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deborah_j_hammond
Reviews
Garden State (2004)
Loved it.
Life-affirming and joyous, this quirky movie lets you, as the observer, really feel for Large; you really care what happens to him, and pray that he manages to stay off the lithium.
He sees his childhood friends, and sees what they've made of their lives (not much), but doesn't judge them. He meets Sam, a girl who is refreshingly honest and open to life's experiences. And he comes to terms with his father's reason for putting him on antidepressants.
Apart from the ending, which seems hastily tacked-on to pander to the idealised "romcom" conclusion, the whole thing was believable and well-made. Brilliant film.
Festival (2005)
One of the worst films I've ever seen... (and I've seen "Troy").
This was awful. A load of complete and utter tripe. No Plot. Too much uninspired acting. Totally overblown and needless overacting; the one amusing moment was spoilt by a gratuitous penis shot. Another moments sees a bout of fisting in a puppet shop. Daniela Nardini, whilst a good actress, evokes no sympathy at all; mostly, i suspect, the fault of the scriptwriters. It's put me off all the actors, Edinburgh, "The Book Group", and any film which comes under the over-generalised moniker of "alternative comedy". I was shocked to hear that this was nominated for an award for Best British Comedy Film (or something similar). For all those judges out there: just because something is "alternative British comedy", it doesn't mean it's any good. A complete waste of money: both the cinema ticket, and the budget used to film it in the first place.