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Reviews
Dellamorte dellamore (1994)
Incomprehensible and wonderful
I have no idea what this movie means, or is about. I have seen it described as everything from a cheesy, addled, Eurotrash bore to a meditation on the meaning of life itself. Ultimately, like all movies and Rorschach tests, it is what the viewer wants it to be. I don't want to waste time trying to decipher 'Dellamorte Dellamore.' The movie simply works for me, and it works entirely on a level which is nothing to do with rationality or consciousness. It works at a subliminal level. I don't know how or why, but every time I watch my copy of the DVD, I feel genuinely enriched and more optimistic about myself, life and the world in general.
I'm sure wiser people than I could say what this movie is about, or what it means/meditates upon, but why spoil the magic?
Hostel (2005)
They deserved it
Strange movie. It's like a product of America's post 9/11 mentality meets Porky's. In my opinion, it's worth a look, but I'm not sure what it's trying to say. If it's about American paranoia, and the fortress mentality of "everyone's out to get us", it works pretty well, except for one thing: the three leads are selfish, dick-driven ****holes who deserve everything they get. This may be Eli Roth's point, but I doubt any American Hollywood Director would have the cojones or the principles to assassinate his career by making a movie that pushes the view that Americans abroad - including the troops in Iraq - are not heroes or liberators, but are, in fact, ignorant, vulgar, boorish interlopers. Once you take that out of the equation, there's not much left - if it's not a critique of American mentality & foreign policy, then what is it? Purely in horror terms, it fails dismally. It's neither disturbing, suspenseful nor scary and, in terms of gore, it pulls its punches badly (even on the "unrated" DVD). So, having said that, 6/10 is giving Roth the benefit of the doubt - maybe he really has tried to slide a subversive something into the American unconsciousness. If he has, then hats off to him - after all, isn't that what really good horror is all about?
Land of the Dead (2005)
Hail Romero!
Great to see a movie with guts - pun intended - and intelligence. In an age where any movie about an alien invasion will unavoidably have allegorical connotations, LOTD is an antidote to Cruise & Spielberg's self-pitying, self-righteous, self-deluded War Of The Worlds. Sure, it's obvious. Sure, Romero can't compare to the late, great Ernest Lehmann as a screenwriter. It matters not one whit. At a time where white-bread, toe-the-line, salute-the flag, xeroxed, dumb-ass stupidity is the norm in mainstream Amercian movies, George Romero has shown there is still someone out there with a brain in his head and capable of critical, independent thought. Thank you, George! God bless you! And, as Lux Interior put it, "I ain't nothing' but a gore-hound!" If that's your bag, LOTD is the real thing - Red. Raw. And dripping.
Peaches (2004)
disagree with mandy62
I was at the same screenwriters conference and saw the movie. I thought the writer - Sue Smith - very clearly summarised what the film was about. However, the movie really didn't need explanation. I thought the themes were abundantly clear, and inspiring. A movie which deals with the the ability to dare, to face fear - especially fear passed down from parental figures - and overcome it and, in doing so, embrace life's possibilities, is a film to be treasured and savoured. I enjoyed it much more than the much-hyped 'Somersault.' I also think Mandy62 was a bit unkind to Hugo Weaving. As a bloke about his vintage, I should look so good! I agree that many Australian films have been lacklustre recently, but 'Peaches' delivers the goods. I'm glad I saw it.