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Reviews
Undead (2003)
Original and very funny indie zombie-flick
Considering this movie was made on shoestring budget and it was apparently the first proper film of the crew, the end result was great. The acting was over the top, but it fit the feel of the movie. Action sequences were hilarious, but they could have done with a bit more honing. The action seemed to stop and lag at times, so a recut wouldn't hurt.
One thing really shone through, and it was that the crew put their heart into this production. You could feel the enthusiasm, and the end result was crazy, rough around the edges movie that will no doubt form into a minor cult classic.
Land of the Dead (2005)
From serious films to silly post-holocaust mush
I have to say that Land of the Dead was a disappointment. The main strength of the other ...of the Dead -films was that they were very much believable. The characters felt like real people and the settings were realistic, as much as you can say that about a zombie movie. More to the point, those were serious movies.
Land of the Dead on the other hand was silly. Soo, we have this cavalcade of blandly beautiful b-actors who have silly nicknames, the society is divided to haves and have-nots, the latter of which have a dirty face. The main character is so goddamn noble and righteous that he could have been ripped out of an American war movie. For some reason money is relevant and on the top of the food chain there is one guy, who in the end tries to make an escape with big bags of money. Haven't I seen this in a dozen bad 80's scifi and post holocaust films?
Bland characters, silly setting, big plot holes, worn-out clichés, but also several good moments and jokes. Compared to other b-grade post-holocaust and zombie flicks, Land of the Dead was mediocre. Compared to Romero's other films, it was outright bad.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Nice, cynical plot spoiled by crappy sentimental icing.
To tell you the truth, I don't have any factual information about which parts of the movie were Kubric and which Spielberg, but I have a pretty good hunch.
I suppose everybody knows the plot of the movie at least roughly by now. The beginning of the movie was good and it culminated to quite a touching and effective scene, which was followed by...
Power rangers on motorcycles. Jar Jar Binks -caliber uncomfortable embarassment. Complete lack of feeling of faerytale. Plot that jumps here and there, almost raises interesting points and then races over and around them and headlong to some over-sentimental cliche.
I don't know if the ending was originally Spielberg or Kubric, but the most irritating thing was that there was a point in there that would've made it work, but apparently Spielberg decided to turn it into "and everybody had cake and fun was had by all - cue the tears, please"-crap.
Last time I felt like I had wasted money like this on a movie was Mission to Mars. So, if you want to see a nice plot being turned into a mishmash quilt of over-sentimental crap and watered-down good scenes, go see AI. If you happen to be a Kubric fan, stay out and save some adrenaline.
Bless the Child (2000)
Spoiled by CGI
This film is a nice proof of the fact that the worst thing that has happened to the horror movies are affordabe CGI. The plot in itself is...well, very predictable but ok, and certainly something a good director could've worked into a classic. Alas - "hey, we'll have to make this scene scary, how about working with lights, doing some fancy camera-work and sound effects... naah, let's just slap in a CGI monster, that's sure to scare them out of their seats". Right. There are scenes that work really well and have an inkling of an atmosphere, but the first sight of the computer generated devil bats made us burst out laughing - not perhaps what was intended.
I'm a fan of the religious-horror genre and usually I'm willing to go at lengths with the suspension of disbelief, but I can recommend this film only for the camp value.
A crying shame.
The People Under the Stairs (1991)
Walt Disney on bad acid!
A hilarious, sort of "Walt Disney making a family adventure movie on very bad acid"-flick.