epicedium's Reviews

Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004)

1/10

30 December 2007

What a load of rubbish.. I can't even begin to describe how awful this film was. The rating it has here is really hard to believe.

Avoid... Particularly if you enjoyed the first ginger snaps. The first one was well written, well directed, well executed.. a brilliant film with a fantastic aesthetic and atmosphere. The second one was 'alrite'- decent as a self-standing film, but clearly not up to the level of the first... The third is an insult to the series, period. I rate the films: 10, 6, 1. It's that bad.

Oh, and yes it really is set in the past, the sisters are still called Ginger and B Fitzgerald... all muddled in with some half-assed native American mythology. The sisters don't have any real story, or progression, or even a clear relationship... They're just trying to survive and be 'together forever'. That's about as deep as it gets.

Staggered that the girls agreed to be in this pile-of-shite, after reading the script.

Oh and another thing, staging of action was terrible- people appearing from nowhere regularly, like the girls turn around and there's an elaborate candle-lit setup with a mystic native American woman just sitting there, about to go into a speech. Sets were terrible, couldn't get away from the fact that it was all obviously based in a set, which really didn't help. Also, there was consistently snow outside the camp, but not a trace inside (..on the set).

Arrghh,,, so bad! I really was hoping it would be at least as good as the second one.

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Day Watch (2006)

5/10

Simply Juvenile! Disappointed after promising reviews

9 October 2007

Went to see this with high expectations after seeing all the reviews.

Bit gutted! This had the promise of being amazing- opening scenes (with the gloom, etc.) were brilliant... but it went downhill fast.

It was far more juvenile and simple than Nightwatch- subtitles having their own character was silly, car driving up the side of building and then flying in through a specific window for a 'cool character' to make an entrance, guy kisses poster and the guy in the poster 'animates' and wipes his face like 'yuk'.

Arrghh! Silly indulgent juvenile stuff hampered what could have been brilliant.

Worth a watch, but certainly Nightwatch was better.

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16 Years of Alcohol (2003)

1/10

Patronising film & I felt nothing for the character. WE ARE NOT IDIOTS!

7 October 2006

I found this film embarrassing to watch. I felt like it was shoving the storyline down my throat as if I couldn't pick up the subtleties I needed a voice over to spell them all out for me constantly.

Having a father who IS still an alcoholic, I didn't really feel it was a film about alcoholism as such. Alcoholics, true alcoholics are very lonely people inside, in my opinion of course. They find it hard to communicate, something that the main character had no problem with really, except he DID have a problem saying I love you at one point- which was a bit of a feeble effort at establishing his cold character. He was constantly surrounded with people too!?

I felt cheated that at no point were we really alone with the character to really get a sense of his inner loneliness and turmoil. I couldn't connect with the character and felt no link at all considering my father. I felt nothing at all when it had finished, just relief it was over.

Kevin McKidd is an okay actor but not a tough guy feature lead! The clockwork orange thing was as subtle as a brick. McKidd was too old for the teen, they should have got three different characters or avoided the teen stage and concentrated more on the adult McKidd.

On a good note, I felt the little boy actor was really good at the start of the film!!

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Thunderpants (2002)

9/10

4.0 ??

30 March 2005

I can't believe how low a rating this has- I was fully expecting to see it in the 6.5-7.0 area. I doubt that this film with translate very well outside of the UK, and I wonder whether that's part of the reason that people are confused by it?

The film was charming, funny, and had a lovely stylistic themes running through the visuals and dialogue. Does it transcend its simple premise? Do the characters and plot grow with engaging depth? Not really. Yes it was predictable, yes it was ultimately two-dimensional, no the script won't be winning any awards.

But it was sweet, charming, and - so long as you aren't expecting a cinematic masterpiece - a genuinely enjoyable watch.

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My Life Without Me (2003)

Promising but extremely dissapointing, where is the beauty?

10 February 2004

Warning: Spoilers

(may contain spoilers!)

I was really looking forward to this film, especially after a good friend recommended it, but almost from the very start I was feeling let down.

I struggled to relate to this girl. she talks about her life as if she's talking for you, for everyone; "you had your first child at 17, with the only person you've ever kissed" .. "this is your life" .. well no, actually its not my life, its yours. her actions and choices and feelings I just genuinely felt alienated from- it was irritating to watch- choice after choice, scene after scene, I found myself getting impatient with thoughts of "but that wouldnt happen.." "but he wouldnt really say that.." "why on earth doesnt she just tell him"

her relationship with her husband was portreyed as being surprisingly good; he was lovely, there were no real negatives aside from the fact that they both worked hard hours. he didnt hit her or shout of cheat or anything you might expect- they were happy little family with two lovely little kids, and yet when she finds out she's only a couple months to live one of the first things on her list is "sleep with another man" .. ?? so much of the film just didnt really work, they needed to develop a discontent or rift in the relationship before that. this was very early in the film, I couldnt relate to her and after that I didnt really want to.

she doesnt tell her husband, who is build up to be lovely, anything, at all, even when the film ends she hasnt talked to him.

scenes feel a beat too long. there are misplaced artsy visuals which are empty, boring, and wholely ineffective. there are scenes which drag on long after they're served their purpose in the plot. it felt pretentious, but the problems with the film ran deeper than that. I struggled to make my mind up whether it was the acting, the dialog, the script...

its frustrating to sit and watch a film where you're explicitly supposed to be empathising ("you" feel this, she says, as if clearly everyone must feel the way she does in that situation), but you dont empathise, because she's just buried entirely in denial and hypocracy.

in retrospect two months doesnt seem such a short amount of time, after the painfully long hour and a half watching this movie. one of the things on her List is to "say what I think". which is what she consistantly and irritatingly fails to do for the entirity of the film.

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