Reviews

I can honestly say this about "A.I." - I have never seen any other film that was remotely like it before. The trailers made it look like a "DARYL" rehash - but the film itself is just about anything but that.

Much criticism has been made about Speilburg softening blows that Kubrick would have brutally left intact. I consider that to be a plus, seeing as the final product ended up being one of the most heartwrenchingly sad films ever made to begin with. However, despite many Speilburg touches, this film still has Kubrick written all over it (with the sterile surroundings and the extremely dark tones). Even the final fifteen minutes (which is pure Speilburg) is loaded with Kubrickian overtones.

Haley Joel Osmond gives a performance that is both creepily artificial and painfully sincere, once again proving himself to be the best child actor ever to enter the world of American filmmaking.

Jude Law looks a lot like Alex from "Clockwork Orange" (take away the eyebrow, and they would look almost exactly alike), but the similarities end there. He is creepily artificial as well, yet gets to show a few moments of artificial humanity that hit the nail on the head.

If I were to make a complaint about this movie, it would be the fact that it has more than one ending. But that's a minor quibble. "A.I." is a science fiction masterpiece that raises more questions than it answers - guaranteed to frustrate many viewers, yet at the same time likely to remembered as one of the most intelligent and provocative films ever made. It never should have escaped from Hollywood the way it did - and I am overjoyed to see it turned out the way that it did.

I gave it a 10 out of 10 - despite its flaws (and there are very few), this is a real classic.

When I walked into this movie, I did not know what to expect. I have played some "Tomb Raider 2" before, but I gave up trying to figure out the controls for that game after a couple of hours and have never touched a "Tomb Raider" product since. In fact, I only saw this movie because a friend of mine wanted to see it.

As far as video-game based movies go, you can't expect much along the lines of character development and plot. And you won't get much along those lines in "Tomb Raider". The story is merely a clothesline to hang one spectacular action sequence after another onto, and as thus, serves its purpose efficiently.

What you will get is lots of Lara Croft fan-service (suggestive camera angles, pans, and the like), and the aforementioned spectacular action sequences.

It throws in some good humor and does not dare to try to take itself seriously for one moment - and that it part of what makes it all work as well as it does. It also has an attractive cast that gives mostly serviceable performances.

What you have here is a thoroughly entertaining picture that delivers the goods that it promises without pretending to be anything more than it is. It promises action, and it promises Lara Croft fan service, and that is exactly what the viewer gets in very large amounts, without any pretense. True, it's no classic, and it is destined to be forgotten two years from now - but it does its job well.

8 out of 10

"Double Suicide" is a bunraku puppet performance at its core, with perhaps the only difference being that actual humans play the roles of the puppets.

The puppet masters, their faces covered with thin black silk masks, move around props, rapidly change the minimal sets, never interfering with the plot or the characters, yet moving them forward and cooperating with them in a way that is not at all distracting.

The puppets themselves are finely crafted, and the characters that they play present a depth of humanity that is rare in all forms of staged entertainment (whether it be a movie, a play, or the like). Being puppets, however, the viewer is left feeling detached from them, even if there is a sense of humanity present that one can grasp. Oddly enough, that is a good thing in this case - it increases the sense of how the only thing that one could do when the tragic events unfold is to watch.

This is not a film for all tastes, obviously. But the same statement can apply to the bunraku puppet play that this movie is based on. This performance is pulled off with perfection, and I highly recommend it.

10 out of 10

This is, perhaps, the worst telling of the life of the Joan of Arc to ever be placed on celluloid.

What makes this such a bad film?

For starters, Milla Jovovich's portrayal of the Joan of Arc herself is much more if a caricature than anything else, and a purely annoying caricature at that. She plays the role with a completely one-dimensional fanatical gusto that is sometimes comical, but is more often grating.

Second is the direction and the screenplay. The first few minutes start off looking like something that would not be out of place in "The Sound of Music". Then the graphic violence comes in, and then there is the very out-of-place moments of comic relief, and so on and so on. This film jumps between these three categories and more so unevenly that it feels as if it has no direction at all.

And the comic relief mentioned above? I found the scene (near the beginning) where a woman is killed and THEN raped to be disgusting enough, but the way that it was played for laughs was tasteless beyond words. I'm no prude (I actually did find some redeeming values in "Salo", actually), but that scene was just plain sick.

All in all, this was one of the rare moments when I was watching a movie that I actually started to find myself growing increasingly impatient to see the conclusion. I actually started to want to see Joan of Arc being burned at the stake, because that would mark the end of the movie, and my suffering through this terrible piece of cinema would finally be finished.

If you must see a Joan of Arc movie, see Carl Dreyer's silent masterpiece "The Passion of the Joan of Arc", and accept no substitute. But avoid this version at all costs.

Yeah, there still is the annoying chant of "gotta catch 'em all", there still is the blatant merchandising angles, the little critters are just as annoying as they always have been, and the whole disturbing cockfighter mentality is still very much intact.

What sets this film above the first two is the sometimes imaginative and visually impressive use of CG, and the story in itself. Yeah, the story is every bit as hypocritical as one could expect from Pokemon (fight, fight, fight, but then state that brutality outside of the realms of good "friendly" sportsmanship is bad). But there actually is some substance in the plot, which is essentially about a lonely little girl who is very much intent on separating herself from the harsh reality of not having her parents around. Yes, there actually are some very thoughtful moments in this movie.

Granted, it is not enough for me to take back every bad thing that I have ever said about Pokemon, but it was a rather pleasant surprise. This movie still is far from being a classic, but it is easily the best thing to ever have come out of the whole Pokemon craze.

6 out of 10.

"Evangelion - Death & Rebirth" is, obviously, a film of two parts. "Death" is a futile attempt to stuff the content of the first 24 episodes of the "Evangelion" TV series into a running time of just under an hour. It succeeds in getting the very bare-bones of the plot in, but leaves out all of the subtler moments, the moments of psychological drama, and the fully-realized character developments that helped to make the TV series so popular to begin with. The few minutes of animation made help fill up this immense loss fails miserably.

But it does its job. And its job is to promote "The End of Evangelion". It is virtually impossible to watch "EoE" without some significant background knowledge of the TV series, and that is exactly what "Death" does.

"Rebirth" is, essentially, the first few minutes of "EoE", there for the sole purpose of whetting the appetites of audiences all over Japan for the initial release of "EoE". But since "EoE" has since been released, what's the point of keeping "Rebirth" around, anyway?

As far as promotional packages go, this is one brilliant piece of marketing. But viewers expecting to be thoroughly blown away by "Evangelion" are best off watching the TV series and then "EoE" (all in one sitting is NOT recommended, due to the sheer length of it all). "Death & Rebirth" has served its purpose, and now is no longer needed.

"Plastic Little" is, without a doubt, beautifully animated. Bright, colorful, and incredibly fluid, it is a joy to look at.

But as for the plot, it is slow, predictable, and completely unoriginal in every way, shape and form. Still, it does not pretend to be anything that it is not, and that is an attempt to be the anime that Russ Meyer never made. Many gratuitious breast shots helped to earn this title nicknames such as "Silicone Little" or "Plastic Nipple" in anime circles throughout the US. "Slow-moving" and "trashy" do not go well together, however.

But the animation quality is NIIIIIICCCCCCCCEEEEEEEE....... So nice, that one can still find enjoyment here if the brain is left at the door.

"Angel Cop" is mind-numbingly violent, no question about that. It is also mind-numbingly stupid.

The plot to this six-part direct-to-video anime series revolves around a Communist terrorist organization out to topple Japan's economy on their first step to taking over the world, three psychic assassins that take orders from some very powerful (and corrupt) government positions, and the Special Security Force, which is the only police force in Japan that is actually allowed to fire their guns.

"Angel Cop" is idiotic, but it does have some redeeming values. First off being the English dubbing, which is laughably bad ("If this is justice, then I'm a banana!"). Second is that it does not pretend to be any smarter than it actually is. Third is the above-average animation quality.

I'd recommend this one for anybody seeking a mindless action fest, but make sure the kids are in bed first.

Yasujiro Ozu's "Good Morning" is very lightweight, but is much more intelligent than most comedies of its type.

It contains a fair amount of commentary on problems involving human communication in more ways than one. It also manages to throw in a couple of well-placed barbs at society's descent into consumer culture. But at its core, it is light, bubbly, and very enjoyable. Even if the constant string of flatulence humor grows old very quickly, there's a lot to like here. The cruel gossip and misunderstandings among the housewives leads to many laugh-out-loud moments. The two brothers' petty vow of silence (in reaction to their parents not buying them a TV set) does just that as well.

In the end, it's not a classic, it's not all that original (Ozu presented many of these same themes in his previous films), but it certainly is worth watching.

8 out of 10.