I was quite pleased for much of the movie. Some of the acting (especially the Cotton brothers) was weak, but most of the castle family was good. Things were going very well and then the screenwriter made that most fatal error of judgement: presuming they can write it better than the author. I think good novel adaptation requires great self-discipline (even self-abnegation) and self-expression is very hard to suppress. This screenwriter should have been suppressed by a thick layer of quick-drying cement. Even the book brushes the limits of what's bearable near the end, but it maintains its charm and is a fine novel. The screenplay overwrites much of the humour and charm with heavy-handed dramatic scenes, unleashing an orgy of tearful, confessional encounters. Worst of all, it betrays the novel deeply by buying into the very psycho-babble that the author delightfully mocks. Terribly disappointing after a decent start. I give it a tolerable rating because, viewed as a romantic comedy independent of the book, it compares fairly well with others in the genre. It still has some good scenes and Cassandra is, for the most part, very well played. The setting is also quite good and much as I had imagined it.
Reviews
10 Reviews
Invincible
(2001)
Clunking
21 December 2003
Wow. I haven't waited this anxiously for a movie to end in quite a while. Weak acting (under and over) is the least of its problems, with scene after scene chugging by like freight cars on a very boring stretch of track. Actors seem to pause at the start of each scene as though waiting for the starter's pistol and then lurch into action, which I take to be the director's fault. The contrived blocking mirrors the clumsy script, both utterly failing to elicit emotion in scenes meant to convey tension, humiliation, tenderness, and rage. The settings and some shots were very good, but if you're going to waggle a camera around by hand at all in a film, you should try to do something interesting with it.
In the end, a painful script and heavy-handed direction drag this movie into the mire. It's a real pity, because the underlying premise and the surrounding issues are so promising. The (also deeply-flawed) movie "Max", treads some of the same ground, historically at any rate, and does it better. Oh, and the sound mix was irritatingly uneven (DTS version).
In the end, a painful script and heavy-handed direction drag this movie into the mire. It's a real pity, because the underlying premise and the surrounding issues are so promising. The (also deeply-flawed) movie "Max", treads some of the same ground, historically at any rate, and does it better. Oh, and the sound mix was irritatingly uneven (DTS version).
Love Actually
(2003)
Workplace love?
30 November 2003
Warning: Spoilers
Having scanned over 60 or so user comments, I find it odd that I appeared to view this movie very differently from most people.
It's not a typical romantic comedy, but obviously borrows heavily from the genre in terms of feel and what several have termed "cliches". It self-conciously borrows those cliches and jokes about them more than once.
Several people have complained of shallowness and lightness. Most romantic comedies focus deeply on one, occasionally two couples. We watch a long progression of their relationship and the various obstacles they encounter. Sometimes it's done well, but it's been done to death. I sometimes wonder if Meg Ryan doesn't have someone in a backroom photocopying scripts and changing the names around.
This movie pulled the camera way back to look at a "sample" of love. There's no time for drawn out development of each picture, but we see all the elements spread out over the whole set. Not every love story in life is a tragedy and not every one a fairy tale, but you can bet all the possibilities occur in life. I found this refreshing compared to the standard fare and loved it throughout, although there were some weak patches in there.
*** VERY, VERY MINOR SPOILER ***
Lots of people are complaining about how some of the stories (particularly the naked couple) are too silly, or insignificant or not funny. They were jokes. A whole sub-story. One joke. Bloody brilliant. A bit expensive in terms of screen time, but I loved them.
Finally, the thing that struck me very early in the film was that most of the stories were about situations where there is clearly some workplace relationship or difference in power that throws some uncertainty and tension into the situation. In today's society, we're very worried about sexual harrassment in the workplace, and rightly so, but there's no doubt that the resulting restraints are probably killing some healthy romances that might flourish if people were a bit more relaxed and open. I think Curtis was pointing this out (the naked couple is hilarious to me as the uttermost extreme) and suggesting that love needs to be given a chance, even if there's some risk. Would you talk to your boss about love? Your kid? The person who sits at the next desk? Maybe you should. I saw this as one of the main messages of the film. Evidently I'm alone. :)
*** NO SPOILER FROM HERE ***
Looking for depth? Try breadth instead, it can be quite as interesting. Looking for messages? Explore the connections between the stories, rather than the stories themselves. It wasn't perfect, but I loved it.
It's not a typical romantic comedy, but obviously borrows heavily from the genre in terms of feel and what several have termed "cliches". It self-conciously borrows those cliches and jokes about them more than once.
Several people have complained of shallowness and lightness. Most romantic comedies focus deeply on one, occasionally two couples. We watch a long progression of their relationship and the various obstacles they encounter. Sometimes it's done well, but it's been done to death. I sometimes wonder if Meg Ryan doesn't have someone in a backroom photocopying scripts and changing the names around.
This movie pulled the camera way back to look at a "sample" of love. There's no time for drawn out development of each picture, but we see all the elements spread out over the whole set. Not every love story in life is a tragedy and not every one a fairy tale, but you can bet all the possibilities occur in life. I found this refreshing compared to the standard fare and loved it throughout, although there were some weak patches in there.
*** VERY, VERY MINOR SPOILER ***
Lots of people are complaining about how some of the stories (particularly the naked couple) are too silly, or insignificant or not funny. They were jokes. A whole sub-story. One joke. Bloody brilliant. A bit expensive in terms of screen time, but I loved them.
Finally, the thing that struck me very early in the film was that most of the stories were about situations where there is clearly some workplace relationship or difference in power that throws some uncertainty and tension into the situation. In today's society, we're very worried about sexual harrassment in the workplace, and rightly so, but there's no doubt that the resulting restraints are probably killing some healthy romances that might flourish if people were a bit more relaxed and open. I think Curtis was pointing this out (the naked couple is hilarious to me as the uttermost extreme) and suggesting that love needs to be given a chance, even if there's some risk. Would you talk to your boss about love? Your kid? The person who sits at the next desk? Maybe you should. I saw this as one of the main messages of the film. Evidently I'm alone. :)
*** NO SPOILER FROM HERE ***
Looking for depth? Try breadth instead, it can be quite as interesting. Looking for messages? Explore the connections between the stories, rather than the stories themselves. It wasn't perfect, but I loved it.
The Basketball Diaries
(1995)
Wields its message like a sledgehammer...
15 March 2003
Warning: Spoilers
Perhaps it's not socially constructive to attempt subtlety in an anti-drug message, but artistically, this movie starts off well and then proceeds to tank. It really lost me with the sort of symbolism I would expect to find in a 12-year old's writing assignment copied from yesterday's soap opera episode (to avoid a spoiler, I will only say - mother, window, can). Some performances were quite good (the mother for example), it looked nice, but all the early complexity of the movie is washed out by the end. Some bad acting and a weak screenplay bring low what could have been a fine movie.
The Funeral
(1996)
Interesting movie but the sound was awful...
3 December 2001
I found this an interesting movie, admittedly a bit slow at points, but if you're out for another "crime gone wrong" or "gangster crime war" film, forget it. Several reviews complain about a lack of action. It's not an action film. Several reviews complain about a lack of plot. It's more an examination of characters than a story. The movie would have been much better had I been able to hear more of it. The sound editing is truly abysmal. People's shoes make more noise than their raised voices do. I actually stopped and rewound a few times to try and catch what people said. It's not the fault of the actors. It's simply a bad mix job.
7/10
7/10
The Acid House
(1998)
Somewhat tedious
18 September 2001
First and foremost, the director should have his license for musical interludes revoked. There are far too many of these in the film. A few such interludes are sometimes justified for setting mood, effectively "fast-forwarding" through events, or relieving the viewer after tense period. The many interludes in this do none of these things, with the music seemingly chosen at random. They give the impression that the director is compensating for a lack of ideas. Sitting undecided between drama and dark humour, it fails to convey either with much force. Still, it has its entertaining moments. Certainly could be a worse directorial debut. Still glad I caught it on TV since I've eyed it in the video store. (5/10)
Wild at Heart
(1990)
Did no one else think this was a comedy?
21 July 2001
Ok, so not a "pure" comedy, since there are some pretty intense dramatic scenes, but 20 minutes into the film and throughout most of the rest of it, I can only assume Lynch is being funny. The whole Elvis imitation thing and the overblown drama of the relationship are camp humour. The Wizard of Oz links are also pretty funny. However, there are some heavy-handed attempts to create intensity, some of which fall flat and some of which work, and subplots that never get developed or seem to go anywhere. A pared-down version of this movie could have been brilliant as a dark comedy/drama. I can't help thinking that Lynch was throwing too many ideas around and didn't pull it together. It's also obvious he was working on Twin Peaks at the same time as they have a similar feel at points and some of the same devices are used in both.
I'd give it 6.5 (if I could), but gave it 6 since it's a little painful at points.
I'd give it 6.5 (if I could), but gave it 6 since it's a little painful at points.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
(2001)
Hey, they should make a game based on this...
19 June 2001
I liked the first Tomb Raider game and stopped playing the second half-way through. I enjoyed the movie as an adaptation of video-game style action to real life. Certainly a more novel direction for action movies than adapting comic books. Now if we could only dispense with the paper-thin plots and simply keep movie, I think we would hit a new cinematic genre, that's not about words and people so much as movement, visuals, and pace.
American Psycho
(2000)
Almost, but not quite...
30 September 2000
First off, I haven't read the book, so I can only judge it on its own merits (arguably a good thing). I took it to be a dark comedy satirizing both the 80's Yuppie lifestyle and the serial killer movie genre. It could have gone two ways, into a sharp, biting satire (like, say, "The Player") or into a more disturbed, unsettling comedy (like "Parents"). Sadly, it floundered somewhere in the middle and delivered neither a rewarding comedy nor an involving psychological thriller. All the same, it had some fine comedic moments and elements like the detective were particularly refreshing.
The Ninth Gate
(1999)
Overly predictable, slow-paced non-thriller.
16 September 2000
First off, Johnny Depp provided a good performance (as usually), and had an interesting character. Ninth Gate looks nice and has a certain amount of style, but weakish acting and very predictable plot drag it down into boredom. My video store categorized it as Horror, IMDB as a thriller, but it really has none of the qualities that either of these genres need. Perhaps Polanski assumed that a satanic theme would have the same impact it had back in 1968 with Rosemary's Baby. It doesn't. Picks up a bit towards the end which I rather liked although I could see it frustrating most people. On the whole, unless you are a rabid Johnny Depp fan, I'd give it a miss.
Tell Your Friends