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Wormy
Reviews
Haute tension (2003)
Did Dean Koonz ever sue?
I can't really get over that this is a straight ripoff of Dean Koonz's Intensity. He is not credited anywhere. Did ze Germans really get away with this theft, or was there some deal? Alright, they changed the brother to a little kid and there happens to be a dog for no reason but everything else is the same. Hiding under the bed. The worrying about the wet sink. The butcher knife. The motor home and gas station. All the same. I'm sure that this has been brought up somewhere but I was just shocked by it all. And I may be wrong. Maybe there was some deal to sell the rights without a credit, but then why the secrecy? Plus the details that are changed are superficial and didn't need to be changed, almost as if they were just changing enough to avoid a copyright suit. It's also odd how I just started reading the novel when I came across this film.
Max Magician and the Legend of the Rings (2002)
The desire to produce film
For a film that supposedly is so awful one must remember that this is an independent project with a non-existent budget. And for all the visible boom mics and dead rubber rats it still should be noted that this was a serious project for those involved and I have to give credit to director/producer Kevin Summerfield for pulling together a tough shoot with what he had. (did he need that Magic Book pages credit though?)It only goes to show how important a good script is. Without interesting, natural dialogue and a cohesive storyline any film will feel limp. The commentary also explains that the sound engineer was incompetent thus the regrettable re-dub. I would love to know the entire budget (the only mention is that the costume budget was under $1,000. Doesn't really help though) and also who got the tie-in with Wal-Mart. Perhaps it was a trade off to get all those candles? What the film lost in sparkle smoke it gained with distribution. The commentary is great! It's practically a how-to into low budget film making. How to cut corners with out making the film out of place. Thank God people still have the passion to go through with making their own movie. Look at the box. You know what you're getting. But as for the passion behind the film making process, it can not be denied. How many of us can say that we have a hyperlink on the IMDb?? Filmed beautifully in great natural locations in Maryland and Virgina. Nice editing job by producer/director. Looses 5 stars for poor script and sound disaster.
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Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
Has it really been 15 years........ Yes.
So, the Next Generation cast has one more go about it before they turn out to pasture. Must be a hell of an ending, trying to tie up all those loose ends. All those remarkable story lines that I've loved to see "slowly" develop over the couse of the series. My favorite characters were finally going to have it all come full circle in one final hurrah before closing the preverbial red curtain. Then I saw the "e's" were backward in the titles. But really, nothing can be said that hasn't already been said. Its all true.
The story is so heavly foreshadowed that it becomes a guessing game as to when they'll use the new transporter. And while you're waiting for them to use it you can't help but wonder at why are they going for that tired self sacrifice Data manuver."Good-bye"... What! Was that supposed to bring a tear to 'me eye? The resemblence to the re-birth of Spock was just too boring to sit through, but I still had hopes that something would happen. I also have this question as to why the Enterprise-E suddenly turned everyone into uncaring cold ****'s! Is it the new jackets, the brown leather chairs, or the writting that turned these once- complex people into hollow ghosts without ANY motive left from the past. Its as if they are just trying to get through this mission so that they don't have to speak to one another excessivly. That can be seen in the painful wedding sceen. Agh!!! What a sad, pityful ending to what could have been a great chance to tie in everyone. I guess that Worf, the Doctor, and Geordi have no future.
In a way I wish that they would have stuck with the future that they created in "All Good Things", at least then Troi would have died and they ALL would have looked better in make-up as aged rather than having the cruel hand of actual time come up and turn them into old fools.
Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale (2000)
A well deserved after thought to a powerful book
After receiving both the original book and passes to the film I was pleased to see the ever lasting effect a year with natives in Peru can have on a person. It is one thing to be actually in that moment and appreciate what a life changing event is taking place, but it is another to actually continue to live with the effects that it can have on you for decades to come. Perhaps it is a curse to actually become another person with a totally different identy only to return to a world that could never understand your actions and motives while in the moment, but I beleve that Tobias understood the life-long effect that it would have on him, both positive and negative.
Tobias came across, in the book as well as the film, as a man who was longing for something that he didn't quite know what. And until his return 45 years after leaving the tribe I didn't sense any closure on his part for the "family" that he left behind. The "civilized" world's inability to comprehend his actions while there only added to this sense of an unfinished chapter in the original book. The film alone is a beautiful story about a man coming to terms with himself and his enviroment, but with Tobias' book it is a complete journey into one man's quest to find himself. Read the book first to fully appreciate a stunning film.
Titus (1999)
Visually amazing, but lacking ... something
I must say that after watching this film I felt that something was missing. The visual effects are stunning (I still get chills when the uncle looks on the niece) and the adaption to film is great, therefore I must find fault in the actual play itself. Although it may be presumptious to rate the work of a master, I am aware that it is one of his earlier works. For example, the part with the queen of the goths and her sons posing as murder, rape, and revenge seems all too much just an easy way out of setting up the brilliant dinner scene. They were content, and could have found a thousand earier ways to kill Titus. In all Julie does a great job adapting a play that is flawed. What is missing is the spark of Hamlet (the greatest play), Macbeth, or the other later classics. Good for a visual entertainment.
Troll (1986)
For a movie that is mass-made this adventure does well
Okay, let's be real. This isn't going to change the world for you but for a time when so many BAD horror movies were made this plot had me entertained throughout. I, like others, remember this film from childhood but watching it again I was delighted that its story wasn't lost in ther passage of time. This story is still fresh and I find it funny as well as entertaining. Overall a good rent if you don't take it too seriously.
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Dancing into greatness!
It really was a fabulous film. With so much of Hollywood serving up garbage for so long its a welcome sign when things don't go as expected. The dualism of the film quality ( a bit grainy and dark for reality, contrasted with vivid colors and panoramic shots for Selma's {Bjork's} fantasy world) as well as a story line that doesn't follow Hollywood "formula" makes for a film that leaves you thinking and totally out of breath, because it's so emotionally draining. A film well worth your money. Like nothing I've seen.
Short Cuts (1993)
A wonderful attempt that never resolves.
After renting Magnolia and falling in love I, like many other who made comments, was told to see Short Cuts. I was looking forward to something possibly better than my beloved Magnolia.. I was disappointed. Characters in Short Cuts, while dealing with horrible times in their lives, refused to let you in to it. You were, for the most part, left guessing as to why they felt or behaved as they do. Perhaps that was the point, I mean with 22 characters I don't expect as much in character development as I would with 4 (as in Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf?). But to deny to viewer any indication as to why the characters were acting as they do just defeats its own purpose. How can I empthise for someone who just acts horrible for no apparent reason. The stories were fine, and I believe as 10 separate short films they could stand on their own, but for no reason we are just expected to ACCEPT the fact that a cellist just wants to kill herself because the world is bad, and a pool guy out of nowhere just becomes a killer? What's the motivation.
Unlike Magnolia I couldn't bring myself to feel for these people. Neither one way or the other. The film left me blank. I was hopeful though in a few situations. The ex husband who destroys his wife's home was very promising, but was abandoned. There was no conclusion. And the doctor when he finally learns about his wife... Finally I thought that some of that built up rage for three hours would spill forth. And it did. But... then there was a clown party with liquor and all was forgotten...
In conclusion... Short Cuts had no conclusion. Perhaps that was the point. But since I wasn't allowed into the very characters that I was watching I guess I'll never know. Five/Ten
Universal Soldier: The Return (1999)
A really sad display of garbage...
Anything to make a buck.. There really is no end to the true depths that film makers will go in order to possably get a few extra cents. So they take a movie that was *passable* the first time it came out and really just hoped the name of both the film and {plotless film star} Van Damm would carry them. It DOESN'T! Do me a real favor. Instead of making this kind of fluff, give the cash to some independant artists who might make you think for a minute. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy just to cuddle up to a good "kill 'em all" film like the next American, but when the movie starts to insult my intelligence then I start to get indignant... And oooooh boy. When I get indignant, watch out... Oooooh boy!
Magnolia (1999)
A film that places you inside it.
After I watched Magnolia the first time {on video} I wasn't sure if I liked it or not... I was tired and the 3 hours kind of got to me... So I took it out of the VCR and simply went to work the next day...
All through the day the film was burning a hole in my head... I couldn't wait to watch it again, but I still couldn't explain why...
Why was I fascinated so intensely by it. I spoke to others who've seen it and they were all ho-hum about it. And here I was about to give my shift up so I could see it again. Then I watched it again. I found myself constantly rewinding parts of it so that the film prob. took me an extra hour to go through... But I found myself actually a part of the movie.. it enveloped me. It joined with me. The characters have pretty bad lives going on at the time and then they all hit rock bottom. Its happened to all of us. There's just no farther down to go, so you think. So you resolve to make a change, to take control of your life. Its in your hands, right??? So you join in singing with them... You tell yourself to "Wise Up". You finally take contol of your life, and you try to fix it, but it still gets *messed* up. You tried, and its even worse... It happens. It just happens. And maybe it takes an act from God like *things* falling from the sky (ha, no spoiler) to set things right again. To join us together, when we can't get it right no matter how hard we try and want it to be... That's why I think this movie speaks to me. Its about ALL of us. All of us are dying, or taking care of someone who's dying, or want to die because of what others have done to us... We've all been abandoned, we've all loved those who don't love us, we've all wanted to be loved... We are cast members in this film. Try it. Watch this film. Then watch it a day later. Get the soundtrack. Play it in the car while you're going to work. I dare you to tell me that you don't feel like your in the film... We all are.
Crash (1996)
Biggest Waste of true talent in film.
Crash really has to be a true waste of movie-going time. The premise is really thought inspiring however that's all this movie has to offer. Its use of non-connected plot-lines leaves us the viewer wondering who is trying to get into an accident with who. Early on the plot tries to surface but fails soon after, eventually "crashing" in to a kind of plot soup that is pure garbage. This is best shown in the films ending where suddenly after having some kind of sudo-gay love affair the two male leads suddenly hate each other and one of them (after a cheezy car-chase scene) flies over a guard rail and exploads. With the acting talent this film could have went far but FAILS!