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Reviews
Perfect Sense (2011)
A great film, thought-provoking in many ways
I cannot praise this film enough -- despite it taking the viewer through profound sadness. It can grip you like those videos from the beaches in Thailand, as the tsunami came in. It can speak to someone going through the stages of grief; or of perseverance in the face of great and terrible unknowns. It can move you to plan and work for your own future, and the world's future, in the face of the awful and ignorant for-profit assault on people and the environment. Everything that happens in the film could have happened today.
Although the lead stars are terrific, must give extra praise to Denis Lawson (whom I last saw as the pub owner in "Local Hero").
Walk All Over Me (2007)
Charming and clever
I had the privilege to attend the cast+crew screening of this -- no, I'm neither; just the luck of blundering into the right cineplex. I've just now rented and watched it again: it's definitely as good and sharp as I remembered it. With that in mind ...
I agree with the previous reviewer (gylgamesh): well acted, cleverly written, and charming. Every character has something surprising to reveal; and the humour is at once subtle and laugh-out-loud funny. The food court scene alone was priceless.
Other postings here about Leelee Sobieski's acting puzzle me: in an early scene, Leelee Sobieski gives a tremendous nonverbal expression of everything fighting inside her. Throughout the film, she shows you someone you know you've met before, who's not that bright, but thinks they're smarter than they are... and perhaps they're not all wrong about that, either.
Tricia Helfer is full of surprises here; if you've seen her in "Battlestar Galactica", you can probably imagine how she might carry off the role of dominatrix, but there's more to her role than that. The most surprising thing I found was seeing what shoulder muscles she has. No spoiler, but from the screening after-show stand-up, one of the other actors (Michael Eklund) said that he now wished he hadn't encouraged her to hit him hard enough to be realistic.
The supporting roles are neatly done, as well; Michael Adamthwaite in particular.
The video jacket and promotion might make you think this is a film for guys. Girls: enjoy, this one's at very least as much for you. I'd give it a 9 out of 10, except that I promised I'd save my 9 for that special one :-)
Fight Club (1999)
Psychosis and brain-damaged anarchy
I like Brad Pitt. I really like Edward Norton. But (without all the !!!'s) I have to agree with a previous poster: what a waste! This film tries to wrap something romantic around some pretty pointless destructive, and self-destructive behaviour. It then tries a cop-out ending by ... nope, that would be a spoiler, wouldn't it? It's cinematically interesting in places, in the course of exploring "How low can you go?". But this film is clearly written with a message: a subtle advocacy of just going blam random, that makes me grieve.
If you've given up on anything positive in life, and figure injuring yourself is less boring, then you may see more in this film than I do. Any action film will skip past the real likely outcomes of getting smashed in the head over and over again. This film tries to suggest there's a higher principle, while throwing reality out the window ... and then wets itself because there's no place to go.