Change Your Image
skipcyoung
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Changeling (2008)
CHANGELING puts Eastwood in the same ballpark as Ron Howard.
Eastwood doesn't know the meaning of the word "subtle". He always makes sure the dimmest person in the audience is never in doubt of which characters are 100% good and which ones are 100% evil. Every single employee at the psych hospital acts like they're villains in a Superman comic book. With the exception of Jolie, the film was filled with MOVIE characters, not real people.
The irony is that this is a true story, yet I never believed a minute of Eastwood's film. He had a fascinating story to work with, and I'm glad to know the story, but as a film it was little better than a made-for-TV movie. He seems to be afraid of challenging his audience, so he ends up insulting our intelligence. At the end he spoon-feeds us even our emotional response, making it clear that we're supposed to feel good about the outcome, even though, when you think about it, it's really not a happy ending.
Rachel Getting Married (2008)
Tries to be Cinema Verite
It tries to be Cinema Verite, but I never believed it. So many of the emotional reactions struck me as implausible and melodramatic: Rachel's hysterical reaction to Kym's dinner toast, Dad's nearly operatic reaction to seeing Ethan's plate, Rachel storming out of the beauty salon, Kym demanding to be maid of honor, etc. These are drama queens on steroids. It's annoying - not entertaining.
As for the wedding, it has a constant aura of putting on airs. Look how untraditional and open-minded we are! In trying too hard not to appear self-consciously eccentric, it comes off as false. I would have appreciated at least one of the characters acknowledging how different this wedding is, rather than everyone acting like it's the most normal thing in the world. The film doesn't need to apologize for it, but it shouldn't pretend either.
I will say that Debra Winger is excellent in her small role. I'm embarrassed to say, I spent the whole movie looking for her, and left thinking, "whoever played the mother did a great job".
The Wraith of Cobble Hill (2006)
I think I missed something.
I have some plot questions about this fine piece of animation. WARNING SPOILERS! I'm usually a very astute viewer, but for some reason this time I seem to have blinked at all the wrong times. Just what was going on upstairs? Did Mr. H fall and die up there? Did he die anywhere? There was that scene with the broken glasses; was that Mr. H? Was he struggling for his life for the rest of the film and causing all that noise upstairs? And did someone hang himself at the end? Who was that? Or was it just an outfit of clothes hanging and swaying on the wall? I need to see this one more time, or get my eyes checked. Am I the only one who missed this? Maybe it was intentionally unclear.
Skip
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Why?! What were they thinking?
It's as if the two movies were written by different people. I don't have a problem with taking liberties with the book, but these insertions and changes of character make no sense at all. And why trade great dialogue for mediocre? Were the writers that conceited that they couldn't resist putting more of their own work into this movie? The problems with TT have only to do with the writing. It really makes no sense. FOTR was near perfect; what a disappointment TT is.