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Reviews
Fight Club (1999)
One Complaint (w/Spoiler!)
*S P O I L E R* The only major criticism I had of this otherwise fine film, was the sequence towards the end when we see Narrator fighting himself via the security camera. Wasn't this pandering to the audience? Aren't we smart enough to figure out what's going on here? More importantly, couldn't Fight Club be more ambiguous with the reality of Narrator and Tyler? Perhaps something along the lines of; Is Deckard a Replicant (Blade Runner)?
Chasing Amy (1997)
Best Romantic Comedy of the 90's
Kevin Smith may not use utilize fancy camera work and special effects, but that boy sure can write. I believe that CHASING AMY is the best romantic comedy since SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE. There is more insight into the nature of relationships and romance in this film than all the Julia Roberts movies combined! I rated this movie a 10 due to the general weakness of the genre, great performances by Jason Lee and Joey Adams, and the truly original and fresh script.
The Thing That Couldn't Die (1958)
Certain to be a Classic
What do you get when you mix one part "Evil Dead" and one part "Bonanza"? You get "The Thing that Couldn't Die"! A horror (?) film set on a ranch that apparently doesn't grow or raise anything. I must say that the film works on a cheesy level and is quite entertaining.
My favourite part is when a large branch falls onto a victim and the gang is trying to figure out what caused it. The goofy heroine concludes that it must be an "evil wind". HAHAHAHAHA! Its lines like this that make Dr. Evil's (Austin Powers) comments about evil petting zoos hilarious.
This is one of those movies that will keep you laughing at all the classic horror cliches and poor special effects.
The Meateater (1979)
I'm at a Loss of Words
How is it possible that THE MEATEATERS isn't in the IMDb 'Bottom 100?!?!?!?!? This movie is worse than bad. Bad would suggest an emotional response on behalf of the viewer - anger, revulsion, nausea, etc. Meateater can't even provide that. I can say with absolute confidence that I would rather stare at my blank TV screen for an 1 1/2 hours than watch this movie again.
I actually found a video rental store that carried this movie, and I would note that they ended up going out of business - I'm convinced Meateater had something to do with it.
Be forewarned; the cool image (a cartoon) on the cover of the VHS has nothing to do with the film. The only scene that holds a place in my memory (for which I hope the director suffers in the afterlife for) is the family driving around in a station wagon singing "I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener..." If that sounds like entertainment to you, maybe you should rent this flick. Otherwise stay far away from it.
Velvet Goldmine (1998)
Plenty of Potential, yet Ultimately Disappointing
Sadly this film could of been much better by simply trimming 20 to 30 minutes out of it. I watched it on DVD and noticed there were no "deleted scenes" in the special features - you know why? Because they didn't delete any scenes...they left them all in whether they worked or not! The movie was like watching a series of interesting videos surrounded by meaningless and empty dialogue (what was the point of the Oscar Wilde set-up?)
The music was fair to good, although a greater effort should of been made to get David Bowie's permission to use his music. I'm baffled by Bowie fans who found this acceptable. I would think it would be frustrating.
A similar movie that works much better than Velvet Goldmine is SID AND NANCY. Here is a movie that deals with the London music scene where the story is more important than the music. Perhaps Alex Cox is just better able to handle absurd and outrageous characters.
And finally, I think Ewan McGregor demonstrated that he's the front runner to play Kurt Cobain if they ever decide to make a movie about the grunge music scene.