Reviews
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Shame on Alice
Not to cast aspersions on any fellow critic, but I would recommend those of you perusing the comments on "The Sixth Sense" to avoid reading AliceG's undeservedly nasty diatribe. My guess is that AliceG just cannot accept any film that doesn't swell with Gothic imagery and a teeming moroseness; I would also assume that the movie's much-hyped ending had no effect on a soul so numbed by cynicism. But I digress...
"The Sixth Sense" is a tremendous achievement, a stunning end to a season that hung itself with bathroom humor and bathroom-quality films like "Wild Wild West" and "The General's Daughter." The acting, the script, and the direction rival that of any film I have seen; it is to M. Night Shyamalan's credit that "The Sixth Sense" reverberates with such heartening force.
I cannot adequately express in such a short space how impressive this movie really is. What Hollywood has needed for so long is fresh talent, and in Shyamalan and Haley Joel Osment, it is unearthed. As for Bruce Willis, the assessment that he is a one-dimensional, prototype badass character is unfair. He lets "The Sixth Sense" come to him, never emoting, a trait that has victimized some of his lesser Hollywood compatriots.
"The Sixth Sense" deserves all the merit it has received, and I think Shyamalan will reap what he has sown once Academy Award nominations are announced. A work such as this warrants the praise it has received.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
A homespun masterpiece
Simply a refresher course in American cinema, and not just within the horror genre. It meshes the traditional with the unconventional in the right amount, and the improvisation of our three filmmakers is shockingly accurate. The movie represents a triumph for minimalism with its rudimentary cinematography and sound, and a marketing coup of the highest order. "The Blair Witch Project" is far from a victim of its own massive hype, however. It represents an escape from the norm, and is a trenchant reminder of how stale feature films have become. In a word, brilliant. 9.5/10
Mosquito (1994)
Splendid schlock
What a tremendous achievement in American cinema! Did any of y'all know that you can hammer boards over windows without nails? Did you know that facial hair can disappear and reappear at random moments? Did you realize the safe haven that can be had in a bathtub? A perfect way to spend the day.
American Pie (1999)
Mmm-mmm good
In a season that has been saturated with nasty humor ("Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut" being the chief offenders), the lack of tact in "American Pie" is at least more honest and justified. This is a fair treatment of American teens, a good examination of their follies and their virtues and the hormonal imbalances that taint their relationships. It's also Eugene Levy's best film -- granted, that's not saying much -- and a springboard for Jason Biggs.
A little too much dependency on bathroom humor and intermittent slumps in the writing put this at a solid 8/10.
Rushmore (1998)
The French have a word for it...crap
I wanted more than anything else to like this movie, but it is thoroughly exhausting, and its message is both vague and needless. Jason Schwartzman's future as an actor would be better suited to made-for-TV sequels in the "Revenge of the Nerds" series, Olivia Williams belongs in a Baskin-Robbins somewhere, and Bill Murray has done far better work. All these reviews that extol the movie as being "quirky" are simply substituting that description for "unfunny" and "irritating." Maybe Hollywood does need a breath of creativity, but it doesn't need a cryptic, silly waste like this.
A Cool, Dry Place (1998)
A Cool Dry Flick
A nice little work that proves Vince Vaughn is versatile and capable in a crowded field of young actors, and one that unearths potential in young Bobby Moat. The movie explores relationships fairly and succinctly, and it deserves to have a good rental life since its theatrical release was soft.
Alien³ (1992)
Different is good!
I am constantly miffed at the lack of respect this film gets; in my opinion, it has an unsettling mood and atmosphere that supersedes its two predecessors, both of which were outstanding. But "Alien 3" shows that David Fincher, though it was his directorial debut, is a very polished filmmaker. Fury 161 is an abysmal place, one that gives a final challenge to Ellen Ripley. It is grungy and isolated, and its denizens are insipid. In other words, it is the perfect setting for the death of the "perfect organism." What "Alien 3" lacked -- at least in the eyes of those who found it to be a disappointment -- was the Cameronesque aesthetics of "Aliens" and the claustrophobic sense of terror that distinguished the original. It instead reflects its heroine, who is a prisoner much like the inhabitants of Fury, and desires not an escape but merely an end. The film's cohesion with the remainder of the trilogy has always been scrutinized, but unfairly so. It is dissimilar to "Aliens," but that film also scarcely resembles its prequel. The "Alien" trilogy, because it is so eclectic in employing the talents of three different directors, is ahead of the "Star Wars" films as my favorite three-pack; it is diverse and uneven, but it's reflective of Ripley's journey from the Nostromo all the way to the fire which engulfs her body at the end of "Alien 3." In short, "Alien 3" takes a critical beating because it did not meet expectations. Perhaps over time, people who initially found fault in it will see what a truly excellent film this really is. As for "Resurrection," well, it should have stayed on the cutting-room floor.
Titanic (1997)
Less is More
Where skeptics and other rampant "Titanic" haters typically center their criticism is on the perceived sappiness of the central romance. What they fail to do, however, is recognize the subtle vignettes that Cameron masterfully employs to make us comprehend the impending terror, the tragedy and the visions of hope and grandeur that went plunging into the icy depths with the great ship. Andrews sips his brandy and turns back the clock on the mantle, an old couple embraces and weeps as water rushes up to the bed, the ensemble soberly plays its final pieces together, a preacher delivers a final prayer with a mass of hands clinging to him. Those are the scenes which make "Titanic" the cinematic juggernaut it has become. Some may be put off by the Winslet-DiCaprio romance; this male, however, found it to be very essential, a frame of reference for the audience to vicariously realize the horror of the accident. "Titanic" deserved each of its 11 Oscars.