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ChildeRolandofGilead
Reviews
The Stepford Wives (2004)
What the hell was this supposed to be satirizing?
That was a rhetorical question, by the way. What I mean to say is, what does a version of 'The Stepford Wives' in 2004 have to do with *anything*? A blistering critique of gender roles that haven't existed in American & European society for half-a-century? You can make a film critical of past social mores, but you can't present it as an edgy contemporary satire. It's an "answer film" that's 50 years too late. Imagine if Ted Post had answered John Wayne's 'The Green Berets' with 'Go Tell the Spartans', only in 1997. Maybe the producers can follow up 'The Stepford Wives' with a withering satire of class-snobbery in Victorian England or the hypocrisy of New Left hippies in 1960's America. Because these films would be PRECISELY as relevant and edgy as 'The Stepford Wives'.
If you want to see a film that is a great satirical comedy *and* has something to say about gender & feminism in contemporary society, watch 'Fight Club'. Not this drek. Two stars out of ten.
~Kurt
Rosetta (1999)
Hypnotic
I caught this on digital cable a few weeks ago. I'm normally wary of these types of films (Lookit me! I am ART!!!) but I thought Rosetta was wonderful. The lead actress has an ethereal beauty, yet I could buy her as a trailer-park girl. There is a certain plot twist towards the end (I won't reveal it) which some might not buy, but I thought was heartbreakingly realistic for Rosetta's character. It was one of the few movies wherein I wished it wouldn't end because I desperately wanted to see what else happened to the characters. I hope the showings on digital cable give this movie some (belated) exposure in America.
9 out of 10 ~Kurt