Reviews

This movie is very much in the tradition of Kubrick. It's quiet, it's dramatic, sophisticated and beautifully shot. The ending is ambiguous; open to interpretation. Cameron Bright is convincingly haunted as the possible re-incarnation of Anna's (Nicole Kidman) deceased husband. Birth reveals the ways in which love and the removal of that love can traumatize us. I did not realize who the director of this film was until after I finished it. I was pleased to see that Mr. Glazer has also directed Sexy Beast which is another excellent film and one of my personal favorites of the past 10 years or so. I strongly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Sexy Beast or the work of Kubrick.

I just finished watching Jesus Camp. It literally took me years to build up the courage to watch it because I thought it might be too depressing or outrageous. Thankfully it wasn't. The tone of the movie is pleasant enough. It reminded me of an extended This American Life segment. The movie shows a somewhat extreme indoctrination of children by Christian adults. From the film, it appears that this is a relatively small segment of American society. What was most encouraging to me about the movie was the thought that some of these children are smart enough to resist this indoctrination. I myself was raised in a very religious household and I attended churches with very similar beliefs and practices from age 4-18. Around the age of 12 I began to resist and by the time I was 14 I was an atheist. I don't begrudge religion or the religious, but I do disagree with those that would brainwash children like this. I was most struck by the young boy of 9-10 with the blonde bowl cut hairdo. You could see on his face -- he wants to believe what he's being told to believe so badly, but he simply cannot bring himself to. He's too smart.

The other thing that left an impression on me was a near-complete lack of child-like happiness. Only in perhaps two moments through the film can children be seen happy and having fun as children would normally do. Whenever the children are having fun, either their own indoctrination or a nearby adult comes along to clamp down on that fun. The young girl who is seen dancing wants to make sure she's not dancing "in the flesh." The young boy telling a ghost story is told that ghost stories don't glorify god and therefore should not be repeated. That is the saddest part of the movie. But some of these kids will escape.

I recently caught this movie on cable. While the production values definitely had a lower budget, indie feel I thought the movie was quite good. I love small scale action drama movies and this was an excellent example...up until the end. The movie ends very abruptly and with a completely unnecessary cliffhanger that is resolved literally seconds later. To me it felt like an ending that was deliberately placed there by one of these possibilities:

1. The production ran out of money. They wanted to shoot a better ending but simply couldn't due to budget.

2. The studio pressured the director to make a cut, and so to spite them she literally took a meat cleaver to the film.

When the realities of film making tend to stick their noses so blatantly into a movie it tends to ruin the rest of it for me.

I give it a six out of ten, but I will definitely keep eye open for this director in the future.

There's something about the idealized look of early animation that appeals to me. This cartoon (though I haven't seen it in years) presents a peek into the imaginary high-living, cosmopolitan lifestyle of the well-to-do in the 1930's. The music is memorable, the drawing and shading are gorgeous. If you're anything like me this cartoon will have you longing for a life which only exists in our dreams.

I finally saw this movie last night. I have yet to see the Spanish original, but I am looking forward to it. I've also read that the story is loosely based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon." I haven't read that story so I can't verify this.

As I reflect on Vanilla Sky, I realize that I should have been profoundly moved by this movie. My thoughts could definitely be described as wistful. The problem however is that I did not feel that way while watching the movie. I think the ending and explanations were so "far out" that it distracted me from the film's moral statement: live a good life, savor every moment. Life is beautiful and worth living in its own right. Living is its own reward.

The distraction caused by the "gee whiz" sci-fi ending nearly ruins the strongest moment of emotional poignancy. This is Vanilla Sky's only flaw. For that reason I give it an 8 out of 10. By the way, I'm an enormous fan of science fiction. In this instance though, the ending came so suddenly from out of nowhere that it didn't leave the viewer any time to reflect on the larger message.

I saw a rough edit of this film in December of 1998 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I can only wonder at what has caused the release of this movie to be delayed. Feel free to e-mail me if you can shed any light on this. The movie is set in suburban and rural Arkansas. The plot follows Billy Bob Thornton's character and his girlfriend played by Laura Dern. They belong to one of the most dysfunctional (and funny) families ever portrayed on screen. Most of the family members have serious problems with communication and alcohol. The family dynamic is further complicated when one of them (Jim Varney - rest his soul) is thrown in jail. Varney turns in an astounding performance and it's a true shame he isn't alive to see how the critics are going to react. The cast is full of quirky, interesting characters that are easy to connect with emotionally. John Prine steals the movie as the focal point of what is probably the most important (and hilarious) scene in the film...which I won't give away here. I highly recommend that you see this movie. Now the question is - When will the studio let you see it?

I'm astonished at the number of positive comments for this movie. It is plotless, pointless and slow. Personally I find it hard to believe that so much effort was put into a movie dedicated to a short musical fad of no long-term consequence. True, David Bowie came into his own during the era, but this film really has nothing to do with Bowie. This movie is simply one of the most tedious, terrible time-wasters I've had the displeasure of sitting through.

It is worth noting that The Limey (1999) is a follow up to Poor Cow. The writer of the later film has stated that the similarities between these two films is incidental. However, Steven Soderbergh (the director of The Limey) has said that he specifically intended for his movie to be a sequel to Poor Cow. If you liked Poor Cow you might also want to see The Limey.