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Reviews
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
Wow . . . this is terrible.
Having just watching Unforgiven, I thought I'd continue on the Clint Eastwood trip and check out one of his alleged classics. I couldn't have been more disappointed. The plot often fails to make sense or rise above a general "these are sum bad dudes" mentality; all the villains are one dimensional monsters bent on raping and pillaging. The Indian characters verge on racist parody and the film never seems to decide if its a comedy or a serious drama. Indeed, I frequently find myself wondering if they intended it to be funny--but im never quite sure. It's so terrible I almost find it entertaining in the vein of Troma team films or stuff like Repo Man. Just surprisingly bad.
Stone (2010)
Unique drama.
It's not epic, but it's definitely different. Given that DiNiro needs to get away from stupid comedies, this was a much more adult movie. Definitely not a shoot em up or a high action film. It's slow and quiet, meditative. I liked it, though I watched it on DVD. I probably wouldn't have liked a quiet drama like this very much in the film. It's kind of intense, but also kind of quiet.
I liked it because it's intelligent and different. I thought DiNiro and Norton were both great. Norton may need to watch out; many more of these sorts of roles and he's in danger of becoming officially typecast. DiNiro was strong and the female lead walked a good line between sexy and dangerous.
Punk Love (2006)
beyond bad, like, Troma Team bad
The acting and plot are so terrible, the film becomes a self parody. There is little of value here. The story meanders along with no destination or underlying messages; it seems as though it wants to be a film in the genre of True Romance or Trainspotting; ug, even mentioning those two films in conjunction with Punk Love seems insulting.
My girlfriend and i watched it as one watches a terrible C- monster movie. By the time the film was near the end, we were literally rooting for terrible things to happen to the main characters because we came to dislike them so much.
Keep in mind, we live in punk-friendly Philadelphia, so we might have otherwise been a prime audience for this little number.
Tideland (2005)
Great for fans of TG
Tideland is very very unusual. I'd kind of describe it as a cross between typical TG fare and an attempt at David Lynch dark surrealism. Don't go into the film thinking you're going to have a neat plot resolution or some holistic comprehension. This one is not 12 Monkeys, nor is it Time Bandits. However, it is extremely well directed and shot, highly 'psychadelic' (whatever that means), demanding in terms of patience and attention, darkly comic, and entertaining.
This film is not one for your mom and dad. Some of the content could be labeled as disturbing. I am doing my best to avoid giving any kind of spoilers here, so simply know that if you are a fan of Terry Gilliam, you will probably love this film.