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Reviews
The Grudge (2004)
Crap
Gee, what a crappy movie this was! I cannot understand what people find so scary about "The Grudge". The director plays one trick (I'd have to admit a very good one, that is brought to life very stylized) and then he repeats it for the rest of the movie over and over again. As a consequence I startled a few times in the first quarter of the movie, but once I knew the drill I practically fell asleep as The Grudge grew more and more predictable by the minute. To conclude, I can say that there are a lot better movies in the genre to begin with, that the so-called predecessor "The Ring" was way scarier and that buying a ticket for "The Grudge" is a waste of money.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
young, rebellious intelligent guy comes to grip
I've seen this movie seven times already, and each time I like it better. It is also the only movie thusfar that has brought tears to my eyes and left me unable to make some kind of wise-crack to release the emotional tension (the moment Will Hunting breaks up). Everything about this movie is brilliant: the photography, the acting (what a performance by the ever so irritating Robin Williams, whom I forgive all the Flubber, Jumanji and Robin Hood-crap for this flick), the story, the dialogue, the music.
The story starts of as a no-good punk teenager drama, with lots of swearing but already the emotional weakness of the characters can be sensed underneath the tough surface. It then develops into a story which beautifully explores how difficult it is to love someone if you haven't had a loving childhood, and are inclined to distrust people. Out of fear of betrayal, out of a desire to keep control all the time, Will Hunting (a superb Matt Damon) first tends to settle for nothing rather than to have the high peaks and of course the great downs that inevitably come with relating to people other than himself. In the end he learns that his first option in unliveable, through some sublime dialogues with his surrogate father, the psychiatrist (thank you, thank you, Robin Williams) he gets to know
Then there is the music, of course. Very seldom have I seen a movie that had such appropriate music in it as the Elliott Smith songs: as well textual as musical After seeing this movie, I've started buying his work like a madman, and I can assure you: it's worth the buy!
La vie de Jésus (1997)
very good movie
Bruno Dumonts "La Vie de Jésus" is one of the best movies I saw that year. It's a very gripping tale of a group of bored, at first glance no-good youngsters, who end up in a lot of trouble because of their racism. To me, without being a patriot, this isn't really a French, but a Belgian movie. The setting (French Flanders), but also the themes it deals with, the environment (no foreigner can fully grasp the horror of all those old people sitting on their chairs in the doorstep, waiting for something to happen, staring at the occasional passer-by). But whatever country it is made in, it is a strong story, filmed in a raw way, which very much fits the rawness of the characters in the movie. If you take under notice that all the actors were amateurs, yet they manage to make lots of so-called pros look like the real amateurs, you have to give the director credit for that.
To vlemma tou Odyssea (1995)
horrendous experience
I saw this one back in 1995, and the fact that I'm writing this review now shows who deeply impressed I still am by "Le Regard d'Ulysse". Amazing how so many people rate this 10, as I left the movies in rage (I'd just as well had enjoyed throwing my money in the sewer) after having undergone this tormenting experience. The plot-line is so wafer-thin, that as a consequence substories run into dead-end allies all the time, are stretched at full, with the actors giving the impression to be as bored as they expect later spectators watching this 'piece of art'. Uncountable are the completely needless, seemingly endless stills of the landscapes Truly abhorring is the final scene, a real number one display of irritating movie-making by the director: you see nothing but fog, and you can only here the action taking place (how deep! how creative! how symbolical!)
I've seen some excellent movies about the Balkan (Kusturica's Underground for one, Before the rain for another) and I'm stunned to see this one ending up in the same category.
A Comédia de Deus (1995)
dont' do it! don't
To be honest I cannot elaborate on this one, as I only saw the first half hour of the movie. Comédia de Deus for me is the only movie that I ever ran away from, after some short debating with my two companions, leaving the other two spectators the cinema to themselves (I still sometimes wonder whether they managed to sit it out). The first half hour (fair is fair) is the most bewildering piece of fiction I ever saw, combining the utter idiocy of, say, the Police Academy series with the astounding 'la-di-dah, oh, what great art I'm making'-attitude of films as "Ulysses's Gaze".
Worst first half hour ever, but hey, maybe the rest was good. Go check yourself, though, because I've seen the last of this one.
The Piano (1993)
boring, boring, boring
I don't quite understand why some people make such a big deal about The Piano, because I don't think it's a good movie at all (understatement of the year). Everything about this movie breathes out the pretentiousness of arty-farty director Campion: the so-called deep story-line, the so obvious symbolism that irritated the hell out of me, for one, the over-acting of all the actors,... If it wasn't that I'm principally against it, I'd surely fallen asleep watching it. Only once did I awake out of the daze I was slowly getting in, namely during the scene in which gorgeous Holly Hunter showed it all. But, of course, that being the only memorable moment of the movie, says it all, I suppose
Underground (1995)
Superb work of fiction
It's astounding to see this movie getting so much bad reviews, as it is by far the best I have ever seen. You have to be either dumb or blind (or both) to accuse this movie (as many do, including the so-called intellectual class of France) of being pro-Serbian. It is a gripping, strongly imaginative tale that show the absurdity of war, and nationalism, l that hangs around it. Take for instance the opening scene, with the wounded animals as the Yugoslav capital is being bombed, and the threatening music that goes alongside of it, or the cut in which a burning wheelchair goes around in circles, again with excellent music: images that, as many more of the movie, are burned in my memory ever since I saw it: you cannot make an anti-war statement any stronger, no? Beside being tragical, the movie is also highly comical, and the acting and the music are unforgettable Underground is the kind of movie that would have been laughable had it been made by a mediocre director, the kind of movie that would have been pathetic had it been made by a good director, but the kind of movie that grew to be an masterpiece of art because it was shaped by the genius of Kusturica.
Happiness (1998)
American Beauty with a sharp edge
With "Happiness", Todd Solondz again has presented the world a cynical masterpiece. The lives of a number of characters are explored, all of whom are somehow connected to one another, and all of whom have one thing in common: they all pretend to be happy, but are far from that in reality. Or what to think of a call center (the crappy job of the decade) employee who ends up in bed with one guy just for one night (whereas she expected a true connection). Or her sister, part of a so-called happy family, but who's husband is a pathetic pervert. In alle, the film wonderfully (great acting, good dialogue) and successfully investigates our notion of happiness: isn't it all a charade, or is it just so, and are our expectations to high? The sarcastic tone fits nicely in this theme, and makes it a sharp, almost painful yet very funny movie to watch.
In short: American Beauty, that also, though in a lighter way, put the difference between what we she show and what we are in the limelight, but with a sharper edge
Deadly Game (1991)
Awful, and not even funny
I saw this one rented at one of the B-movies-night me and some friends from time to time have, and "Deadly Game" was the winner of the evening in that it was by far the worst, and on every field. The plot: seven strangers wind up on an island and have to run for their lives. While they are chased by bounty-hunters, they "coincidentially" run into items which cause ridiculous flashbacks tot one of the group, and every time they just seem to find the time to chat, as if the hunters give them a little time to figure out the clues. This is about as unconvincing and predictable at the same time as a plot may get, and the dialogues, which are so unnatural that it is hard to imagine that they weren't composed so with that intent, only add tot the feeling to be watching something completely unearthly. A feeling, I must say, that is further elaborated by the truly laughable acting by all the actors, which perhaps is no wonder, as they all have to give form to beings with a hilarious psychological depth, if that word can still be used.
In conclusion: this is a real hard one to finish. Even I, an ardent lover of movie-trash if the mood is right, had to force my endurance to watch this horrendous pic to the end. In short: let the dust where it belongs, on top of this movie
Space Marines (1996)
Disastrous
To me it is a great mystery that movies such as Space Marinies actually get made. The plot is ridiculous and predictable, the acting one big joke. The only thing preventing me to rate this movie a plain zero is the unability to do so.