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Karnak201
Reviews
Fireflies in the Garden (2008)
Fireflies in the Garden is an enjoyable film except for two problems
This film could have been so much more enjoyable if we (my wife and I) didn't have to spend most of the movie trying to sort out who was related to whom,. "Sister?" ... "I think she's his aunt, but I can't be sure." ... "Brothers?" ... "Bests me; there are simply too many characters in the plot to keep track of who's who."
And the time warps are unreal. Jumping from boyhood to manhood and back again ... over and over ... made the film even more difficult to follow. Kind of like trying to follow the movements of a broken time machine. It is rare that we take the time to review any movie, but this one begged a comment. Was the film editor asleep, just splicing scenes in at random? The actors did an excellent job, but I wonder if the actors approved the jumbled up way the plot unfolds given the erratic film editing.
I would have rated this movie an "8" or perhaps even a "9" had it not been for the two major problems outlined above. It could have been really outstanding.
Quintet (1979)
No clear story line after over an hour of viewing leaves me cold.
Perhaps one should be required to read about the basic plot of any story before being allowed to watch the movie. I had not read the book or script, and had not seen any reviews beforehand, and so began watching the movie "cold." (Pun not intended.) And it is indeed a very cold movie in more ways than one.
Why should a viewer be expected to watch over an hour of any movie before whatever's going on becomes clear? I simply do not enjoy watching a movie with no clear plot, or one where the viewer must be kept in the dark for an extended period of time.
I think I've given a score of "1" out of a possible "10" fewer than ten times out of the hundreds of movies rated. This one is indeed as cold as they get.
Against All Odds (1984)
Very poor soundtrack
The "music" on this soundtrack is among the worst I've ever heard. Very difficult to listen to, shrill, and used at all the wrong times. Musical backgrounds usually blend in, or compliment, the action on the screen. In this movie, the so-called music is out of place, and simply strange as all get out. A loud, discortant distraction that this movie can ill afford in any case, since it's not very well acted in the first place.
King Kong (1976)
The jacket cover is misleading ...
... because the picture of King Kong atop the World Trade Center indicates broad daylight. If you watch the movie, you will probably end up with eye strain as just about the entire film is shot in near total darkness.
THE MOVIE IS TOO DARK!
It's almost as though the cameraman had just found a sale on filters., and was testing them all out on the same project. Why bother to make a movie that is so difficult to see? Was it an effort to hide poor special effects? I suspect that is the case in many features that are shot using an abundance of filters.
Otherwise, KING KONG (1976) might have been good, if one could have seen it.
Funny Face (1957)
Another excellent film ruined by poor lighting.
The title song "Funny Face," was shot in a photographer's darkroom, using heavy red lighting which made it almost impossible to enjoy the number. Several other numbers were really hampered by very dark and foggy lighting as well.
One usually sees such poor lighting only in grade-B horror films where the "monster" is not well done, so they need to film it where you can't see it very well.
Otherwise, a very good musical; and I appreciated the plug for my home town, Tallahassee, in one of the well-lit numbers.
Dakota (1945)
Movie too dark to see much of the time.
Why, oh why, must film makers make a movie so dark? Sometimes I think they must have gotten a great deal on filters, and felt that they had to use them all on this one film. Some of the shots in this one are so dark that one is hard pressed to tell the good guys from the bad guys.
Darkness is sometimes used to hide poor (read: cheap) special effects in a "B" movie, and I guess that's to be expected; But there was no reason for Dakota (1945) to be under exposed. I couldn't tell if it was a good movie or not because I couldn't see half of it.