MdnightRadio7L's reviews

Now, I don't say this very often, but Gods and Generals was frankly the most god-awful film I've ever seen. I never walk out of films-- And I mean *never*-- but after two hours of horridness, I probably would have exploded if I had sat through the rest of it. The directing was weak, the script was ridiculous, the acting was terribly depressing (especially given the cast), and the most exciting parts of the whole thing involved the fake (and fake-looking) beards plastered to the actors' chins. It looked as if Chia Pets were taking over their faces. One of them even had a life of its own-- it moved around on the bloke's face from shot to shot. If there had been just one thing to redeem this film... well, that's wishful thinking. It's not even amazingly historically accurate. I have to say that I can't even think of a rating to give Gods and Generals. Thoroughly a depressing effort (if it can even be called that...).

There really is no other way to describe this film than amazing. Ok, and marvelous and lovely and one of the most completely wonderful films ever. Visually, it's nothing less than stunning-- the direction is fabulous-- and the acting is superb, both Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor positively shining in a set of incredible performances. Truly a marvelous film-- two words: SEE IT.

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return."

the thing that really bugged me about this film is the fact that it really wasn't based enough on Shirley Jackson's great novel The Haunting of Hill House to claim that. The characters names were the same, and, with the exception of Luke, pretty much as written by Jackson, but the whole story was absolutely nothing like the book. While it was an ok, although slightly overdone, film, I was disappointed in its departure from the original story.

The art of the good suspense film often seems lost, but Primal Fear manages to grasp that art and milk it for all it's worth. For start to finish, it offers a brand of "hold your breath"-ness that really grabs you and squeezes.

As an actor, Edward Norton (Aaron/Roy) never ceases to amaze me. He's different in everything I see him in, and this is no exception. To see him morph from mild-mannered alter boy Aaron into terrorizing Roy and back again is something that makes you think, "If I were in Richard Gere's place, I'd be afraid for my life." Definitely a show-stealing performance.

German expressionism is my personal favorite time in film history, and Lang was a master of it. In a chilling vision of a future distopia, the workers in a hellish factory world rise up against everything the city stands for, pulling the son of the factory owner into a whirlwind. The young man sees the horror his father refuses to... Although the plot is by this time and age rather conventional, the film is excellent. Many of the landscape shots became a forerunner for Blade Runner, and directors such as David Lynch were heavily influenced by Lang's wonderful work. A great film. Also, take a look at Lang's M-- another terrific piece of work with fear of human nature at its core.

I don't quite know why this film, and the previous one, keep getting so much flack. In all honesty, the films aren't that bad! Yeah, they're definitely not conventional-- but everyone seems to think that different=bad, which I just don't get. The first film was something new, and in the extinct land of horror movies, it was a welcome change. A lot of people I know who saw it when it came out thought it was one of the scariest things they'd seen in a long time-- but then the whole backlash thing started and they decided to go with the bashing flow. The second film was also pretty damn good-- With a film done the way BW1 was, it's a hard act to follow, and I think working within the world the first film created was one of the better choices. And contrary to popular belief, the acting wasn't that horrible either-- the actors all came from very strong theatre backgrounds. Kim Director has a B.F.A in acting from Carnegie Mellon. Jeff Donovan has been on the New York stage for ages in productions such as the Tony award-winning play An Inspector Calls on Broadway. I think because this film didn't have the usual slasher-flick formula, people decided they weren't going to like it. If you like psychological stories with still a tad of horror movie conventions, give this at least a one-time viewing, if not more-- and if you're a big horror movie fan, watch out for references to classic like The Exorcist, The Omen, and Evil Dead 2.

This is by far one of the best films I've ever seen. Not only was it extremely well directed (Francis Ford Coppola is a god), but Gene Hackman acted the part of Harry Caul phenominally. The ending is great-- the whole script builds up to it, and the payoff is terrific. A definite must-see.

Even if you're not a "theatre person," I highly recommend that you see this. Based off of a play of the same name by Christopher Bond (which, in turn, had been based off of an old London legend), Sondheim did a wonderful job bringing it to the musical theatre stage. The score is just amazing-- by far Sondheim's best, and probably one of the best scores written for a musical ever. The show was cast extremely well, my only complaint being of Betsy Joscelyn's portrayal of Johanna. It;s good, mind you, and she's a very versatile actress, but she just doesn't sing "Greenfinch and Linnet Bird" too well. But other than that, it's all phenomenal-- Angela Lansbury *made* the role of Mrs. Lovette, and she just does it so well. George Hearn was a good replacement for Len Cariou in the title role, and Ken Jennings gives a great performance as Tobias. The ending will give you chills. Top marks for a wonderful show.

This is one of the most incredible films I've seen in a long time. I read the set of six novellas by King when they first came out in monthly installments and absolutely loved them-- and normally, I'm not a huge King fan. The story was wonderful and very well-written, and when I heard there was to be a film made out of it, I went gung-ho.

And happily, I wasn't disappointed in the least. The screenplay was a faithful adaption of the original book, which is something most movies-made-from-books can't say. Frank Darabont did a wonderful job directing as well.

Then there's the acting. Being an actor myself, I tend to analyze performances. This was one ensemble cast where everyone had something good to do and all did it well. It seemed as though the part of Paul Edgecomb was written for Tom Hanks, and Michael Clark Duncan was amazing as John Coffey. Doug Hutchison I had only previously seen as the memorable Victor Eugene Tooms in two episodes of the early seasons of The X-Files, and the portrayal of the sadistic guard Percy was a wonderful surprise. I don't often express emotion at movies, but Percy was made so real that I really felt like wringing his slimy little neck. The other guards, played by David Morse, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Barry Pepper also get kudos for their acting, as do James Cromwell, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Jeter, and just about everyone else in the cast. A terrific film.