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The Crossing Guard (1995)
Better than other users seem to think.
I've just read through a few other users' comments and noticed the 6.3 average given and am a little disappointed. I've just watched this film on a wet afternoon and found it extremely poetic, touching and very human.
The film is about two men, Nicholson and Morse, and their differing reactions to Morse's release from prison after six years for the manslaughter of Nicholson's daughter (drunk-driving).
All this film is concerned about is the two men. Both actors and director combine to portray detailed characters, who we can try to understand and identify with. There is no real action or plot, only character study and development, which is done well enough to constitute the film.
Of course there are flaws, others have pointed them out, but I wanted to stick up for this film, and I would recommend it if you're looking for something about people.
Mike Allison
Stigmata (1999)
Nearly great, but just falls short.
This is a film with a lot going for it that just about fails to really impress.
Patricia Arquette is reasonable and is certainly a sympathetic heroine. Gabriel Byrne gives a good understated performance which fits the role perfectly.
The direction, which I've seen described as "MTV" style camera work is okay, as it lets you know that we are in a very modern world here, providing a good contrast to the religious theme of the film.
It borrows heavily from the exorcist in many important points (but there's not quite enough possessed-woman-with-funny-voice antics if you ask me), the 3rd world opening, the switch to modern day USA, and the possession scenes.
There is however the extra dimension of the Vatican conspiracy and good old Jonathan Pryce being evil in a far more effective way than he is in the other film I've seen him in (Tomorrow Never Dies, in which he's terrible).
This conspiracy angle, and the revelation of the 'Gospel according to Jesus' idea as a whole, is the basis for a brilliant film, unfortunately somewhere along the line someone decided it would be more interesting for the priest and the possessed woman to fall in love. This is concentrated on far too much and gets in the way of the interesting part, taking away from the drama of the film as a whole.
Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)
A terrible let-down
This is a terrible, terrible film.
The first two in the series were fairly simple, fun films, relying mainly on Eddie Murphy's performances but nevertheless with strong backup from the rest of the cast (particularly in the first one), and a certain eighties 'cool' factor that, while obviously dated, still charms.
In this one though, it Eddie Murphy wears a bit thin, and the plot reads like a McBain (of Simpsons fame) film, with its horrific cliches and awful script. Even the music was redone so that only once in the films do we here it in its classic version.
And what was going on with Judge Reinhold?
I guess Axel Foley just doesn't belong in the 90's.
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Bad.
I've just read a comment claiming that this is the best of the last twelve years! This is one of the worst of the entire 40 years.
While for once the plot is actually quite well thought through, the execution of the film is apalling in almost all departments.
Robert Carlyle actually manages to be bad- I never thought that was possible. Using a character who can feel no pain could have led to all sorts of interesting situations, instead he holds a hot rock for a bit- oooh!
Denise Richards continues her campaign for the prize of worst actress of all time (see Starship Troopers, Wild Things).
The script is appalling, the first ten minutes is nothing but a collection of witless one-liners.
Pierce Brosnan has definitely outstayed his welcome after a decent debut and a reasonable follow-up. It's time to give the most sought after male role in the film industry to somebody who can act (clue- furrowing the brow does not equal acting).
Sophie Marceau is a redeeming feature, her performance is excellent, though the scene in Istanbul between her and 'Renard' is slightly tortuous, lacking the chemistry it sorely needed, though I guess that could be put down to the rather bland nature of 'Renard'.
Robbie Coltrane breathes life into the film at the right time, and Goldie is quite funny towards the end, but these are small things that went right in an otherwise wrong film.
U Turn (1997)
Red Rock West anyone?
This is totally unoriginal, uninteresting, and Stone's stylised direction becomes downright laughable after about the third or fourth montage of images. And what is all that about with Jon Voight? Is this film supposed to be a self-parody? Sean Penn is okay and Jennifer Lopez is convincing enough but, hello!!! Script, plot...anyone there?
Just see the vastly superior Red Rock West with Nicholas Cage, Dennis Hopper, and the marvelously pure evil J.T.Walsh.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
A film or a special effects demonstration?
Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching The Phantom Menace and thought it well worth going to see, but it was clear to me that George Lucas' focus was in the wrong direction. Was it necessary for every single scene to have some kind of CGI enhancement no matter how small? That isn't what made the first ones so good. He was too eager to be visually spectacular (the big fish, even bigger fish bit was decidedly ill-advised). Though the locations were spectacular and fantastic, they were too abundant, detracting from the characters and the story which should have been the focus of the film. Another problem was the apparent determination to fit everyone and everything else in there, the sandpeople didn't need to be there, but they were, pointlessly, just to satisfy the 'trainspotters', the Jedi Mind Trick was slightly overused (although at one point to good comic effect) and in the apparent desire to satisfy the nerdiest of all Star Wars fans, a scientific explanation for the force was given! Surely the whole point of it, why we were so taken with it, was the pure clean mystery about it.
I also thought the score had too much brand new music (at least to my ears) that just wasn't good enough, the scores to the old films are absolute all-time classics and that music should have been used more.
Other than that, the film is an obvious success, the actors (none of whom could be called a lead, they're all supporting roles) do their jobs well enough, Darth Maul's brief appearance (and it was too brief for my liking) gave us a sword fight Errol Flynn would have dreamed of, and the story was nicely set up for a continuation of Palpatine/Sidious' rise to ultimate power. The pod race, a brilliant rip-off of Ben-Hur's (or is it Spartacus') chariot race was also a fantastic set piece though marred distinctly by the two headed American ESPN commentators.
Though I felt slightly disappointed (without particularly high hopes in the first place) I still thoroughly enjoyed the film, but don't consider it to be as good as the original which started the whole thing.
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
Black comedy at its best.
Dan Aykroyd slightly disappointing (for him) performance aside, this film has no negatives. It is simply one of the best black comedies I have ever seen and probably of all time. Intelligent observations, stylish comedy action scenes and one of the best lines of all-time.
"either he has a new found respect for life..."
Brassed Off (1996)
Look America, this is what England is like.
I find it so annoying that supremely talented British actors and film makers are forced to cater more for an American audience more than for the home audience. Having said that, this is still an extremely enjoyable film which would have been let down by over-sentimentality if it weren't held together so brilliantly by Pete Postlethwaite, and thankfully it is his performance that sticks in the mind from Brassed Off.
True Lies (1994)
All the right ingredients, pure fun.
I first saw this film aged 13, and thought it was perfect. The wisdom of age obviously dampens down this enthusiasm slightly, but even now it's not hard to see that all the ingredients are there, action, comedy and particularly, a superb interaction between the two throughout. Jamie Lee Curtis' character's involvement is the only negative thing about it, as there are moments (particularly that pointless dancing scene) that ruin the pure fun flow of film.
Once Were Warriors (1994)
This film is pure power.
There are films so powerful they move you to feel something, or even want to do something, and then there is Once Were Warriors. Temuera Morrison's performance as Jake, while not technically gifted, is one of the most immense in film history, a bold claim I realise, but one that would be backed up by anyone who had seen the film. This film just involves you right from the start, and there's no possibility of escaping empathy with the two female characters. Grace's struggle for something better, and her mother's near endless hope and faith in husband Jake are so human that this film stands apart from anything else you'll ever see.
Red Dwarf (1988)
Rose to a peak, and tailed off tragically.
Red Dwarf at its best (series IV and V) is simply the greatest sitcom there has been. The first three series were very much focused on the characters, and particularly the Rimmer/Lister relationship. By the time the fourth series was reached, the characters had been made to seem so real that we felt like we knew them. It's with characters with this much depth that sit-coms truly become classic. The fourth and fifth series effectively moved Red Dwarf into using concepts, usually involving philosophical issues, for comedy, meaning Grant and Naylor were able to extract jokes through these concepts, through the characters, and through good old fashioned slapstick/'toilet' humour. However, the success of these series' and the effect of it had a massive negative effect on series' VI and VII. A 3 and a half year wait indicated a lack of ideas, and the result proved it. Series VII doesn't bear thinking about, and the recently finished series eight was the inevitable improvement, though far from as good as the old glory days.
Predator (1987)
Arnie's pinnacle
This is a fantastic action film. In as far as action films can be classics, this is one, because it also makes a decent stab at the suspenseful, power of suggestion, type of thing that made Jaws so great.
It's far and away Arnie's best film, and I like most of his others. As far as having aliens in films goes, this is the way to do it, forget Independence Day or any of that stuff.
The Living Daylights (1987)
Painfully underrated
The Living Daylights comes very close to being one of my favourite Bond films. Timothy Dalton can actually act, and is far more faithful to Fleming's original character, thus breathing badly needed new life into the series. Dalton is hard and professional, but he also gives the impression that his relationship with Kara is an emotional one rather than one of Moore's almost sordid conquests.
What the film lacks however is a strong baddie. Both Whitaker and Koskov are faintly comical, slightly pathetic characters. Art Malik provides an inevitably strong cameo but no-one comes close to stealing Dalton's thunder, this probably rates as one of the top two performances as Bond, the other being Connnery in From Russia With Love.
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
The worst of a good bunch.
This is the only Bond film I've ever watched and felt bored. Mr Kidd and Mr Wint steal the film, the Bond girls are bland, uninspiring, and are quite frankly, involved too much. Like Thunderball, it survives through the strength of the franchise.
The title song however, is a different matter, being one of the best.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
A different kind of Bond
Bond in love? No Sean Connery? Surely not! In OHMSS Bond is more of a genuine person than in any of the other films. At one point he is alone, frightened, almost pathetic, until rescued by Tracy. This is a side of the character we hadn't seen before, and inevitably don't see again.
OHMSS dares to be different and, on the whole, gets away with it. However, director Peter Hunt makes a complete hash of the fight scenes and some of the other action scenes. John Barry again steals the show with a fantastic piece of music, played over an almost brilliant ski chase from the mountain top base.
Lazenby's performance is adequate and OHMSS is good in its own right, but it doesn't really fit snugly with all the other Bond films, so it's not a surprise that for the next film the producers opted for the more tried and tested approach.
Goldfinger (1964)
This is where it really starts.
Goldfinger is one the most famous of the Bond films, but following on from From Russia With Love, it's hard not to be disappointed in some vague kind of way.
Having said that, this is the film where the cliches start, all the things we associate with Bond, most particularly the legendary sexual prowess, are first used. The silent physical henchman, the hair-brained scheme. This film is probably most notable for the fact that as a secret agent Bond is actually really rubbish and very lucky to get away with it.
From Russia with Love (1963)
Brilliant in its own right. Connery shows his class.
When looking at Bond films, it's important to look at them as Bond films, rather than normal films, otherwise you see a lot to criticise. This however, stands up as a fine film in its own right. It has a good plot, and interesting supporting characters, something which is usually missing from a bond film, (though not at any great loss to their enjoyability.)
Connery's follow-up performance to his almost effortless one in Dr.No is even better, strong, cold, businesslike, and yet still so susceptible to the emotions he feels towards both Tanya and Kerim. Probably the best performance as Bond in any of the 18 films so far.
Casablanca (1942)
There may be better films, but this is the one I love.
Casablanca is the only film I've voted for as a 10 out of 10. I'm not even sure why particularly, as technically there isn't really anything special about it, and if it weren't for a Red Dwarf episode- "Camille" I probably wouldn't have been interested in watching it. Nevertheless, there's something enduring about it that means no matter how many times you watch it, you're still not sure what the characters really want to do, Rick, Ilsa, and Renault are all 'real' characters, with choices that one wouldn't know how to make. The word 'classic' is ridiculously overused, but it was invented for this film.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
What is the point of this film?
Some films make you laugh, or cry, or they shock you into thinking,or whatever, this just makes you go urrgh! Graphic violence to no particular end other than this "freak out the audience" factor. Nevertheless, it's well made, well acted and is moving, but for some bizarre reason Spielberg is overcome by a massive need for a disgracefully cheesy ending which, quite frankly, does make you look at the rest of the film in a different light.