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Mr. Snow
Reviews
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Atmosphere isn't enough
Yes, this movie is extremely creepy. The atmosphere alone can give you nightmares. But atmosphere isn't enough to make a truly great film. The movie begins with a caption telling us that 3 filmmakers went into the woods to make a documentary about the Blair Witch and disappeared. Then the movie begins and then it ends and we've learned nothing more than what the opening caption told us. I knew they went into the woods and disappeared long before I saw the movie. I expected that seeing the film would enlighten me in some way about what actually happened to them and what was really out there in the Maryland woods, but the credits roll and I still know nothing. Actually, that's not true. I know some more of the story because I went to the Blair Witch website, which provides much more information than the actual film does. I figured we'd get to see the "discovered footage" framed by a "documentary" about the disappearances, with experts and friends speculating about what happened to the missing trio, but all "The Blair Witch Project" shows us is the missing footage. Period. That's it. With nothing to frame it, it tells us nothing. Three people went into the woods and disappeared. I knew that much from the commercials. Are they dead? Are they captive somewhere? Was it a witch who got them? A homicidal maniac? I still don't know. I can't help but feel that after shelling out $9 to see the movie, I should have more of a grasp on those answers than people who've only seen the trailer.
Election (1999)
Hilarious satire, great film
Election is a phenomenally funny movie. And better than that, it's a smart movie. A fantastically irreverent satire, this film is also enjoyable in its unpredictability. The script is superb and the whole film is put together almost flawlessly. The cast is also top-notch. Matthew Broderick shows that he really can act in a difficult multi-layered role. Reese Witherspoon delightfully wicked. And Chris Klein is so sincere in his stupidity that he'll melt your heart as you're laughing at him. As a satire, Election is not trying to present a realistic picture of high school life, but the ideas and emotions behind it are genuine. I would recommend this film to anyone.
Elizabeth (1998)
Was there a better film here?
I got the impression watching Elizabeth that, in order to make the running time audience-friendly, huge chunks of this film were lost to the editor's knife. I can't help but think that there must have been a lot more to this movie. So many scenes appear only loosely attached to those before them; so many characters appear out of nowhere and disappear just as easily. As a result, some great performances seem to get lost in a quagmire of choppy storytelling. There has been a huge glut of three-hour-plus movies recently, many of which are audience killers (The Thin Red Line, Beloved, etc.), but a truly good film will hold people's attention as long as it has to. Studios shouldn't try to present an epic at breakneck speed. It's more than likely not going to work. I would love to see a director's cut of Elizabeth -- I think it would be a much better film.
A Civil Action (1998)
The worst choice of closing credit music in film history.
This film took a very dramatic story (this is easy to see just from the actual plot points) and told it with about as much emotion as pathos as a dramatization for "Hard Copy." The script chose all the wrong points of the story to focus on, managing to actually bore us through the telling of a very compelling story. The movie also completely wasted the talents of some great actors, like William Macy, who did the best he could to make his one-note character actually have some dimension, and Tony Shalhoub, who is, for most of the movie, only used as set dressing. Even still, I would have liked the movie more had someone not made the worst choice of closing credit music in film history! Whoever made the unthinkable decision to play the Talking Heads' "Take Me to the River" after a true story about children dying from poisoned river water should be kicked out of the entertainment industry forever. Not only is the upbeat song completely the wrong tone for the somber movie, but the content of the song, about being taken to the river and dunked in the water, makes the choice completely callous, rude, and downright obscene. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the parents of those children sued the filmmakers for emotional distress. What a stupid, stupid move.
A Simple Plan (1998)
A Rural MacBeth
This is an excellent film all around, but if you haven't made the connection yet, try looking for the comparison to Shakespeare's MacBeth. The extent of what the promise of power and money can make a good man do are explored to fascinating results in both. And how about Bridget Fonda's character as a modern-day Lady MacBeth? This great film already works on so many levels; this is just one more.
The Thin Red Line (1998)
"War" by Calvin Klein.
Ooh, he's juxtaposing pretty flowers and the horrors of war! How deep, how original! I've heard many people spout off about the genius of Terrence Malick, but after seeing this film (which, admittedly, is the only one of his I've seen), I'm left wondering what all these people are talking about. The Thin Red Line is full of very beautiful, very hackneyed images, as well as cliched characters and predictable "twists." If the middle hour had been the entirety of the film, maybe it would have been halfway decent, but the film is over three hours and I was threatening to jump off the theater balcony halfway through. This movie never ends. Ever. It just drones on and on and on with pretty images and then ugly images.
I wanted to scream every time one of those inane voice-overs began (and there are hundreds of them). Apparently, no matter how gruff, vulgar, and rural a character sounds when they speak, they all think like Renaissance poets. If you really admire those cologne ads where a woman runs along a beach in fuzzy focus while an anonymous man waxes poetic about how the two are one, or how he drinks her in, etc., then you may like this film. If, however, you, like me, enjoy a discernible plot in a movie, bring a pillow and a blanket.
I want to make two things clear: (A) I blame none of this on the actors, who for the most part did fine work. (B) I do not dislike art movies. I really enjoy good ones. The Thin Red Line is not good. It was the most excruciating movie-going experience I've had in years. And just to illustrate, here's a completely true fact: There were seventeen people in the theater when the movie started. Seven walked out before the film ended. I wish I'd made it eight.