and writer put a ton of work into making it perfect, and look at how kickass Amy is today!
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
Kill Bill-my take
I was extremely excited to see this movie, because I am starting to get into Quentin Tarantino. I was pleasantly satisfied with this film. From what I understand (although the only other Tarantino movie I've seen is Reservoir Dogs), this movie isn't like his other movies because his other movies capture real life violence, and as Quentin says, "This is the kind of movie characters in his other movies would go to see." This is because the characters in his other movies are very violent, and they would want to see movies that are violent in a comic book way (Tarantino is excellent at dramatic sampling, and one of the great things he does in this movie was add an interesting black and white cartoon sequence for Lucy Liu's character). This movie is also divided into sections which also adds to the comic book feel.
This is one of those movies where you are constantly being reminded that it's a movie with its comic book feel, whereas with a film like Resorvoir Dogs there is less genre and cinematic sampling and the audience gets the feeling they are watching real life being portrayed on screen.
I can't capture my enthrallment with this film. I felt Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo's (Uma Thurman) hate throughout. The sound effects and music were very oriental and captured the cinematic and classic 70's Asian feel. One can definitely tell that Quentin is a film geek. There is so much influence in this film: Spaghetti Western, 70's Kung Fu TV show, and some Brian Depalma thrown into the mix. Quentin even says that he takes the best parts from movies he loves; therefore showing the average movie-goer why he has always loved it so much.
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
Kill Bill Volume II
Many fans wonder why Volume I and Volume II weren't compacted into one big movie. After seeing this, I realize why. The tone of the movies are so different from each other. There is way less cinematic sampling in this volume and more focus on dialogue and character development. The audience is asked to deepen their care for the characters. So many of the questions that the audience wondered about in the first volume are answered here. We learn about how Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo fell for a nice, record store working loser. She did it because she wanted her daughter to start with a clean slate.
We learn that his daughter is still alive, and we learn why Bill wanted to kill his former girlfriend. In the film, a story called "The Legend of Pai Mai" is told from Bill to the Bride when they are dating. It's about a woman who didn't recognize her husband's graciousness and left him, and he tried to kill her but failed, and she got revenge. That was an interesting metaphor for the movie as a whole. Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) is a sick, twisted, wicked dog but makes for a kickass character, and the music towards the end evokes many strange emotions. But most of all, there's a happy ending (The lioness and cub reunite!)
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
Is it true?
The main interest I would hold in this film would be that Drew Barrymore was one of the stars, and since I am always eager to get my hands on anything she touches, which in my opinion turns to gold, I finally got around to seeing this movie about a man who detests himself and deems himself unaccomplished despite hosting "The Newlywed Show", "The Gong Show" and "The Dating Game", and claiming to be a CIA operative in his book, "The Unauthorized Autobiography of Chuck Barris."
When George Clooney explains that one does not feel sorry for someone who feels sorry for themselves, but instead feels sorry for someone who doesn't feel sorry for themselves and instead tries to push themselves along, he was speaking a gross understatement. Whether or not Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell) was or was not a hit-man, I don't know or care. I found it impossible to care for the boring, self-serious characters in this film, especially Chuck Barris.
There were some amusing parts to this film, such as when Chuck Barris tricks Patricia (Julia Roberts) into poisoning herself, and Penny (Drew Barrymore) is dancing around the office, and Chuck Barris telling Penny that he was a hit-man after they got married and her reaction. I feel this movie should have been much shorter and much lighter, and Drew Barrymore's excellent and different-from-what she usually plays role the only source of lightness in this film.
3/10
Grey Gardens (1975)
The world wasn't kind to these two women-and they weren't very kind to themselves
Little Edie and Big Edie are characters that anyone can feel compassion for. Even though their house was filthy, this is somehow understandable considering their mental illness. On the message board a poster wrote that "Little Edie has the coping skills of an eight year old." This reminded me of when in the dramatized 2009 version, Big Edie says to Little Edie, "If you're stuck, it's only with yourself!" These women had everything; beauty, talent, intelligence, firm belief in their opinions and actions. Perhaps if Little Edie wasn't so hard on herself the first time things didn't work out, losing her hair, her job, and the love of her life, she would have made it. This somehow ties into what I believe is her mental illness: her inability to pick herself up when times are hard and see that good times lie ahead. The world will never know what have happened if she didn't listen to her mom's plea, "Come home, Edie! Let me take care of you!"
Yet these understandably insecure women somehow manage to be brilliant, heartbreaking, and lovable, even in their extremely filthy home. These women were extraordinary, and their interaction with each other bring humor and sadness. When Edie had one of her emotional breakdowns, dwelling about what could have been, or about how she wants to get out of her home because she feels like a little girl, one gets the intense urge to hug her and tell her that "everything will be okay!"
Great documentary!!
9/10
The Wonderful World of Disney: Life-Size (2000)
I was very impressed
I love film. I am not a sucker for cheap, TV Disney movies. I was pleasantly surprised. I am a 14-year old boy, and I didn't like this movie. I loved it! The acting by young Lindsay Lohan as the emotionally disconnected tomboy dealing with loss was really good.
I also find most of these types of movies to be shallow, to only speak to a young audience and to patronize (all copies of Get a Clue should be destroyed.) This movie is more than that. The moment I saw the opening scene I realized that I could picture the dialogue being spoken in real life by real adults. It was more honest than most other movies, and it had humor and heart that most movies of this budget and genre don't. Some of the attempts at humor fell flat, but a lot of it was actually...funny.
When Eve (Tyra Banks) is turned from a doll to a human being, she thinks she's the best at everything. She is then reminded, however, that the goal is to try your best, not to be the best, and that you can still be a role model and not be perfect. Eve also brings a little wisdom with her when she shows the people around her that life is about happiness and sweetness and simplicity, and that when adults get caught up in petty disagreements and entangled in their "demanding" lives, they are only doing it to themselves. Life is too short not to be happy and not to sweat the small stuff and to savor the moment.
This is just what I took out of this movie. Everyone has their own interpretation depending on where they are in their lives, and I think this was the right time to see this movie.
Don't skip this one!
7/10
Public Enemies (2009)
Pretentious, unedited garbage with poor cameramatics
What can I say that hasn't been said already? The movie should have ended long before it did. I thought the movie was almost over when I was only and hour into it. I kept suppressing the urge to walk out, hopeful that the movie would redeem itself and that something remotely exciting would happen. Nothing happened. And when something that was intended to be exciting or interesting or climactic happened, it was impossible to care because of the way it was presented. The acting was wooden, the script long and weak, the direction underwhelming, the editing non-existent, but more than anything; extremely poor home-made video cinematography.
The cinematography was fuzzy, shaky, and completely out of focus. Even on dialog shots where the camera should have been flat, it wasn't; this made the scenes shaky and remote. This camera style reminded me of "Children of Men", except in "Children of Men" this camera style wasn't bizarrely and ineffectively overused and every other aspect of that movie was strong.
Basically, it was a weak movie that only received high ratings due to its all-star cast. I found myself looking at my cell phone for the time what seemed to be every half and hour but was actually only two minutes. That's how slow it was. A colossal waste of time and money.
Seed of Chucky (2004)
This movie was very poor-and this is coming from a huge child's play/chucky fan
This movie was dreadful. The script-very poor, the jokes weren't funny and it felt like i was watching a straight-to-DVD crappy horror flick because the script was so bad. the jokes kept getting repeated and the Jennifer Tilly=Jennifer Tilly thing was irrelevant and didn't add anything. The acting was bad, with many not-worthwhile cameos. The direction was also poor, Ronny yu did a better job with bride of Chucky (a movie i really enjoyed,if not for the voice of Brad Dourif, very exciting good music and Jennifer Tilly was good in that.) I also really liked the child's play movies (all of them), especially the third. This movie i was very excited to watch because all the other movies were so good but this movie was a big disappointment. Don't watch it unless you think you're going to disagree with me.
iCarly (2007)
How can you like this dry sitcom?
The Characters: Dry and one-dimensional, even annoying. The humor: Also dry and annoying, "High fructose? The highest!" How is that funny? The atmosphere: I don't think I've seen these characters step outside their apartment/school once. Does their stale air exposure and couch potato personalities add to the appeal of this shoe? Disrespect: As much as I don't care, many adults will find that they are made to look to stupid. Do the stupid adults in i Promote Techfoots ring a bell? Or how about in i Carly steals TV? The television director, writers, producers are made to look stupid and are so disrespected. If you want a funny sitcom, watch Drake and Josh or Zoey 101. Avoid i Carly.
Zoey 101 (2005)
Why I like this show
This show is awesome. And here's why: The Characters: What can I say, they're funny! Has anyone here heard of comic relief? Stacey Dillsen played by Abby Wilde is laugh out loud funny in my opinion. The plots: Many of the plots are suspenseful, even exciting! Look at Zoey's Balloon. I was on the edge of my seat, tremendously impatient to see who was blackmailing Zoey. The setting: They're outside, the campus is beautiful, they're not stuck in their room all the time like i Carly making dumb, dry jokes on their web cast. So I admit that the show isn't flawless. Some of the stuff is predictable and unrealistic. But the show is entertaining. No wonder this show is an Emmy-award winner. It's great!
Chastity (1969)
wtf-i really disliked this movie.
Okay spoilers. A 22 year old girl named Chastity was abused sexually as a child.
As an adult she gets close to men then never lets them *do anything.*
The most extreme sexual thing she could do was strip naked (a redeeming scene.)
This movie was really weird but the weirdness was annoying not compelling.
She goes to a Mexican bordello and she meets the lesbian owner. Her complex feelings and strong emotions don't let her handle any of the events that happened to her. Pretty awful movie to say the least.
Doppelganger (1993)
Excellent movie!
When two writers make a screenplay of a horror version of Breakfast At Tiffany's, you know something is going to go right. Drew Barrymore, Patrick Highsmith, Leslie Hope, and Sally Kellerman are excellent actors. The FBI agent was a terrible actor. The scenes where Patrick looked Holly up and down like some sort of objectifier, those was just weird. Drew Barrymore is very hot. Intimate Strangers, where Sally Kellerman worked, was a great part. The weird gummy worm was just weird. Nathan was a very handsome cat. But what was that scene where Patrick followed Holly into a cesspool and Mr. Gooding attacked him? And the scene with Dr. Wallace? What was he doing fumbling around in there? And not every male has a female, as Sally Kellerman stated. And when Patrick and Elizabeth saw Drew outside of Victor's, that was weird.
Eragon (2006)
The worst!
This is the worst movie I've ever seen, no exaggeration. It was inexcusably bad. The good cast doesn't make up for the poor development of and between the characters. And don't expect ONE thing from the book to be in the movie, because you will be sorely disappointed. They filled the time of everything they took out with stupid movie one liners like, "Lucky for you I can't breathe fire yet." EVERYTHING was wrong, and if I described everything that was wrong with this movie, this summary would have a trillion words. Awful doesn't even begin to describe this movie. This movie is so bad that if you read the book before watching it, your eyes should rot out of their sockets.
Nenu (2003)
Carl Paoli, a master at work.
The director of Wicker Park and Rain Today, Carl Paoli is a master. His stunts and cinematography on this movie were amazing, especially the spider scene over Chicago. He is incredible and it looked like he put a lot of effort into this movie but actually, it's not that surprising, because he's been doing stunts for over twenty years. And Kellie Madison is fantastic as the writer. She shows that when a wizard tells the person that he/she's going to grant a wish, the first things that come to the mind are the unnecessary things, and by the third thought, you return to what is important to your life, not flying, being spider man, being able to get a girl like nothing, but something that's been bothering you that you want to fix.
Cat's Eye (1985)
Good if you like "comedy"
This is not horror, it's dark comedy, which is great for me. Drew Barrymore was very hot and is good in this. Stephen King is smart and clever and makes this movie enjoyable. This entire movie (or short films) is connected by a stray cat who roams around. The first one's funny, the second, hysterical, the third, pretty awful (but Drew is good). The first one is about this dude who's trying to quit smoking, the second, about a dude who is forced to walk around a balcony, the third, about this girl who has a gnome in her room (how dumb). It's really weird but good. I was shocked because Drew Barrymore is in each segment. In the first, she's "Our Girl", in the second she's "A girl in an advertisement" and in the third, she's "Amanda"(who has a big part).