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rebeccagavin
Reviews
The Illusionist (2006)
Absorbing, beautiful, and well acted
That anyone could give this movie a 1 or a 2 rating defies common sense. There was excellent acting in this movie. The production values were also excellent. The dialogu was perfectly adequate...not so bad it detracted from my enjoyment of the film, but not so great that I gave it more than the usual notice. I felt transported into another time and place, and though the ending can be determined well into the film, I was never sure if I was right. And if I was right, I wasn't sure how it could be accomplished.
I did notice what I considered to be a plot hole. The girl that played the young Sophie had some crooked teeth (refreshing in today's cookie cutter world) and the grown Sophie did not. I wasn't aware they had orthodontia in Victorian Vienna. Modern dentistry of our time, however can make false teeth to match just about any description. It's a petty thing. Another equally petty thing...what was with all the bad dye jobs on everybody's beard. You could see the blonde roots and other patches of blonde hair on the face of several characters. Was that common practice in Victorian days? What was that about? Still, The Illusionist is a very satisfying film. People who trash it must have gotten some bad popcorn.
Madame Satã (2002)
fascinating and repulsive
I found this movie mesmerizing, both due to the lead performance and the depiction of a time and place previously unfamiliar to me. A previous user comment said that Jaoa is heterosexual and that Lorita's baby is his. Just for clarification, he is not, and neither is the baby. I don't know how accurate this bio-pic really is in portraying the life of Jaoa Francisco vos Santos. But the character is a perplexing and complex mixture of violence and tenderness, talent and self-destruction. Clearly a victim of internalized homophobia and brutal class hierarchy, Jaoa knows he is destined for greatness, but can't keep his underlying rage from exploding all over everyone, friend and foe. It's dog eat dog in the slums of Rio, but Jaoa creates a family with a female prostitute named Lorita, her baby(on whom Jaoa dotes sweetly), and the greatly put-upon and abused servant, Tabu. Jaoa takes one step forward, then two steps back--straight in to prison, over and over. The real Jaoa Francisco vos Santos was a highly celebrated female impersonator and lived to the ripe old age of 76, despite an extremely punishing existence. I think the film reveals naked humanity, sometimes the viewer is horrified but can't stop peering into the wreckage.
Chuck & Buck (2000)
love it or hate it
In reading the wildly disparate reviews here, I am struck by strong reactions this film has elicited. I liked Chuck and Buck very much. First, far from being anti-gay, I think it treated homosexual activity as just a part of life, neither promoting nor condemning it, which "Normalizes" it in a way that making it an " issue" never could. Secondly, although Buck's development was arrested, he does experience growth which sheds a very hopeful light on th human dilemma. Because of his special circumstances, his progress in life is anything but predictable or formulaic. He finds a place for himself. I would agree with those who say that the "climax" seems out of keeping with "Chuck's" character and somewhat in conflict with what conventional wisdom would advise in real life. But, at the same time, it gives more insight into Chuck's character. He appears to enjoy it, and for a moment, reconnects with the special closeness he and Buck shared as children. I came out of the theater wondering if Chuck told his girlfriend about THAT? Chuck and Buck was very thought provoking and sweet while dealing with bizarre and unseemly aspects of humanity. That's the kind of approach that, if done well, touches me the most deeply.
Mission to Mars (2000)
New Age Mess
Mission to Mars counts as one of the worst films I have ever seen. Brian DePalma doesn't seem to know exactly what kind of movie he wanted to make. As drama/adventure it lacks the ability to make the viewer care about what happens next. As Sci-fi it is so cliched it makes Jules Verne look fresh. As human interest/consciousness expansion it plays the dilettante to such a degree that it really doesn't say anything. There isn't enough depth to be engaging nor enough flash to make you forget that there's no coherent statement. Long passages of this film could have been edited out with absolutely no loss to the narrative. The dialog is embarrassing. It's a squirmer and an eyeroller of the worst kind.