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Reviews
The Matrix (1999)
Too bad they dumbed it down...
Now, I have to admit I have seen it 3 times, and would have to call it the best comedy of the year, which is precisely what works in it. Have you seen _The Big Hit_? The action is similar: there's nothing like breakdancing assassins.
The truth is, however, that for as interesting as the plot was, they left little to the imagination, and in fact, it seemed way too mainstreamed and given in too many nice, chewable bite-sized snippets for the recreational viewer. For a hot concept like the world as a matrix, the fact that this came as such a mainstream attempt may further prove the existence of the story in our world.
How about the campy, uninspired romance that we would have been better served without? How about insufficient fancy slow-mo FX? How about more, more, more in-the-matrix interactions?
With all of this said, it was a riveting and compelling big-balls action flick, and the best I've seen in the genre, but its failings show through where the whole genre falls through: ditch action-flick conventions for better swagger and ego. If _The Matrix_ had more faith in itself, it would not be necessary to make such grandiose appeals to the common viewer.
The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
A cinematic triumph
For as long as I waited to see _The Sweet Hereafter_, waiting for its video release, I am glad it surpassed my expectations. Like _The Myth of Fingerprints_, and _One Night Stand_, the seemless weaving of people's lives together was poignant and fresh, as well as seductive and heavenly. A movie like this proves to me over and over why I love watching movies by genius writer/directors: They are smooth creative flow with rising spirit.
In the movie itself, the shocking distrust, deception, and cunning show the true evil in the human heart, while failing attempts to express love, show its true beauty.
Also, sit back and take in the amazing soundtrack. The fact that they dispensed with a typical movie score, only adds credibility to the emotions it evokes.
The Myth of Fingerprints (1997)
Goes beyond a family gathering
For all of the movies I have been forced to accept and comprehend, _The Myth of Fingerprints_ is far and away the one that I most wish that I could have had a part in. It flows over a holiday visit like the cold breeze out their Maine window. The characters are more real than human beings could hope to be; some are willing to disclose who they are, and others leave us with only a trace understanding.
I could not hope to make a movie this sincere and beautiful; it achieves in an hour and half more than I could hope to see in a lifetime. Let's hope that Bart Freundlich can top this one.
She's the One (1996)
Don't compare this to _The Brothers McMullin_
This is not Edward's first movie, so let's play it for the truth; this is his second, the follow up to the excellent "Brothers M" and is not what his previous movie was, except the ingenious, and funny, interactions between siblings in New York.
What _She's the One_ lacks in true invention, it easily makes up for in cinematic experience. The growth of the characters over the course of the movie, the twisting plot (at times easily, and so wonderfully predictable), and rich character interactions with smart dialogue, make this a much more fulfilling experience then almost anything else I have seen in the theater this year. In fact, I am comforted by the fact that I have a copy at home that I can throw in when everything else seems so lame.
Legends of the Fall (1994)
Overhyped drivel, anyone?
I could not express to you in 1,000 words or less all of the ways that I believe this crap to be the worst movie I have ever seen. I will, however, give you a simple overview.
A)Don't just stick to the one plot line, get a plotline, and while you're at it, get a convincing plotline that has some social significance. The only plot that matters at all is the one at the end when the family is desperate and takes to smuggling. That should have been where the story started, and ended.
B)Because of all of the plotlines, some not only made no sense but had no significance, even if they framed the story, like Triscuit and his bear. Dime-store spiritualism: no thank you.
C)Characters didn't play off each other well, or maybe it was the acting, or maybe it was both. Either way they were too irritating to tell the difference.
D)It got an academy award nomination...in anything! Then again, maybe the academy deserves drivel like this...
I could go on, but that's more than enough ranting. To its credit, at least it elicited such a harsh response from me! Not even a terrible movie like _Congo_ could do that. Have a good day renting something, but make sure it isn't "L o' the Fault." I wouldn't even advise watching it if someone else rented it and there was nothing else to do. Go find a nose to pick over watching this movie.