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First off, a little about me: Name: Sarah Age: 27 Occupation: Copy editor Location: Virginia Marital Status: Divorced Ambition: Sci-fi screenwriter-director Heroes: Joss Whedon, Hiromu ArakawaRandom Advice: Never drink any beer made in the United States. I happen to be a recognized authority on the subject of alcohol (having made a considerable study of the topic[cheers]), so I should know.
PROUD MEMBER OF THE IMDb MOVIE NERDS
Now, about my movie tastes. First off, there is one rule I always follow when writing my reviews to be posted on the internet for all to see.
Sarah's First Rule of Being a Film Critic:(NOTE: That is a good rule to follow in many other areas of life as well, but when reviewing films it is especially important)DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE THOUGHT OF AS A MORON!
I am not afraid to have UNPOPULAR OPINIONS, and neither should anyone else. Unpopular opinions are the spark of life. Many of Roger Ebert's fanboys will say various things along the lines of "anyone who doesn't like this movie or does like that movie knows nothing about movies." These people are idiots and should be mercy-killed.
Now, to get more specific about what I like...
I am a film buff (like many IMDb users), but a more experimental kind. I usually like the less well-known films, and I am also a huge anime fan.
I am a major sci-fi fangirl (contrary to popular stereotype, not all sci-fi fans are 14-year-old boys). Now, that is not my only genre preference, but I do generally enjoy sci-fi or fantasy films. I love a good action sequence, and I love a happy ending. Because of this, I frequently find myself at odds with film critics such as David Thomson and Anthony Lane, who seem to believe that all movies should only be about REALISTIC people in a REALISTIC setting having REALISTIC problems with REALISTIC resolutions. I think that kind of thinking defeats the entire purpose of fiction. Unless a film is a biopic, I generally prefer it if it contains at least a few elements that couldn't, or at least WOULDN'T, happen in "Real Life." Of course, there are a few exceptions (most Lasse Hallstr�m films come to mind), but overall I do prefer an element of fantasy in my entertainment.
Anyway, here are a few of my faves:
FAVORITE MOVIE QUOTE:
P�re Henri: "I don't think it's right to go through life measuring our goodness by what we don't do. By who we exclude, by what we deny ourselves... I think we need to measure ourselves by what we embrace, who we include... and what we create."(Chocolat, 2003)
FAVORITE MOVIES:
1. The Place Promised in our Early Days (2004, Makoto Shinkai) (Why? It blends sci-fi and drama, without hitting us over the head with "Movie Science" or falling into the trap of telling us too much more than we really need to know)
2. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988, Robert Zemeckis) (Zemeckis' greatest film, a long-forgotten gem)
3. Minority Report (2002, Steven Spielberg) (I don't care what anyone says, this is the best Philip K. Dick movie)
4. The Incredibles (2004, Brad Bird) (just plain sheer perfection)
5. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989, Hayao Miyazaki) (a modest little masterpiece, for everyone)
6. L�on (1994, Luc Besson)
7. Renaissance (2006, Christian Volckman) (until it opens over here, watch the preview at http://www.renaissance-lefilm.com/accueil.htm)
8. Memento (2000, Christopher Nolan) (everything that The Usual Suspects tried too hard to be)
9. What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993, Lasse Hallstr�m)
10. Serenity (2005, Joss Whedon)
11. Sin City (2005, Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller)
12. Airplane! (1980, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker) (The Z-A-Z team's first and best film)
13. A Clockwork Orange (1971, Stanley Kubrick)
14. Legend (1985, Ridley Scott) (Scott's true masterpiece)
15. Batman Begins (2005, Christopher Nolan)
16. Quiz Show (1994, Robert Redford)
17. Castle in the Sky (1986, Hayao Miyazaki)
18. His Girl Friday (1940, Howard Hawks) (I work at a newspaper)
19. Ikiru (1952, Akira Kurosawa)
(NOTE: I list my 19-20-21 choices in no particular order, don't pick apart the order of the next three choices)
20. Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (2005, George Lucas)
21. The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Irvin Kershner)
22. Star Wars (1977, George Lucas)
(see?)
23. Twentieth Century (1934, Howard Hawks)
24. Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (2001, Shinichiro Watanabe)
25. Good Night, and Good Luck (2005, George Clooney)
26. Charade (1963, Stanley Donen)
27. Snatch (2000, Guy Ritchie)
28. The Philadelphia Story (1940, George Cukor) (I can't believe nobody but me ever seems to has heard of this)
29. Nikita (1990, Luc Besson)
30. Alien (1979, Ridley Scott)
31. The Sixth Sense (1999, M. Night Shyamalan)
32. Big Fish (1997, Tim Burton)
33. The Lion King (1994, Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff) (the best Disney film, and the sequel is underrated)
34. Zero Effect (1997, Jake Kasdan) (yet another one that nobody but me seems to have heard of)
35. Who am I? (1998, Jackie Chan & Benny Chan)
36. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2004, Judy Irving)
37. Wedding Banquet (1993, Ang Lee) (MUCH better than Brokeback Mountain)
38. Chocolat (2000, Lasse Hallstr�m)
39. The Pink Panther (1963, Blake Edwards)
40. Arsenic and Old Lace (1939, Frank Capra) (Capra's one great film)
41. Mirrormask (2006, Dave McKean) (what visuals)
42. Saving Private Ryan (1997, Steven Spielberg)
43. The New World (2005, Terrence Malick)
44. Alien vs. Predator (2004, Paul W. S. Anderson) (I know, I know...)
45. 12 Angry Men (1997, William Friedkin)
46. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985, Woody Allen)
47. Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996, Jim Mallon)
48. Kinsey (2004, Bill Condon)
49. X2 (2003, Bryan Singer)
50. Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959, Edward D. Wood, jr.) (gotta love an Ed Wood movie)
51. Return of the Jedi (1983, Richard Marquand)
52. Bowling for Columbine (2002, Michael Moore)
53. Red Dragon (2002, Brett Ratner)
54. All of Me (1984, Carl Reiner)
55. Ghost in the Shell (1995, Mamoru Oshii)
56. Blade Runner (1989, Ridley Scott) (though I cannot approve of the title change)
57. Sullivan's Travels (1941, Preston Sturges)
The Operative: "You truly believe in your cause?" Mal Reynolds: "...I do." The Operative: "And you are willing to die for that belief?" Mal Reynolds: "...I am." (suddenly Mal whips out a gun and shoots at the Operative, who dives away and is forced into hiding) Mal Reynolds: "Of course, that ain't exactly 'Plan A.'"(Serenity, 2005)
Favorite TV shows:
1. The Boondocks (kind of like South Park, except it's funny)
2. Firefly
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4. Angel
5. House, M. D.
6. Action (hey, that's two great TV shows in a row that got cancelled after 13 episodes!)
7. Mystery Science Theater 3000
Leonard Shelby: "We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different."(Memento, 2000)
Favorite anime series:
1. Fullmetal Alchemist (I feel really guilty about picking this as my favorite, since according to sales and fan polls, this is actually THE Most Popular Anime Series of All Time. I am reluctant to pick the most popular of anything as my favorite, since it makes me feel too mainstream, but the fact remains that there is a very good reason this one is so popular. I can't help it, I love it.)
2. Last Exile
3. Outlaw Star
4. Vision of Escaflowne (just don't watch the movie)
5. Cowboy Bebop
6. Crest of the Stars
7. Angelic Layer
8. Fruits Basket
9. Azumanga Daioh
10. Gravitation
11. The Irresponsible Captain Tylor
12. Slayers
13. Ranma 1/2 (guilty pleasure)
14. Record of Lodoss Wars
15. Comic Party (not that great, but I love the concept, and several of the supporting characters are hilarious)
Alphonse Elric: "'Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.' That is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth."(opening words of Fullmetal Alchemist)
Anime to AVOID (aside from the obvious, like Pok�mon, Dragon Ball Z, and so on)
1. Neon Genesis Evangelion (sorry, but this is incredibly overrated)
2. Steel Angel Kurumi
3. Chobits (the manga was so much better)
4. Escaflowne: The Movie (it tries to tell the entire story of the 26-episode series in 2 hours, and changes the characters' personalities in hopes of reflecting an Evangelion-esque nihilism)
Jim Hawking: "Uh... er... uh... what's a good present to take on a... first date?" Gene Starwind: "Ha! So you've finally discovered girls, huh? Ha ha ha! My little bro is growing up! Hey, want some tips from a pro?" Jim Hawking: "Oh, just forget it! My feelings are pure! They're not like your sleaze!" Gene Starwind: "What?! You're saying my love's dirty?!" Jim Hawking: "Dirty, slimy and sticky!" Gene Starwind: "Why you little..."(Outlaw Star, episode 20)
Now for some favorite people:
Favorite Directors:
1. Seiji Mizushima
2. Makoto Shinkai
3. Christopher Nolan
4. Ridley Scott
5. Luc Besson
6. Steven Spielberg
7. Lasse Hallstr�m
8. Hayao Miyazaki
9. Howard Hawks
10. Joss Whedon
11. Stanley Kubrick
12. Robert Zemeckis (before 1994)
13. Penny Marshall (the only GOOD director I've ever heard of with the last name of Marshall)
14. Arthur Hiller
15. Andrew Bergman
16. Brad Bird
Dr. Hannibal Lecter: "That was most artistic, the way you disposed of the annoying Mr. Lounds. Tell me, Will, did you enjoy it? Your first murder? Of course you did, why shouldn't it feel good? It does to God. Why, only last week in Texas, He dropped a whole church roof right on the heads of thirty-four of His worshippers just as they were grovelling for Him. He wouldn't begrudge you one journalist."� Red Dragon, 2002
Favorite Writers
1. Joss Whedon (my hero!)
2. Hiromu Arakawa (my other hero)
3. Michael J. Nelson
4. Shoji Kawamori
5. Makoto Shinkai
6. Aaron McGruder
7. David Shore
8. Luc Besson
9. Richard Curtis (if only he was as good a director as he is a writer)
10. Michael Crichton
11. Martin Short
Lady Eboshi: "Now watch closely, everyone. I'm going to show you how to kill a God. A God of life and death. The trick is not to fear him."(Princess Mononoke, 1997)
Favorite Actors:
1. Edward Norton
2. Orlando Bloom (*drool...*)
3. Hugh Laurie
4. Tobey Maguire
5. Martin Short (quite possibly the funniest man alive)
6. Liam Neeson
7. Leonardo DiCaprio
Favorite Actresses:
1. Charlize Theoron
2. Kirsten Dunst (she is actually capable of acting, when in the care of a director who doesn't just want to put her in a wet T-shirt)
3. Anna Paquin (please, Hollywood, I'm begging you, don't start putting HER in skin-tight costumes too, she's too good an actress!)
4. Katherine Hepburn
5. Brittany Murphy
6. Ellen DeGeneres
7. Skye McCole Bartusiak
(a cop pursues Dwight's car, siren blaring) Jackie-Boy's corpse: "Oh, you're screwed. It's over." (lights a cigarette) "You're flushed." Dwight McCarthy (narrating): 'This time I can't bring myself to tell him to shut up. Sure he's an asshole. Sure he's dead. Sure I'm just imagining that he's talking. None of that stops the bastard from being absolutely right.'(Sin City, 2005)
I wish I was qualified to rank composers and soundtracks, but I happen to be almost completely tone deaf, so I can't really trust my own taste in that department, but I will hazard a guess from what little I can hear, and determine that I think the following scores are good:
1. TENMON (The Place Promised in our Early Days, Voices of a Distant Star)
2. Harry Greggson-Williams (Shrek, Shrek 2)
3. Mark Isham (Crash, The Shipping News)
4. Danny Elfman (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Judge Doom: "You lack vision, but I see a place where people get on and off the freeway. On and off, off and on all day, all night. Soon, where Toon Town once stood will be a string of gas stations, inexpensive motels, restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food. Tire salons, automobile dealerships and wonderful, wonderful billboards reaching as far as the eye can see. My God, it'll be beautiful."(Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 1988)
Now, favorite individual roles in each category:
Best Performances by:
An actor:
Edward Norton, Primal Fear
Leonardo DiCaprio, What's Eating Gilbert Grape
John Barrymore, Twentieth Century
Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Steve Martin, All of Me
Liam Neeson, Kinsey
An actress:
Charlize Theoron, Monster
Ellen DeGeneres, Finding Nemo
Katharine Hepburn, Holiday
Audrey Hepburn, Wait Until Dark
Carole Lombard, Twentieth Century
Kirsten Dunst, Jumanji
Tom Baxter: "You make love without fading out?"(The Purple Rose of Cairo, 1985)
Best cinematography:
1. The New World
2. Twister
3. Cradle Will Rock
Best editing:
Snatch (gotta love the style)
Kill Bill vols. 1 & 2
Kinsey
Memento
Best art direction:
1. Mirrormask
2. Sin City
Best story concepts:
Makoto Shinkai, The Place Promised in our Early Days
Best original screenplays:
Brad Bird, The Incredibles
Reginald Rose, 12 Angry Men (okay, so technically it's a teleplay, but still)
Best adapted screenplays:
Paul Attanasio, Quiz Show
Ted Tally, Red Dragon
Alfred: "Why bats, Mr. Wayne?" Bruce Wayne/Batman: "Bats frighten me. It's time my enemies share my dread."(Batman Begins, 2005)
Favorite Heroes:
1. Hitomi Kanzaki (Vision of Escaflowne)
2. Dr. Gregory House (House, M. D.)
3. Jim Hawking (Outlaw Star)
4. Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)
5. Ferris Bueller (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
6. Mal Reynolds (Firefly, Serenity)
7. Huey Freeman (The Boondocks)
8. Marv (Sin City)
Favorite Villains:
1. That Yellow Bastard (Sin City)
2. Queen Delphine Eraclea (Last Exile)
3. Bill (Kill Bill)
4. Azrael (Dogma)
5. Syndrome (The Incredibles)
6. The D-Reaper (Digimon Tamers)
7. Akito Sohma (Fruits Basket)
8. Ra's al Ghul (Batman Begins)
9 & 10: (I'd put my #9 and #10 choices here, but that would give away the endings to two really good mysteries)
Hannah Green:James is amazing. He knows all the movie suicides. Go ahead, James. Tell him. James Leer: There are so many. Hannah Green: Well, just a few. The big ones. James Leer: Pier Angeli, 1971 or '72, also pills. Donald "Red" Barry, shot himself in 1980. Charles Boyer, 1978, pills again. Charles Butterworth, 1946, I think. In a car. Supposedly, it was an accident, but, you know, he was distraught. Dorothy Dandridge, pills, 1965. Albert Dekker, 1968. He hung himself. He wrote his suicide note in lipstick on his stomach. William Inge, carbon monoxide, 1973. Carole Landis, pills again. I forget when. George Reeves, "Superman" on TV, shot himself. Jean Seberg, pills, of course, 1979. Everett Sloane - he was good - pills. Margaret Sullivan, pills. Lupe Velez, a lot of pills. Gig Young, he shot himself and his wife in 1978. There are tons more. Hannah Green: I haven't heard of half of them. Terry Crabtree: You did them alphabetically. James Leer: It's just how my brain works, I guess.(Wonder Boys, 2000)
Best TV Episodes:
1. "Return of the King" (The Boondocks) (this is just incredible, this is controversial social commentary done right, with a poetic touch and a wit, everything that South Park and Family Guy keep trying way too hard to do)
2. "Three Stories" (House, M. D.)
3. "Manos: The Hands of Fate" (Mystery Science Theater 3000) (almost universally recognized to be the worst movie they ever had to riff, and one of the finest episodes. Maybe "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank" was a little funnier, though)
4. "Job Switching" (I Love Lucy)
Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible: "Now listen closely. I'd like to help you, but I can't. I'd like to say to take a copy of your policy to Norma Wilcox on... Norma Wilcox, W-I-L-C-O-X... on the third floor, but I can't. I also do not advise you to fill out and file a WS2475 form with our legal department on the second floor. I would not expect someone to get back to you to resolve the matter quickly. I'd like to help, but I can't!"(The Incredibles, 2004)
Least Favorite Directors:
1. Uwe Boll
2. Uwe Boll
3. did I mention Uwe Boll?
4. Raja Gosnell
5. Rob Marshall
6. Hideaki Anno
7. Naohito Takahashi
8. Chris Columbus
Gianni: "Not quite what you expected when you reported for work this morning, is it, eh, Frank?" Frank Martin: "Is that what passes for wit in this circle? Gianni: "Ah ha ha... In this circle, my friend, 'wit' is not a requirement of the job. Brutality, yes. An ability to inflict pain, absolutely. A certain... psychotic moral ignorance, blind obedience, all required. But not wit."(Transporter 2, 2005)
Most Underrated Movies:
1. Serenity (Joss Whedon)
2. Alien vs. Predator (Paul W. S. Anderson)
3. Jiminy Glick in La La Wood (Vadim Jean)
4. Ghost in the Shell II: Innocence (Mamoru Oshii)
5. Flubber (Les Mayfield)
6. Aquamarine (Elizabeth Allen)
7. A Civil Action (Steven Zaillian)
8. Minority Report (Steven Spielberg)
9. 12 Angry Men (1997, William Friedkin)
Most Overrated Movies:
1. Stereotypes of a G... er, I mean Memoirs of a Geisha (Rob Marshall)
2. Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (Hideaki Anno) (*ducks flying objects*)
3. Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis)
4. Chicago (Rob Marshall)
5. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee) (predictable)
6. The African Queen (John Huston)
7. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick)
8. Matchstick Men (Ridley Scott)
9. 12 Angry Men (1952, Sidney Lumet)
(later in the fight scene on the balcony) The Operative: "Do you know what your sin is?" (prepares to stab the captured Mal) Mal Reynolds: (gasps for breath) "Aw Hell... I'm a fan of all seven..." (suddenly Mal breaks free, sucker-punches the Operative and lunges) Mal Reynolds: "...but right now... I'm gonna have to go with 'wrath.'"(Serenity, 2005)
Reviews
The Shining (1980)
Not as "Shocking" as it tries to be
No other director has had every one of his works so ridiculously over-analyzed as Stanley Kubrick. Endless throngs of critics have spent page after page after page poring over every minute of every one of his films, scrutinizing every frame for possible nuances of meaning that Kubrick subtly worked into the film. Most critics, when reviewing any Kubrick film, hardly ever mention the actors' performances, all they talk about is Kubrick, and how every nose twitch that every actor made was cunningly crafted by the director, and communicates volumes. If an actor gives a bad performance in a Kubrick film, it's the actor's fault. If they give a good performance, it's the director's doing.
I am not saying that Kubrick was bad. He most certainly was NOT bad, in fact, he was darn good... most of the time. Kubrick had his ups and downs, and this was one of his downs.
Anyway, enough general comments about the director, and now for the film. Maybe I would have liked the film better if I hadn't read the book first. As is, I was expecting a film to stick at least SOMEWHAT close to the original story, and for the first half it sort of did (although there was only one scene in which the dialogue was really the same as in the book, and that was the party scene), but in the second half, Kubrick changed the story from a spectral ghost tale into a psychological terror/thriller, which in itself is a bad enough decision, but the ending itself... well, I don't want to spoil it, but let's just say that someone besides Kubrick should have made the decision about how to change the ending. Kubrick was excellent with ambiguity and loose ends, but he seemed a little too aware of that talent, and so he insisted on working those elements into every story he worked with, even the ones where an ending didn't fit.
What I mean is, when a book has a, unhappy or unresolved ending, it is a bad thing to change the ending to a neat-and-tidy happy one for the film version (because it's Hollywood and stories have happy endings in La La Wood). But it is equally as bad to change a happy ending in the book to a scary and ambiguous ending in the film, just for the sake of being "shocking."
Most of the performances were good (Shelley Duvall hammed it up a little, but not too badly, and the actor playing Danny was terrific), except for, unfortunately, the most important one: the performance of Jack Torrance. I'm sorry, but Jack Nicholson was an incredible ham, he overdid almost everything, almost a parody of his best performance (as Melvin Udall). His line delivery is so absurd as to be comedic, and his movments... not much to be said.
A few parting words: Roger Ebert finally got around to writing a review of this film, and, of course, he does exactly what everyone else does with a Kubrick film: Reading way too much into every little thing in the film. I think I can sum up my opinion of this whole issue with this parable:
Suppose, just for a moment, that some other director had made this exact same film. No, I don't mean that they would lend their own creative vision to the film, what I mean is, suppose some other director made this EXACT film, word for word, shot for shot, expression for expression. Suppose the only difference between this mythical film and the actual one was which director's name was stamped all over it. What do you think would have happened?
I'll tell you what would have happened: The critics and audiences would have ripped this other director to shreds. Fans of the book would be out in angry mobs over the ridiculously changed ending, and the film critics would be shaking their heads at Jack Nicholson's incredibly overacted performance. The film would not be anywhere near any critic's "top one thousand films of all time" list. No other director would get away with this film. Stanley Kubrick got away with it for one reason and one reason only: He is Kubrick.
Now, many people who adore this film haven't read the book, which I strongly recommend they do. The ambiguity and changes of the film would probably have worked fine were the film not pretending to be based on the novel (if Kubrick had just changed the title, character names and the dialogue in the party scene, he could easily have passed it off as an unrelated movie and I probably would have liked it much better), but I did expect something that at least SOMEWHAT resembled the book. If it weren't for the party scene, I wouldn't have believed that Kubrick and Diane Johnson had read anything in the book besides the blurb on the dust jacket.
Caroline? (1990)
Yet another pointless adaptation of a great book.
Maybe if I had seen the movie before I read the book, I would have liked this better. The book "Father's Arcane Daughter" was one of my favorite books when I was growing up. So when I heard that they were making a movie of it (even if it was only a TV movie), I looked forward to it with eagerness.
Then I heard that they had changed the title to, "Caroline?" And I knew right away that it was going to be a mistake.
What's in a name, you ask? Well, imagine if "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" had been entitled, "Erasing Our Memories," and you will get an idea of how pointless it is to change the title of "Father's Arcane Daughter" to "Caroline?"
Yes, that title change told me right away that the producers and the director belonged to that infamous Hollywood group of "elbow-joggers," the kind of cynics who think that the audience is not intelligent enough to understand what the film is about unless they remind the audience (in small words) at every opportunity. It showed that the telewriters and director did not realize that they could easily have gotten the point of the film across just by writing and directing the movie well.
Now, enough with the title, and onto my issues with the movie itself: I know that a movie is not supposed to be an EXACT translation of the book to film, and while they didn't make that many glaring changes to the story, they did make a lot of little changes that served no real purpose.
(NOTE: The event in the film discussed in the following paragraph is not really a spoiler, since you learn all about it approximately 15 minutes into the movie)
One of the small, but crucial, elements of the story they botched was making Caroline supposed to have died "in an airplane crash," not in a botched kidnapping that turned into a shootout. Now, in theory that is a rather small change, but it really cripples one of the main points of the drama the excuse that Grace used to shield the kids away from the outside world: The fear of another kidnapping. If Caroline just died in a simple plane crash, the drama between many of the characters is either severely altered, or no longer makes any sense whatsoever. Oh, and it meant they had to change a whole lot of things in the ending as well, but I won't go into that.
Then, half of the supporting cast is ridiculously underused, and the cursory appearances by their characters seem to me to just be thrown in for cameos, to make the people who liked the book go, "Hey, that's him/her!" Almost all of the side plots are ruined by this cursory handling, which brings me to my biggest problem with the film: *It makes the "is she Caroline or not" mystery the focus of the story!* That, more than anything, shows that the filmmakers either A: did not get the book at all, or B: They just wanted to appeal to the lowest common denominator by making a cheap mystery pseudo-thriller instead of a character drama (I don't know which would be worse).
The movie is not all bad. It's hard to ruin a story like this, especially with the great performances by Jenny Jacobs (she stole the show), and the late Shawn Pelham. But Stephanie Zimbalist was an absurd choice for Caroline. Although she does manage to keep the sultriness in check a little for this role, they should still not have had a flavor-of-the-month TV babe playing Caroline, that was just contrived bring-in-the-viewers casting. Now, she wasn't horrible, in fact at some times I quite liked her, but in the last few scenes she starts spouting this new-age, "You can be whatever you want to be" dialogue in this overly sage- like, motherly tone, and that just got on my nerves.
I liked Pamela Reed's performance a little (although she did seem a little too frenetic), but not George Grizzard, he just seemed forced. And by the way, what's with changing Charles' name to "Paul?" What purpose did that serve?
*shrugs* Well, let me sum it up: If you've never read the book (or any book by E. L. Konigsburg), you'll probably love this movie.
Something's Gotta Give (2003)
This movie goes from good to bad to good to bad to good, by the minute. And it averages out pretty well!
The basic premise of this movie sounds like the exact opposite of a cliché. An old guy and a younger woman fall in love? A tried-and-UN-true formula. But here is a movie in which the older guy (played by Jack Nicholson, big surprise) and the younger woman actually start out together, THEN the old guy falls in love with a woman... who is almost his own age?! And the mother of the girl he has at the beginning, no less? Now, the instant I heard the premise of the movie, I immediately thought: "This will either be a unique, touching, revolutionary masterpiece, or a politically-correct feel-good cornball, depending on the writers and director. Well, I might as well check it out, just to find out." I checked to see who the writers and directors were. Then I saw that the movie was written and directed by a woman. Very good sign there, although I had never heard of Nancy Meyers until I saw her name on the back of the DVD case. Now, I started out thinking that this was either going to make me laugh and touch my heart, or make me roll my eyes. Somehow I wouldn't have figured on both. The movie does all three of these things. It seems in all the dialogue in the whole course of the movie, there is one pretty bad joke, then one really good one, then a tired one, then a great one, then... and the same goes for the scenes and shots. There's one overall hilarious scene, then one pretty cheesy one, then one really touching scene, then one corny one, then... well, you get the idea. Sometimes a scene was consistent, sometimes I couldn't keep track of how many times I changed my opinion of the scene, and the movie in general. Now, movies (especially comedies) aren't ALL about dialogue. Sometimes the little details (body language, cinematography and so on) can make or break a movie. And I think that was what made this one for me. Nancy Meyers sometimes has a problem with dialogue, but she CERTAINLY knows how to get comedy out of the "little details." I'm not just talking about the physical humor (which is excellent, above-par for any romantic comedy, let alone one with Jack Nicholson), but Meyers also knows how to use cinematography and editing to their own comic potential (I laughed very hard at the long shot of the hall after the I'm scene, where they appear at opposite ends of the hall, looking scared). Overall, I think Meyers could have gotten a little help with the screen writing (don't be afraid to ask for help), and the casting decisions were dodgy at best. But, I think somehow, after stumbling numerous times, the film managed to somehow stay on its feet and limp to the goal. 7/10
Serenity (2005)
A refreshing twist on various sci-fi clichés, and a delight for Firefly fans!
One of the preconceptions I've had to deal with is the notion that, "adult women don't like sci-fi movies/books/anime, sci-fi is for 14-year-old boys only." So when I show up on an Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop or Firefly fan-site and tell them that I'm a 26-year-old woman, I have a hard time getting anyone to take me seriously. This is odd, because I know I'm not the only woman in my age group that I know who loves Firefly, and thus loved Serenity. But, anyway, onto the movie. It might not be quite as good as the series, but it's still better than most of the drivel being churned out by Hollywood these days. All of the characters return (even Inara, who left during the last few filmed episodes of the series) with a more-than-cursory flair and the classic Joss Whedon wit. The dialogue is just as snappy as the series ("This is the captain speaking, we've run into a few complications, so we may experience some turbulence, and then... explode"), and it was an excellent feature- film directorial debut for Whedon. The character interaction (the uniqueness of which is what set the Firefly series apart from so many cliché-laden other sci-fi series out there) is admittedly not at the forefront, for once taking a back seat to the plot. Mostly the acting is okay (not perfect, but better than most movies being made today), but one of the truly great performances in all of sci-fi is given by "guest star" Chiwetel Ejiofor as The Operative. The part is well-written and wonderfully acted. A lot of the dialogue in the film is great, but The Operative gets one of the greatest lines ever given by a movie villain, "You should know, so that you don't waste your time, you can't make me angry." Also, the massive space battle between the two fleets is wonderful. And how can you go wrong with Summer Glau suddenly transforming into a kung-fu master? Now, the main drawback is that the movie may seem hard-to-follow for people who haven't seen the TV series. But this wasn't exactly made to get new people interested, it was made to answer questions that fans of the series had unanswered. Why does the Alliance want River? Where did Reavers actually come from? These are questions that Joss Whedon heard a million times from his cult following. Instead of forcing them to write the solutions themselves in fanfictions, Joss Whedon decided to answer those questions "officially" in this movie. But he didn't only make it because of that, he also wanted to give the actors a chance to play the characters again (Nathan Fillion has especially said how he fell in love with his character), and because he himself loved the series so much. Since the movie was meant to be MOST accessible to fans of the series, people who haven't seen it might find it a bit confusing. And because it was about answering questions, the character development took a backseat to the plot (for once). This is the reason that some of the people who haven't seen the series didn't like the movie. It answered questions that those people hadn't posed, and didn't show off the character interaction as well as it might have. Overall, the movie seems to assume that you have seen the series before you see the movie. But even a good many newbies did like it, although they would have liked it even better had they seen the series (and, in my opinion, for better reason).
I am aware that the movie isn't perfect. I was hoping we would see the infamous "Hands of Blue" guys again (and that they would meet a sticky end, perhaps from a breakdown in their own blood-boiling radio thing), but, then again, it wasn't really about them. The Alliance was buddies with the Blue Sun Corporation anyway, so having the Alliance send an Operative after her doesn't really leave a loose end in terms of what the Blue Sun guys would do. But overall, it's wonderful, a fitting finalé to the series. I wish the box office returns had been so good that more movies were likely to follow (and I also wish Whedon would let me help write the next few *crosses fingers*), but hey, the show was canceled as well, and THIS movie got made! Just proof that anything is possible...
Overall? See it. It isn't quite as good as the series, but fans of it won't be disappointed.
Kumo no mukô, yakusoku no basho (2004)
Beautiful
This is an anime movie done by a relative newcomer to films: Makoto Shinkai, whose only previous directorial work was a half-hour short called "Voices of a Distant Star," in which he did all the animation himself on one laptop (even for Japan, a nation of workaholics, that was unheard of). It made him so famous that they gave him a full studio to work with for his next project, and when Makoto Shinkai doesn't have the constraints that a solo project would bring, look out.
The style of the film and its sci-fi and fantasy themes is equal parts steampunk and cyberpunk, with the film taking place in an alternate timeline of post-war Japan, only a few years from now. The main differences are the division between the North and South sides of Japan, and the research into parallel universes that has sprung up, resulting in the construction of a massive tower in Ezo (Hokkaido), which understandably captures the imagination and curiosity of the surrounding world.
Though the film is ostensibly a science fiction work, the plot involving a tower and alternate realities and so on plays second fiddle to the romantic drama, about three high school kids torn apart by war. The emotions blend with the fantasy elemts in a way that is handled with incredible elegance, care and sensitivity, and Makoto Shinkai's trademark poetic touch.
But what is more impressive is how the film shows that drama can be achieved through implausible situations. You see, too many directors think that in order to make a film "dramatic" and "touching," it must be about REALISTIC people in a REALISTIC setting having REALISTIC problems with REALISTIC resolutions, but Makoto Shinkai realizes a way around that, and uses a science fiction element not as a platform for action sequences, but rather as a way to achieve a kind of drama that you really couldn't get in a film that takes place in the "real world."
The film is aware that the sci-fi is playing second fiddle to the character drama, and doesn't waste any more time than it needs to trying to explain the film's bizarre sciences or justify the contrivances, rather leaving it up to the viewer to interpret and decipher what the fantasies of the film mean or symbolize. In other words, Shinkai wisely avoids the deathtrap of "Movie Science," and instead allows the audience to take things as they come and explain them ourselves.
The part about two teenagers building a plane that could get past a government-built radar system does seem a bit incredible, but this film does reflect on the incompetence of governments and how easy it is to get past them, so the required suspension of disbelief isn't really that big (I wish I found it hard to believe that a couple of teenagers could get past a bureaucratic governmental system in this day and age at all).
Also, the brief violence and "thrilling" assault on the tower are treated with perfect sincerity. The brief fight scenes are breathtaking in their realism and how they show that when someone gets punched, they get hurt. There are no legendary martial arts techniques or complex laser-rifle technology here, this film is about how people feel about each other and what they do when they are in trouble.
The ending is slightly abrupt and somewhat open-ended (although it is happy), but that is a theme in many anime. A lot is left up to the audience's interpretation and imagination, and the film only answers the questions that really matter.
The Simpsons (1989)
It was terrific for the first ten years...
When it first came along, "The Simpsons" took the world by storm, because it was not only hilarious and sincere all at once, but also unique. Whoever heard of an animated sitcom about a normal suburban family, without superpowers or giant talking animals or anything like that? It was unthinkable. Matt Groening's world sucked everyone in simply because it rang true... remember the now-famous adage, "There's a Simpson in all of us?" well, it was true, we loved the series because we identified so well with the characters. We could laugh at our own faults and troubles, and forget about them all at once. I always thought it was a LITTLE overrated, but it was still very good. I practically grew up with them. Sure, its sudden success produced the inevitable morass of bad ripoffs, parodies and tributes, everyone trying to jump on the bandwagon and attempt to capture just what made it unique, but
the Simpsons still stood in a class all its own. But a happy ending wasn't to be. In the grand tradition of so many of the greatest TV shows of all time ("Are You Being Served?"), the Simpsons' writers did the inevitable: They ran out of ideas. Suddenly they were recycling jokes, becoming steadily more offbeat with their humor, and writing plot lines that tried way too hard to be funny and wound up just being stupid. Before long it felt that each episode was being written by committee. I still remember, during December of 1998, praying to God to please, let the series die a dignified death, just have them make one last FANTASTIC final episode and let that be it, don't make them keep dragging it out for another 9 years after it runs out of juice, please... But that wasn't to be, either. Instead they've done exactly that, they've propped it up for years and years past its lifetime. A moment of silence if you please.
It used to be one of the best shows on TV, back when it was actually somewhat original.