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Crank (2006)
The ultimate action movie
Well, I liked watching action movies a lot ultimately. Now I won't ever need to again. For me, "Crank" is an action movie that no other can keep up with. It's brutal, funny, totally crazy, ironic, wild, sexy (and sexist), cruel and very, very, very fast. Its "plot" is THE perfect idea for an action movie - I wonder why it came to nobody's mind before: The protagonist needs adrenaline to stay alive. This allows him to run/drive riot in a mall and even a hospital, beat up a black guy in a club full of blacks (as a white!) and f*ck his girlfriend on the streets of Chinatown, and other stuff. No action fan should miss it. But I've got a hint for the girls: This movie is not suitable for people under 18 years? This movie is not suitable for women, either. It shows women only as decoration or sexual objects - inclusively Amy Smart in the only female role that kind of matters, Chev's girlfriend, who is nothing but a caricature of a naive girly. But the casting people did a good job: Jason Statham as Chev, the calm killer, always stays likable no matter how brutally he acts, and Chev's girlfriend Eve, his (former) boss Carlito, his gay little helper, his enemy and murderer Ricky Verona are all original and convincing, no matter how exaggerated the characters are. And did I forget to mention the screenplay and the camera? Good job, you guys!
Goal! (2005)
Funny, though not always intentionally
I recommend this movie to all soccer lovers and to those people who enjoy watching an emotional presentation of a Mexican illegal's rise from a dish washer in a restaurant to a football star in England, with fate, love, tears and the inevitable moral of "believe in your dream". Me and my sister are great football ("soccer") fans and we had a really good laugh when seeing this movie. It was not only fun to recognize all the Premier League players and the Adidas elite from Real Madrid, but also the whole design of the movie: It really reminded me of a TV advertisement, to be honest, an Adidas advertisement. The pompous music
the emotional mime
and then that typical Hollywood plot - couldn't have turned out different when Hollywood is making a "soccer" movie. I still wonder why David Beckham agreed to appear in a film in which he is parodied in a very unfriendly way - or how else would you interpret the character of "Gavin Harris"? ;-) OK, let's come to the good things about this movie: The culture clash was fun, the portray of Newcastle was a pleasure to me as a passionate "Geordie" *lol*
I mean, this city is so ugly that it's beautiful again! I loved the mud training scene, by the way! Let's not talk about the plot, it was too unoriginal and with some unrealistic trifles, but there were some good jokes, even intentional jokes
Eventually, I think the main character was too weak and disagreeable, although they really tried to make him seem pleasant. I'm surely going to watch the sequel, too - I wanna laugh at Real Madrid next time (I already loved Beckham's scene - "Boy, go on like this, stay real"
or what did he say exactly?).
Speedway Junky (1999)
I would change the ending
At the beginning of the movie I was very enthusiastic about it, because the main characters Johnny and Eric were so cute. I was hoping all the time that there would happen something between them. In fact Eric was a perfect person with a perfect character. He wasn't only pretty, but also lovable, responsible and incredibly sensitive (like only a gay can be). The way he cared of Johnny was wonderful. In my opinion Eric would have deserved a different job. Being a prostitute doesn't fit to him at all. Such a wonderful person could do any other job without selling himself. Eric would have deserved something better in every case. Falling in love with Johnny was a mistake: Johnny surely looks okay, but to me he was absolutely antipathetic and he really used Eric. He was saying all the time that he was looking for a job. But he was never really searching in all the movie. He just hoped that someone would hand him a job on a plate. But it was obvious that prostituting himself would be his only chance. He could have had this idea much earlier, because he already was in touch with people from that business. I think, Johnny doesn't deserve Eric's love in any way. It's nice that they are good friends, but how can Eric feel more for him? Eric would have deserved another person, who's more like him and loves him, too, without using him and without playing the cool all the time. But Eric's love was so big, that he wanted to make Johnny's wish come true. Johnny, still virgin, wanted to have sex with a woman. And Eric told his mother's friend to seduce Johnny, just to make him happy. It must have been so hard for him. How much can someone love another?! How important can it be for someone to make his sweetheart happy?! He loved him so much and Johnny's happiness was so important for Eric that he even made him have sex with another one. I adore this behavior. And I almost broke down in tears, too, when Eric did it. In the end I was incredibly upset. I wanted (and still want) to write a letter to the director and complain. The ending was so terrible and unbelievable, that I won't accept it. Eric had to die. I know, there were shootings and the rival died or something like that. But Johnny and Eric escaped and I was so happy they were alive, running away and talking to one another. And suddenly Eric started to shiver and said he felt cold. I was so shocked. And then he was all pale and there came blood out of his mouth. I still can't believe that exactly Eric had to die. The perfect character, the best character who would have deserved all the best, but not death. For me it would have been okay if Johnny had died, but Eric's death still brings me down today. Well, okay, it was only a movie character, but in my opinion it is a crime to make a movie end like that. Every character could have died, but not Eric! He will go to heaven, I'm sure. And the director will get a furious mail from me.
But all in all the movie was good. You can only forget the ending.
The Graffiti Artist (2004)
Foreigners, keep away!
Contains spoiling
I'm really into artistic movies. "The Graffiti Artist' is an interesting study about the empty life of a young sprayer who does nothing else all day than leaving his tag everywhere he goes. Okay, he also does a lot of shoplifting, and then he meets another sprayer, the two boys develop a relationship but realize that they don't fit together and they break up. "The Graffiti Artist' is a good movie, but my problem was that as a foreigner, I didn't understand half of the dialogues. That dialect the two boys speak they don't speak much, but when they do, I really wonder why the hell I've spent seven years of my life learning English. Some single words let me guess what they were talking about but the language problem caused me even more questions about the movie. Here are some of them: Nick and Jesse seem quite young why do they already live alone? How can they afford a flat if they don't go to work? What was the reason why Jesse suddenly left? (He explained that to Nick but his strange accent made it impossible to me understanding him.) So, in the end I can say I recommend this movie to people who like it artistic, who appreciate it when a director lets the pictures speak, and not the characters (and I'm really really thankful for that
) and to everybody who's interested in the graffiti milieu. Many people probably won't like the movie because it starts nowhere and ends nowhere, the only story it tells is the short relationship between Nick and Jesse, and that one is quite frustrating, partly because there's not much happening, but especially because the spectator sees it with Nick's eyes, who seems to have liked it lasting a little longer. Impatient people shouldn't watch "The Graffiti Artist', because there isn't much action. But when Nick sprays his paintings and permanently watches his back if nobody is coming, and when he is chased by the police, it becomes really exciting.
Rating: 6/10 (7 if I had watched it with subtitles)
La mala educación (2004)
Exciting, original, sexy
I left the cinema in amazement. Pedro Almodóvar really is an artist.The movie contains some ideas that are nothing but fascinating,and how beautifully and sensitively they are put into pictures! The "film-in-the-film' scenes were a little confusing, but the idea itself put another interesting aspect to this movie. "La mala educación' is a wonderful tragedy, if you can call it so. Next to the director's work, I became really euphoric with the acting, especially Gael García Bernal's. He's my personal discovery of this movie. Okay, I confess I haven't seen "Y tu mamá también' and "Amores perros' yet. But I certainly will. I've rarely seen such a sexy man, and as a woman he's also a sight. J "La mala educación' brought my love-hate relationship with Almodóvar to an end. I couldn't stand that spiteful "not suitable for children under 16/18 years' on his movies, but now I know that he can also create works of art that are free for children from 12 years on, at least in Germany it was so.
Rating: 9/10
Van Helsing (2004)
Switch off your head and enjoy!
Contains some spoiling but I concentrated on the positive things!
There's nothing to say about the story there is none. So, if you
want to watch "Van Helsing', don't expect something unforgettably
fascinating. But if you like action, special effects and pretty women,
you won't be really disappointed. I thought it was trash after seeing the trailer, but my friends got me
to watch the movie, and I had a really good time (although it WAS
trash). That was probably because I enjoyed the characters
without complaining about the "not-so-good' acting. Kate
Beckinsale is really a sight, kind of a Transsylvanian Lara Croft,
and her part Anna Valerious is a tough fighter (and she is never
injured while doing her impossible moves, so that she keeps on
looking good); Dracula's brides are ridiculous, but sexy. Dracula
himself is sometimes soooo cool that you could wish he wouldn't
become just another victim of Van Helsing's (but his voice is really
annoying). Hugh Jackman is just sexy, and so is Will Kemp, who
unfortunately doesn't appear too often as Velkan, the human
shape of the Werewolf. In my study about the different ideas of vampires in movies, I found
another interesting way to show them: they can transform into
strange, white-skinned creatures between human and bat that
don't look good at all, but, nobody's perfect. :-) And the idea about
the slimy "eggs' that are stored for hundreds of years until
thousands of babies come out at once I don't know
There was a positive surprise for me about the ending of the love
story between Van Helsing and Anna but I don't want to tell too
much here. Maybe somebody still wants to watch it though.
Rating: 5/10
Catwoman (2004)
Women, be self-assured!
I liked Catwoman, no matter what everyone else might say!
I read loads of reviews that claimed the movie as "flop of the year'
or such things I went to see it nevertheless, expecting nothing
and I was positively surprised! I think "Catwoman' is a movie which men and women will like:
Men, because of Halle Berry in that legendary leather outfit, and
women, because it is a story about women, and it can give to the
female viewer the very pleasant feeling that women are stronger,
cooler, cleverer and as we all knew before sexier than men.
I really really enjoyed the whole character of Patience Phillips
becoming Catwoman. I love her coolness and the way she moves!
It was mostly thanks to her that I had so much fun while watching
this movie. There was a clever idea in the final fight between Catwoman and
her opponent Laurel Hedare: The "good one' has black skin, hair
and clothes, the "bad one' has white skin and clothes and
light-blond hair. That is really an interesting change of the typical
colors! And the criticizing of obsession with beauty was successful, from
my point of view. The whole atmosphere in the beauty care
company Hedare was so cold and empty, it really showed how
senseless it is to care only about looks. I don't find such criticism
often in movies based of comic books.
Rating: 8/10
Not a movie for the eternity, though, but a nice one!
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
An excellent performance
Wow, what a perfect performance! I wonder if there is any way you
can not like this movie. You can maybe not like the story, because
you find it ridiculous, but everybody will have to admit that this
movie is entertaining. It's funny, it's exciting, it's original
I think
it's even better that the first part, which was already an excellent
movie. The best thing about "Spiderman" is that you can just lay back and
enjoy it. The story is easy to understand, you'll be perfectly
entertained. The characters are interesting and the actors are
credible and well chosen by the casting staff (except Mary Jane's
boyfriend, he's very boring, but perhaps he's supposed to be). I
especially liked the contrast between the friends Peter Parker and
Harry Osbourne, who are in the same age, but so different: Peter,
the shy student, and Harry, the professional businessman. And
Peter's boss at the newspaper is absolutely wonderful, although
he is one of the negative characters. The "bad guy" Doc Octopus
was also shown from his humane side, which I liked very much,
and these tentacles that had taken control over him were really
scary, they reminded me of snakes and seemed to be alive. Full rating for this movie!
Carnets d'ado: À cause d'un garçon (2002)
I had expected more
I expected a lot of this movie, that is why I was terribly
disappointed. The German title "Alles wegen Benjamin" made me
think that Benjamin was one of the main characters, but in fact, he
didn't appear in most of the film. I didn't even understand why he
should have been the reason for that suddenly everybody thought
Vincent was gay. I read a lot of plot summaries before watching
this movie, and it always seemed to me as if there would be a kind
of relationship between Vincent and Benjamin. At least, Vincent
had a sort-of-boyfriend, Bruno, but he was a very weak character
and not so important for the story. It was not a bad movie after all, quite realistic and sensitive. I
probably would have liked it a lot if I hadn't expected more to
happen between the two boys. "À Cause D'un Garçon" was one of
the better kind of coming-out movies, although there were still
many things that could have been better. But only because it didn't
fulfill my imaginations, this doesn't have to mean that nobody will
like it!
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
A waste of time
I even reduced the spoiling in this, but it still is a SPOILER, I'm sorry
In my opinion, this was a really bloody movie - in both meanings of the word. My father told me it was a good film and I had to watch it (one day - maybe not before my 16th birthday, but he didn't say that). But I had to tell him that I didn't agree. I usually don't watch horror movies. I only watch them when they're about vampires. And then, it's not because I love blood and perverse ideas (there were a bit too many of them in this movie), but because I find vampires really cool. That is why I only enjoy these films when the vampires are presented in an for me acceptable way; and true vampire freaks possibly won't believe me when I say that I even liked "Underworld" and "Van Helsing" better than Francis Ford Coppola's version of "Dracula" because the idea of the vampires in it just fit better with mine. I didn't read the novel by Bram Stoker, so I can't compare it to the movie; I can only say that "Dracula" was a waste of time for me, because I didn't like it at all. I didn't like the story, which was hard to understand and partly ridiculous; I didn't like Dracula and the disgusting creatures he could turn into; I didn't like the nightmare-like atmosphere in too many parts of the film, and that is for the same reason that I don't like horror movies I'm scared easily; I didn't like the actors' performances (though Ryder and Reeves really look good, but I'm afraid that's already all), nobody could convince me; I didn't like the exaggerated erotic scenes, and it really disturbed me that Lucy and Mina always had to show their breasts. But I liked the camera tricks, for example the fading of images. Which surely doesn't make a good movie for me.