Change Your Image
Taalemoo
Reviews
A Christmas Carol (1999)
Below average attempt spoiled by poor production values
With all the attempts at making and remaking film versions of the Dickens' classic, one would think that the essence of the Victorian novelette could make it onto the screen quite easily.
In this version, the original text and flow is followed somewhat faithfully - to it's credit. Patrick Stewart and Richard E. Grant actually do a fair job with Scrooge and Cratchit. However, the direction and production are woefully horrible. The photography is technically bad; it is poor overlit TV. The special effects are cheesy and amateurish. There is no "spirit" to this production.
While I praised Patrick Stewart, I was disappointed that I did not see a building of his remorse, then the transformation. It just sort of happened without any motivation. Actually, I sense this is the director's fault, because he has relied so heavily on special effects to carry the story.
American Masters: Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues (2004)
A Poor Documentary
It is very disappointing to see promising and intriguing material wasted with bad structure, a poor script, and amateurish production. Documentarians have to work with a wide range of materials, both in quantity and quality. The filmmakers have used poor contemporary footage over and over in an attempt to somehow disguise the fact that their cleverness and imagination failed them.
Hank Williams was an extremely interesting personality. His influence on country music alone, makes the potential for a great story. However, the documentary's structure is unclear -- gaps in public knowledge left gaping holes in the film. A skillful filmmaker would have been able to overcome this and tell a complete story.
All in all, a potentially fine subject squandered on poor production.
Gina, an Actress, Age 29 (2001)
Overrated. . .amateurish
I saw this short again recently on some cable channel and I was reminded of having seen it at Sundance. At the time, I couldn't believe it had won Best Short. Sundance often goes for films that 1) explore the plight of the working man, and/or 2) have a surprising plot twist. This film has both. That is the only rationalization I can find.
Skillful filmmakers always make careful choices and seem to disguise the fact that they are working with low budgets and inexperienced actors and crew. Not this film. One is made painfully aware throughout that everyone seems to be winging it. What irritated me most was that I came away with the impression that this was a project in which someone had more money than talent.
So, amateurish acting, bland direction, and poor production values -- I still don't know what Sundance was thinking.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
WHY KILL BILL IS A BAD FILM
RESERVOIR DOGS and PULP FICTION hit a chord with filmgoers. An imaginative script and fresh storytelling were a breath of fresh air in the stale environment of contemporary filmmaking. However, what many predicted has come to pass. Tarantino has revealed his lack of depth and world view; what was thought to be a keen insight into universal truths has turned out to be just visual glibness.
It has been stated that KILL BILL is an homage to the martial arts genre. If it is, it is no more useful than an homage to oil-on-velvet paintings. The martial arts genre is about NOTHING other than exotic cinematic action pretending to be treatises on honor and revenge. Tarantino has tried to say that this is important in the grand world view of things. If revenge is the theme, then it would have been better to copy the films of Kurosawa.
While Tarantino obviously has a vast knowledge of films due to his years of watching videos, he lacks as a filmmaker a world education. Hinted at in RESERVOIR DOGS and PULP FICTION and clarified by KILL BILL is the fact that Tarantino knows very little about the world, human life, human desires, and love. He is the outsider looking in -- looking through distorted glass -- and trying to copy what he sees. Trying to copy (and do one better) the martial arts genre is the perfect example of someone with a very narrow cinematic vocabulary who has run out of "words."
It was extremely disappointing to see a filmmaker squander a chance at making a quantum leap in storytelling. Instead Tarantino has returned to his lonely room and engaged in cinematic masturbation.