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Reviews
American Samurai (1992)
So close to a good movie!
Sometimes, not often, you come across a movie where you see the good parts and you can clearly see how close they where to making a good movie and wonder why they failed. In my book, this movie is one that could so easy be a 6 or 7, or even a 8 total rating here on imdb. It would still not be a oscar movie, but i truly think that it had a ponetial at one time in production to become a unforgetable classic.
All that needed to have happend was that the story guy got some feedback and adjustments where made to the story a bit. This is a hindsight and mini reimagine view of the movie, read it after you watched the movie to put my thoughts on top of it. Maybe you agree, maybe you disagree?
So the issue i have with this movie is that the hard parts is already there. A story good enough in theory, most actors decent enough, with good enough fighting skills thrown in. And lets not forget the focus on the tradotions of a nice sword!
What they do with what they got, is in part thrown away without any cause, and shown down cheap alleys because of ... lazyness?
Now you might say that is the issue right there in the pudding, that it is in parts mostly, just good enough. But i would argue your wrong in that thinking.
All these sections are just ingredients that could have been a great cake with just a tiny little bit more writing/changes in the story arc and more focus on the characters and swords ... and the removal of one person that contributes absolutly nothing to the story but stealing time. The person not even being a particular bad actor here, is just not fitting in to the story at all exept for... mild spoiler.... being a woman wich in it self ages the movie conciderably these days.
If you just watched this movie. Think of my pictures i'm about to make up here on the spot with the production value, as a re-imagine or a view of what could have been. Do you agree or disagree.
They completly removed the female char and let that time be spent seeing the bonding and development AND separation of the two brothers with a loving father trying his best trying to teach them the values of life, tradition, honour and one of the brothers still failing beacause of .. say failiure to accept his limitations and gets blinded by obession (feel free to apply any reason, i just made one up on the spot). I belivie the focus on the brothers, meaning of the sword and bonding to be more important for the movie as a whole. Make the growing up for the brothers a story set in gorgeos scenery with nature to give it and warmth and pacing.
Also with my imaginary setup above, think of changing the dialoge between the brothers throghout the movie where the american brother keeps asking his japanese brother more through the movie of reunion, to honor there father and to be family. Let the sword be the competing reason to honor.
I belive by taking out everyday reality, to make more fiction masculinity-stero-typical and dull female chars, it lost on being humaine wich it would with its funding AND cast potentially could have pull off with spades and made a great movie.
I would like to say that if not clear, i think this movie was so close to being great, and thank you for reading.
Gedo senki (2006)
Almost works
This movie had a lot going for it with the world it introduces in the start. But it failed to keep me engaged as a viewer and care what happens next. Now i haven't read the books, so my view is on this is as any movie.
Many points out the gaps in story telling, and i must agree that is one of the problem. The scenes feels seperate from each other, like several movies was pasted in to one, and while the characters have potential, there just not interesting enough cut out. Now i can understand if you wan't some mystery going on, but if that is what its trying, it's trying to hard.
Now one thing in particular i feel many missed while thinking about this movie, and its the audio.
Lift the Music out and just listening to it, it's great, fits the naritive of a grand movie. But it's out of sync to what's going on in the screen. It's also dumbing down me as a viewer, and the music is force planting feelings or idea's that should be done more carfully.
In general, audio don't feel natural, further disconnecting everything for me.
Dialog and bakground noises is the biggest issues, it feel's very dead and gives a vibe of being read straight from paper, rather then acting and engaging. Mr Dalton have a great voice, no doubt about it, but what he is doing here sounds to forced and he is speaking to low, and his range to act and infuse any emotion or expression is locked because he is out of breath (that's what it sounds as to me).
Re-cut this movie and redo the audio voice recordings completly, mix the audio differently and let natural ambience come closer to me as a viewer. And it completly could lift this movie for me a lot, maybe even a 8. I think the story is almost there, the visual cutting is almost there, the music is almost there, background ambience is partly there. But in the end the flaws are to many in general to make this a gem to re-watch.
The Jack Bull (1999)
A great setting is not enough!
This movie had a good rating on here, so I decided to buy it and give it a go. Often IMDb ratings give you a sense of direction on how good a movie can be. Well, in this case it was horrible wrong.
The acting, and the way speech is delivered AND structured, is a serious problem and a reason this movie falls so flat. It´s in parts so over the top (especially L. Q. Jones as Ballard) it makes it hard to focus on the story, wich is a classic one and one of the reason why we watch the genre.
Also, dialog sometimes really sounds woody and forced. And in some parts, it´s even forcably inserted in to scenes, killing all emotions the characters could have portrayed. It sometimes sounds like they reading straight from a book!
In core, I think the reason it failes is because it wants to be historicly correct, and don´t know how to deliver that in one way or another. In It´s try to be historicaly accurate, it looses the focus of the story in part, and in the end all that is left is hollow lines and a story i can´t engage with.
On a positive note. The movie settles some at the end and John Good man delivered one of the few good performances, at least ending the movie with some thing for the audience (And i don´t even like Goodman). It is also visually pretty good with great settings and scenery. Simply, the movie looks good.
If your looking for a good western drama, look elsewere. If you have watched every western movie there is, and want to see McGinley from Scrubs and waste some time. Maybe fast forward and then play the movie when John Goodman gives his entrance and you will have, in the end... still wasted your time.
A great setting is not enough!
Crazy Moon (1987)
an unusual love story
That´s what the cover said, well i can agree to that. I always liked Kiefer Sutherland and his performance is not bad in this one either. So whats this move all about. Brooks (Kiefer Sutherland) is a eccentric rich kid with a foundness for big band music. He is dominated by his older brother Clevland (Peter Spence) that has a foundness for drugs and party. One day Brooks meets Annie, a deaf girl and they develop a special friendship and new understandings.
Well a good drama/love story depends on there charachters very much, and there are some flaws, for a start his brother played by Peter Spence is badly played, i guess its partly the directors fault. The movie has much of this 80´s style in it, but not all bad. I guess if the brother was played by somebody else and not totaly styled, this move could have been more timeless. As it is now, i get irritated everytime i see the guy. Well the movie is still good, i found it to be a very nice down to earth love story about to different types of induviduals, it has a nice pace and nice big band music (and a real crappy 80´s pop band ^^) and Kiefer is putting up a very nice preformance.
If you like to see a different down to earth 80´s love story, this is the movie.
The Amityville Horror (1979)
When are you smart enough to leave, because its bad to stay?
That is a question to be asked. When we watch a movie we some time say "-o get away, dont go there" and stuff like that. This film is kind of like that (But in a good way). Maybe like many simular horror flicks this is not unique, but this story evolves very nice, and if you think of whats actually happening in this film, i start to get really scared of things.
When you start asking yourself the questions above "-why dont they leave", the answer comes falling from the sky... well they paid all there money into the house, and come on, who believes that something supernatural can actually happen to you... really happen!?
When you see a movie, time does matter in what mood you are in, and i was in complete harmony for a regular horror movie. This is by far a good film, there are a lot of horror flicks with good and bad themes but this is my NO:1 for the moment. If you have a dark evening free? See it......
The story is about a couple who are about to buy there first house. They got three kids and they all seems to be happy for the first days. But evil is stirring in the house and they got hell waiting for them. The plot is fairly simple, nothing special. But it evolves very smooth and got that atmosphere of evil and scary stuff that keeps me in the chair, "-just watching the house gives me the creeps" someone says, and its true!
How will it end? Why did it start?....will they all survive or are they all going to die? Who is Amy´s new friend Jody? Will the Priest Tom find the strength he needs? Will the mystery be solved?... .se it and find out.
And learn the golden horror rule: dont start asking yourself how/why in a horror movie.... because you really just mess up an exiting story.
Thir13en Ghosts (2001)
I have seen the future of horror movies, and it aint this one.
Well how do i put this, 13 jokes maybe the right answer to that one. I only have to comment how bad it really is so no one else might do the same mistake as I have done, to see this crap. Where is the so called horror genre going. The movie is based on a pure idee of an old movie some where around the 60 (13 Ghosts). So the story is good, the effects also, but hey c´mon, the most important thing to put in to a horror movie is atmosphere... and this movie has non of that. In my world this is a comedy and a dam annoying one to. And hey, what is this college thing that has been happening, this movie is tha same as Screem, I know what you did last summer, and all that bad movie category that really is just turning a respecteble genre down the drain. Some hate Resident Evil, hey i dont, it has the most importent thing going....an atmosphere. If you want to se a ghost movie that is the best of all this teenage crap, i rekommend Hell Night for example... its old and its better. Lets face it..... there havent been a good horror movie since the 80´s.
I pardon my bad language, but i am really uppset about seeng this bad thing happening on my TV-screen.
Incubo sulla città contaminata (1980)
Great movie
This movie deserves more credit. Its not the classic Zombi movie, but still it is. The Zombie´s it self are very diffrent from the slow moving type, but the movie it self got a lot of atmosphere which i enjoy. It´s also critizising our socity and were we are heading with our teknik improvments, what happens if it goes wrong, if you havent seen this one. Do it now.
Spasmo (1974)
Great thriller
Yes. This is my personal favor. It got a lot. I think this is a Gallio movie but if your a Argento fan i think you won´t like it like i do.(I like Argento to thou =)But this film got a feeling/suspence that is uniq and the main actor is a really funny, cool, stupid(confused)guy. I would have liked to see this guy in more Umberto movies. By the way, the Ennio Morricone soundtrack is good to, it give´s the movie more depth.